Page 21 of Seer

CAL

“Frank-N-Furter’s farts!”Steve shouted. His fingers moved furiously on the controller as he tried to fight off whatever enemy was on the giant TV screen in front of us.

He threw a wicked grin at me before whipping his head back to the screen. “Dude, this shapeshifting weapon thing is hilarious! Did you see me take that guy out with a toilet seat?

On his other side, Felix groaned, dropping his controller and throwing his hands in the air. “Dang it, the one with the mace got me.”

“I’ll make sure she regrets it,” Steve vowed. He manipulated his controller with renewed determination.

We were sitting on a huge brown leather sectional sofa. It was four recliners across facing the TV, then it cornered on each end into another seat. The room we were in was enormous, with big windows on three sides.

Steve glanced over at me again. “What are you doing? I need help over here!”

I didn’t respond because I was still looking around.

He paused the game, his forehead scrunched up. “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

Felix leaned over to peer around Steve.

“Sorry,” I said. “But I think I’m having a vis?—"

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I twisted around. A man—I was pretty sure, though his face was blank where his features should’ve been—stood behind my recliner. He squeezed the side of my neck and leaned over to kiss my cheek. His lips were soft against my skin. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said. He glanced up at the TV, then he put his lips next to my ear. “How about we get in the hot tub when I get home?”

I sat up in bed with a gasp. 4:47am. Fuck.

I put my fingers to my cheek. Had it been a vision? It’d felt like a vision. One of those innocuous visions I used to have all the time.

Except I’d never had a vision about myself before.

And some guy was kissing me? Or would be kissing me in the future? My cheek seemed to burn where his lips had touched.

First a bear-man and now a vision where I had, what, a boyfriend?

Shit was happening way too fast. I rubbed my face before throwing back the covers and getting out of bed.

Might as well kill time at the gym.

It was Saturday, and also the day Rogues Gallery employees volunteered to clean up trash and cut back overgrown shrubberyalong the trails in one of the parks in Bent Oak. It wasn’t a required activity, but we usually had fifteen or twenty people show up if the weather was decent like it was today.

I backed my truck into the parking space closest to the trail map. People would throw the bags they’d filled with trash into the bed of my truck, and I’d take them to the dump outside of town. I didn’t mind getting my truck dirty for such a good cause.

I was just getting out of the truck when Steve trotted up. “Hey! I’ve got the cooler set up in the shade over by the picnic tables.”

“Great. Let me know if we run out of ice, and I can stop on the way back from one of the dump runs.”

I followed Steve over to the picnic area. I’d help gather trash for the first part of the morning, but then I usually ended up being busy ferrying bags to the dump. Steve would order lunch delivered for everyone as a thank you when we were done.

Not many people had shown up yet. Leaving Steve to dole out tasks as the others arrived, I grabbed a couple of trash bags, some gloves, and a trash picker stick, then I headed down the first trail.

The air was cooler under the trees. Birds chirped and there weren’t many mosquitos. I wasn’t finding too much trash—just enough to reinforce my opinion of humankind. I ambled along and let my mind drift, though I nudged it away from anything vision-related.

I’d almost filled my second bag when I heard voices up ahead.

The first voice, a woman’s, was loud and kind of raspy. Shesaid, “I heard that wolf shifter Lloyd connected with someone. An NPC, if you can believe it.”

“No!” gasped another woman. “I never thought he’d settle down. Has he told him or her yet?” Her voice was higher pitched but also harsh, like she’d been yelling recently.

“I don’t think so. Oh, look, Arlene, that guy’s picking up trash. How nice.”