Friday, June 29, 2007

Eartha - Chapter 3

Okay, okay! Somebody did actually request the third chapter! I will get new stuff up here soon. I promise. Not that I've been hearing complaints from my readers, but this isn't really writing so much as copy and pasting. Speaking of copy and paste.... I thought by doing that my story would transfer over faithfully and I wouldn't have to go through and edit anything, but apparently that's not the case. I was glancing through Chapter Two yesterday and noticed that the speech of Mora's was long and missing several commas. It kind of reminded me of my writing freshman year in high school. Sad. So, you are just going to have to suffer with little glitches because I'm not going through and editing just for blogger. If you want the real copy you can ask me for it. I've e-mailed it to enough people that one more isn't going to hurt. :D Anyway, here is Chapter Tree (a slightly shorter chapter than the first two). Hopefully next time I can post something new. Enjoy.



Chapter 3


“Dr. Timmus, it’s been four months now,” she exploded, “I’m going to go crazy if you keep me locked up for much longer.”
“Do you think you’re ready, Eartha?” Dr. Timmus asked eyeing her.
“I couldn’t possibly be more ready,” she answered.
“But you still can’t shield yourself when you are touched,” he reminded her.
“Sir, you are a great teacher, but I don’t think I will ever be able to… Not when I’m touched… but neither could my mother. I’m not sure that it’s possible,” she said.
“There still may be a way to focus your energies on that aspect. I think we should wait a little bit longer,” he suggested.
“We’ve been focusing on this for the past month!” she wailed. He remained silent for a moment in thought and then a thought struck him. “I have an idea!” he said, “but it will probably draw a little attention to you.”
“I don’t like to draw attention,” she replied firmly.
“Nothing outlandish or crazy,” he assured her, “Just a few alterations to the uniform to suit your needs.”
“Altering how?” she asked.
“Longer skirt, long sleeves, more fabric to cover you up,” he replied, “Save you from accidents.”
****
The cafeteria looked quite a bit different with all the students crammed inside for lunch. She was starting her afternoon classes after lunch. She had missed the morning classes to go over school regulations with Dr. Timmus. They had also double-checked her new uniform for any flaws that would make it easier for someone to touch her. It had turned out that they needed to alter the uniform quite a bit for her needs. She still wore the white woven button down shirt, but hers was long sleeved as opposed to the short sleeves everyone else wore. She also wore gloves that went to her elbows. She had rolled her sleeves to about a three quarter length so she wouldn’t get too hot. She had a thin silk scarf wrapped around her neck, an addition that annoyed her more than anything, but they had discovered that her neck was a very vulnerable spot when she pulled her hair back. Since she almost always wore her waist length hair in a single braid down her back the scarf was necessary. Dr. Timmus suggested a turtleneck for when the weather was cold. Her skirt was black like all the other girls, but instead of the knee length pleats Eartha wore an ankle length flowing skirt. She stuck with her knee high lace up boots. Dr. Timmus didn’t have any objections since students were allowed to wear whatever shoes they wanted. She also had the white camisole under her shirt and thick tights that disappeared into her boots. A single layer of clothing would only protect her from casual touches. For the random cases where the toucher was more determined and would not let go the layers were far more practical. The get up was warm and heavy, but she would get used to it and it actually made her feel quite a bit safer.
A few people looked up at her when she entered the cafeteria, but no one really seemed all that surprised by her appearance. Apparently most of the students had seen so many strange things since coming to Mead Institute that it didn’t strike them as odd at all. She took a seat at an empty table near the back and pulled a book out immediately. Most people were less likely to bother a person that appeared to be occupied with something. She was only able to read a paragraph before she felt the table shudder slightly with the weight of another person sitting down. She didn’t look up from her book hoping the other person took the hint and didn’t try to start a conversation. Another few minutes passed in silence, but she was unable to concentrate on her reading because she had the distinct feeling that the other person was watching her. She kept her nose in her book refusing to acknowledge that the other person was even there.
“You’re a slow reader,” a low almost dark sounding voice commented. Eartha’s head snapped up and she narrowly fixed her eyes on the boy sitting across from her. She didn’t respond to his comment with words. “You’ve been on that same page for, like, the past fifteen minutes,” he explained. She rolled her eyes and lowered her head again. “Of course, I can’t be sure you’re reading at all. Your eyes aren’t even moving over the page, which is pretty much a requirement for reading… Am I distracting you so much by sitting here?” He asked.
“Distracting me?” she snapped looking up again, “I didn’t even know you were there until you spoke. I was lost in thoughts.”
“Oh, I see,” a sly grin spread across his face.
“You’re new?” he asked.
“No,” she replied without further explanation.
“I’ve never seen you before,” he commented, “I’m pretty good about noticing new people.”
“Well, I guess you’re slipping,” she shot back. He laughed throwing his head back slightly. He took a few more bites of his lunch as she returned to staring at her book.
“So, how long have you been here?” he asked intruding once again on her thoughts.
“Four months,” she replied.
“It seems impossible that I haven’t seen you before,” he mused. She looked up again and realized something. This was the boy she had knocked out in the hallway months ago. Her face burned red suddenly. Did he recognize her? Is that why he had decided to sit down next to a complete stranger? She had to test him, find out if he knew what she had done to him. “I’ve seen you,” she said quietly.
“When?” he asked obviously not believing her.
“I saw you passed out on the hallway floor about a month ago,” she replied looking him directly in the eyes. She was looking for any sign of recognition. The smile slipped from his face immediately. Apparently he didn’t like that memory. “How did you know about that?” he asked.
“I told you, I saw you on the floor,” she answered.
He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly thought better of it and snapped it close again. He leaned back in his chair and just stared at her for a moment. He hadn’t seen her she realized. The trance had made him blind to the real world. She sighed heavily and looked away and then slowly she returned to her book. She had completely lost her place and flipped a few pages back to see what the chapter had been talking about. He continued to stare at her, but then he shook his head and began to smile again.
“So, what dorm are you in?” he asked to get the conversation started again.
“Um, I think Dr. Timmus said that I would probably go to Osen Hall,” she replied shrugging her shoulder.
“You haven’t been there yet?” he asked his eyes narrowing slightly, “I thought you said you’ve been here for four months.”
“I have been here for four months, just not in the dorms or in the classrooms with the other students,” she answered.
“Why?” he asked.
“I have special… circumstances,” she replied.
“What are these circumstances?” he pressed.
“They’re my business,” she snapped.
He grinned again, “I’m in Vectim Hall,” he offered. She looked blankly at him, unaware if this was supposed to mean something to her. “My name is Garrick Strom. You can call me Garrick if you like.” She nodded slowly, but did not offer her name in return. “You want me to leave?” he asked leaning forward slightly.
She shrugged. She didn’t really care one way or the other if he left. “Well, my two normal lunch companions have landed themselves in detention… well, in school suspension actually. So you can just suffer my company,” he said.
“Are you a mind reader?” she asked suddenly.
“No. I’m not a telepath and I would never want to be. Some things are better left a mystery. I’m telekinetic, actually. I can move things with my mind,” he explained.
“Eartha,” she announced.
“Excuse me?” he replied.
“My name,” she looked at him, “is Eartha.”
“Okay, quick question. Do any of the other girls know about this new uniform change?” he asked, “ I don’t think any of them know since I saw a few of ‘em hiking their skirts up higher in the dorm common room this morning.” She looked away quickly without answering his question.
“Is there any personal question I can ask you that you will actually answer?” he asked.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she replied as she stood up, “I have to get to my class.”
She hurried out of the cafeteria and went towards her first class. Mr. Sayers taught History. He had been teaching her for the past four months every Monday night for about four hours at a shot. She was more than thrilled that she would only have to deal with Mr. Sayers for forty-five minutes a day. She already knew where the classrooms were. She had made it a point to find out prior to her first class. There was no light shinning from under the door and when she tried to pull the door open it didn’t budge. Mr. Sayers apparently wasn’t done with his lunch yet. “Damn,” she whispered knowing full well that she shouldn’t be using curse words, but not caring because her parents weren’t here to reprimand her.
“Yeah, I don’t think Mr. Sayers has ever come back early from lunch,” Garrick’s dark voice said from behind.
“Why do you want to annoy me so much?” she asked.
“Boredom,” he replied lazily, “and because you are one of the few truly enigmatic people I’ve ever met and you interest me.”
“Do you realize what an idiot you sound like when you use big words that you probably don’t understand?” she returned.
‘Well, it takes one to know one,” he replied with that same sly grin he had given her in the cafeteria. Eartha finally smiled shaking her head. “So, all I have to do is insult you to get you to smile?” he asked. She didn’t reply so he asked another question, “So, who was the original freak in your family?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Was it your mom or your dad that decided to send you to the freak school? Or did they both go here when they were younger?” he elaborated.
“My father went to school here,” she answered.
“What is he? Telepathic? Telekinetic? Shapeshifter?” he trailed off.
“Precognitive,” she replied.
“So, your mother didn’t want you going here and that’s why you haven’t been in classes for the past four months?” he asked.
“Not exactly. It wasn’t appropriate for me to be around other people at the beginning because of my unique ability,” she replied.
“Your ‘unique’ ability?” he raised an eyebrow. She didn’t elaborate. She looked down at her watch instead.
“Are you a vampire or something?” he whispered seriously. She burst out laughing suddenly and shook her head no.
“Although this would be the ideal school for one,” she replied.
“There is a vampire in this school. So, it’s not all that unusual,” he said defensively.
“Really?” she asked happy to have the conversation off her.
“Yeah. He’s in your dorm too. He’s telepathic too. He’s limited to drinking animal blood while he’s here,” Garrick told her.
“What other kind of strange people are here?” she asked.
“You mean aside from people basically practicing witchcraft, mixing up ‘potions’, moving stuff with their minds, reading thoughts, and changing their physical shape into animals or other people?” he laughed.
“Well, you know, anything that’s considered unusual for this place,” she said.
“I don’t know, probably,” he answered, “They’re probably all in your dorm though. I’m not sure why, but they seem to put all the super secretive people in your dorm. It makes sense that you would be in there.”
“What’s your hall known for?” she asked switching the focus off herself again.
“Bullies,” he shrugged, “Slackers and sneaky nasty people like me.”
“What about the other hall?” she asked.
“Rockall? Big stupid jock types and ditzy gossipy girls,” his grin spread across his face.
“I don’t know if I trust what you say,” she commented.
“Another common trait among my brothers and sisters in Vectim Hall,” he answered mockingly. She sighed with disgust and turned away from him. “Oh, now I’ve pissed you off!” he exclaimed.
“No,” she said shortly.
“Yes, I have. You’re practically gritting your teeth trying to hold back what you want to say,” he pushed.
“Trust me, I wouldn’t hold back a nasty comment directed towards you,” she answered.
“Then why are you mad?”
“I’m not.”
“Come on. Then why did you turn away?”
“Because I thought I heard someone coming down the hall from the other way.”
“And the disgusted sigh? What was that for?”
“Because you wont give a straight answer.”
“But neither do you,” he shot back.
“About what?” she asked. He looked down at her clothes and raised an eyebrow, “About anything that has to do with you.”
“I can’t help it if you’re asking questions I’m not allowed to answer,” she replied.
“Not allowed?” he asked.
“No.”
“Who’s stopping you?”
“My parents, Dr. Timmus, and oh, yeah, myself,” she snapped.
“Why?” he asked.
“For my own safety,” she said and then realized maybe she had said too much.
“What could by so dangerous about talking about yourself?” he asked.
“A lot of things,” she answered vaguely. Right at that moment Mr. Sayers appeared around the corner and moved to unlock his door. Garrick reached out to stop her from entering the classroom. A warm tingling spread up his arm and throughout his entire body. He felt good all over and completely awake like he had never been before in his life. He felt like he could accomplish anything, but then suddenly she jerked her arm free and before he could comment she slipped into the classroom.

