Consuelos Residence

“Skye!” Mateo Consuelos said as she opened her eyes. “Are you alright?”

Skye Lore looked around at her surroundings. She was slightly flustered, and she looked at Mateo. “How long have I been out?”

Mateo’s look was sympathetic. “About eighteen hours. You slept right through the night.”

Skye immediately popped up. “Well, then I have no time to waste.” As if nothing was wrong, Skye bolted across the room. She pulled out a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. “I have lots to do.”

Skye remembered her odd dream:

“It looked as if Dean was being chased. He was breathing, and there were sirens. Dean pulled out a gun, and then let out three shots. Then he got up and continued to run.

“Dean’s figure dissipated in front of her, and then a scene of a body lying on the ground flooded into view. Police taking pictures. Taking notes.

“A series of images flooded into view. San Francisco Bay. A gun. A body. Drugs. Dean. An officer. An evidence bag. Handcuffs. Courtroom. A jail cell.”

“Oh, Dean,” she muttered. “You are going down. And I’m going to enjoy it.”

Mateo came into the kitchen. “Are you okay?”

Skye turned to Mateo. “I would like to thank you for letting me stay here, even though you know nothing about me. You saved my life, though I can’t remember any of it, and have fed me.”

“No problem.”

“The only problem I have is Dean. He is a little, um, annoying.” Skye moved up to Mateo. “And I am going to bring him down from that pedestal of his.”

Mateo was slightly confused. “How are you going to do that?”

“I won’t do it, per se,” Skye teased. “He will do it to himself.” Skye turned away from Mateo, and she stepped on a shard of glass.

“Ow!” she cried out, realizing she was in bare feet.

“The tube!” Mateo scrambled to clean the floor. “I’m sorry. I dropped a glass tube and I forgot to clean it up.”

Skye grabbed a Kleenex from the counter and applied to her foot.

“How are you?” Mateo asked.

FLASH. Skye was thrown back by a strong vision that took over her eyes. Flame surrounded her. BURNING!

FIRE!

Within the flame she saw a figure emerge, similar to other dream she had. As the figure was revealed, she knew it was Dean. He took out his gun, and shot it at her.

BANG!

“Dean! You will burn it hell!” she cried out. “Burn in hell for what you did!”

“Skye!” Mateo called out to her, shaking her. “Snap out of it!”

Skye jumped out of her intense vision, and saw Mateo’s blurry face. She was affected strangely by this vision. There was a force pumping through her blood.

“I’m home,” came Dean’s voice.

Skye wasn’t sure what she was doing. It didn’t feel like it was she. She wasn’t controlling her hands. She just grabbed a pan off the stove and moved toward Dean.

“I’ll kill you for doing what you did!” she screamed, brandishing the pan menacingly. “I will kill you for everything you did!”

Mateo couldn’t control Skye. Skye couldn’t control Skye. Mateo look on horrified as Skye took the pan and swung it at Dean jaw.

Presence Town Center: Transit Depot

“One to New York,” Jake Geary told the man at the ticket booth. “To the big Apple.”

The man typed a few letters on his keyboard. The electronic sounds of a printer filled the air for a matter of second, and a brand new ticket was born. “Here you go,” the man said grumpily. “The bus leaves in twenty minutes.”

“Is it a direct trip?” Jake asked, picking up his blue ticket.

The man shook his head and turned on his TV. “The bus coming here started in San Francisco. There will be a few more stops. It is more of a cross country bus. See the country end to end.”

Jake liked that. “Any interesting cities?”

The man shrugged and watched the news on his TV. “I don’t know… thought one city has been stuck in my mind from reading the travel plan. Angel Peak? Lighthouse something…” A news story broke on the television. “Angel Heights. There have been some serious murders there. Beautiful plan. Very close to the Apple.”

He watched a newswoman deliver the story. “The death toll continues to rise in Angel Heights as the authorities scramble to find clues. The latest victim, Alice Goodwill, was butchered at the local lighthouse – the one she was there to protect.  One thing’s for sure, we have a killer on our hands…”

Jake shook his head. “The stabbing here, and now this? What is Small Town America coming to?”

“Damned if I know.” The man turned to him. “New York ain’t any better, y’know.”

Jake didn’t care. He needed to get away.

Presence Memorial Hospital

Iris Torres’s mother, father, and brother were all standing in her hospital room. Iris’s heart was still pounding. Her worst nightmare was coming true.

“Bo!” Vivian cried out. “Please stop yelling. You’ll disturb the other patients.”

Bo Torres backed off his daughter, and turned to his son, Wyle. “Haven’t seen you in a long time, son. Glad we would all finally get together.”

Wyle nodded. “I know. I also know that Iris has to testify against her attacker today. It is all over the paper.”

“Maybe we should come back some other time,” Vivian suggested.

Iris nodded. “I… I have a lot to prepare for. It is starting in – ” Iris looked at her watch “ – oh, jeez. Two hours!”

Bo moved to exit the room. He then turned to Iris. “When you testify, keep what you did in mind. What you did to Lily…” He left.

Wyle was still leaning in the doorway. “So,” he began, “what does it feel like in this position? Different?”

“Wyle, please…” Iris pleaded. She was remember the past. A past she wanted to keep buried.

Wyle stepped closer. “You know what you did. You did it deliberately. The police may not have thought that a little girl could do what you did.”

Wyle came close to Iris’s bed. “Lily and Iris: two beautiful flowers. But you, dear sister, have turned into a weed.”

Iris broke down in tears.

Swiss Flights: To San Francisco

“Everyone!” came a loud, male voice from one of the seats. “We are hijacking this plane!”

Kassie Tom’s heart skipped a beat.

This isn’t happening! She thought. This only happens on TV. Not to me. I’m going to wake up.

She closed, and when she opened them the men were still there. Wearing a bandana around his face, with a rifle of some kind in his left hand.

“We are looking for an important person,” the one wearing black said. “Someone who has access to information.”

Kassie didn’t know what was going on, so she turned to Greg. His usually humorous smile was now removed. He held a completely neutral look. Void of expression.

Black (the one in black) and White (the second man dressed in white) patrolled the isles. The held guns up high.

“We are looking for a man,” one yelled out. “We believe that he is now dead. He has been carrying sensitive information about our country to the Swiss.”

Kassie stayed still.

“His name is Drew Tom.”

Kassie’s eyes opened wide.

My father!

Darla’s Home in San Francisco

“Robert,” Darla Tom asked as she walked into her room. “Has Kassie called?”

Robert Carlyle looked up from the bed. He was making the bed and folding the sheets. “No. Is there a problem?”

Darla nodded. “Kassie hasn’t called since she arrived in Switzerland. I’m getting worried.”

“Don’t be,” Robert assured her. “Besides, you have a lot on your mind, as does she.”

Darla rubbed her stomach. She could feel it getting bigger each day, and eventually she was going to have to talk to others about it.

“Kassie went to find Drew’s body,” Darla spoke worriedly. “She… she doesn’t know the trouble that she’s in. And how am I going to explain this child to my daughter?”

Robert got up and hugged her. “Though this is you child out of wed-lock, Drew is dead. He died in the plane crash. All you need to do is say this child is his, and no one will be the wiser.”

Darla wasn’t so sure. “Are you sure we can pull this off?” she questioned.

“We have to,” Robert said, kissing her on the lips. “There can’t be any other way.”