The Perfection of Purity

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter ONE: The Perfection of Purity

Once upon a modern day time in the year two thousand and six I was a sixteen-year-old girl living in New Jersey. A citizen of the Untied States of America, I was. My name is Amelia Cherish Brookson. I was not like other girls. I enjoyed the occasional trips to the mall, romance films, and glances at attractive young men. Yet, sometimes there was just no logical explanation of the strange occurrences that happened in my life and my life only. I wanted to know everything that I did not know already. Once the answers started becoming clear, though, I began regretting my curiosity.

My life did not begin in New Jersey. I was born in Rolla, Missouri on January first of the year nineteen ninety. My mother, Chastity Lyle, used to rock me to bed every night as she chanted out lullabies. The smooth sound of her voice in my tiny ears sent me quickly off to dreamland and in those dreams I had seen images unlike anything in the real world. Those images became stories and those stories seemed to narrate my everyday life. That was quite a bit more than just peculiar. They would warn me about things in the world. For example, the woods behind my Missouri horse ranch. Just woods right? To me they were not. To me, they were the enemy. I was determined never to enter, but my curiosity begged me other wise. I broke the promise I made in dreamland one after noon on a sunny day.

On this day I was playing outside in the grass with my friend, Paul. Paul was an older child than I and I always felt so cool playing with a big kid. I was six and he was eight. We had always found a way to play together. Be it rain or be it shine. We were best friends. Paul was smaller than most eight-year-olds. Blonde hair hung down just about an inch past his ear. I always thought he was cute. He was allergic to everything and his bones were frail. His sister, Brayden, said that he had a rare, unknown condition. I always suspected that his mother had done it to him. She was a bad witch, I think.

Paul’s mother treated him like a baby all through childhood. He was in diapers until age seven. All laundry and chores were done by Brayden since the day she turned three. Brayden was much older than Paul. I would say about a decade. Brayden was not aloud to leave the property even for the simplest things. Their family scared me sometimes. I always wondered why Paul’s mother and my mother were friends. Anyway, Brayden was there for us when we needed help. She was like my big sister, too. Sort of like a mother to both of us. Paul needed a positive mother figure and I needed adventure.

The woods were my favorite of all places to think about. I would sit outside and some days and just look at them. I’d look at the marvelous structure of the huge trees and messes of the forest floor. I wanted to enter, but enter I dare not. I would never go against the wishes of my dreams. They looked out for me when no one else could. I thought my dreams were magic. I thought I was a freak of nature even before I knew what that meant. I longed for the day when my special dreams would give me the okay to enter that forest of wonders. Paul and I wanted to play in there so badly. Sometimes all that we could think about were the forts that we could make and all the different games we could play. That way, he could get lost and not see his mother anymore. That’s what he wanted more than anything and I knew it. I never said a word to anyone because I was afraid. Being in trouble was bad. Being in trouble meant being a bad child.

Of course I did not wish to be a bad child, but if I had known of some of the outcomes of abusive parents things would have been different. Yet, I had no proof that Paul was even being abused. Perhaps he had dreams like mine? Maybe his dreams weren’t as protective? Paul was truly a good child and he never deserved anything horrible that ever happened to him. I wished that he could have been my best friend forever. I loved him with all of the brotherly and sisterly love in my heart. Paul was truly a good child and he never deserved to die.

It was on one very eventful afternoon when Paul and I got overly full of boredom with lack of new playthings or a deprivation of good ideas. Well, we always had this one idea floating around in our heads. The idea of visiting the woods beyond my ranch. My family did not own that forest. No one did. It was local horror tales that kept them all away. Such tales did not scare me much back then and they still don’t to this day. That doesn’t mean that what happened to Paul can be explained logically.

They say that once a young woman went into the woods to hide from the villagers who mistook her deformed newborn for a beast. She ran with the infant in her arms until she got to an extremely large brook in the near center of the forest. Some people say that the demons of the woods took away the child forever. The woman miraculously survived and made it back to the village. They decided that to have survived such a thing she must have been a witch. She was tortured then executed the very next day. Her burned body’s remains were thrown into the woods. Some say her spirit then went looking for her child, but he was never found. Other’s say that the ghost of this so called witch can inhabit humans and that she did find her child. The two of them combined transformed into a monster that lurks around the woods.

At age six I did not know the story. If I had, I would not have thought what I was about to do next a good plan. I did not know the tale and to me venturing into the forest was a good idea. To me it was, at least. I did go in and I took Paul with me. I still remember how terrified we were when we got done playing in the evening and still could not find our way out. Sometimes I can still hear Paul screaming. At first I did not know what all of his fussing was about. That was until I saw him. His face was bubbling up like a pot of hot water. There is nothing more similar that I could ever possibly compare this horror to. Then his jaw dropped literally off of his head. That’s when I tried to scream. Nothing escaped my throat. My best friend was dying from an unexplainable death.

I hurried to the opening in the woods and I jumped out. Terrified, yet determined, I headed back it to get the remains of my beloved playmate. All I saw was a pile of dust. It was like he had been burned and tortured before my very eyes. From the inside to the outside. I felt that it was my fault. I did not want to get in trouble and most importantly I did not want to be blamed for a death. That’s when I ran home and leaped into my mother’s arms. The police came early the next morning. I explained to them my story, but they decided that Paul had been a run-away. His mother and Brayden left the next day. I have not heard from them since.

These days that horrific experience is something that I rarely think about. My family moved away from that ranch when I was thirteen. That was the year that I met Chris. My parents had been out and I had been trusted without a baby-sitter or someone to watch over me since I was at age eleven.

He sat on a bench consumed in college work as I walked past to look at paintings. My long, dark hair swirled around my face and I reached down to pick up the McDonalds sandwich wrapper from the floor then tossing it in the nearest wastepaper basket, which wasn’t that near, without it dropping to the floor. Either this girl has keen basketball skills, or there’s something else about her. He was determined to figure it out. He asked me what my name was. I replied with ’hit on someone your own age’. He laughed as offered to take me out to eat. Of course, that was after he had confirmed that he was an official paranormal investigator in training and he was in his third year at a special college. He graduated early because of his grades in high school.

I agreed. Not right away, but I agreed. We talked about some things. About the paranormal and such. Even I was slightly frightened and thinking that there was something wrong with me. As turns out, this young man was rather fascinated with things supernatural…as was I. Though my usually logical mind was against it, I became aware of my ‘gift’ of telekinesis, the ability to move objects with my mind. As well as the ability to see the future. As I got up to leave the restaurant at the end of the night, the young man gave me his phone number and told me to call whenever I felt alone. I asked him his name and he replied ‘Christopher Sparks’. I liked that name. Years past and we fell briefly into love and then out again. He was the only boyfriend or ‘crush’ that she had ever known. Christopher is gorgeous. He’s of African American decent with dark, dark skin and black colored eyes that sparkle in a special way that I’ve never seen on anyone else.

Christopher now has a girlfriend named Loni. She’s beautiful. Stick thin with light, blonde hair. Her lips are filled with some sort of injection, but I wasn’t supposed to know that. She very high maintenance and rude, but never to me or Chris. I like her.

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter TWO: Cellular

When I was sixteen I was forced to move from my house because of my powers of telekinesis. My parents thought that they were the gift of the devil and that I was going to use it against them. That made me feel lost and frightened. I did not know where to go; where I could be safe. Chris and I talked for hours after that as we sat on his couch in his apartment. He suggested that it would be best if I were to move away. I agreed, because I knew Chris did not mean that as an insult. It was truly what was best.

