The breakfast that came on her tray looked delicious. The scrambled eggs and bacon smelled heavenly. McKenna had no appetite and only gnawed on a piece of toast.

She lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Her thoughts of Dane occupied her mind. She missed his kisses and his arms about her. She wondered again why he wasn't at the cabin when her parents let those men stick a needle in her and take her prisoner.

Her grandmother left, so she was alone. In a way, she was glad. She needed to be alone with her thoughts.

Remembering what the doctor said, she had to come first, take care of herself first, and accept that she could communicate with the dead was her top priority. So now she knew what she had to do. She had to convince them that she did.

So, how could she do that? And how long would that take? Too long, she answered herself. Way too long. She needed to get out of here, and she needed to get out now. She didn't have time to be coy or play their games. And she was never one to be able to do that.

McKenna turned on her side and fluffed the pillow, never so afraid before. The hate she felt toward her parents left a bitter taste in her mouth. Once upon a time, she loved them deeply. But those days were over.

After all of the lies, the secrets, her father’s betrayal, it was enough to make McKenna sick. Physically sick, in her heart and her soul.

Another thought struck her. How far away from Mosquito Lake was she? She wouldn’t get far walking. She had no clothes, only the institution's white pajamas and the white socks that covered her feet. She had no shoes.

She felt utterly helpless.

A light tapping distracted her thoughts for a moment. Ignoring it, she buried her face in the pillow.

She wanted Dane. She missed him badly. Would he even know where she was?

The tapping distracted her again. She covered her ears and sobbed into the pillow. Tap. Tap. Tap.

McKenna lifted her head and looked around her room. There was nothing there to make the tapping sound. The tapping turned into a quick knock.

She turned her head toward the window.

Kelly stood there along with Raven and Layla. They were jumping up and down excitedly outside. They had her gifts from her birthday party and were waving them at her.

McKenna crawled out of bed and ran to the window. “Hey!” she cried. “How did you find me?”

“Just a little bit of detective work,” Kelly shouted through the glass. “And your mother loves me to death! I didn’t know she was such a pushover! She gave up all the information for us to find you. Except for your room number. We had to do a bit of sleuthing to find the right room.”

“Sleuthing?”

“We had to play peeping Tom. We looked in every window until we found you.”

McKenna laughed out loud. It felt good. She loved her friends and didn't realize how much she missed them until this moment.

“What are you doing with my presents?”

“We were going to come and do your hair and makeup and cheer you up a bit, but they won’t let us in! What’s up with that?”

"They won't let anyone in. Not even my parents," she told them. "They told me that I had to take care of myself first. I'm so scared, Kelly."

"I can't even imagine. How long do you think you'll have to stay here?"

McKenna shrugged. "I don't know. Do you know why my parents put me in here?"

"They're afraid, Kenny. They're afraid of what they don't understand."

"You're not afraid, Kel?"

Kelly shook her head. "Not at all. I studied up.” She took a deep breath. “McKenna, I’m so sorry for not telling you myself. I wanted to, believe me, I did, but your folks wouldn’t let me. Please, forgive me.”

“It’s okay, Kel. I think I get it. But I have to stay here until I can accept and learn how to control this gift. Yea, they call it a gift. I call it a curse.” She hesitated for a split second, then asked, “Kelly, Dane doesn’t know where I am. Can you please, please go to the lake and let him know where I’m at?”

“Dane?” Kelly asked. “Is that the guy you met on the beach?”

“Yes! Please do me this one favor, and I’ll love you forever!”

Kelly laughed. “You’ll love me forever anyway, girlfriend. But, yea, we’ll take a ride out there and see if we can find him.”

“Thank you!” she whispered gratefully. “There’s a little cabin off that path we took to go to the old cemetery. That’s where we would go. He might be there if he’s not on the beach.”

“McKenna, what does this guy do other than walk on the beach?” Kelly asked, concern showing on her face.

“It doesn’t matter right now. Please find Dane and let him know why I’m not there. Tell him I love him. Tell him I’ll be with him as soon as I can.”

“Aye, Aye, Captain,” she said, giving McKenna a mock salute. “And that’s a big ten-four. Hang on a sec.”

The girls turned their backs on her and seemed to be rubbing their faces.

Puzzled, McKenna asked, “What are you guys doing now?”

All three girls turned back to the window and grinned widely at McKenna. They painted their lips with deep red lipstick. They pressed their red lips up against the window. The red stain stayed on the window when they pulled away.

