Shadows of the Past: A Supernatural Suspense Mystery (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 1) by Nellie Steele (read aloud .txt) 📗

“Another vision? Of what?”

“You,” she answered.

“Me? Do you remember me?”

“No,” she said, breaking from his grip, “no, just that one fleeting memory, but I feel different. You seem so familiar to me, but I can’t place why or anything specific though.”

“Josie, that’s great!”

“Is it? I still don’t understand anything.”

“You will, this is progress.”

“Perhaps I should meet with Amelia again sooner?”

“No, she said you need to let your mind relax.”

Disappointment filled Josie, but she understood. “Maybe she’s right. Perhaps it’s best not to push it too fast. This is the best I’ve been in weeks. I didn’t have the dream, and the vision wasn’t too painful.” She turned to face him again. “I had better get going.”

“Okay, text or call me if you need anything,” he said, putting his hands on her arms and rubbing them.

“Okay, I will,” she said, grabbing his hand and holding it for a moment before turning to leave. As she jogged toward home, she turned back, giving him a quick smile before turning back around and heading away from him.

Josie felt different, she wasn’t sure if it stemmed from a good night’s sleep or if something had clicked into place for her after her session with Amelia. Either way, she planned to take full advantage of it, she resolved, as she powered through the rest of her run.

The house was still quiet when she arrived home. She tiptoed upstairs to change and back down to make her cup of tea. Everyone must be sleeping in, though she couldn’t fathom why. No one had mentioned anything about it to her. As the sun began to rise over the horizon, a yawning Michael appeared in the doorway. He stretched as he came out to join her on the porch swing, still in pajama pants and a t-shirt.

“No work today?” Josie asked.

“I’ll work here, I’m not going in to the office,” he said, half-asleep.

“Rough night?”

“I’m a little tired, yeah. How about you? Did you get any sleep?”

“Yes, I did! That session with Dr. Gresham must have helped, I slept through the night, no nightmares. Must have been a rough night for Damien, I see he’s still in bed.”

“I don’t know.” Michael shrugged. “Did you put coffee on this morning?”

“Yep, it’s ready.”

“I’m going to grab a cup, be right back.”

As he entered the house, Damien came out, coffee cup already in hand, yawning. “Ah, good morning,” he said, still mid-yawn.

“Good morning, yikes, what’s with you two? Late night playing video games?”

He sat down next to Josie on the swing, “Yeah, video games, yep.”

Josie considered the response odd. She could tell when Damien wasn’t telling the truth, and this was one of those times.

“Everything okay?” she asked, trying gently to pry.

“Yep, all good, everything is all good.”

“D…” she began, but Michael’s return interrupted her.

She looked between the two of them. There was a weird vibe between them, she wasn’t sure what it was. “So, are neither of you going to the office today?”

“Nope, just going to work from home,” Damien responded.

“Yep, same here like I said before, working from home.”

“Oooookay. Well, I’ll let you guys get at that then. I’m going upstairs to start some of my work.”

Josie headed upstairs to her office. She surmised that she could actually be productive today. She checked her phone before diving into her emails. Grayson had sent a text: How was the rest of your jog?

She smiled at the message and answered: It was good, thanks :)

Setting her phone down, she opened her email account and began sorting, flagging, answering and deleting emails. The task took her almost two hours to complete. When she checked her phone next, it was approaching 10 a.m. Damien wasn’t up here yet which surprised her if he was planning on working from home. He must have gotten embroiled in another video game battle with Michael. Boys, she thought, rolling her eyes. She saw another text message waiting for her: I’m glad that session with Millie helped

She was about to type a reply when she heard Michael calling her. “Josie, hey, Josie, can you come down here for a minute?”

“Sure,” she shouted back, wondering what they needed. If they called her down there to get them a snack or a drink while they played video games she would give them a piece of her mind. She headed downstairs, as the living room came into view, she saw Damien sitting on one of the arm chairs, Michael at the bottom of the stairs. Someone sat on the couch. Even though her back faced Josie, she recognized her mother. What was her mother doing here, she wondered?

“Mom?” she asked, glancing to each of them for an explanation.

“Hi, Josie,” her mom started. “Come sit down.”

Growing suspicious, she asked, “What is going on?”

“Michael has been telling me a little about what is going on,” her mom began, “About your stalker. Josie, we need to talk, I need to tell you something.”

Josie’s eyebrows raised, her eyes wide. “You called my mom?” she said to Michael.

“Yes, I called your mom because I was at a loss about what else to do.”

“What do you mean you were at a loss about what else to do? Are you kidding me right now?”

“You’re acting crazy, Josie. You’re distant and secretive. You’ve been lying to us. You’re all over the map, so yeah,” he said, his voice growing heated.

“I’ve been lying? Seriously? What exactly are you accusing me of?” Josie blasted back.

“Yes, you’ve been lying. Your little story about going to Dr. Reed’s on Monday and the 'home therapy’ you had yesterday. I called Dr. Reed’s office. He didn’t meet with you Monday and he’s never heard of a Dr. Amelia Gresham.”

“So you called my therapist and discussed my treatment with him and then you took it upon yourself to call my mom like I’m a kid?”

Josie’s mom stepped in between them. “Stop this, you two, it’s not helping anything. I am glad Michael called me. I didn’t