Present Day:

Stephanie sat in her room staring into the mirror. She pulled her long, golden hair into a pony tail and examined her reflection. Deciding she didn’t like that look, she took it down again and began brushing it out. It was definitely shaping up to be a bad hair day, she thought. She also knew that she looked tired. Her green eyes were bloodshot and they were all puffy underneath. It made her look much older than she really was. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, or the night before that. She’d been having terrible nightmares lately and it was making it harder for her to get any good rest. She tried to tell herself it was just stress. Since her mother had died, she had moved back home to care for her teenage sister, Melissa. She hadn’t realized how hard a task that could be, especially on top of working full time.

Before all of that happened, she’d been sharing an apartment with Alison. They’d been friends since they were both sixteen. They’d met in high school and had been inseparable ever since the day they first spoke to one another. But it hadn’t started out easily. Stephanie and Kyle had been best friends since they were in the first grade. He was the first person to ever know her secret; that she could talk to the dead and see things before they happened. He was the only person she could trust with that information. They went through high school, tentatively popular. Stephanie hade made the cheerleading squad, and Kyle hung out with a lot of the jocks, even though he didn’t really play sports. Kyle was tall and athletic. He had short dark hair and blue eyes. Girls tended to have crushes on him, but he was always too insecure to realize it. He liked to make jokes and was one time voted class clown. He wanted to be a football player, but he’d never made the team. It was something that always bothered him. Both of them desperately wanted to fit in and be part of the in crowd. Speaking to Alison Biggs was definitely not going to win them any cool points.

Stephanie had believed, just like everyone else, that Alison was some sort of freak of nature. She was scary and creepy and weird and Stephanie would rather die than be spotted engaging in dialogue with her. But all of that changed when she was forced to do just that.

Kyle and Stephanie had been paired off with Alison to work on a science project in Mr. Davis’s class. At first, they sort of ignored her, not wanting to be ostracized just for being seen in her company, even if it wasn’t by choice. Stephanie and Kyle’s popularity was on the fence. Being seen with Alison would surely knock them off their shaky social ladder.

“This class is lame,” Stephanie pouted to Kyle.

“I’ll see your lame, and raise you an incredibly boring,” he groaned. “What do we even need science for? It’s not like I’m ever gonna use it in real life.”

“Are you two for real?” Alison had chimed in, giving them an annoyed look.

Kyle and Stephanie had been shocked to actually hear her speak to them, momentarily forgetting that she was sitting at the table.

“What? You like science?” Kyle had asked curiously.

Alison shrugged, “I guess so. It’s interesting. Besides where do you think all the important breakthroughs in medicine and technology come from? Science is kind of important.”

“Well, it’s boring,” Stephanie yawned uninterestedly.

“Wanna see something not boring?” Alison offered with a small smile.

“Like what?” Stephanie asked cautiously.

Alison lifted her hand and waved it in the direction of the glass beakers that were sitting in front of them. All at once they shattered, making Kyle and Stephanie jump back.

“How the hell did you do that?” Kyle asked with wonderment.

Alison shrugged, and didn’t answer.

“Seriously, how did you do that?” Stephanie prodded her.

“It’s just something I can do. That’s all. It’s no big.”

“That’s a huge big! What else can you do?” Stephanie asked with genuine interest.

And that’s how it had all started. Stephanie later shared with Alison her own talents, something she’d never dreamed of telling any of the other cheerleaders she was trying to impress. It wasn’t long before the three of them were inseparable, all thoughts of climbing the high school social ladder, lost. But none of them cared anymore. They’d found kindred spirits in each other. The kind of friendship where you could share anything and everything and not worry about the consequences.

And now Alison was going through something terrible. Stephanie wanted to be there for her, but Alison wasn’t making it easy. She had shut herself off and tried to pretend that nothing had happened that night on the roof. Worry for her friend, coupled with the horrible nightmares, made Stephanie feel like a sleep deprived train wreck. And as she glared at the mirror, she realized she looked just as bad as she felt.

Just then, Stephanie heard a light knock on her bedroom door, jolting her out of her thoughts. It was Melissa. She poked her head in and it was like looking into a mirror. Albeit, a mirror that showed her a younger and much less tired version of herself. Melissa was tapping her watch impatiently.

“Steph, you’re gonna be late for work. And I need a ride to school.”

Stephanie sighed and smoothed down her hair. There was going to be no saving it this morning.

“I’m almost ready.”

Melissa noticed how tired her sister looked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just tired. I didn’t sleep well.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know. It’s just—never mind. It’s nothing,” she waved her hand dismissively.

“Doesn’t seem like nothing.”

