The Psychic Circle: Chapter 10

No matter what he did, which angle he looked at the situation, Viper could not understand the girl. She had a sort of emptiness about her that gave him the impression that she wasn’t entirely there in the upstairs department. She was a psychic he had no doubt about that. But he felt she was... different. Sometimes he would feel her mind so strongly, that the visual equivalent would be her walking into a funeral entirely dressed in pink. At other times he could barely sense her power, even if he was concentrating. It was almost as though she was able to hide it. He shuddered at the thought. He had known - and killed - a lot of psychics but he had never known any that could shield their minds like that. And her eyes... Viper shivered unintentionally. Those eyes felt as if she was concentrating the sun on his soul. The craziest thing about it all was that she seemed hell bent on finding him. Him in particular. As hard as he thought, he couldn’t think of a single clue in his memory about what she could want. Other than the warehouse incident, he had never met her. This bothered him incessantly now.

He decided that before he did anything he would consult Senra. Her wisdom was as unquestionable as her ancient manner. The fact that he chose to consult her was evidence of the extent that the girl baffled him.

Seeing his mother was generally a last resort to anything.

He stood outside the densely humid room, waiting until she permitted his entry. The girl - 'Nikki' she said - was beside him and he carefully avoided both her gaze and physical touch.

At the sound of a crackled "Enter," He walked into the room. "Craig, is that you? " his mother's voice reminded him of air escaping from a tomb. Her tone was amused - and mocking. She was the only one who dared address him by his real name. He narrowed his eyes in irritation.

"Senra, this is important" he said, lacking sentimentality.

"Ah, that I have no doubt. It has to be a special occasion for you to come within feet of me." She smiled thinly. He took a breath to retort the comment, but decided to brush it away.

"This girl came to me yesterday. She says she needs my help." He glanced at Nikki. The girl was silently studying the old woman.

"Oh! Girlfriend advice huh? That's quite a new one for me." She sneered. Viper scowled at Senra. She was about to make a scathing comment, but then she looked at Nikki for the first time and stopped. Viper could see it in her eyes. She sensed the girl’s uniqueness, just as he had. Senra peered at the girl cautiously, gripping her chair a little tighter and Nikki merely blinked. Senra would be sensing the girl's intensity more than Viper could.

Slowly, Senra spoke. "You, girl. Come here." Her eyes were still wide open, but whether in awe or fear, Viper couldn’t tell. Perhaps both. Either way, this reaction confirmed what he already strongly suspected. This Nikki girl was both powerful and dangerous.

Nikki now stood surveying the old woman, studying her with that disturbing intensity of hers. But Senra did not shy away and gazed back calmly as if to say I am an open book. The staring continued on for several seconds, and Viper felt the hair on his body stand on end. Power rippled silently through the room. Then Nikki smiled ever so slightly and walked towards Senra. The old brown skinned woman took the younger dark girl’s hands in her own, giving them a grandmotherly squeeze.

Viper exhaled audibly. He didn’t know what to make of this; he couldn’t remember Senra being so affectionate with anyone – least of all himself. He watched as Senra smiled, her eyes glimmering as she looked up at Nikki. Nikki gazed back with an expression of mild interest.

Viper was an Outer, and this Inner psychic communication suddenly bored him. “What’s your read on her, Senra?”

Senra’s voice was measured and low when she replied. Like she was attempting to balance something delicate. “She’s hungry Craig... get her something from the bar. A hot plate of pasta.” She glanced at him for an instant before focussing on Nikki again.

“What?! I’m not an errand boy, mother, just tell me what she is!” Viper said in his sulkiest tone. Senra turned sharply towards him, breaking out of her psychic dance with the girl and narrowed her eyes. Viper’s hands went straight to his head in an instant, as he felt the psychic invasion in the very centre of his brain. An itch he couldn’t scratch.

“Arg! Fine! Bitch...” he stormed off in the direction of the bar.

Senra turned her attention to Nikki once again and continued her psychic conversation with her.

I apologise. My son is insolent and I often have to punish him.

That’s alright. Nikki responded in thought waves. He’s alright.

I sense something here, you don’t mind me invading do you? I feel you like my son.

Nikki visibly blushed. He saved my life once. I’d like to return the favour.

You don’t think he is in danger do you? He causes more trouble than he attracts.

Oh, but he has attracted me.

Do you mean to say-

Yes. I’m trouble.

***

Alexia jumped as she heard voices approaching. The odds that the voices belonged to someone who would stab first and ask questions later was high in this neighbourhood. Alexia moved in a crouched position as quickly as she could, staying below the window line.

Her power was not what she needed at this point. If she could compare it to something, it would be broadcast radio. As she crouched around the corner and stood up, flattening herself against the plain wall, she wished she could trade her psychic powers for invisibility. Adrenalin pumped through her veins, and she had to focus on steadying her breathing. The voices were getting closer and she made out what they were saying.

“You know, Viper seemed weird today, did you get that?” A too high pitched but male voice said. Sounding like a man whose voice got stuck at that pitch during adolescence while it was still breaking.

“Hey, I’m no psychic, but I feel you.” A deeper voice replied. “but I also know that you’ve had your eye on Angel Club leader for awhile, Phil.”

A scoff came from the other one. “Says who? I can’t deal with all the moaning everyone insists on, like a bunch of grown ass babies. Nah, I’m not jealous of that spot.”

“So don’t criticise then, bud.”

“Just because I don’t want the spot, doesn’t mean that I don’t think someone else should have it. Is there a rule that the leader has to be a psyche?”

His friend chuckled. “Stirring the waters Phil, stirring the waters...”

They rounded the corner to where Alexia crouched. She stopped breathing, waiting for her position to be revealed.

The two were walking casually, with the gait of people shooting the breeze with nowhere specific to go. One was thin and quite tall, with a hooked nose. The other was shorter but made of more muscular stuff. They strolled right by Alexia’s hiding place.

She breathed a sigh of relief when they created some distance from her, and she became confident that she could move unheard. She went back to her original spot under the window, and flattened herself against the wall, closer this time.

Eavesdropping on a psychic conversation was no easy feat. Thoughts moved a lot faster than words, and even so, the thoughts of these two psychics were moving a lot faster than any she had ever sensed before. Alexia expected the old lady to have superior thoughts since she was a well matured psychic, but this made no sense for Nikki. She was a young novice, yet she was keeping up with the woman who had been honing her psychic skills for decades at least.

If Alexia had ever doubted it before, she knew for certain now that Nikki was different. She now also knew that this was the last kind of place that a psychic with raw talent and no experience should be. Who knew what the Angel club could do if they managed to manipulate her?