* * *
The cool night air does wonders to calm my anger. I inhale deeply and try to gain control of my emotions. I need to be on alert, not caught up with the stupidity of others.
I can see the motel and three men wearing jewel-toned robes standing near the glass doors. As I near them, one opens the door. I remember what Maetha told me about the protection she cast around the diamond pouch. The spells will protect my mind from being probed about its presence. I’m confident no one will be able to tell it’s the source of all my powers.
“Hello, Calli, I’m Charles Rhondell,” says the tall, kind-looking figure in the middle. I shake his hand and immediately view his future. Charles’s wife is one of the hostages being held by the Death Clan. They will be reunited after the exchange. Experiencing their joy brings tears to my eyes.
“Are you all right?” Charles asks.
“Yes, I am.”
The other two men, Grant Winbush and Steven Zufelt, shake my hand, introducing themselves as images flash through my mind of their futures. Grant will relocate near the east coast and assist the leaders of our country with his abilities, and Steven will get married to a woman he’s been dating. For once, I’m encouraged to see happy futures. No death, no destruction, only peace, joy, and contentment.
They lead me to couches in the lobby.
“Your walls are extremely strong, Ms. Courtnae,” Charles tells me with admiration.
“You can sense my walls?”
“Yes, and I must say, they are unlike any I’ve encountered. Blocking takes training and time to achieve. You’ve accomplished this in a matter of days. Who instructed you?”
In truth, no one. But I can’t tell them Maetha placed the walls within my head. I decide to give the credit to Chris. “Chris Harding instructed me.”
“He’s the topic of our discussion, Calli,” Charles says, his eyes widening.
Grant joins in, keeping his voice low. “He’s been feeding information to the enemy.”
“What? I thought Justin was the spy.”
“Justin is an afterthought. His intentions are self-serving. Chris, on the other hand, is dangerous. His connections go much higher than Justin’s.”
I know exactly what they’re talking about, but I pretend I don’t. If it wasn’t for the fact that I envisioned Chris’s future and the positive outcome for him, I might be worried.
I say to the three men, “So, the important information you couldn’t tell me over the phone is that Chris is more dangerous than Justin?”
“Yes.”
“That’s it?”
They look at one another and shrug their shoulders. Charles says, “Calli, you obviously don’t understand the severity of the situation.”
“Maybe not, but I’ve been inside both Chris’s and Justin’s minds, and believe me, Justin is the one to be worried about, not Chris.”
“None of us were able to break into Chris’s mind. How did you?” Steven asks.
“I don’t know, I just looked in.”
“His defenses, like yours, are impenetrable. Clearly you possess a much stronger ability to break through tough mental walls than we do. Perhaps it’s because you are the first multi-powered individual.”
Grant asks with complete sincerity, “What can you extract from my mind, Calli? I’d like you to test my walls.”
His mind is blocked. However, knowing his future as a political aid, I use the knowledge and enter his mind—a trick I learned from my experiments with Beth. “You wish to work with the President,” I say. “You’ve been fascinated with politics since childhood, and you’ve spent countless hours researching the world’s governments.”
“Amazing! I felt you enter that part of my mind. It’s been years since anyone was in my head. Absolutely incredible! How did you access my childhood dreams?”
“I honestly don’t understand my abilities or why I can do what other learned Readers can’t,” I say, trying to sound as calm as possible. I’d hoped these men would be able to shed some light on why my powers are stronger than theirs.
Charles says, “Will you test my walls?”
I look at Charles and enter his memories about his wife. “Your wife is beautiful, and I’m sorry for your pain. You two have had many happy years together.”
Charles bows his head.
I turn to Steven and say, “I hope someday you can marry her.” His eyes widen, bewildered at how easily I can enter his mind and find memories about his love.
None of them can comprehend how I’ve gotten into their minds, and a little nagging voice in the back of my mind says to keep this a secret. Let them continue to think I’m all powerful.
Charles says, “Do you understand how many years of training a Reader goes through to develop the ability to see memories?”
I shake my head.
“Years of training, years of learning. In fact it took me five years to learn how to retrieve someone’s recent memories. But, here you sit, mere days of mind-reading under your belt, and you can pull up Grant’s childhood with no effort. That’s incredible!”
I say nothing.
“Calli, you broke through our walls. We three are the strongest of our clan, but we still can’t read each other.”
Grant asks, “How do you do it?” His mind reveals he suspects I’m an Immortal.
I say, “I was kind of hoping you could help me understand my ability.”
