Mind over Matter

By Misty Reigenborn

Ariel Fletcher is 17 years old. She has a loving family and what she considers to be the world's best boyfriend. She wants to be a writer and plans to marry her boyfriend Adam, after graduation. But then the unexpected happens to this teenage girl after the darkness from her mother's past comes back to light in an unexpected way.

Ariel has an older half sister and four older half brothers. They were removed from the custody of Ariel's mother and her ex husband and their parental rights were terminated. Now Summer, Ariel's sister, has had her children removed by Child Protective Services as well. Everyone is devastated, but then a blessing comes in an unexpected form when Summer's CPS worker dies and her children are returned.

But Ariel believes that she is responsible for the death. Can a seventeen year old girl really take the lives of those who have harmed her family with her mind? Can she learn to live with herself if she can? Will her family or Adam ever look at her the same way again? Will the killing stop or is Ariel doomed to the painful headaches and deaths that she can't seem to control?

Now includes Misty Reigenborn's short story Into the Light!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Misty Reigenborn
• Release date: Oct 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301536078

Misty Reigenborn

Misty Reigenborn has been writing poetry, short stories and novel length work since she was nine years old. She is the author of twenty titles: romance novels A Twist of Fate, Better Left Unsaid, Run to You, Better Left Unsaid: Alternate Ending, Crestview Academy: Tory, Crestview Academy: Molli, Crestview Academy: Mellenda, Girls of Gabe's Place 1: Brandy, Girls of Gabe's Place 2: Robyn,Girls of Gabe's Place 3: Ami, Run From You, Key to My Heart: Stay, Key to My Heart: Only You and Temptations, fantasy novel Mind over Matter, short story collections Second Chance, This Song Reminds Me of You and Love and Other Tales, poetry collection From the Heart, and non fiction title A Broken System: Examining the Clark County Department of Family Services. She loves to connect with her readers and appreciates an honest review.

Book preview

Mind over Matter

Misty Reigenborn

Copyright 2012

By Misty Reigenborn

Smashwords Edition

Chapter 1

My name is Ariel Fletcher and I’m 17 years old. Right now I’m sitting in a motel room with my mom. She’s on the phone with my dad again, but I don’t think that he really wants to talk to me. I think that part of the reason that my mom dragged me out of bed at four o’clock in the morning yesterday was that she was afraid that I’d hurt my little brothers without meaning to. I can’t blame her because there’s been some really weird stuff going on lately, but I would hate myself if I hurt my little brothers. They can be jerks but I still love them.

I am my mom’s sixth child and my dad’s first. My mom had five kids with her ex husband, but they never lived with us. They didn’t live with their dad either, because they all got taken away by child protective services or CPS. When I tell people that, a lot of them automatically think that my mom must have been some kind of a junkie or child abuser who straightened her life out when she met my dad.

It’s not true. Of course I wasn’t there, but I’ve talked to my half brothers and sister and they pretty much confirm the fact that neither our mom nor their dad ever abused them. My mom never did drugs and she hardly ever drinks alcohol. My mom is my hero and I love her so much. I’ve always been closer to my dad, because sometimes it seems that my mom is almost afraid to love my brothers and me too much. But I know she loves us and she’s always been a good mother. She just had a lot to deal with after they took her kids away and was really sad for a very long time. She still gets sad because she missed a lot of stuff in that went on in the lives of her older kids, but they all have a good relationship now.

So let me get to where all of this trouble started. My older sister is 28. Yeah, okay so that makes my mom kind of old and yeah, my dad is a few years younger than her, but she doesn’t seem that old. She’s a painter now and she’s really good. It took her forever to finally follow her dreams but she did it. We have plenty of money because my dad used to do this show on TV. He won’t let me watch it because he says it’s beyond my years, but it’s not like I can’t find it on the internet. It’s still pretty funny even if some of the jokes are a little dated.

My sister called my mom on the phone almost a month ago and said that CPS had come knocking on her door and threatened to take her kids away. Her electricity had been shut off and someone said that her boyfriend was dealing drugs out of their house. I don’t like her boyfriend. He’s kind of an asshole. I know that he cheats on her and does drugs, but I know he’s not dumb enough to sell them. He loves their kids, even if I don’t think that he loves Summer enough sometimes.

My mom was mad that Summer hadn’t called her before because she would have given Summer the money right away to pay their power bill. But Summer said that she’s tired of borrowing money all the time. I can’t blame her for that. Mom and Dad give me a nice allowance, but they won’t let me get a job because I want to be a writer. They think that I’m really good and should concentrate on my writing while I still can. I won 10th place in a writing contest and my story got published in a book, but sometimes I wonder if I’m really as good as they think I am, or if they’re just being nice because they’re my parents and they love me.

