The Forgotten Ones

took my iced tea out back and sat in a lounge chair. Nicole inevitably followed.
    She leaned back on the railing and folded her arms. “All right, let’s hear it.”
    “There’s nothing to tell.”
    “I’m used to this sort of thing from you,” Nicole began, “but I’m family, I have no choice but to accept your weirdness.”
    “Nic—”
    “No, let me finish. You told Ethan you’d go to lunch with him. Now that I see for myself that there’s no catastrophe, I don’t understand why you would blow him off.”
    “First of all, I never agreed. And besides, I haven’t been feeling well, and I just laid down for a minute and...” I trailed off, not wanting to lie but hoping Nicole would come to her own conclusions.
    “This is Ethan we’re talking about, Al. You have been in love with him since you were in the first grade! So, what’s the deal?”
    “It was a mistake, Nic,” I whispered.
    Nicole shook her head and stalked back in the house without another word.
    I closed my eyes, and let my head fall back on my chair. The sounds of the dishes clattering in the sink began to fade.
    I walk into a room. I’ve seen it before…the curved ceiling is familiar. A man stands in the center of the space, his black hair pulled back at the base of his neck. His face is all sharp angles, and he smirks at me, a cruel and twisted smile. He looks like he’s been expecting me, but I’ve never seen him before.
    The cry of bird makes me stop, my feet not wanting to enter any farther into the room. A large black bird lands on the man’s outstretched arm, and he looks into the bird’s eyes, then back at me.
    His laughter is as cold and sharp as an icicle as he turns to look at me again. “ Do you know where your mother is, girl?”
    “Allie?” I jumped at the sound of my name, and woke to find Ethan gently shaking my shoulder.
    “Where is she?” I shouted.
    “Whoa, Allie, it’s okay. It was just a bad dream,” he said as I stood up. “You were kind of thrashing around.”
    I gulped in the summer air and tried to catch my breath. “I’m…I’m fine. I’m just not feeling that great.”
    His expression was hopeful. “You must be coming down with something. Nic just told me you slept all afternoon.”
    I nodded and stretched my arms above my head.
    “We were thinking of doing your cake, sweetie,” Aunt Jessie said as she stuck her head out the back door and smiled sheepishly at us.
    “Oh, thanks Aunt Jessie,” I said, grateful for a reason to not have to give Ethan any more explanations. I gave him a halfhearted smile as we headed inside.
    My family was seating themselves back at the table with coffee, and in front of my seat was a beautiful cake with lemon icing—my favorite.
    As I blew out my candles, I wished for the same thing I did every year—to be strong enough, and capable enough, to take care of my mother.
    But, this year’s wish was slightly different. I hoped for a real chance at my mother getting better.

    When I got up the next morning to go for my run, it was already in the eighties and the sun had barely risen over the trees. The humidity made my tank top stick to my skin, but I didn’t care. My headphones blared in my ears, cares shattered into pieces by the pumping bass line. I welcomed the sweat trickling down my back and pushed harder.
    I walked the last half mile to cool down, and as I came around the corner I saw Liam standing, once more, in the path leading up to his property.
    As I approached, he raised his hand in greeting, and something silver gleamed out from the short sleeve of his shirt.
    “Good morning, Allison.”
    “Hey,” I said, feeling awkward and not sure how to act after all he’d told me a few days before.
    “They’re beginning to clear the property today.”
    I looked up the path to see a group of men pulling chainsaws out of a truck. “I guess I won’t be sleeping in anytime soon.”
    Liam laughed a little, and his lips curved upward. He had a nice smile—I hadn’t seen him smile much since I’d met him.
    “I had another dream last night,” I said, grabbing my ankle to stretch my leg.
    “Oh?”
    “Yeah,” I said, suddenly unsure if I should share it. He waited for me to continue, and I shook off the fear. “I was in that same room where I saw Aoife before. There was a man with long, black hair. He had a black bird on his shoulder.” I looked straight into Liam’s eyes. “He asked about my mother.”
    I didn’t like the way his eyes widened