Eartha -- Chapter 9

Yep. Sorry.

Chapter 9

Each day that passed without a vision Eartha became more tense. Garrick was noticing the change in her behavior and tried to comfort her without making her mad. She didn’t ever seem to really respond to his comfort, but she never once got mad at him for offering it. “Maybe your visions aren’t supposed to happen as often as your dad’s,” he suggested one afternoon at lunch, “I mean you just recently started having visions and maybe you aren’t supposed to have them that often so early.”
“Maybe Dr. Timmus knows what’s going on with my parents,” she replied absentmindedly. She obviously hadn’t heard a word Garrick had said. She had been a million miles away all day and Garrick wasn’t exactly angry that she hadn’t been listening to him. “Well, go talk to him before afternoon classes start,” he suggested.
“Yeah,” she said standing up. He hadn’t really expected her to get up and leave him right at that second. She wandered away still deep in her own thoughts. He shook his head and picked up the remains of her and his own lunch to throw away.

Eartha arrived at Dr. Timmus’ office without remembering walking down there. She entered the waiting room where the secretary merely glanced at Eartha, but didn’t stop whatever it was that she was typing on her computer. “Is Dr. Timmus busy?” Eartha asked the woman quietly.
“I guess I should be used to him telling me who’s coming down before even that person knows, but it still surprises me when students think that Dr. Timmus hasn’t been expecting them,” the woman said more to herself that Eartha, “Go on in. He’s waiting.”
She entered the room as quietly as she could. She actually wondered how Dr. Timmus had known she was coming… she had been blocking him out of her mind all year. She walked up to his desk and he set the book he was reading down on the table and looked over at her. “Have a seat, Eartha,” he offered. She didn’t sit down. She had to know first, “How did you know I was coming?”
He smiled in much the same way Garrick did when he was trying to be sly, “I knew you would point out the fact that you’ve been wasting some of your energy by blocking me out of your mind.”
“Exactly. So how did you know?” she repeated not really in the mood for his cryptic answers.
“Garrick can’t block me so easily. When students talk about me in their conversation it draws my attention to listen to their thoughts,” he explained, “Not that I’d ever use any of the information that I read from students minds against them.”
“Yeah, right,” she replied sarcastically. She finally backed up into one of the chairs across the desk.
“So, you’re wondering about your parents?” he asked.
“A little. Have you heard from either of them?” she responded assuming he had gotten this information from Garrick’s mind as well.
“I have not,” he answered simply, “but when I realized that was what you wanted to know I read their thoughts.”
“You can do that over that much of a distance?” she cut in.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Then why can’t you figure out who’s attacking the psychics?”
“Well, it’s not exactly that easy, Eartha,” he explained, “You see I know your parents and I know where they are. Plus, I know neither of them are blocking me either. It’s very easy to pick up their thoughts. If someone does not want to be found even a telepath is not going to be able to find them.”
“Oh,” was all she managed to reply.
“Your parents, by the way, don’t seem to be having any problems at home,” he reminded her why she had come, “Except they are both a little concerned about you. You were pretty upset when you left them. And the letters you have been sending them aren’t very reassuring to them about your state of mind right now”
“I’m not mad at them,” she said, “I just don’t like the situation I’ve been put in.”
“Have you seen something new that has made you more concerned about your parents?” he asked.
“No. And that’s the whole point. My dad always claimed that bad things always happened if his visions were too quiet for too long. I haven’t had a vision in nearly two weeks and I’m afraid it’s building up into something really bad,” she explained quickly.
“Visions are pretty new to you Eartha. I wouldn’t make generalizations so soon. Just because that’s how they were for your dad doesn’t mean that’s how they’re going to be for you. Maybe for you, not having a lot of visions is actually a good sign,” he offered.
“You sound like Garrick,” she muttered.
“Well, he’s a pretty smart boy. Very logical,” Dr. Timmus smiled, “But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t necessarily right. I mean your type of visions could be exactly like your dad’s and something bad could be coming. The point is we can’t know until something happens. So don’t get yourself upset until there is something to get upset over.” She nodded somewhat reluctantly and was about to leave when she thought of something. “Can you send your thoughts to my parents?” she asked.
“Sure, as long as it’s a pretty simple thought. After all they aren’t telepaths and they can’t decipher thoughts as easily as I do,” Dr. Timmus replied, “Did you need to tell them something?”
“Yes,” she said quickly, “Tell them that I love them and to be careful.”
“I’m sure they know both of those things, but I will tell them so they will know that you’re concerned,” he offered, “Although I could do the same thing with a phone call.”
“Oh,” she replied a little downcast.
“But I will send the message along right now. Telepathic thoughts tend to be a little more personal, don’t you think?” he smiled.
