All the Shiny Things: A Kate Reid Novel (Kate Reid Series Book 1) Read Free

each step more painful than the last. Running as fast as her legs would carry her, the unexpected light blurred her vision as they struggled to adjust. She traversed through the trees realizing that something was tied around her neck; it was a blindfold. She recalled yanking it off her face at the time of her escape. Over her shoulder, the shadowy figure quickly approached and soon everything appeared out of proportion. The trees seemed to reach up to the clouds. The silhouette loomed closer and larger as the giant trudged after her. His faceless body was shrouded in darkness, but he was gaining on her and she could not run any faster. The pain from her bloodied feet slowed her pace. He was right behind her now as the earth trembled beneath each step. An extraordinarily long arm and grotesque hand reached to grip her tattered t-shirt. She lunged forward, pulling her shoulder away from the scrap of fabric he managed to grasp. The force of the lunge caused her to stumble to the ground. The sound of cracking ribs filled her ears as she landed on a jagged boulder and a chilling scream clawed its way out of her throat.
    “Wake up. Katie, wake up!”
    She bolted upright in bed and reached for her side. One look at her hand and she expected to see blood, but there was none.
    “It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re okay,” Spencer reassured her as they embraced. “It was that dream again, wasn’t it?”
    She looked at him with frantic eyes, still catching her breath. “Yes, it’s getting worse and it’s happening more often.”
    The dream had gotten worse. When it started a few months back, it was never intense enough to wake her. Starting out as just someone chasing her, but it would fade away. Then, a couple of weeks ago, the dream started coming to her more frequently, each time becoming more real and more frightening.
    “Maybe you should talk to someone about this. Maybe it’s just stress. You have been really busy helping Sam this past month or so. That seems to be when it got worse.”
    Katie could see he was struggling for an answer. Stress, she thought, was entirely possible. Juggling her bridesmaid duties from a distance as well as working on the upcoming fundraiser for the foundation; yes, that must be the reason. She squeezed him hard as a way of thanking him for understanding. “Maybe you’re right. When we get home, I’ll call Dr. Reyes. She works with the foundation and counsels some of the families. I suppose I could talk to her.”
    “I think that would be a good idea. Try to get back to sleep.” Spencer kissed her damp forehead and laid back down.
     
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    It was a Sunday morning in Eureka and the airport was thinly populated. Nevertheless, Katie and Spencer calmly but quickly ran through to security after having overslept. A few very tired looking individuals stood ahead of them, but it wasn’t as busy as Katie had anticipated. Still, it would be a sprint to get to the gate in time.
    The flight was already boarding and Katie handed the attendant her boarding pass with Spencer following closely behind.
    “See, there was nothing to worry about. We made it in plenty of time.” His raspy voice couldn’t conceal the previous night’s celebration.
    “Well if I hadn’t prodded you along, we’d have missed it for sure.” Katie shoved her carryon under the seat.
    Almost as soon as they were airborne, she noticed Spencer was already asleep. Unbelievable . She reached for her tablet and turned it on when the announcement to use electronics was finished. The airline charged a steep fee for wi-fi access, but boredom quickly set in and with a few hours to kill, she opened up a search engine and typed “treatments for stress.”
    Maybe this was all stress-related, but before she called Dr. Reyes, Katie would be armed with information. Several results were returned, including something called “relaxation hypnotherapy.” Sounds interesting . As her search deepened, other forms of hypnosis and