they have to wait for her birthday to do it.”
“But why take her soul?” Cooper said as he started pacing. “Why not take her whole?”
“You said the soul was weaker when it was taken before it was supposed to be. Maybe they are working on influencing her soul. They don’t need her body to do that, right?”
“Right,” he said a little apprehensively.
“What about the True Soul?” I asked. “Do you think a Shadowed was able to cross into the After?”
“It’s not possible,” Cooper said. “The Shadowed aren’t capable of crossing into the After.”
I scoffed. “You keep saying things are impossible. Open your mind a little bit. I never thought it was possible to be sucked inside of a human body.”
“But that is something Felix knew was a possibility. The Shadowed tried for a long time to get there, with no success.”
“Maybe they were waiting for the right moment? If they knew they could cross over, wouldn’t they want to keep that secret from the Caeleste until they could use it to their advantage? Like taking a Prognatum True Soul.”
Cooper shook his head. “I don’t see that.”
I crossed Ally’s arms. “You don’t or you can’t?”
He shot me a glare.
I picked at an errant thread in the duvet. “Fine, that theory is off the table.” For now.
Ally’s mouth opened in a wide yawn. It was almost seven, yet the day had been full and quite exhausting.
“You should get to bed.”
“But we should talk through this,” I said, battling against another yawn.
“Nothing will happen tonight anyway; tomorrow is another day.”
“One more day closer to her birthday,” I murmured, padding across the room toward the closet. I changed into a T-shirt and baggy shorts and went into the bathroom to brush Ally’s teeth quickly before sliding into the bed. The whole day washed over me as I sunk deeper into the sheets.
“Sleep well,” Cooper said.
Anxiety settled deep in Ally’s stomach. I knew what would happen when I fell asleep but this time I was ready for it.
Even though I was unconscious, I knew the visions I experienced while sleeping were not my own. My soul and Ally’s body created mixed visions that unfolded before me.
I was back at Seth’s and, instead of walking away with Jackson, I had used the bat to pummel Seth and Krystal. Their blood splattered everywhere, soaking their clothes. When I was satisfied, I dropped the weapon, examining my hands that were covered in them as well. The arms weren’t Ally’s, they were my own. Images flickered as if they were on an old movie projector but they only showcased my arms. The image of my bloody arms superimposed over an image of my smooth bloodless arms but in one hand I held a smoking pistol. Blood. Pistol. Blood. Pistol. The images sped up until they became one. Then everything disappeared and a new vision came through.
One that wasn’t mine.
I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t. It was as if something covered them. I moved my arms but I couldn’t feel them. I struggled against the binds that held me in a seated position.
“If you stop struggling, I will take it off,” a voice said.
I sat still for a few seconds. The weight against my eyes lifted. I was sitting on a small leather couch by a window in the same study I’d been in recently, I think. I looked down at my arms but they remained still at my sides, even though I tried to move them. My skin was paler than normal, almost translucent.
“I can take away the wards, Ally,” he said. “But you have to promise to stay here.”
I nodded, figuring that every time I complied with his requests he gave me a little more freedom. My arms were freed, yet I held my position, until that familiar tugging sensation moved me up and forward. I passed through objects in the room. A chair, then a desk, another couch.
“No, no, Ally,” the voice chided.
“Mumph,” I said. I hadn’t been able to speak since I’d arrived in this place. At least not coherently.
I moved toward the door again, the sensation growing with each inch.
“I said no,” he said forcefully. “You need to stay here.”
“Muumph!” What was wrong with my mouth? I’d felt the same way when I’d gone to the dentist for a root canal, full of cotton and undecipherable. I wanted out of there. How much longer would I be in this room? I needed to go to whatever called for me. My body buzzed with the need.
“Now, now,” he cooed.
The pressure of his hand pulled me back toward the couch.
“I brought you back here because you promised you’d be a good girl. If you keep leaving me, I will take you back there.”
No way. I didn’t want to drown in darkness again. I had spent days alone in a room with no light. When was the last time I ate? I knew it was something I should have done, but I didn’t feel the urge any more. The only urge was to get behind that door.
I drifted toward it again.
“Alright, Ally,” the voice said, disappointed. “I warned you.”
I turned to my captor, his face blurring as the room dissolved around me.
“Maggie!” Cooper’s voice broke into the vision. Pressure against Ally’s shoulders dug me deeper into the bed. “Wake up!”
Ally’s heart raced, and a pressure on her chest prevented the oxygen I needed. Opening my eyes I realized it was Cooper holding me down. Our gaze met and he stepped back.
“You were thrashing around,” he said, a little breathless himself.
An interesting feat since he didn’t need to breathe.
“Did you have a nightmare?” he asked.
Each detail of the vision came to the forefront of my mind. “She was here,” I said. “I saw her.”
“Who? Ally? She wasn’t here; I would have felt her.”
“You feel her body, Cooper; you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
His jaw clenched. “Okay, so how do you know she was here? I’ve been in this room the whole time you were sleeping.”
“I