“I’ve just been having some nightmares, that’s all. It’s no biggie,” she shrugged.

Melissa’s interest was peaked. “What kind of nightmares? Like those freaky psychic ones that come true?”

“I hope not,” Stephanie grumbled. “Look, I’m sure it’s nothing. We should get going. You’re already late for first period.”

Stephanie put her shoes on and grabbed her jacket. Melissa knew that whatever the dreams were about, they’d upset her sister immensely. She could see it. But she decided not to press the matter. Stephanie was always having some kind of weird dream. It wasn’t anything new. But something in the way her sister had looked made her worry just a little bit. But she decided to shrug it off and head off to school.

****

After Stephanie dropped Melissa off at school, she headed over towards The Secret Garden. She had been working there since she left school. When she was sixteen, she had stumbled upon the shop during one of her shopping trips. The place had just opened and she had no knowledge of what sort of shop it was. In the front window she had seen books, candles and jewelry. It grabbed her attention, so she had gone inside. Little did she know that stepping foot inside of there would change her life forever.

It was there that she met the owner, Martin Jax, or Jax as everyone called him. He was forty-seven and used to be a Theology professor at the local university. He was well versed in all types of religious beliefs, but his special interest had been occult studies. His mother had been psychic, and though he didn’t seem to possess any of her talents, the subject fascinated him endlessly. Over the years, his teachings steered away from basic Theology, and shifted more towards the paranormal. The education board was not pleased with his manner of teaching. They didn’t approve of his methods and called his curriculum flights of fancy. Rather than face the humiliation of being fired, he had resigned.

That was when he decided to open The Secret Garden. Several of his students had followed him there, and he set up a reading group for those who wished to study what he had to offer. Walking into his shop had given Stephanie something she never thought she’d ever find. A place where she actually fit in. A safe place where she could actually share her talents and not keep them hidden away like a deep dark secret. Jax had immediately taken her under his wing. He taught her how to use her talents and embrace it for the gift it really was. Before, she had considered it a flaw and a burden. But Jax helped her come to accept herself and be proud of who and what she was.

Besides being a mentor, he also took a fatherly interest her. Stephanie’s own father had left their family when she was twelve years old. Before that, he traveled so much, it never really felt as if she had a father. Now he was living in Europe somewhere, with a twenty-two year old he met on the internet. Stephanie was disgusted by it and had never really forgiven him for the way he left all those years ago. They had very little to do with each other and aside from the child support that he deposited in the bank each month, she had no contact with him.

Jax had taken over the task of being a protector and father for her. His wife Melinda had left him nearly ten years before. They’d had no children, and he’d never remarried. Family had always been very important to him, so he had readily stepped into the shoes that had been vacated when Stephanie’s father had walked out. They had a special bond and Stephanie enjoyed working for him very much.

The Secret Garden was like her second home now. It was a place where people could meet and be open about who they were. Routinely, people would come into the shop searching for help or answers to life’s little mysteries. Hauntings, paranormal disturbances, contacting lost loved ones, offering spiritual guidance; they did it all. Stephanie felt that their work was important. What they were doing was making a difference in people’s lives. For years her gift had felt like a curse, but now she truly believed she had a purpose.

Angela was now the manager of the shop. She had started out as one of Jax’s students, then he had offered her a job. She was a very powerful witch who had been practicing since she was a small child. Her mother was also a witch and had taught her from an early age the importance and beauty of their craft. But now she was also relishing in the business side of magic. She had taken to the role of store manager and was sometimes prone to power trips. She was in the middle of one of those when Stephanie walked into the shop.

She found Jax behind the counter engaged in a frenzied discussion with Angela.

“You’re the one who put me in charge here. I don’t see why you have to question everything I want to do,” Angela said heatedly.

“I was merely saying that putting a jar of petrified rat’s eyes next to the cash register is not a good idea.” He shook his head.

“Why not? Maybe we’d sell more of them that way.”

“It’s not as if they’re an impulse buy like a pack of chewing gum,” he pointed out.

Stephanie cleared her throat loudly, “hey guys. I’m here. Sorry I’m late.”

Jax acknowledged her with a small wave and Angela smiled. She held up the jar of rat eyes, “tell me, would you be more tempted to buy these if they were sitting right here by the register?”

Stephanie made a face, “I don’t think I’d be tempted to buy those no matter where they were.”

Angela sighed, “fine. I’ll put them in the back.”

“I knew you’d see it my way,” Jax said with satisfaction.

“Shut up.” She made a face at him, and he smiled at her as she disappeared into the storeroom.

