Carpathian 18 - Dark Possesion

had happened that day? How she felt something changing and growing and reaching to get out of her, to be acknowledged and recognized. It wanted out. She moistened her lips and clung tighter to his hand.
    "I was different in that moment, completely different, yet the same. I could leap over obstacles without even slowing down. Every sense was alive in me. My body was—singing, as if it had come alive for the first time.
    I can't even explain how it felt, every sense so open and gathering information. And then things began to pour into my mind, visions I couldn't stop or make sense of."
    He brought her hand to his chest in an effort to comfort her. She didn't seem to realize she was becoming agitated and that her state of mind was affecting the monkeys in the surrounding trees. Wings displaced air overhead as birds stood on branches and beat them, squawking and chirping anxiously. He slid the pad of his thumb over the back of her hand and felt hard knots under her skin as her tension mounted. "What did you see?" Whatever it was had terrified her.
    "A man calling to a woman, telling her to take the baby and run. The baby was— me . I was lying in a crib, and she wrapped me in a blanket, kissed the man and clung to him. I could hear voices and saw dancing lights outside the windows. The man kissed me, too, and then her one last time and jerked open a trapdoor in the floor. I felt dread and fear. I didn't want to leave him and neither did she. I think we all knew it was the last time we'd see each other."
    She licked her dry lips. "The infant was surrounded by forest while I was running the track, hearing my heart, my footfalls, smelling the others, and I remember stars bursting around me. But they weren't really around me at the school; the lights were flashing around the woman and me, the infant in the forest. I could hear something whistle as it went past us, and then the woman flinched, stumbling. The next thing, I was running on the track, yet at the same time the woman was running through the trees with me—the baby."
    "Was the woman your mother?"
    "No!" MaryAnn nearly shouted more denial, but caught herself, breathing hard, trying to push down the shock of what that would imply. "No, I don't know who she was, but she wasn't my mother."
    He reached out and tugged until she lay against him, her head pillowed on his shoulder. "Do not be upset, sivamet ." His voice was soft, that mesmerizing sweep of velvet whispering over her skin. "Be calm, It is a beautiful night and we are simply talking, getting to know one another. I am very interested in this dual run you had. Do you think it really happened? How old do you think you were when this flight through the forest took place? And where were you? The United States'? Europe? What language was spoken?"
    MaryAnn sucked in her breath and lay very still, absorbing his warmth and strength. She could feel it flowing over and into her, as if Manolito was sharing himself and who and what he was with her. He didn't probe her mind, but he sent her complete understanding and acceptance. He was accepting something in her that she couldn't seem to accept in herself.
    "Not English. I don't know. I was afraid. Very afraid." And every single time she entered a forest, that fear nearly choked her. "They wanted to kill us. I knew that, even as an infant. Whoever was torching the house wanted all of us dead, even me."
    She was barely able to breathe, her chest tight, her heart pounding.
    "The woman ran and ran, but I knew something was wrong with her. Her rhythm was off and her breath came in great gasps. We both knew the exact moment the man who had stayed behind in the house was killed. I heard her silent scream, and it echoed mine. Sorrow consumed her and then me, almost as if we shared the same emotions. I knew she was desperate to get through the forest to a neighbor's house. The place was usually empty, but they were there, on vacation."
    A shudder went through her and Manolito gathered her closer. Her skin was ice cold, and he turned, fitting his body around hers. "You do not have to tell me any more, MaryAnn, not if it is too painful." Because he was fairly certain he knew the rest of the story. He wanted her to trust him enough to give him the details, but her distress level was rising, and with it, he noted with interest, the animals in the surrounding trees grew even more agitated.
    MaryAnn had never told anyone, and she wanted to tell him. The constriction in her chest had