Shattered: A Psychic Visions Novel (29 page)

She released her breath. Damn.

“That one was taking up space that the other pieces looked to belong to.” He laughed. “The block was so damn clear it was as if I could reach out and pluck it out of the center while all the rebuilding went on.”

“You know how crazy that sounds – right?”

His grin widened. “I do. You know how freaking fantastic it is that you can do that, right?”

“Not really. So I get scared, panic, blow off my own head and while trying to pull myself together, I end up blacking out and losing complete chunks of my memories.” She snorted. “That is
not
cool.”

“You have a built in defense system. One that has protected you for decades. And likely has continued to confound the people who have done this to you.” His voice slowed as he added, “You know it’s also possible that’s why the blocks haven’t been removed yet.”

“Why?”

“While we were watching you rebuild, I actually said to Dr. Maddy that I was tempted to reach out and grab the black chunk that was causing you so much stress. And she said that the chances were good I wouldn’t be able to. That you had more defenses than anyone she’d seen to date and likely I’d get seriously zapped if I tried. We also had no idea what would happen to you if you were interrupted in the rebuilding process.”

She didn’t have a clue what to say.

Maybe it was a good thing as Trevor continued to talk. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a hell of a weapon.”

“How sad I needed it in the first place.” She didn’t know how she felt about any of this. “That a child had to do something like this to survive.”

“No, she shouldn’t, but she learned to do it, and quite possibly saved her own life in the process.”

“But she lost her sanity. Many times.” Hannah could feel the tension twisting inside of her mind. That never ending stream of questions and confusion. She didn’t know if it were the result of the incident, and that’s all she was going to call it at this point, or because of the discussion afterwards.

“It doesn’t matter because circumstances required you to cope. You survived. This is a huge win for you, sweetheart. I’m pretty sure you could use this method any time you thought you were under attack. It could be so much worse as well. With Will, you’ve likely done this several times. It might make him angrier or it might make him more peaceful toward you, but the bottom line is he’s not here now because you managed to send him away. In a non-threatening manner.”

At that she laughed. “Oh my God, how can you say that?”

“Well, it’s not like you picked up a gun and shot him. Neither did you attack him, although I think you probably could if need be,” he said. “You could have been so much more aggressive but you weren’t.” He smiled. “If Will had this ability, he’d wield it with more cruelty.”

“Am I wielding this? Or is this happening to me because of the circumstances? Maybe even the blocks are causing it.”

“Not from what I saw,” he said cheerfully. “How many blocks did you find?”

“Six left,” she said. “But let’s not lock on that number here. That’s just what showed up when I did that visualization. For all I know those blocks were in my imagination too.”

He grinned. “It’s hard to come to grips with, isn’t it?”

“I’ll say.” She waved her hand. “First off I’m full of these blocks and now you tell me I go to pieces – literally – to get away from someone.”

“Actually that’s a good way to describe it. You use this system to stop him from finding you,” he said in admiration.

“Outside of being hungry, I don’t feel too bad. Maybe give it a try to remove another one of those blocks?”

But he was staring at her quizzically. “Hungry?”

She shrugged.

“The energy work is what’s making you so hungry.” He smiled. “Makes sense. So what do you want to eat? Then we’ll try another session. I doubt Will will be back any time soon. Making a perfect opportunity.”

She preceded him into the kitchen and her gaze fell on the muffins they’d brought home from the coffee shop. “How about a snack now then an early dinner?”

“It’s not going to be an early dinner at this rate. It’s already after five.” He brought out a pot and filled it with water. “I’ll get the pasta started. You can have a muffin and coffee and then in a half hour or so we can eat.”

“Sounds good.” She went to pour a coffee and realized the pot was empty. She knew how to do it, but it seemed like the first time. All her movements were stiffer, more unyielding. She caught him studying her as she worked. “I’m fine you know.”

“Good.” He turned his back to her and worked on something on the stove. When he pulled out some bacon, butter and cream, she knew she was going to love it. In fact, she was wishing the meal was ready now. She walked back to the table, pulled out a muffin from the container and took a big bite. “Oh Lord, these are so good.”

He laughed. “They could taste like sawdust and you’d say that right now. Hungry people rarely concern themselves with how food tastes when they finally get to put it in their mouths.”

“That may be,” she said spiritedly. “But as this is divine, I’m glad I don’t have to be happy with sawdust.”

She sat down at the kitchen table and watched him work. “If your friends rent this place out, why is it furnished?”

“They rent it to people who live out of town temporarily. Almost like a hotel but with a more homey feeling.”

“It would be easier if they had long-term renters.”

“They actually rent long term to several large companies who have offices here but need to fly their people in and out for meetings and special projects. It’s warmer, less formal. Easier on the people who are away from their families. Besides, it’s cheaper.”

“But the people who are here have to cook for themselves, clean up behind themselves and so one. It would be easier in a hotel.”

“Easier is not always better.”

“True.”

The coffee maker beeped. She got up and poured two cups and watched the water pot start to simmer. Wonderful smells had started to fill the kitchen. “It smells delicious.”

