CHAPTER FIVE: VISIONS

Kevin was having another disturbing nightmare, and he kept seeing four distinct images in this order; houses on fire, blackbirds sitting on a tree, a name written on a paper, and a man screaming while he was being tortured.

His grip on the bed sheet tightened, and drops of sweat gathered on his forehead. His head turned, eyes remained closed, his chest heaving rapidly. Once again, images of a gigantic cloud of smoke rising from burning houses, Crows pecking an oak, a finely written note with a name on it, and a man screaming in pain floated around his mind. His body was hunched, his breathing hastened and fingers clenched together.

Kevin—screaming, woke from the nightmare, a horrified look plastered all over his face. That was the second dream in one night. Panting, he sat up straight on the bed, his palms sweaty and his face covered with sweat. He looked up at the big clock that hung on the wall.

3:14 am

The door swung open, and Cedric rushed in with a lamp which he held up above his head. “Are you alright?” He brought the lamp closer to examine him.

 “I’m fine,” he breathed, eyes still filled with shock. “Just having another bad dream.”

Of course, Cedric knew better than to take his word for it. Kevin wasn’t fine—in fact, he was the exact opposite, and it was quite obvious. He held the lamp a bit closer to his face. “I told you already, you need to see a therapist. I could have one arranged for—”

“I said I’m fine,” he scowled, slightly raising his voice. “I do not need any therapist.” He strained his eyes from the bright lamp Cedric held up against his face. “And could you take that thing away from me? It’s hurting my eyes.” 

Cedric moved the lamp away from him and placed it on the table beside the bed.

Kevin felt his throat burn, and climbing out of bed, he walked to the door. “I could use some soda right now.” 

“There’s one in the fridge.”

Without a word, he left the room and went into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he pulled out a cold bottle of soda, opened it, and gulped its contents while staring at his reflection in the mirror. 

He was disappointed at how baggy his eyes looked, obviously from not getting enough sleep. Terror transformed his face when he thought he saw Loretta staring at him in the mirror. She stood behind him, her face covered in blood. He quickly turned and found no one else in the kitchen. When he looked back in the mirror, she was gone.

He emptied the soda with shaky hands and threw the bottle in a waste bin. Then, he looked in the mirror, staring at his reflection, unable to control his breathing.

###

Landry looked over the pencil drawings one after another. “You stayed up all night drawing this?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Kept seeing these four images in my sleep. So I drew them—that’s the only way I could get them out of my head,” Kevin answered, giving him another drawing. “This is the first time this year I’ve dreamt of something different. Does this mean I’m finally moving on from what happened?”

“Perhaps you’ve entered a whole new level of depression,” Landry countered, looking over the drawings again. They all seemed completely different from each other. “Smoke rising from burning houses, birds on a tree, a note with a name on it, and a tortured man screaming. These visions seem so unrelated in many respects. It certainly means that whatever is going on with you has gotten a whole lot worse. Have you figured out what any of these mean?” 

“No. That’s why I called you,” he said. “I stayed up all night trying to figure out what they meant, but got nothing.” 

He was quiet for a minute, thinking. “Maybe these visions could be part of your PTSD problems.”

“I doubt it. The images I saw have nothing to do with what happened back then.” He took out another drawing and handed it to him. “Here, check this out!” 

Landry took the drawing from him and stared with fixed eyes. He recoiled at the drawing of a man screaming in agonizing pain. His face contorted at the sight. “Who’s this?”

“Not sure I’ve seen him before.”

“And yet he somehow managed to appear to you in your dream.” He returned his gaze to the drawing and looked at it more closely. “Maybe these visions are somehow related to Loretta’s death. Take a closer look at this. The eerily similar torture of the man in this drawing is somewhat similar to the way Loretta was tortured.”

Kevin snorted at his response. “If you think T-Murek tortured Loretta that way, then you don’t know half of it.”

