Unknown Touch (3 page)

"Actually," Tessa joined in, "you need to get into Stephen's head because he's the bad guy…or wolf. If he's better able to control his emotions and feelings, then his aggression and wild behavior will also be under control. Hopefully, if and when he is under control, the werewolves' lives will return to normal, or what would be considered normal for werewolves. We don't want to kill any of them, if that can be avoided. But Stephen has gone off the deep end. We are positive he's murdered at least one human, if not more, even though it seems that he was provoked with that particular incident. He was backed into a corner, and we know what happens with animals when they are cornered. He was trespassing on some farmer's land and was caught in the act of mutilating and eating one of this man's cows. The hillbilly had his gun with him and took a shot at Stephen but because Stephen was in the shape of the werewolf, the human had no chance. Stephen was just too strong, too fast and agile to get hit by the bullet. He attacked and killed the farmer."

Zac had barely said a word except for his introduction. Suddenly he explained, "The majority of werewolves really do want to fit in with humans. There aren't that many of them and in order to survive they must lay low and keep out of the public's attention. They look like us when in human form. They eat the same foods we do and try to behave like us. But Stephen going on the hunt for landowner's livestock is definitely not something he should be doing. When they turn into werewolves, they are much larger than a regular wolf - about twice the size. And watch out for their power, strength and speed when they're in werewolf form. They can be dangerous, even deadly. We've kind of nicknamed them "good wolves" and "bad wolves" - the good wolves are really great, cool people to be around. I say "people" at times because they don't shape shift into wolves very often since they feel they don't need to or have to for the most part. They blend in. They are really smart and creative, too, I might add.

"But then as we've mentioned, there's Stephen. He is totally out of control and barely cares at all about his actions and the effect they could have on his race. There are about five bad wolves that formed this new pack about a year ago; although by far, Stephen is the worst of the bunch. Like Tessa said, it's Stephen first and foremost that we want to focus our attention on by getting his emotions and aggression under control."

"Kara, that's where your skills are needed," Eli smiled tenderly at me. "We are hoping to save a unique race of beings before they self-destruct and either start killing themselves off or exposing themselves to society and causing harm. People could die if we don't step in and attempt to help. Dom wants to practice some psychic techniques with you and see what you're capable of doing. Hopefully this will give you proof and convince you of our situation."

I sat on the edge of my chair leaning forward with my pointy elbows digging into the table, hands on both sides of my head. I didn't know whether to speak or not. Everyone else had kept talking, filling my head with more and more information that I was supposed to take as the absolute truth. There was no way they were making this up. Why would anyone make this up? No one was threatening me. No one had hurt me. I remembered my dreams of Daniel. He did seem so real. I was drawn to him for some reason. I felt compassion and concern for him and didn't want him to be hurt or killed. My present life was totally at a standstill. I had nothing going for me. Still, I would miss my family and friends and was worried how they would handle my sudden disappearance. Eli said they would make it look like I ran away or some other scenario that we could work around. I bet Tessa would have a hand in that deception with her computer skills and past CIA experience dealing with people.

"I'm in," I mumbled, completely surprised at the ease at which I plunged into this new world. This whole new way of life. "Not that it seems I have much of a choice having been abducted and all."

Dominic looked as if he wanted to hug me. I could have probably used a hug right then and there. Eli smiled broadly and nodded his head in approval. Tessa and Zac gave their positive looks of encouragement. I sighed. "I'm still terribly confused about many issues here. I have so many more questions and don't have a clue which one to ask first."

"Why don't we take a break and I'll give you a tour of this place." Dominic volunteered. "I prepped a room for your stay here. I'm sure you want to check it out. And by then it will be getting close to lunch time. Everyone could meet back in the kitchen at noon. How's that sound?"

Eli responded, "That's a good idea. Dominic, continue to fill Kara in on anything she wants to know. We each have a lot of work to do especially if we're heading down to Kentucky Lake soon."

Everyone stood up, stretched and started filing out of the conference room. Tessa approached Eli and promptly stated she needed to finish taking care of my unusual disappearance to the outside world. I figured that one out accurately. Tessa to the rescue.

Dominic smiled sincerely at me and glanced in the direction of the door, which instinctively gave me the indication he was ready to be my tour guide.

"As Eli said," Dom started off, "this place was built in the 1950's. It hasn't exactly been kept up over time. Basic maintenance to keep it from completely falling apart and that's about it. Zac has been handy with some remodeling where needed."

We walked down a long, narrow, dimly lit hall. The walls and ceiling looked like that institutional pale green with the paint peeling off in some areas. It was cool and clammy.

"Eli said something about being under Silver Lake? A missile silo?" I asked.

"We aren't under the lake right now. But near the lake is a hidden hatch that leads down into the silo area. That spot then connects to a tunnel that travels several miles underground and shoots off to other missile silos and leads to this facility here. Zac rescued you from the car, brought you down into that silo area and hopped on a little four-wheeler and zipped on over here, a few miles from the lake. We've tried to make this place more like a home but outfitted it with anything else we need in dealing with this mission. Well, here we are: your home away from home!" Dominic held out his arm, gesturing for me to walk inside.

"Hmm…not bad." I absorbed the look and feel of the room. It reminded me of an old-fashioned hotel room which was not necessarily a bad thing. It was relatively clean and seemed to have all the amenities, including a TV.

"Except for a bathroom." Dominic replied. I hadn't said that thought out loud. He had just read my mind. Oh, great. This was going to take some getting used to. Dominic's face turned bright red as he looked down at the floor.

