Page 27 of Dark Visions (Strange Gifts #1)

Dr. Brennan felt the rain approaching deep in her bones. At sixty-one, there were days that arthritis seemed to ravage her body, leaving her barely able to move. She carried the large stack of papers down the long corridor toward her office, feeling them slide precariously from one side to the other.

“Let me help you, Dr. Brennan,” said the sweet voice of a woman behind her.

“Oh, Deborah! Thank you, dear, you’re such a love.” She gladly released the papers to the young woman as they walked toward her office. Opening the door, she stepped behind her desk and cleared a spot for the new stack that awaited her. The young woman set the papers down and smiled at the older woman.

“I was hoping to speak with you about a potential opportunity as a graduate assistant with you, Dr. Brennan. I know your last one graduated,” she said, smiling.

“Oh yes, yes, he did. I’ve been scattered, as you can see from my office, since then.” She waved her arms at the stacks of books and papers, her small arms flailing around the office. The younger woman looked around the small space and smiled.

“Well, perhaps we could do it on a trial basis. Let me work with you for a few weeks, and if it works out, you could bring me on full-time,” she said, smiling.

“I’ll tell you what, dear, you submit your transcripts and a resume, and I’ll review it with the department chair. If all is well, we’ll get you on board as quick as possible. Lord knows I need it!”

“Thank you, Dr. Brennan! You won’t regret it!” The younger woman reached for Dr. Brennan and pulled her into a hug. Dr. Brennan froze. The feelings coming off the woman were beyond anything she’d ever experienced before. The emotion was almost crippling. Visions of blackness, pure blackness, and something else. Something more terrifying and more evil.

She released the older woman and turned with a wave to head out the door, but not before slamming into a large male body.

“Oh, excuse me,” she said, smiling up at the big man.

She pushed her blonde hair from her face as they watched her walk down the hallway. Aislinn’s face was pale, completely void of color. Kane rubbed his arm, his whole-body sizzling with nerve endings. They stepped inside the tiny, cluttered office to see Dr. Brennan staring at the doorway.

“Th-that was her, wasn’t it, child?” she said. Aislinn nodded her head, barely perceptible nod.

“What do you mean?” asked Adam.

“That was the woman in the dreams, the one with Krauss, the blonde.”

“Holy shit! Should we stop her?” said Adam.

“And say what?” said Kane. “Hey, you don’t know us, but we see your evil in our dreams. Would you mind coming with us? Don’t think that would fly, brother.”

“I felt it,” said Dr. Brennan. “I felt the evil when she hugged me. It was like I was choking on cotton. My whole head filled with images. She was thinking of it. She was thinking of killing again and running the details through her head.”

“Why was she in here?” asked Aislinn.

“She wanted to know if she could be my new graduate assistant. I told her I would review her application, but honestly, I don’t think my old body can handle being around her energy. I think it would eventually kill me.” Seemingly from nowhere, Flip handed the older woman a glass of water. “Well, thank you, dear. My, aren’t you a big one!”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, smiling at the older woman. “My name is Flip… Philip Cho. I’m friends with Kane and Aislinn and that big ugly one back there.”

“Hello, dear, and you are?”

“I’m Adam Thorn, ma’am. Dr. Adam Thorn.”

“Doctor? Oh, how lovely. Well, take a seat.”

She looked around her office and realized not only did she not have enough seats for the group, but that in a matter of no time, the air would be completely sucked out of the space by the three large men filling the room now.

“Perhaps we should go to a coffee shop?” said Adam.

“Let’s go down to the faculty cafeteria. It should be relatively quiet at this time of day.”

She led them back down the long corridor and down a flight of stairs to another corridor. The building was “L-shaped,” the second, extended hallways on both floors shorter than the first. Once inside the cafeteria, Aislinn noticed that the three men took in everything within their view. It was as if they were making tick marks on a checklist.

“Would you care for some tea or coffee? Anything?” she asked.

“I’ll grab us some drinks,” said Adam. Dr. Brennan tried to speak casually about the weather until Adam returned, and the whole group focused directly on her.

“Alright then, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? I mean, I love seeing you both, but now I suspect your friends are here for a reason as well.”

“Dr. Brennan, we need to address what happened with that girl.”

“Deborah, dear.”

“Yes, Deborah.” Aislinn could barely spit out the name, the vile taste of blood and vomit on every syllable. “But first, we’re here to ask you some questions.”

“Alright, dear, I’ll do my best. You know that.”

“Dr. Brennan,” said Adam.

“Angela, dear, I’m just Angela.”

“Angela,” he smiled, “you already know about the gifts that Aislinn and Kane possess, but it seems that Flip and I have our own set of gifts we’ve been able to keep hidden for a while.”