Anyway, Mom told Summer that she’d pay for a lawyer since with what happened to her, you can never be too careful. But Summer said no, and said that she didn’t think that the worker would come back because their electricity was back on. Kevin was trying his hardest to stay clean and had started at a new job that paid better than his last one.

Well, everything was okay until a week later when Summer called Mom. She was way upset because they did take her kids and wouldn’t give them back until she went to court.

Mom called a lawyer right away. They got right into court but they still wouldn’t give the kids back. They said that Summer’s house was dangerous because it gets kinda messy sometimes and both Summer and Kevin had dirty drug tests. Summer just tested positive for marijuana. I didn’t think that people cared about that anymore, but I guess it is still illegal a lot of places. My parents smoke it every once in a while and I’ve tried it myself so it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me, but I guess it did to this caseworker and judge.

Kevin tested positive for coke and even though his numbers were barely over the limit, they said that he had to go to drug counseling. They also had to take parenting classes and get mental health evaluations and a bunch of other crap before they’d even think of sending the kids home. Mom wanted to drive up and pick up my nephews right away but they wouldn’t let her. That really pissed her off and she got into a fight with Dad over it. That was not a fun night let me tell you. My parents don’t fight very often but when they do, look out.

Everyone was upset and they wouldn’t let me go out with my boyfriend Adam that night. They’d promised me that I could go out with him again if I kept my grades up. They grounded me from seeing him for two weeks because Dad caught us having sex in my room when we were supposed to be studying and weren’t technically supposed to have the door closed.

Mom and Dad like Adam, but not that much. I don’t think that it’s easy for any parent to admit that their kid is having sex, especially when you’re a girl.

I really miss Adam already, but let me get back to my story. I went to bed early that night, or at least went to my room early. I texted back and forth with Adam until after eleven o’clock and tried to work on a story that I was writing for a little while after, so it was after midnight when I finally tried to go to sleep. I could hear Mom and Dad having sex, because their bed squeaks. It’s pretty weird to think that my parents still do things like that, but at least it meant that they had made up. I figured that they’d let me see Adam that night since they’d be in a better mood in the morning.

I had this really vivid dream that night. I was in this parking lot. This woman was ahead of me and she was hurrying like she had somewhere really important to get to. I didn’t know who she was because I’d never seen her before, but I called out to her and I knew her name. It was Penny. Even in the dream, I knew that I had the right name.

She turned around. I hurried over to where she was. She got a strange look on her face, like maybe she thought she knew me from somewhere or something, but still wasn’t sure why I knew her name. Well, the next thing I knew, she was lying on the ground and her eyes were blank like she was dead. I bent down and she wasn’t breathing and there wasn’t a pulse in her neck or in her wrist. I had no idea what in the hell had happened to her, but I knew that whatever it was, I had somehow been responsible for it. I thought about calling for help, but I didn’t have my phone in the dream and I knew that what I really needed to do was just get the hell out of there.

I was pretty freaked out when I woke up. The dream made me feel weird. I was sweating and I had a headache and really just didn’t feel well at all. Mom gave me a funny look when I went up to breakfast and asked if I was okay. I told her I was fine and made myself a bowl of cereal for breakfast like usual and forced myself to eat every bite. I didn’t really want to go to school, but I really wanted to see Adam and knew that there was no way my parents would let me see him after school if I stayed home from school.

Dad was in a really good mood. He was whistling. I think that even my brothers, who are fourteen and thirteen, knew that he’d gotten laid the night before because they were making all kinds of funny faces at each other behind Dad’s back. If it’s weird for me to think that our parents still have sex, it’s really weird for my brothers to think so.

Dad dropped me off at school and kissed my forehead like he always does. I’m probably too old for it, but like I told you before, I’ve always been kind of a Daddy’s girl. I miss my Dad really badly too.

Anyway, Dad knew that something was wrong and told me that I could call him if I wanted him to come and pick me up at lunch time. He wants to buy me a car, but Mom doesn’t think I’m ready. I kind of think that I agree with her, especially now, even though I still want one. Adam does have a car though, so I told him that if I needed a ride home, he could just give me a ride. Dad kind of made a face at that, but he didn’t tell me that I couldn’t go out with Adam after school so I was happy.

At lunch time, Adam and I went to eat at a nearby fast food restaurant. I wasn’t hungry and I really just wanted him to hold me since I was still feeling out of sorts, but his friend Mike was in the backseat. There was no way that I was going to ask him in front of Mike. He has a really dirty mind and doesn’t seem to understand that even the hottest make session doesn’t always have to lead to sex. So I didn’t tell Adam about my dream then either.

After school he was waiting by my locker. He looked so happy just to see me that I wanted to cry. I had no idea why I was feeling so bad, but Adam took one look at me and told me that we were going to go his house and talk since his parents were out of town. Yeah, we did end up in his bedroom and we did have sex, but it was what happened afterwards that matters.

