Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Chapter 18

I wait as patiently as I can for Lenora to finish giving Kas a hug. She finally lets her go and kisses her on the cheek.

"I mean it. No more scaring me," she wags her finger

at Kas.

"I promise, Lenora. No more scaring you," Kas smiles back with a nod before turning to me. She takes her hand out of mine and brushes her fingers on the side of my face.

"All I want to do is pull you into my lap and hold you all night, Baby, but I need you to tell us about your vision before you forget. Can you do that?"

"Yeah b-but," she looks at me with watery eyes, "Can you tell me if James is okay? Was that real or part of my vision?"

"It was real, Kas. Don't worry, he'll recover. We can take you to the hospital wing to see him tomorrow. Okay?" Lenora squeezes her hand in reassurance.

Kas nods, looking at her hands for a moment. She collects herself so she can concentrate. When she's ready, she takes a ragged breath and tells us about what she saw.

"I think I saw some of the people who kidnapped me. There was a woman that looked just like Lenora, but maybe she was a little older? Or something about her seemed old, even though she looked young. She knew my name. She called me Iokaste. There was also a woman with dreadlocks and red eyes. She mind linked me, but it wasn't a real mind link. I could actually see her words in my mind."

Kas squeezes her eyes closed for a minute, then opens her eyes and looks at the nightstand. She grabs her journal and pen and scribbles something down on a page.

'Essai dynatós. Empistéfsou ta énstiktá sou.'

Lenora and I trade a confused look. Kas has never remembered this much detail from a vision before, and this

look crosses Kas's face, "but I-I'm pretty sure it was the past. Not the future, like it usually is. It seems like it was a past life, but not one I already knew about. I was fighting alongside the woman with red eyes in

sternum while she talks. Her eyes aren't really fixed

as gently as possible, but in reality, I'm feeling a tinge

to each other,” her voice is soft, "She

so bad. It made me have this huge burst of energy come out of my body. I felt like a

looks me in the eye. The floodgates are about to burst. She held it together long enough to tell us about her vision, but now she needs my support. I pull her into my lap and lean my head on top of hers. As soon as I fold my arms around her, she begins to bawl. Between her sobs, she says she didn't mean to hurt James. She doesn't want to hurt anyone. We all know that. It was an accident, but we can figure out how

is a scared nineteen-year-old girl, who grew up not being able to trust anyone around her. She was lonely, scared, and trying to hide from the world. It's the deep dark part of her we all wish never existed. I know it will never go away completely. It will always be a part of who she is, but if there is anything I can do to keep it at bay, I will do it. If it wasn't for

Lenora's cell phone ding. She looks down at

"Is that Musu?"

means 'You are strong. Trust your instincts',” she says

mate.

Lenora gives Kas one last sympathetic look before kissing the top

mind

the words

leave.

someone else has as much faith in her as I do. I just have to figure out who

pulls away from

face, hoping I can fix

a prisoner, too? What if she wasn't allowed to talk to

around other prisoners, unless they have developed Stockholm Syndrome. Then the captors would want them to convince the newer