The Ethereal Vision

  ***

  “How did they get here so fast?” Nora asked after Jane had woken her and described what had happened. Jane didn’t go into any detail about Max because she didn’t think it appropriate or fair to drop that kind of information on her mother without warning. She simply said that he had given her the information.

  “I don’t know. They’ve had ten years to work on this.”

  Nora’s cell phone rang and they both jumped. Nora looked at it and said, “Jack.” She picked it up and began to make plans with her friend as Jane went to her room to pack.

  Ten minutes later they were in the car and moving. Nora had arranged to meet Jack at a service station on the way. They met with him shortly after, and he transferred some supplies: gas, candles and food. He insisted on driving, so Nora sat in the passenger seat.

  Jane kept details about Max’s appearance scant as Jack probed the subject gently. It didn’t seem right to go into detail for some reason, and Nora exchanged a knowing glance with her in the rear-view mirror, nodding to her as Jack asked questions and Jane evaded them.

  A short while later the three had fallen into a silence. Jane was nodding off in the backseat. After a time, in the distant recesses of her mind where the ethereal energy secretly glowed, she heard a dim boom. She gasped and sat up, looking around her. She knew it had been Max. That had been the distraction he had referred to, and she had detected it. Somewhere, out in the world of the psychic, Max had created a colossal psychic effect to attract the attention of her trackers. She hoped it would prove effective.