My parents would not let me back inside their home so I could pack. I don’t know why I even told them. I remember exposing my secret to my parents, though I still don’t know the purpose of that conversation. I had just got home from school and in science class we had a discussion on evolution. I thought that perhaps my powers were simply a sign of mankind, and womankind, evolving. I ever prepared a speech for my parents.

“For my dearest mother and father. I’ve been having a lot of thoughts lately and I think it’s time that I just come out and tell you.” I started, quite frightened, yet proud of how I was sticking up for myself.

“You’re not “gay”, are you?” My father asked. Honestly, he is the most homophobic man in the entire world.

“No, dad, I’m not.”

“Then, get on with it.”

“Yes, mother. Anyway, I have a power. I’m telekinetic and I can move things with my mind…why--why are you laughing?” They were laughing at me? After all of this trouble and panic I went through to get up enough courage to tell them, they were laughing at me. “It’s not funny.” I declare, quite in shock. I hadn’t a clue why they were behaving this way. I was completely serious. “Do you want me to prove it?”

“Yes, go ahead, dear. Prove it.” My mother said with her arms crosses and a smirk on her face. With that, I levitated a coaster completely off from the table without the use of my hands.

“WITCH!” They both screamed together. I was so frightened that I could barely move. Why were my parents acting this way? I was their daughter. Their baby. Their pride and joy. What was going on? I can still remember how awful I felt as my own parents called the police. Of course, I refused to perform my ’trick’ again so the police did not believe my parents. Instead, they did drug tests on my folks. When it came up negative, they cops suggested that we all get a good night’s sleep. My parents kicked me out and I agreed to go. I remember how sad I was on the bus to Christopher’s apartment. I was crying hysterically and he could not understand a word, but he knew it was bad.

He gave me money to fly me to New Jersey. He had family there. I felt comfort for possibly the very first time in my life. I thought that my parents had loved me, until I found out what real love was.

Later while, while in New Jersey, I would write in my journal each day at the coffee shop. Coffee, cleanliness, and poetry are what my life is about. I sit at a table in the back of the store with a cup of cappuccino as I write in my journal. My journal is of great importance to me. Since I dropped out of High School I’ve been living in a motel off the money sent to me by Christopher Sparks, my ex-boyfriend. I find my life pathetic. So, I take pleasure in being alone. Pleasure in reading books. Pleasure of my imagination.

I arise from the small table in the café and make my way out into the bright Summer light which shone down in every which way from the clouds. I am dressed in a flowing, lightweight, black dress with my long hair in a braid. An oversized, long-sleeved denim jacket covers most of my body. Many were fascinated with my good looks, but I never could realize why. Well, we’re all sure that I did, but I don’t let anyone know. What proper, young lady would?

Never considered one of those women that would ever stand out in a crowd, I was still strikingly beautiful. My long, curly, black hair being my main asset. It swirls around my face and down my back as if it were made of soft, black smoke. My naturally bee-stung lips are often hidden by the cover of my raven locks over my face in public places. Of course I don’t brush it down over my face, but I never keep it away, either. My body is soft and curvy, but very much in shape. Very natural and elegant is my posture. I’m not bragging. I’m just honest. Plus, I read a lot of books. That’s the reason I sort of get carried away in the mirror. Longing for someone to speak those words to me. You’re beautiful.

I walked down the street of that small town in Lorlyn, New Jersey. My cell phone suddenly rang and that frightened me. How silly I am. I be scared of cell phone rings. That’s crazy. I would not even have a cell phone or ANY phone if it weren’t for Chris. Chris. Then I get my phone from my purse. It’s him.

“Greetings, Mr. Sparks.”

I say that teasingly with a smile. I love the way he speaks. Chris is gorgeous. He has dark, brown skin and deep, black eyes, that’s how I always describe him. He’s perfect. That’s why I used to be in love with him. I’m not anymore. Things change and people fall out of love. Oh, well.

“Good afternoon, Miss Brookson.”

“Oh, don’t use my father’s last name.”

That was serious. I don’t hate my father now. I just dislike the fact that he raised me and cared for me then he and mother dumped me because I was different. So different. I’m telekinetic. I have the gift to move objects with my mind. My parents did not like that much.

“Sorry, hun. Just playing around.”

“What do you want? I’m in a hurry.”

As I make that last comment I laugh quietly. Making sure that he hears it, but not being too obviously joking. He knows I have no schedule. Which most certainly means that I am in no hurry. I playfully joke with him often. I’ve known him for three years, but it feels like a lifetime.

“Oh sorry, I’d hate to ruin your perfectly scheduled days.”

“And I’D hate to waste your cellular minutes. Get to the point of the call.”

[Clairvoyance]

Continued

He had reply to my previous comment with sarcasm. I returned the favor in my next one. I really did wish for him to get to the point of the call, though. I was tired and stressed. I just wanted to go back to the motel and sleep.

“Well, I just called to see how you were doing. Haven’t heard your voice in a while.”

“You’re checking up on me, aren’t ya? You think I can’t handle myself?”

I made sure that he knew that I wasn’t truly angry, though I think I was. Possibly. No one every thought that I could do anything. You know, I wasn’t a child then. I was sixteen. Nearly an adult.

“Oh course. Me and Loni been thinking lots about you. We miss you.”

“Loni misses me?”

“’Course she does, Aimee. We all miss you. I’m sure your parents--

“Please don’t talk about my parents”

I meant that. I did not like people speaking of my parents. My parents who did not care. My parents who abandoned me. I did not mean to show them my power. I thought they’d understand. They obviously did not or I would not be talking to Chris in Missouri while sitting on a park bench in New Jersey as a high school dropout while the sun when down. Just my sort of luck.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

And it really was. I never had a problem forgiving Chris for anything. Of course, we did have our occasional fights, but nothing lasted too long. We were made to be best friends. Always and forever.

“So, I guess I’ll let you go then. I love you, angel.”

“I love you, stupid.”

Leaving the coffee shop was the event that occurred that the end of every one of my days since moving to New Jersey. It’s funny how badly I wanted to my life to be in a constant routine, yet I longed for something more at the end of every single day. I sort of have mixed feelings about everything. I have mixed feeling about Chris, because I love him, but I’m not in love with him. Does make any since to you, because it doesn’t make since to me?


Now I’m on my way home. Actually, it’s not home. Nothing is home to me because I am completely and utterly lost. I have nothing to live for, yet I go on. Strange, right? Well, hopefully things will get better. That’s how it is in the movies. I wish my life were a movie. Well, then I arrived at my motel room. I unlock the door. I always lock the doors when I leave. It’s not that I had anything of value; I just don’t want strangers getting in and killing me when I return home.


By this time I am checking the room. Making sure there are no people in there, no dust on the television, and no dirt on the floor. People say I worry too much. I tell them that I don’t as a worry about if they like me or not. I’m weird like that. Life’s weird like that.


I hung my coat up on the rack in the closet just like any other day. It was just any other day, by the way. Well, psychically. You’re probably expecting that I get kidnapped or something. No such luck. This is my story of self-discovery. Today is the day that I discover something about myself. I remember how I sat down on my bed and brushed out my hair and the evening sun was doing down behind me in the window. I loved it when I day ended because it meant that a new day was starting. I loved getting up really early in the morning and waking up with coffee. My life was simple like that. Or, of course, as simple as it possibly could be for someone like me.


By ‘someone like me’ I mean telekinetic. Blessed and cursed with a strange form of magic. I haven’t done it since I was fourteen, though. I used to visit Chris and move things around his apartment. I wasn’t too good at it, but he encouraged me and encouraged me until I knew what I was doing to a greater extent.


