The Dark Rising Read online

  “Thank you for bringing me back with you.”

  “You’re welcome.” I smiled, closing my eyes again, thinking maybe tonight, for once, my dreams wouldn’t be so tortured.

  Chapter 4

  I woke up with anticipation for the new day, rolling over in bed to look at the floor where I'd last seen Vance lying on his blanket.

  “Good morning,” I said with a smile, only to discover he wasn't there. There was no trace of his bedding and both of my pillows were on the bed.

  A streak of fear shot through me and I jumped up. Was I losing my mind? Had it all been a dream?

  “Vance?” I called, rushing to the bathroom door. I knocked. No answer. I turned the handle and peered inside. No Vance.

  I ran through my bedroom and hurried out.

  “Vance?” I yelled down from the top of the stairs, not caring if everyone in the house thought I was hysterical.

  “I’m in the kitchen!” his voice floated back to me.

  Relief flooded through me as I placed a hand over my heart. He was still here. It hadn’t been a dream. I hurried down the steps, around the corner and into the kitchen, only to be surprised at the sight that greeted me.

  Krista and Vance were making breakfast together, and they were smiling and laughing about something.

  “Good morning!” Vance said, as I walked up next to him. “Did you sleep well?”

  “I did, thank you. I experienced a moment of nervousness though when I woke up and you were gone.”

  He looked surprised. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I had some trouble sleeping so I got up early and came downstairs. I found my mom down here awake also.”

  “Your mom?” I asked, realizing he’d used words my Vance would have.

  “Yeah,” he smiled. “She and I have been up for quite a while. We've had a very good mother and son visit this morning, haven’t we Mom?” He turned from the scrambled eggs he was stirring to wrap an arm around her shoulders and give her a squeeze.

  Krista responded with a wide grin and placed a peck on his cheek. “Yes we did, and it was wonderful!” She positively glowed over the contact with him.

  I felt like I'd gone to sleep and awaken in the twilight zone. I must've had a puzzled expression as I watched them, because they both turned to glance at me and busted up laughing.

  “Come sit down, Portia,” Krista said. “I'll tell you all about our discussion.”

  I stared at Vance for a moment longer before I moved to join her at the table. She reached out to grasp my hand.

  “Thank you for giving your memories to Vance,” she began. “I think they’ll really help him with his transition. Even though he can’t remember things, it at least gives him memories to deal with,” she explained. “Vance asked me to tell him about his childhood this morning. I had so much fun going back over my memories of a happier time. He was able to identify with things because of what you had given him.”

  “Where are the dishes?” Vance interrupted, and he began to randomly open cupboards.

  “Second door on the right,” I said absently, watching him move.

  He quickly produced three plates and brought them to us, setting a place for him as well, before he carried the pan of eggs over and dished out servings. He went back to the stove to get the bacon and sausage before he grabbed a small saucer laden with several pieces of toast, placing it in the middle of the table.

  I pondered his actions and how comfortable he appeared to be with things. Feeling the need to help out, I went to the silverware drawer to get utensils for all of us, while Krista went to the fridge to get the milk.

  Vance came next to me, reaching above me to grab some glasses. He gave me a quick grin when he leaned in and I realized he seemed happy. I followed him back to the table, where he pulled my chair out for me, and he pushed me in before sitting down.

  “You seem surprisingly normal this morning,” I said, giving him a quizzical look.

  He chuckled at my comment and I relished the sound. “Does that bother you?” He took a bite of his food.

  “No. It just confuses me,” I replied, still watching him.

  He smiled at me before he reached out with his hand to pat my leg. “I’m fine,” he said. “You don’t need to worry.”

  He seemed so much like himself, I was beginning to wonder if he had regained his memory and wasn’t telling me.

  “Aren’t you hungry?” he asked, nodding toward my plate. “We made this breakfast because we wanted to surprise you.”

  I glanced back to my dish and dutifully picked up a fork, but I had to turn to look at him one more time.

  “What?”

  “Do you remember things?” I asked him point blank.

  He shook his head. “No, but the memories you shared are resonating with me. When I saw Krista this morning something in me recognized her as my mom. I'm sure it's because I experienced the images you showed me from my own point of view.” He paused for a second. “I don’t know how to explain. I just feel … less lost.”

  I stared at him. So he noticed feelings for his mother, could he feel anything for me too? The questions rolled around in my mind. I wanted to ask him, but I didn’t want to press him.

  “Would you like to go for a motorcycle ride after breakfast?” he asked before he continued eating.

  “That sounds nice,” I said both surprised and happy by the request.

  “Do you think that's wise?” Krista gave him a concerned glance. “People think you’re dead. What if someone sees you?”

  “We can both wear helmets,” Vance said with a shrug.

  “I guess that works. Would someone recognize your bike though?”

  “We’ve been gone for months,” I reminded her. “I don’t think anyone has seen it recently enough to make the connection.”

  “That’s true,” she agreed.

  I finally stabbed at some of the food, putting a bite of eggs in my mouth.

  “This is delicious!” I smiled over at him, when I had finished swallowing.

  “Thanks!” he smiled back. “I had a good teacher,” he added winking at his mom.

