The Psychic Circle: Chapter 20

Senra’s sleep was broken by visions of ravens, swarms of them against a red sky, flying furiously towards her. She awoke with an agitated expression on her face, her wrinkled brow deeply furrowed. Her palms found the bed beneath her, and she gripped the sheets in order to feel more grounded in the waking world. Her heart was thumping against her chest and she lay still until it settled.

Staring up at the dark ceiling, Senra focussed on the motion of her chest, gradually rising and falling. Then she let her mind wander around the meaning of the dream. Ravens flocking towards her... she couldn’t remember how many, but perhaps it didn’t matter. Most would dramatically associate ravens with death, but Senra knew there were worse things to fear than that. Getting kicked out of her bridge club for one.

She got up, perching on the edge of the bed with her head down. Her feet barely touched the ground, and this was not because her bed was particularly high. She levered herself slowly to the ground and wrapped her black cotton night gown around her as she made her way to a small table against the wall opposite the bed. She had a glass of water that she had left on it, and lifted it up to her lips for a sip now.

Last time she had dreamt of ravens, it was because she had felt trapped, something was happening out of her control. Was there an intruder perhaps? She froze with the glass in her hand. The thought wasn’t farfetched; Viper had taken the girl from a rival group who seemed to want her badly enough. However, it was going to get ridiculous if they kept kidnapping her away from each other. As she listened now, she heard nothing but the faint city drone of late night traffic that was the normal backdrop of all other sounds.

Nonetheless, she placed her glass onto the table and padded barefoot to the curtain which hung between her room and the smaller guest room where Nikki was sleeping.

Senra squinted her eyes in the gloom, only able to make out a still, vague lump on the bed. “Girl?” she called into the room with a voice hoarse from sleep. There was no response and Senra grew annoyed. “Gir- Nikki!” she called louder, and grumbling she walked to the light switch on her side of the room which controlled both light bulbs in her section of the room, and in Nikki’s subsection.

When she turned around, she saw that Nikki wasn’t there.

Even as she frantically half ran, half stumbled to the bed, ripping off sheets and blankets, it was clear that there she would not find the girl hiding behind a pillow, or under the bed. Senra raised her hands to her head, gripping her thin white hair in frustration and fury. After she checked in her private bathroom and the bathroom down the hall, she suddenly remembered what she had read in the ancient book about the other meaning of dream ravens.

Ravens: symbol of loss of control, or loss of something precious to the dreamer.

***

Nikki felt very self-conscious of the fact that she was the youngest person, and the only female in this group of crooks. The fact that they were looking to her for the completion of their scheme was hugely intimidating. She was feeling a new type of anxiety – the pressure to perform.

For some reason, it didn’t occur to her for a moment that what they were planning to do was wrong.

“Alright love, don’t be shy,” Viper said, nudging her forward. Nikki glanced at them, eyes flicking from one member of this band of thieves to the next. Sty had some kind of bird of prey on his shoulder, and its head was tilted at the exact angle as Sty’s – all four eyes, man and bird’s were staring at her. Nikki looked away, choosing instead to pay attention to the others whom she hadn’t met yet. Viper stood beside her holding a bag from the car boot in his hand. “You already know Sty of course.” He used his free hand to point at the enormous man next to Sty. “That’s Bulk. He’s director of removal of all heavy non-metal obstacles, I’m sure you can see why.” Bulk bent his neck down as if to peer closer at Nikki. He had a round face and bloodshot eyes that were either brown or dark green. Nikki wasn’t sure with just the headlight beams of Viper’s car to see by.

“Those three,” Viper continued, pointing with his thumb and first two fingers at the identical men, “are the Jonson brothers, Jim, Jack and Joel. Yes they’re triplets – or possibly clones, the jury is still out on that. Keep your wallet close when they’re around.” They flashed three identical grins, and in that moment Nikki would have put her money (if she had any) on the clone theory.

“Finally, that’s Ace over there. He loans us his acrobatic skills to get us into hard-to-reach places. He used to work in the circus. But he’s not a clown so don’t try any jokes, amiright Ace?” Ace’s lip twitched revealing slight annoyance and reflecting his lack of a sense of humour.

Nikki waved awkwardly, and a few of them chuckled. “So... what do you call yourselves?” she asked the group.

Viper laughed, not holding back on cruelty. “You mean like your ‘Psychic Circle’ buddies? We don’t feel inclined to equate ourselves to a boy band.” He arched an amused eyebrow at Nikki. “But I suppose you can refer to us as the Angel Club. What do you say boys, fancy yourselves Angels?”

“Oh yeah, I’m super heavenly, me!” said one of the Jonsons, maybe Jim.

“Ain’t you seen my wings, Viper?” said another, possibly Jack.

“Funny, I always figured you were more of a fairy,” said the third, who could have been Joel. He received a swift punch in the gut from either Jack, or Jim.

Viper cut in to get the focus back to the job at hand. “Alright lads,” he turned to Nikki for a moment. “And M’lady.” Then back to the men, “Time to get started. You know what to do. Nikki’s gonna stick with me and I’ll show her the ropes.” The others began collecting equipment and heading off one by one to the left, staying close to the hedge.

