He chuckled. "You're still in stingy mode."
"I am not!"
He was laughing now. I pressed my lips together.
"I'm not being stingy," I insisted. He laughed harder.
"Right!" I gestured for the rose seller to come back to our table.
"Can we have eleven more please?" I might as well make up a proper dozen.
The man looked extremely pleased. He counted the roses out, but he only had nine left.
"That will do." I looked pointedly at Aric, and he pulled his wallet out and counted out ninety dollars.
The rose seller thanked him, and disappeared inside the restaurant.
Aric was still chuckling. He added the original rose to the bunch and handed me the bouquet.
"Consider that a hundred dollars' worth of therapy," he said, "You deserve to be spoiled."
I looked at the roses, ignoring a guilty pang, then placed them on the table. "Thank you." I said. I thought I'd won that round.
The topics of regression and my mother were put aside.
We spent the remainder of the evening laughing and talking, walking along the riverbank, occasionally stopping to hold each other and share a kiss. I didn't dare look up at the stars all evening - they only held scary thoughts for me now.
* * * * *
As luck would have it, The Durham-Burke Sanatorium - the psychiatric hospital my mother had resided in for the past ten years, was located in a suburb west of Newtown. I'd be able to travel there on the bus. I looked up the timetable online, and decided I would head there sometime in the next week or two on the 10:30 bus from the nearby transit center if Aric didn't want to take me. He was still being difficult about my visit.
I clicked the flickering browser window off, and crossed my fingers they'd let me in without an appointment. As I wasn't allowed to contact anyone I knew, I didn't want to inquire specifically about her in case it flagged up my whereabouts. Switching off the computer, I realized I was beginning to act like a paranoid conspiracy nut. According to Aric, Saul and Ellen, just about any form of modern communication could reveal my location to my enemies. Aric had compromised and I'd written a letter of the old fashioned pen-and-paper kind to Uncle Tom, telling him I was safe, which Aric was going to send to a friend in Varsley across the other side of the country. It could then be sent on with a postmark far away from Newtown. I'd wracked my brains for an explanation for my leaving; I don't think my uncle would have believed any of the ideas I'd come up with. In the end, I'd just said the last few months of high school were getting to me and I was taking off to see the world, and I'd return later. Far from convincing, I imagined Aunt Janet's voice smugly proclaiming 'I told you she was no good' as Uncle Tom read the letter. I really hoped it would put his mind at ease, if only a little.
Aric stuck his head through the open door. "I'm going now Luce, but before I go there's some people I'd like you to meet." Aric was off to buy another car to replace the one he'd left behind in Craigsville.
Two men sat on opposite ends of the sofa in the living room. They couldn't be more different. One man, tall and slim, perched elegantly at the edge of his seat, holding a teacup with his pinkie finger held daintily in the air. He was wearing an expensively tailored suit topped off with a blue silk bow-tie. His shoes were polished to a mirror-like shine. His companion was at the opposite end in the elegance scale. My main impression of him was that he was hairy - so hairy it was difficult to see his face. Dreadlocks sprouted from his head and tumbled down his shoulders like coils of rope. His untidy beard was so full I wondered how he ever found his mouth to eat or drink. He was dressed in jeans and an old T-shirt, and was holding a can of cola.
"This must be the beautiful Lucy! Exquisite!" The bow-tied man leaped to his feet and extended his hand. I took it, and he placed his other hand on top of mine and patted it. Without letting go, he took a step back to study me. "Aric, you have found a true diamond here." I looked awkwardly at the ground and then at Aric, in a silent plea to save me. I cursed my reddening face.
The man leaned forward conspiratorially. "You must let me paint you, my dear!"
Aric stepped towards me and dragged my hand away. "All right Phil, don't overdo it! Lucy, this is Phillip, Phil - Lucy. And the hairy thing on the sofa is Marcus."
Marcus moved less energetically off the sofa, and offered his hand. "How you doin' Luce? Great to meet you - we've heard a lot about you."
"All good stuff, I hope."