  “Are my parents still sleeping?” I looked at the clock. It seemed awful late for them to not be awake.

  “No,” Krista answered. “Your mom had to go back to work this morning, and Sean's at your grandma’s doing research to find out if there's anything to help Vance’s condition.”

  “Ahhh,” I replied, taking another bite as I heard a knock at the front door followed by the sound of it opening.

  “It’s just us! Brad and Shelly,” Shelly’s voice floated into the house.

  My eyes flickered over to Vance and I jumped out of my chair running intercept them.

  “Hey guys!” I said excitedly when I entered the living room, going to give them each a hug. “How’s everything today?”

  They both exchanged an odd glance at my seemingly happy demeanor.

  “How're you doing?” Shelly asked, checking me over.

  “I’m … better,” I replied with a nod, resting my hands on my hips, looking back and forth between the two.

  “You certainly seem more chipper this morning,” she observed, and I knew she was wondering what had brought such an about faced change to my mood.

  “Um, that's because I have something I need to show you,” I said, grabbing each of their hands, leading them to sit down on the sofa.

  “Are you sure everything's okay?” Brad asked and he looked up at me. “You're acting a bit weird.”

  “Sorry.” I glanced back over my shoulder toward the other room. “Something's happened, but you'll understand better if I show you.”

  “Okay. What's up?” Shelly asked, watching me with narrowed eyes. “You're starting to make me nervous.”

  “Wait a minute.” I turned to leave the room. “Stay right there!” I went back into the kitchen.

  “Our best friends, Brad and Shelly, are here,” I said to Vance. “Do you think you're okay with meeting them?”
<
br />   He stood, coming to me. “I remember them from the memories you showed me,” he replied with a nod. “I’ll be fine.” He offered a hand to me. I was surprised by the gesture, but gladly took it.

  Brad and Shelly were whispering together, concern written on their faces. Both quit talking, turning to the door when we approached.

  “What the …,” Brad's voice trailed off, his face becoming an ashen shade of gray.

  “Oh my gosh!” Shelly placed her fingers over her mouth. She went completely still for a second before the realization hit her. “Oh my gosh!” she yelled jumping up off the couch and running over to throw her arms around both of us. “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!”

  She pulled back and there were tears streaming down her face. Brad came to join us, first hugging me and then turning to offer a hand out to Vance before pulling him close and thumping him on the back.

  “How's this possible?” he asked, stepping away from Vance with a look of wonder.

  “Let’s sit down,” Vance suggested.

  Brad and Shelly moved to the couch and Vance and I went over to sit on the loveseat across from them.

  “Well, first you should know we think the Awakening is responsible for bringing him back to life,” I explained. “Apparently it kept working to make the change even after he had passed.”

  “Wow!” was all Brad could say while he continued to study Vance. “I can’t believe my eyes!”

  Vance glanced at me and smiled, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze and I turned back to face our friends.

  “You also need to realize that Vance has lost his memory,” I added, watching for their reaction.

  They looked confused, their gazes flickering between us as well as onto our clasped hands.

  Vance spoke up then. “Portia showed me all of our life together through the mental link we share, so I can relate to things I've seen from her memory. For instance, I recall the four of us playing Frisbee in Scotland, but the memory is hers. I can’t associate any of my own feelings with that moment. It's just a blank for me. I see myself as if I were watching a video of everything.”

  “Okay,” Brad said, trying to assimilate this information. “So you don’t remember us at all?”

  Vance shook his head. “Not technically. I mean if I passed you on the street somewhere I would've recognized you instantly from Portia’s memories. But as far as remembering for myself, complete with emotions and everything, there's nothing.”

  Shelly turned her attention to me. “How are you handling all of this?” she asked with concern.

  “It’s been hard,” I answered with a lump in my throat, and Vance rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. “We talked about things last night though and kind of made a truce.”

  “We're going to take it one day at a time,” Vance added. “I can tell there's definitely some sort of attraction between us, but I don’t remember her. I guess you might say we're dating.” He looked at me. “I want to get to know her, and I want her to get to know me, as the person I am now.”

  The tear that ran down Shelly’s face surprised me. She stared at Vance specifically. “You really love her, a lot,” she told him. “Honestly, I don’t understand how you can’t remember. I've never seen a love like yours before.”

  “Shelly, don’t. It’s okay,” I said, fearing she would offend Vance.

  “No. It’s alright.” He turned to look at Shelly. “Apparently early in our relationship, I shared a lot of my personal memories with Portia. It was done in such a way she was able to experience everything I felt,” he explained. “She's passed those moments back to me, and I've been able to experience those feelings. While I don’t actually remember them, I can connect a bit with those. The rest of what I know is from her point of view, but I could see my reaction to her. I realize he …,” He shook his head in exasperation. “I realize I loved her.”

  Shelly was completely distraught over this.

  “Just do what we're doing okay?” I suggested to her. “One day at a time. Let’s make new memories together that are real for him. Maybe someday he’ll remember, but he may not. I don’t want it to hold him back from living his life.”

