(A/N: I just wanted to thank all of you that are reading my story, it's makes me happy knowing that there are people out there who like my writing =). I would especially like to thank those of you that are reviewing, I really appreciate it!!!)
(I didn't really get a chance to reread what I wrote for this chapter, so there might be a few typos and whatnot. Please forgive me =).
Chapter Twelve
This switched our moods like a light switch. One minute we were all laughing, and the next we all looked confused as Allie got up fast. She was smiling from ear to ear.
"Jason!" Allie screamed like a little girl and ran to the doorway. She jumped onto the figure, wrapping her arms around his waist. This blocked the view of his face, making it impossible to tell who it was.
"Oh my gosh! I missed you so much!" I heard her kiss him.
"I missed you too, Allie," Replied the voice. Wait a second, I know that voice. It couldn't be him though. Could it? No. Definitely not.
He proceeded to set her down back on her feet, still holding on to her. They had moved away from the light, this made it harder to make out who it was. I looked at Jared Kyle out of the corner of my eye. He was sitting on the floor, his eyes absorbed in the reunion occurring in front of him. It didn't look like he knew who the mystery guy was either, but I couldn't be sure. Jared looked just as confused as me, his face scrunched up.
"I've been looking for you for such a long time! I'm so glad I found you!"
"I've been waiting for you for ever. I never thought you were coming back...but I am so glad you did. You mean the world to me."
I indubitably knew that voice. I wouldn't let myself believe it was him though. After all that has happened how could it make any sense?
"Jason I want you to meet some people that I just met. They are kinda strange, but I like 'em." Allie grabbed hold of his hand and started to walk over to us.
I had my head down and did not look up right away. Instead I fixed my gaze on Kyle, waiting for his reaction. He had his face tilted slightly to the side, perplexed. As Allie's footsteps got louder Kyle's reaction changed to utter shock.
"Guys, this is Jason," Allie said joyfully.
"What the hell?" Kyle asked quietly. He then raised his voice, "What the hell is going on?"
I finally made myself look up at the esoteric male. My jaw dropped. My worst fear had come true. Ian. Ian was Jason. What?
I repeated myself out loud, "What?"
"This is Jason."
"No, we heard that part. We mean how is he Jason? His name is Ian," Kyle said. He, like the rest of us, was not so quick to believe what was happening.
"Just like you thought my name was Wanda?" Allie asked. "I think you guys should get yourselves checked out."
"Ian?" I asked. When he didn't respond I stood up in front of him. "Ian?" I asked again. Still nothing.
"I'm sorry, but I think you are mistaking me for someone else. My name is Jason," He replied in a serene voice.
It was now my turn to look bewildered. How is this even possible? Ian was a human, therefore he had no one in him that could come back. How did he now have a different personality? This didn't make "any sense. Unless this was all a big joke. It wasn't April was it?
"Okay hold on. Let me get this straight. You," he pointed to Allie, "were Wanda until you fainted because Ian broke up with you. You then woke up as someone named Allie, whom you are claiming to be right now. And you," he pointed to Ian, "overdosed on sleeping pills, causing you to have to take charcoal which made you throw up a lot. Then you feel asleep and now you woke up and think you're someone named Jason. That is just too damn confusing. I mean how is that even possible?" He yelled.
"Kyle calm down for a second. There has to be a reasonable explanation for this," Jared said. That is just like him to try and assess the situation before jumping to any conclusions. Or that's how he's been recently anyway.
"I seriously don't know what is wrong with you. I've always been Allie and he has always been Jason. So whoever told you those stories was lying."
I didn't know how to respond to this. I just stood there with my arms crossed. Jared was right, there had to be a logical explanation for all of this. We would just have to dig to find out what it was. Could they just be having hallucinations? That was a possibility. Or what if they ate something that was bad? No, because then the rest of us would be feeling weird. This was really making my head hurt. It was late and I needed to get some rest.
Allie yawned. "Let's go lay down Jason. I'm exhausted." She stretched her arms into the air, bringing them back down to grab Jason. He smiled and then started to make his way out of the room. We all watched them go. Where were they going to sleep? All the rooms were full and we didn't have any extra mattresses. I was about to point this out when I heard a yawn from behind me. It was Kyle.
"Well. That just sucks. I mean I find her first, but of course she goes for Ian. Or Jason, Or whatever their names are now. You guys are still Jared and Mel though, right?" He had a hint of nervousness in his voice. I hadn't even thought about that. If it could happen to both Wanda and Ian, what are the chances it could happen to one of us?
"Right." We both responded. I could feel my eyes getting heavy again.
