Oxford Whispers Read Free

her own pajamas, she was wearing a loose white gown.
    No singing bird, no whispering wind, not a single sound. A stillness prevailed over the landscape. Almost a deadness.
    Understanding flashed across her mind, and she recognized the place. This time, Doctor McCain’s voice wouldn’t extract her from the surrounding darkness and drag her back to reality. She wasn’t in a classroom full of other students.
    She was in the painting, and her first impulse was to run. The prospect of a ghostly encounter with the Puritan froze her to the ground, her numb legs struggling to carry the rest of her body.
    Shaking herself out of the state of limbo, she managed to turn around, in search of an exit, a quick path out of the trees. Fear and darkness blurred her sight, and she couldn’t make out specific shapes.
    Then she heard crying, and other muted sounds coming from behind her. An overbearing force urged her to return, one tentative step at a time.
    A woman who hadn’t been there before leaned against the tree. Her hands hid her face and her tears, but Madison recognized the Puritan girl. She wore the same somber gown as in the painting.
    Madison stumbled toward her. Gathering her courage, she laid her sweaty hand on the maiden’s shoulder, the texture of the gown harsh against Madison’s palm.
    The young woman uncovered her tear-streaked face, and the charcoal shade of the stranger’s eyes sent shockwaves through Madison.
    Those eyes were her own, and those of the child from the ball.
    Madison stepped back. How could I have missed that before?
    “We never said goodbye.” The lips of the girl trembled. “He has to know the truth.”
    Her words echoed those Madison had heard from the girl earlier in the night.
    “Tell me your name,” Madison whispered, fear clenched like a fist in the pit of her stomach.
    “Sarah … You’re here at last.”
    “I shouldn’t be.” Madison’s voice broke. She wanted to escape, but the poor girl’s tears tugged at her soul.
    “You have the gift. You will know what to do. Time is against us.”
    Madison had crossed an ocean to get away from her roots. She wouldn’t give up on her dreams now. Not ever. “I don’t want to use my powers. They will destroy me.”
    “This is who you are.”
    Sarah lowered her gaze, and Madison’s heart tightened. The moment of pity didn’t last long, as Sarah grabbed Madison’s hands.
    “You are not here just because you can see us. This is your story too.”
    “I want nothing to do with you.” Madison stepped back, holding her palms out in front of her, to protect herself from the danger she breathed in the still air around her.
    “But you have no choice. You are me, I am you.” Sarah walked straight toward Madison, giving her no way of escape. “He is coming after you, don’t you see?”
    “Who? Who is coming after me?”
    “Peter.” Sarah locked eyes with Madison and added, “I know him, he will never let you be happy. He will never allow you to love again.”
    Shock made Madison bite her lower lip. The metallic taste of blood spread through her mouth. She swallowed, but almost choked on her own saliva. She had to get away from this place. She swiveled and ran, ran for her life while everything around her blurred and turned shapeless.
    And she heard Sarah’s words, as if the girl had whispered into her ear: “Peter will kill you. He will. Like he killed me.”
    Madison stumbled and fell into a hole, bottomless and black.
    She awakened with a jolt, back in her bed. She gasped for breath, and laid her hand on her pounding heart. Pulling her knees close to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them.
    A death threat.
    Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she struggled to stop her teeth from chattering. To calm down, she rocked her upper body and stared at the ceiling with her duvet tucked underneath her chin. Her thoughts whirled.
    She wanted to pretend this latest episode had never happened, but circumstances had changed. Within a day she had