Landry fell silent. Kevin was right; he didn’t have the slightest idea how Loretta had been tortured since he wasn’t present when she was murdered. He wasn’t even allowed to see the body after.

He had been positively horror-struck when he’d received the news of Kevin’s kidnap—which was barely twenty-four hours after Loretta had gone missing. For two days, the police had carried out a thorough search throughout the city to find them, but the search had yielded no fruitful result. The police had found them on the third day in an abandoned warehouse. By the time the police had gotten there, T-Murek was gone, far gone, almost as though he’d disappeared off the face of the earth.

Landry picked up another drawing and scrutinized it closely, his eyes searching for clues. “Here, you drew an empty note.”

“I saw the same note in my dream. It had a name on it. The problem is, I don’t remember what it was, and no matter how hard I try to remember, the memory keeps evading me.” 

“Maybe that name which you don’t remember is the missing piece to solving this puzzle, all of it. See if you can remember what was written on this note, even if it’s just a letter. That could help us interpret your dream.”

Kevin pressed his fingers to the side of his temple and closed his eyes, trying hard to remember. For several minutes, his eyes remained closed, and Landry silently watched, waiting in anticipation.

When Kevin opened his eyes, he sighed heavily. “Nothing.”

It was 9:45 in the morning. The sky was grey, not threatening rain or snow, and the air was dense. The sun was up already. Landry and Kevin sat in the park, under a towering oak, which shaded them from the scourging sun. The trees around beautified the park and made it comfortable to sit in.

Landry put the drawings away. “Let’s just sit back and enjoy the morning. We’ll have time to figure this out later.”

Kevin didn’t want that. He wanted answers and he wanted them right away.

Landry, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. He was living his best life, leaning on the park bench with both his hands behind his head and legs crossed. He shut his eyes, taking in a deep breath as the chilly breeze blew in his direction. Then he looked around the park.

“There sure are a lot of people in the park today,” he said. “I wonder if it’s because it is weekend.”

Suddenly, he noticed a little girl walking toward them. He watched in silence until she came close.

“Kind sir, please help me,” the little girl said to them in her innocent little voice. “My mom and I are hungry and have no food. Could you spare some change?” She was on the brink of tears.

Landry bent, bringing himself to her height. “Where is your mother, little one?” he asked in a tender voice.

She whirled and gestured towards a middle-aged woman sitting on a wooden park bench far across. She looked pale and sad.

“That’s your mother?” he questioned, clearly not what he expected.

She nodded. “No one in the park would help us. Kind sir, please help us, or my mum and I would starve to death.” Her tears were now visible. “I don’t want to die.”

Kevin, touched by her plea, leaned toward her. “What’s your name?” 

The little girl diverted her attention to him. “It’s Mirabel, sir.”

“Mirabel,” he called out. “How old are you?” 

“Thirteen. I’m thirteen, sir.”

Kevin slid his hands into his pocket, emptied his wallet, and handed it all to her. “Mirabel, this is the little I have on me right now, but I promise to bring something much better the next time I visit this park.”

Her face glowed. “Thank you so much, kind sir. This is more than enough to take care of our meals for the rest of the day.” She left them in a hurry to meet her mum, who was waiting across.

“Their meal for the rest of the day? Unbelievable!” he marvelled, following her with his eyes. “I’d kept that money to buy snacks on my way home before finally having lunch.”

Landry scoffed. “I guess you have a lot to learn about managing your available resources.”

Mirabel got to where her mum sat and whispered something in her ear before handing the money to her. The woman waved at them in gratitude. A smile brightened her face as she took the bag. It did Kevin's heart good to see that look on her face. He was glad he didn’t buy that snack. He felt a sense of happiness watching Mirabel and her mother smile that way, knowing he was responsible for it.

As he watched Mirabel and her mother jubilate, something fleetingly caught the corners of his eyes. He turned and saw, sitting in an open corner, within hearing distance, the girls he had a run in with yesterday. His brows creased.