“Wow,” Riona whispered. “Look at that.”
Markedly different than the image before, the sunlight almost appeared magical in the branches.
“If I didn't know better,” Riona tapped the time stamp on the image, “I’d say this is about the time you woke up.”
Madison glanced from the clock back to the image. Riona was right. “Keep going.”
So she did, clicking from one photo to the other.
“Do you see it?” Her sister pointed at a spot in the leaves, then another and another as the images progressed. “Do you see the face?”
“I do,” she breathed, awed. It was barely there, a flicker in the sunlight, but she most certainly saw a woman’s pixie-like face. “Whatisthat?”
“Something connected to you, for sure.”
Riona flicked through a few more images, then stopped short when Madison stood beside the tree.
“She’srightover you.” Riona tapped the image with excitement. “It’s almost as if she’s looking down at you.”
A shiver went through her when she peered closer. Why did the woman suddenly seem familiar?
Riona froze when she clicked on the next photo.
Madison’s breath caught. Was she seeing correctly? “She’s gone, but....”
“Something else is there,” Riona murmured when she trailed off.
This time a chill didn’t sweep through her but a different sensation entirely.
Intense desire.
“Something orsomeoneis standing beside you.” Riona clicked to the next image. The definition became a little clearer. Then the next photo clearer still.
“It’s the outline of a man,” Madison exclaimed. Had to be based on his substantial height, six foot five or so, and the width of his broad shoulders. “There was a man standing beside me.”
“Right when you were having that episode where I thought you were going to pass out.” Riona’s eyes went wide. “Look at hisaura. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
While his features and clothing weren’t visible yet, her sister was right. His dark, pulsing aura was striking. Powerful.
“Is it evil?” Riona visibly shivered. “Did you feel evil around you?”
“No.” Recalling the mystical tree she had caught glimpses of, she shook her head. “I only felt wonder. Awe.” Best to be honest with her sister. “Another time and place, maybe.”
“You don’t think....” Riona’s eyes grew wider still when she clicked to the next picture, and the man’s outline only became more visible. “That maybe, just maybe....”
Her sister was about to say more when a knock came at the front door, and they both jolted. They glanced from each other and back to the door.
“No way,” Riona mouthed. “It can't be?”
She had no idea what to think when the knock came again.
“We should answer it,” Madison whispered as they looked back and forth between each other and the door again.
“Should we?” Riona narrowed her eyes. “What if it’shim? The guy in the photo? Because he washugeand thataura.”
While she understood the whole hide-in-the-closet-until-he-went-away feeling, she got the overwhelming sense that this wasn’t something they could run from. Because, as the old adage went, wherever they went, there they were. Whether the person on the other side of the door was what she’d felt stalking her or even, perhaps, as Adlin had implied, a more kindly time traveler come to help.
Good or bad, she had to face whoever it may be.
