Sequence

Chapter 3: Mystification

"We are united here today to commemorate the tragic death of Kelly Prescott…"

The early morning fog still hadn't lifted from the sparkling green grass as I stood in silence, my head bowed evenly down to the ground as I paid my final respects to the former beauty queen of Carmel.

The cool breeze was chilling against my face as I peered at the crowds surrounding me. The recent tragedy had stirred the small town of Carmel, bringing with it an awkward atmosphere of tenseness and depression, which spread through the citizens with every breath of fresh air.

The expressions were mourning and regretful, grieving the loss of a young teen whose life had been ruthlessly stolen from beneath her.

"Today, in the face of this terrible tragedy, we can empathise with the family and friends of Kelly, but most importantly, we must remember to encourage. We can encourage each other to be strong in these times of hardship; we can encourage people in their faith, and their strength; to be strong for Kelly." Father Dominic stood in front of us all, his strong, faithful, bright blue eyes spreading reassurance through the crowds with a wave of hope. His strong voice held everyone's attention as he carried on, reinforcing the strength in his sombre audience.

"… Because not one of us can comprehend how such a thing could happen to such a strong seventeen-year-old; how a girl who was so full of life, who had so much to give, could be taken away from us so suddenly."

A weak sob was ripped from Mrs Prescott's throat and she wavered on the spot, her thin, shaking hand holding a cotton handkerchief to her mouth whilst her balance was only attained from the support of her husband, who was equally distraught, but bracing a brave face; most likely for his wife … and maybe the neighbours.

I pulled my gaze away and bit my lip.

I didn't understand what was going on. None of this was comprehendible at all. Who was behind this? Was it really Paul?

I felt a strong hand slip inside of mine, securely, and I gazed up at my boyfriend, whose eyes held great sorrow for a girl he had barely even met. I smiled forcefully and leant into him, inhaling deeply and relishing in his strong, assuring scent.

"What hatred must lie in someone's heart to make them commit such a callous act?" He stopped and I frowned. Was he angry? At Paul, maybe? But this was father Dominic, there was no way that he would judge his assumptions on what a news reporter stated. Father Dominic has faith in even the most untrustworthy people.

A silence reigned through the air; the only sounds audible were the rustling of the trees as the breeze passed through them and the muffled sniffling of lamenters. The crickets were silent … the birds were silent … and it was unnaturally eerie.

"We may never know," he continued, solemnly, "but what we do know, is that we must never let hatred take hold of our hearts. Hatred causes us to suffer. Our hearts were not meant to bear hatred, but to love with all the goodness that we can possibly possess; as Kelly had." He finished, and I frowned once again, but soon dismissed his last words as comments from behind me, reached my ears, tugging my attention.

"They're a dangerous family. I always knew it."

"Insanity runs in their blood; look at their grandfather, he was one strange old man. And now Paul, committing an act of such violence; I say that we should get the younger kid out of here – what's his name … Jack – before something happens with him."

A gasp resounded from another of the discreet gossipers.

"My daughter … she's with that young boy … Jack."

"What? She's only eleven."

"I know, but she's fascinated by the lad. I never did like him though; he always was a shady one."

I stopped listening to their conversation, constraining myself from confronting them, and declared, right then, that I was going to find out the truth. No matter what.

My train of thought immediately cut off as something, from the corner of my eye, caught my attention. Diverting my full awareness to the figure, leaning against a sturdy tree in the near distance, I realized that I had never seen him around Carmel before. There were many people that I didn't know, but I had at least seen most of the inhabitants of the town.

I studied him carefully. Noting the way his tall, lean yet muscular body rested firmly against the trunk of the tree; how the masses of dark hair fell carelessly upon his forehead striking a stark contrast against his pale skin and attempting to disguise the sharp, cutting intenseness of his pale green eyes.

His gaze was shooting in my direction, but as my eyes focused on his, I came to find that the glares wasn't directed at me, but at Jesse.

