The Scroll of Knowledge

Chapter 9

Thomas stood on the porch watching Shay surf. She was still angry with him. She'd silently helped get the medicine and bandage him up. She cleaned up the blood on the living room floor, then she'd changed clothes and headed to the beach. She'd been out there for hours. She always surfed when something was bothering her.

He'd taken things way to far.

A wave knocked her off the board. Thomas straightened, his eyes frantically searching for her. Her head broke through the water and she held onto the surfboard. Thomas felt like he could finally breathe again.

She was distracted. She'd always said that only one thing could distract her, him.

He sat on the steps and leaned against the banister.

Shay had clarified what she meant by him killing her. She said she wasn't certain about the details but there was an artifact that connected a person with minds. Mind control. That's what she was afraid of. It sounded like something from a bad science fiction movie but Shay looked so terrified. All the other times it had been someone else to kill her in her visions. Her death had never scared her but to see him do it would be terrible. She still hadn't told him how she died. He doubted it was something as simple as a bullet to the head.

Shay stayed out until the sun had gone down. She ate the dinner he'd made for her as an apology but she didn't say a word to him and went to take a shower and go to bed.

Thomas climbed in next to her. Her back was to him. He hugged her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," he said.

She didn't say anything for a few moments. "I know that getting information was something you were good at. I just never expected you to use it on me," she said. "Do you want me to be able to trust you or not? Or will everything I say and do be used against me when you want something?"

"I'll never do that again."

"And out of all things for you to use against me, you used the fact that I love you? The fact that you know how much I hate seeing you hurt? I never even saw it coming. And I can see the future."

"What do you want me to do to make it up to you?" he asked.

"Erase my mind."

"I can't do that."

"Exactly. And that's the problem." She sighed. "I'm going to tell you something hoping you're not going to use to against me." She paused. "There are some things I see over and over. Any little thing can trigger a memory and I feel as if it's happening all over again."

"What do you see?"

"Before, it was three main things. Now I have one more to add to the list: watching you hurt yourself over and over and being unable to do anything about it. That is not something I'm going to stop seeing anytime soon. Thank you for that."

"I would take it back if I could."

"Yes. But you can't. You're thirty-one, Thomas. You have to start thinking about the consequences of your actions. You never do and then I'm left to deal with the aftermath. You overreact for every little thing. This is why you always have so much guilt and regret."

Thomas didn't know what to say to that. He knew he never thought too far ahead. That had gotten him into trouble when he was younger.

"I was going to tell you. I just needed to process it first, figure out what exactly it was that I saw and think about how I was going to say it. I'm still not sure exactly what happens. I've never kept something like that from you for very long. You know that. You should have trusted me. I can't tell you every single thing I see and you know that."