Eartha looked at him and smiled back. Her parents would know that she was concerned immediately. And that she wasn’t still mad at them for sending her back to school. She was about to get up to leave so Dr. Timmus could do whatever it was he needed to do to send her message. He held up his hand to stop her and then said, “Your parents said they loved you too and they are being extremely careful.”
“Wow, it’s that quick?” she asked.
“Your father and I have a very deep link that we’ve had since he was here in school,” he explained. Eartha wondered why, but didn’t feel that it would be appropriate to ask. She nodded and rose to, once again, leave and as she reached the door Dr. Timmus spoke again, “You know, Eartha, even if something were to happen to them you would still have a place here,” He was trying to reassure her and she smiled and nodded politely before leaving, but she knew that knowing that she had a place to stay wouldn’t make her feel any better about losing her parents. She had to rush to get to her first afternoon class, but after her talk with Dr. Timmus she was able to concentrate much easier. Garrick noticed the change immediately at dinner later that night. “You don’t seem as distracted,” he commented.
“I talked to Dr. Timmus at lunch,” she explained.
“I know,” he laughed, “I’m the one who told you to go to him, remember?”
“Yeah,” she replied, “well, he talked to my parents for me”
“What did he tell them?” Garrick asked and immediately wondered if he had once again gotten too nosey.
“Just something that I had forgotten to tell them before I left them,” she replied vaguely. He had asked something a little too personal, but for once she handled the situation calmly. He was also smart enough not to ask her any more questions about that. “So, everything is better now?” he asked instead.
“Well, in one way, I guess,” she replied with a frown, “but I still feel uncomfortable about my parents.”
“What now?” he asked.
“Well, I still think they’re in danger,” she answered, “and from what I’ve heard them and Dr. Timmus say I am even more worried about their safety.”
“What have they said?” he asked.
She hesitated at first, but then replied, “Well, I think they believe what I said to them and that worries me, but then just this afternoon Dr. Timmus told me that if anything did happen to my parents I would still have a place here.”
“Well, that’s a good thing,” he replied not quite getting the point.
“Don’t you see?” she asked, “He thinks they are in some kind of danger as well.”
“Maybe he was trying to reassure you that you would not be left alone in a time of need and nothing more,” he offered.
“But in saying that he basically admitted that he also believes them to be in danger,” she replied, “He knows everything. He probably knows if there is a real threat to them even if he doesn’t know exactly what it is.”
“I don’t know,” Garrick replied dismissively, “Maybe he’s only admitting the possibility of something bad happening to your parents. I mean don’t you think if Dr. Timmus really believed your parents to be in danger that he would put them some place safe?”
She sat in silence for a moment and thought about that. Dr. Timmus and her father seemed to be pretty close. If Dr. Timmus knew what was going to happen he would do everything in his power to keep them safe, right? But, Dr. Timmus wasn’t precognitive, she had to remind herself. He wouldn’t know if something bad was going to happen unless someone was thinking about it right next to him. She looked at Garrick. He was always so patient with her and her worries about her parents. She knew he was probably tired of hearing about her problems. He had never actually complained, but she knew she would be annoyed if someone constantly complained about the same things over and over again. So she smiled at him and let her worries go. “That’s true,” she said simply. She wasn’t sure if he really bought her act, but either way she quickly turned the conversation to something that was a little more enjoyable for him.

That night she had problems getting to sleep. When she finally accomplished sleep her dreams would not let it be peaceful. She could hear that woman again… sobbing. Not this again, she thought. She was rushing down a flight of stone stairs. There weren’t any lights yet, but she could feel the smooth cold touch of stone on her bare feet. That’s odd, she paused. She had never felt anything in one of her visions before. She didn’t get much of an opportunity to muse on the realization. The vision was moving her forward down the stairs. She could see a faint light now. The stairs and the sobbing seemed to drone on forever. She held out one arm to see if she could see herself as well as feel. There was nothing there. Like a ghost, she supposed. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. There was a single candle set on a metal holder that had been mounted to the jagged stone wall. It lit only a small circle around it including the couple on the floor. There was the woman crouched over the man’s lifeless body. Okay, so what am I supposed to see? She asked. She was expecting the vision to stop here like it had before. No, I stopped it before it could show me anything useful. She reminded herself. She moved closer to the couple. Eartha focused on the woman. Who was it? She was so familiar. Her body or spirit or whatever she was in a vision started circling the couple. The man’s face continued to be hidden in the shadows, but the woman’s face was slowly coming into the light. Her hair was streaming around her face and about three quarters of the way down her back. It was raven colored and perfectly straight. The woman was very small and for a moment Eartha thought she had been mistaken in it being a woman and not a girl. She was looking down at the man’s body, which hid her face behind a curtain of hair and shadows. Eartha waited patiently for the woman to be revealed praying that this time she would recognize the woman. You can’t die. Not now. Not after all that we’ve been through. You can’t leave me. Where was that coming from? Eartha wondered. From the woman’s mind? But she wasn’t telepathic… how would she be able to read her thoughts? The woman was tearing at the gloves she was wearing and Eartha suddenly had a nagging feeling that she didn’t want to see what happened next. The woman’s head jerked up suddenly and she looked right at Eartha. Or so it seemed. Eartha was dumbfounded. She was looking at herself about twenty years into the future. The hair, the small body, the voice, it was all so familiar because it was all her own. Eartha jerked back which pulled her violently out of the vision.