I saw a small glint of white through his beard, and I presumed it was a smile. "All great."
Aric turned to me, and rubbed my cheek affectionately. "Seeing as you don't want to go tire kicking, Marcus and Phil have come over to keep you company." They're hybrids too, they can keep you safe, he added, in my mind.
I was slightly irritated. It seemed more like they'd come to baby-sit me. Ellen had left for her florist shop, and Saul, a banker, had an appointment with some clients. Aric didn't want to leave me on my own.
He gave me a quick kiss, and headed for the door. "I'll be a few hours. Lucy - be careful of Phil - if he breaks out a pack of playing cards, then you're in trouble." His grin was mischievous and he gave a small salute of goodbye, and left the apartment.
"'In trouble!?'" Phil said in a huff. "I don't know what he's talking about!"
Marcus crossed the room to the fridge and fished out another soda. "Phil is a professional poker player," Marcus explained, offering me a coke. I thanked him and sat myself down at the dining table.
"Really? Isn't that kind of... well... ?" I wondered how it could possibly be fair for a mind-reader to play poker, but I didn't want to insult Phil.
"Cheating?" Marcus supplied the word with a chuckle. "That's what we all keep telling him! He'll tell you his success is down to skill, tactics and intuition, but we all know what it really is."
Phil brought his teacup over to the table and settled himself carefully as though he were positioning himself for a portrait.
"Nonsense!" he said. "It is skill, tactics and intuition - you have no idea how difficult it is to take people's money without them suspecting. I need to know just when to let them win, the right time to beat their asses! Skill, I tell you, nothing less!"
I couldn't help but giggle. His reasoning was almost faultless.
His hand went to his pocket and produced a deck of cards. He placed them down on the table with a slap.
"So, how about a little game to keep us occupied?"
Marcus rolled his eyes in the direction of the ceiling. "Don't take the poor lass's money."
"Pfft," said Phil. "It'll be good practice for her. Aric told me he's been teaching you to shield. We can play for..." He spotted a jar filled with M&Ms on the kitchen bench. "M&Ms!"
I opened my mouth and tried to come up with a good excuse not to play. I didn't have one. It was fairly obvious I'd have my ass beaten by either Phil or Marcus, but seeing as it was only candy that was up for grabs, it didn't matter, and might even be fun.
"Okay," I agreed. Phil grabbed three bowls from the cupboard and filled each one with candy.
"Yours is slightly fuller," growled Marcus. Phil made a dramatic gesture of adding more candy to Marcus' bowl.
We agreed on how much each candy color would be worth, and Phil dealt the cards with lightning speed.
Ah, an eight and a three. Not a good start. I jumped as Phil's voice appeared inside my head. I was, indeed, holding an eight and a three.
"Hang on a minute! I've got to get the shield thing going!" I protested. I folded and tossed the cards on the table. Marcus and Phil grinned at me.
I took a deep breath and imagined the black circle which represented my mind, and the white line which would shield it. The line was strong, and I frowned as I tried to keep it steady. I don't know how long I sat there imagining the circle. Suddenly, I noticed there was a hand being waved in front of my face. It was Phil's.
"Earth to Lucy! Are you in there?"
I looked at him in surprise. "I can't do
the two things at once!" I complained. "How on earth do you guys do it?"
Marcus pulled his chair closer to the table.
"It might be better if you thought of it a certain way. Watch this." He held his palm out in front of him. A ball of pure white light, the size of a grapefruit, appeared, hovering silently over his hand.
I sat back with a start. "Woah! What is that?!"
"That is a ball of pure wyk," said Phil.
"Pure w... what?"
"Wyk, energy - what the Chinese call 'chi'. The stuff that moves the universe."
The glowing light disappeared suddenly - as though a switch had been flicked. I gaped at the empty space in the air.
"How did you do that?"
"It's all about wyk. I know how to control it. Watch."
He looked at Phil's bowl, and candy began flying across the table in an arc, landing with a clatter in Marcus' bowl.
"Now you're just showing off," said Phil.
I was amazed. "Is that like, a hybrid thing?"