"Sorry about that." He went on, "I naturally gravitate towards people's thoughts and feelings. I should have warned you about me beforehand. Not that there's anything that needs an actual warning! It's not like I'm dangerous or anything. Well, I am telekinetic, though, and once in a blue moon things go flying off in the wrong direction than where I had intended them to go…but most of the time I've really got it under control!" His eyes were pleading for me to understand. Poor Dominic looked like he was going to wet in his pants.

I decided at that point I really liked Dominic. He made me smile and laugh and there was a sense of calmness from being around him. If I truly was getting as involved in this endeavor as they led me to believe, then it was high time for a little experimenting. Why not, right? After all, Eli said we needed to test my skills. At that moment I focused my mind to totally zone in on Dominic and mentally asked him,
Where are you taking me next?

He casually answered, "I'd like you to see where all our rooms are, then off to the kitchen." He stopped suddenly and quickly turned to look at me.

Give me an answer with your mind, silly! I'm testing myself.
I winked at him and gave him a big smile then completely concentrated on his thoughts.

Well…can you hear me now?
He joked without moving his lips.

Using my mind, I replied,
Yes. Yes, I can.

I could actually read his mind. Totally amazing. It came so easily to me. Had I always been able to do this and just been closed off to the possibility, the reality of it?

Yes.
Dominic flatly stated in my mind. He returned to regular speech, "Well, we can cross that test off the to-do list. Aren't we just moving right along! The next part of the mind-reading is distance. But I have a feeling you won't have a problem with that."

"Kara, they aren't dreams. Well, they are and they aren't. You're asleep when this happens to you, so in that regard it is considered a dream. But you made a psychic connection with Daniel when you were down at that resort and now it's as if you two are communicating while you're snoozing. On his end, he thinks he's having recurring dreams about some stranger, just like what you were thinking was happening to you, until we shot that theory all to pieces when we informed you otherwise. This isn't the werewolf we had intended for you to help, but seeing that Daniel is so disturbed, you can very likely help him, too, and maybe all these connections will be a great benefit."

"You believe I can actually be sitting here awake and make this mental connection with Daniel?" I couldn't comprehend being able to accomplish something like that.

"Don't demean yourself. That is counter-productive. You have to believe you can do it. And obviously you can because you are doing it while sleeping, so why not while you're awake. The bad boy, Stephen, is going to be a different story. We do NOT want him to be aware of you plopping happy thoughts into his head because I can imagine he'd get pretty ticked off. And since he's already not the happy camper, we don't need to provoke him anymore. I'm going to openly allow you access to my glorious brain and see how well you can implant a feeling or thought and how I react. See, if a person is totally aware that you're trying to mess with their brain, they're guarded and probably any thought manipulations aren't going to work. But I'm going to accept what you're trying to do and we'll see what happens from there. Fun, huh?!" Dominic had said a mouthful.

I had an idea, "What if I unexpectedly try messing with your brain on my own without telling you first? You wouldn't be on guard then." I smiled almost seductively. Wow, what was I thinking?

"I…I guess…I would prefer being forewarned," he stuttered, obviously self-conscious. "Although I see what you're getting at because if I don't know when you're going to do it, it would work better. I think, though, since we've talked about it now, I'm already on guard in a way, if that makes sense."

Yes…we'll see.
I purposely thought the words as I stood there with a mischievous look on my face. A look of anxiety appeared on his face. I almost laughed out loud.

We walked down the hall just a few feet and Dominic stopped, pointed to different doors and said, "That one is my room, then there's Zac's, Tessa's and Eli's rooms. All the rooms are tiny, but at least we were able to each have our own private room that way. You were already in the huge bathroom. And, yes, we all have to share it. There are a few other rooms we'll get to later. Another twenty feet and here's the kitchen. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Especially since I'm the cook."

"You've got to be kidding me! You can cook, too. Unbelievable." I took in a deep breath and thought how much I hated cooking. Well, at least I wasn't going to go hungry with this group.

Chapter 3

Experimenting

We walked into the narrow kitchen, trying to keep from bumping each other's elbows. Dominic started working on a simple lunch for the group...our group. I had to start thinking in those terms that this was a tight-knit group of people that I now belonged to. I couldn't believe all that had transpired in a matter of a few hours. It felt like days had passed already.

Soon, the others started filing into the kitchen area and plopped down at the old, scratched-up table. Obviously, interior decorating was not a priority. I wandered over and found an available chair that no one had nabbed up yet. It was quite amazing to think we were hidden underground, in our own little world. I suppose since my life had become so dull, devoid of any excitement at all over the last several months, that this did appear like an adventure to me. Still, I couldn't shrug off how my parents were going to react to my disappearing off the face of the earth.

I glanced over at Tessa and inquired, "You're not going to make it look like I died, are you? I just don't want my parents to be so heartbroken and devastated thinking I'm dead and yet they can't find my body…"

"Oh, Kara, no I won't do that! I'm scheming on you being a runaway. That you got into your car this morning and literally took off for points unknown. Probably in a day or so we'll have you call your parents to touch base and lead them into believing you are heading out west somewhere and just need time alone. After all, you haven't exactly been Miss Sunshine lately, from what I've been told. Hopefully this little story we're telling them won't shock them. It shouldn't seem completely out of character for you considering how you've been behaving lately."

"Wow. You guys have everything figured out. Weren't any of you worried about how I would react to being kidnapped? That maybe I'd go off the deep end and freak out?" I sighed heavily, shaking my head and looking down at the plate of food Dominic sat in front of me. I wasn't hungry at all but didn't want to disappoint him so I took a nice size bite out of the sandwich. Eating was a bit of a distraction at least for my boggled brain.

I rambled on, "I still can't believe I'm here and agreeing to go along with this craziness. I must be losing my mind. I even feel as if I've been here for days not just hours."