At dinnertime he hurried to the cafeteria to find Eartha, well, more to confront her about what had happened when he touched her. She wasn’t anywhere to be seen and he automatically assumed it was because she was avoiding him. He waited for a few minutes before wandering around the classrooms to see if she was still talking to a teacher. He ran to the dorms to see if she had skipped dinner and gone straight back to her room. A tall senior girl answered the door to Osen Hall and told him that no one had seen her. He finally gave up having no clue where she could have slipped off. He went to one of the indoor gardens at the furthest northern corner of the school. Not many people knew they were even there. Most of the kids that wanted to spend time in a garden went to the outdoor gardens.
Dr. Timmus was there spraying the potted plants with a mister. “Mr. Strom, what can I do for you?” he asked.
“Oh~ nothing, sir. I was looking for someone else,” he replied quickly.
“Here,” Dr. Timmus said handing him another spray bottle. Garrick didn’t feel much like watering the plants, but there was no way he was going to refuse Dr. Timmus.
“She has a good reason for keeping her secrets, you know,” Dr. Timmus commented.
“How~” Garrick started, but Dr. Timmus knowingly tapped the side of his head.
“I talked to Eartha. She was feeling a little feverish.” Dr. Timmus said.
“Is she in some kind of trouble?” Garrick asked.
“Eartha has a gift that is not easy to control. It is overwhelming for her,” Dr. Timmus answered.
“Is it dangerous to her?”
“Be a good friend to her. That is what she needs the most right now. She needs someone she can trust, someone who wont pry into her secrets. Do you think you could be a good friend to her?” He looked down at Garrick seriously.
“Yes,” Garrick answered honestly, “but will this gift destroy her?”
“Only if she lets it,” he answered cryptically, “By the way, perhaps you should try the other garden.” Garrick dropped the spray bottle and sprinted out the door. The gardens were unique because they looked like you had just walked outside into a park. There was grass growing right up through the floor and little stone walkways weaving throughout the bushes and trees growing there. The foliage of the trees blocked most of the tall ceiling out. There were several fountains throughout the garden and it made it sound like there was a creek bubbling through the garden. Large hedges enclosed certain parts of the garden making an almost maze to get through. There were a least a hundred different scents mingling together from all the different flowers. Garrick did not call out to Eartha out of fear that she would sneak out. He tiptoed through the hedges until he found her near the center of the garden by the central water fountain. She wasn’t exactly hiding. She held a sandwich in one hand and her book in the other. He walked up to her and quietly said, “Hi.”
She didn’t seem surprised to see him there, “Hello.”
“Why are you in here? Hiding?” he asked.
“No. I needed a quiet place to read. Away from other people,” she explained.
“Do you want me to leave you alone?” he asked.
“Whether I want you to or not you’ll do as you please, I’m sure,” she replied.
“I’m sorry,” he turned to leave.
“I didn’t necessarily mean that as a bad thing,” she finally lowered her book and looked up at him, “Most people label me as a bitch or a snob and don’t even try to get to know me.”
“I’m still sorry,” he repeated.
“For what?”
“For grabbing you earlier. I mean, I don’t know how it affected you, but I know it did and I’m sorry if it was something bad,” he said.
“You didn’t know,” she said, “and you didn’t touch my bare skin so the effect was pretty small.”
“Dr. Timmus told me you were feeling sick earlier. Was it because of me?” he asked.
“What exactly is he a doctor of?” she asked suddenly. Garrick shook his head realizing she had no desire to speak of what had happened earlier. “So, how was classes?” he asked instead.
“Not bad. I had chemistry… ‘potion brewing’ today,” she smiled.
“Ah, that’s my specialty!” he announced taking a seat on the edge of the fountain. He was careful not to sit too close to her. He didn’t want to accidentally cause another incident by touching her.
“He mostly lectured today. It was interesting, though. I didn’t realize how many plants in nature could be used to make different concoctions. I mean this is stuff real science wont even touch ‘cause they don’t think it has any useful purpose,” she said.
“Yeah, you’ll actually get to start making some of those concoctions as the year goes on. I’m in an advanced class. We’re already working on some of them,” he replied. He looked down at the book and noticed the title: A Guide to Protecting Oneself. “What are you learning to protect yourself from?” he asked.
“Everything,” she laughed.
“Anything specific?” he asked.
“Truth serums,” she grinned referring to their chemistry conversation by pointing down to some notes she had written down in her chemistry notebook. He looked down at the notes and frowned, “You don’t want people to know the truth?” he asked.
“I don’t want people to try and trick me into telling the truth,” she answered.
“Dinner’s almost over and I didn’t even eat,” he commented quickly changing the subject. “What classes do you have tomorrow morning?”
“Entity Protection,” she said. He remained silent realizing it was probably better that he didn’t know why she was taking all these classes about protection.
“And then my Literature class,” she added.
“Well, then, I’ll see you in English,” he replied.
“Oh, I guess we have a class together after all,” she smiled. He nodded and stood up. He offered his hand to help her off the ground and surprisingly she took it. He didn’t feel anything this time, but he noticed the material of her gloves was much thicker than the material covering her arms.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Eartha- Chapter 2

So, instead of doing what i claimed (putting up a new story) I have reverted back to the one that is finished already. Sorry about that. You see, I haven't gotten the opportunity to write out the new idea yet and I suppose this is as good an alternative that I can offer. At least I'm publishing something, right? Too bad, if you disagree. I'll get the new idea out here as soon as I can, until then you will have to suffer an old idea. I'm noticing so much wrong with my old story now that its finished. It's not the worst thing I've written, but I know now where I need to improve. Enjoy.

