"Whoa. Wait a second. You don't think this is your fault, do you?"
She shrugged. "What am I supposed to think? If I hadn't talked you out of developing the film, you'd have seen what would happen, and at least had a chance of preventing it."
"You don't know that." Mark tried to think it through. The timing was all wrong. It was always harder to change the outcome when things happened at night or early morning. If 9/11 had happened at five in the evening instead of early in the day, he might have been able to make a difference there too, but it had been out of his control. "Besides, even if I developed the film, I wouldn't have had time to dream about it. They came for me in the middle of the night."
His heart pounded. Even just thinking about it brought back the terror of that night. He rubbed his temples. "What I want to know is how Jim factored into all of this? It doesn’t make sense. How and why would Jim dream about what had happened-"
"No, it wasn't 'had happened', it's what was happening right then, possibly while he was there. At least, that’s the way I understood it. It was the prayers he heard first.”
“Prayers?”
“Yes. Bits and pieces of prayers.” Lily’s gaze dropped to the top of the breakfast bar for an instant before she took a deep breath and nodded. “Your praying woke him up. It wasn’t until after he was awake that he had the dream or vision of you in the warehouse.”
“How is that possible?” It wasn’t at all what happened when he had his future dreams. While they often felt real, he always had the sensation of waking at the end. It never was the other way around.
Lily’s lips compressed as she slowly shook her head and reached for his hand. “I have a theory.” She bit her lip and closed her other hand over the top of Mark’s, sandwiching his between hers. “I think you reached out to him.”
Mark started, caught by surprise at her comment. “Reached out? What do you mean?”
“I think,” she cocked her head to the side, “that your abilities expanded. You prayed for help, and God, as He does so often, didn’t answer directly, but allowed your plea to be heard by someone. Someone who could then come to your aid.” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and smiled, “You reached out to Jim with your mind.”
He yanked his hand out of her grasp. “No way. You’re saying that I somehow sent a message to… Jim?” Shaking his head, he slid off the stool. “That’s like…like mental telepathy. Nope. No way.” He laughed sarcastically. “Lily, I think you’re right about a lot of things, but not this. I’m not some kind of freak.”
She shrugged. “I never said you were a freak. You have a gift. You should embrace it.”
“Some gift. This is more like a curse.” He raked his hand through his hair. “A new sweater is a gift, Lily. A necktie is a gift, but mental telepathy and seeing the future, that’s something else completely. I don’t know what it is, but it sure as hell is not a gift.”
Lily nodded. “Yes, it is. And Mark, I hope someday you'll realize how truly amazing it is. Whatever or whomever controls how the camera and dreams work, did not want you to die that night. You have someone watching out for you.”
Mark backed away from the breakfast bar, shaken by the thought. He was used to the magic that was the camera, but thinking about its origins and why it worked through him was something he tried not to think about. The idea that there could be more magic heading his way terrified him.
Lily insisted on washing the dishes and put the leftovers away for him to eat later. “Mark, why don’t you rest a bit?”
His bed sported a new navy blue comforter and it looked soft and inviting, but he didn’t feel like lying in bed. It felt weird to do so while Lily still puttered in the kitchen. He noted the new deadbolt on his door and felt a little more secure. After awhile, bored, he put an old Jimmy Stewart movie in the dvd player, and stretched out on the couch. Even though it was one of his favorite movies, he couldn’t concentrate. The commotion outside showed no signs of letting up and he rolled to a sitting position with a sigh, rubbing his stab wound absently.
Shouts and some kind of singing filtered up to his living room, even over the sound of the movie, and he stood and made his way to the window overlooking the street. Down below, in addition to the reporters, a large crowd like the one outside the hospital had formed. A police car was parked out front and its presence instilled a measure of comfort in him. He didn’t know where Kern was or even if he was still after him, but he was at a loss as to why Kern had come after him to begin with.
Mark stepped back when someone below looked up and pointed. The noise intensified and cameras began flashing. Sighing, he turned away and almost bumped into Lily.
“I take it they saw you?" Her lips pursed into a frown.
Glancing over his shoulder at the window, he took a deep breath and said, “Yeah. Lily…how am I gonna do anything with them hanging around?”
She shook her head. “I guess after awhile they’ll get tired of waiting for some kind of ‘sign’ from you and leave. Besides, until you're healed enough to use the camera, you don’t have to worry about it.”
He looked at his bedside table on the far end of the loft. It was empty except for the light and clock radio. "Speaking of the camera, do you know where it is?"
Lily slapped her forehead, her eyes wide. "Shoot. I forgot. It's in the trunk of my car. I can run out to get it if you want."
Mark considered telling her no. He wasn't sure he'd be up to it, but while he hated to admit it, he missed the dreams already. "If you think you can make it past the crowd, that would be great."
"No problem. I'm getting good at ignoring them, plus they think I'm boring. As long as they quit interfering with clients coming to the studio-"
"Wait. What do you mean by 'quit interfering? Has that happened?"
Her face colored as though she had let a secret slip. "It's not a big deal, Mark. Just a few clients called to cancel. They were a little freaked out by the crowd."
"Shit. I'm sorry, Lily. I'll make up the losses. I have some money saved and-"
She put her hands on her hips and interrupted, "You will not! You were upfront with me when we forged this partnership, and I was straight with you when I said I could handle it." Her eyes twinkled as she said, "Besides, for every person who has canceled, about three more have called to make appointments. We're swamped, partner." She grinned at him. "I'll be right back."
A few minutes later, she returned, the camera in hand. "I only had to fend off a dozen of your groupies."
Mark limped from the window where he'd been anxiously watching. "Seriously?" The crowd had stirred about the time Lily would have been outside, but he hadn't been able to see her car from his vantage point.
"No, I'm teasing. What I really wanted to do was give them the finger, but my mother might have seen it on the news."
Mark chuckled as he took the camera from her. He held his breath in anticipation of receiving the jolt of energy that he always got from the device. He waited. After thirty seconds, he frowned. Nothing. The camera didn't thrum or vibrate. It sat cold and lifeless in the palm of his hand.
"What's wrong?"
Mark turned the camera over, making sure it was the right one. Not that he had any that looked like it, but someone might have switched it out if they suspected. He squinted at it, sure it was his camera, but there was no connection. "It doesn't feel right."
"I didn't put any film in it, maybe that's what's wrong."
"I always keep some film in the closet, on the shelf." He tilted his head towards the closet next to the bathroom.
Lily found it and brought it over. Mark fumbled with the latch to get the door open to load the film, balancing the camera on his knees and holding it steady with the fingers of his left hand that poked out of his sling.