We were still naked and I was tracing a heart on his chest. He kissed my cheek and then said What’s the matter babe?

I sighed. I had a really weird dream last night.

He sat up and leaned against the headboard. I sat up too, and looked at him. Adam has the most beautiful eyes. They’re this weird mixture of blue and brown since his dad has blue eyes and his mom has brown. Sometimes I think I could literally get lost in them.

He looked back at me. So tell me about it babe, if it’s bugging you so much. I know something is.

I don’t know if I can explain it, but I’ll try. I was in this parking lot with this woman I’ve never seen before. I called out to her and she turned around and gave me this weird look. The next thing I knew she was laying on the ground dead. And I knew that somehow I had killed her. I didn’t see myself do anything but I knew that I did. It was so weird. I woke up all sweaty and I had a headache too. Have you ever had a dream like that?

Adam shook his head, and brushed my hair back out of my face. Not exactly. I think you’ve just been watching too many horror movies again.

It’s not that Adam. Those movies don’t bug me, because I know they’re not real. Or if they are, I don’t let them get to me. I know that people do really messed up stuff sometimes. Did weird things ever happen to you when you were a kid? Did you ever feel like you went away from your body, but had no idea where you went or anything about what you did while you were gone?

Weird things happen to everyone, but no nothing like that ever happened to me when I was a kid. Are you sure you didn’t just read something in a book somewhere and think that it really happened to you when you were a kid? You’ve read more books than anyone I know Rie.

No. It was real Adam. I thought for a while that it was some kind of disassociation but nothing bad happened to me when I was a kid, certainly not like what happened to my older sister and brothers. I know that Mom and Dad never did anything bad.

Nah, you’re parents are cool. I think your dad wanted to shoot me when he saw that we were having sex, but he definitely could have done more than grounding you for a couple weeks.

Yeah. Have you ever felt like you could do things with your mind Adam?

Adam gave me a funny look. Like what?

I don’t know. Make people think things or want to do something or make them see pictures in their head.

Nah, I think you’ve been smoking weed again babe.

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I got a little weird the last time we got stoned but forget about that for now. I’m serious. I used to want something specific for dinner and then my mom would decide that’s what she was going to cook. This wasn’t just a one-time thing. Last year, when we had broken up and I was really depressed, Mom made what I wanted for dinner every night in a row for two weeks. My brothers were pissed.

Adam shrugged. So what? Your mom knew you were down. She was trying to be nice.

Uh uh. It wasn’t that because these weren’t my favorite foods. She was making tacos one night and suddenly decided to make this casserole that I like five minutes before the meat was done cooking. This is something we don’t eat very often because Dad and the boys don’t like it. I thought about it two minutes before she changed her mind on what to make for dinner.

Adam shrugged again, but he looked less convinced. Okay, so you and your mom were on the same wavelength that night or something. It happens sometimes.

Yeah. Like when she started drawing again and the first picture she drew was of this house that was stuck in my head that I’d never seen before right? Or like when I was five and wanted this certain dress to wear the first day of school but we couldn’t find one like it in the stores anywhere. I couldn’t describe to her exactly what it looked like, but the next thing we knew I got a package from my grandma and it had that exact dress in it. Or when we were fifteen and you weren’t going to ask me out because you thought I liked Tommy Paulson. You were going to ask Sarah Andrews out to try to make me jealous. I looked at you in history class and I told you that I liked you in my mind. You asked me out after school that day. Like that huh?

You smiled at me that day babe. You hardly ever smile. You walk around like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders most of the time. It bugs the crap out of me.

Are you trying to tell me that in history class it didn’t pop into your head that I liked you? You told me before that it did, so don’t lie to me Adam.

Like I said, it was because you smiled. It did kinda pop into my head that maybe you liked me, but I wasn’t sure that you were going to say yes when I asked you out. I just knew that I had to take a chance. I didn’t really want to ask Sarah out. She has bad breath. It must be really gross to kiss her.

Sarah is a really nice girl. What did it feel like when I looked at you? Be honest with me please.

Adam wouldn’t look at me. Well, you looked at me and you smiled. I was kinda starting to think dirty thoughts about you, but then it came into my head that you liked me.

Uh huh. Was it she likes you or was it I like you?

Then Adam really wouldn’t look at me, and he was mumbling when he said I like you.

So see, you can’t think that I’m totally full of shit.

I don’t think you’re full of shit Rie. This stuff is just weird.

Do you love me Adam?

Of course I love you. I can’t imagine ever feeling the way I feel about you for another girl.

I love you too. Do you trust me?

Adam looked me in the eye then. Of course I trust you babe. Why? You wanna try that sex thing you were telling me about?

I gave him a dirty look. No, but I do want to try something else.

"Um, okay. Do I wanna know what this is