The Takeaways - Nightmares And Memories: When Memories Are Nightmares

By Allison Ince

In Nightmares and Memories, Amelia Rivera, a sixteen-year-old with the power to turn objects into air, moves to Fate, Texas, in hopes of hiding from the agents of a secret society. When her father is shot by the agents, she has to put her trust in a group of teens that may or may not be spies for the secret society. Nightmares and Memories is the first book in a seven-book series. In Amelia's attempt to unravel the mysteries surrounding her powers and her past, she stumbles into the dark world of modern-day slavery and other global conspiracies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644161265

Book preview

Chapter 1

Pounding

Her heart pounds as her eyes flood with tears. She is running and will not look back.

Amelia, come back! the voice of a man rings out.

The five-year-old child trips to the ground. She takes her chances and glances back to see two bulky orderlies jogging up to her. Far behind the orderlies, people in business suits and lab coats stand and glower. In front of the group is one man who cringes.

Maybe I could escape . . . maybe I could even find her if I just run . . . I have to run. Amelia hears the pounding of the orderlies’ footsteps nearing her. She breaks her mind off from their hypnotizing rhythm and stretches her locked legs to run. Just when she starts to push off the ground, a cold hand snatches her left arm. The orderly jerks her back and drags her to the group.

Variable #2040, stand still! snarls one of the bitter-faced scientists.

Dr. Voltaire, the Elite wouldn’t want you to harm a future weapon, reminds the man in the blue suit.

Amelia sees that he is the man who was yelling for her to stop and come back. His face is slightly wrinkled, and his dusty blue irises are faded.

"Agent Rivera, may I remind you that this variable has great importance to our experiments and not to you. It is ours to own, and the Elite do not care what we do to it as long as we change it into what they want it to be! Dr. Voltaire remarks. Turning to the orderlies, he orders, Take it to its cell."

No! Amelia shrieks, kicks, and flails as they drag her away.

Chapter 2

Smothering

Amelia opens her eyes. Trails of sunbeams flow from the window next to her bed and awaken the room with new light. She shovels her recent nightmare to the back of her mind. The nightmares and memories have been there for what seems like all her life. When she was five, her father rescued her from the Elite, six secret societies assembled together to control the world. At this time, she is sixteen years old, and it has been about twelve years since she was rescued.

It was just a nightmare, she sighs to herself. A memory . . .

Amelia! her father yells to her from downstairs. You better be awake and ready for school. The bus is coming in thirty minutes.

Twenty minutes later, Amelia is rushing down the oak wood stairs. Her grayish-blue skirt is static charged and sticks to her knee-high socks. A white cotton blouse is stiff on her body, and a gray tie is knotted loosely around her collar. The school uniform makes the air around her feel cool and damp. Time sways as Amelia’s head spins, and she hits the last step of the stairs to see her father trying to fix eggs in a hazy kitchen. She grins and prowls in to startle him.

Dad! she bellows.

He jumps back and veers around to see her grinning, but what she is smiling about he does not know. Usually, she hates first days at new schools. It is not that she is not nervous, but Amelia is used to blending into new schools.

Hey, sweetie! Ever heard of an alarm clock? He pulls a small smile across his gloomy face.

No . . . what are those again? she jokes, trying to get his smile to bloom into laughter. He just shakes his head while trying to hide his semi-straight grin.

Dad, you know there’s no point in fixing those eggs. I won’t have time to eat them. I have to get to the corner to meet that stupid bus!

You have to eat something. You don’t want to faint like you did at the last school.

So I can just get something to eat at school? she lightly argues.

He stares at her for a second to study her smirk for a hidden and mischievous plan to skip breakfast.

"Okay, promise me that you will eat something for breakfast. Be careful and watch your back. If you see anything suspicious, call me, okay?" he says.

To Amelia it is the original lecture she has gotten every morning of her school life. She takes it for granted and shrugs it off. Yes, now can I go? She sighs.

This school should be a lot safer than the others. So don’t worry yourself, just be aware and come straight home afterward. Oh! And go ahead and take the school bus to get home. I won’t be able to pick you up today, I’ve got to work late. Okay?