When I was fifteen we had stopped practicing my power and started practicing making out. Yes, I could I have spent my time more wisely, yet I choose to do other wise. What teenager did not? Well, I could name a few, but that’s beside the point. The point is that I need to get back to what I’m trying to describe to you. On my night of self-discovery, as I brushed my hair over and over I felt how soft my black curls were against my shoulders. It felt amazing. I had been working so hard not caring about my life and putting myself down that I had forgotten how wonderful just enjoying simple things could be.

I went in the bathroom to bathe. As I stood there in my black dress and bare feet I tested the water and I thought came to mind. I stood back and focused on the shower knob that turns the water on and off. I focused and focused. Suddenly, it turned on by it’s self. Well, not entirely by it’s self. I did it. My telekinesis and I worked great together, or so I thought. Behind me the mirror crashed.

{the reason for me making a new post in the same chapter is that the boards won't let me post more than 10000 within one post.}

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter THREE: Telekinetic Princess

“There is nothing as wonderful and as stress relieving as a hot bath”. I thought that to myself as I turned the nozzle on the bathtub all the way towards hot and a quarter of the way to cold. Getting ready to bathe was always one of my favorite routines. I made sure of the fact that I had everything that I could possibly need during these next few minutes filled with complete pease and utter relaxation. My black hair was woven into a dark, smokey braid. I undid it and let my curls fall over my shoulders and down my back. I loved they way that it felt. My hair is always so soft and thick. Like velvet.

I always prefer baths to showers because I love the comfort. In the shower the world is rushing. The sharp pelets of water hit so hard on my face that I just want to get cleaned up and jump out as fast as I possibly can. With baths it’s different. With baths you get to lay down in a small, soft, still pool of water as your worries wash away into the mist. There is nothing as completely grand as that ultimate feeling of freeness. AS if for a short while you can let go of the world in the shower you can’t do that. I like being in the my own world.

Baths enable me to take that sort of vacation from life. From the real world. I hate the real world. Everyone is pushing and shoving to get and place and find a purpose. I don’t want a purpose. I want a break. Besides, I left the real world a long time ago. I’m a sixteen-year-old living off her ex-boyfriend’s money with a fake identification in New Jersey of all places. It’s like I’m living in a corny movie or a mushy novel.

Sometimes I wish that I was normal. I want routine. I want discipline. I want consistency. I want to know what to expect each day whe nI wake up. I want--wait, the water in the bathtub is beginning to get too deep. I turned off the water nozzle and stopped it from over flowing the entire tub.

Slowly I take off my jewelry piece by piece. It’s my bath time routine. After that, fully clothed, I leave the bathroom to lock my appartment door and then turn off all of the lightes in the house besides the one in the hallway which separates my bedroom from the bathroom. Then I head back to my btub of happiness and pleasure. Then I undress and entire the glorious pond. I begin soaking myself in the warm water. I take the lighter off the floor, where I most conveniently set it, and light all of the candles that circle my bathtub.

I have a fire alarm in my bathroom. That way if ever there were a candle or two to slip to the floor I most likely would not parish in flames. I worry about each and every thing ahead of time. I am far from ashamed to admit that. I’m proud, actually. Now all I am doing is laying back and allowing the hot water to cover every inch of my tired body. I bathe everyday. It’s one of the few routines that I’m still able to keep. I don’t’ go to school anymore. I don’t take the bus to see Chris in the evenings. Chris. I miss him dearly. That’s sort of a routine. Missing Chris.

I can’t help but wish that he was here with me. Not in the bath, but here in New Jersey. Christopher Sparksand I have a special kind of relationship. We love each other, but we’re not in love. We had a very romantic past, but I’m still a virgin. He is, too, as far as I know. I’d hate to think of him with Loni. Then I automatically get jealous of he and Loni. She’s wonderful. I can’t explain my jealousy. It’s like, I don’t want him like that, but I don’t want him to want anyone except for me like that.

I agree that that is hard to understand. I can’t help my feelings, but I don’t wish them different, either. It’s sort of a strange sort of mixed feeling. I need him, though. Everyone can agree on that. I need him for everything. I need Chrsis in order to survive. Literally. I am living off of his cash and his inspiring phone calls are what keeps me moving on. His support brightens my day and fills me with constant joy. He’s like that great old brother that everyone wants, but no on truly has. Ever since I met him I had loved him. The sort of love it was kept changing, but to the extent that I love him grows every day. It was always powerful. My bath is starting to feel cold now. My slender finger tips have become mushed and prune-like. I hate when the water does that to me. I pulled the string connected to the plug and I let the now warm and cold water drain out.

Now I need to dry off. Once I have dried my body, I flip my head over and wrap my hair in a new, soft towel. It’s rather difficult to fit all of my hair into it. It’s so long and thick. My hair is a hassle. To complete my everyday bath time routine, I turn on the light and dress myself in cotton sleep wear. I then blow out the candles. Then I make sure that my radio, which play soft, serene music during my bath, is turned off and unplugged. After checking the candles once more, I turn off the light that I had dimmed on and leave the room.

I crossed the hall and entered my bedroom. It is of very simple decoration. There is a lamp that sits in the corner, a smal, white side table, two sets of white dresser drawers, and a bed, of course. My bed is hard, but the soft linen gives me the illusion that I’m a princess. Although, I’m far from it. Princesses don’t’ wear gowns made of cheap cotton bought at a super flea market. Princesses don’t feel as thought they hate their parents. I don’t hate my parents, but for what they’ve done to me I know that I should. All that I have left to rely on are Chris and Loni. They’re not even family. They feel like family. Aren’t your family members supposed to love you no matter what?

I don’t’ know anymore. Not I go back around the appartment and make sure that all of the windows and doors leading to the outside are locked. Some say that I’m obsessive compulsive, but I don’t hear them because I’m too busy thinking about going home to turn my oven off. Now I lay me down to sleep on my cotton sheets as a Telekinetic Princess.

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter FOUR: Mother and Daughter

The mother sighed as she rocked her restless baby in her arms. The night was getting longer and longer and it had seemed like days since the mother had slept. Chastity Lyle was young and unmarried. Her boyfriend, Michael, would stay and look after their baby on several occasions. Never had he experience this, though. In the hour of midnight where everyone else was at rest, the child continued to cry. She wailed sounds of excruciating pain and suffering. Even in the comforting arms of her mother she cried

Through the night this continue until morning arose and the child was silent. This gave Chastity the sleeping habits of a nocturnal creature. It was the begging of a new year. A new decade. The very last decade of this millennium. It was nineteen ninety and her daughter had been a new year’s baby. Now a month old, she finally had fallen asleep in Chastity’s soft, warm, caring, motherly embrace.

I bet that you’d never guess that that baby was me. Chastity, my mother, cared so much. Or, so it seemed. It’s not good to dwell on my own woes or on the past. I must stop now so I can get a job. I picked up the classifieds and the first thing I see is an add for a babysitter needed. I shouldn’t have done that.

The next two weekends were spent with just me and the kids. Lucy and Cecelia. They looked like innocent little angels from the outside, possibly that cutest little girls that you’ve ever seen, but on they inside they must have been the spawn of Satan because I have never seemed a normal human child wrap the whole appartment in toliet paper while the babysitter was napping with the other child.

Don’t think Cecelia’s unlike her sister, either. She’s one who told the mailman that I was a lesbian. It’s not that I am homophobic, but I really liked that mailman. Young, cute, and possibly available. Well, not available to me anymore. I can’t just go up to him and say that they child was lying.

I obviously quit that babysitting job. I guess I’m not fit for watching children. I finished the rest of the week doing odd jobs. The oddest of the odd was probably fixing a car. I had some experience with that in the past, but it was still strange to be relied on to do a mechcanic’s job. I need to be more careful with the classifieds that I choose to circle, call, and complete the jobs for.

