trying a friend’s lunch, and the next minute I’m someplace else completely. And there have been others—in a concert hall and at a ferry dock.”
Griffon stays silent, but shifts closer to me. It’s all I can do not to reach out and touch him, but I don’t. It feels like I’m on the edge of something big, and as much as I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want him to stop. I need to get through to the end.
“Think for a second,” he says. “The visions that you’re having. You didn’t really
see
a boy and his mother, did you? That girl being led up to the scaffold … you weren’t
watching
her, were you? You said it yourself.”
All of a sudden I know what he means, even though everything inside pushes against the thought. None of the visions have been like me watching a movie. It’s like being
in
the movie. “No,” I say, barely above a whisper.
“Where were you when all of these things were happening?” he pushes.
I squeeze my eyes shut, knowing that it makes sense, but not wanting to admit it, because if I admit it, everything changes. Everything I know about life will be different.
“Come on, Cole,” he says. “You already know.”
“The girl on the scaffold is me,” I say quickly. “They were allme. I’m watching as these things happen to
me
, not other people.” I open my eyes and look at Griffon. He’s looking at me with a sad smile on his face.
“That’s right,” he says, as if I’m a child who has finally learned to read. “They are all you.” He pauses before continuing. “All of the things you’re seeing happened to you. Sometimes they’re big moments in a life, sometimes they’re just small things triggered by a smell or a place.”
It feels like the truth is dangling there in front of me, just out of reach. All the pieces of the puzzle are right there, waiting to be put together. “Why has this been happening now? I’ve gone my whole life without any of this. Why now, all of a sudden?”
A strand of hair falls in front of my face. Griffon starts to reach up and tuck it behind my ear, but stops himself the instant before he touches me. As he pauses, I realize I’ve been holding my breath, waiting for the feeling of his fingers on my cheek. “Because,” he says, folding his hands around his knee. “You’re starting to remember.”
I sit on the rock, watching the kids slide down the hill, feeling like my sanity is slipping away too. Griffon is studying me as I turn all of this new information over in my mind.
“Starting to remember what?” I finally ask, partly afraid to hear the answer.
“Other lifetimes.
Your
other lifetimes.”
There’s a catch in my throat as I inhale, and it feels like the wind has been knocked out of me.
My other lifetimes
. “Like reincarnation?” I say it softly because I can barely get the words past my lips.
“Exactly,” he says. “Reincarnation. Past lives. All of that. Remembering them is what happens when you become one of us.”
I look into his face, trying to find a sign that he’s lying. I want to see his eye twitch, or a glance away for just a split second that will tell me that it’s not true. That people don’t get reincarnated and that the visions I’m having aren’t glimpses into my past lives. But I don’t see any of that. He’s telling the truth. At least, the truth as he believes it. “What do you mean
us
?” I ask. “Who is ‘us’?”
“Akhet,” he says, looking me straight in the eye. “You’re becoming Akhet.”
Seven
I take the stairs two at a time, making it halfway down the hill before I even realize I’m moving. Everything Griffon said is so horrifying that there’s no way it’s the truth. There’s no way the girl on the scaffold was me. That I was the one who was executed. That I was actually there that foggy morning, climbing the wooden steps to my own death. Just the thought sends shards of fear rushing through my system.
Griffon runs to catch up. He matches my stride
Griffon stays silent, but shifts closer to me. It’s all I can do not to reach out and touch him, but I don’t. It feels like I’m on the edge of something big, and as much as I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want him to stop. I need to get through to the end.
“Think for a second,” he says. “The visions that you’re having. You didn’t really
see
a boy and his mother, did you? That girl being led up to the scaffold … you weren’t
watching
her, were you? You said it yourself.”
All of a sudden I know what he means, even though everything inside pushes against the thought. None of the visions have been like me watching a movie. It’s like being
in
the movie. “No,” I say, barely above a whisper.
“Where were you when all of these things were happening?” he pushes.
I squeeze my eyes shut, knowing that it makes sense, but not wanting to admit it, because if I admit it, everything changes. Everything I know about life will be different.
“Come on, Cole,” he says. “You already know.”
“The girl on the scaffold is me,” I say quickly. “They were allme. I’m watching as these things happen to
me
, not other people.” I open my eyes and look at Griffon. He’s looking at me with a sad smile on his face.
“That’s right,” he says, as if I’m a child who has finally learned to read. “They are all you.” He pauses before continuing. “All of the things you’re seeing happened to you. Sometimes they’re big moments in a life, sometimes they’re just small things triggered by a smell or a place.”
It feels like the truth is dangling there in front of me, just out of reach. All the pieces of the puzzle are right there, waiting to be put together. “Why has this been happening now? I’ve gone my whole life without any of this. Why now, all of a sudden?”
A strand of hair falls in front of my face. Griffon starts to reach up and tuck it behind my ear, but stops himself the instant before he touches me. As he pauses, I realize I’ve been holding my breath, waiting for the feeling of his fingers on my cheek. “Because,” he says, folding his hands around his knee. “You’re starting to remember.”
I sit on the rock, watching the kids slide down the hill, feeling like my sanity is slipping away too. Griffon is studying me as I turn all of this new information over in my mind.
“Starting to remember what?” I finally ask, partly afraid to hear the answer.
“Other lifetimes.
Your
other lifetimes.”
There’s a catch in my throat as I inhale, and it feels like the wind has been knocked out of me.
My other lifetimes
. “Like reincarnation?” I say it softly because I can barely get the words past my lips.
“Exactly,” he says. “Reincarnation. Past lives. All of that. Remembering them is what happens when you become one of us.”
I look into his face, trying to find a sign that he’s lying. I want to see his eye twitch, or a glance away for just a split second that will tell me that it’s not true. That people don’t get reincarnated and that the visions I’m having aren’t glimpses into my past lives. But I don’t see any of that. He’s telling the truth. At least, the truth as he believes it. “What do you mean
us
?” I ask. “Who is ‘us’?”
“Akhet,” he says, looking me straight in the eye. “You’re becoming Akhet.”
Seven
I take the stairs two at a time, making it halfway down the hill before I even realize I’m moving. Everything Griffon said is so horrifying that there’s no way it’s the truth. There’s no way the girl on the scaffold was me. That I was the one who was executed. That I was actually there that foggy morning, climbing the wooden steps to my own death. Just the thought sends shards of fear rushing through my system.
Griffon runs to catch up. He matches my stride
Similar Books
