Gifted

Chapter Twenty - Sage

"Sage, wake up."

I felt Pearl shaking my shoulder.  Attempting to open my eyes, they remained shut as if pinned down.  The rest of my body felt strange too - I could hardly move, heavy almost. As if I had run a marathon.  Every muscle in my body ached.

"Sage!" Pearl flicked the end of my nose with her finger.

That spurred me into action as my eyes shot open. "Ouch, that hurt Pearl... did you-"  I rubbed the end of my nose. "What time is it?"  I tried to focus my eyes, turning my head, but I couldn't see my phone anywhere.

"Little after ten," she tsked.

Ten? I never slept in late and why was I so sore?

"You're killing me Sage.  Tell me, what happened! With grandfather. You didn't come back before I left for work, and then you weren't here when I got back either. I thought you might have gone to Hunters. But here you are!" She pointed to the bed, looking a little disappointed.

Hunters? What the hell was she talking about?  

And last night... of course she had seen me last night.  Hadn't she? I pushed myself up and back against the headboard, ignoring my aching body. 

Last night... I tried to gather my thoughts.  I remembered going to visit my grandfather. But it all seemed a little hazy. 

"Are you sure you didn't see me last night?" I asked her.

She looked at me like I was dumb. "Duh, don't you think I would have remembered if I had seen you last night.  I'm dying to know what happened. What did he say, when you told him you wanted to be with Hunter? I bet he shit a brick... I'm right, yeah?" She stared at me with her eyes wide and a daft lopsided grin on her face.

I shook my head, wincing as my neck ached. I rubbed the palm of my hand over it, to soothe it.

The conversation slowly came back to me, yes I remembered arriving and I'm sure I remembered telling him about Hunter?  I think I did... My head felt wooly. Why wasn't it clear?

A sinking dread washed over me, my stomach roiled.  This wasn't the first time this had happened – this feeling. I had the same experience at the beginning of last week and two weeks before that. Mon Dieu, what was wrong with me?

Ignoring the throbbing in my arms, I threw back my bed-covers and there was the evidence I was looking for. My feet were filthy... muddy and as I inspected my dirtied toe-nails, I saw what looked like a leaf wedged in between my toes. What the ?

"Look Pearl," I pointed down to my feet.

"What?"  She bent over and plucked the offending item.  "It's just a leaf Sage."

"Yes, but look, my feet are dirty and I don't remember being outside barefooted and you said I wasn't here last night? Where the hell was I?"

"Did you black out again?"  I had told Pearl what had happened the week before, she was the only one I told.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I honestly don't know – but what other answer is there?"

"Okay, well you already know what I think happens with your dirty feet. I think it's because you don't let her out enough." She gave me that look - she was talking about my wolf.

"And I think she gets pissed off with you and forces her way out. But enough of that - we can chat more about that  right after you tell me how your chat went with the old man, yeah?" 

She picked up a cup of coffee and handed it to me. "And you definitely look like you could do with this."

My mind went back to last night.

Yes, I was sure I had told him I wanted to be with Hunter, but I couldn't be certain.  I shook my head, annoyed at my lack of clarity.  "I'm not sure Pearl. I think I told him about Hunter, but then he told me Victor was coming and I have to meet him on Monday."

Her mouth dropped open, shock from my words reflected back.

More bits of information came back to me like flashes from an old camera.  "I also have to stop working with Hunter." I wasn't sure how I felt about that, something felt off. I wanted to work with Hunter at Wolfe Industries - but my mind told me it was the best thing for me and I should follow my grandfathers wishes.

So why did my chest hurt when I thought about not working with Hunter any longer?

I didn't understand it.

"What the fuck, hold the phone!" said Pearl.  "And you're going to meet this Victor, you're gonna do what the old man wants you to do?"

She looked at me like I'd gone crazy.   I actually felt a little crazy.

"You're shitting with me, right?  Surely, you wont dump Hunter for a guy you've never met before?"

I nodded as if I lacked control of my own head. "He said the weddings been planned and everythings organised." The words felt wrong as they left my mouth, but I couldn't stop them.

Pearl cupped her cheeks. "Shit the bed," she said.  "Sage, please tell me you won't do it, not this.  This aint right. Yesterday you were into Hunter and I mean really into Hunter and now you're willing to meet this Victor asshole from America?  And the weddings already been planned?"

I could feel her shock and disgust.  Why wasn't I feeling the same way?

"Well, maybe I need to give him a chance?" Again the words sounded so wrong. Almost as if somebody else was speaking them. And the pain in my chest grew - it hurt at the very idea of being with this stranger. I felt confused. 

What was wrong with me?

"No fucking way, Sage, this is wrong, all sorts of wrong, tell me you know that?"

I wanted to say I knew that, but I didn't. I wasn't sure what I wanted at all – why wasn't I sure?

Pearl sat in front of me and removed the cup from my hands placing it on the side.  "Sage, was anybody else there when you went to see grandfather last night?" 

She must have seen the confused look on my face.

"Think Sage, this is important."

She looked serious. I wasn't used to seeing Pearl look so serious or afraid and with my blockers down I felt her emotions change rapidly.  Her aura darkened as her anguish rolled over me.   Something was wrong.

"I don't remember." I told her honestly.

She moved closer to me, taking my hand in hers. "Sage, you remember when we were little and grandfather used to make you go into the forget-me-not room, where he was?"

I felt a shiver trickle down my spine.  Pearl had told me things from our past when we were children that I honestly couldn't remember.  I nodded my head.  "You're talking about the Dream Walker."  It wasn't a question. 

The Dream Walker had taught me how to use my gift and how to block myself from others.  But the way he used to look at me gave me the creeps.  I didn't wait for her reply as I pulled my hand from hers and threw my legs over the side of my bed, pushing myself up.  I almost winced from the pain of my aching joints. 

I stopped and turned to face her. Something was coming back to me.  "I think I remember someone else, but I can't be sure, tell me again what happened when we were children."

Pearl took a deep breath and told me the tale again, when she had spied that one time when he had visited me in the ironically named, forget-me-not room, when the Dream Walker had stolen a memory.