Charles informs me of what I already know. “You are an anomaly, Calli. You tell us what it’s like.”
“It’s a burden.” That is the truth. “I witness and experience the insecurities, pain, anger, fear, depression, and anxiety of everyone around me. I don’t—”
“You feel? You actually experience other people’s emotions?” Grant is astonished.
“You don’t feel emotions when you enter other people’s minds?” I ask the three of them. I watch their heads shake in unison. I look to the floor. Great! Another ability unique to me.
“How do you walk amongst the Shadow Demons?” Steven asks.
I shrug my shoulders.
Charles leans forward. “I’ve searched the archives of prophesy and found nothing that tells of a girl with the multiple powers of running and intense mind-reading.”
They must not be aware of my other abilities, and frankly, I’m a little shocked Justin didn’t tell them everything. I decide I will always be careful about what I volunteer up to anyone until I figure out what they know about me.
“I should get going now.” I stand and they follow suit.
“Are you a witch?” Steven asks in an unexpected rush. “That would explain how you can do these things, why the Demons ignore you. Are you?”
“I don’t think so. A few days ago, I was a less-than-popular girl in high school trying to fit in, and now I’m a freak living among freaks in a world I didn’t even know existed. Does a witch gain abilities, or does she learn how to enchant herself with them?”
Charles intervened, “She’s not a witch, Steven. She’s simply a girl with a destiny. The Seers foresaw her running ability surfacing, but nothing more.”
“I don’t know what I am, or if this is my destiny. I’ve always wanted to be able to read minds, but I now despise that skill. I wish the ability would go away. I don’t want these powers, and I haven’t enchanted myself with them. Frankly, I’m at my wit’s end.” I can tell my frustrations are evident in my tone of voice.
Charles extends his hand, and I shake it. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Calli. I wish you the best with the meeting tomorrow.”
“Thank you. Goodbye.” I turn and leave the building and don’t look back once.
As I walk back to my motel, I think about the fact a group of Mind-Readers would be able to communicate with each other non-verbally by dropping their walls and placing their thoughts at the front of their mind, definitely a handy advantage in a situation such as the upcoming gathering. Being able to project their thoughts into others’ minds would be better, but to
my knowledge, that power doesn’t exist.
I turn the corner and enter the motel parking lot. Almost every window in the motel is illuminated from within and the lot is completely filled with vehicles. As I walk past the lobby, I glance at the manager, who’s speaking on the phone while writing something on a pad of paper. A quick mind-read reveals he is stressed out by the guest-load verses employee ratio. He has a running list of supply requests such as extra towels and blankets for numerous rooms, and complaints of broken items or dirty rooms. Poor guy. He probably hasn’t had so many guests at one time, or if he has, he at least had advance notice if there’d been something like a scheduled concert or event.
I climb the stairs and walk past Chris’s window on the way to my room. I pause and peek through the narrow opening in the curtain. The mirror on the wall is angled just right, reflecting Chris sitting in a chair against the opposite wall. He’s unaware I’m watching him, and I try to enter his mind. It doesn’t work. I try thinking of a specific detail to gain entry but am unsuccessful. I deduce a mind cannot be read unless the subject can be seen in person, the same way I can’t “read” a photograph of Chris.
However, I had continued to harm Justin through the bathroom door even after I couldn’t see him. An idea comes to me and I reposition myself so I can see Justin’s reflection through the mirror. I try to upset his stomach, but nothing happens. I’m not surprised. The night I “tortured” Justin, I had eye contact with him in the beginning. The connection to his body’s energy remained even after he placed a barrier between us.
Looking at his reflection right now, I feel no connection.
I continue walking to my room and enter to find Clara pacing the floor. My incompetent bodyguards stand directly behind her with grimaces on their faces, knowing it’s pointless to think they can guard or protect me in the dark.
“Calli, how did it go?” Clara tries to sound calm.
“Like I expected, they were full of questions, but I had no answers for them. I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”
Everyone moves aside and lets me lie down. I close my eyes so I can’t see their minds, and I try to channel Maetha. If I could speak with her, ask her some questions, it would help out a lot. No such luck. I think about calling my parents, but dismiss the idea because it’s late, and even later in Ohio. I miss them. I decide I’ll call in the morning.
I lie in bed with a million thoughts running through my head. I wonder if there’s another solution where Chris can be saved, besides not giving the diamond to the Death Clan. Perhaps there is another scenario I haven’t explored.
Chapter 12 - The Clearing and The Clans