It was in that day, around noon, that I would get the most wonderful surprise of probably my entire sixteen years. I hear the doorbell. I’m really not used to getting visitors. Once and a while Christopher’s sisters come to visit me and make sure that I’m okay. It’s like his whole family is keeping my exsistance in New Jersey a secret. I’m glad. For their kindness I will respect them all forever, but they usually visit me in the afternoon.

His family members are all very kind. They have an old fashioned charm. They men are all gentlemen and the women are feminist. I think that’s the way should be. That’s my opinion. I don’t rush to get the door. If it’s someone here to take me away, I rather take my time. Finally, I approach the front door of my appartment. Chris. Is it just my imagination or is Christopher Sparks actually standing in front of me?

“?” A grin spreads widely across his face as he hands me a large box. I’m utterly confused. How did he get here? I mean, I know he must have drove or few or taken a train, but WHY was he here? What’s in the box? “Hello!…?”

“Is this real?” I stutter as I ask that question. “I missed you so much!” We hug each other tightly in my door way. It feels so good to be back with my very best friend. We’ve got so much to catch up on. I have so much to tell him and I’m sure he has a lot to tell me. Starting with the following. “What’s in the box?”

“Well, why don’t you let me in? You’re not all that great with guest, are you?” We laugh together as I lead him inside and over to the plain and simple living room. It only consists of two fluffy, off-white sofas, and one lumpy, blue armchair.

“Sorry.” I grinned sheepishly and we sat down side by side. Not much to my surprise, I open the box to find a kitten. “A kitten?”
“No, it’s a chinchinalla.” He rolls his eyes. I think that he somewhat had expected me to be more surprised with this minipet.
“I love cats! She’s so cute!” I exaggerated without him knowing. I’m not a fan of male ego boosting, but sometimes a friend is a friend. Male or female. Also, I really do love cats, and this little one was probably the cutest of them all. She had a small pink nose and her little ears were the same color pink on the inside. The perfection of purity. So innocent and lone. Out in the real world with no where to go. I could tell by looking in the little cat’s eyes that she was terrified. I would give her a good home. What a wonderful gift for someone like me. No sarcasim intented. She wiggled and her long, fluffy, black fur shook. Her main asset. “I do get to keep her, right?”

“It’s a ‘him’, Amelia.” His voice got lower as he whispered while covering the little cat’s ears. “You don’ wan’ go ruinin’ da little cat’s reputation now, do you?”

“No, of course not.” I laughed. “How foolish of me.”

“And, yes. You do get to keep him. That is, if you want him. Answer honestly.”

“Honestly?” My face sort of got a sad look, I’m sure. Fore, as much as I love little animals, I did not think that I could care for one on my own without money. “I love little animals, but I don’t think that I could care for one on my own without money.” There, I said. It. Now he’s going to think that I’m looking for a way to get cash.

“How about…I’ll pay for the first three months untill you get a job. I’ll supply litter, food, and money for shots.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry. I don’t think you’re just tryin’ to get cash.”

I smiled a smile that could light one hundred candles. “Really? You’d do that?”
“Of course, . I’d do anything fo’ you. You know dat.” He scooted a little closer to me and put his arm around my back as I sat still as possibly holding the little kitten on my lap. I felt so warm and safe in Chris’s enbrace. I almost kissed him. I was that much comforted by his presence. I don’t love him. I’m in love with him. He can’t know that, though. Besides, how do I even know what I’m feeling. I am meerly a sixteen-year-old. To tell the truth, I don’t know much about love at all. All I know are the stories that my mother used to tell me. The ones about princesses and such. Falling in love the old fashioned way: being a damsel in distress. I don’t want to be like that. Ever.

In my mind I was three, though my true self was in a small coma tucked into Chris’s arms and holding that kitten. I thought about being a child again. I remember my mother’s stories. I remembered my mother.

My mother started out the story that so many mothers would tell their daughters as I lay in my bed. I had just awoke from a frightening nightmare and my mother, Chastity, was now there to coo me down into dreamland with the tale that her mother had told her to her. Thoughts began stirring in this seven-year-old’s head. I could not quite explain them, but I did not like how this story was going.

“…and what the princess relied on was a kiss from a handsome man. That way, they would marry and she would become a wife.”

“Mommy?”

“Yes, darling”

“Why must a girl marry a boy to be happy?”

“Who knows” My mother had said, puzzled, “It’s just a story, sweetheart.”

“Do you need a man to make you happy?”

“No---no, I don’t.”

“I can sleep now, Mommy.”

“No more nightmares?”

Well, this certainly was a strange conversation to have with such a young girl. My eyes seemed to melt with dreaminess as I rolled over in her bed and cuddled into the soft sheets. Mother’s watchful eye still lingered on her sleeping princess.

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter FIVE: Purpose

“Emilio. Emilio is his name.”

“No, that sounds too much like my name.”

“Exactly. Amelia and Emilio.”

“Fine, Emilio it is.”

“What? You don’t like it?”

“Well, it is a strange name for a cat…”

“What about you is NOT strange.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“No, , I didn’ mean it like dat.”

“I know.”

I smiled at Chris. We spent the night in the living room. We had no television, so we wasted time telling stories and trying to name the cat. Emilio. I like that name. Emilio he shall be. Emilio and I lay snuggled in the armchair. It’s lumpy and uncomfortable-looking, but it really does feel alright to sleep in. Chris is on the couch smiling at me. I missed having him around. It’s a pity that he had to leave so soon.

The next few days with Chris were a blur. We talked to each other at night and did the same by day. We spoke of recent events in Missouri and about his family in New Jersey. Had hadn’t seen my mother around town. That was a relief, but a scary thought all at the same time. If she wasn’t there, where was she?

I did not want to think about Mother or Missouri that next week. Chris had brightened my life, then let the darkness back in again when he left. He did not do it to purposely hurt me. I knew that he could not stay forever. I have Emilio with me. That is all the current company that I need. I smile at that thought. Emilio must be the sweetest kitten in the entire world. It’s okay for me to say that because beneath my icy demeaner, I am but a child. Well, sometimes.

I went to get him a saucer of milk and as I bent down to poor I felt this strange feeling of déjà vu. It was so out of the ordinary that I nearly feel over. I remember being in almost the same situation once in my life before. I could not recall it at the moment, but I thought about it for days. Not constantly, but enough to know that I was thinking about it too often. Besides, it was just a strange feeling. Everyone gets them. Or, so I thought.
It was time once more to fall asleep and as I lay awake one Edgar Allen Poe quote came to mind.

“Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream.”

You know, I wonder. I truly wonder. Once and a while thoughts enter by brain about reality and existence. I have silent debates with myself on whether life is real or not. If it’s all a dream, then this is one heck of a sick joke. I mean, why all the twist and turns? Especially with romance. I thought that I really loved Chris, but that was once upon a time. The reason for the breakup is still unknown to me. All I know is that it was mutual. We both wanted out of the relationship. It’s not that we despised each other, either. Our whole friendship bond is so much stronger than that. At least, I think so. Who knows about Chris? He’s a guy. As I lay awake with Emilio curled up on my pillow I wonder where out relationship stands.

Well, he’s with Loni now. Does that make him unavailable? Of course it does. It’s ridiculous to think otherwise. Then again, what if he doesn’t really love her? I mean, she’s beautiful and sweet, but she’s lacking in the brains department. Not that I have much on her. It’s so hard trying to fall asleep while thinking about current obsessions. I decide that past loves might be a better dreamland subject for tonight. Chris excluded. I need to find out where I went wrong with everyone else before I can attempt to sort our my feelings. Besides, boys were just toys back in Junior High.