Chapter 2

Eight Years Later

“Ah! Mora, it’s been some time since I heard from you!” Dr. Timmus exclaimed.
“Yes, we’ve had our hands full with Eartha,” she replied.
“And how has Roger been? I haven’t heard from him in quite a while,” Dr. Timmus asked.
“He’s doing well. Things have only gotten better throughout the years, largely due to you,” she replied.
“Why me?” he asked.
“Well, if it hadn’t been for you I would have never believed anything about his past. Now, that I do believe him he has become a different person. He’s so much happier knowing that he doesn’t have to keep secrets from me,” she explained.
“Well, then I believe it’s you that have made things better not me,” Dr. Timmus laughed.
“You helped,” she replied defiantly. They both laughed and then Dr. Timmus became serious, “I know there’s another reason that you have called.”
“Yes,” she said quietly, “But I haven’t really discussed this with Roger.”
“What is the matter?” he asked calmly.
“Well, it’s Eartha,” she answered quickly before she lost the nerve to explain her situation, “Her gifts have been showing for a few years now, but we didn’t think it was necessary to alarm you since it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle.”
“And now?” he prompted her.
“Well, Eartha has been telling me some problems she’s been having with school,” she said her voice lowering, “Roger’s due home soon and I don’t want him to know about this just yet. Is there anyway I could come to see you today?”
“Of course,” Dr. Timmus replied quickly, “We’ll have someone by the main entrance to let you in.”
***
“Welcome, Mrs. Wicken,” Dr. Timmus greeted her with an ear-to-ear smile.
“The place looks quite different when school’s in session,” she commented.
“Yes, lots more people,” he replied. He ushered her inside the office and closed the door behind her. He motioned for her to sit down as he took his place behind the desk. “This room hasn’t changed in eight years, though,” she said.
“No, I like it the way it is,” he said, “Now, tell me about your daughter.”
She got serious and a look of anxiety crossed her face. “Well, right after we left you all those years ago Roger began to teach me a few ways of protecting myself and he also explained a lot more about the different types of abilities he had seen during his time here. So, I know quite a bit more than I did when I came here the first time. I also managed to do quite a bit of research on my own ability. There was actually quite a bit of information that was helpful on the Internet. All the information I found tends to call what I have a form of an empathic sense. It said in one of the articles that most people have a basic empathic sense, but I know that it isn’t the same thing my daughter or I have. Ours is more acute. We know when we are healing and we know for us its not about a choice. We have no choice but to feel other people’s pains. A general empathic sense that the everyday person has is basically picking and choosing whose pain they feel. Plus the everyday person doesn’t heal, they just share the pain which, let’s face it, isn’t very helpful.
“Since my pregnancy my ability has intensified. It has more than tripled since I began taking lessons from my husband on psychic protection. At first it was a little hard for me to control. I was healing people without even concentrating on it and it wasn’t little things like it always had been before. When I went to a hospital to visit a friend of mine, I passed a sickly man in a wheelchair. As he was being wheeled pass me he reached out and took my hand. I felt his disease inside him, all those cancer cells eating away at every part of his being. It was coming into my body like a wave crashing over my head. I pulled away from him as quick as I could. The man wasn’t offended. He started laughing and as I rushed away I could hear him telling the nurse that he felt better than he had in years. I never tried to find out what happened to him after that. I felt faint and feverish for the next week. It was a bit unnerving. I mean, I’ve never been able to do things like that before,” She paused for a second and Dr. Timmus cut in.
“Why didn’t you call when you were having problems?” he asked.
“Because I learned to control it. I told Roger what had happened and he helped me learn how to protect myself from incidents like that. If it had been more than I could handle I would have called you. Okay, so getting to the reason I came to see you today… I thought it would be helpful for you to know that I have been trying to understand this ability mainly to help my daughter when she started to have the same issues that I was going through. So I would be able to teach her how to protect herself. Unfortunately, it’s getting to be more than I can handle now. The other day she came home and practically collapsed on the living room floor. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she felt like all the energy had been drained from her body. I asked her if she had touched anyone or bumped into anyone that she could remember and she told me no. So, I tried to help her out. The next day I dressed her in a turtleneck and tights and a long skirt to cover up her body so no one could accidentally touch her. I told her to keep her hands covered and not to let anyone get too close to her face. That afternoon when she came in from school she told me she still felt like she had no energy left in her body and she went upstairs to take a nap. After that Roger tried harder than ever to teach her how to put up shields like mine. They didn’t work. It’s not that she can’t do it, honestly, I think her shields are thicker than mine, but they just don’t work for her. Then just yesterday Eartha came in crying and I asked her what was wrong. At first she wouldn’t tell me or I guess she couldn’t tell me trough her sobbing, but she finally managed to say ‘There’s just too much sadness in the world’. I asked her what she meant thinking that maybe she had seen something bad happen or kids were mistreating her, but then she explained to me that she could feel other people’s sadness.
“Not like absorbing wounds or physical pain like I can, but actual emotions. She can feel when someone is upset or if they’ve been emotionally hurt. Her body or essence or whatever it is, was trying to heal emotional hurts. She was telling me about a little girl that she had befriended at school whose parents are going through a very difficult divorce. Eartha said that when she listened to the girl talking about her parent’s arguments she could feel the sadness of the other girl. She then told me about other kid’s problems at her school and then she asked me why there was so much hate and pain in the world. Now, you tell me, Dr. Timmus, what I’m supposed to tell my daughter about that? This is beyond anything I’ve ever felt. You know my ability, I only absorb physical pain and that’s when I’m in physical contact with the injured person. Eartha isn’t touching these kids all she has to do is listen to them and she can feel their emotions. I just don’t know what to do anymore and my problem now is that I’m not sure that putting her here is going to be any better. The kids here probably have more intense emotions than those kids in the normal public schools.” She sighed heavily, but Dr. Timmus didn’t answer immediately. He was staring at the ceiling when he finally said slowly, “I’m not going to lie to you we know very little about this particular ability. What we do have more resources about unique abilities than what you will ever find out there. Even on the Internet. I’m not sure that I can help Eartha, but I think she will have a better chance at learning to control this with us than she would in a school where most of the teachers don’t even believe what she can do is possible.”
“But what if this just makes it harder for her? My gift amplified when I began to research and study the subject. She doesn’t need her gift to become more powerful,” Mora said doubtfully.
“Your power didn’t amplify because you became more informed,” Dr. Timmus argued, “It intensified because of your pregnancy. The other changes are from you learning new abilities. Like the shield you use. Has Eartha shown any tendencies towards an actual psychic ability?”
“Not that she’s told Roger or me about,” Mora answered.
“Well, something is bound to emerge in that respect as well. Don’t you want her to be here among people who are going to understand and accept her a little better?” he offered. She sighed heavily. She didn’t really know what she wanted for her daughter. She was afraid that putting her into this school would just make her life more difficult, but she also couldn’t stand to see her little girl come in crying everyday because of some feeling she picked up from one of the other kids. And what was she going to do when Eartha hit puberty? Her emotions would be running wild and so would the emotions of her peers. It would only worsen as time went on. Could Dr. Timmus actually help Eartha stop the overflow of emotions?
“Maybe you should talk to Roger before you make any decisions. He should be able to clear some things up for you,” Dr. Timmus suggested, “He can tell you what the school was like and then you both can decide if you think bringing Eartha here would be helpful. Call me, whatever you choose and maybe you should ask Eartha her opinion on the mater.”
“Thank you,” she said absently still thinking about what she was going to tell Roger.

***

“Roger, honey, have you noticed anything unusual with Eartha lately?”
“Unusual? How?” he asked poking his head out of the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth.
“Well, I mean has she said anything about her, um, ability to you?” Mora looked down at her book that she had been pretending to read.
“No,” he replied turning the water off and coming out of the bathroom, “Has she said something to you?”
“Well, kind of,” Mora delayed not knowing how to tell him that she had gone behind his back to Dr. Timmus and discussed their daughter.
“What do you mean, kind of?” he asked climbing into the bed next to her. Her beating around the bush with whatever she was trying to tell him was frustrating him, but he tried to not let it show.
“Okay, well you know all about my power right? I absorb physical injuries and pain and we thought Eartha was the same way,” she said all in one breath.
“Yes, go on,” he prompted her.
“Well you also know that my abilities changed after the pregnancy… that they got more, um, intense and we were worried for a while that it would keep progressing until it was completely out of control,” she was losing her train of thought, “well, um, well you see Eartha… her gift is, um, well, evolving as well.”
“Evolving into what?” he asked sharply the annoyance taking over.
“She not only feels and absorbs other people’s physical pain, she can also feel and absorb their emotional pain as well and the problem is she doesn’t even need to be touching them for it to happen. She’s beginning to absorb their emotions from thin air!” Mora finally managed to blurt out.
“And why was it so hard for you to tell me this?” he asked slowly.
“Because I’ve noticed this happening for the past couple weeks and yesterday afternoon when I said I had lost track of the time at the park I was really back at Mead Institute discussing this with Dr. Timmus,” she said quietly.
“Oh.”
She looked up at him confused, “Oh? That’s all?”
“Oh.”
“I thought you might be angry that I went to talk to him first,” she offered.
“Why?”
“She’s your daughter.”
“No. I mean why did you go to him before you told me?” he asked not in the least bit upset.
“You always speak of the school as a safe haven for kids who were misunderstood or treated poorly because of their unique qualities. I thought that it may not be a good idea to put Eartha in the school because if she is absorbing emotions from her school now, how much more intense are the emotions running through that school. I think it might do more damage to her than it would good. I was afraid if I raised my concerns of her developing ability that you would automatically suggest putting her in Mead Institute. My problem is I think if I don’t put her in that school her problems with this growing ability is just going to get worse until she exhausts herself to death. I think he can help her, but I don’t want the school to damage her more,” she finished. He didn’t speak for a moment and when he looked over at her all he said was, “I see.”
“You see what?” she snapped.
“I see the problem,” he replied quietly, “and I agree with you… it’s going to be a difficult decision.”
“So what do we do?” she asked helplessly, “I can’t think anymore.”
“Let me think,” he said more to himself than to her, “I don’t know, Mora, give me a little time to dwell on it. I’ll be able to think more clearly in the morning.”
Her face sunk. That had not been what she needed to hear, but she understood. This was not something she had figured out in a couple hours time so why should she expect him to be able to figure it all out that quickly. She finally nodded and kissed him lightly. She reached back and turned her light off.
“What about keeping her at home?” he whispered in the dark, “You know, home schooling?”
“She’s going to have to have human interaction someday, Roger,” Mora answered, “We can’t just lock her up now and expect her to be able to handle it better with she’s eighteen.” He didn’t respond. He knew what she said was true. Even if they managed to keep her inside and away from the emotions that were overwhelming her, they couldn’t do that forever. She needed to learn how to protect herself, to block out these emotions that were not her own, and to build a wall around herself that would keep her safe from being hurt. Roger wrapped his arms around Mora and whispered, “We’ll think of something.”
***
“Mr. and Mrs. Wicken, welcome,” the woman said unenthusiastically, “This is Eartha?”
“Yes,” Mora answered.
“Okay, Dr. Timmus is expecting all three of you. He told me to bring you to conference room three. Follow me, please,” she ordered. They walked down several long hallways before finally coming to a stop in front of a large archway that was identical to all the others in the hallway. The woman pushed the large double doors open to reveal an average sized conference room. A large mahogany table at the center surrounded by large comfortable looking swivel chairs covered in maroon leather. It looked like a corporate boardroom more than a school’s conference room. Dr. Timmus stood across the room at a counter where he was pouring iced tea into several tall glasses.
“Welcome! Welcome! Come in!” he announced carrying the tray of glasses to the table, “Please, have a seat.” All three of them sat close together at one end of the table without saying a word. Dr. Timmus joined them at their end of the table allowing a couple of chairs between them for personal space. He smiled at them. Mora and Roger looked nervous, but Eartha looked tired. He focused on Eartha for a moment and found that he could barely read her thoughts. All that he could see was surface thoughts that mostly consisted of doubt and distrust. “What are you thinking, Eartha?” he asked. She looked over at Dr. Timmus and smiled, “I taught myself that, you know,” she looked away from him, “I’m not exhausted today so I can block you out of my mind.”
“Why did you teach yourself that?” Dr. Timmus asked, “Neither of your parents are telepathic. Whom are you blocking your thoughts from?”
“When people touch me there is a transfer of electrical impulses that are similar to telepathy,” Eartha said her child’s voice giving what she had said an absurd quality.
“My, God!” he exclaimed, “How intelligent you are for eight!”
“I began looking stuff up when everything started to go weird and I realized that when I was feeling other kid’s feelings and stuff they were, in return, receiving thoughts and feelings from me. I had to build a wall around my thoughts to keep them to myself,” she explained.
“You are far beyond your years, little one,” Dr. Timmus said, “You don’t speak much like an eight year old.”
“I’m not much like an eight year old,” she responded.
“Eartha,” Roger said in a warning tone.
“We began her education much earlier than most children would be taught,” Mora explained, “We had to. Some of her abilities were already showing in infancy. My family is clueless to these kinds of abilities and we had to explain to her at a very early age that what she could do was not very common and if too many people knew they would get upset. She had to grow up a lot quicker than any of us really wanted her to.”
Dr. Timmus looked back to Eartha, “So, your parents have already discussed Mead Institute with you and you understand what you are coming into, correct?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Okay, then let me ask you this,” he paused, “Do you want to come here to Mead Institute?”
“Can you help me distance myself from people?” she asked in return.
“I think I can teach you to protect yourself from others, well, me or one of my teachers,” he smiled at her.
“What can you teach me that I haven’t already figured out for myself?” she asked with the arrogance of someone so young.
Dr. Timmus laughed, “You may be smart for an eight year old, but there is still a lot that you can learn.”
“These people can teach you a lot, Eartha, and they wont think what you do is odd,” Mora added quietly.
“What are they going to teach me for when I’m sleeping in the dorms? And where am I supposed to go if I do become tired from all of them?” she snapped back.
“Eartha, I’ve been thinking of this situation and I think I might have figured out a way that will work for us all,” Dr. Timmus offered, “If you do come here we can isolate you temporarily from the other students… at least until you have learned to protect yourself. My teachers and I will instruct you until you are ready to join the rest of the student body. You’ll be able to do it in your sleep, but if you happened to get drained there are plenty of places you can stay in the school away from others.”
“And you think you will be able to block other people from me?” she asked with hope creeping into her voice.
“I think I have a plan that will protect you from those feelings just sneaking in whenever they want,” he answered. She nodded and a shadow of a smile appeared on Eartha’s face.

