“I
am not,” Nick protested. “I realize this is difficult to comprehend, but—”
“Difficult
doesn’t begin to cover it,” she interrupted. “Empathic powers and psychic
abilities don’t exist. They’re not real.”
“Then
how do you always know what people are feeling, even when they’re trying to
hide their emotions? Isn’t that why you chose to study psychology?”
His
question stopped her argument for a moment. She wanted to respond that she
could read body language, as she had always thought, but she knew better now.
“There are case studies,” she told him. “We reviewed them in one of my classes.
Most of the people who claimed to have those abilities were exposed as fakes.
There has to be another explanation.”
“Most
of them were,” Nick said, “but not all of them. What about the ones who weren’t
proven to be fakes?”
She
shrugged. “They fooled the testers or the test results were inconclusive. It
doesn’t mean the abilities exist. It means the explanation wasn’t available.”
“Or
the explanation was outside the realm of common understanding.” Nick grabbed
Meaghan’s hand when she tried to pull away from him. “Keep an open mind,
please. I’d think after today you wouldn’t find the abnormal so easy to
dismiss.”
“I
wouldn’t if the explanation wasn’t impossible.” Or rather, if the possibility meant
a future she could face. She shook her head, refusing to believe Nick, refusing
to allow images of the creatures and what they had done to her parents to
surface in her mind. She had to hold on to logic. She had to believe she could
return to her life. Her normal life. “There are always valid explanations for
things which appear abnormal.”
“The
explanations for today and for your ability may not be what you’d consider
normal, but they are valid. Your ability stems from a power, and my ability to
block you from reading me also stems from a power.”
“Right,”
Meaghan scoffed. “So you’re saying I’m magical and so are the other people who
claim to be empathic or psychic.”
“Not
quite, but close. Your ability is a true power. It’s stronger and it works
differently than the ones you learned about in the case studies.”
“I
see. So those people don’t have powers.”
“Their
ancestors did. They have the ability because it stems from a rare, genetic
variation of your power.”
She
stood. “This is nuts.”
“It’s
not.”
“It
is. I don’t know what game you’re trying to play, but I’m not a child. I
stopped believing in the supernatural a long time ago. Powers don’t exist
except in comic books and magic belongs to rabbits in top hats.”
“And
you and me,” Nick said, standing to face her, “as well as Vivian and James.”
Meaghan
shook her head again and scanned the barn for a way out. She felt more certain
now than ever that Nick had grown delusional. He may not seem dangerous, but
his behavior could escalate. If he believed he could perform magic, there would
be no limit to what he might attempt.
The
heavy, wood doors at the entrance to the barn would be impossible to open quickly
enough to provide an escape, but the side door would work, if she could figure
out a way to get around Nick. He blocked her path to it.
She
walked to the fire, feigning interest in the flames, and in the conversation.
“What powers did Mom and Dad have?”
“James
could control electricity,” Nick answered.
“That’s
handy,” Meaghan commented. “So he was stealing it all this time instead of
paying the electric company?”
Nick
narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re the one who wanted to have this
conversation.”
“I
wanted the truth, not some tall tale. Next, you’ll tell me Mom’s baking skills stemmed
from a power. Why are we out here, Nick? Is this some sort of joke you and my
parents cooked up? If so, it’s not funny.”
“It’s
not a joke,” Nick said. He came to stand beside her and though his body was
stiff, his voice remained soft. She could hear pain in it, but she still could
not read the emotion on his face. “The powers are real, Meg. You can sense
people’s emotions and I can sense people, too, but in a different way. I can feel
the presence of their powers, and I can tell when they’re dangerous. I can also
block people from sensing me, which is why my power works against yours.”
“And
Dad could control electricity,” she stated. “Or so you claim. I never saw him
do anything out of the ordinary.”
“Some
powers don’t work here. His didn’t, and our sensing powers weren’t as strong.”
“Our?”
“James’,
Vivian’s, and mine. We all had the same sensing powers, but we each had
different personal powers.”
“I
see.” Meaghan glanced at him, and then past him to the door. Taking a step away
from the fire, she positioned her feet to run. “Did Mom’s personal power work?”
“For
the most part. You would have considered her a psychic, but where we’re from,
she’s a Seer. She could look into the future and make predictions.”
“A
Seer?” Meaghan’s eyes snapped to Nick’s.
“Yes. She was gifted. One
of the best Seers I’ve ever—”
“She
couldn’t see the future,” Meaghan insisted. Her hands balled into fists at her
sides. “That’s impossible.”
“As
impossible as you sensing emotions,” Nick countered. “Damn it, Meg. I’m getting
tired of this conversation. If you don’t believe me, fine, but—”
“She
couldn’t,” Meaghan repeated. Her voice wavered and she closed her eyes over
tears. ”If she could, she would have seen. She would have stopped…” her voice
failed her and so did her control. Visions of the attack filled her mind. She
could see her mother stretched over the stairs, eyes vacant in death. She could
see her father taking his last breath, could hear it as if it had just
happened. If Nick told the truth, how could her mother have seen the horror in
advance and allowed it to happen?
Nick
put his arms around her. “Vivian didn’t know she and James would die,” he
whispered. “Seers can’t control their visions.”
Meaghan
turned her face into his shoulder. “Then what good is being able to see the
future if she couldn’t prevent her own death? It isn’t right.”
“No,
it isn’t,” he agreed. “I’ve wondered the same thing since we left their house,
and I’ve wondered what good my powers are if I couldn’t use them to save Vivian
and James. I’m supposed to be able to sense Mardróch, but I couldn’t when it
mattered most.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I loved them, you know.”