I once dated a guy named Adam Bow. Adam was a unique and artistic soul. Just being around him made my heart flutter. Remember, this was seventh grade. All boys made my heart flutter. Though, I admit that this was something else. Something more special. He was they typical best friend slash boyfriend. Like in the move ‘Pretty in Pink’. The obsessor. I was only thirteen and I had just moved away from the ranch.

I knew he loved me. Or, thought he loved me. We broke up because I just could not take it. It was so much stress on both of us. We felt tied down with love and we hadn’t experienced much in life. There was other fish in the sea, but I promised that if this did not work out for me and my love life that I’d always come crawling back to Adam Bow. I still have his current phone number.

Before him it was Michael. Michael was arrogant, obnoxious, and crude. I haven’t a clue why I went steady with him for so long. Perhaps I was just longing for purpose. Longing to be popular. I wasn’t in the ‘in’ crowd back in Junior High or in High School. I did not get many dates and I only ever went steady with Michael, Chris, and Adam.

I was an outcast in school and I’m an outcast now, but I don’t really care. Girls in High School were terribly cruel though. That one bunch of popular girls. Every school has them. Sometimes you’re one of them and you don’t know it. I wasn’t like that. I knew I wasn’t and I longed to be like them, but now I don’t know why. Now I know that back then I should have been lucky just to have a family. A Purpose. There’s that word, again. “Purpose”. Once Chris told me a little story about purpose. It went like this.

“When each person is born, Mother Nature gives them an imaginary kitten. We all know that in a way kittens are like small children, as they, too, must be loved nurtured, and cared for. With these kittens there are three paths to choose from. The choice is yours.

You may pamper your kitten. Down this road the riches are plenty and great. Though, we all know the struggling lived behind the smiling faces of modern day celebrities. Some choose to have an indoor pet. Shielding them from hurt and torture. Sadly, the only that that is doing is injuring the kitten more. Fore, when you’re not around who will protect her if she cannot help herself?

I want to rely on the third choice. My kitten will become a cat and learn to eat mice. Though, some don’t like it, keeping away rodents are the purpose of kittens, in my opinion.

The kitten given to you by Mother Nature represents your inner soul and ambition. You can choose to be famous with talent or no talent, choose to be ever-protected, or choice your purpose. Bring meaning into your live. Fight for your rights. My imaginary kitten will chase mice. What about yours?”

My kitten is a natural mouse hunter…but she hasn’t found her prey.

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter SIX: Strike a Pose

This day was of much importance in my life. It was the day that I discovered my career as a model. I had been searching through Internet and newspaper classifieds of all types. A special, particular one stood out more than others. It was an ad in a teen magazine. It was beautiful. It had bright, white text with a purple boarder. It had film strip designs around it. The background of the classified ad had a grayish color that almost looked as if it were sparkling. It wasn’t an average ad. I had to see if they were still hiring.

“Attention, young models!,” It read. “Those who’ve always dreamed of a career in fashion, art, photography, modeling and MORE, this is what you’re looking for. Now hiring young models for cataloge and department store advertisement. Call 555-873-4444-MODEL.”

Department store? It’s a start. Everyone must start somewhere. If this is my destiny, so be it. I sit in the lumpy blue chair as I continue looking down at the phone number. Should I call it? Is it destiny or just a shiney advertisement? I do not know. I if I did call I’d just be getting all of my hopes up. If I did not call, then I’d never be able to sleep again. Should call. That would put my mind at ease. I can’t just live off of Christopher forever.

I slowly start to dial. It takes four rings before someone answers. “Hello” She had said to me in a starling voice. She seemed old. Well, much older than I. Perhaps I had the wrong number? I looked over the paper again. No, right number. Her voice was unfriendly like she did not want anyone to call or she wasn’t expecting anyone to call.
“Hello.” I say. “ I read your ad in magazine and--”

“What magazine?” Uh oh, maybe the number really was wrong. I tripled checked it. No, still the right number.

“Umm...I’m not sure. I just wrote this down on a piece of paper and I was wondering if you still were looking for young models.” I started off shaking, but by the end of that sentence my speech was golden.
“Yes. We are.” Her voice seemed to brighten up. Perhaps everything was okay and I would get a job! I knew that I was getting too ahead of myself and I did not care. I needed to show Chris that I wasn’t a baby.

She gave me the address and we talked about my weight and height. I’m not plus size, but I’m sure not model size. Well, teen model size I am, I guess, because she said to come for a trial photo shoot. I’ve always been petrified of the word ’shoot’. I’m not sure why. I guess I just don’t want to be shot.

Anyway, it was time to choose my outfit. When going to meet someone for the first time, you’re outfit is all about who you are. You can’t just wear anything that you feel like or whatever is most expensive. It had to represent and show off your best asset. I’m going to wear black. I’m not sure what type of black, but I know it’s a good color. It’s sliming, professional, and great with dark hair. My hair. That’s another problem. I can’t just go in there looking like a tangled mess of hair. I would just have to cut it. Yes, seriously. I would cut my hair that day.


I wasn’t sure that I wanted to brother with visiting a hairdresser, so I used regular scissors on my self. I still remember tying my hair in a loose bun and then cutting the loose bun off. It did not look half bad. Now, back to outfits. I had a lot of black clothing. I did most of my shopping at the flea market, so I could not go with the most expensive outfit that I had even if I wanted to. Thinking about it makes me sigh in defeat. If only my parents would have let me pack before they kicked me out. Then, at least I would have had something decent to wear.


I wish that I were Cinderella and that I had a Fairy Godmother. That way, I could just wish up a perfect clothing choice. That’s not logical, I must think logically. Black. Brush my hair. Look sophisticated. Look beautiful. A few easy steps to follow. I grinned at myself in the mirror before removing from my closet a simple black dress. Perfect.

I left the apartment wearing black tights, tall white boots, and a long sleeved black mini-dress. I looked amazing. Even model-like. My hair had be cut, by me, to perfection and I was feeling more confident than ever. I was ready and willing to meet this model-seeking-woman.
I still remember how I felt returning for that place. An audition of some sort. This girls were thirteen to twenty-three and as small as a Junior High girl. Their bones were so small. I was shocked. I obviously felt rather heavy around them. The woman I previously spoke with said I was no good. Too fat, I was. Well, that hurt me…so I went out to eat. Trying to drown this experience in sorrows. Well, now at least I know that I’m not the sort of person that would change for anyone else. No one should be like that. No would should change their looks or personality just because someone wants you to. It’s ridiculous, I think.

So, it was after my move to New Jersey, getting Emilio, and my horrible modeling experience that I finally learned that looking for my life’s true purpose would never help me to actually find it for real. I can’t just pick a sparking piece of advertisement out of a newspaper and expect to find all of my goals. I had to do so much more than that.

That was the point in my life when I discovered my real passion. Waitressing. At my favorite coffee shop they were hiring and I never noticed until now. I wasn’t in the coffee shop when I noticed, either. Sometimes I have this weird feeling and I play back images in my mind. I know that a lot of people do stuff like that, but it’s different when I’m one of those people. I went to bed the night that I discovered waitressing in complete darkness with Emilio next to me.

I woke up in the morning as if I had a thousand new thoughts in my brain. Some would not think waitressing to be very glamorous. It’s not. I just like caffeine and cleaning up after people. I know it’s not my dream job. I won’t think of that for years. After all, I’m only sixteen. Yet, I’m not too young for love. I think about Chris as I sit on the bathroom counter and brush my now shortened hair. It brushes in whips against my shoulders.

