Parallel Visions Read Online Free PDF Page A

stands. “ Don ’ t forget to take your meds before bed. ”
    “ Yeah, yeah, ” I say.
    Mom closes my door part way.
    I pick up my cell again, staring at our texts. Gil has my back. I grin at my ceiling. We might even become friends!
    The rumble of my parents ’ voices downstairs is comforting. I lean my head back against my pillow and close my eyes.
     

FIVE
    I wake up in the middle of an asthma attack.
    I sit up, gasping, trying to breathe. It feels like somebody ’ s stitched my throat shut.
    I kick off my blanket, fumble for my inhaler and breathe in hard, trying to keep my hands from trembling. Panic only makes it worse, but it ’ s hard to stay calm when I know I could die. I cough harder.
    My room grows fuzzy, colors and shapes rearranging themselves to show me a different scene .
     
    Mason presses Jenna up against the wall, his arm rammed against her throat, cutting off her air. “ Your sister is ruining everything. You have to stop her—or I will. ”
    Jenna shakes her head, gagging.
    Mason loosens his grip.
    “ Mason, you ’ re scaring me, ” Jenna says, rubbing her neck.
     
    I cough. Oh shit. I don ’ t like where this is going.
    Mom comes running in, her nightgown rustling. She flicks on the light and sits on my bed, then rubs my back. “ You ’ ve taken a puff? ”
    I nod, coughing harder. I don ’ t have enough air to talk.
    “ It ’ s not helping enough, is it? ” Mom grabs my nebulizer from the side of the bed, snaps open a vial of medication and dumps it in the cup, hooking it up to the hose. I cough and cough, praying for air. Mom turns on the nebulizer. I can hear the hum over my wheezing. When I see the misty spray of the medication escaping, I grab the mask and slap it onto my face, trying to breathe through the coughing .
    “ Okay. You ’ re okay now. Just breathe deeply, ” Mom says.
    Dad comes to stand in the doorway wearing just his pajama bottoms. He looks worried, his hair sticking up, his hand tight against the doorframe.
    Dad blurs in front of me.
     
    “ I ’ m scaring you? You should be scared of your crazy sister. She ’ s trying to break us up. ”
    “ Just leave her alone, Mason. ”
    “ I ’ m your husband! ” Mason roars. He slaps her so hard, her head snaps back. She opens her mouth, but no sound comes out.
    Mason slaps her again, his watch flashing, reflecting the light. “ You put your sister over me? ” He grabs her head and smashes it against the wall, again and again. When he stops, Jenna ’ s limp body slides down to the floor, her eyes wide and staring, her face still.
    “ Jenna! No! Speak to me, Jenna! ”
    Mason cradles her head and rocks her, sobbing, but she doesn ’ t move.
     
    Oh my god. He killed her! He killed Jenna!
    My lungs ache like they ’ ve been turned inside out. I cough, trying to breathe. I can ’ t let this happen—unless it already did. Damn it, I have to find out when this vision happens. But how?
    My thoughts race. His watch! I ’ ve got to see it. Got to get back into that vision!
    I ’ ve never done that before. I don ’ t know if it ’ ll work, but I ’ ve got to try.
    I cough, then cough again, forcing the medication out of my lungs, focusing on Mason slapping Jenna ’ s face.
    Nothing . The attack ’ s easing off. I cough harder—forcing it, trying to see Mason snapping Jenna ’ s head back.
    “ Breathe, ” Mom says anxiously.
    Guilt floods me for worrying her. And then I ’ m back in Jenna ’ s apartment.
     
    Mason slaps her face again, his watch flashing in the light.
     
    I slow the vision down. I can see his watch, but not the full face. I stop the vision, my chest heaving, pain searing through my brain, and turn the vision like a photo, until I can read the watch face. Two-forty-five pm Tues . I did it! But oh my god—that ’ s today!
     
    “ Kate! ” Mom is crying. “ Breathe! ”
    I gulp air, pain stabbing my lungs like broken glass. The mist fills my mouth and nose. Mom rubs my back. Even