The Night House by Rachel Tafoya

happened with that girl. I still feel everything she’s feeling. It’s not right.”
    “But that only happens when you do that thing you do.” She waves her hand in the air.
    “The connection, I know. That’s the problem. I don’t know her, but it feels like I’ve made a connection with her. It’s like how I feel you or Shiloh. It’s not supposed to happen with strangers.”
    “Then why did it happen?”
    “I wasn’t exactly taught all the rules about this…” I gesture at myself, trying to think of the word for it.
    “Talent,” Shiloh suggests from the corner.
    “Sure, talent. I don’t understand how everything works. I probably never will.”
    I stop talking so Ally can digest. She is confused with an undertone of concern and maybe some hysterics on the way. Quite the storm brewing.
    “Who is she?” Ally asks.
    This question surprises me. I stumble on my words. “Um, I don’t know, Al. All I have are her emotions and her scars.”
    “Scars?” The word carries a little more weight to the three of us.
    Pain radiates in my wrist and I touch it, half expecting to dampen my fingers with blood again. “I think…she’s an addict. I feel a need in her.”
    “Addicted to what?” Ally asks, eyes narrowed.
    I shrug. “No clue. But she has these wounds all over her body, almost like…bite marks. Not sure if they’re from needles or if she’s doing it herself.”
    “Whoa.” For a second she is deeply affected by this, by the strangeness or maybe the horror. Some girl on drugs covered in bites, wandering Philly. Then she snaps back to her old self. “That’s so messed up. What does she feel right now?”
    I recite the feelings automatically. “She’s scared and in a lot of discomfort. Not real pain anymore, but I think she’s getting sick. It feels like there isn’t enough stuff in her body. But she’s still restless.”
    Ally slowly sits across from me on the floor. Her gaze is on the wall, but her mind is a million miles away. I may as well have handed her a Rubik’s Cube to solve.
    “How ya feeling?” Shy asks.
    I shrug. “I think she’s going to sleep soon.”
    “Not her, you .”
    It takes a few seconds for me to sift through everything in my head. “I’m tired,” I answer. “Confused.” It’s the only thing I feel that I know is mine.
    Shiloh and I glance at each other. He’s concerned, but he’s also curious. He wants to know what I’ll do with it all.
    “Do you think this happened because…you know…the kiss?”
    “ What? ” Ally leans onto her hands, staring at me.
    I lean my head on the bed. “She was high. She kissed me. It was nothing.”
    “It was noth—” She pushes the heels of her hands into her temples. “Can you hear yourself? She kissed you, dude! Have you ever been kissed? That’s a big deal, bro!”
    “I really don’t think that’s why this happened. I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “Maybe it is.”
    “You have to find her,” Ally exclaims.
    Shiloh and I both stare at her. She’s wild eyed, like she’s discovered gold.
    “Why?” I ask. “I’m already so tired because of her. Finding her might just kill me.”
    I’m a little intimidated by Ally’s intensity when she says, “I’ve always thought that you had this gift for a reason. I can see how affected you are by this girl. It might mean something. Maybe you’re supposed to help her. Maybe she’s like you! You guys could be freakin’ soul mates!”
    “That’s what I said,” Shiloh chimes in. “Well, not the soul mates part…”
    The girl’s eyes come back to me. Bright green, like the grass in all the man-made parks. I think of all the people who stepped on this girl, and what must have happened to put her in that situation. Could she really be like me? Could she be hiding, like me? Hiding her power?
    It might explain why she kissed me.
    “Maybe it’s nothing,” Ally goes on. “But I bet there’s a reason why that girl’s in pain. Maybe she’s hurting herself.