I fell and look so much better with my hair shorter. More grownup and sophisticated. Sometimes I miss braiding it so long and curled, but I still prefer it this way. I hope I’ll do better with this job, or career, than I did with my previous ones. I was a babysitter, a dog walker, a model, and a mechanic. Waitressing is my calling, but not my life’s work. My kitten is still hunting, I think.

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter SEVEN: Coffee Palace

I did not work too hard on my clothing choice on the day that I went to see about that waitressing job. I left early in the morning because I wanted to get there when it first opened. I hope that they’re accepting those who just walk in without calling first. I did not know the number, anyway. So, I ended up wearing a brown plaid skirt with a white shirt tucked in. Very professional. No sarcasm intended. I looked like a belonged in a coffee shop. Just my intention.

The coffee shop is call “Lorlyn Coffee Palace. Which fits me because shouldn’t telekinetic princesses live in a palace? It opened at eight A.M.. That’s so the business men and women can come there first to before work so they can get hyped up on caffeine and doughnuts. Did I mention the doughnuts before? This place has the best variety and most tasty of all doughnuts everywhere. I love eating here. It’s all they serve. Coffee and doughnuts. My favorite food and drink choices.

The coffee shop is decorated simply, but it’s still very pleasant to the eye. It’s very much wood. Mahogany colored and some painted black. It’s small, too. It can only seat twenty people at a time including the bar stools at a back counter by the magazine rack. It’s so peaceful and it always plays very good music. The kind that has words. Sometimes coffee shops just play that classical stuff in the background. It can become annoying.

I’m frightened as I walk inside. What if they don’t like me? I’ve always had a major problem with anxiety. It get afraid of everything, sometimes. At other times, I’m an all out maniac with my words. My mind is extremely separated, I think. I’ve learned now that that I can’t be like that. I cannot try to run from things or my problems will jut pile of. I’m afraid to death of walking over to that front counter and asking about that job, put I must pounce on my prey whenever I get the chance.

“Excuse me, Miss.” I say to the young woman at the counter. She’s probably my age and living with nice parents is suburbia. I envy her greatly.

“Yes?” She replies with a sweet smile. Perhaps this wasn’t as bad as I had thought. See, Amelia. You just have to go for it.

“I was coming to seen about that job. It’s posted in the window and--”

“Yes! You are that’s so great!” She had a thick New Jersey accent. I was used to it, but not to this extent. I had to try to keep from laughing. She seemed so cheerful. As if no one had ever came to see her about a job before.

“Is there a form that I need to fill out, because I don’t have any references or anything. I’m lost, really.” I must have sounded like a complete nutcase to her.

“No, that’s not a problem.”

“Where’s the manager today?”

“I’m the manager.” She said with a smile. That’s odd. She looks so young. She looked younger than me…. “Yeah, I always dreamed of owning a coffee shop. Who would have guess that I’d be managing the most popular one in Lorlyn at the early age of seventeen?”

I could feel my jaw drop. She’s the owner? “Oh….how did you manage that?!” I nearly screamed that. I made sure that it was a friendly shout, though. Wow. This girl knew where she belonged. Her kitten had it’s prey and it was sticking to it. This was amazing.

“Well, I graduated early from High School because of my high grades and such. I really wanted to own my own business so I studied like hell.” The young woman smacked on her bubble gum as she spoke. She had short blonde hair. Natural blonde that looked like that sun hit it perfectly. She was so pretty. She was tall and extremely thin. She was so young and an owner of a coffee shop. An owner! I was obviously inspired. “My name’s Chelsea, by the way.”

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter EIGHT: What is Love

I started working for Chelsea on the very same day that I met her. I would do things like wipe off the table tops, take orders, and I was even aloud to use the cash register. It was as if this job was made for me. I rather enjoyed the entire experience. Once and a while I would have conversations with the customers. I remember when I was merely a customer. Being hired here at Lorlyn Coffee Palace made me feel like an authority figure. A powerful authority figure. Not to all the money that I was making. I wasn’t rich, but it was so much more than I had before and I was making it on my own. Chelsea paid me five dollars each hour, plus I made a lot in tips.

I worked many hours because I had nothing else to do. When she would ask me why I wasn’t in school, I would say that I was home schooled and that I did all my work at night. I did not like lying. Sometimes I would work the night shifts and do different chores around the shop. Things like writing down and documenting each item that we had stored, mopping the floors, and taking out the garbage. It wasn’t my favorite shift, but since Chelsea only had three, excluding myself, workers I ended up getting rotated into this job quite often.

My favorite fellow employee is Janet. She’s twenty three and very attractive. She’s a rather free spirited girl. Sort of a modern day hippie. She’s not as clean as I, but of course I befriended her, regardless. Janet wears her hair in a loose ponytail at the back of her neck. I love the color of her hair. It’s nearly blonde. Very light brunette, I guess.

The other two waiters are young men. Both in college. They’re always goofing around with each other, wasting time, and talking about comic books. I think that they have seen one too many Kevin Smith movies. They sure used that sort of foul language. I don’t like it, but to each their own. I was raised quite the opposite, though. I really rather not think about my parents or how I was raised right now. Sometimes I miss them horribly, but at other times I hate them. I despise mixed feelings.

I supposed that the most mixed feeling of all is about love and friendship with Chris. Am I in denial? Or is he truly just a friend? If I do love him truly, then why don’t I tell him? Am I worried about his reaction? Yes. No. I don’t know. Yes.

I guess that I need to stop thinking about what other people think and worry more about my own heart. Besides, I’m the only one that I can control. I’m the only one who can honestly be effected by my reactions to things. Back in the day, when I was thirteen, I thought that I was in love with Chris. Or, perhaps I only liked him because he was cute, older, and nice to me? No, I don’t think so. I’m only sixteen now. Love shouldn’t be an issue in my life, yet. I have so much life left. Well, I can’t honestly say that because you never know when life is going to end for you, but now I’m just being morbid.

I would just have to call him. I’ll call Chris and tell him how great I feel when I’m with him. How much I want to be with him. How much I’m in love with him. Then everything would be perfect! I picked up the phone and dialed his number slowly. I was silently worrying as I sat there in my living room with a small lamp as my only light.

“Hello?” The voice on the only line was female. Probably Loni. I guess that I had forgotten about her. I guess I’m the only one who COULD ever forget about her. She’s perfect in looks. Just what men are looking for. I don’t think I like her as much as I used to. Now that I found out how much I really like Chris.

“Loni?”

“Is this ! I’m, like, so happy to hear from you! You are totally missing out on so much around her. I’m, like, totally pregnant.!” My jaw dropped. She’s pregnant? With Chris’s baby? Oh my gosh, I can’t handle this, but I must try.

“Pregnant?” I try to sound cheerful and happy for her, but I’m not. “With Chris?”

“Oh course, silly. Like, I’m due in August! YAY! I’m, like, SO excited.”

“Me, too, Loni.”
“You’re pregnant, too?”

“No.” I laugh, “I’m happy.” Though, I wasn’t. I was angry. If Chris is going to be a father then there is no way that I’ll ever get him back. We were so great together, too. I know I’m just a kid, but I know real love. I’m mature on the inside.

“Oh, like, duh. I’m wacky today!” I could almost see that same old dumb look on her face. She is so annoying. Well, she is actually a good person. That’s just my jealousy thinking bad thoughts about her. Though, she is dumb.

“Can I speak with Chris?” Gosh, it was so hard to keep from crying.

“Like, sure, one second.” She must have attempted to pull the phone away from the mouth part to yell for Chris, but she did not do a good job of it. “CHRIS!!!”