  “How are you planning on doing that, by the way?” Brad asked skeptically and he wrinkled his forehead in question. “Everyone’s aware he was dead. It isn’t like the two of you can run around town. You’ll give people a heart attack.”

  “We haven’t crossed that bridge yet,” I said, and I smiled over at Vance.

  “We'll figure something out,” he replied, looking back at me. “Until then we'll be discrete.”

  There was an awkward pause in the room.

  “Would you two like to eat?” I asked, changing the subject on purpose. “Vance and Krista made a delicious breakfast.”

  “The food's probably a little cold now, but there's still plenty,” he offered.

  “We ate before we came,” Shelly said. “But we'll go with you, so you can finish yours.” The four of us stood and made our way into the other room, where Krista was still sitting in the nook, her plate almost empty.

  “Want me to get you some more, Mom?” Vance asked when we entered.

  “No, I can’t finish what I’ve got.” She laughed and she placed a hand over her stomach. “But thanks anyway. How are the two of you this morning?” Krista asked turning her attention to Brad and Shelly.

  “I think we're in shock and awe,” Brad answered, raising his eyebrows a bit and he sat at the table.

  “That’s understandable,” she agreed, her eyes following Vance while he finished eating. “We've all been reeling from the shock for the last several hours.”

  “How are you doing?” Shelly asked her politely.

  “I’m wonderful!” Krista replied with an ever broadening smile. “In fact, I don’t think I can recall a morning as happy as this one in a long, long time.”

  Vance stood with his empty plate, going over to pick up Krista’s too, and carrying them to the sink.

  “Thanks son,” she said and I could tell how much she enjoyed the interaction they were having.

  “No problem,” he replied, rinsing the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher.

  Afterward, he came to stand next to me. “Are you okay, Portia?” he asked, glancing down at my plate. “You've hardly touched your food.”

  “Guess what? I’m not very hungry,” I replied honestly. “My stomach is still doing flip flops. I’m sorry.”

  “That's okay.” He reached for my dish. “I just don’t want you to get sick because you didn’t eat enough.”

  “I’ll be fine.” I was touched by his concern for me. I knew he didn’t realize this was something which had always been an issue with him. I'd gotten sick one time for not eating properly and he’d been practically force feeding me ever since. “You don’t need to wait on me though.”

  “It’s nothing,” he replied while he scraped my food into the disposal before he rinsed and placed it in the dishwasher. He dried his hands off on a towel. “You ready to go for that ride now?” he asked when he turned back around.

  “Sure.” I tried to answer calmly, though my heart was racing, excited at the thought of getting some one on one time. “Let me go change and get ready, okay?”

  “I’ll be right here waiting.” He smiled, giving me a tiny wink.

  I said goodbye to Brad and Shelly before turning to make my way up the stairs, feeling like my heart would burst.

  Chapter 5

  Though I was excited to go on this outing, I indulged myself and took a little extra time to get ready. He hadn’t seen me fixed up since I had found him in the cemetery, and this was the first time he’d asked me out. It meant a lot to me.

  I chose one of my favorite shirts to wear, one I'd not seen in the months I'd been gone, a cute teal, white, and yellow, plaid tank top that buttoned up the middle to a scooped neckline. I paired it with some jeans and similar colored matching canvas tennis shoes.

  After I carefully applied
my makeup, I flat ironed my hair completely straight. I knew I’d be wearing a helmet, but I wanted it to be as pretty as possible since he liked it so much, even if he didn’t remember.

  Grabbing a few dollars out of my bag, I slid them into my back pocket in case we might need money. I wasn’t sure what else he had planned. He may just want to go for a ride.

  I remembered when we were in Scotland, Vance made the comment he was anxious to get back to his motorcycle. He'd said he missed going for rides because they helped clear his head. Maybe that's what this was about.

  I left my room and headed down the stairs thinking I shouldn’t allow myself to get so excited over this, but I couldn’t help it.

  No one was in the kitchen though, so I walked to the family room, finding him on the couch with Krista, watching television. He glanced up as soon as I entered.

  “Hey!” He smiled, standing up and it seemed as if he was excited to see me. “You ready to go?”

  I nodded, returning his smile while nervously sliding my hands into my back pockets.

  “Sorry I took such a long time,” I apologized, wondering why I had so many butterflies in the pit of my stomach.

  “It appears to have been worth the wait.” He grinned, looking me over. “You look really pretty.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, enjoying that he noticed. “You look good too,” I added, meaning every word.

  He lifted his hands up from his sides. “I'm exactly the same as the last time you saw me,” he reminded, as if I were the one who'd lost my memory.

  “True,” I said continuing to smile, returning his appreciative glance. “And you still look good.”

  He must've gone through the drawer this morning and showered when I was sleeping, because the sweats and old t-shirt had disappeared. He was wearing jeans, one of my favorite shirts that emphasized his muscular cut chest beneath, and he'd styled his hair the way he’d always worn it.

  The grin on his face widened and he nodded in acknowledgement of the point I was trying to make.

  “So when do you think you will be back?” Krista asked, attempting to appear nonchalant.

  “I have no idea,” Vance replied, never taking his eyes off of me. “I guess when you see us again.”