\u201cMatt, I need to talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can talk all you want if you\u2019ll get on those bellows.\u00a0 Can\u2019t promise I\u2019ll hear half of what you\u2019re saying.\u201d\u00a0 Matt glanced toward J.T. , swiping a soot-stained sleeve across his forehead and leaving a smear of gray in its wake.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll talk loud,\u201d J.T. said as he stepped around Matt\u2019s anvil and quenching trough to take over pumping the bellows.\u00a0 \u201cSince I need you to hear me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt\u2019s brows knit and he paused before he picked up his hammer again.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe nothing,\u201d J.T. said, feeling his stomach give an uncomfortable somersault at what might have been a lie.\u00a0 \u201cDo you remember anything about the life you lived as the druid?\u201d<\/p>\n
He paused, hammer poised to fall over the blade he was working on.\u00a0 His gaze was confused, almost haunted as he stared at J.T. for a long moment.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are you asking?\u201d<\/p>\n
J.T. closed his eyes for a moment.\u00a0 The smell metal and the forge filled his nostrils, feeling as soothing as a walk in the woods used to be, or the smell of the scene shop at the height of pre-production for a show.<\/p>\n
I miss that too much.\u00a0 So much it hurts.<\/i>\u00a0 He exhaled softly and opened his eyes again.\u00a0 \u201cPhelan\u2019s going to do something stupid.\u00a0 What you and Marin and Thom can remember of the lives you led then might be the key to making sure he doesn\u2019t go off half-cocked now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere the hell is this coming from, Jay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s talked about leaving, Matt.\u00a0 We can\u2019t let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt shuddered, then took a breath and resumed working.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d he said over the sound of his hammering.\u00a0 \u201cNo, we can\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been dreams,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cDreams that maybe I had when I was a child and was never able to remember.\u00a0 They\u2019ve been coming every night lately.\u00a0 I\u2019ve only told Pippa.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t even told my sister.<\/p>\n
\u201cI run through the woods.\u00a0 Something\u2019s chasing me, but I\u2019m more annoyed than afraid, but something\u2019s not right.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t be annoyed.\u00a0 There\u2019s some part of me that\u2019s terrified, something buried and subsumed.\u00a0 Someone\u2019s calling my name that\u2019s not my name and someone\u2019s calling what\u2019s not my name but has become my name.\u201d\u00a0 He exhaled in a rush.\u00a0 \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense, does it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d J.T. said.\u00a0 \u201cBut I\u2019m sure if you slow down, it might.\u201d\u00a0 Or if I knew more about that existence, but I don\u2019t.<\/i>\u00a0 He frowned slightly.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think you were the druid in the dream?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I was,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cBut I\u2019m not sure what it all means.\u00a0 There are other dreams I\u2019ve had, dreams where I\u2019ve been with the two of them and a girl and others.\u00a0 They\u2019re disjointed pieces of a life that doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d\u00a0 He exhaled softly.\u00a0 \u201cBut I don\u2019t remember Phelan.\u00a0 Not clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn,\u201d J.T. breathed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I can try,\u201d Matt said as he thrust his unfinished piece into the fire to heat again.\u00a0 \u201cIf it\u2019s that important, I can try.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cMatt, I need to talk to you.\u201d \u201cYou can talk all you want if you\u2019ll get on those bellows.\u00a0 Can\u2019t promise I\u2019ll hear half of what you\u2019re saying.\u201d\u00a0 Matt glanced toward J.T. , swiping a soot-stained sleeve across his forehead … Continue reading