Her head was throbbing again and the horrible sensation that she could not breathe came back again. She had pulled away too soon again. She felt sick. Finally air came rushing back into her lungs, but the white-hot pain in her head would not subside. What had that been? She wondered frantically. Had she seen her own fate? And if so, who was the man on the floor? Was she trying to bring him back to life? Could she even do that? She threw the covers off and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Oh, Dad, I really could use your input right about now. She thought as she stood up. She wished she had been able to keep herself in the vision until the end. The shock of seeing herself, though, had been a little too much for Eartha to deal with. She had just seen her future, she realized. And then another realization came to her. That was the first time she had really see the future. All her other visions had been of current events. Things that had been happening as she saw them. She had seen those things, as they happened, not before. She wasn’t precognitive, or at least she hadn’t been before this vision. Her visions weren’t at all like her father’s. He saw things moments before they happened and they were usually unimportant things. He rarely saw big events and when he did they took quite a while to build up in his mind. Her visions were completely different. She was seeing things that were not only happening as she saw them, but they were events that were happening miles away from where she currently was. So, why had she seen her future? And why now? She was only nine years old. What could she possible do with this information now? The event she had seen wouldn’t take place for about twenty years. Was there something she was supposed to be able to do now that would change that future? She was pacing her floor, she noticed. She stopped and looked at herself in the mirror. She was pale and her hair was wild. She must have been tossing in her sleep. At least the headache was beginning to fade. She wondered for a moment if the vision was going to come back and finish itself. If it did come back she would do all she could to stay inside the vision until it was complete. No more blinding headaches or breathlessness for her. It wasn’t worth the pain to try to control the visions. She looked into the mirror again, but her reflection was fading. Eartha felt as though she were falling- no, sinking… like a stone into a bottomless lake. An overwhelming emptiness was consuming her. She felt like she was dying and then she was suddenly snapped back into reality. She felt a sharp pain behind her ribs as though a cord that had been tied to her heart had suddenly snapped. She cried out in pain and the realization sunk in slowly. Her parents were dead.
The connection had broken.
She could no longer feel them.
And even though she had never really noticed the connection there to begin with she could definitely feel its absence. She sank down to her knees in the middle of her room and began to sob uncontrollably. This was too much… why was this all happening to her right now? It was unfair. She quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

“I need to speak to Eartha for a moment,” Dr. Timmus requested quietly. The teacher looked to a darker corner of the room. Eartha was already standing up. She gathered her books and papers into her bag and crossed the room. The other students in the room watched her. She hated the attention this was causing. She slipped from the room into the shadows of the hallway. “What happened?” she whispered.
“We should go to my office,” Dr. Timmus suggested not looking directly at Eartha.
“No. Tell me now. Here. In the hallway. I don’t want to go to your office,” she replied her voice remaining low and steady.
“It’s about your parents and I really think we should go to my office,” he said. Her heart nearly stopped. She knew it. It had happened last night. She had felt the connection to her parents severed. Her parents were gone. She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, “How did they die?” she asked not moving from her spot in the shadows.
“This is not the place to be discussing this,” Dr. Timmus replied.
“It was him wasn’t it?” she whispered, “The same man who has taken all those others.” Dr. Timmus only nodded not trusting himself to speak. He had been close to her parents. He had helped them though so many difficult decision they faced in their relationship. When they found out that Eartha’s mother was a healer, when they discovered she was pregnant, and the hardest discussion they had made to put Eartha in his care. And now Eartha was entirely in his care. They had known they were in danger from this monster and they wanted to protect their daughter the best they could. And now what was he supposed to do for this girl? Both her parents were dead. The only people who truly understood her troubles were gone forever. They would no longer be there to advise her and Dr. Timmus had nothing to offer. Seeing that it was useless to try to get her to his office Dr. Timmus finally answered, “He trapped them last night. At home, in bed. He killed your father first and your mother tried to save him.”