Viper leaned in and murmured to Nikki. “Other one of them are psychics you know. Talented individuals as they are, they will always have their limitations.” He strode to the back, closed the boot, locked the car and switched off the headlights, and flicked on a small torch. He tapped Nikki to indicate they should follow in the direction where the others went. “It really is refreshing to get another psychic on the team; Sty and me were feeling like a proper minority.” Nikki could just make out his smile in the gloom and returned it.

They walked side by side in the soft earth that lined the perimeter of the hedge. Nikki could feel small stones in the dirt, fortunately not big enough to easily trip on. It was a warm moonless night in the most quiet and remote side of the city. Other than the crunching of their feet on the gravelly soil, there was no sound, not even the faint drone of traffic. Nikki was determined to keep up with the Viper’s brisk steps, and soon she found herself matching his rhythm, so that their four feet sounded like two. She grinned to herself, enjoying their evening walk.

It was over too soon though, as she looked up ahead and saw that the others had stopped and congregated close together, in front of what looked like just another part of the hedge. They were all quiet, and something about their demeanour made Nikki feel the need to be as silent as possible. Sty nodded at Viper, who nodded back. Then one of the Jonsons walked towards the hedge, crouched low and disappeared through a gap which must have been there all along. Even after he had gone through it, it was difficult to see where the gap was.

The other two Jonson’s quickly followed, while Ace reached within the hedge, testing for a sturdy branch by pulling and shaking firmly. Then he stuck one foot into the bush, where he had found some unseen foothold that could hold his weight. He made swift light work of climbing the fence. She saw him vault over the top and disappear to the other side with ease. Seems he didn’t want to go in the easy way.

As Sty was passing through the hedge, Viper leaned in to whisper to Nikki. he smelt of cigarettes and iron. “Don’t be afraid. The house is empty tonight. The tenants were run out of it because they couldn’t afford it anymore, and the guards left since there was no one to pay them. We’re having our go at it before anyone’s the wiser.”

Nikki whispered back, “So why are we sneaking in through the bush and whispering?”

“Because,” Viper nudged her forward, “one can never be too careful.” All except Bulk had disappeared through that innocuous gap in the hedge, and Nikki guessed that Bulk couldn’t fit through it without doing some considerable damage. As she walked past him he grunted, reminding her of a hippopotamus she’d seen on a wildlife show. She thought that he might sound exactly like one when laughing. She sensed him watching her.

Looking at the gap, it simply looked like a sliver of dark space, surrounded by leaves. She looked back at Viper and could just make out his face in the moonlight. A slow smile spread across his face. “Ladies first.”

Nikki bit her lip, then turned around and stepped into the gap in bushes, and began her first breaking and entering.

***

“Let’s start with why you haven’t been at home in so long.” Graham’s voice showed his aggravation, and Alexia kept an arm’s length apart from him as they walked down the street. She had seen his temper, but never directed at her until now. She treated him like an unexploded bomb, unsure what he’d do next.

“When did you come by?” she asked, making sure her voice was level.

“Like three times this week! Your stepdad told me you were out, he didn’t know where-“

“You met Ben?” she gasped, looking at him wide-eyed. Alexia had been trying to keep her stepfather and her boyfriend apart until she was ready to introduce them. Whenever that would be. Now her mind started racing over the many ways their meeting in her absence must have gone wrong.

“Yes, I met him,” he said, irritably. “And that’s another thing, why have you been keeping me away from Ben? He isn’t the monster you make him out to be.”

No, he’s not. Alexia thought, agreeing for once. There are real monster dads out there.

“Graham, life has gotten complicated lately.” Alexia thought of the mind merge she’d had with Nikki, the psychic fight with Viper, and the stupid fight with Jake. Not to mention Ben’s issues and her mum’s absence. And now Graham had something else to pile on. “Could you do me a favour and crank it down a notch?” she said, struggling to keep the strain out of her voice.

He stopped walking and looked at her incredulously. She reluctantly stopped and turned back to face him. She waited for him to speak. “Alexia, I just want to know what’s going on.”

“A lot is.” She pleaded with her eyes for him not to ask anything else. His expression was worse than she expected. He was hurt.

“I don’t...” he began, reaching out to hold her hand, “I don’t like being made at you, Lex. But you’ve put up this wall and I’m on the other side of it trying to figure out why.”

Alexia avoided his gaze, staring at his hand holding hers instead. But he was waiting with excruciating patience for her to answer him. Finally she looked into his eyes. The truth had been hunting her down, stalking her and she had foolishly believed she could escape it forever.

“What I’m going to tell you,” she took a deep breath, “is going to sound insane. Worse than insane, it’s going to sound like I’m making it up.” She could feel Graham’s hand tense up. His lips parted and he took an uneasy breath, not taking his eyes off her.

The black and grey Zoom Cab she had called rolled up to the sidewalk and stopped in front of them. Alexia glanced at the taxi, them back to Graham. “Actually, it’s better if I show you.”

“Show me what?” Grahams frown deepened.

“Come with me. I want you to understand.” She took a step towards the car and pulled gently on his hand. He resisted for a second, then stepped forward with her. She smiled at him but he broke her gaze and opened the door to the backseat for her. He got in after her and when he sat, she could feel the distance he created between them.

I hope this works, she thought. “Take us to Violet Labs please,” she told the driver.