So Eartha stayed. Mora and Roger went back home. And Dr. Timmus began the most difficult lessons he would ever have to teach. Eartha was given a temporary room that had originally been for storage. It was small, but since the school was not normally equipped for housing students in such a way, it would have to do. Eartha didn’t complain it wasn’t in her nature. She had much bigger problems on her mind and small rooms only made her feel more secure. It was much easier for her to know that no one was hiding in some dark corner. It wasn’t that she was overly paranoid; she just learned a long time ago that she couldn’t trust most people. If she told them what she could do they always wanted proof and even if they didn’t try right away eventually they would try to touch her. She didn’t like the distrustful nature of people in general.

***

“Dr. Timmus, what is this one,” she asked holding a book up. Every Saturday the library was closed to the rest of the student body and Eartha and Dr. Timmus had their one on one lessons. Dr. Timmus was teaching her protection. The other teachers all had set times with Eartha for one on one lessons throughout the week. She was getting a well-rounded education plus extra lessons that focused on her extra skills. All the students had to take a basic lesson plan and then they had the choices of extracurricular classes that would help them to develop their special abilities. Dr. Timmus didn’t really teach class, but for Eartha he had found it was necessary. None of the other teachers were skilled enough to teach her what she needed to know to protect her. They had never had to deal with that before. So Dr. Timmus devoted his Saturday afternoons to teaching Eartha advanced protection and defense. It had not been going as well as he hoped. She was taking in everything he taught her. She could do just about anything he told her to. The problem wasn’t her inability to learn, but the things he was teaching her was not really having any effect. She was still absorbing way more than she should from the people she was around.
She was holding up an ancient looking book. The gold filling that had been the title was flaking away leaving behind only the raised leather as the title. He took the book in his hands and pulled it closer to his face so he could read the title. Advanced Techniques for Protection. He flipped the book open and leafed quickly through the pages. “They’re spells, Eartha.” He snapped the book shut. “It’s old magic. Chanting these spells in the right way supposedly would disarm your opponents. They don’t work~ well, they haven’t worked for anyone that I know.” He paused and then opened the book and looked at one of the spells, “I don’t even know what language this is supposed to be. I doubt they will work.” Eartha pulled the book back over to her side of the table and flipped it open and began to read. “ ‘A very simple spell to protect you is the Force Spell. Your opponent will be force away from you if done correctly. First you must focus your mind on the person or object that you want away from you and then you chant or yell this one word spell: Ayay! This will create a force that will make the person or object back away from you.’” Eartha looked up and around the room for something to try the spell on. She got out of her chair and pulled it into the middle of the isle. She backed up a few steps and was about to shout the spell when Dr. Timmus stopped her. “Eartha, if you are going to try this and expect a result you need to do exactly what it says. Focus on the chair; focus on making it back away. Try imagining it tipping over. That’s what my telekinetic students must do to focus.” So she did. She pictured the chair skidding backwards across the room. She closed her eyes to concentrate harder, lifted her hand and pointed towards the chair, “Ayay!” she shouted. She heard a soft thud and she opened her eyes. Dr. Timmus gasped and looked in shock at the tipped over chair. “Hmm,” Eartha replied disappointed, “Not exactly what I pictured happening. I wanted it to slid across the room.”
“But you did it!” Dr. Timmus said amazed, “I can’t believe it worked! No one has ever gotten the ancient spells to actually work. We all assumed it was just a bunch of hocus pocus crap and you not even being telekinetic!”
“Why did you tell me to focus if you didn’t think it was going to work?” Eartha asked.
“Well, all mental work required a lot of concentration to actually work and I figured it couldn’t hurt if you wanted to try,” he replied, “I try never to discourage students from trying new or different things even if I don’t think they will work. Sometimes people need to learn on their own and every great once in a while I’m surprised.”
“But it still didn’t completely work,” she frowned, “it only tipped over.”
“It’s a start, Eartha,” Dr. Timmus explained, “Everything improves with a little practice.”
Eartha went back to the table and looked at the spell. She frowned and then flipped through the book further. “All the other spells are much more complex, Dr. Timmus,” she said, “I don’t know if I could remember all of it.”
“Let’s do one thing at a time,” he laughed lifting the chair back off the ground, “How about trying this one again.” She shrugged and came back to the chair. She cleared her throat and pointed at the chair. Without hesitation this time she shouted, “Ayay!” The chair slid a few inches before tipping over backwards and crashing to the floor.
“See!” Dr. Timmus exclaimed, “It’s already getting better!”
“What does ayay mean?” Eartha asked.
“I don’t know,” he frowned, “I don’t think it means anything… it’s not any language I know.”
“It’s not Latin?” she asked.
“A lot of spells are, but looking at all of these spells, well, it’s definitely not Latin. It’s like a made up language… I mean look here,” he pointed at one spell, “Mesa is a real word, but I don’t think it has the same meaning at all. And there’s other words like that too, but together they don’t actually mean anything.”
“Well, it must mean something,” she replied, “’cause it works.” She pointed down at the chair again “Ayay!” she shouted and the chair, already overturned, slid across the room. Dr. Timmus continued to study the book as Eartha went around the library knocking things over and sliding them across the room. Finally he looked up and said, “I think that’s enough for one day, Eartha. I’m going to look through this book and see if there are more useful spells that you can try and we’ll try some more next week.” She nodded and picked up the book she had just forced off the table before leaving the room.
Dr. Timmus had not paid any attention to the book Eartha had taken with her. He had been too focused on looking through the ancient spell book. Eartha had taken the other copy of Advanced Techniques for Protection. Dr. Timmus had not thought that there would be more than one copy of this book in his library. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted her to learn some of the spells that were in the book. She had been able to perform the Force Spell a little too easy. If she could force other people and objects away from her so easily what else could she accomplish after only a few tries. Eartha was sure that this was the key to her protection and sanity. She would be able to find something in the book that would help her build a wall around her mind so others would not be able to drain her anymore. She got back to her own tiny room and locked the door. She immediately flipped the book open and began to read about the spell right after the Force Spell.
Another useful spell is the Compliance Spell. If performed correctly you will have temporary control over your opponent. You must have perfect mind control to perform this spell. Without control you will not be able to get in your opponent’s mind. Most often your opponent will have control over their own mind, which makes it difficult to make them compliant. Once you have gained access into the mind of your opponent you must chant this spell:

Aya fortu fera atu. Mesa fera atu.

The chant is simple enough to remember, but remember without control over your opponents mind this spell will have no effect.

“How can I practice that?” she asked herself aloud. It’s not as though she could try that spell on Dr. Timmus he had his mind sealed up in a cocoon. She couldn’t try in on any of the teachers here. Most of them had extremely powerful control over their minds and those who didn’t were already afraid of her. It wouldn’t be very smart for her to start chanting some unknown language around them and scare them even more. They would just tell Dr. Timmus what she had done and he would not teach her anymore. She already knew that she had more power in her than about half of the teachers at this school. She also knew that if she kept studying with Dr. Timmus she would surpass all her teachers before she ever left the school. At times this knowledge frightened her and at other times she would have loved to abuse her power, but she never did. Her parents had warned her about misusing the power that was given to her. She must never use her power to do harm to others that were not as powerful. Using your power against the weak did not show your strength, but your cruelty. Maybe this wasn’t a good spell for her to learn after all. She flipped back to the beginning of the book and glanced at the table on contents. Near the end she found what she had been looking for, The Sacred Shield. She flipped towards the back of the book and found the chapter on the Sacred Shield.