Dad, I’ll be fine, she groans.

Amelia does not even wait for her dad’s reply. She rushes into the living room, grabs her backpack, and speeds off to the front door.

Oh! And, Amelia!

Yeah? she answers, swerving around to face him.

I’m sorry, he says.

I know, Dad, Amelia sputters and scrambles out the front door.

* * *

Amelia steps through the lavender stained-glass doors into the commons area of Fate High School. It is packed full of high school teenagers that chatter and yell hysterically. The roar of their voices and wild outbursts of laughter suffocate her ears, and she can feel the sharp sting of loneliness as she itches with uneasiness.

Amelia’s uniform suddenly tightens on her as if chaining her down to reality. The uniform feels as though it is imploding on her, and she gazes around at the pretty-painted faces with cracked smiles. Each teen imprisons themselves to cliques for pointless pride. They deal to get a higher grade the easy way. They hug to snatch away a heart. They laugh at each other in hopes of not getting beaten up or made fun of. They shake hands to deal drugs and other pointless remedies that lead to more shackles.

Amelia pities them. She knows how they feel. She used to try and fit in before she finally gave up. She merely strives to blend in so the agents do not find her. Her empty stomach churns, compelling her to cringe at all the social vomit. She knows of these teens’ lies because she, too, adds to them every day. She hides behind a fake masking smile. But I do it for a different reason, she thinks to herself. Fate High School is like all the rest, and it will end up just the same too—just more running and moving. I’ll never be a normal teenager, I never really was. Nobody can protect me from the monsters that are after me.

Amelia’s head suddenly begins to throb, and her mind starts to swim as she feels tears waging war to break free. Her lungs cry out for oxygen, not all the fake air that smothers her. She begins to frantically peer around for an air pocket. On weak legs, she pushes through the crowds of nonchalant teens. She knows she will faint, and there will go her world. The nurse will have to call an ambulance, and then the agents will find her and kidnap her.

Gasping for air, Amelia stares up at the towering ceiling and past the dull lighting of the sparkling chandeliers. The ceiling begins to swim as if it were an everlasting ocean of light. She whispers a silent prayer, a gasp for a savior to sweep her out of the pit of encroaching darkness.

In the middle of Amelia’s drowning, she wrecks into strong and solid matter.

Oof!

Amelia crashes to the pearl-white ground. Her ears catch hold of a bold but tender voice that echoes out above the smothering waves. The world of hideous lies swirls around her and tumbles to a halt. She is left staring up into hazel-brown eyes that burn like embers.

You okay? I mean, you kind of bumped into me and fell, the teenage boy lends out his right hand.

She lies on the cold tile and almost cringes at his open palm with suspicious eyes. What if he is one of the agents’ sons here to spy on me?

Amelia takes his hand, although she does not know why. It is a warm hand and a solid grip that pulls her up to stand on her wobbly legs. Their eyes meet, and she quickly looks away with blushing cheeks.

There you go! You okay now? he asks.

She turns her head back to answer him, but his warm expression snags her speech. Amelia studies his face for any ounce of irritation, but there is only concern. Then she sees him as a whole. His stout stature casts a red-hued shadow on the pearl tile. His uniform tie is loosely knotted, and his white T-shirt is wrinkled. His amber face glows, and his expression is shaded by his burnt auburn hair. The shaggy locks blend with fiery hues. Above all, his warm smile lifts her heart. Reality shatters the astonishment she has for him, and her mind kicks in.

Um . . . yeah, I’m fine, she finally blurts out.

His grin lights up into a smile, filling Amelia with a cool embrace and causing her own face to sprout a smile.

Um . . . do you need to go to the nurse? You took a pretty hard fall.

Nurse? Oh! No! No! Amelia spouts out. I’m fine, really!

Amelia pulls her numb hand out of his softened grip and begins to push back from his questions. The paranoia she has lived with all her life comes onto her in a wave of panic.

I can’t trust him. Not a word, not a word. I won’t even utter a whisper to him, because anything could let him know what I am if he has been trained by them to search for me. Silence is golden, Amelia thinks to herself and finally pulls away from him.