“I
know,” she responded. “You became close to my parents over the past year.”
“It’s
more than that.” He drew his fingers down her arm, taking her hand in his
before stepping back. “Vivian and James were my aunt and uncle.”
“Wait.”
Embarrassment warmed Meaghan’s cheeks as she remembered the kiss they had
shared. She removed her hand from his. “We’re cousins?”
“No.”
Nick drew a deep breath. “Vivian and James weren’t your real parents. They protected
you after your parents died. They brought you here with the intent of telling
you the truth when you turned eighteen.”
“Here?”
she echoed, and the word tasted heavy in her mouth. He had used it several
times tonight, but it had not occurred to her until now he had meant something
other than a different country or maybe some tribal island few had mapped. “By
here you mean?”
“Earth.
We’re from another world.”
Meaghan’s
mouth dropped open and though she wanted to argue, her voice failed her. What
could she say? Even if she could accept the rest of what Nick had said, this
fell so deeply into the realm of the impossible that she could not even begin
to entertain it. Her parents had loved her too much to not be her own. And
Earth was the only world which could sustain life. No other world could exist
to allow Nick’s explanation to be true. Everyone knew that.
So
why did she feel sick?
Nick
walked away from her, clearing a direct path to the door, but she could move no
easier than she could speak. He picked up the backpack from the floor, opened
it, and then pulled out a velvet pouch. “James packed this, too. He and Vivian
intended to give it to you when they told you the truth. Vivian felt it would
help you understand.”
“Understand
what?” she choked out.
He
pressed the pouch into her hand. “Just open it, okay?”
Her
eyes dropped to the item. It felt heavy. So did her head. A haze descended over
her, muting color and sound. Her mouth grew dry. Her tongue felt swollen. She
swallowed air past it, but could not manage much else.
“Meg,”
Nick begged, covering her hand with his. “Please.”
The
soft material rubbed against her skin, the sensation of it breaking through her
numbness and she did as he asked. She fumbled with the string, untying it after
several attempts, and then tipped the pouch over. A large, silver amulet slid
into her palm. From the center of its intricate flower border, a purple stone
glistened by the firelight. She gasped. “It can’t be.”
“It
is,” he confirmed. “It’s the one from your dreams.”
“It
was my mom’s?” she asked and looked up at him. “Is that why I dreamed about
it?”
“Yes
and no. It was your mom’s, but not Vivian’s. You weren’t having dreams, Meg.
You were remembering our world. You were seeing your birth mother.”
She
stared at the amulet again. “I don’t understand. Some of those dreams were
nightmares.”
Nick
brought a hand to Meaghan’s shoulder, drawing her close again. “You were young.
We weren’t sure what you would remember, if anything. You were with your mother
when she died.”
“The
woman with the black hair was my mother?”
“Yes.”
“It’s
not true,” Meaghan protested, though she could not find conviction in the
words. Her life had been a lie. The people she thought were her parents had
been strangers. But the love she had felt from the woman had been real. And it
came to her through a nightmare.
She
pushed from Nick’s arms. “They were dreams, and I refuse to let you use them to
convince me your delusion is real.”
“Then
why are you holding the necklace from your dreams in your hand?”
“Dreams
use memories from our subconscious. I remember Mom wearing it from when I was a
kid. That’s all.”
“And
the Mardróch? How can you explain them? They’re not from this world either.”
“They
could have been from a military or science experiment.” She crossed her arms
over her chest. “Or you could have drugged me. I still think that’s the most
likely scenario.”
“So
it’s easier to believe I’m a psychopath or creatures escaped from some sci-fi
experiment than it is to believe the truth?”
“That
I’m from another world that can’t exist? Yes.” She tossed the necklace aside.
It landed with a thud on the ground, then skidded a short distance, leaving a
groove in the dirt. “It’s a trinket. It proves nothing.”
“It’s
not a trinket.” Nick retrieved the amulet from the ground, dusting it off
before pressing it back into her palm. “Our world does exist and it’s similar
to Earth in a lot of ways. But where you have technology, we have powers. The
people of Earth can’t visit our world, but we can travel here. We use portals.
When you were a child, Vivian used one to save your life.”
Nick
tightened his fingers over Meaghan’s, forcing her to hold the amulet. “This is
an heirloom. It’s been in your family for a thousand years. It holds the
emotional energy of your ancestors, and like them, you have magic. You may not
like it, but it doesn’t change the truth. Your Empath power should allow you to
sense the emotions in the necklace.”
“Forget
it,” she snapped, yanking her hand from his to free it. “I won’t play your game
any longer. If you want to kill me then do it. Otherwise, I’m leaving.”
She
stood her ground, expecting Nick to argue further, but he nodded instead.
Retreating to the blanket, he dropped his head into his hands, and she saw her
chance. She ran for the door, freezing halfway when sorrow washed over her. It overwhelmed
her, stalling the breath in her lungs in the same way it stalled her legs.
“I’m
sorry, Aunt Viv,” Nick whispered behind her.
The
sorrow swelled. Nick no longer blocked her, and even though Meaghan could not
see him, she could feel him. It made no sense, but in the intensity of his
emotion, she knew the truth. She also realized that whatever power she owned
was growing stronger.
She
looked down at her hand, at the amulet still clutched within it, and felt a low
vibration coming from the metal that she had not noticed before. She would not
consider it an emotion, but it did speak to her. It contained a historical
presence, as if the amulet had stored memories. Wide-eyed, she turned to face Nick
and felt relief wash over him before he blocked her once more.
“What
was my mother’s name?” she asked.
“Adelina.”