Unknown Touch

by Gina Marie Long

  Eli turned to look at me in delight. Satisfaction would be another descriptive word for that moment. I started smiling and blushing at the same time. What I was able to do seemed very natural to me. I didn't experience any difficulty using these skills.

  "I love it! You one-upped Dom on his own playing field," Zac reached over to high-five me.

  Eli said, "This is excellent progress, Kara. But I insist after supper you get some rest. And this would be considered doctor's orders as it seems I would be your new doctor now." He smiled warmly at me and glanced around giving everyone else the look to leave me alone for the night. I think I could follow those doctor's orders without any problem at all.

  "You won't get any arguments from me, Doc. I'm zonked." I nodded in agreement.

  Everyone finished their meal with lots of small talk about the upcoming days' events. I tried absorbing all the information as each mentioned different things they would be working on. Eli was going to call Daniel down in Kentucky and check on Stephen's condition; making sure things were not completely out of control with him, yet. Zac was dealing with disposing of my car properly and would then work on building maintenance. Tessa would be digging around on the computer through highly secretive stuff. And Dominic and I were going to continue improving my psychic powers and his telekinetic skills over the next week or so. All of these actions were in preparation for our trek down to Kentucky. From what I gathered, we would be attempting to neutralize an explosive situation and in doing so save the werewolves from self-destruction.

  The Liaison, as I remember Eli telling me that name earlier in the day, had slowly begun leaving the kitchen table. Before everyone scattered for the evening, I had the sudden urge to try one more little stunt for the day. Even though I was exhausted this was meant to be all in the sake of fun. I figured then there shouldn't be much exertion on my part which equaled a minimal amount of mental drain. So, while everyone was still in sight, I focused on Zac and placed the image in his mind of him giving Tessa a hug and kiss – right in front of everybody.

  He performed to perfection! He immediately reached over and grabbed Tessa, planting a smooch right smack dab on her mouth and gave her a bear hug. The silence in the room was astounding. You could have heard a pin drop. I laughed and announced with a smirk, "Yep, that public display of affection was provoked by none other than me. But Zac, Tessa did drop the bomb that you guys are married, so I thought I'd help out in the romance department a bit."

  "Unbelievable. Now she's messing with my head. It was like the thought was completely my own - it was just there," Zac complained as he stared at me. Yet, I could tell he was impressed and it seemed Tessa got a big kick out of it.

  "Okay, Kara, off to your room. Enough for one day. Do you remember which one is yours?" Dominic asked.

  "I actually do remember. So goodnight and wake me in the morning when you've made my breakfast," I jokingly replied as I looked Dominic straight in the eyes with all the warmth I could muster. Then I turned and walked slowly down the hall to my room, really wiped out and looking forward to that bed.

  A person could almost get lost down here and wander into the wrong room if they didn't pay attention. Luckily I had counted the number of doors from the kitchen to my room. I plunked down on the thin mattress hoping I could get comfortable enough on this thing to get a good night's sleep. I curled up and tried not to think so hard about the day's events. It was so overwhelming. I believe that would have to be the word of the day. Overwhelming. And now I had no one around me. I was finally alone. Totally alone. Solitude…drifting off into sleepy land…

  As I slept, my mind wandered to and fro…in and out of dreams…hmm…I was having a familiar dream now. Similar to the dreams I'd been having over the last several weeks which occurred almost nightly. Here and there a night was skipped but rarely. This time it felt much more realistic. This time the person in my dream I now knew to be real and alive. He wasn't something made up. He had a name. Daniel.

  I somehow comprehended what I was experiencing and remained asleep, not wanting to wake up and ruin the moment.

  Daniel was in a dream state, too. I could sense that he wasn't walking around awake having conscious thoughts; he was definitely sleeping. I suddenly felt like an intruder. During the last few weeks I had just thought these were all some freaky dreams I was having; brought on perhaps by a horror movie I'd watched. Although I had been concerned about having these same dreams for weeks on end, now I was a part of this man's-oops-werewolf's dreams. We had been dreaming of each other for weeks and I was witnessing his conflicted emotions relating to his current day to day problems. There had been very few spoken words during these previous dreams. Nothing made any sense to me and I could not even recall what was said. It was all a bunch of blurry images.

  Not anymore. Now that I knew what was happening, it was time to turn the tables. It was important for him to know I was real, too. And I wanted to help him, to comfort him.

  The fact that we were dreaming made things feel like a fairy tale. I knew from my mental telepathy with Dominic that if Daniel and I were awake this experience would be quite different. It would seem like a regular conversation. But, we were not awake and I feared that my concentration could easily slip and start drifting. The seriousness I was trying to achieve could be lost and Daniel would not believe I was real.

  I started to say his name in my dream, in my thoughts…

  Daniel. Daniel-look at me. Notice me. Pay attention. Daniel.

  In the dream it was as if he became clearer to me. His image, his facial features stronger to my perception. And he was silent as he stood frozen in place. He responded with, And you are…?

  My name is Kara. And this is not like a normal dream. I am real. I am in your mind as you have been in mine for several weeks while we've been asleep. Do you understand?