As if feeling my lingering stares, his piercing eyes suddenly jumped to mine, flickering suddenly with something that resembled amusement and his pale lips twitched into a crooked smirk. My heart flipped in my chest as his gaze cut into me, penetrating my skin and stirring the blood in my veins.

"Jesse," I turned slowly away from the boy, my eyes tearing away from his, and faced Jesse. "Who is that guy?" I asked, inquiringly, raising an eyebrow whilst cocking my head in his direction.

Jesse frowned, confused, before peering over my shoulder and then gazing back at me. "Who?"

"Him, that guy over there, he's around my age, kind of tall, dark hair …" I drifted off as Jesse stared at me.

"Querida," he said, softly, "There's nobody there."

Scowling, I spun around, my finger pointed – yes, I know it's rude, but frankly, I don't give a damn – and ready to display to my boyfriend, the curious looking guy over by that …

Hold on. Where the hell was he?

"He was there a second ago, I swear," frustration was readily coursing through my body as I frantically glanced around at the departing mourners, scanning for the boy I had seen earlier, "And he wasn't even glowing, so he couldn't have been … you know."

I released a deep breath of air, whilst frowning profoundly.

He was so there. I was not imagining things. I was not crazy.

"Susannah, it's been a long morning, we should get you home." Jesse placed a warm, comforting hand on the small of my back, leading me towards the cemetery gates as I continuously searched the area.

As Jesse tugged the wrought iron gates from there place, I cast one last look across the grounds before sighing and allowing Jesse to lead me home.

Maybe I was just delirious.

-----------------------------------

Concentration … is the key.

My eyes were clamped shut and a vast darkness threatened to consume my mind as I focused on my room. Envisioning everything; allowing myself to slip into a three-dimensional, virtual world.

"Susannah."

Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate.

"Susannah." Jesse's voice was more persistent, as he adamantly attempted to grab my attention.

I felt power, great power, surging uncontrollably through my body, tingling each nerve and muscle over and over again like relentless light shocks of electric. It was overwhelming, the pressurized energy that was building up inside of me was claiming my body, and I was losing control. But I had to keep concentrating.

"Susannah."

"What?" I snapped, my eyes opened and the power from within drained instantly, leaving me feeling exhausted and weary and each one of my muscles crying in protest as my knees threatened to buckle beneath me.

"I told you that this would happen. You don't have enough energy to do this so many times in one day." Jesse commented as he came to stand beside me, his arm slipping around my waist as he led me to my bed.

"But, I was nearly there. I felt the power, Jesse, if you hadn't distracted me, I would have-" I complained, but Jesse silenced me with a shattering kiss.

His powerful lips moved against mine, and once my mind had caught up with me, I reciprocated his movements and linked my arms around his neck, drawing him into me, and deepening the kiss.

"If I hadn't stopped you, querida," started Jesse as he pulled away, resting his forehead against mine and caressing my cheek, tenderly, with his thumb, "You would have killed yourself."

"No I wouldn't-" but once again he cut me off, kissing me fervently with a passionate demand.

Pulling away once more, he stated, "Yes, you would have. The energy that you were calling upon is draining; when you use it, it takes a part of your energy with it. You didn't have enough energy to give."

"And that would have killed me?" I asked, doubtfully, as I raised my eyebrows high.

"Yes, actually, it would have. Don't you need energy to keep your heart beating?" He smiled gently, placing a light, chaste kiss on my lips.

My heart soared.

"Yeah, yeah, doc, whatever you say." I laughed then frowning, I added, "Jesse, it's been a week now, how come I still can't manage this? Am I that weak?"

Jesse shook his head, and rolled over, so that he was lying on his back and staring at the ceiling, "No, you are not weak, just tense. You are too nervous when practising … Maybe we shouldn't do this, I mean, I never could figure out why you were doing this in the first place."

"Because it's Paul." Was my haste reply, blurted out before I even had time to think it over.

"Precisely," Jesse shifted slightly, and turned towards me again.

"I have this feeling, Jesse, that he's been framed. I mean, I know Paul's not the best guy around, but he didn't have anything against Kelly, not really anyway."