The Sacred Shield
The Sacred Shield is an ancient tool used since the beginning of man’s time on Earth. It is theorized that men were originally all telepathic and that was the only form of communication used in the beginning. To protect their minds from being read by everyone certain tribes began to use shields to protect themselves from other tribes. This practice began many of the wars between tribes. Many believed that the use of shields showed deceit. They assumed that if they had to shield their thoughts it was because they were lying or trying to keep a secret from them. The tribes using the shields became arrogant about their newfound abilities and were eager to try other mind-altering spells. They finally discovered a way to block their minds from all other thoughts. Wars began to breakout within the tribes causing mass destruction and death. Eventually, the people who had begun to use the shields in the first place were starting to forget how to communicate through telepathy all together. Certain tribes had to resort to using a spoken language. In the end telepathy as a form of communication was lost almost entirely. Today, very few possess the ability to read and transmit thoughts, and to control the flow of thoughts we use the Sacred Shield.
The Sacred Shield is no longer used as a secretive measure to keep others out of one’s mind. Today, it is used as a means to filter out the rambling thoughts of others minds from just seeping into your thoughts. The Sacred Shield is not a typical spell. You do not need to chant it every time you want it to work. Instead, you perform a ceremony in private to focus on the energies and thoughts that you wish to block out of your mind. The Shield can be changed for the amount of thoughts you wish to receive. At moments you will not be able to use the Shield at all and at other times you will be able to block out every incoming thought and have complete silence. Sometimes this will be by your choice other times you will not be able to control what comes in.
The next few pages went on in detail about the ceremony to perform for the Sacred Shield to work. As she read through she realized she would not be able to do this on her own. She would need certain herbs and ingredients to perform the ceremony. Which meant she would need Dr. Timmus’ help and she would have to wait until he found the spell on his own. Then she would have to test the Shield out to see if it actually would block out emotions as well as the rambling thoughts. She tossed the book down on her bed in frustration. It bounced off and hit the floor. It flipped back open and she looked down at it. It had opened on the Compliance Spell again. “Aya fortu fera atu. Mesa fera atu,” she whispered, “I think I can remember that.” Just because she was trying to control someone’s mind temporarily didn’t mean she would make them do anything that would hurt them. She snuck out of her room and out into one of the hallways. She backed into a dark alcove and waited for some one to walk by. The problem was not many students were wandering around the hallways on Saturday afternoons. Most were in the dorms studying and those who weren’t were in the commons area goofing around. She couldn’t go into those areas because the students didn’t know her yet and she wasn’t supposed to go around them until Dr. Timmus could figure out a way to protect her mind from them. She waited in the alcove for fifteen minutes and was about to give up on anyone passing when she heard whistling. Someone was coming down the hallway towards her. She held her breath and waited to see if it was a student. She saw the person turn the corner, it was a student. A dark haired gangly looking boy. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and he had a look on his face like he was trying to figure out what mischief he could cause. She focused on the boy and tried to get close to his mind with her own. He stopped and looked around. He could feel someone nearby, but he couldn’t see where they were hiding. Good! She thought. This would give her more time to focus on his mind. Then she began her chant, “Aya fortu fera atu. Mesa fera atu. Aya fortu fera atu mesa fera atu,” the words began to come faster out of her mouth and they began running together, “Ayafortuferaatu mesaferaatu.” The boy could hear the sound and he was looking around for where it was coming from, but then a slightly dazed look came over his face. She stepped out of the shadows and looked at what she had done. She looked down the hall to see if anyone was coming and noticed that he looked at the same moment she did. She snapped her head back to look at him thinking he was not in a trance at all, but when his head snapped back to look at her she knew he had only looked because she had. Their minds were linked right now and he was doing whatever she was thinking. She had to give him a command or he would keep doing what ever she was doing. She got nervous. What if he stayed like this forever. Her eyes darted around looking for somewhere to tell him to go so she could go back to her room without him following her. His eyes rolled around in his head wildly mimicking her nervous behavior. “Sleep!” she finally hissed at him. He fell in a heap on the floor and his eyes closed immediately. She took off running back into her room. She couldn’t believe that had actually worked and she was actually kind of scared that it had. She raced into her room and slammed the door behind her. She clicked the lock and threw herself across her bed.
After a few minutes she lifted her head from where she had buried it under a pillow. She couldn’t believe what she had just done… was that kid still lying in the hallway asleep? She sat up and felt the cramp in her side. She had been lying on top of her book. She looked down at the spell again. Temporary. The spell was only temporary control over the other person’s mind. Thank God! She thought. Someone had probably found him by now or he had woken up on his own. She wonder if he knew what had happened… had he seen her when she stepped out of the shadows… or did the trance make you blind to the real world? He might be able to point out who had done that to him! Oh, God! Why hadn’t she thought about what she had been doing before she did it? If Dr. Timmus found out what she had done he would kick her out of the school. She was sure of it. She shoved the book under her bed and stood up. She felt light headed and weak. She grabbed the side of her desk to stop herself from falling over. What was this? Why did she feel so weak all of a sudden? She sunk down to her knees in the middle of the room. She was having trouble breathing and her face felt hot. Why was this happening now? Her ears were ringing and everything was slowly turning black. At the last moment she realized she was fainting… falling over… and the darkness swept over her like one heavy dark blanket forbidding her to move… even to dream…

Thursday, June 21, 2007

An Even Better Day

Well, it is unfortunate, but I now have to moderate my comments on this blog. Sigh. A sad, pathetic soul from Minneapolis who cheated on my friend and now takes time out of her worthless existence to harass him "anonymously" on his blog has decided to lash out at his friends who see her for what she is: A skanky whore. She is the one who wrote that comment on my last blog (which had absolutely nothing to do with the blog, by the way).
Now, there would be no reason to deny the fact that I am a bitch. I'm pretty sure I've claimed this title on many occasions. It is my birth right and I wouldn't give it up for the world. I love being a bitch because it allows me to write and speak freely. I love the sarcasm that hangs on every word that I utter because it is my core. As for me being ugly..... well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I must say, sweetie..... have you looked in a mirror recently? The horns growing out of your head have been there for a while and they'll never go away if you don't stop filling your life with bile. I know you are disappointed with your life and the way you look, but you'll never be a beautiful person on the outside until you get rid of the anger seething on the inside. Why do you hate so much? Why do you feel the need to harass someone who is done with you, has been done with you, and is thankful to be done with you? Get over it and grow up.


an·noy·ing (É™-noi'Ä­ng) adj.
Causing vexation or irritation; troublesome: an annoying cough.


If anything this is the complete definition of you, my dear. Every time you comment on any one's blog this is your definition. You vex everyone else who reads and enjoys Hal's blog and now you're irritating everyone who reads and enjoys my blog. GET A LIFE. I know you have few friends and very little to do in your sadness, but stop ruining the point of the blog world. No one is making you read Hal's blog or making you comment. You do that on your own which makes me wonder why you can't get over what you did. It's okay. He's moved on. I promise.


The point of my blog is not so I can write nasty comments on other people's blogs or even write a blog-letter to someone who has no life and decided to be a canker sore in mine. My blog is for me to write. To be heard. I love to write and I don't like having to be a censor to people who want to comment on my blog. You have made this impossible because you lack in self-worth. I pity you and your sad existence. Please don't bother to comment ever again. It will never make it on my board again. And own up to your comments. We all know who you are. It's just sad that you keep up the charades of anonymous and kevin.


I pray this is the last time I will ever have to write a pointless blog like this, but I still intend to make this a good day.


Tuesday, June 19, 2007

A Good Day

For me, with work, it's kind of a toss up with what kind of day its going to be. Mostly it depends on the patients that come in to see us that determine how I feel when I go home.... well, that and the drivers I have to endure on the way home.

I was recently told by the good doctor that we are a service based industry and we need to kiss butt as much as if I was still back at Banana Republic trying to pawn off some God-awful angora argyle sweater to a woman who will never look okay in argyle or angora. Everyone is to be greeted with a smile and a cheerful "hello".... this may seem like a meaningless task to anyone who doesn't know me well. You see, I have issues with being fake. If someone comes into the office with a bad attitude I generally give them attitude right back. If people are being extra weird I usually stare at them with a raised eyebrow until they turn away embarrassed by what they just said or did. Basically I treat our patient's just like I treat everyone else in my life.

No more! According to the boss. Which is fine. I really shouldn't be treating stranger the same way I treat my friends. People who don't understand me tend not to like me right away. I'm okay with that in my personal life, but at work it's best that everyone likes me at least a little so I don't give the office a bad name. Fair enough.

Today, I decided to play off a good attitude like I'm perfectly happy to deal with the stupidity that I'm generally faced with on a daily basis. It's worked pretty well for me so far and it actually made the day run a little smoother. I ignored the idiot who told me that she didn't agree with the map I sent to her and since she is now wearing the paper shorts like a jumper I don't feel so annoyed that someone as handicapped as her couldn't figure out a map. I'm still pretty positive and I think the day will end up okay :)

Other things that made my day extra good: I'm wearing an outfit that looks good and makes me feel good and is, as the people in Banana land would say, "right on trend". I feel pretty in other words. Plus, one of my favorite patients was in today for his 2nd ultrasound follow up. He and his partner both complimented my hair last week when they were in and this week he brought me samples of some expensive shampoo from his salon. How nice is that? Plus, while I was on break I was reading through my Pocket Muse and found an idea that would be perfect for my blog collection so I'm pretty psyched to get on top of that.

So, my favorite patient made me think back to all the strange things patient's have brought in for various people working in the office. Mostly it tends to be food products especially around the holiday season. Candies and homemade treats etc. But every once in a while we get some really off the wall crap from patients who think that we are now best buddies because we were nice to them. Our technician Ric received a potato bag from one woman, our other technician received a lamp painted like a snowman from another woman (and when I agreed that it was cute she insisted on bringing me one the following week), our nurse, Jackie, received meat roll ups that everyone was too afraid too try, but my favorite was the one that my former colleague Kate received from one of out patient's that was also trying to con her work place out of some workman's compensation. The patient brought a black pleather dress from Fredrick's of Hollywood for Kate because, "She thought she would like it". Creepy. Which continually makes me wonder what kind of a person thinks, "Hey, that receptionist looks like she would want a nice, (fill in the blank)" I guess, I've never thought that my doctor or anyone on my doctor's staff would want anything more than a friendly smile.... am I wrong in assuming this? Do you take odd objects to your doctor's or dentist's office? Am I being rude by not offering up my troll collection from my childhood to the people who make my appointment?

Somehow, I don't think so. Anyway, just a friendly reminder: Your receptionist does not want your stuff. I promise. Candy is okay. Samples of shampoo is really sweet especially if you are a hair stylists who has access to the really good stuff. But, really people, I don't need a lamp painted like a snowman with a sock on his head and Ric will be okay without the potato sack.

Thank you. Hopefully my next entry will be the new idea that my Pocket Muse gave me.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Eartha

BLAH! So, I actually have continued with The Dreamlands, but I'm not ready to post anything new on that and since no one has been raving for more I don't feel too bad. Instead I have decided to fill the dead air with the story I have already finished. I'm not as impressed with it as I used to be which is why I haven't been working on it and trying to get it published. I have been letting other people read it, but I still don't know what it is that makes me wary of putting it out there. Anyway.... I'm posting the first chapter today and whenever I have nothing better to post I'll post another chapter. Hopefully, I'll have better stuff to post.
Enjoy.