“Hopefully.” He picked up his coffee and turned that electric focus on her.

She could feel the intensity of his gaze and smiled. “I’m still fine.”

He studied her for a moment longer then said, “Good. Then you can set the table.” He shot her smug look and turned back to stir his pots. She watched as he dumped pasta into the boiling water, then stirred the food in the fry pan.

“Will you teach me?”

He twisted to look at her, a question in his eyes. “Teach you what?”

“To cook. I don’t remember tons about the last few months, but there is a sense of despair over food. As if everything I tried to make didn’t turn out.”

“Sure, I can do that.”

*

It was a
simple enough request from someone who had little enough training in the basics in life, but at the same time Trevor’s heart had taken a hit. It sounded like she wanted to learn so she could be independent after this was over. Whatever
this
was. And that was something Hannah likely didn’t want to think about. That she wanted to learn to cook was a good thing. Being independent was a great thing. And it didn’t have to kill a relationship. He had no idea what he had with her right now. It just got deeper and deeper and more confusing every day. Still, she fascinated him. There was no doubt that they had something potent simmering. What it would grow into was anyone’s guess.

He was jumping the gun. There was no point in worrying about something that wasn’t happening at this point.

Hannah jumped up and joined him at the stove, and like a child let into a forbidden world, she peppered him with questions.

“What did you put in the water? When did you know it was ready for the pasta? What’s in the cream sauce?”

He gave a shout of laughter at her enthusiasm and proceeded to answer her questions.

Her questions carried on until dinner was served.

With plates served, she sat down and inhaled the aroma. “Oh my, that smells so awesome.”

“Now taste it and prepare to die in joy.”

She picked up her fork and took a small bite. He was happy to see her savor it. He wondered with her extreme appetite, that she’d be able to do that. Still he watched her face as she got her first taste – and the closed eyed reverence as the flavors hit her appetite. “Oh, that’s delicious.”

Grinning, he turned to his own meal. He was going to need the fortification for the evening ahead.

F
or some reason
she was nervous about tackling these blocks. Now she knew more. Had a better understanding of what could go wrong. What
had
gone wrong? She really needed a couple of blocks to just dissolve lightly and easily under her command. So far that hadn’t happened, but that didn’t mean tonight wasn’t going to be the night. She sat cross legged on the floor leaning back against the living room chair.

“Okay. Ready?”

She nodded, took a deep breath and slipped into the same place as she’d been before. Whatever that would be called. Immediately she ordered up the same blocks. The first one was even bigger, darker, and more terrifying. She’d fed it with her fear. That much understanding was terrifying. How could such things be happening to people without their knowing?

She closed her eyes and turned the blocks to Jell-O. Large quivering jiggling balls of sugar gelatin. She figured that childish image would remove her fear. When she opened her eyes she laughed and reduced their size down to nothing. It was fascinating to see her imagination happen in real time. At the same time she wondered why. Of course she’d chosen a food item. One she hated.

“Don’t lose your concentration,” Trevor warned. “Time to get rid of the Jell-O.”

Right. She’d seen the blocks in the Jell-O form in her head but hadn’t gone so far as to figure out how to destroy them. She could hardly burn them or wash them down the sink. Instead she managed to turn one of the Jell-O blocks into a dog and it turned and inhaled the others. She grinned. That was easy.

“Now you have to get rid of the dog.”

She refocused and turned the dog back into a Jell-O block, only slightly larger. She frowned at his size. “Did I get rid of any blocks or just combine them into one?”

“It’s slightly bigger but it’s only one now. So you have four left to deal with.”

She visualized the ocean and turned the big block into rain and let it drop into the ocean, absorbed by a force bigger than itself.

“That was good,” he said in admiration. “Nice one.”

She sensed the surprise in his voice but she was happy. “So three now.”

“Exactly.” He added a note of caution. “You’ve done really well getting rid of three, how do you feel?”

“Fine. Invigorated. Happy.”

“Tired?”

“No, not really,” she said. “I’ve only been working for a few minutes.”

“Actually, a whole hour has gone by.”

She froze and spun around looking for a clock. He held up his watch for her to see.

“Really? How? It seems like no time has passed at all.”

“It’s easy to get caught up in the work and lose track.”

She shook her head. “I could have sworn that wasn’t very long.”

“If you’re going to try to do the next one…”

Right. They weren’t running out of time, but her energy levels were a concern. She was doing fine but could crash. The three blocks left were bigger. Badder. More nasty looking than the others. Okay. She quickly turned the first one into water only it became a thick dark treacle like substance that she couldn’t in good conscious put into the ocean. “Do these visuals actually have an effect on the real world?”

“What do you think?”

“I think it does.” She frowned. “I wanted to dump this into the ocean but don’t want to hurt the ocean.”

“Then run it through a filter.”

“That might work.” She stopped to think, then quickly built a large filter to purify the dirty liquid, and poured the clean water into the ocean, hoping it was a healthy system for the environment. Only it wasn’t easy or very successful. It took a ton of effort.

After what felt like ten minutes of hard work, she ended up breathing heavily, she said, “What am I doing wrong?”