Chapter 15
Every afternoon for the last four days Anya had managed to turn invisible. The first time it had shocked her, and since then she had practised every moment she knew she'd be undisturbed. She did not want to be interrupted by him again.
Thinking of the night before, she stopped pacing and went to the window. She could see their snowman sitting on the edge of the front lawn. The rest of the snow was melting, but the snowman still stood tall and proud.
For most of the day Anya had been preoccupied with going invisible, but she knew she needed to be careful when she tried it. She didn't want Sherdan to know that something was different about her, and he sometimes came up to see her when she least expected it.
At first, she had wondered if it had been her mind playing tricks on her because of trauma. It wasn't until she managed to disappear again that she realised it was really happening. Her first thought was that Sherdan must have given her the drug against her will, but it had only worked while she had been praying.
Once she had achieved the same thing for a third time, she stopped pacing and praying, and just stood in front of the mirror. She focused on the way she had felt right before her reflection had disappeared the first time.
For several minutes nothing happened. She sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she couldn't see her reflection.
Unlike all the previous times, she stayed invisible. Anya had expected it to fade as it had done every time before, but after fifteen minutes, nothing. She gnawed on her bottom lip, worried she would be stuck like that. Thankfully, after concentrating hard on wanting to be visible again, she saw herself slowly appear in the reflection before her.
She didn't dare try again after that, and waited for Sherdan as normally as possible.
When he did finally come to see her, he was later than usual and looked a little flustered.
“Is everything all right?” she asked.
“Yes, everything is going well. I am busy preparing things for the next stage. This area of land shall be a fortress within the next week.”
“With me locked at its centre.”
“It's the safest place for you.”
“Perhaps.”
“Are you still completely against taking the drug and gaining an ability?” Sherdan asked. Anya did her best not to let her confusion show. She'd assumed he'd already put it into her system.
“I don't want it, but I suspect it's the kind of thing you'd do to me while I slept if you really wanted it to happen.”
“No, I have more respect for you than that. I might still force it upon you, but not in secret.”
“You'd still make sure you had your way then?”
“Of course.”
Anya smiled at Sherdan when he said this. She didn't seem able to be annoyed at him for anything. She'd also noticed that, since their evening in the snow, he had been much more open and honest with her.
If he hadn't already given her the drug, however, it meant her invisibility must have come from somewhere else. In that moment she almost told him about it.
“Sir? I think you had better come take a phone call that's just come through for you,” the radio squawked, disturbing their evening together.
“Who is it, Nathan?” Sherdan replied.
“The chief of police.”
“I'll be right there.” He rolled his eyes at Anya. She laughed.
“Seems you're in trouble with the law.”
“Well, they have been trying to arrest me for most of the day.”
“So my future husband, and the possible father of my first child, is a hardened criminal.” They both chuckled.
“As I said before, you're safest here.”
With that, Sherdan left her for the rest of the evening. She sat and pondered everything he had told her. Not everyone got personal phone calls from the chief of police when they were being pursued for arrest, especially when the very act of phoning showed that the police knew where he was and, therefore, could apprehend them.
She was also sure he'd been truthful about not giving her the drug. The only other way she could conceive being given the gift of invisibility was God, but this kind of ability was a new trick, even for Him.
Anya was still thinking this over when she fell asleep. It even continued to puzzle her the following day. She had no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth, however, and stood herself in front of the mirror as soon as she knew she would have privacy for more than half an hour.
She focused on the same feeling as the day before, and her reflection disappeared in front of her eyes. Anya grinned. It was an awesome feeling, even if her clothes were still visible.
For the next few hours she practised moving between her normal state and invisibility. Each time the transition got quicker and took less concentration.
Anya gasped several hours later when, in transitioning from visible to invisible, all her clothes fell to the floor. She tried to pick them up and her hands went straight through them.
She hesitated, not knowing what to do next. As she stood thinking she faded back into view until she could see herself naked in the mirror, her clothes still in a pile under her feet.
Suddenly it dawned on her that, if her hand had moved through the clothes, in the same state she might be able to move through other things. She picked up her T-shirt and held it in her hands.
Anya took a deep breath and focused on the needed feeling. As usual, she turned invisible. She paused and concentrated again. A few seconds later the top fell to the floor and, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pick it up again.
As soon as she was sure she couldn't lift her clothes, she reached out to the bed. Her hand passed right through and she felt an odd sensation as it did. Feeling very brave, she stepped right into the bed. Her lower half tingled all over until she stepped back out again.
She grinned as she allowed herself to fade into view again. There was no way Sherdan could force her to do anything she didn't want to anymore.
She danced around the room and thanked God. She was as free as she wished to be. The weight and stress of the last few days fell from her and she laughed with happiness at her newfound liberty.
Picking up her clothes, she pulled her underwear back on but she was disturbed by the sound of footsteps outside the door. She froze with only her lower half clothed.
The key turned in the lock. Anya did the first thing that came into her head, and her jeans and thong fell to the ground again. In her invisible state she glanced at the clock. It was only half four. Sherdan was early.
She watched Sherdan come into the room, followed by someone else in a lab coat. He was one of the two guys in the laboratory she had walked in on. In his right hand was a syringe. She knew what was in it. Sherdan had at least warned her.
Anya smiled to herself as he scanned the room. He looked straight over to where she stood, but he was completely oblivious to her. He put his finger to his mouth and looked at Hitchin and then walked silently towards her bathroom to knock on the shut door.
“Anya, are you in there?” he called. She didn't respond and had to resist the temptation to laugh. He knocked again before trying the handle. The door opened without resistance. Sherdan marched in and checked behind the shower curtain.
“She's gone!”
“The door was locked.” Hitchin motioned towards the now open door behind him. Sherdan shrugged and ran from the room. Hitchin fixed a cap onto the syringe and followed.
With a very large grin on her face, Anya allowed herself to go visible and put her clothes on. As soon as she was decently attired, she left her unlocked room and followed the two men to Sherdan's study.
Sherdan's Prophecy Page 15
