by Deanna Chase
Kate had used Declan’s meditative techniques again and received another vision from Ally Seldon. This memory went further back to when her son Zachary had still been alive. They were flying kites in the park on a warm summer day. Being inside Ally’s head again permitted Kate to feel the mixture of joy and raw pain over the memory. It almost made the woman sympathetic. She squashed those feelings fast by focusing on the horrifying abduction and treatment of Max. No matter how great the anguish, it gave the woman no right to bring pain to another mother and an innocent child. Max couldn’t be Ally’s replacement after losing Zachary.
Kate was unsure whether or not to confess Declan’s assertion over seeing the future to Jared. It seemed unlikely that there was any truth to it. However, she was convinced Jared wouldn’t feel comfortable if she developed a friendship with someone who had romantic notions about her. Kate specifically hadn’t asked Declan to elaborate about his vision of them “together.” She had no idea what that meant exactly and only hoped it wasn’t a vision of her sleeping with him.
Although Kate was unenthusiastic about spending a lot of time with Declan, she had to admit he had helped her see Max’s abductor. She wanted to know more about their powers, but not at the cost of risking her relationship with Jared. Thankfully, she hadn’t heard from the fellow psychic in days. It gave her time to try to wrap her head around everything he had said.
Jared’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Kate, are you there?”
“Sorry. Of course, I’ll call you…Stay safe too while you solve the case of the murdered hooker,” she replied.
“It’s actually a stolen car case, but I appreciate your concern,” he laughed before she disconnected the call.
In a way Kate was relieved to be off of the phone with him. Any longer and she would start driveling on about how needy she was feeling. Kate imagined that nothing could be more of a turnoff than a new girlfriend begging her boyfriend to make her troubles go away. She was definitely keeping an eye on her alcohol intake tonight. She didn’t want to drunk dial him later and make him consider permanently changing his number.
An hour later, Kate frowned at her reflection in the mirror. Now that Jared wasn’t coming to the party, she wasn’t sure what to wear. In this heat wave, the number of bodies in the basement would make the temperature feel stifling. However, wearing a short skirt without her boyfriend around to shoot anyone who tried to cop a feel might be asking for trouble. She settled on a pair of denim shorts and a tribal printed tank top. It was a party in a basement, so it wasn’t like she could be accused of under-dressing. She decided not to straighten her hair since the humidity would likely end up turning it into a frizzy mess in a couple of hours anyway.
As she drove over to Gage’s house, Kate couldn’t help but feel anxious over thoughts of Declan. While he may have claimed to have had a future vision of them together, she didn’t feel as if that was his true purpose behind seeking her out. A few times she had caught a predatory look as he watched her. There hadn’t been affection in his eyes, but something different. Kate speculated he had only told her the vision of them together to prevent her from finding out his true motivation behind helping her.
When she walked into Gage’s house, she saw that a swarm of people had already arrived. Kate guessed she wouldn’t know too many of her former Thompson College classmates considering the fact she had been a hermit until last month. She had an uncomfortable date with Gage’s friend Sebastian right before she got together with Jared. However, Julie had assuaged Kate’s dread over running into him by letting her know he wasn’t able to make the party. Social gatherings still gave Kate anxiety, but she decided the best defense against awkward questions about her gift was to play it coy.
Since Julie was a good head taller than Kate, it wasn’t hard to spot her in the kitchen mixing up drinks. Gage was standing behind his girlfriend with his head resting on her shoulder. Gage looked as though he had participated in a few pre-game drinks judging by his red face and unfocused stare.
“Hi,” she chirped to Julie and handed her a tray. “My mother and I baked some cookies for tonight.”
Before Julie could slap his hand away, Gage reached inside and grabbed a handful. “God, these look awesome!” With his mouth filled with food, he questioned, “But where’s the rest? It looks like someone already ate half the tray.”
Kate looked down at her top to see if she had left any residual cookie crumbs. “Sorry I got hungry on the way here. I’m trying to stock up before my fast begins tomorrow.”
“Kate, you’ve been saying that you’re going to stop eating for weeks now and it’s always after a major food binge. I told you that you didn’t need to lose any weight, you look fabulous,” Julie said. Julie was tall and thin which afforded her the opportunity to be generous with the compliments.
Gage was looking at her with an appraising eye. Only he could make her feel like a calf up for auction. “I wouldn’t go that far, Jul. She could probably stand to lose five to ten pounds.”
“You’re such an animal, Gage,” she hissed and left the kitchen despite Julie’s protests. After a quick loop around the main floor, Kate decided to head downstairs to the basement. There was always the possibility she would recognize someone and not be stuck standing in a corner all alone.
Most of the partygoers were from Thompson College which Julie and Gage still attended. Kate had dropped out her freshman year after contracting meningitis. It hadn’t been really enough time to make any lasting friendships with anyone besides her roommate Julie. Her high school friends were freaked out over the hubbub around her psychic visions and she was no longer in contact with them. If she ran into someone around town, they would exchange small talk for a few minutes. However, after noting their darting glances, Kate guessed they probably wouldn’t want to be caught dead hanging out with the psychic freak.