“She couldn’t,” Eartha replied flatly.
“That’s where you’re wrong. She did manage to bring him back, but it took all her strength to do it. It’s what killed her. Your father managed to wound him before he killed him again,” Dr. Timmus explained, “At least that is the information we have been able to gather from the investigators that are studying the scene. One psychic was able to tell us that your father died twice. We put the pieces together.”
“My mother’s death was in vain,” Eartha said coldly, “That monster didn’t even kill her. She destroyed herself!”
“No—“ But it was too late she had taken off down the hallway and there was nothing Dr. Timmus could say that would make her feel any better. Her parents were dead, and he hadn’t been able to save them. What the hell could he possibly say? She stopped about halfway down the hall, she had something to add, but instead of saying it out loud she spoke through her mind to his, I had another vision last night. She told him.
“You saw your parent’s death?” he asked aloud.
No, I had the vision before I felt the connection from my parents break. They were still alive when I saw… She answered letting her thought trail off.
“Then what did you see?” he asked as a small shiver crept up his spine. The fact that Eartha was not telepathic and still talking to him like this unnerved him. The officials were right to fear her. She had far more power than anyone would ever realize and she was only nine years old.
“My fate,” she stated calmly. She didn’t wait for a response from him. She took off the down the hall again. Another student emerged from behind Dr. Timmus. Dr. Timmus had not realized the boy had been there, but was not surprised to see him. “Go after her. Make sure she’s all right,” he ordered instead of reprimanding him for not being in class. He nodded quickly and took off down the hall after Eartha.
He found her exactly where he thought she would be. The only place she had ever felt at home, the indoor garden. He didn’t speak. What could he have possibly said that would be appropriate at a moment like this? She just found out that her parents had been murdered. What did you say to someone after that? He didn’t know how she felt. He probably never would. He had never been close to either of his parents. His mother had disappeared from his life when he was still a toddler and his father had kept him at a distance since then. His whole life had been focused around this school and the people here. She was alone in the world now. She had made sure no one here could get close to her and now the only people she had ever been remotely close to were dead. He could only try to comfort her, but if she pushed him away again what was he supposed to do?
She was sitting in the grass facing a bush. Her back was to him. He cleared his throat, but she made no movements. She knew he was there, but she chose not to acknowledge him. He stepped up behind her and finally admitted, “Look, I don’t know what I can say to you, but I’m here to listen to you if you want to talk or just to be here for you if you don’t. I’m not gonna leave even if ya tell me to, ‘cause no one should be alone at a time like this.” He expected her to ignore his little speech or to turn against him violently. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she cursed him, but instead she turned to face him. Her cheeks were soaked with tears and her eyes were red. Then she did the most unexpected thing. She stood up, slowly crossed the lawn towards him, and threw herself against him and began to sob. For a moment he didn’t know what to do, but finally he put his arms around her and just held her while she cried.
Nothing was said, nothing resolved. They both just sat back down at the base of the tree. She cried and he held her and they remained that way for hours. She eventually cried herself to sleep and he wasn’t about to chance waking her up by taking her back to the dorms. He made a vow at that moment that he would never let her be alone again. He planned to fill the void her parent’s death had left. He was her friend, the only friend she would allow herself to have and he would not abandon her ever.
He didn’t realize how late it was getting until he heard someone else’s steps approach. Dr. Timmus stood right over them and whispered, “So, she cried herself to sleep, I see.” He bent down and making sure not to disturb her sleep, lifted her off Garrick’s lap. She weighed next to nothing. The only bulk she seemed to have was her clothing. “Do you know what time it is?” Dr. Timmus asked Garrick.
“No,” he replied, “I guess I lost track of time. Is it late?”
“It’s getting there. Its already ten,” Dr. Timmus answered.
“I knew I had missed my last class, but I didn’t realize it was already past dinner time,” Garrick said.
“I can get you something to eat before you go to bed,” Dr. Timmus offered.
“No, I can’t eat,” he frowned.
“Starving yourself won’t help her,” Dr. Timmus reminded him.
“I know,” Garrick replied, “but I feel sick and I think food might make it worse.”
“Suit yourself. You need sleep now. You should get to your own dorm. I’ll put Eartha to bed,” Dr. Timmus ordered.
“Yes, sir,” he replied turning to go to his dorm. He stopped suddenly and added, “Wait a sec. I need to give her something.” He had vowed not to leave her alone, but there was no way he could go to her dorm with her. He pulled out a piece of notebook paper and scribbled a quick note on it. He folded the note several times and handed it to Dr. Timmus. “Can you leave that for her?” he asked. Dr. Timmus nodded and without another word Garrick took off down the hall toward his dorm room.