He gawks at the gap between them and shifts his focus back up at her. The friendly smile on his face shatters as if she has just socked him in the stomach.

I’m sorry! Did I say something wrong? he asks.

No, I’m fine! I’m just a little dizzy, she comments as she takes another step back.

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! The first bell screams out, and Amelia sees her chance to run away and takes it with great speed, leaving the teenage boy empty-handed and dumb-founded.

* * *

Why was I being such a freak? Why didn’t I just say something normal to him? Now, he probably thinks I’m an idiot or something. Life won’t ever be normal, not like other teenagers, Amelia thinks to herself as she waits for the bell to ring in her last class. It really hasn’t been that bad for my first day at a brand-new school in the middle of the first semester. It could have even been close to perfect if it weren’t for the way I acted in front of the first person to acknowledge me, Amelia muses.

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! The last bell of the day screams out, and Amelia snaps out of her chair and hurls her backpack on her left shoulder.

Students rush by her. Some are speed-walking to catch their buses, and some are sauntering without a care in the world. She feels separate from the world, almost as if a ghost among the living. She swims down the crowded stairway that leads to the outside of the school and finally steps outside. The burning brightness of the sun blinds her eyes, but only for a second. The light does not touch her eyes, although she senses it. Excited crowds of teenagers explode in joy as their laughter boils up from within them. The heavy chains of stress collapse and fall away to the ground, leaving them relieved and delighted. They are free from the pressures of school. Why can’t I feel that way when I’m away from the agents?

Hey!

Her ears are suddenly stunned by the boom of a voice, and she swerves around to see the same guy from earlier this morning.

Chapter 3

Solitude

Dizzy Girl! That is your name, right? jokes the teenager.

Amelia stares at him with a sour face as if he is crazy. Um . . . no . . .

Really? Oh! That’s right! You never told me your name! He smiles.

Amelia stares at him with her eyebrows bent down over her tight eyes. Why is he talking to me? I thought for sure he would have thought I was nuts!

Um . . . actually, no I didn’t tell you my name. You didn’t tell me yours either, though, she replies, catching him off guard.

Well, my name is Bryan Angelo. So what’s yours?

Mine? It’s . . . Amelia hesitates while trying to think of her fake name. The name her father enrolled her with at school and the name all the teachers have been calling her all day. Amelia’s mind stumbles over past names from past schools.

It’s . . . Becky! she finally blurts out.

Becky, well, it’s nice to properly meet you. So you got a way home? ’Cause if you don’t, I could give you a ride. I’m kind of givin’ both my friends a ride anyway. We’re also going to this club called the Number 263. It’s a teen club. There’s no drugs or beer, of course! You wanna come?

Uh . . . She pauses. Sure, why not!

Did I just say that? The agents? My dad? But I never get to hang out with normal people, maybe just this once.

Cool! My Jeep’s right down there. Bryan points down at the student parking lot.

He strolls past rowdy students and revving car engines while Amelia tags along two feet away. They finally come to the Jeep Wrangler that shimmers under splotches of dried Texas tar-mud. It is box-shaped with its black top squeezed down to expose the comfortable yet tattered interior.

Here we are, Bryan spouts.

Amelia cautiously walks up as she spies two people standing to its side. She stops in her tracks when she is only four-feet away from the two teens.

He turns to his right to introduce Amelia. Guys, this is Becky. She’s new here!

One of his friends snaps hold of Amelia’s hand and shakes vigorously.

I’m Gho—I mean Ruth . . . Pollok! And I think I remember you from somewhere, the girl pipes.

Y-y-you do? Amelia stutters.

Yeah! You were the one that bumped into Abed—I mean Bryan—at school this morning!

Amelia sighs. Oh! Yeah, sorry about that I . . .

It’s okay! Bryan blurts out.

Oh! Yeah, it’s okay! I actually thought it was hilarious! the girl dubbed Ruth jokes.

Amelia is stunned at the girl’s bright magenta-pink hair that is put up in spastic pigtails.