Chapter Eight
~At the Lake~
When the clock hit 4:15 PM, Laura and Logan were dismissed from their afterschool detention. She’d already texted her mom, saying she was going out with a friend, and that she’d have a ride home.
Logan lead her outside, where a few cars dotted the parking lot. He made his way over to one in the corner. It was a gray old Volvo, and had a few dents along its outer body. The tires looked worn, and a bit of rust edged out from underneath the vehicle.
“That’s your car?” Laura asked incredulously.
“She’s old, but she’s trustworthy,” Logan said. He patted the car’s roof affectionately. “She’s been with me for a long time.”
“Did you buy it yourself?”
“I saved up for it, yea. I know it might not look it, but the car’s safe, trust me. I do the maintenance.”
That didn’t offer much reassurance to Laura.
“Come on,” Logan urged as he unlocked the car, “it won’t bite.”
A light drizzle started to fall, and Laura shrugged. As long as the car worked, it would get them where they needed to go. She came around the front and climbed in.
As she closed the door and pulled her seatbelt on, Logan inserted the key and started the engine. To her surprise, it started smoothly, purring as all the gears started to move. “See,” he smiled at her, “I told you it’s well maintained.”
“I was expecting it to barely turn on,” Laura laughed.
“Ah, come on, it doesn’t look that bad,” Logan laughed back.
“No, I guess not,” Laura admitted. The start of a familiar song started playing from the speakers, and Laura listened for a second to catch it. Then she got it. “Bob Marley?”
“It’s a classic, yea.” He flashed her a grin. “A CD of his greatest hits.” He leaned forward to turn up the song.
She laughed. “Nice.”
Logan nodded, and switched the gear to drive. As the car started moving from its parking spot, Laura spoke up, “Where are we going?”
“There’s a lake around here, isn’t there?” Logan asked, pulling out into the street. “Lake Vancouver?”
“Yea, there is.”
“We need to go there.”
“How come?”
“For what I want to show you, we need to be somewhere calm… somewhere serene. I’m sure there’s a lookout point at the lake, right?”
Laura thought for a moment before remembering. “Yea, I think there is.”
“Good. Do you know the way?”
“Yea, I think so.”
They drove off, and Laura started giving Logan directions to the lake. She didn’t quite know where the lookout point was, but thought they’d be able to find it if they started driving along the shore.
“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Laura asked after a while as Logan took a left turn off the main road.
“Sure.”
“It’s kind of personal, and I don’t mean to pry, but I’ve been wondering this ever since last week.”
“Yes?”
“Um, when you took on the four guys in the school. You were like, amazing. Fast and agile, and you knew exactly what you were doing.”
“Thanks for noticing,” he chuckled.
“Well, I wanted to know, how’d you learn to fight like that?”
Logan spared a look over his shoulder at her. “That’s your question?”
“Well, yes,” Laura said. To her surprise, Logan burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” she demanded, feeling her cheeks start to grow red.
“It’s just the way you framed that,” Logan said amidst laughter. “Building up the question like that. Saying it was something personal. I was expecting something much worse.”
“No, I…” Laura stumbled abashedly. It felt like he was laughing at her, and she began to feel awkward. “I just wanted to be polite!”
“Well, after what I showed you this morning, I don’t think you need to worry about prying,” Logan said lightheartedly. Then he smiled over at her. “Ahh, come on, I’m not making fun of you. I’ll answer your question, don’t worry. How’d I learn to fight like that? Well, you don’t know this, but I alluded to it, earlier. When I said things from my childhood were dark and foggy. The truth is, I don’t have much of a family. I don’t have a family at all, actually.
“I grew up in an orphanage, and moved around a whole lot. Doing that as a kid, especially without a real family to back you up, you learn to stick up for yourself. I guess I just learned to do it on the streets.”
“Wow,” Laura said. “I’m so sorry. About your family. It must be tough not knowing who they are.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Logan shrugged it off. “It’s not like I haven’t gotten used to it by now, anyway.”
“I guess,” Laura said. “But I can’t imagine what that’s like.”
“Nor should you,” Logan answered.
They drove a bit further in silence, and then Laura spoke up again.
“Your ability,” she said, “you said you developed it when you were a kid. Have you ever met anybody else with it?”
“No.”
Just then, Laura recognized the area they were in. “Ah, ok, we’re very close,” she said. “Take a right at the next side-road, and I think there’s a little lookout at the end of the dirt road.”
“K.”
Laura looked out her window at the evergreens around her as they drove down the small road. She always found them beautiful. Clean, and pristine.
Sure enough, after a minute or so, the road up ahead ended in a small dirt lot right on the shore of the lake. They drove up to it, and Laura saw they were the only ones there. Logan parked the car, and looked over to her.
“Do you dream, Laura,” he asked suddenly.
“Do I dream? Of course I do. Everybody does.”
“No, no.” He shook his head. “I don’t mean dreams like dreams and hopes. I mean the journey that you go on when you’re asleep.”
“Of course I do.”
“And do you ever believe in your dreams? Do you ever feel like they have something to reveal to you, perhaps a truth about the world?”
“Hmm… maybe. When I was younger. Not much, anymore, really.”
“Well,” he said coyly, “how would you like to experience that feeling again?”
“What, dreaming?”
“No, not just dreaming. Knowing your dreams. Knowing they signify more.”
“How?” Laura asked suspiciously.
“I can take you there.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s another… ability… I have. It’s what I wanted to show you.”
“Umm, ok.” She couldn’t back off now.
“Ok.” He looked ahead, at the lake, and when he moved his lips, the words were barely distinguishable. “Look outside, Laura. Look at the calm of the lake. Feel at the serenity of the water.” He rolled down his window a bit. “Breathe in the air, feel the freshness, the vibrancy of it all. Actually,” he looked to her, “this would work better outside.” And he stepped out of the car. Laura didn’t have any choice but to follow.
Logan jumped up onto the hood of the Volvo, and motioned for Laura to do the same. She climbed on, sitting beside him, hands wrapped around her knees.
“Breathe the air in, Laura. Take in the silence, the nature. Hear the sounds of the lapping water, the rustle of wind through the trees. Embrace it all, Laura.”
“Ok…” she said uncertainly.
“Now, I want you to focus on this very moment. The very spot you’re in right now. Feel the cool metal of the car beneath you, the breeze tugging at your clothes. Inhale the pristine smells of the trees all around you, the rhythmic lapping of the lake.
“Ok,” Laura said. She listened to what he said, and made her mind focus on only what he pointed out.
“Now, I want you to give me your hand. But before you do, know that this is going to be different from last time.”
“Different, how?”
“I will show you what I know.”
“Ok.” She reached over to take his hand, not knowing what to expect. When their fingers touched… there was nothing. No barrage of unwanted thoughts flooding into her mind. For some reason, she started to feel drowsy. Her eyes began to droop shut. Her focus was wavering, and she had a hard time keeping her head up. She held his hand, though, and noticed it was icy cold, stealing her warmth.
“This… will go the other way,” he told her gently. “You’re going to want to take a nap.”
“I will?” Laura said drowsily.
“Yes, you will.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “Do not be afraid, Laura. Relax your mind, and let go.”
“...o…k…” she drawled the words. She felt her eyes close, and just before she fell asleep, she slumped heavily into Logan.