Kate saw Lauren, a girl she remembered from her freshman English Comp class. Luckily, Lauren recognized her too and she had someone to talk with until she found Julie again. Catching up with her was a nice distraction and actually fooled her into believing she still fit in with other college kids her age. After fifteen minutes, Lauren turned to her. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Yes, but he couldn’t make it tonight…” she trailed off and felt the pang of missing Jared once again.
“Oh, okay…because this really hot guy has been checking you out from across the room,” Lauren whispered with a giggle.
The slick move would’ve been to nonchalantly glance over, but Kate instead whirled her head to look behind her. Sure enough, Declan was leaning against the wall with a plastic cup in his hand and an unsettling stare. Grudgingly, she had to admit he looked pretty good in a plaid button down and a pair of jeans. His facial hair had grown out more in the couple of days since she last him and it made him appear simultaneously rough and sexy. He looked like every mother’s worse nightmare and every girl’s erotic fantasy.
Lauren was still talking to her. “Wow, does he go to school here? Trish looks way into him.”
A very cute girl Kate didn’t recognize stood a few inches in front of Declan. If it was Kate standing there, she would’ve clocked him for paying so little attention to what she was saying. Trish’s straight red hair fell past her shoulders and complemented her perfect creamy complexion. Every few seconds, she would move slightly closer and get a little friendlier with her hands.
Kate could acknowledge that things were tense after their last meeting. However, Declan should’ve at least made an effort to say hello before finding some poor girl to pet his ego.
“He’s actually a friend…” Kate paused at the word since she wasn’t sure how to categorize Declan. Maybe a colleague would be a more appropriate term. “I guess I should say hi to him.”
Lauren laughed at her tone. “You don’t sound happy about it.”
“It’s sort of a complicated friendship. It was great to catch up though,” she said sincerely and smiled. “Are you hanging out for awhi
le? I could find you in a bit.”
Lauren headed to play beer pong while Kate cautiously made her way over to Declan. By this time, Trish had completely flattened her body against his despite it not being crowded in the basement. Although Kate gave her a friendly smile, Trish shot her daggers upon her approach. The girl definitely didn’t want an unknown girl trying to interrupt their flirting.
“Hey,” Declan addressed her. Without warning, he shifted towards her. Although he just moved in for a kiss on the cheek, Kate stiffened. His scruff grazed her skin and his lips were soft as they brushed against her cheek. Declan lingered for a second too long and grinned at her flustered expression when he pulled away.
“Can we talk?” she asked and decided to silence her inner spaz and tackle the weirdness with Declan head on. Setting some ground rules could get rid of the awkwardness and allow them to continue looking for Max together.
“Sure thing,” he answered and turned to Trish. “I’ll look for you later.”
Trish did not look happy about being dismissed and although she gave Declan a charming smile, she shot Kate a murderous look when Declan turned his face away from them both.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” she purred into his ear and Kate refrained from gagging.
Kate should’ve been encouraging a rendezvous between the two of them, but she needed to get a few things off her chest first. If the embarrassment lingered, there would be no possible way she would enjoy the rest of the party. As Trish sauntered off, Kate could practically smell the lust that still lingered in the air.
Barely meeting his gaze, Kate commented, “I thought you had a girlfriend.”
“What made you think that?”
“I heard a girl with you the night I called you to meet me at the sub shop,” she replied.
“Well, if you ever bothered to ask me anything about myself, you would know I’m single,” Declan said with an edge. With a lighter tone, he added, “She was just one of my many adoring groupies.”
His statement felt true and Kate felt guilt plague her. In the short time they’d known each other she realized that she never did ask him about himself. She knew nothing about his family or any of his past visions. However, he basically just admitted to being a womanizer which made her decidedly less regretful.
Instead of pointing out his many faults in life, Kate took the high road. “Sorry, I’ve had sort of tunnel vision lately and have only been concerned with finding Max.” She paused. “So…what should I know about you? What is your family like? What do you like to do when you’re not seducing the masses and saving the abducted?”
Declan fiddled with his watch. “Kate, we don’t have to make small talk.”
Kate blew out a long sigh. “Thank god because I seriously suck at it.”
“Why don’t you instead tell me about your visions? Did you see anything more about Max?”
Quickly, she gave him the lowdown on her visions about Ally. Neither vision had featured Max which made her wonder how she was treating the boy. The more he resisted being her replacement for Zachary, the more violent she might get. Kate relayed how she had called with her tip, but hadn’t heard if Max had been located or not.
“I mean it would have to be in the news—right?” she questioned rhetorically. “I can’t understand why they haven’t found either of them yet. Without drawing a road map, I feel like I provided as much information as possible to determine where she’s keeping Max,” she sighed.