They tended to argue a lot, but Stephanie knew they liked each other. Probably more than either of them would ever let on. The way he was watching her was a dead giveaway. Jax suddenly realized he had been staring, and quickly averted his eyes. He looked at Stephanie, immediately noticing that there were dark circles under her eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asked with concern.

She nodded her head, “I’m fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that? Do I look that hideous?”

“Hideous? Of course not,” he assured her. “You just look…exhausted.”

She sighed and tossed her purse under the counter. She sat down on a stool perched behind the register. “I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“Dreams?”

“Big time. Nightmares actually.”

“About what?” He asked curiously.

She considered brushing it off again, the way she had with Melissa, but she knew that she could trust Jax’s insight.

“They’re apocalypse type dreams. End of the world, doom, gloom, destruction. All that fun stuff,” she told him.

“Apocalypse?”

“I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything,” she said dismissively.

“Probably not,” he said not entirely convinced. “What exactly happened in them?”

Stephanie stood up and began absently arranging things on the shelves behind the counter. “Well, I keep seeing the skies opening up, like there is a crack in the atmosphere. Then all these red lights come pouring out of the ground, like fire. People are running and screaming. The earth is shaking…then I see this person—a woman. I don’t know who she is because I can never actually see her face. But it feels like we know each other. And I know she’s somehow responsible for what’s happening. All I can feel is this overwhelming sense of betrayal and sadness. It gives me the major creeps, and that’s when I wake myself up.”

Jax absorbed what she was saying and scratched his head. “Well, you realize that not all of your dreams are prophetic.”

“Yeah, I know that,” she agreed. “If they were I’d be thanking my sexy husband Brad Pitt as I accepted my Grammy award for the second year in a row.”

Jax laughed and shook his head, “so you see I’m sure this dream means nothing.”

“Right. It means nothing,” she agreed. Then she turned to face him. “It just seemed so real.”

Before Jax could respond, the little bell over the front door jingled signaling the arrival of a customer. Stephanie turned to greet them with her best fake salesperson smile. It disappeared when she saw who it was. Jason stood dressed in tattered jeans, combat boots and a black leather jacket. His wavy brown hair was a tousled mess and he ran his hands through it in a quick attempt to tame it. He saw Stephanie and smiled at her. She rushed over to him.

“Jason, what are you doing here?” She asked with annoyance.

“I’m here to buy something,” he said casually.

“No you’re not. You’re here to bug me.”

“You know Steph, it’s not always about you,” he told her.

After meeting at the club, they’d gone out twice. Stephanie hadn’t wanted to, but the strange pull he had over her had compelled her to at least give him a chance. It had proved to be a mistake. She still found him obnoxious and self absorbed. And he was also very persistent. He kept insisting that she wanted him and she kept insisting that she didn’t. They’d been playing this game for three months and it was getting tiresome for her.

“Will you please just go away? I don’t have time for your games today, Jason.”

“I’m not here to play games. I just—.”

“Is there a problem?” Jax interrupted as he gave Jason a distasteful once over.

“I need a book on poltergeists or ghosts,” Jason told him.

“What do you need that for?” Stephanie wondered.

“None of your business.”

“Fine. Be a dick about it,” she said huffily.

“You’re the one who told me to get the hell out of here, and I’m the dick?”

“I never said ‘get the hell out’. I just said ‘go away’. There’s a difference,” she explained.

“Yeah, big difference,” he said with annoyance

“You are such a pain in the—.”

“Will you two stop your bickering please?” Jax interjected. Then he looked at Jason, “what sort of book are you looking for. Fact or fiction?”

“Fact.”

Jax walked over towards the section of the store that carried the books he was interested in. He pointed to the shelves. “This is what we have. There are several excellent materials here.”

“Thank you,” Jason said shooting Stephanie a satisfied grin.

Stephanie stood there with her arms crossed, glaring in Jason’s direction. “You know he’s just here to annoy me, right?” She informed Jax as he passed by her.

“I realize you two have some issues between you. But—.”

“Issues? The only issues we have is that he won’t leave me alone. He thinks because he’s all sexy and stuff, with that bad boy thing going on, that I won’t be able to resist him. Well, he’s wrong. I can resist. I am resisting. He’s totally resistible.”

Jax suppressed his urge to point out that the lady doth protest a little too much. He just shook his head and headed back towards the storeroom to see if Angela needed any help with the inventory.

Stephanie realized that Jax had left her out there with Jason on purpose. Now she was going to be forced to talk to him.

“Is this book any good?” Jason asked as he emerged from the stacks holding a copy of Haunted Histories.

She shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“Well, isn’t it your job to know that kind of stuff?”

