Fade Read Online Free PDF Page B

longer needs Miss Stubin.
    “We"ll meet here from time to time as you go through my case files.
    When you have questions about my notes, return here. I trust you know
    how to find me again?”
    “You mean, direct myself to dream this again?”
    Miss Stubin nods.
    “Yes, I think I can do that. I"m sort of out of practice,” Janie says sheepishly.
    “I know you can, Janie.” The old woman"s curled fingers tighten slightly
    around Janie"s hand. “Do you have an assignment from Captain?”
    “Yes. We think there"s a teacher who is a sexual predator at Fieldridge
    High.”
    Miss Stubin sighs. “Difficult. Be careful. And be creative—It may be
    tricky to find the right dreams to fall into. Keep up your strength. Be
    prepared for every opportunity to search out the truth. Dreams happen in
    the strangest places. Watch for them.”
    “I—I will,” Janie says softly.
    Miss Stubin cocks her head to the side. “I must go now.” She smiles and
    fades away, leaving Janie alone on the bench.
    2:27 a.m.
    Janie"s eyes flutter and open. She stares at the ceiling in the dark, and
    then flips on her bedside lamp. Scribbles the dream in her notebook.
    Wow , she thinks. Cool.
    Grins sleepily as she turns out the light and rolls over, back to sleep.
    POINTED VIEWS
    January 6, 2006, 2:10 p.m.
    Janie codes her notes now, too:
    Bashful=Spanish, Miss Gardenia
    Doc=Psychology, Mr. Wang
    Happy=Chemistry 2, Mr. Durbin
    Dopey=English Lit., Mr. Purcell
    Dippy=Math, Mrs. Craig
    Dumbass=PE, Coach Crater
    And, of course, Sleepy=Study hall
    There"s definitely something sleepy about Michigan in its darkest months of January and February.
    Study hall is a disaster. And after relatively few incidents, besides Cabel"s dreams, over the past few weeks, Janie"s feeling the pull harder
    than ever.
    She needs to practice concentrating at home, in her own dreams again.
    Stay strong, like Miss Stubin told her in the dream. Or else she"s going
    down.
    2:17 p.m.
    Janie feels it coming. She sets her book down and glances at Cabel. It"s
    not him. He gives her a pitying half-smile when he sees the look on her
    face, and she tries to smile back. But it"s too late. It hits her, like a bag of rocks to the gut, and she doubles over in her
    chair, blinded, her mind whirling into Stacey O"Grady"s dream. Janie
    recognizes it—Stacey was in Janie"s study hall last semester too, and
    had this same nightmare a few months ago.
    ı
    Janie is in Stacey"s car, and Stacey is driving like a maniac down a dark
    street near the woods. From the backseat, a growl, and then a man
    appears and grabs Stacey around the neck from behind. Stacey"s choking.
    She loses control of the car, and it careens over a ditch, smashes into a
    line of bushes, and flips over.
    The man is shaken loose of his grasp, and when the car comes to rest in
    a parking lot, Stacey, bleeding, climbs out of the car through the broken
    windshield and starts running. He gets out and follows her. It"s a mad
    chase, and Janie is swept into it. She can"t concentrate hard enough to
    get Stacey"s attention, and Stacey is screaming at the top of her lungs.
    Around and around the parking lot, the man chases her, until she runs for
    the woods…
    …trips
    …falls
    …and he is on top of her, pinning her down, growling, like a dog, in her
    face—
    2:50 p.m.
    Janie feels her muscles still twitching three minutes after it"s over. She
    didn"t hear the bell ring, but Stacey did, apparently, because the dream
    stopped abruptly.
    Janie still can"t feel anything. She can"t see. But she can hear Cabel next
    to her. “It"s okay, baby,” he whispers. “It"s gonna be okay.”
    2:57 p.m.
    Cabel"s gently rubbing her fingers. He"s still whispering, letting her know no one is around, they"ve all left, and it"s all going to be okay.
    She sits up slowly.
    Squeezes her hands till they ache with pain and pleasure. Wiggles her
    toes. Her face feels like she"s been to the dentist for a filling. He"s rubbing her shoulders, her arms, her