Page 61 of The 13th Daughter
"Have you ever had this dream before?" he asked her.
"No."
"I do," I piped in. "All the time."
"All the time?"
"Even fore they told us about it."
His eyes nearly popped out of his head. "CJ, did you ever tell anyone about your dreams? Maybe Mama?"
I shook my head. "No, Daddy."
He let out a sigh of relief. "That's good, baby. Daddy's going to make them go away forever. Don't be afraid. I have to see the dream first for it to work. When I wake up, you'll never have that awful dream again, baby. Either of you. Now, both of you take Daddy's hand."
Never have that bad dream again? I latched onto Daddy's hand. He smiled.
"Spirit, I ask thee to free her from this burden,
In this time, in this place, I call it into me.
Show me now what she sees and forever let it be."
Daddy fell backwards onto the bed. Emily and I waited for him to wake up. As the minutes passed, we forgot the dream.
I forgot the dream.
Until now.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The screams woke me up.I wished whoever it was would just shut the hell up. My head felt like it was going to explode.
"CJ, please wake up." Kay's voice penetrated the screams, but she sounded far away.
Where was I? I was so hot. My skin felt like it was on fire. Wait. Fire. I was on fire!
I tried to sit up, but couldn't. Something held me down. I fought to get away, kicking and tearing at the bonds holding me. I could feel the heat of the flames singe my hair, feel it burn my skin. I was burning.
"CJ!" Someone shook me hard. "Stop it!"
My eyes snapped open and I realized the screams were coming from me. My own screams were what woke me. So real. It was all so real. But I wasn't burning.It was only a dream, I reminded myself forcefully as I had Kay so many times before. Only a dream.
"Please, CJ," Kay whispered, kneeling beside of me. "Just be okay."
I tried to tell her I was fine, but my throat hurt. No words came out, only a garbled, hoarse croak.
"Billy, get her a glass of water," Jeff demanded. He gazed at me with worry, his fingers still digging into my arms.
"Here." Billy shoved a glass of water at Kay and Jeff pulled me up so she could help me drink. I took several gulps and then curled into Jeff, wrapping my arms around him. His familiar smell helped to calm the panic. He was real. The dream wasn't.
"Shh," he soothed. "You're okay now, hon. You're fine."
I had been fine until I remembered everything, until I remembered what Daddy did. He took the nightmares from me. I'd just invited it back in. He'd known then what it was. It was more than just a dream. It was a memory. Emily had seen it when she touched me. She was gifted with visions, so when she touched me, of course she'd seen it. Dad had erased the memory from both our minds. I'd seen what happened that night even before they'd told us about it in school. Eighteen. Sara Bishop had been eighteen when she died. My ancestor, my eighteenth birthday. It all tied together somehow. I just needed to figure out how.
"What happened to her?" Kay asked.
I shuddered at the memory her words brought back. The heat of the fire had kissed my skin, the smoke choked me. Screams had echoed around me and chants...chants? Yes, I'd heard it, the curse, but the dream was just too muddled right now. Laura's fear had overridden every other thought. It was still too raw to sort out, but later, maybe I could get it to come back to me. Maybe I didn't need anyone to give me the answers. Maybe I already had them buried inside.
