Page 13 of Dark Visions (Strange Gifts #1)

Dr. Angela Brennan, PhD – Department of Paranormal, Parapsychology, and Dream Study

“This is her?” asked Kane.

“Yes. I spoke to her a while ago, and she was very interested in speaking with me. She sounded nice, but I just couldn’t force myself to come alone.”

“Well, you’re not alone now. I’m here.” Kane knocked on the door, and the soft lilting voice called from behind the oak.

“Come in now.”

Kane opened the door slowly to see a small white-haired woman hidden behind stacks of books and papers. In fact, the entire office was filled with stacks of books and papers. The utter chaos of the room sent his need for order into overdrive.

“Dr. Brennan?” he asked.

“That’s right, and you are?” she said, smiling up at him.

“My name is Kane Jackson, and this is my girlfriend, Aislinn Carter.”

“Aislinn? We spoke a few months ago, yes?” she said with a hint of an Irish accent. “Come in, come in, child. Aislinn. That’s a fine Irish name if ever there was one.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Aislinn, smiling at her. “My mother was born in County Wicklow.”

“Wicklow! Is that a fact now? Well, Wicklow is a magical place indeed. Please, sit, sit.” She looked at the two leather chairs piled high with folders and books. Grinning, she lifted the stacks and set them on the floor. “Sorry for the mess, my grad student left me, and I haven’t had any help in a while. Now then, what can I do for you?”

“When we spoke, you said you might be able to help me, Dr. Brennan,” said Aislinn.

“Remind me, dear. I’m old.” She smiled at the couple, and Aislinn smiled back.

“Sorry, of course. I have dreams, more like visions. I touch someone and…”

“Oh, yes! Of course, of course! I was very interested in speaking with you when last we talked. Your gift is rare, rare indeed. Wicklow? You said your mother was from Wicklow, is that right?”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s right.”

“Was she fae?” Kane’s brows furrowed in confusion, and he looked at Aislinn, who shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what that means.”

“Fae. Like the magic fairy people,” she said, smiling at them.

Confusion filled their faces, and then concern that perhaps Dr. Brennan wasn’t all there. The old woman giggled, her blue eyes laughing at them.

“Fairy people? Dr. Brennan…”

“Angela, dear, just call me Angela.”

“Alright, Angela. Fairy people don’t exist. I can assure you my mother was not a fairy.”

“Ahhh, that’s right. You Americans only believe in what you see and touch. The Irish, well, the Irish people know there is more to the world than what is in front of us.”

“Forgive me, doctor, Angela,” said Kane, “but I’m a soldier. I was trained to believe in what I see and feel.”

“And were you not trained on your other senses as well, Kane? Were you not trained to look for what you couldn’t see? What you couldn’t feel?”

“I was trained to look for things that weren’t visible, yes.” He said it in the most unconfirming way he possibly could. This woman was bat-shit crazy, but for Aislinn, he would sit through it.

“Listen to me, child. Your mother was most likely from a long line of people who were able to see visions. You can call them fae or psychic or whatever you like, but it’s an inherited trait for sure. Many of the old folks in Ireland believe in fae, and they believe in fairy hills, leaving them undisturbed.”

“That sounds magical, Angela, but my visions are violent, filled with blood and murder. There is nothing magical about it.”

“I see,” she said, looking at Aislinn with concern. “And do you ever see happy visions? Visions that don’t have blood?”

“Never.”

“And your mother?”

“My mother, my mother never spoke to me about it, but I believe she had visions as well. I think they led her to kill herself.”

“I’m terribly sorry to hear that. I am, for sure. But I believe I can help you, Aislinn. You see, someone, perhaps your grandmother, didn’t teach your mother how to manage her visions. When properly taught, you can control what you see, both the good and bad.”

“You can be taught?” asked Kane, reaching for Aislinn’s hand. She laid her fingers on top of his forearm, gripping the tight rope of muscles. Angela looked down and frowned.

“You have visions as well, Kane?”

“No. I-I get this sort of electrical shock when I touch someone who is evil. I only met Aislinn a few days ago. It was this instant pull. This distinct connection that I can’t explain. The other night we held hands as we slept, and I shared her vision. It was the most awful thing I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot.” He tilted his head slightly, giving Angela a better view of the burns.