Chapter 1


The phone rang and before he could even say hello an urgent voice hissed, “Dr. Timmus, this is Roger Wicken.”
“Hello, Roger,” he replied calmly, “How have you been?”
“I’m having a . . . well, an issue. I need to speak to you right away,” he answered in the same rushed hissing sound.
“Something that cannot be discussed over the phone, I’m assuming?” Dr. Timmus replied quietly.
“I don’t think so,” he paused, “Can you meet with me right now?” His voice was clearer now, but still nervous sounding.
“I believe that can be arranged,” Dr. Timmus said slowly, “Can I ask what this is in regards to?”
“My wife. . . I’ll come to the school.” There was a click and a moment later a dial tone. Dr. Timmus put the phone down and closed his eyes briefly. Any average person wouldn’t have noticed his pupil dilating. His normally gray eyes turned almost completely black as he focused his mind on Roger. With his mind, Dr. Timmus reached out and tried to sense where Roger was and what he was doing. Dr. Timmus obtained a shallow connection fairly easily and was surprised to see that Roger was already moving very quickly towards the school. Unfortunately, Roger’s mind was completely sealed as though he had built a brick wall around his thoughts to keep intruders out. He was blocking Dr. Timmus from probing his mind and that was unusual for Roger. He normally had nothing to hide; especially from Dr. Timmus. Dr. Timmus quickly sensed another mind that was traveling with Roger. The mind was most definitely feminine and completely unable to block itself from Dr. Timmus. Unfortunately, her mind was only focused on one thing, her husband. She did not know what was going on and she was worried about Roger. Dr. Timmus dove deeper into her mind. There had been a conversation between husband and wife right before. . . right before Roger started acting so strange. Why was he behaving like this and why wasn’t he speaking? I don’t understand why he’s acting like this! Dr. Timmus pulled out of her mind. He had gone too deep and had started to share her thoughts. She had no idea what was wrong with her husband, but he was scaring her with his frenzied behavior.
Mora Wicken knew nothing of her husband’s abilities. He had kept that a secret from her. She didn’t believe in supernatural abilities and had she known that Dr. Timmus was reading her mind she probably would have denied it anyway. She knew nothing of her husband’s childhood or the school or any of the others like her husband. Something in their brief conversation that morning had startled Roger. He had gone pale and silent right before he locked himself in the office. When he had finally emerged from the office he had pulled her to the car and had refused to tell her what was going on. Roger’s driving was dangerous. He sped through neighborhoods and took corners at a minimum of forty miles an hour. When he got to the main roads he became even more dangerous. He was weaving dangerously close through the other cars and ignoring traffic signs and lights. “Roger, you’re scaring me,” she whispered suddenly surprising herself, “What did I say that upset you?”
He didn’t respond. Instead he hunched his shoulders over and concentrated even harder on weaving his way through traffic. His silence only frightened her more and she did not tolerate it for very long. She glanced over at him again and noticed small beads of perspiration forming on his temples. His knuckles were white from the tight grip he had on the wheel. His breathing had become labored and his driving was somehow getting worse. She leaned over and flipped the radio on to distract herself from his insanity. Unexpectedly he swerved off the road and took a sharp turn down a narrow ally. She screamed, but he was oblivious to anything going on around him. He slowed the car slightly since the ally was barely big enough for the car to maneuver down. At the other end of the ally was a dodgy looking parking lot and a dead end. He swung the car in the last parking spot. Mora didn’t wait for him to turn the car off. Her fear flipped to anger in a split second. She kicked the door open on her side of the car and leaped out. “You dumb bastard!” she screamed as she took off running down the ally back towards the busy street.
“Mora!” he screamed chasing after her. She glanced back for only a second and noticed that he was gaining on her. She screamed out of fear and ran faster. He caught her easily enough and pinned her between the wall and himself. She fought against him kicking and screaming. “Do you have some kind of death wish, you asshole?” she screamed, “Or were you trying to rid yourself of a wife?” She swung at his face, but he easily caught her hand in midair. She tore it out of his firm grip.
“No, no!” he whispered, “Calm down! Calm down!”
“Or maybe it was your unborn child you wanted to get rid of!” she finally broke free of his grasp. He took a couple of steps back and covered his face with his hands. She wasn’t going to run anywhere now. She stood there with her hands clamped over her mouth. That was not how she had intended her husband find out that she was pregnant. She shut her eyes to stop the tears that were threatening her eyes and whispered, “Damn it!”
“Oh, Mora!” he moaned, “I’m so sorry…”
“What is going on?” She asked her composure broken and her voice choked as her eyes remained closed still fighting the tears.
“I will explain this, I promise,” he whispered and then added more to himself, “This makes it so much more complicated.”
She didn’t bother asking him what he had meant by that because she knew she would get no answer. He took her hand and led her back down the ally. Mora began heading towards the car again, but Roger pulled her away and led her further down the ally. “Where are we going?” she asked. Her voice was steady again. She quickened her step to keep up with her husband’s long stride.
“We need to get on the subway,” he replied simply.
“Why can’t we drive there?” she asked.
“It’s much easier to get to by subway,” he answered. She stole a glance at him. He was still extremely tense. He was still sweating and all the color seemed to have drained away from his face. “Wait a second,” she said jerking him to a stop. He spun around to face her impatiently and he moved to grab her arm again. She pulled away and dug into her purse for something. After a moment’s hesitation she pulled a scarf out. “This will do,” she murmured as she stepped closer to her husband, “Now, I know we’re going to meet someone. I could hear you talking in the office. If you don’t calm down, though, you are going to have a heart attack long before you ever get to whoever you want me to meet.” She mopped the sweat off his forehead with the scarf and then lightly touched his cheek. He inhaled sharply. He could feel it now. How could he have possibly not noticed that before? He placed his hand over hers much calmer than he had been. Because of her? Yes, most defiantly because of her. How could she not know what she was? Or what kind of power she possessed? “I’m okay,” he whispered, “But we need to hurry.”
They were not in the best part of the city and she didn’t feel comfortable getting on to the subway right here, but she didn’t seem to have much of a choice. She clung tighter to her husband wondering what it had been that upset him in the first place. Why was he dragging her on this insane journey? And whom was she going to see? What was making his so damn nervous?
“So where are we going that we couldn’t have gotten there in the car?” she whispered.
“We are going out of the metro area and the subway will drop us off a block away from our final destination. It’s just easier this way. Trust me,” he answered.
“Do I have a choice?” she retorted.

“Dr. Timmus, what exactly is going on with Mr. Wicken?” a man asked as he burst into Dr. Timmus’ office.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Walker. Please come in, have a seat,” he smiled ironically at the man.
“There seems to be an agreement at headquarters that Mr. Wicken has done something against our moral agreements and he has been in contact with you,” Mr. Walker announced refusing to acknowledge Dr. Timmus’ sarcasm.
“My, oh, my, you are quite efficient at headquarters. I guess that’s the problem with working with psychics, there can’t be any kind of privacy, can there?” Dr. Timmus replied refusing to answer the man.
“You haven’t answered me,” Mr. Walker pointed out.
“You haven’t really asked me a specific question either,” Dr. Timmus replied with a smile.
“Why is Mr. Wicken coming to see you so urgently and secretly?” Mr. Walker snapped.
“I don’t know,” Dr. Timmus answered simply.
“Bullshit!” the other man yelled.
“Do not yell or curse at me in my own office,” Dr. Timmus warned politely, “I told you I didn’t know what he wants. Read my mind if you don’t believe me.”
“You are a very powerful telepath, Dr. Timmus, you cannot expect me to believe that you have not read Mr. Wicken’s mind and discovered what the nature of this meeting is about,” Mr. Walker sneered.
“You should also know then that I always teach my students basic blocking techniques for shielding their minds. Oh, I could break through the barrier, but that would be an invasion of privacy. If Mr. Wicken has done something illegal and dangerous I will inform you. Otherwise, this is a private meeting between me and my former student that you have not been invited to. So, if you don’t mind I have an appointment in a few minutes, but call me later and we’ll arrange lunch or perhaps coffee one evening. We can chat and discuss old times,” Dr. Timmus stood and gestured towards the door. Mr. Walker shot daggers with his eyes at Dr. Timmus and then abruptly left the office. He knew it would be a waste of time to try to pry any kind of information out of Dr. Timmus, but his superiors had given him an order to find out what was going on.