“Yes, child, I know,” she said, casually touching a small, wrinkled hand to the huge forearm of Flip. “The big adorable teddy bear has an incredibly rare gift. You can move things, can’t you, love?”

Flip stared at the older woman, unsure of what to say at first, but then gave a small nod and grin.

“It’s alright, dear. It’s a wonderful gift you’ve been given.” Her small hand continued to set on his forearm, the warmth comforting and reassuring to Flip. “You’ve saved many of your friends with your gift, some who didn’t appreciate it. But you’re loved, my dear, loved by all here.”

Flip looked around the table, his friends smiling at him. He nodded again, smiling down at the tiny little woman. A few flecks of her once strawberry-blonde hair were still visible through her gray, and Flip knew that she once would have been quite beautiful.

“And you, doctor, your gift is the most extraordinary, I believe,” she said, smiling at Adam. Aislinn looked at Kane and then Adam. Somehow, Dr. Brennan was able to pick up on the energy of all four at the table. “The ability to diagnose and heal is not one I’ve ever come across.”

She spoke the words casually as if she were discussing the weather.

“My sister came across it once. It was many years ago. An old woman on one of the outer islands of Scotland. The story was that she had been on the island for more than a hundred years curing people. It seemed impossible, of course, but when my sister arrived, she found a woman that looked to be in her eighties. She had a small cottage on the north end of the island and saw all the sick, both on the island as well as neighboring islands.”

“But she couldn’t be over one hundred,” said Aislinn in a questioning tone.

“Why not, child? Just because we’ve never encountered those that have lived that long, doesn’t mean there isn’t someone. The world is full of strange and unusual things. Things that we don’t understand. Things that boggle our minds. It doesn’t make them any less real.” Aislinn smiled at the other woman and nodded her head.

“Doctor, Angela, is it possible that Kane is a dream walker? I… we thought perhaps since he can follow me in my dreams, that perhaps…” Dr. Brennan shook her head.

“It’s unlikely,” she said calmly. “Dream walkers can travel into everyone’s dreams. It’s my understanding that you’ve only been able to see into Aislinn’s dreams, correct?” Kane nodded.

“I think you are more of a conduit for her, as we discussed before. You have a similar ability. Kane, you feel evil when you touch someone. You know whether it’s a great evil or a small evil, if there is such a thing. Aislinn doesn’t feel the evil. She sees it. When you’re together, you’re able to draw on one another’s gifts.”

“I see,” said Kane, frowning. “So, if we weren’t together?”

“If you weren’t together, your gifts would be overwhelming and perhaps even… Well, gifts such as yours have been known to drive men mad.”

Kane nodded again. There had been moments in his lifetime where he did indeed believe he was going mad, losing his sanity. Since meeting Aislinn, things seemed more in control, clearer.

“And you, my big friend,” she said, smiling up at Flip. “You’ve been fighting your gift for many years, haven’t you? Stop fighting it, child. It’s an extraordinary gift. One that can be used for good or evil. You have used it for good, and that says a great deal about your character. Stop. Fighting. It.”

“It’s hard,” said Flip quietly. “People find out, and they…”

“They leave? Well, then, what a wonderful way of identifying true friends,” she said, smiling. “And you, good doctor, you’ve done exactly what you should. Taking your gift to its fullest potential and helping others. It’s remarkable, truly.”

“Angela,” Aislinn interrupted, “is it possible that we are all better with our gifts when we’re around one another? We seem to have some sort of symmetry.”

“It is quite possible,” said Angela, “but not necessarily because you enhance one another. More because you accept one another. You are less concerned about revealing your gifts or discussing them.”

The entire group smiled at one another. It was nice to have others who understood what it was like to be different.

“Alright then,” said Kane, “it looks like we should stick together then.” Flip and Adam nodded with a small smile.

“We still have to find a way to stop Krauss,” said Aislinn, “and that odious woman.”

“Yes,” said Angela, “well, that’s something I don’t think I can help with other than to keep an eye on Deborah if you need me to. Although, I must tell you that being around her would be emotionally draining for me.”

“No, that’s too dangerous,” said Kane. “We need to find another way.”

“I could follow her,” said Flip. The small group walked back toward Angela’s office, crowding into the small space.

“Flip, I love you, buddy. Really, I do, but you’re not exactly easily hidden in the shadows,” said Adam, grinning up at his friend. “What about Spook?”

“We could ask him to track her phone. Angela? Do you have her phone number?”

“I do, dear,” she said, shifting the stacks of paperwork. “I have every student’s cell phone number. Oh, dear, it’s here somewhere. Yes, here it is.” She wrote the number on a small slip of paper and handed it to Kane.

“Alright, let’s call Spook and see what we find. Thank you, Angela, and please be careful.”

She watched the small band of friends exit her office, each unique, each with their special gift.

Watch over them. They’re special.