River: The Suicide Forest Part 3

"I'm going to kill Dixon," Roy said as they marched back down the hill toward the marina. "He sent me to her just to get back at me for that ma.s.sive poker loss the last time I went with him to Cabo."

"How do you know that?" Steven asked. "Maybe she really is the best. A little eccentric, but then so is Dixon."

"I'm not going to do it like that," Roy said. "I'll trance and do everything else she said, but I'm not doing it naked. She's just making that part up to humiliate me. I won't do it."

"You have to do it," Steven said. "We need to find whatever it is that opened the door. This lantern will collect information, but you've got to find the 'Ouija board,' or she'll not be able to help us figure out a plan. She said she's got to have both for the next step."

"f.u.c.k her," Roy said. "I'm not going to do it. Maybe we should get a second opinion."

"Why?" Steven asked. "What she's suggesting makes sense to me. There's no reason not to follow her instructions. You're just p.i.s.sed that she was a little sarcastic with you."

"And what is it with you?" Roy asked. "They're scared of you? What's that all about?"

Steven thought Roy might be a little jealous. Up until now, Roy had always been the senior leader, the one with the most knowledge as they worked together. Steven was only his a.s.sistant, or his student. To learn there was something in him that scared these creatures Steven was surprised, but he also knew it bothered Roy.

"I don't know about any of that," Steven said. "I'm just taking her word for it."

"The word of a dingbat," Roy said, stomping faster as they approached the boat. "She'll probably get us both killed."

Chapter Three.

Jason slid into the empty booth seat across from Steven.

"You're late," Steven said.

"Traffic, sorry," Jason said, taking his jacket off and setting his phone on the table. Steven noticed that his son's upper body was even more muscular than the last time he'd seen him.

"You working out?" Steven asked.

"Swimming," Jason said. "Every day."

"You hated swimming as a kid," Steven said, looking back down at the menu.

"Well, things change," Jason said. "I eat onions now, too."

"Shocking," Steven said. "How's life going? How's school?"

"Fine," Jason said. "Nothing interesting to report."

"Grades?" Steven asked.

"Fine," Jason said. "I'm moving, by the way."

"Out of student housing?" Steven asked.

"Yes," Jason said.

"Where?"

"Well," Jason said, "I met this girl. She lives in a house with several other roommates. One of the rooms opened up. So I'm taking it."

"Can you afford it?" Steven asked.

"I definitely thought your first question would be, 'who is she?'" Jason said.

"OK, we'll start there," Steven said. "Who is she?"

"Her name is Jennifer," Jason said. "She's from Montana."

"Is it serious?" Steven asked.

"Kinda," Jason said. "More me than her." Jason reached for his phone and flicked his finger across the surface a few times. "Here's her picture," he said, turning the phone to Steven.

"She's pretty," Steven said, proud but not surprised that his son had landed a good-looking girl. Jason had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a dimpled chin. He'd always been popular with girls.

"She rides horses," Jason said, pulling the phone back. "Her father is a rancher."

"What's she studying?" Steven asked.

"Biology," Jason said. "Wants to find the cure for cancer."

"I hope she does," Steven said, and a waitress showed up at the table to take their orders. She returned quickly with their drinks.

"There's something I wanted to ask you," Jason said.

"No," Steven said reflexively. "No more money. I'm jobless at the moment."

"I don't need any money," Jason said. "Mom gives me plenty."

Steven felt his irritation rising. Sheryl, his ex-wife, had agreed to keep Jason on a tight budget while he was in school, but he was always a momma's boy, and Steven knew she was a pushover whenever Jason begged.

"How much has she given you?" Steven asked, careful not to let his irritation show.

"Well, she gave me a thousand for my birthday last month."

Steven gulped his drink and resolved to call Sheryl to discuss the agreement they'd made and find out why she was breaking it. Somehow Jason saw this on Steven's face.

"You always do this," Jason said.

"Do what?" Steven said.

"Turn everything into an issue with Mom," Jason said. "All I wanted to do was talk to you about something which has nothing to do with money or with her, but you've turned the whole thing that direction."

"Sorry," Steven said. "Old habits die hard. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"This is going to sound a little weird," Jason said, stirring his iced tea with a straw, "so please hear me out before you say anything."

"Alright," Steven said, sitting back in his booth seat a little.

"I've told you before about the dream I've had with you and Grandpa Roy in it," Jason said. "The one with the book."

"Yes?" Steven said. He remembered Jason mentioning the dream once or twice in his teen years. Steven had dismissed the dream previously, but now that he'd learned about the River, and Roy had shown him the family book, he knew what Jason's dreams must have been about.

