Silently, Matt’s bags were packed in the back of Zoe’s car. Matt had left his vehicle back at the Nivok building and it was too risky to go back and retrieve it.
Zoe hadn’t imagined that she’d ever see her easygoing friend this sombre and it was heartbreaking to think that she was partly responsible. ‘Matt, I feel like I’ve led you on, or —’
‘Hey …’ He held up a hand to end her confession. ‘He’s my best friend. I can’t blame you for liking him, and I sure as hell can’t blame him for liking you. You’re the closest thing to heaven Kyle’s ever encountered, that’s for certain.’ He forced a smile of gracious acceptance.
His words just made Zoe feel worse. She could hardly believe she was passing up the chance to be with a man this understanding and considerate. She thought she’d cried all the tears she possessed last night, but they welled in a second coming.
‘Truly, Zoe, it’s not your fault. Don’t feel bad.’ Matt stepped in to comfort her with a hug.
‘It just seems so unfair.’ Zoe hated that Matt was comforting her when she was breaking his heart.
‘No,’ Matt corrected. ‘It would be unfair of me to protest about you loving a man whose need and want are far greater than my own.’
Zoe pulled away to look Matt in the eyes, loving his perceptive and generous nature — she’d never met anyone like him. ‘Your parents really did good with you,’ she sniffled.
Matt nodded to confirm that he agreed. ‘I shall recover,’ he told her. ‘Kyle never would.’ As Zoe was clearly amazed and beyond words, he added, ‘But I’m warning you … he’s a bit rough around the edges, and difficult to handle when the mood takes him.’
Zoe had calmed down and was gazing at Matt, her astonishment reflected in the warm smile on her face. ‘I think you must be some kind of angel sent to Earth to show us orphans and social outcasts what friendship really means.’
Her theory amused him for many reasons. ‘You’re hardly a social outcast, Zoe. Women like you are the very essence of high society.’
‘That’s where you’d be wrong.’ Her good mood ebbed a little. ‘I never related well to my peers at school. We weren’t on the same wavelength, as the material world has never interested me very much. I was labelled “weird” because of my interest in new-age concepts. In fact, I could safely say that I never knew anyone I considered to be a good friend before I met you.’ The confession choked her with emotion and she cleared her throat, wanting to continue before Matt had a chance to speak. ‘That’s why this whole situation with Kyle is so distressing to me. I’m afraid of losing my only true friend.’
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Matt emphasised, then realising he was holding the car keys, he conceded, ‘Well, I am … but I’ll be back. Believe me, if you’re serious about Kyle, you’re going to need a friend who even vaguely understands what goes on in that head of his.’
Zoe laughed at this, for Kyle’s mysterious ways were already perplexing her. ‘I’m not too sure what I feel about Kyle,’ she admitted. ‘It’s not really an attraction. It’s more like a haunting.’
‘He’s a spooky lad to be sure,’ Matt backed her up on this, ‘but you gotta love him.’ He gave a cheeky wink of encouragement and opened the door of the luxury vehicle. After briefly admiring his ride, Matt climbed into the driver’s seat.
No sooner had Matt and Zoe left the room than Kyle was lifting Book onto his lap. He regarded the treasure like an old familiar friend that he was very glad to see; the regrets he’d had in death were still fresh in his mind and Kyle was now eager to put his magical gift to its best use. He opened Book at the dog-eared page, scarcely believing his own lack of respect for damaging the treasure in such a fashion. ‘I must get a bookmark,’ he noted out loud, to let Book know it wouldn’t happen again.
Upon finding his place Kyle was alarmed to find only one sentence beyond what he’d read.
You are not alone.
The rest of the book was entirely blank; the text had simply disappeared.
‘No, don’t lock me out,’ Kyle quietly pleaded, although Book’s parting prophecy, that there would be no return to the story after his little sidetrack, was preying on his mind. ‘I’ve been to hell and back to resume this quest. Please give me one more crack at it.’ Kyle stared into the blankness below Book’s final statement, but when the text did not appear, his sight drifted upward. ‘What is that supposed to mean, anyway … You are not alone?’