He shrugged. “Who knows? She may be using an alias or has gone into hiding since taking him. Just keeping working on it to see if you find out anything else to tell the cops.” He added, “I had a vision of Max, but it took place before the kidnapping. It was Christmas morning and his parents gave him a puppy as a gift. It was cute—made me feel for the little guy. I only wish I could’ve helped some more.”
They stood side by side against the basement wall as the party gained momentum. The music had been turned up and they had started to yell in order to be heard over the hip hop tracks. Kate almost started cracking up as she imagined Jared taking in the scene. She didn’t picture him drinking cheap beer out of the keg or trying to grope her in one of the darker corners of the basement.
Turning to face her, Declan gave her a solemn look. He leaned in close to guarantee she was able to hear him clearly. “I’ve wanted to call you. I owe you an apology about the other day.” Shoving his hands in his pockets he said with an uncertain tremor in his voice, “I should’ve never said those things about seeing us hooking up. You’ve made it very clear that you’re happy with your boyfriend. I crossed a line and I’m sorry.”
His words made the tension she had been feeling fade away and she grinned with relief. “Good because I want us to be friends. Besides the fact that I can count the number of friends I have on one hand, you would be my first psychic buddy.”
“It is nice to talk to someone who knows what it’s like,” he agreed.
“Why do you think it happened to us? I mean people almost die everyday, what made us so special to come back from the dead with these powers?”
It was an intense conversation to have in the middle of a party, but it was something that had always plagued her. Did she have a higher purpose? Who gave them their second sight?
“I wish I knew. It was hard to not have an existential crisis when I woke up like this. Do you remember anything from when you were in the coma?”
Kate shook her head. “No, the only thing I recall is the vision of Matt Spencer. What about you? I read they put you in a medically induced coma because of your injuries from the ski accident.”
“Not a thing. A few days after I came to I began having visions of my family. I thought they were just really vivid dreams until I realized I was in their head. Everyone obviously thought I had lost my freaking mind when I told them.”
She digested this information and felt a sudden kinship to Declan. Although he was egotistical and shifty about his motives, Kate realized they had a lot in common. The main difference seemed to be that he was comfortable with his psychic abilities while she still struggled with her gifts. She had hated being psychic because it made her feel like an outsider. Her new perspective was to stop caring about what others thought and try to use her abilities to make a difference in the world.
Kate sent him a sideways glance. “Do you ever have your own dreams anymore?”
“No, do you?”
“No, I miss them sometimes. It would be great to get lost in my own imagination instead of having to relive other peoples’ memories night after night,” she revealed.
As she felt Declan’s stare on her face, she decided it would be best to mingle instead of spending time with his unnerving presence. “You should probably go and find Trish. I don’t want to make a new enemy.”
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll forget all about you when she’s screaming my name later,” he joked.
“You pig!” She smacked his arm and then sent a wave as she walked away.
Kate didn’t dare glance backwards as she headed upstairs to find Julie. Declan’s hot and cold moods confused her and put doubts in her mind about their budding friendship. She had questions for the psychic, but wasn’t sure how much she’d like his answers.
By midnight, the party was wild enough to make her expect the police to come by and bust it up any minute. Gage and Julie had a large circle of friends and those friends seemed to invite even more people. The upstairs and basement were crammed full of warm bodies—making it practically impossible to not feel sexually violated if you attempted to walk around. Julie had accompanied her for awhile, but her hostess duties prevented her from spending too much time actually enjoying her own party. Out of boredom, Kate ended up drinking more than she intended. She had switched to water and figured she’d have to stay at the party for a couple more hours to sober up enough to drive home.
Declan had made himself the center of attention and was enjoying the distinction of being fresh meat for the ladies of Th
ompson College. Trish was only one in the harem he seemed intent on gathering. The men of the party seemed irritated over the number of girls dancing and flirting with the unfamiliar face.
Declan’s antics made Kate feel relief and nausea simultaneously. They had only exchanged a few words since their heart to heart earlier. As the hours passed, Kate began to crave Jared’s soothing presence more than ever.
“Here, have a shot!” Gage came up behind her and handed her some noxious looking drink in a paper cup.
“No, I’m good,” she countered.
“Katie, I won’t leave you alone until you do it,” he threatened.
The thought was enough for her to swallow the horrendous thing down in one gulp. She tried not to gag as the liquor burned her throat. “What the hell was that?” she sputtered.
“A Sammy Jager—it’s Sambuca and Jagermeister. A few of these and you’ll finally be able to loosen up and have a good time.” He ignored her glare and continued speaking. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“It is a free country.”
He ran his fingers through his blonde locks and stared at the wall behind her. “Julie got wasted the other night and admitted she asked you to read my mind…”
Kate didn’t let him finish, “As I told you a million times before, I don’t read minds.”
“Whatever, but do you mind telling her no? She said you hadn’t seen anything incriminating and you’re not going to,” he promised. As he shifted from side to side, he confided, “I love her and I would never cheat on her.”
Taken aback by his serious expression, she swallowed back her come back. “Ok, I wasn’t trying to invade your privacy. She was just concerned that something was going on.”