“What, my love?” I could hear him in the background. He called her his love. That’s what he used to say to me sometimes. Way back when we were together, but that was then and this is now. I was just a child. We could make is work this time. I could not bare it. I could not take this. That was the minute that I gave up on Chris’s love forever. I hung up the phone. By then I was a crazy mix of emotions. I did not know what to do or say. It was late evening. Lorlyn Coffee Palace was probably still open. I could put in some extra hours if they were busy.

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter NINE: Mind Slip

The coffee palace was nice this time of day. It was just getting dark and all of the customers were adults. Only Chelsea was working. A soft voiced blues singer was coming in over the speakers spread out about the shop. The lights were dimmed and around the place were men and women in black wearing berets. It was the most cliché coffee shop ever, but I did not mind.

“Chelsea?” I asked as I walked in. “Need some help?”

“As a matter of fact,” She stated as she continued rearranging the coffee cups. “ I was just about to call Janet.”

“You were going to call Janet and not me? I’m hurt.” I fake pouted and Chelsea and I laughed together. I had been so long since I had a girl to talk to. As far as I recall all my best friends have been male.

“You know it’s not like that, Aimee.” We walked into the back room. It was all right for us to do that here because we, unlike some people, trusted out customers. “You’re here so much working so hard. Janet…isn’t.” She laughed.

“I guess you’re right, but I’m here now and I’m here to help.”

Then we walked together back around to the counter in from of Lorlyn Coffee Palace. It was strangely silent. That’s when I heard the gun fire. It blasted the speakers and the music shut off. One young woman in the back screamed, then she was quickly silenced. Sadly, that cost another gun fire. There was murder at my place of work.

The gun was carried by a woman in white. A white nylon-type mask covered her face. The long trench coat touched the floor. She was barking orders at Chelsea and I, but I could not hear them. I was still in shock from the gun fire. I was so frightened that my feet could not move. Scared stiff, I was.
That’s when I knew that I had to do something. This was one of those times when I was the only one would should save the day, so to speak…or think. I had my power to protect us all. Was I going to use it? I wasn’t sure, really. I hadn’t practiced since I was with Chris except for that one night in my apartment. I did not know what to do, but I knew that I was the only one who could do it. The one who must do it.

I focused all attention of mine onto the gun. It floated out of her hands like magic. It was coming from my brains. Some days I wish that I could still see the future as I could while I was young and innocent. Then I could see how this ends. Then I focused my mind at the woman’s nylon-type mask. It came off. Mother.

“Mother?”

“No, it’s the Easter Bunny.” My mother said. That’s where I got my sarcasm from. I got it from her.

“Aimee, what’s going on here…” Chelsea said while still standing by my side. The customers were in shock. “We are SO going out of business.”

“Oh, honestly, Chelsea! Is that all that you can think about!” I whispered fiercely to her. I was angry as hell. Where was my father? Why was my mother robbing my place of work…how did she find my place of work? Then I look back at Mom. “Mother, what’s going on. Please tell us…I--I---I-”

“’You--You----You’ what? Girl, don’t you EVER call me “mother“, again!”

Tears began pooling in my eyes as I took a silent walk down memory lane. My mommy. Why was this happening to me? Did she ever love me? “JUST TELL ME WHAT’S GOING ON, DAMMIT!” I screamed with all of my anger and force. The whole building shook. I could feel it. Of course I could feel it. I did it. I was powerful. I wasn’t a freak, I just did not know my real gifts, yet. Everyone is unique and different. In their own way, I guess.
The gun which had been in the air and out of reach floated from it’s hanging place to my hand. I pointed it at my mother. Then I lowered the gun. I could not do it. The strangest thing happened after that. My mother started singing. Singing and chanting. All of the saddened I was six again. I remember this. I had the mind of my sixteen-year-old self, but I was out in Missouri on the ranch, again. I was just a little girl. Chelsea, Mother, and the customers were gone. The sun shone peacefully down over the prairie. My small body got it’s self up off the ground.

In the distance the forest was staring at me. It suddenly got dark. There was my old friend at my side. I wanted to scream, but no words escaped my throat. He was dead, alright. Burns covered his face. He really had been burning inside out. It was little Paul back from the grave. He smiled and me and maggots fell from his mouth. He wore a sinister grin.

“How did you know I was real, Aimee?” The corpse croaked. “How did you know I was real? Was it the pain I went through? What it my mother? Well, your mother is no angel. Your mother is powerful. Your mother will kill---” He fell over. Dead? How can a corpse die? Well, if they could, then he did…again.

Lightening flashed above the woods in an eerie, welcoming way. I may have been in a six-year-old’s body, but I still had my intelligence, my bravery, and my power. No one does this to me and gets away with it. I know I’m not a freak of nature. I’m a smart, fierce, young woman and if the forces of black magic want to mess with good people then they’ll just have to answer to me, first.

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter TEN: Hospital

The forest grass was wet beneath my feet. Nothing had changed since I last entered. I was still small and frightened. I had not a single clue about what sort of black magic was being worked upon my soul, but I didn’t like it. My long black hair was thin and in braids. Just how it had been on that fateful day ten years ago. I didn’t want to enter the woods, but I truly believe that some sort of darkness, some sort of force…it was pulling me. Begging me to follow it. So I did.

Swamp water filled my shoes and the dark rain clouds lined up together just above me. I was scared, but determined to move on. I did not even know where I was going, though. I was lost in the forest, again. Only, this time Paul wasn’t with me anymore. This time, I was alone.

It was strange to think that just an hour ago I was whining over loosing Chris to Loni, but now I’m in some other dimension and standing in the wet woods in the rain. I felt so uncomfortable and cold. Then I heard a noise behind me. What I saw was too horrible to recall. I can never think nor speak of it. That was the last thing that I saw before I passed out.

I awoke as a sixteen-year-old in a New Jersey hospital. I was alone in the room, but through the glass window I could see Chelsea talking with a cute doctor. That girl better be talking about me and got getting a date. I rolled my eyes. It was rather easy for me to sit up now, so I did. I wasn’t really to walk, though. I felt like my legs were paralyzed. I prayed that they weren’t.

The hospital smelt of strange and unusual fumes and it sickened my stomach mildly. I could taste medicine in my mouth, but I don’t remember taking any. I just felt so dizzy and alone. I wished that Chris was here. I wanted him to be with me so badly. Though, I realize that I can’t always get what I want. Need is different than wanting. I need Chris.

I could still see Chelsea through the window. Wanting to yell for her, but not being able to was probably the scariest experience of my life. Well, besides the whole being changed into a child because of black magic thing. There were cuts and bruises all over me. As if I had been beaten. Chelsea enters the room now. Still wearing her uniform from the coffee shop, she sits down in a chair by my bed.

“I’m glad to see that you’re okay.” Her accent was so cute! I loved how people from New Jersey spoke. Especially when their words were sincere. Chelsea is a good, sweet friend, I think.

“I’m glad to be okay.” I laughed, though I was honest. I wasn’t ready for death. Especially not the death of supernatural nature.

“Wha--what happened to you in there?” I hadn’t a clue how to answer this question. How DID the others see me? Was I just laying unconscious on the floor? Was a walking around while thinking that I was in another dimension? Or did I disappear altogether?

“I’m not sure. When I was younger there were woods behind my ranch. The woods came with an extremely unbelievable story that people used to tell at campfires while drunk. Well, one day my friend and I decided to go in. He died. When my mother was in the coffee chop she used black magic to send me back there and--”

“Wait. I better ask you later when you’re not delusional.” She joked as the handsome doctor walked in.

