Ellie’s car was full when she pulled into her driveway several hours later. Not only had she stopped at the local electronics store and picked out a laptop computer and cell phone, but she had also gone to the grocery store for supplies for dinner.
She got out of the car and went around to the passenger door. She jumped and let out a small yell as Jake stepped out from behind the hedge that surrounded the parking lot.
“Jake, what are you doing here?” She tried to appear calm. She glanced around at the parking lot. Unfortunately, it was just her and Jake; there wasn’t another person in sight. Inside her chest her heart was pounding a mile a minute and her breath was coming in deep gulps.
“Ellie, I need to talk to you,” he pleaded. He stretched his arms out toward her. His aura was a sickly green.
She took a step back. “Jake, I don’t know what’s going on with you. But you are going to get in trouble if you keep this up. We’re divorced and this is not acceptable. You can’t just call me or show up on my doorstep whenever you want to. You need to stop and think about how what you are doing is coming across; you’re scaring me,” she said.
“I don’t want to scare you, Ellie,” Jake said. He took a step backward and ran his hands through his hair. He looked haggard, a significant difference from that morning. “Look. I’m sorry I got so angry this morning. I just didn’t like that guy. I want what’s best for you.”
“That guy, or any guy in my life, for that matter, is none of your business, Jake,” she said. She could feel her own anger bubbling inside, but she needed to be careful. She watched Jake warily. He seemed in control, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down for a second.
“I know, I know. I didn’t like it being shoved in my face. That’s all,” Jake said with a grimace.
A grown man pouting like a little kid who got his favorite toy taken away, Ellie thought. “What do you want, Jake?” Ellie said. In his current state, Jake didn’t appear to be a threat. He looked like a kid who wasn’t getting his way, but not menacing.
“This is really hard for me to talk about,” Jake said, staring down at the ground.
“Jake. If you want to tell me something, then please do. Otherwise, I am busy and it is cold out here. I have things to do,” she said, trying to hurry the conversation along. She wasn’t interested in a heart-to-heart with him, but she felt like she was backed into a corner.
“We could go inside,” he suggested, but then he must have caught the look of alarm on her face. He wisely decided not to push it. He kicked at a rock in the driveway and avoided Ellie’s eyes.
“I’ve been having some bad dreams,” he finally said.
Ellie almost burst out laughing. All of this fuss was because Jake wanted to talk to her about his dreams? She couldn’t control her expression before he saw it.
“Guys can have those too, you know,” he said defensively.
“So you came here to tell me that you are having nightmares?” Ellie said slowly.
“They aren’t regular nightmares,” Jake said. “It’s so hard to explain. But I feel like, no, I know, something bad is going to happen.”
“Jake, you have to explain this better. I’m having a hard time understanding how your bad dreams are relevant to me,” Ellie said.
After a long pause he finally said, “They are about you.”
“Me?” Ellie felt a familiar tendril of fear in her stomach. There was something about the night and dreams and Jake that she felt like she should remember. It was a memory that she couldn’t quite pull out and see, though she felt it twitching just on the edges of her consciousness.
Then Jake’s words came out in a rush. “I have a dream that you are lost in the darkness. I can’t tell where. You are yelling for someone to help you. No one is answering and I can tell that you’re really scared. Then these hands stretch out of the darkness behind you. You can’t see them, but I can.” Jake’s voice dropped to a hoarse whisper and he looked down at his own hands. “These hands have long fingernails and suddenly they just start ripping at your hair and your face. It doesn’t take long before you are all bloody and you just keep screaming and screaming for help. I can tell that you are in a lot of pain. Then the hands finally stop clawing at you and you get all quiet. Your face goes slack and I know that you’re dead. And I just sat there and watched the whole thing happen. I didn’t even try because I knew that those hands would get me too. There was nothing I could do but just watch you die.”
Ellie felt the blood drain from her face and she backed even further away from Jake. “This isn’t funny, Jake. You need to leave.”
Jake took a step toward her. “Ellie, I’d never hurt you. But these dreams are making me really afraid for you, and there’s more that I need to tell you. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Ellie put a hand out to keep Jake at a distance. “I’m fine, Jake. I was getting even better before you started pushing yourself back into my life. I don’t know what kind of sick satisfaction you get out of telling me you’re dreaming about me dying, but it is wrong, Jake. It’s just plain mean.”
“Ellie,” he said, “please just listen to me. I have to tell you the rest.”
“No, Jake! I want you to leave!” Ellie pulled her new cell phone from her pocket. “I’ll call the police again if you don’t leave.”
Jake’s face twisted and Ellie saw that other Jake bubbling underneath the surface. His aura flared bright red and she let out a little cry of alarm. He appeared almost ready to charge her, and Ellie was just getting ready to run for the house when he spun around instead.
“Fine!” he yelled over his shoulder. “If something really bad happens to you, it’ll be your own damn fault. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You’ll be sorry that you just acted like the biggest fool on the planet.”
Ellie sagged against the car with relief as she watched him disappear. She flipped open her cell phone and also pulled out the business card of one of the officers that had been at the coffee shop that morning. She quickly dialed the number.
“Detective Morgan?” she asked as the gruff voice came on the phone. “This is Ellie Coulter. From the coffee shop this morning? I want to see what I need to do to file that restraining order after all.”