"Well, I had the dream again," Jason said, "but this time you and Roy fought about it. And you killed him."

Not what I was expecting, Steven thought.

"Not what you were expecting?" Jason said, studying Steven's reaction.

"No," Steven said, "but then, crazy things happen in dreams."

"This one was different," Jason said. "It was more vivid than the other dreams. More real. I woke up really jarred by it. It still bothers me."

"Sorry to hear that," Steven said, not sure what exactly he should say about it.

"So," Jason said, "I was wondering, do you have dreams like that? Really vivid ones, where people die?"

"No," Steven said, "I don't."

"So it's not inherited?" Jason said. "Maybe I should ask Grandpa Roy."

"Why would you think it's inherited?" Steven asked. "Dreams are weird. Lots of things are inherited, but everybody has strange dreams now and again."

"Because every time I've had the dream," Jason said, "I knew that you and Grandpa Roy were keeping something from me, something important. And during this last dream I realized I needed to tell you that I knew. It was something you were waiting for." Jason took a sip of his drink and set it back down on the table. "So that's why I asked to meet you. To tell you."

"To tell me what?" Steven said, doing his best to pretend he didn't know what Jason was talking about.

"That I know," Jason said.

"Know what?" Steven said, still acting baffled.

"I don't know exactly," Jason said. "I just had the impression that I had to tell you that I knew. But I don't know what I knew. See, I told you it was weird. And I know how you are, so I know you probably think I need to see a psychiatrist or something."

"No, I don't think that," Steven said. He knew at some point he'd have to talk to Jason about the gift, but he wanted to wait until he was better versed in it, not still a novice working with Roy. If he was going to tutor Jason on how to use the gift, there was a lot more he needed to know before he felt ready to do it. And he wasn't even sure Jason had the gift in the first place.

"When did you first start having this dream?" Steven asked.

"When I was ten, or eleven," Jason said. "Somewhere around there."

Hits at p.u.b.erty, Steven thought, thinking of Roy talking about June's grandson.

"Any other strange dreams?" Steven asked.

"Like what?"

"You know, like this one with me and Roy in it?"

"Well," Jason said, "I have dreams all the time. I usually don't remember them for very long."

"Nothing that stands out?" Steven asked.

"No," Jason said, "other than this dream, the one with the book. So, is there something you and Grandpa Roy aren't telling me?"

What do I do? Steven thought. I can't lie to him. But I'm not prepared to go down this path just yet, either.

"There are some things I want to share with you later, when you're older," Steven said. "Family things you should know. But I'd rather you concentrate on your studies for now. There will be plenty of time to discuss them when you're older."

"I'm twenty," Jason said. "I am older. I'm not a little kid anymore. I'd like to know."

"Well, I'm not ready to tell you," Steven said. The waitress arrived with their food and set a plate in front of each of them. Normally Jason would have dived into his food, but he just stared at the plate.

"You're upset," Steven said.

"Yes," Jason said. "So the dream is right, there is something."

"Later, when you're older."

"What is it, some deep dark family secret?" Jason asked, still not touching his food. "I'm not a child, Dad, I can handle whatever it is."

"Well," Steven said, "I'm not going to tell you until I'm ready to tell you. Finish up school, and when you're older we'll have a big sit-down and I'll tell you the whole thing, alright?"

Jason wasn't looking at him. Steven could tell he was still p.i.s.sed.

"Do you know how humiliating it is to be told that?" Jason asked. "I imagine if Grandpa Roy had said that to you, it would drive you crazy."

He's right, Steven thought. It would have driven me crazy to be told that by Roy. Perhaps that's one of the reasons Roy just kept his distance all these years. Distance meant he didn't have to say anything.

"It might have," Steven said. "Your grandfather drove me crazy about a lot of things. But I dealt with it, and you must deal with this."

Jason looked up at Steven, and their eyes met.

He knows it's something big, Steven thought. It's growing in him, he senses it, and he senses it in me. He's looking for answers. I will have to supply them soon.

"I need you to trust me on this," Steven said. "I have good reasons. For one, I'm not ready to tell you. There's things I need to do first. Second, as I've said, you're in school. What I'm going to tell you is a huge thing, and it'll impact the rest of your life. I couldn't bear to see you drop out of school because of it."

"I wouldn't do that," Jason said.

"You might," Steven said. h.e.l.l, I might have, if Roy had shown it to me when I was a kid, he thought. "I'm only asking for a year. You keep up the studies, get your degree, and in the meantime I'll get my end of it in order. Then I promise I'll let you in on it."