  No…this can't be. This is just a dream. He paused though. I had caught his attention.

  I continued. I have psychic abilities. As of today I was recruited by a group called The Liaison. Eli and Dominic know you. I was down at your resort a month ago. I didn't know anything about you then but must have seen or touched you while there. It created a mental bond between us and I started dreaming about you and obviously vice versa. Dominic realized what was happening to you and me and brought me into this venture. I am here to help you.

  In the dream state I stepped closer to Daniel. It appeared I was standing about a foot in front of him. He was tall, muscles rippled over his body, power radiated from his every pore, aggression brimmed under the surface like a leopard ready to attack and yet he held onto perfect control with every ounce of his being. His long, dark hair fell in breathtaking angles around his face and onto his broad shoulders. His eyes were almost black, piercing into the depths of my soul, seeking for truth to what I had told him. I had to admit, I was mesmerized, speechless. He reached out with his right hand to touch my face. I swear I could feel the actual touch and yet he was hours away from me.

  You are speaking the truth. I can feel it. This seems so impossible but I do believe you. The things you've told me and the reality of this is too convincing for this to be a dream, Daniel revealed from the heart. I could sense this and had to kick myself mentally to keep talking. He was making my pulse soar sky high.

  Daniel, to prove myself to you further, Eli is planning to call you in the morning and tell you about me. Obviously he isn't aware of this dream we're having right now. I am not being monitored unless, of course, Dominic is psychically checking up on me, but I assume he is asleep in his own little dreamland. I am aware of your distress. I have felt it over the last few weeks even though I did not understand what I was dreaming about. I didn't know you really existed until today. You are in conflict with Stephen and maybe others. I was told you are a werewolf… I stated as much as I could to get my point across loud and clear.

  Then I quickly threw in, You are good. Not evil. I know this. I found myself taking another courageous step forward, reaching up to wra
p my arms around his upper body to give him a comforting hug. I wanted to show as best I could I was not going to be afraid of him. I should be afraid of him. My God, he was a werewolf for goodness sake. But all I could feel was a need to give him support, help him with his dire situation, to save him from self-destruction. As I gave him this simple hug and went to step back away, he didn't immediately let go of me. He bent his head into the crook of my neck. I could honestly say I heard and felt him drawing a deep breath. He was taking in my scent and I knew it for what it was. Then his mouth went gliding down the skin on my neck from my ear down to my shoulder. I know every hair on my entire body had to be standing on end with goose bumps adding to the mix. But I knew this was still a dream, he couldn't possibly be drawing in my scent. Could he? He released me very slowly. I was trying to keep from falling over from the intense emotions darting around in my head.

  Almost in a whisper, Daniel said, I cannot wait to meet you in person. I hope it will be very soon. The Liaison people have treated our kind well and if you have truly joined up with them it is a great blessing. I have these resorts as you now know which gives me the illusion of being an outgoing, friendly type. This helps us blend in better with society. But it is somewhat deceiving as we tend to not have that many true, deep friendships with humans. It seems safer that way…so we stick with our own kind but over time those relationships are put to the test. There is a lot of aggression we have to control and some have a much harder time dealing with it than others. I am single, too. Alone. I had a wife but she died a very long time ago. She was killed violently. I have remained alone for centuries trying to keep our kind alive. The sadness in his voice was tearing at my heart. He seemed to drift from me for a few moments and I thought I had lost him in the dream state. Also, the mention about him being alone for centuries freaked me out a little. How old was he? I needed to find out way more information about werewolves. I guess I suspected them to have long lives, like vampires. Gee, I was going to have to ask about that, too. If werewolves existed, were vampires also leeching around? This was not the time or place to think about that. At some point I was going to have to tackle Dominic with those questions. I had to re-focus now.

  Daniel, I am so sorry for all you've gone through and what you've got to deal with now. Trust me; I will do what I can to help you. My psychic powers give me the ability to calm and comfort people. Even to plant ideas into people's heads to change the course of what they might do next. I'm supposed to work my magic on this Stephen character I've been hearing about. Of course, doing this without his knowledge would play out better but Eli says we'll have to see how things go. I'm sure he'll tell this to you during the phone call.

  Daniel barked out, I do not like the idea of you messing with Stephen. He is extremely dangerous. He has the beast inside him that keeps lashing out and would not think twice to destroy anyone who tried disrupting his new found freedom. He is now the Alpha male of his own pack. They were all part of my pack at one time. It hurts me to see this disloyalty. And he's so territorial and will fight to the death to ensure his new way of living. If something were to happen to you, I don't know if I could control my own beast that lives inside of me.

  Daniel's confession surprised me. I think he surprised himself when he blurted this out. But he wanted to make sure I knew this. He wanted to protect me from any harm. I felt all cozy inside. I knew I was falling under his spell.