Kyle was startled when Zoe came through the door and her presence seemed to explain Book’s conundrum. He dropped his hands onto the bed and the book fell open on his lap. Kyle was, by now, confident that no one else could see Book, so he didn’t bother trying to hide it. Zoe wore a warm smile on her face, a nurturing look that Kyle had seen in the movies but never in his personal life. He loved that her attention was intent upon him, but with Tim being released from prison and probably being on the police Wanted list himself, Kyle felt that reading Book was more pressing than romance at present. How was he going to persuade Zoe to leave him alone, without hurting her feelings?
‘You must have things you’d rather be doing than babysitting me … I’ll be fine here on my own if you want to go.’ Again Kyle had to refrain from cringing, not really happy with the way the offer sounded.
Zoe wasn’t sure how to interpret his opening statement. ‘I’m currently in hiding, just like you. And I really don’t think you’ll be fine on your own when you can’t even raise your arms without assistance.’ She served him a sensible look. ‘However, if you are too tired to deal with us at present, I can leave you to rest.’
Kyle felt he must be looking grateful for the offer, but as she’d been wonderful enough to award him an easy way out he didn’t have the heart to take it. ‘I hope I am never too tired to deal with us,’ he replied with a smile. ‘What’s on your mind?’
Zoe was gratified by his interest and came to sit beside him on the bed. ‘Our dream, and the morning after it … you were there when I woke, while I meditated, when Matt and my uncle were there … yes, you were,’ she challenged him, as Kyle had begun shaking his head! Then Zoe gasped in understanding. ‘It was you distracting my uncle with the falling picture so I could hide the keys, wasn’t it?’
Kyle cracked a cheeky smile. ‘How could I have been there?’
‘It could have been connected with your recent NDE.’
‘My what?’ Kyle laughed, and it hurt.
‘Near Death Experience,’ Zoe added, excited by her theory. ‘You said you’d seen me in the afterlife. Was it that morning?’
Kyle had a think about what she was suggesting and was rather impressed by her reasoning. ‘Good theory, but … no.’
Zoe regarded him with a wary but playful expression. ‘You see, I spoke with Matt last night and I know for a fact that he didn’t tell you about our plans for my uncle. Apparently you’d just disappeared? And we both know I didn’t tell you.’ She smiled as the smug grin slipped from Kyle’s face. ‘So, explain how you knew and where you were.’ She paused only a moment as she leaned in close to her hostage. ‘You can’t, can you?’
Kyle had no explanation, but since he thought Zoe was about to kiss him, he decided to play dumb and yield.
‘So, are you going to tell me how you got into my dreams, how your spirit got into my apartment?’
Zoe’s intimate but pressing tone was a little unnerving for Kyle. He hadn’t had a whole lot of success with women, and his experience for handling such moments was limited.
‘I know how you feel, Kyle. I literally recognise your energy.’ She surprised him by this sudden turn in the conversation. ‘That’s how I know you were there that morning. I believe you have psychic ability that you’re either denying or hiding from the world … so, which is it?’
‘Are you a witch?’ He was only half joking with the inquiry.
‘Which is it?’ she repeated, folding her arms, determined to get an answer.
Kyle rubbed his face with his hands, trying to think. ‘Wh
en you said coming back could be disastrous, I thought you meant the bullet,’ he mumbled to himself, before deciding to confide in Zoe. ‘All right … I’m in denial and have been for most of my life.’
Zoe saw some promise in his answer. ‘But not lately.’
‘No,’ he confirmed. ‘Lately … I’ve really woken up to myself.’
‘And do you like what you see?’ Zoe leaned in close again.
‘At present, I love what I see.’ Kyle could barely believe he’d said the ‘L’ word, but his horror was dispersed during a long and luscious kiss. When they parted, Kyle found himself staring straight down Zoe’s shirt. The view was stimulating to say the least. Well, at least I know the lower half of me still works.
‘What’s your talent?’ Zoe lifted his chin with an outstretched finger so that Kyle was looking her in the eyes. ‘Besides telepathy.’
‘I can’t read the minds of others.’ Kyle was flattered by her assumption.
‘No, you read their emotions,’ Zoe informed him. ‘I’ve witnessed you do it many times. But there’s something else, isn’t there?’