"Anyone can do it if they know how to access their wyk."
"So, everyone has this wyk stuff?"
"Yes, and you, especially, my dear, are saturated in it. I could sense it oozing off you from the other side of the room. Any wonder the Innaki are interested in you," said Phil.
"They're interested in my... wyk?"
"Yes, they collect it. That's why they take humans - they milk them for their wyk. Humans only use a small portion of it - the rest lies dormant. They have enough to spare. But you, Lucy - you have more than anyone I've come across!"
Marcus coughed uncomfortably. "I don't think Aric wanted her to know that."
I looked at him in surprise. My mouth hung open, my thoughts were racing.
"Why doesn't he want me to know?"
He took a nervous swig of his drink. "He doesn't want you to be frightened."
I grimaced and stared, unseeing, at the playing cards. He was treating me like a child. What else did he not want me to know?
"He's only trying to take care of you Lucy."
Leaning back in my chair, I sighed and glanced at Marcus. "I know." I just wished he'd trust me with a bit more information.
Moving aside my bowl of M&Ms, I presented my palm to Marcus. "Can you teach me how to use my wyk? Can I do the ball thing?"
"Of course. It's hard work at first though. It'll wear you out." I told him I didn't mind.
They spent the next couple of hours giving me a crash course in the theory of Wyk, and how to manipulate it. Apparently, once I understood and really believed I was the master of it, controlling it would come more naturally, and it could be done subconsciously, leaving me able to do other things at the same time.
After two hours, I was sending M&Ms rolling across the table, without having touched them. I threw up my hands in triumph as Phil tried desperately to catch the barrage of candy before it went off the edge.
"This is fun!" I said. Putting out my palm, I concentrated on making a ball of light appear, and sent it flying around the room. The glowing orb sped faster and faster until I made it explode silently into a shower of twinkling lights which petered out as they neared the floor. My very own fireworks display - not a bad effort. I laughed as Marcus and Phil gaped, gob-smacked at the spectacle.
"That was incredible. You shouldn't be able to do that already," Phil said, eyeing me carefully. "You should be exhausted. It takes everyone years to even produce a decent spark of light."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Really?" I wasn't feeling tired at all, in fact, I was exhilarated.
Marcus nodded thoughtfully. "The Innaki are going to be really peeved you've gotten away."
I shivered; the mood becoming somber. "So they can milk people's wyk? What do they do with it?"
"Wyk is power, Lucy. They're addicted to it. Imagine what you could do if you had great stores of it." Phil left the table and filled the kettle again.
"I think we should talk about something cheerier," said Marcus. "Lucy, I do believe you know enough now to whip Phil's butt."
He dealt the cards again, and I picked up my cards - two aces. I hoped it was a lucky sign.
* * * * *
"Hmm... I think I have a way to go." I examined the spindly flower arrangement in front of me and straightened a gerbera. It keeled over again.
Ellen grinned. "You need to wire that one."
I'd been helping Ellen out at her florist shop. I'd felt like I was climbing the walls after being cooped up in the apartment for so long. Plucking the gerbera from the oasis foam, I placed a piece of floral wire against the stalk, and wound the green tape around it in a spiral. I was all fingers and thumbs - flower arranging was more difficult than I'd thought. Ellen hoisted a bucket of roses on to the counter, and began to wrap the stems ready for an arrangement for a bridal table. She worked quickly and easily, and had finished six by the time I'd finished my one stem.
The bell sounded on the front door. It was Aric. His eyes widened as he saw my floral monstrosity.
"Don't laugh," I warned him. He laughed anyway, and I hit him with the flower. The head of the gerbera fell off, and I was left holding the stem.
"Going well, then!" Aric said cheerfully. I smiled and grabbed another bloom.
"I'd like to see you try this," I said, cutting another piece of wire.
"I'm a man of many talents, but flower arranging isn't one of them." He perched himself on a stool and passed me the florist's tape.
Ellen pointed to a bucket of roses in the corner, and handed Aric the flower stem stripper.
"Make yourself useful," she said.