  Daniel, there's so much more I want to know about you. Thank you for caring about me. Let's play it by ear with the Stephen thing for now. I don't want to argue with you about it. I have tons of questions I want to ask about you...and werewolves in general. But I feel both of us slipping in and out of this dream or telepathy or whatever this phenomenon is. And if you can imagine, I started the day out driving to work and the next thing I know my car crashed into a lake, I was abducted by complete strangers, told werewolves exist and that I've been dreaming about one - YOU - also that I have such awesome psychic powers that are going to save you guys from total pandemonium. Ahhh! I was really starting to lose it and feeling the connection with Daniel fading more and more.

  Sleep, baby. It's time for you to simply sleep now. We will connect again tomorrow.

  Daniel's concern for my well-being and sanity was evident in his voice. He tried to soothe me by caressing my hair and ended with holding my chin so tenderly with two fingers. In ways I didn't feel so alone anymore. And I don't think he did either. But what did any of this really mean?

  Good night, Daniel…take care…, I mumbled, lost the mental path with him and this time was out like a light. Not remembering any other dreams.

  Chapter 5

  Revelations

  A barely audible, light tapping sound interrupted my snoozing. After the telepathy session with Daniel during the night hours, I had miraculously gotten a nice rejuvenating sleep. Perhaps now that I understood what and who the heck I was dreaming about, I could settle myself down a bit and get some peace. It had been exciting talking mentally with Daniel last night. I did look forward to another nightly session and was anticipating actually meeting him in the flesh. I would have to ask the gang when that would be. That irritating tapping sound was pecking away at my brain again and getting louder by the second.

  "Am I going to have to throw a bucket of water on you to wake you up?" Dominic had chosen to open my bedroom door and was standing in the door frame, snickering at me.

  "Oh, don't even mention water after my near drowning incident yesterday." I moaned with extra emphasis. "So, what's for breakfast?"

  "It isn't ready yet. I'm working on it so if you need to get cleaned up, you know where the bathroom is. We have more clothes for you and personal goodies. I believe Tessa put a bag in the bathroom for you. Meet up in the kitchen when you're done." Dominic stated with a note of anticipation in his voice. I wondered if he knew about my telepathy experience with Daniel over night. I figured I would tell him later once I got cleaned up.

  "Thanks, Dom," I said as I bounced out of bed. A shower and brushing my teeth sounded so delightful; I scampered off to the community bathroom.

  After I spent a good forty-five minutes in there, I did feel very refreshed and ready to tackle the day's events. I knew without a doubt to expect more experimenting with my capabilities. Dominic more or less conveyed that to me last night at supper. I was really developing a wider and deeper perspective to the significance of this undertaking. Understanding my role in this mission to help the werewolves was important to me. I didn't want to be left out of the loop. I would press Dominic, Eli, or whoever to gain all the knowledge and information I could take in. I didn't want there to be any secrets. So far, I didn't sense any lies or deceit from the group, but I also knew there was so much more to learn about this situation and about werewolf history.

  Breakfast ready? I mentally asked Dominic. I figured any extra practice I could get in using my skills would be beneficial. And Dom would be tickled I was diving into this so wholeheartedly.

  Hurry your butt up. It's been ready for a while now. Dominic pushed at my mind.

  You should know women take longer in the bathroom than men. I can't get ready in just a mere ten minutes like you can, I laughed mentally for him and out loud as I took off for the kitchen.

  He had made quite an impressive amount of food. At least to me it seemed like a lot since all I was used to eating was a boring bowl of lukewarm oatmeal every morning of my life. I dove in with zest and filled my plate with pancakes, eggs and sausage. I could get used to being pampered like this.

  Dominic was partially picking up a few threads of my thoughts and replied, "We're all having a big breakfast and then everyone is on their own for a light lunch of their choosing if they even choose to eat. All this meal cooking takes up so much time, although I do love doing it. If we are on our own for lunches, everyone can get more accomplished working on our tasks then."

  The whole team had assembled at the kitchen table and were vigorously chowing down. This was obviously a co
mmon pattern for them of having big breakfasts, little or no lunches and reconvening for a decent supper meal. I could live with that. There was a nice, compassionate feeling in the air as everyone ate, mostly in silence. Minor chit chat, but it always seemed to be their preference to wait until after they ate to begin any major talks.

  Eli, having finished his breakfast, stretched back in the chair and looked over at me. He gave me that warm, fatherly, knowing smile and said, "Kara, I've had an interesting conversation with Daniel early this morning. As you know, I planned on calling him today and thought I would do this before he got too busy with his resort responsibilities. Well, to my surprise, he was definitely expecting the call. He even seemed relieved to hear from me since that was confirmation for him that he wasn't losing his mind in reference to a dream he had last night. And you, Kara, were a participant in that dream from what he reports. It appears you were able to establish a vivid conversation with complete clarity with him this time. That is extremely remarkable."

  "Gee, Eli, you kind of stole my thunder as the saying goes! I wanted to tell everyone myself once we finished eating so I could brag about how well my little experiment went." I frowned slightly at him.

  Dominic about dropped a plate on the floor after this revealing announcement from Eli. I suppose he hadn't eavesdropped on my sleeping last night after all. I touched at his mind and sensed a tiny bit of insecurity and concern.