“This is our stop,” Roger stood up before the car had actually stop and reached down to take Mora’s hand.
“This is no where,” she protested. She looked over at the map posted right next to the door and confirmed her suspicions. There was no name for this stop. All it said next to the little yellow dot that indicated a stop was ‘interchange’. It was a halfway point where most people changed to get on the tracks going north, but no one actually left the station at this point. He pulled her up out of her seat and nudged her towards the door. They stood on the empty platform and she looked around annoyed. “We’re in the middle of no where,” she stated again and then added, “Are we getting on the north track?”
“No. Come on,” he replied with no further explanation. He walked across the deserted platform towards the stairs leading out. She stared at him incredulously. There was nothing at this stop in the tracks. Mora was no longer frightened or upset. She was more annoyed than anything. Roger had calmed down considerably once they had gotten on the subway. He had explained a few things to her. He had actually seemed happy about her meeting this friend of his. He had referred to this friend as an advisor, a mentor, and a magnificent teacher, but had never actually given a name to him. She was still not entirely sure that Roger had not lost his mind. “Are you coming?” he asked impatiently from behind her. She groaned and reluctantly followed him up the stairs to the useless parking lot that no one used. Back out in the sunlight she had to blink her eyes a few times so she could adjust and then she looked at her surroundings. She could see a road leading west from the parking lot and off in the distance she could see the faint outline of a plantation style house half hidden away by a grove of trees.
“What is this place?” she whispered.
“Mead Institute,” he replied hastily pulling her along, “This is where I went to school.”
“School?” she repeated.
“Yes, school,” he replied, “There are a few things that I haven’t told you about my past.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Dr. Timmus will be able to explain things better to you,” he replied leading the way down the long drive.
“Oh, so now the mystery man has a name?” she said following him. She almost had to jog to keep up with her husband’s long stride.
“He always did,” Roger laughed, “I’m kinda torn between being happy to finally tell you everything that I had to keep secret and frightened that I may be in a shit load of trouble.”
“In trouble for what?” she asked.
“For you,” he replied, “Come on. It’s just up ahead.” He seemed excited now and his pace became even quicker. They reached the door and he pulled out an old fashioned key to open the door. He pushed the door open and stepped out of the way to let Mora enter first. The entryway was enormous with vaulted ceilings that went up to the second story and a chandelier that reflected tiny rainbows in every direction. She was dumbstruck and silent. Across the immense hallway there were twelve-foot double doors that Roger led her towards.
“This is a school?” she whispered, “I’m guessing your parents spent a pretty penny to put you in a private school that looks more like a museum for a Gone with the Wind set.”
“They wanted to be secluded, but there was no reason to live like homeless refugees. Dr. Timmus helped create this place when he was much younger. He and his friends felt they needed a place for themselves, a place they could teach others like themselves, a place where no unwanted prying eyes would bother look for them,” Roger explained.
“What were they doing that they felt they needed to hide and who, exactly, were they hiding from?” she asked.
“They hide from the people who didn’t believe or understand them. Some people can be cruel to those who are different,” he replied.
“Different how?” she asked as he pulled open one of the twelve foot doors. He led her through and closed the door behind her. This room was just as amazing as the hallway. Several smaller chandeliers kept the room extremely well lit. There were approximately twenty small round wooden tables strewn throughout the room. All the walls had been covered with bookcases that rose all the way to the ceiling. The bookcases were all full with ancient looking books or ledgers. There were ladders connected to bars running at the top and bottom of each bookcase so they could slide around the room looking at the top rows of the bookcases. “The library,” Roger offered an explanation.
“You think?” she replied sarcastically. She looked more closely at one of the shelves and read a few of the titles. “These all deal with the paranormal,” she commented, “That’s weird.”
“Not really, most of the library is like that,” he replied offhandedly.
“Why?” she turned to look at Roger.
“Can’t you guess?” he smiled, “This school was built by psychics for psychics.”
She raised an eyebrow at her husband and laughed. It sounded hollow and it echoed in the empty room, but the smile did not change on his face. She shook her head, “No, you’ve got to be joking me. You don’t actually believe in this shit do you?”
“Well, I think I became a believer at the age of eight when I had my first vision,” he replied simply, “My parents were both psychics. Both precognitive, for that matter. They waited until I started to show signs of an ability before they brought me here. I was in normal schools before that.”
“I get it,” she said suddenly, “Miss. Cleo was your favorite teacher, right? And Professor X is the principal? Cyclopes was your best fried? Did Letoya Jackson get her psychic degree here too?”
“I knew you were going to react like this,” he sighed. But she wasn’t quite through making fun of him just yet, “What about Merlin, do you have some magnificent portrait of him that you all sit around and worship?” She was getting an edge in her voice nearing hysteria. He took her hand and led her across the library as she continued her rant about other fictional characters and telephone psychics. They left the library and entered another hallway. This hallway was much simpler than the main hall had been and there were many doors that they passed. She assumed these were classrooms or offices and that they had no reason to enter any of them. She continued to mutter under her breath about finally understanding where all the psychics on the television came from. He stopped her in the middle of the hallway. “Are you done yet?” he hissed, “I don’t want you behaving like this in front of Dr. Timmus. It’s embarrassing!” She snapped her mouth closed and glared at him. She was the embarrassing one? He was the one talking about a psychic building a secluded school that no one knew about and expected her to believe him. He was the one who had gone insane and nearly killed them on the car ride over here. And yet she was the one who was embarrassing him? They approached the last door in the hallway and he pushed the door open and gestured for her to go in first. There was a small waiting room and a desk that looked as though it was meant for a secretary, but the room was empty.
“Is his secretary the invisible man?” she hissed in her husband’s ear.
“It’s Sunday, Mora. His secretary probably has the day off,” he said condescendingly, “Wait in here for a few minutes. I’m going to go explain my situation to him first.”
“If he’s a psychic shouldn’t he already know what’s going on?” she grinned slyly.
“I was blocking him from reading my thoughts,” he shot back, “Which is why I haven’t explained anything to you since he’s probably tried to read your unprotected mind as well.” Roger didn’t wait for her to respond. He turned to the other set of double doors and knocked quietly. She heard a soft voice call him into the office. She tried to peek inside the office, but it was dark and Roger closed the door much too quickly for her to get a good look around.

“The officials stop by yet?” Roger smiled across the desk at Dr. Timmus.
“How could you tell?” he asked returning the smile.
“I can sense these things,” he shrugged offering a hand to his old mentor.
“Roger, it’s good to see you after all this time. How was the wedding and the few years since?” Dr. Timmus took his hand and pumped it a couple of times before gesturing for Roger to have a seat.
“Things were perfect for quite a while,” Roger replied getting serious all of a sudden.
“Yes, you seemed rather upset over the phone,” Dr. Timmus frowned as he took a seat behind his desk, “You said it was about your wife.” He looked out past Roger towards the door, “But it’s quite apparent she has no clue what’s wrong either. What on earth is going on?”
“Well it turns out there’s a little more to my wife than either of us knew…” he stopped and looked back at the door.
“Maybe we should get her in here before she bursts in on her own,” Dr. Timmus answered.
“Yes, I’ve tried her patience, but before she comes I have to tell you I had no idea what she was-“ The door swung open somewhat violently.
“I just realized,” she spat out, “that you are both sitting in here discussing something about me and you honestly expect me to just sit out there and let you. I have a right to know what the hell is going on, Roger!” Dr. Timmus stood up and stepped around his desk to meet Mora. “Mrs. Wicken,” he greeted her warmly, “We were just about to call you in.” He held out his hand to her and somewhat stiffly she reached out to meet his hand in a brisk shake. Before she even had the opportunity to pull away Dr. Timmus jerked his hand free, “My, God!” he whispered, “How could you not know?” he whispered to Roger.
“I don’t know,” Roger answered honestly, “I still can’t sense it unless I’m completely focused on seeing it.”
“Am I going to have to put up with this cryptic bullshit from both of you now?” she interjected hotly.
“Mora,” Roger said warningly, but Dr. Timmus led her by the elbow to the empty chair next to Roger. He motioned for her to have a seat and then returned to his seat behind the desk. “Well, Mrs. Wicken, we have a slight problem with telling you exactly what is going on since you don’t believe that anything we do here is real,” Dr. Timmus explained, “If you want us to tell you what has us both so uptight you are going to have to keep an open mind to the things we are about to tell you. I am not Professor X teaching mutants how to develop their powers like you most undoubtedly assume. First of all most of the creations of that world are completely impossible. Although you may be surprised at what is possible,” Dr. Timmus paused for a moment. He stole a glance at Roger and shook his head suddenly. She looked at Roger and narrowed her eyes, “What?”
“Did I say anything?” Roger shot back.
“Like you need to,” she murmured looking away.
“Enough,” Dr. Timmus said. He gave Roger another warning glance and went on with his explanation to Mora, “Okay, Mora, let me ask you a question first. What supernatural phenomenon do you believe are possible?”
“What, you mean do I believe in ESP or UFOs, stuff like that?” she replied. Dr. Timmus nodded. “I don’t believe in any of it.” She stated.
“Why not?” he asked.
“None of it can be proven,” she replied, “How can you believe in something that has no basis in reality?”
“Experience,” he stated, “Or faith. Do you believe in God?”
“Yes.”
“There’s no proof of Him either,” he reminded her, “Some things cannot be proven by scientific data because science does not have the ability to study this particular field. Perhaps someday there will be equipment that can measure psychic abilities or entities or other supernatural experiences. Until then, the only way people become believers is by a personal experience or just plain old faith. Most people like a demonstration of my ability to read minds, would that help you believe me?”
“I don’t think so,” she whispered, “I went to a psychic in high school with a friend of mine. Most of what that fraud told us was so generic it could have applied to anyone’s life. Plus, most ‘psychics’ are trained to play off of facial expressions and a lot of guess work.”
“What I do isn’t guessing,” Dr. Timmus assured her.
“And how could I possible know what Roger has told you?” she asked.
“I can tell you something that happened in your life that Roger doesn’t even know about,” Dr. Timmus offered, “Come on,” he smiled, “It’s the only way you’re ever going to believe me.”
“You’ll never make me a believer,” she stated and then she sighed, “but if you feel you must try and prove yourself go for it.”
Dr. Timmus closed his eyes briefly and the smiled and opened his eyes back up, “Your special trait first emerged when you were seven, but you know nothing of it because your parents never had a chance to explain what it was. They died the year before. You’re… adopted.”
“You’re adopted!?” Roger shouted, “You somehow thought that wouldn’t be important to me?”
“Roger, do you need to step out of the room?” Dr. Timmus asked quietly.
“I just don’t understand how my wife could forget to mention that she was adopted in the three years that we’ve been together!” Dr. Timmus stood up and motioned for Roger to do the same. Roger stood and followed Dr. Timmus out of the office. When the door clicked shut Dr. Timmus raised an eyebrow at Roger. “I’m sorry,” Roger said without sincerity, “I just can’t believe~”
“Look, I knew that would upset you,” Dr. Timmus said calmly, “But it’s making her think. She might actually believe what I have to tell her next, but I can’t have you in there ready to explode at her every time something is revealed that you didn’t already know. So perhaps it would be best if you just went to the library for a little while and Mora and I can have an uninterrupted discussion.”
“She’s pregnant,” Roger blurted out.
Dr. Timmus nodded and closed his eyes for a moment before he said, “I know and I’m glad she’s already told you. Please, it may be a while. Perhaps the kitchen already has lunch finished.”
Dr. Timmus re-entered the room and shut the door behind him. Mora was looking down at the floor her hair covering her face. She hadn’t actually expected this man to be able to tell her anything from her life that Roger did not already know. And that had been a major thing that Roger had not known. She never told anyone that she was adopted. In fact she was pretty sure that the only people who knew she was adopted were her adoptive parents. Her parents had died when she was six years old. She didn’t know all the details of what had happened because she had been too young to understand. She had come home after school and a stranger had been there telling her there had been an accident and shortly after that she had begun living in another house with two people who told her they were going to be her parents from that point on. She had eventually accepted this as true. They explained the adoption to her when she was older, but by that point these people had become her parents and she didn’t really think about them not being her real parents. Dr. Timmus had mentioned that her ability had begun to show when she was seven. She didn’t have any abilities that she knew of. Nothing had happened when she was seven.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Mora,” Dr. Timmus cut in on her thoughts. She looked up suddenly. She hadn’t realized he was back in the room. He was once again seated behind his desk and was looking across at her. She glared at him for a moment and he held up his hand palms out to her, “Sorry. I don’t mean to intrude on people’s thoughts most of the time. Sometimes the float their way to me on their own. Your mild is very unshielded. You’ve never needed one. Your ability is in a different field. You’ve always had the ability. You were born with it. It just didn’t become apparent to you until you were seven. You didn’t know what it was and your parents didn’t believe it had happened. They couldn’t possibly understand what you had done because they had never seen anything like it before.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied her voice breaking. She cleared her throat and tried to regain control over her voice.
“Your dog,” he replied, “What happened to your dog when you were seven years old?”
“Nothing,” she lied and quickly regretted it.
Dr. Timmus laughed, “Exactly! A car speeding through your neighborhood hit your dog and you saw it. The car never stopped to see if your dog was okay. You ran out in the street crying because you thought it was dead. It turned out that it had broken its leg and what happened when you touched the dog’s leg?”
Mora shook her head quickly trying to deny what he was talking about. The dog’s whining had been unbearable. It was in so much pain and she didn’t know what to do to make the dog stop making that noise. She had touched the leg expecting nothing to happen except maybe put the dog in more pain. But something else entirely had happened. The dog had instantly stopped crying and had stood up and licked her face. The dog had been completely healed and she, Mora, had been drained. She had led the dog back to the yard and collapsed on the grass.
“Your parents didn’t believe you when you had told them what happened, did they?” Dr. Timmus asked.
“No,” she whispered, “They told me that she must have just been stunned and not really hurt.”
“You took their word for it and found other excuses throughout your life for the other strange incidents like that one,” Dr. Timmus said, “Most healers do that. Make excuses for their abilities, I mean. They’re not like psychics in that respect, although some psychics deny their power exists as well. The main difference between you and our kind~”
“Your kind?” she interrupted.
“Yes, psychics and other mentally driven abilities,” he explained.
“Are you saying what I do is different?” she asked.
“Very. Your ability isn’t mentally driven. It’s actually your entire essence. It flows throughout your entire body. A touch, from any part of your body, can heal. There are varying degrees of this ability, of course, just like with any unusual trait. We, I mean to say, this school and the other people affiliated with this school or people like us generally don’t have anything to do with Healers. Your power is too extreme, too powerful. It’s fear more than anything that keeps us away. I mean to say that if I were to teach you control over your ability what kind of power would you have? I’m not saying that you personally would abuse a power like that, but that’s not to say others with a similar ability wouldn’t. That’s why you’ve never had anything to do with us.”
“So, what’s the problem with Roger?” she asked, “Why did it upset him so much when I mentioned the other day that it sometimes felt like I could feel other people’s pain and take it into myself to rid the other person of that pain?”
“Well, among us psychics there are government officials. Nothing established or anything the government would admit to, but they have some control over what goes on among other psychics. They are powerful enough to have some regulations over what people can and cannot do with their abilities. Moral regulations, you see. One of the ‘laws’ that they made was that our kind was to stay away from the Healers in the world,” Dr. Timmus explained.
“Why?”
“Partly because of the power you possess. But mostly because a child resulting from the union of a Healer and a psychic, any kind of a psychic, would be more powerful than anyone could ever hope to control. Not only will your child inherit your healing powers, like you inherited them from you mother or father, but it will be ten times more likely to have inherited a form of Roger’s ability as well,” Dr. Timmus replied.
“And what would that be?” she asked.
“Precognition,” he answered, “I mean, that’s what Roger has, and a child of yours would likely have something like it as well.”
“So, what? Are you telling us that we can’t have children?” she asked her voice rising.
“Even if I were, which I’m not, it’s too late for that,” he said looking down at Mora’s stomach. She covered it as though protecting her unborn child from a threat.
“So what if the baby is more powerful? That doesn’t mean it’s going to try to take over the world or something,” her voice was near hysterics.
“Please calm down. I’m not going to harm you or your baby,” Dr. Timmus assured her, “Roger was worried because he knew the law and when he found out what you were he thought that he would get in trouble by the Officials. He brought you here to me for council. Since neither of you knew what the other was, though, I don’t think there is anything that can be done. You have nothing to worry about from them and I am completely on your side.”
“So, what exactly can my husband predict?” she asked much calmer.
“Well, like I said there are degrees of power for each ability. Roger’s ability is actually not that high on the spectrum. That’s probably why he’s always been able to lead a fairly normal life. Mostly, his gift is predicting little things like knowing that the phone is about to ring and who it is that is calling or if a car is going to run a red light and possibly cause an accident. He can predict things that are just about to happen. He can’t tell you where you will be in ten years or how you are going to die. He’s also one of the few people that doesn’t like to flaunt his gift. He was never one for showing off like most precognitive people are,” Dr. Timmus explained.
“So, what other strange abilities have you come across while teaching at this school?” she asked smiling now.
“Are you saying you believe me?” he asked.
“Well, let’s just say I’ll keep an open mind. I don’t think I will ever believe everything you tell me unless I see it for myself,” she replied.
“A true cynics response,” he laughed.