“I just ring stuff up. That’s all. I’m not a literary critic or anything.”

“We both know you’re more than a simple shop girl,” he said seriously. “Can’t you just use your little talents to tell me if the book is useful or not?”

She grabbed the book out of his hand and put her hand on top of it. She closed her eyes tightly to make it appear she was deep in concentration. She opened them back up and thrust the book back at him.

“The book is good. So just buy it and be on your way.”

“Did you really get a vibe on the book or are you just trying to get rid of me?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m just trying to get rid of you,” she admitted.

He moved over to her and leaned in closely. She tried to back away from him and ended up against a wall. She could feel her heart beating faster as he leaned in even further. “You don’t really want me to go, do you?” He asked softly as he played with a strand of her long golden hair.

She wanted to smack his hand away and shove him across the room, but for some reason she just couldn’t. She hated feeling like that around him. She hated everything about him, she tried to tell herself, but her body wasn’t getting the message. Her body was responding to his touch in a way that she wasn’t comfortable with.

“I thought you weren’t here to play games?” She asked softly.

“I wasn’t, but then I just couldn’t resist,” he laughed as he backed away from her and walked towards the register.

She let out a breath that she didn’t even realize she’d been holding until now. She closed her eyes to try and dispel the feelings he had invoked inside her. She didn’t want to feel those things. She calmly walked over to the register and began to ring up his purchase.

“Don’t you want to know why I’m buying this?” He asked her.

She looked up at him, “I thought you said it was none of my business.”

“I was just being a dick, like you said,” he confessed with a small smirk.

She shook her head incredulously, “you’re annoying.”

“I know. But you still like me.”

“I do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not,” she shot back at him again. “Look, let’s just stop this. We sound like a couple of five year olds. Just tell me why you need the book. Is your house haunted or something?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

“Seriously? Or is this part of the game?”

He looked at her with total sincerity, something she’d never recalled seeing from him before. “Seriously. Something’s happening, and it’s a little unsettling.”

“What happened?” She was interested now.

“Well, it started small. Just some noises. Things not being where I left them. I didn’t really think too much of it at first,” he explained. “But then last night I saw something. Freaked me the hell out, to be honest.”

“You saw a ghost?”

“I guess. I don’t know. It was a woman standing in my hallway. When I asked who the hell she was, she just disappeared.”

“Has anything like this happened before?” She asked.

“No.”

“If you want I could—forget it. That’s a bad idea,” she shook her head.

“What’s a bad idea?” He wanted to know.

“Nothing.”

“Come on. Tell me.”

She knew she should just keep her mouth shut, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “Well, if you’re serious about this, I could come over and see if I can feel anything. You know, use my powers or whatever,” she offered reluctantly.

“You’d do that? You’d actually willingly come to my place without my having to drag you there over my shoulder like a caveman?” He teased.

“Don’t get overly excited. It would be purely business. Not a date or anything.” She wanted to make that point very clear.

“Check. Not a date. Understood,” he nodded.

“If I walk in and hear Barry White or see any candles, rose petals and/or champagne, I’m out of there. Got it?”

“I can assure you that I don’t even own a Barry White record. I’m more of a rock guy myself.”

“Yeah, nothing like a little Motley Crue to get a girl all hot and bothered,” she mocked him.

“Hey, I’ll have you know it’s never failed me before,” he said suggestively.

She chose to ignore that comment. “I get off here around 6pm. I’ll stop by, okay?”

“See you then,” he smiled at her as he took his book and headed for the door.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Why did I do that? Why did I say I’d come to his house? I’m insane,” she muttered to herself.

“I still say he’s a hottie,” Angela said appreciatively, as she came up behind Stephanie.

She jumped, unaware that anyone else had been there.

“He is not,” Stephanie protested.

“You’re such a bad liar,” Angela said breezily as she walked over and began straightening shelves across the room.

Stephanie was determined to keep things completely professional with Jason. After all, they’d already tried the dating thing and it didn’t work out. She’d only said yes to him in the first place because she was trying to be nice. But they had nothing in common. They were total opposites in every way imaginable. He was arrogant and cocky. She was quieter and much less confident in herself. In high school, she had been a cheerleader, while he was one of the kids always getting caught smoking behind the bleachers or getting busted for skipping school. He drove a motorcycle and had tattoos all over him. He said he could never hold down a real job because he wasn’t the type to take orders from anyone. He was too much of a free spirit. She just thought it was because he was impossible to get along with. Either way she hated the fact that he had gotten under her skin the way that he had. If she hated him so much, why couldn’t she get rid of him?

[Part Three]