The Departed

looming over her, only it wasn’t her.
    Anna cried out, tried to get away, but the lady wouldn’t let go. She bit her. The lady screamed, and her grip loosened. Anna ran. Blindly, she ran. She didn’t care where she ran, didn’t know, and it didn’t matter, she just had to get away. She could see the little cabin the lady had been taking her to, but she couldn’t go there, she couldn’t. The roots grabbed at her feet, trying to trip her, and finally, one did. She went flying and immediately jumped back up.
    Behind her, the lady called her name.
    Anna shot a look behind her, didn’t see—
    And then she was falling.
    * * *
     
    THE darkness came so sudden and swift, it froze the air in Dez’s lungs. Her eyes flew open and she struggled to breathe around the shock of it, struggled to separate herself from that deep connection with Anna. Too deep—she’d felt the terror, felt the pain of death.
    The emptiness.
    And her horror.
    Finally, she managed to get in a breath. Then another. The band around her chest eased and she shoved against Taylor’s chest, eyeing the Taser. “Put that thing away,” she wheezed.
    “If you’d made me use it, I might have spanked you.” He gripped her against him with his busted arm, stroking the back of her head with his good hand. “Are you okay?”
    She nodded, licking her lips. “Physically, at least.” It wasn’t the complete truth—her belly was in turmoil and her head ached. But that would pass in a few more minutes.
    Emotionally, though…she wasn’t sure.
    Emotionally, she was a disaster.
    Closing her eyes, she let her mind process what had just happened. The thoughts were jumbled, trying to settle into a weird sort of pattern. Something…she needed to figure out one crucial…
    “Holy shit,” she whispered. Pushing back from Taylor, she stared at him. “Taylor, your sister was gifted.”
    “No.” He shook his head. “No, she wasn’t.”
    Dez pulled out of his arms and stood up, slowly, not trusting her shaking legs. “Oh, yes. She was. It wasn’t her I got those images from. She got them from somebody else. And she didn’t understand. But the person who took her had been abused—she was the one who’d been attacked. Anna had those images in her head when she died. I…” She swallowed, shaking her head. “Maybe all of that is part of what kept her trapped here, I don’t know. But Taylor, she was gifted.”
    He just stared at her, his face pale, eyes glinting. “Dez, I can recognize gifted. I’ve always been able to. Anna, she was special, but…”
    His voice trailed off. His eyes closed.
    * * *
     
    SPECIAL. Yes. Anna had been special. She’d had a light about her. When their father had been having a bad day, Anna knew how to make it better. She’d been the only one who could. When their mother had been despondent or more moody than usual, somehow, even though nobody else could reach her, sometimes, Anna had been able to do just that.
    And Taylor…no matter what, no matter how bad the day had been, she’d always been the one who could ease that, turn it around. One could easily say she’d just been a child with a way of sensing emotions.
    But if he’d seen her today, what would he have thought?
    Would he have wanted to talk to her longer and see if that unique way was something more…?
    He opened his eyes and stared at Dez, let himself think—not just about what she’d said about Anna. But the rest of it. Something in his heart tried to break free, but he didn’t dare let it. He got to his feet, grimacing as he had to adjust his balance, thrown off by the injury to his right arm. “Are you…” He closed his eyes. This was one thing he hadn’t prepared himself for—that Anna might not have been hurt. One thing he couldn’t have counted on. “Are you telling me that Anna hadn’t been hurt?”
    With a steady gaze, she stared at him. “I don’t think she was.” She turned her head, looking all around. “I need to find her. I think she’s close.” And she said nothing else as she started to walk.
    * * *
     
    IT was a well.
    Taylor recognized the solid, sturdy covering. Many of the old wells had been filled in, but a few hadn’t. Staring at it, his heart racing, he wondered. Was this the end of it, then?
    Had they found her?
    He looked up, saw Dez staring at him.
    “She’s in there,” Dez said quietly. A heavy sigh shuddered out of her and he realized, although the sun was beating down on them and the frost