“Yes, yes, I can see that,” she said softly. “I think you were meant to find one another, Kane. I believe you are the missing piece for Aislinn and can help her change the trajectory of her visions.”

“I don’t understand,” said Aislinn, frowning.

“When Kane touches you, do you have any visions?”

“No, just the other night when we held hands.”

“Exactly. Your fingers linked; your hands together allow you both to see the vision as if it were sending signals from one of you to the other. When he is around you, he is the conduit between the vision and you. He will be able to move the vision away from your mind without knowing it.”

“Wait? You’re telling me that there is some sort of invisible thread between us that allows me to get into her mind and detour a vision?”

“Well, that’s simplifying things a bit, but in a manner of speaking. Yes.” Their faces filled with disbelief, and Angela knew that she had her work cut out for her. “Listen, both of you. The mind is a miraculous, mysterious place. We use less than ten percent of our brain’s capacity. Ten percent! Think about all of that ability out there we haven’t tapped into.”

“I think your mother had uncontrollable visions that most likely drove her mad,” said Angela. She saw the horror on Aislinn’s face and immediately held up a hand. “I’m not saying you will go mad. You’ve made it this far, and my guess is you did it by avoiding touch, correct?”

“Yes, how did you know that?”

“Child, there is so much to learn. When we are children, we learn that touching something hot is dangerous. It will burn us. We don’t know what that looks like right away. But we learn it’s the burner of a stove or the flames of a fireplace. As we age, we know when we see those things that they are hot, so we avoid them. You’ve been doing that with people. You know in your mind, you know that there is something there. Something you shouldn’t touch.

“People, like animals, leave their mark. It doesn’t last forever, but it does last, and someone with an ability such as yours is highly attuned to that mark.” She paused, scanning their faces, allowing them to take in the information. “Kane? You said you feel things as well.”

“Yes. When I touch something evil, a zap, an electrical current hits my arm. Sometimes it’s minor, but if the evil is big, it nearly knocks me on my ass.” She chuckled, nodding her head.

“And when you touch something good? When you touched Aislinn, what did you feel?”

“I-I didn’t think of it at the time, but it was warmth. My whole body became warm and filled with… I can’t explain it. But I also felt the pain of what she was feeling, what she was seeing.”

“Interesting.”

“How can I control this? How do I learn more about this?” asked Aislinn.

“Well, I have a class to teach in about twenty minutes, but why don’t we set aside some time tomorrow? I can come to you if you’d rather.”

“No, here is fine.”

Kane didn’t want anyone to know where Aislinn was staying, and although he doubted the good professor meant any harm, she was a bit strange.

“Here,” she said, grabbing a book. “This book was written by my sister. She still lives in Ireland and studies people who have visions or dreams. I think it may help you to start controlling them.”

“Thank you, Angela,” said Aislinn, taking the book. She held it in her hands for a moment and felt nothing except a lightness in her heart.

“No evil there, child,” she said, grinning. Aislinn smiled back at her, looking at the cover of the book.

“Dreams, Visions, and Futures Told: Our Gifts from the Fae” by Dr. Caroline Brennan

“Read the book together, and I think you’ll find some tips in there that may help the two of you tap into more than just the bad visions. It’s something your mother should have taught you, but it sounds like no one taught her.”

“I seriously doubt it. My grandmother died when my mother was a little girl, so she probably didn’t have the time. Mom was an orphan, adopted by a family here in the U.S., and never returned to Ireland, that I’m aware of. She did leave me a house there, but I’ve never been.”

“Oh! You must go back! You must!”

“Once we figure all this out, it will definitely be on my list of things to do.” Aislinn smiled at the older woman, and they agreed on a good time to visit the next day.

Kane opened the door and then turned, taking Angela’s hand. The same warmth he felt with Aislinn filled his arm all the way to his chest. He let out a sigh of relief, and Angela winked at him.

“It’s a good skill to know, isn’t it, lad?” she giggled. The little white-haired woman giggled, and for just a moment, Kane blinked away the vision of Angela Brennan with wings flitting around a garden.