Roger was pacing in the library getting more and more frustrated as the time passed. He couldn’t sense anything that was happening or about to happen and it was making him nervous. If he went too long without knowing what was going to happen next he started to worry. Anytime that his brain had taken a break from telling him what was going to happen it was because something bigger that what he could see was coming. And it always turned out to be bad. He didn’t know how Mora was reacting to whatever it was that Dr. Timmus was telling her, but he knew his wife and he knew how sarcastic she tended to be when it came to the supernatural. The subject had managed to come in discussion at least once before. He had always hoped that someday he would be able to explain what he saw and where he had come from, but her cynicism always managed to get in the way and stop him from telling her the truth. Roger was positive that she had managed to squeeze in a few more rude comments to Dr. Timmus, but he also knew that Dr. Timmus was used to nonbelievers and had long ago become accustomed to their jeers. An image of Mora on the other side of the door popped into his mind. “It’s about time,” he muttered as he strode across the room to meet his wife. She opened the door and was surprised to see him so close to the other side. “I suppose you saw me coming” she said quietly and then without waiting for an answer added, “Dr. Timmus wants you to come back now.”
“What the hell were you two talking about all this time? Surely it couldn’t have taken much more to convince you that this was for real,” he said.
“Not much more, but it’s a lot to swallow all at once, Roger,” she replied, “Finding out that there are real psychics in the world is one thing, but finding out that your child could be the next anti-Christ of the psychic world if it’s not brought up in just the right way is not the easiest thing to grasp in one sitting.”
“He said that~”
“No, but he said that is probably what the Officials will have me believe,” she explained as she passed through the archway into Dr. Timmus’ waiting room, “But he also said he’s on our side and there’s not a lot they can do to either of us since neither of us knew what we were getting into.” The door to Dr. Timmus’ office was still open from when she left it to go and retrieve Roger from the library. They both stepped in and they could hear Dr. Timmus talking. He was on the phone, but he motioned for them to come in and have a seat. “Yes, I understand that,” he was saying to whoever was on the other line, “but I also believe that the situation can be handled without disrupting the lives of so many people.”
“He’s talking to one of the Officials right now,” she explained in a whisper to Roger.
“You know,” he whispered back, “They’re not really official. They just like to call themselves the Officials to make themselves sound important.”
“Well, it’s too late for that precaution,” Dr. Timmus was saying, “So we’ll just have to keep a close eye~” He paused apparently listening to an objection the other person had made. “Well, it’s really not up to you now is it?” Dr. Timmus eyed Mora and Roger for a moment and then continued, “I think you should re-evaluate your position and think twice before you make another comment like that. I will take care of this issue myself and I expect no interference from any of you.” Dr. Timmus hung the phone up rather abruptly. He looked up and smiled at them, “Sometimes these people forget their place.”
“What did they suggest?” Mora asked.
“It was quite inappropriate,” Dr. Timmus replied. Mora was obviously not going to accept the answer that Dr. Timmus had given her. He sighed and then added; “He suggested that you abort the child now before it’s too late.”
“Too late for what?” Roger yelled his face turning red.
“I guess I can understand their fear,” Mora cut in, “But did they actually think that was a viable option?”
“Some people tend to speak before thinking,” Dr. Timmus smiled warmly, “Which gets them into trouble.”
“Idiots!” Roger mumbled.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dr. Timmus shrugged, “They know better than to mess with me. They will not interfere with your lives. You have done nothing wrong and you should be able to lead your lives as you always have. I must make one more suggestion before you go, though,” Dr. Timmus paused, “I want you to raise this child as though this issue did not exist, but if the time comes when you realize that the child’s power is beyond your control please, bring the child to me. I will do my best to protect it and teach it to protect itself.” He rose out of his chair. Mora and Roger did the same. Dr. Timmus came from behind his desk and walked them back towards the door. “Thank you, doctor,” Roger said shaking his hand, “You were always the best advisor I had.”
“I’m not all that,” he replied simply. Mora paused in front of him and Dr. Timmus took her in a warm hug. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“That’s quite a power you have there,” Dr. Timmus replied as he released her, “and the child’s will be even greater. Take care.”
They found their way back out of the school on their own. As they climbed back on the subway they both felt a tremendous relief. Mora felt a weight lifted off her knowing her husband had not lost his mind. Roger was just relieved that his wife and unborn child would be safe from the Officials and the fact that he now held no secrets from his wife put a huge grin on his face as well.

I didn't make too many changes to this from its rough draft. I don't mind this first chapter as much as the rest of the story. Maybe I'llhave the end fixed long before anyone reading my blog has to see it :)
Thanks for reading.