Seeing Shadows Read Free Page A

children," I said clapping my hands, bringing everyone to order. "There will be no mooning today by anyone. Let's just have a nice relaxing dinner."
    There was a knock at the door, breaking up the conversation. Sarah opened the door to reveal Marcus with his trademark shy smile.
    "Hi Marcus," Sarah said. "Where's Grant?"
    Jenny groaned, rolling her eyes as Sarah shot her a killer look.
    "He'll be right up. He was just moving some stuff around for his cousin, but I didn't want to be late so I came up ahead."
    Marcus sat down next to Jenny, but you could have fit an elephant in the space he left between them on the couch. "Hi Jenny," he said with a smile.
    "Hey Marcus," she replied brightly. "How was your day?"
    As Marcus, Jenny and Sarah started talking about classes and exams and all the other things that had happened that day, I walked back into the kitchen, taking a deep breath. I had made an effort to seem relaxed when joking in the living room, but I was feeling off. It was as if I was feeling extra sensitized to everything. I could feel my heart beating rapidly in my chest, the sound of the material of my shirt rubbing against itself as I put my hand to my forehead. I thought twice about the glass of wine in my hand and put it down. Ever since I had gotten that weird sensation at the window, I felt as though I couldn't take a full breath.
    Get yourself together, I thought to myself. It's Friday night, you're going to have fun with your friends. You will not be weird, you will not freak out. You will be a normal girl if it kills you.
    After my less than effective pep talk, I grabbed some plates from the cupboard as I heard a pounding on the front door, much louder than the polite knock Marcus had given.
    "It's me, let me in," me yelled. Me was Grant.
    As I heard the door open and introductions to Grant's cousin being passed around, I took a deep breath and steeled myself. I had worked hard to give myself a normal social life in the past three and a half years and had almost convinced myself that I could be like everyone else. Just because I had had a few visions didn't mean I was going to go back to being afflicted with them every night.
    With that thought in mind, I walked out of the kitchen and into the living room to greet our newly arrived guests. Grant was standing by the couch talking to Sarah, who was leaning in closely to him. A guy, his cousin I suppose, had his back to me and was talking to Marcus and Jenny sitting on the couch. He was much taller than Grant. I would guess about six one, but he was more leanly muscled opposed to Grant's bulky physique.
    "Hi Grant," I called out as I placed the stack of plates on the table. "Glad to see you finally made it considering how far you had to travel," I joked.
    Grant smiled widely at me. "I had to pretty myself up for you girls. Caitlin, meet my cousin, Simon."
    His cousin turned around and my heart started to thud loudly in my chest. I heard a buzzing in my ears and a disconnected part of me wondered what it would feel like to faint. This couldn't be happening. The person I had watched die in my vision couldn't be Grant's cousin. But there was no mistaking his dark brown hair and brilliant blue eyes. I had seen those blue eyes glazed over with agony and fear.
    I involuntarily took a step back as I shook my head. I vaguely realized that Simon was saying something to me but it sounded muffled and everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, including his words.
    Get a grip, I hissed to myself in my head. Not now...not..now.
    I took a deep breath and mentally put the walls up and forced myself to focus. Everyone was looking at me oddly and Sarah tilted her head, narrowing her gaze on me.
    I laughed weakly. "Sorry, I think I breathed in too much smoke from the garlic bread we burned earlier." I took a step forward towards Grant's cousin. "Hi Simon, nice to meet you."
    Simon came closer, holding out his hand. "Hi Caitlin, nice to meet you too. Thanks for having me