"Didn't they break up last week?" Jesse asked, emotionlessly.

"Yeah, but Paul broke up with her. It doesn't make any sense." I sighed in frustration, and grabbing a pillow, I covered my face and inhaled deeply, preparing to scream.

However, the pillow was quickly ripped out of my hands and Jesse's concerned face peered down at me, fear dressing his handsome features.

"Don't do that;" he warned, his voice slightly croaky. I frowned, confused.

"What? Why not?" I asked, my voice wavering.

"Because that's what happened to Kelly," he tore his gaze away from mine, and stared out of the bay window, his body becoming suddenly tense and rigid.

I slipped my hand into his, entwining my fingers around his long ones, yet still, he remained immobile.

"Jesse?" I questioned, nervously, as I shuffled towards him.

Jesse's body jumped, as if startled and he turned towards me.

"It's getting late, I should go." My eyes flickered quickly to the window, where the sun had set, leaving behind the dark purple and blue hues that stained the sky with darkness.

I nodded numbly, "Are you okay?"

Jesse smiled, hesitantly, "Of course, querida, I'm just tired."

"You're tired? I'm whacked." Jesse frowned unsurely. When was he going to get used to these modern sayings?

"Probably not for a while," Jesse smiled at my outspoken thoughts, before kissing me gently on the top of my head, "I'll see you tomorrow, mi querida. Goodnight."

As Jesse left, I clapped my hands together, consequently turning off my lights and drowning in the sudden darkness. My eyes closed sleepily as I drifted into a dream-like state, however, something inside of me wouldn't let me sleep.

A sense was gnawing away at me, triggering alarms inside my head and alerting me that I wasn't the only one present in the room. A wash of cold fear flooded my body as I lay still, frozen, anticipating my next move with frantic, racing thoughts.

The darkness was thick, overpowering, suffocating my mind with its shadowy vastness, as I willed my eyes to adjust quickly. But my sight wasn't coming to me, it was rendered useless in this threatening space surrounding me. I was left vulnerable, with my impaired senses, to the other presence who was currently hiding amidst this black void. I shuddered, as a jolt of dread traced down my spine.

Suze … get a hold of yourself, you can't see anything, you can't hear anything … nothing's there. You're just being paranoid.

Right. Paranoid, I just have a bad case of paranoia.

Nevertheless, I knew that my mind wouldn't rest until I'd assured myself that there was, in fact, nothing there.

With swift, steady movements, I drew my palms quickly together, causing a resounding slap to echo from their collision. The lights flickered on quickly, and I scanned the room with cautious eyes.

There was nothing there

I sighed deeply, releasing a breath of relief as my body and mind eased. My eyes felt like lead as they drooped, drowsily, attempting to block out reality and give way to exhaustion. I surrendered myself to the overwhelming tiredness and my eyes closed for sleep.

"Night, Suze."

A rush of adrenaline filled my blood; my heart started pumping fervently in my chest and my eyes shot open, blind to the dark.

A/N - Eeeeek! Whoa ... I'm craving for some galaxy chocolate now ... mmm... anyways. Review, pretty, pretty please?

Hey all (3) reviewers lol ... How goes it?

Thanks for the reviews:

Mrs. Nikki Slater - So would the 'Slater' on the end of your name, insinuate that your a PFCer? I'm confused. You seem to be voting for Jesse a lot lol.

BoosyBoo - I don't know what chapter you've read to, or if you've given up before you've even reached chapter three, but i have to say that your review was great and it meant a lot, thanks.

La Fonda - Yeah, i know ... poor Paulie. The final pairings aren't too clear to me at the moment, but i hope you'll like the conclusion anyways lol. Thanks a lot!

starrynightdreamer - Hmm ... yeah, the poor doll; I agree, she didn't deserve to die, but unfortunately, this is how the plot goes. lol. Great that you'll continue to read, thank you, i love ya for that lol!

Hope you all enjoyed reading as much as I did writing.