“These are for you, girlfriend,” Kelly said. “Don’t let this get you down.”

“Kisses for you, McKenna,” Raven told her. “Just to let you know, we will never leave you, no matter what you’re going through.”

“And," Layla added, “we’ll do your hair and makeup when you get out of here!”

She heard the key in the lock and jumped back into the bed. The girls fled from the window, but their lipstick marks were still there. McKenna hoped that whoever was coming in wouldn’t see them. As long as those red kisses stayed on the window, McKenna felt hope in her heart.

Dr. Olsen peaked his head into the room. “Oh, good, you’re awake.” He pushed the door open all the way and entered the room. “I was hoping you were. Are you ready to go for a walk?”

“A walk?” she echoed.

“Sure,” he answered. “It will get you out of this room. I want to run some tests if that’s alright with you.”

“Test?” she repeated.

“Yes, tests,” Dr. Olsen answered. “Nothing too invasive, McKenna, I assure you. I want to talk with you, have you answer some questions. Nothing that will hurt you, I promise.”

“What if I say no?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Let’s not go there, okay? Let’s take a walk.”

Feeling defeated, McKenna got out of the bed and followed Dr. Olsen from the room.

The institute was much smaller than McKenna first thought. There was only one floor. The walls were painted an eggshell white. Fluorescent lights hummed softly. The tiled floor was polished and shined with a glow from the lights above.

McKenna followed Dr. Olsen down the hall. When he stopped at the door, he pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked it. He opened it and nodded for her to enter, locking the door behind him.

McKenna wondered why so many locked doors, so many keys.

The room was not an ordinary examination room. This room was more like an office. On one wall was a couch, large and fat, and looked very comfortable. In the center of the room was the doctor's desk with a chair. Two overstuffed chairs were sitting beside each other in front of the desk.

The doctor eased into the chair behind the desk and motioned for her to sit down. "Please," he said. “Have a seat, McKenna.”

McKenna sat down slowly in one of the chairs. She felt breathless like someone was sitting on her chest. "When will I be able to see my parents?" she asked immediately.

Even though they put her in here, the little girl in McKenna still missed them and wanted to see them. She felt alone and afraid in this place.

"Not right now, McKenna," he said as he shuffled papers on his desk. "I want to ask you a few questions about how your ability started."

"But you already know.”

"Yes, but I want to hear it again, and I want to hear it from you. If you don't mind, I would like to video your statement."

McKenna stayed silent. She knew it didn't matter if she gave her permission or not. He was going to video her either way.

Dr. Olsen reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a stethoscope, a blood pressure machine, and a syringe. The syringe had a clear liquid in it.

McKenna stood up suddenly. "No!" she cried out. "You're not sticking me with that!"

"It's alright, McKenna," he said as he stood up and walked cautiously around his desk. "It's only a small dose of sodium pentothal."

"I don't know what that is! Why are you doing this?"

"It's alright," he said again as he placed an outstretched hand on her shoulder and led her to the couch. "This won't hurt you. I'm going to monitor your heartbeat and blood pressure. The sodium pentothal will help you relax and help with your memory. I'll ask you some questions, and you'll be able to answer them better."

"What if I don't want to remember?" she howled.

"Please, McKenna, just lay back and relax,” Dr. Olsen urged. “You keep fighting this. You have an ability that you don't understand. You need to be able to accept it to be able to live a normal life."

The blood pressure cuff tightened painfully on her arm as the doctor kept talking. The needle stung as it pierced her skin, and she flinched. The liquid that flowed into her vein was cold. It made her shiver.

Slowly, the room started to change. It wavered back and forth. McKenna felt as if she were floating in warm water. She relaxed and closed her eyes. She could hear Dr. Olsen’s voice as if he spoke from a great distance.

“Where are you now, McKenna?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. Relax. Let your mind wander. Follow the memories.”

“Yes, I know where I am.”

“Tell me where you are.”

Suddenly, the warm water turned cold. McKenna found herself sinking. The water invaded her lungs, and she felt the vomit rising in her throat. It mixed with the water in her lungs, choking her. Her vision grew dark.

“I’m drowning.”

“Yes, you’re drowning. But the water can’t hurt you, McKenna. You’re safe.”