Kyle nodded, his trust strengthened by speaking with an obvious believer, a person who had some idea what they were talking about when it came to psychic phenomena. ‘I don’t know if there is a name for my talent,’ he began rather awkwardly. ‘I’ve always been told it was a delusion induced by my want of family.’
‘You see ghosts?’ she said with a gasp.
‘Not until my recent death,’ he clarified. ‘No, I see otherworldly creatures.’
‘Creatures?’ Zoe’s eyes opened wide in awe. ‘Sylphs, salamanders, gnomes, undines?’
‘Yep,’ Kyle confirmed, ‘and more besides.’
Zoe was smiling so broadly her face was aching from the stress. ‘I’ve seen them too.’
The statement was such a shock, and so exciting to Kyle, that he sat bolt upright. ‘You have?’ The movement was agony, but the news was ecstasy. It was confirmation that he wasn’t insane.
‘Not here in the physical world, you understand,’ Zoe clarified, ‘but in the astral world I have seen them. You see, one of my psychic talents is OBEs —’
‘Out of Body Experiences.’ Kyle knew about them well enough. ‘I’ve just started doing that, but I need elemental assistance. Wow, you can do that by yourself?’
Zoe nodded, over the moon to finally find a like-talented soul. ‘I can teach you some time, if you like?’
Kyle was enthusiastic about that idea. Maybe he wouldn’t need the book, after all. Maybe he never did? ‘Teach me now.’
‘After an NDE, I don’t know if an OBE would be the best idea,’ Zoe reasoned, ‘but there is a name for your talent. The ability to see etheric world intelligences is part and parcel of being clairvoyant.’
‘Clairvoyant?’ Kyle wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that.
‘It’s from the French, meaning “clear vision”,’ Zoe explained. ‘Do you hear your little creatures as well as see them?’
‘They’re not all little,’ Kyle corrected her misconception, ‘but, yes, I do.’
‘Then you’re clairaudient as well.’
‘No shit.’ Kyle was amazed by her knowledge.
‘From the French, meaning “clear audio”. If you perceive sounds or words, when no person or physical world entity is present, and they are inaudible to normal hearing that is clairaudience. These sounds can appear to come from within the head or from out in the atmosphere.’
‘All of the above.’ Kyle was dumbfounded by Zoe’s depth of knowledge and, clearly, he was a pleasant surprise for her.
‘Tell me more about your creatures,’ Zoe begged, like an excited child waiting for a good bedtime story.
She was the first person who had ever truly believed him; how could he possibly resist the opportunity to tell her a lifetime of stored-up tales.
Matt leant on one of the pillars holding up the huge building that housed the jail, keeping himself out of sight. Amongst the general movement in the street out front, he noticed a man sliding out from underneath a vehicle. Not even looking back to the car, the fellow strolled off up the road, brushing his hands clean. Matt had to empathise with the stranger, as car troubles always put a total downer on anyone’s day. He returned his sights to the large double doors of the jail in time to see Timothy Burke being escorted out of the building by an Indigenous fellow. The pair appeared in good spirits as they bounced down the stairs, and Matt made haste to catch them up. ‘Timothy Burke?’ he called, and managed to secure Burke’s attention. Matt held out his hand and shook Timothy’s firmly. ‘I’m Matthew Ryan. I need to speak with you urgently. In fact, your life might depend on it.’
Not knowing what to make of Matt, Timothy looked at his friend, who shrugged and gave Tim a slap on the shoulder. ‘I’ll warm up the car.’
His companion took off down the stairs, whereupon Tim looked back to Matt and was a little put out when he noticed the large bag slung over the lad’s shoulder. ‘Is that a camera bag, perchance? If you’re a reporter, forget it, I have nothing to say.’ Tim had hoped to make a quick getaway.
Matt gripped Tim’s shirt to keep him in place. ‘Before my very short — we’re talking a week here — but eventful career as a cameraman,’ Matt smiled and released Tim, who was obviously perturbed at being held — he seemed a fairly virile fellow, so Matt wasn’t game to push his luck, ‘I was in the employ of Nivok Industries.’
The mention of the company captured Tim’s interest.
‘And I have good reason to believe — proof, in fact — that James Nivok is planning to kill you.’