"Babe, let's go get some sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open," Jared said. It's like he had read my mind.
I didn't have to strength to reply so I just nodded and turned to walk towards the hall. It felt weird in the caves tonight. Almost like there was a presence that wasn't supposed to be there. I just shook the thought out of my head and kept walking.
As soon as we got to our room I plopped down on the bed, not even bothering to take off my dirty clothes. Jared laid down next to me, with Kellan cuddling between us. I kept petting his soft fur as I closed my eyes, slowly drifting to sleep.
I slept soundlessly that night, dreaming about a waterfall. I was in the water with Jared, splashing around, with Kellan on the rock next to us. I was wearing my blue two piece, while Jared was in his green swimming trunks. We were laughing as we took turns swimming under the waterfall, peeking through on the other side. I had one of those cameras that could get wet and was taking pictures of everything. I snapped a shot of Jared when he was on the other side of the waterfall, then took one of Kellan on the rock. He was barking at something in the trees. I looked up to see a bird, and quickly to a shot of it. I continued to do this until all the film was gone. I set the camera on a rock and ducked under water.
When I came back up I was in a different place. It was extremely hot and I had sweat dripping down my face. "Come on babe! We are almost to the top!" I heard a voice yell. I looked up to see Jared climbing the mountain in front of me. I looked back down. We had to have been walking for hours for I could see no sign of civilization. My backpack was weighing me down, it must have been holding lots of water. I recognized this place, it was Arizona. Tuscon to be exact. It was the desert we were living in now. We must be on the mountain where our caves are located. I felt different though, younger, and I knew that me and Jared did not make this trip together. I kept walking though, determined to catch Jared.
We reached the top about ten minutes later. It took us longer than normal because of the heat and the fact that our legs were tired from our long journey here. "Whoa! Look at this!" I walked over to where he was standing. There was a giant hole in the ground. "How far do you think it goes?" I asked him. "I don't know, but let's find out." He picked up a big rock and dropped it in the hole. We listened carefully, waiting to see if we could hear it hit the bottom. We were able to hear a small thud. It was very faint, but it was so quiet out that we were able to hear it. "That's gotta be thirty, forty feet. Maybe even more!" He sounded so excited about it, like he had waited all his life to see something like this. He took a step closer. "Be careful J." He smiled and took my hand, pulling me closer. We stood there for a second, staring into this big hole of unknown. I felt my foot start to slip, I was losing my balance. I gripped harder onto Jared's hand, but he was slipping too. I felt myself falling, but could do nothing to stop it."Jared!" I heard myself yell. I couldn't tell where he was though. I knew I was going to hit the ground hard. I did not know what was the best way to land to soften the impact. I only had about ten seconds to think and the only thing I focused on was Jared's face.
I landed with a huge thud. I felt my body tense up and instantly felt pain all over. I heard another thud somewhere to my right. "Jared." I thought. I couldn't find my voice and was too scared to open my eyes. My view then switched. I was no longer in my body, but up above. I quickly realized that I had not been in my body; I was seeing it through someone else's perspective. I looked over at the male. It hadn't been Jared all along. I did not recognize who the couple was, but I was glad to see that it wasn't me. The bodies, however, looked terrible. I tried to focus on something else, but all I could see were the struggling bodies in front of me. I wanted so badly to help them, but there was nothing I could do. The male had reached over to take the girl's hand. She had to be no older than eighteen. "I love you A," He whispered. "I love you too J," She whispered back. Their eyes closed shortly after.
I awoke right after that, gasping for air. I could not believe what I had just witnessed. I knew it had been a dream, but it felt so real. I felt my stomach do a flip flop. Seeing those lifeless bodies made me feel sick. I put my hand over my mouth and ran to the wash room. I sat on the floor for a few minutes before washing my hands and returning to my room.
I still felt the same eeriness as I walked through the caves. Why would I have a dream about two people that fell down a hole? What is the significance of that? It wasn't me that it happened to, obviously. I don't even know anyone who had died on a hiking trip. I replayed the last part in my head, when the two said "I love you" to each other. They had used their names. No not their names, their initials. One was 'A' and the other was 'J.' I don't know any couples that have those letters to start their names. What could it possibly mean? A and J. J and A. I came to a halt. A and J. Allie and Jason. Could it be them? My heart started to pound. I wasted no time as I ran back to my room.
"Jared! Jared! Wake up!" I screamed as I shook his body.
He grumbled something that I could not make out. Finally he turned over and looked at my face. When he saw me he sat up quickly. I must have looked how I felt.
"Jared, do you believe in ghosts?" I asked in all seriousness.