"I was hoping you could spare Lucy for a while. I thought I'd take her out to lunch."
Ellen looked at my ugly flower arrangement and grinned. "I think I can spare her for a while..."
Aric tossed the strippers on the counter and I threw the roll of tape down too. It rolled off the counter. He bent to pick it up, but I stopped him.
"Wait," I said, holding his arm. I concentrated on the roll of tape on the floor, and it floated up and landed gently on the counter.
"Hmm," said Aric, "Impressive."
I rolled my eyes in the direction of the ceiling and placed my hands on my hips. "Well, it is pretty good - for a beginner."
He raised his hands in protest and grinned. "Hey, I don't disagree! Handy skill if you can't reach the T.V. remote - lazy bones!" he teased.
I laughed and reached for my bag. "You're just jealous. I'd like to see you do better."
He smiled, rising to the challenge. "Okay. Can you do this?" He disappeared into thin air.
My mouth hung open in an 'O'. I looked around, confused. "Where'd he go?" I asked Ellen.
"I'm still here,' his voice came out of nowhere. I waved my hands around until I felt his arm.
"He's cloaking, and showing off," explained Ellen. "He's still there, but he's changed the wyk field around him so it's folded over and makes him appear invisible."
Her explanation went sailing over my head. Aric appeared again, in exactly the same spot as he'd been before.
"Can I do that?" I asked.
He nodded. "It's all to do with your wyk." He explained how to manipulate the field of energy around me, and I managed to make my hand disappear.
"Wow..." I said, gazing in awe at the empty space where my hand had been. I tried to disappear entirely, but I only managed to lose my arm up to my elbow.
"It takes practice," said Aric.
"This is seriously cool," I declared as my arm appeared again. "What else can you do?"
"I'll show you later," Aric said, with a wink.
Ellen rolled her eyes upwards, and lifted the bucket back down to the floor. "Will you two get out of here?! I have work to do!"
We had only walked a short distance from the florist's shop, when Aric stopped and indicated the doorway to his right. "In here," he said.
"We're going to have lunch in an internet cafe? You do know me and computers don't get on..."
&nb
sp; He smiled and gave a small nod. "I have something to show you."
We bought some sandwiches and coffee and settled down in front of a computer. To my surprise the monitor behaved itself. "I'm shielding it from you." Aric said with a grin.
"I've been thinking about where we should go from here. We can't stay at Saul and Ellen's forever." He tapped out the internet address on the keyboard, and a Canadian real estate website appeared on the screen.
"You want to move to Canada?" I asked.
"We can't stay here," he said. "Your photo is going to appear on the back of every milk carton pretty soon. Someone will recognize you sooner or later. We have to get out of the country."
I swallowed and looked at the screen.
"Look," Aric went on, clicking on a link. "I was thinking somewhere like this. It's remote, but nice."
I clicked through a number of the photos. The property was located just outside of a logging town in picturesque, heavily forested mountains. It was beautiful, but very isolated.
"Isn't it dangerous to be stuck out in the woods like that?" I was thinking of the Innaki standing in the clearing in front of the cabin on Turner's Ridge.
"You don't have your implant any more Lucy - they can't trace you."
I read the blurb under the listing. A timber cabin, fifty acres, a large barn. It sounded idyllic.
"We could run a little hobby farm - you could breed horses. You said you'd always wanted to do that."
I stared at a picture of a bubbling stream beside the cabin. It was a big move. A month ago I was a high school student, and now I was being asked to move to another country to set up a new life with a man I'd known for only three months.
"It's a big change," I said dubiously.
Aric nodded, "I know."
He leaned closer, and he spoke to me in my mind.
Listen, Lucy, I know all this is happening so quickly. I know it's scary. But I want you to understand, I'll always look after you, I promise.
I turned and studied his face. His eyes were only inches from mine. I put my hand on his cheek and caressed his face.
You know, I said shyly, in his head, we've only known each other a few months, and yet I feel as if I've known you forever.
Starcrossed: Perigee - A paranormal romance trilogy Page 12