Tim was not at all surprised by the news. ‘Can you tell me something I don’t know?’
Matt grinned in response, when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Tim’s companion getting into the same car he had earlier watched the man crawl out from underneath.
‘What proof?’ Tim pursued the conversation, even though he seemed to have lost the young cameraman’s attention.
‘Is that your car?’ Matt queried anxiously, as he ran off down the stairs. ‘No!’ he yelled out to Tim’s friend, who didn’t hear him over the street noise. ‘No! Don’t start the —’
The car exploded in front of Matt and the force of the blast threw him off his feet and back on to the steps. He rolled over to catch Tim’s reaction and saw him running towards the car that was now a furnace. Matt leapt up and bounded across the steps to intercept Timothy.
‘Harry!’ Tim, in a fit of rage, thrust Matt aside and continued his rush down the steps.
Matt was not to be deterred so easily. He sprang on to Tim’s back and wrestled him to a standstill. ‘Whoever set that bomb is likely to be still around here, making sure you got snuffed,’ Matt uttered into the irate man’s ear. ‘You can’t do anything for your friend. I have to get you out of here.’
Timothy growled in protest, trying to release himself from Matt’s restraining grip, but Matt only tightened his hold. The headlock started to make Tim lightheaded.
‘I’m going to do this one way,’ Matt tightened his headlock again, ‘or the other.’
Tim relented, collapsing on to the steps, and Matt let him go, flopping down beside Tim to catch his breath. Tim looked at the stranger, confused. ‘What is your problem?’
‘I’m sorry, I really am,’ Matt assured him, panting as his heart raced in his chest, ‘but we’ve got to go now. You see, Nivok is after my arse too.’ Matt glanced up to notice police flooding from the building, and moved fast to grab his camera case before they got too close.
‘So what’s Nivok pissed at you for?’ Tim queried as Matt raced back up the stairs.
‘Oy, you!’ A policeman targeted Matt with his finger. ‘That’s one of the men wanted for kidnapping James Nivok’s niece.’ He sent his men chasing after the suspect as he fled with Timothy Burke.
‘You kidnapped Nivok’s niece!’ Tim yelled as they ran.
‘No.’ Matt was just as startled by the charge. ‘Zoe’s a
friend of mine.’ Matt sighted the Saab and unlocked the doors with the remote as they ran.
‘Impressive wheels.’ Tim was most relieved at the fact.
‘Thanks, it’s Zoe’s.’ Matt realised that this information made him seem guilty of the charge against him.
‘Shit! I’ll drive.’ Tim snatched the keys from Matt, who had no time to argue.
The luxury car was tearing out on to the street before Matt had even got his door closed.
‘Jesus!’ Matt dragged on his seatbelt. He could feel himself going pale. ‘I’m in so much shit.’
‘Don’t worry, kid. I’m real good at this,’ Tim advised him while remaining intent on escape. ‘We’ll be in the next suburb before they even get out of the car park.’
‘But won’t they be looking for this car?’ Matt reasoned.
Tim smiled and, around the next bend, drove into the huge multi-level car park of a shopping mall. Ascending a few floors, Tim parked the car in a nice dark corner and tossed Matt the keys. ‘We should be able to find a more suitable vehicle around here somewhere, don’t you think?’
Matt had been imagining a long high-speed chase that ended in disaster or arrest. The speed and ease of their escape amazed him. ‘That was legendary.’
‘We’re not in the woods yet.’ Tim climbed out of the car to speed Matt along.
‘Don’t you mean out?’ Matt retrieved his bags and locked up the vehicle.
‘Nope.’ Tim made a beeline for the stairs that led to the lower levels.
The excitement of the conversation had worn Zoe out. Try as she might to keep her weary eyes open, she’d finally succumbed to her exhaustion and was sleeping soundly on the bed alongside Kyle.
He’d told her about Crystaleyes, Blue and Kyron, and the different creatures he’d been perceiving and drawing since early youth. He hadn’t mentioned Book, because Kyle was not entirely sure what manner of entity Book was. However, he had told Zoe that if she found him in a trance at any time to leave him be, as he would be conversing with his elementals — which wasn’t a lie.