She was vaguely aware of hands grabbing at her. Her first instinct was to fight them, but they were pulling her to the surface. Suddenly she was out of the water. She felt sand beneath her and the bright sun in her eyes. Warm lips covered hers, breathing life-giving oxygen into her. She was forced to breathe independently, and she coughed, the water gushing out of her mouth. She coughed several more times, then opened her eyes.

"I think you'll be alright now.” A pair of blue eyes peered back at her.

She started to cry. “Momma! Daddy!”

“They’ll be here soon,” he said, then he rose from the ground.

Three-year-old McKenna watched him slowly disappear into the cemetery next door, then she lay back on the sand and cried until she fell asleep from exhaustion.

She sat up slowly and glanced around the room. Dr. Olsen sat across from her and was studying her. She was no longer on the beach. Her clothing was dry. And it wasn't the blue eyes that gazed at her now. It was Dr. Olsen's brown ones.

She started to cry.

***

Laying in her bed after her session with Dr. Olsen, she tried to remember the face that saved her when she drowned. It was only the eyes that kept coming back to her. Nothing else.

Who had it been? It wasn't her dad. He never jumped in the water to save her. That was a lie.

A tear slid down her cheek and landed on her pillow. Her dad didn’t save her. Her dad let her down. Her dad let her drown. He had been her hero all her life. How was she supposed to live with this?

McKenna's head hurt. She didn’t want to think anymore. It was too painful. She rolled onto her side and fell asleep dreaming of  blue eyes, and the blue eyes kept turning into Dane.

The tapping on the window woke her. This time Kelly was by herself. McKenna jumped from the bed and ran to the window. "Hey!" she cried. "I'm so glad to see you, Kel. I really miss you! Where's Raven and Layla?"

Kelly shrugged. "I didn't tell them I was coming. They get on my nerves sometimes."

"I know what you mean, but I still love them."

"Yea, me too. So," she moved closer to the window. "I did what you asked, Kenny. I went to the lake. I found the cabin."

"Oh, thank God. Thank you so much. Did you find Dane?”

"It was the strangest thing. The oil lamps were lit like you said, and a fire was in the fireplace, but Dane wasn’t there. I looked everywhere. The cabin, the beach, even our campsite, but he wasn't anywhere."

"But the lamps were lit and a fire in the fireplace? Oh Kel, he was waiting for me! Now he's probably wondering why I didn't show up. How am I supposed to let him know?"

"I don't know, Kenny, maybe -” she started to say, then halted.

"What, Kel?"

"What if -" Kelly stopped again and shook her head. "Never mind. It was just a thought."

McKenna turned from the window in defeat. "I'm trapped in here. I'll never see him again."

Kelly tapped on the window. "Kenny, don't. Come back to the window. I can't hear you."

"It doesn't matter," she said, turning back to Kelly. "It just doesn't matter anymore. Thank you for trying, Kel. You don't have to worry about it anymore. I appreciate you trying."

McKenna walked back to the bed; her shoulders slumped in defeat. She was at a complete loss. How was she supposed to get out of here?

For two days McKenna was left completely alone. The only people she saw were the ones that brought her food trays. Kelly didn’t come back. Even her grandparents didn’t visit her. She started to grow lonely and was almost happy to see Dr. Olsen when he came into the room and announced he wanted to try another test.

She followed him to his office, sat down in the chair facing him, and waited for him to speak.

"I'm sorry about the last session, McKenna," he finally said. "I had no idea it would impact you that way. I'm sure it's hard on you, but I would like to try again."

McKenna said nothing. She didn't care what they did to her now.

Once again, she was hooked up to the blood pressure machine, the cuff painfully squeezing her arm as the doctor plunged the needle into her vein. As the sodium pentothal flowed into her, he fitted an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose.

One more time, the room wavered. The warm water McKenna floated in turned cold, filling her lungs. She sank to the bottom. Looking up, she could see the bottom of the boat and her father leaning over, shouting her name. She tried to call out to him but only inhaled more water. She waited to see when he would jump in and look for her like he said he had. But he stayed in the boat, screaming for her. She watched him until the darkness swallowed her.

Once again, she woke up to the blue eyes. But this time, they were Dane’s eyes. His name passed her lips. But how could she know? She was only three years old.

For the next three days, McKenna turned her meal trays away. She had no appetite. The smell of food made her sick. She spent her time in deep slumber, sometimes only waking long enough to cry over Dane. She didn't understand what was happening to her. Why were the memories she kept hidden deep inside coming out only when Dr. Olsen injected her with the drug?

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