“Welcome back to the real world, Miss Amelia.” He said with a smile. He was adorable. I could tell that he was likable around here too. He had a suntanned tone to his skin with black raven hair in a ponytail. I never saw a doctor with a ponytail, but it was still attractive to me. I like ponytails. See, even inside my head I was giggling like a little girl.

“I’m glad to be back, doctor. I was…quite frightened by everything that was going on. I didn’t like it.”

“No one likes robberies, kiddo. And, I’m not the doctor.” He smiled. “I only work here on weekends. I’m still in High School. I’m a Senior. Not even eighteen yet, but I do know how to care for patients. I’m all set for medical school.” As he grinned I viewed his marvelous teeth. He was fantastic…I wondered if he was available.

“Good golly I’m in heaven!” I shouted before I could contain myself. I blushed and then laughed it off.

“No, honey, we did all the work to make sure you wouldn’t leave us too quickly. You’re still on Earth.” He semi-joked as he flashed another one of his brilliant smiles.

After laughing and talking a bunch of small talk. “Is it long distance to call Missouri?” I asked. I couldn’t help but think of Chris.

“Do you have family there? Because, if you do we won’t charge you.”

“Do best friends count as family?”

“Sure do. I’ll get the phone.”

I couldn’t wait to talk to Chris and tell him all that had happened here. He would believe me for sure. I just hope that Little Miss Loni doesn’t answer the phone or I will probably scream. “Hello, Chris?” I say in my sweetest voice imaginable.

“Aimee. I heard what happened. I’m on my way right now and--”

“No, I have to go back to Missouri. You can’t come here. I’ll go to your house there. I’ll stay with you and Loni…if that’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay, girl. We all miss you.”

“Yeah ‘we all’ just includes you and Loni, doesn’t it?”

“Well, I didn’t want to be rude.” He laughed. I love it when he laughs. It brightens my entire day because he’s just so cheerful sometimes.

“How did you know what happened to me?” I just had to ask.

“It’s all over the news, girl. Cops are everywhere. All around your mother’s house and everything.”

“What about my father?”

“Aimee?”

“Yeah?”

“Your father died before you were born.”

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter ELEVEN: Home Sweet Home

After a long conversation with Chris, he explains to me that he had been checking up on things since I left. Apparently my birth father wasn’t who I thought he was. He was dead. He died that night that my mother gave birth to me. I wasn’t born in the hospital, as I had once thought. I was born in my house in a strange room that I couldn’t recall. Chris said that he’d been in there and it looks like a sanctuary for the dark arts of black magic.

Of course, finding this all out put me into shock for a couple of hours. The dad that I had known my entire life was a figment of my imagination. Or a ghost, but I don’t believe in them. I was better the next day and well enough to travel back to Missouri. I didn’t have anything to pack besides Emilio, so I got him a pet carrier and took him with me. I was discouraged that he didn’t get to sit with me on the flight, but I was happy that my new friends came along. Adam, the doctor‘s helper, and Chelsea, my boss. I just met them, but they came anyway. Either they were great people or they had nothing better to do. I think it was a mixture of both.

As I sat by the window on the airplane, I looked out into the great beyond of clouds. It was a magical experience for the cloud looked like angels and they were smiling at me. Sometime told me not to be afraid. The angels were forever with me. Even angels on Earth who didn’t know that they were angels. Like Chris and Chelsea. Okay, so they weren’t the very definition of an angel. They were my angels.

I loved the way that when I felt like crying that Adam guy was there to sooth my tears with a joke or a funny story. He’s a good friend. I can tell.
“So, what part of Missouri are you from?”

“A very small country town by Rolla.” I smiled back.

“You’re kidding!” That statement puzzled me. “I lived around there, too, back when I was, like, twelve! Oh my god! This is so weird!”

“You’re not a stalker, are you?” I joked.

“Well, if I was, I sure did pick the most beautiful of all people to stalk.” He smiled and winked. What a cheese ball, he was. Of all the corny pick-up lines, I---I admit that I enjoyed the attention.

“Oh, stop it.” We flirted for a while until I ask him a question that would change both of our lives. “What if we knew each other before?”
“No, if I had met you before I would have remembered. My ex-girlfriend’s name is Amelia, though. Back when I was thirteen--”

“DAMN YOU, Adam Bow!”

He laughed, not understand how serious I was. Not to ‘damn him’, but the expression of joy on my face. “Why ‘damn me’? He laughed some more before he realized sometime. “How did you know my last name.” He froze.

“I’m ME. I, Amelia! I’m your ex-girlfriend. I had no fat on my body. I was skin and bones. I had long black hair and blue eyes. The girl with the crazy mother who never left the house! You told me you loved me one time and--”’ I began jumbling all of my works together. Adam and I had dated as young teenagers. Just three years ago. So much can change in three years. Even physical appearances. Especially while you’re still growing. He didn’t even recognize me. I didn’t recognize him, either.

“NO KIDDING?!” He laughed. “This is rather awkward, then. I didn’t recognize you. I feel like a jerk.”

“Don’t feel bad, Adam. I didn’t recognize you, either. What were you doing in New Jersey?”

“My whole family moved there last year. Then I got a job at the hospital because my old brother works there.” He laughed again. “We have so much catching up to do.”

“Tell me about it.” I rolled my eyes and laughed again. We spent the entire remainder of the flight talking with each other and informing one another about events of our lives through the last three years. Then we had to explain everything to Chelsea when she finally woke up. She had been asleep in the row behind us through the entire flight. She must have been tired.
It’s so strange meeting up with someone that you haven’t seen in years. Especially ex-lovers. I mean, this was the guy that I had once planned to spend my life with. He landed in a small airport outside of town. It was owned by a friend of Chris’s. I think Chris is probably friends with everybody. He’s such a likable person.

Well, there it was before me. Home sweet home. After driving a few miles we were there. Not at my mother’s previous, or current, place of residence, but my old ranch. Along with me were Adam, Chelsea, and the police escort from a nearby village. He got us access to the house I used to live in. Plus, everyone had heard about the shootings in New Jersey. He was looking for clues that would point us in the direction of my mother’s current place of residence. My previous home was vacant, as told to us by Chris. We went to try our luck with this one. No one lived there at the time. No woods. At first I had thought that they had been cut down. “Where are the woods? All I see beyond my ranch is that other barn and the fields.”

“What woods?” The police officer said as he took off his hat and rubbed his nearly bald head. He was and older man. Probably in his late fifties. I guess he had be working as an officer for a while. He had many badges. He was an all around good-guy.

“Well, when I was younger there were woods outside. Behind my ranch. This is my old ranch but---”

“Sorry, kiddo. There’s not woods here. Hasn’t been since the seventies, I’m guessin‘.”

“What do you mean? Of course there was. I--I…” This couldn’t be possible. The biggest part of my childhood. What’s going on? I need to talk to Chris. This was crazy. First my dad an now this…

“What do you have this kid on, boy?!” His question was sent towards Adam.

“Umm….I’m not the doctor, sir. I’m not aware of her medications. Just trying to keep her safe.”

“Well, I think she’s delusional.”

[Clairvoyance]

Chapter TWELVE: Rest in Peace

Chelsea and I entered the house followed by the two men. Chelsea carried the pet carrier with Emilio tucked in side. I was truly worried for the little cat’s safety. The inside of the house was still decorated with dusty paintings, only the furniture was missing. “I’m guessing that no one had lived here since my family…?” It has an eerie, but quaint feeling to it. I was frightened, but only a little. I could tell that Chelsea wasn’t. She was fearless, I think. She rarely was scared of anything. I admire her for that.

“Not sure, kid. I know companies ‘been tryin’ to sell it for a while now.” The police officer, Sheriff Rolf, got a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. That just goes to show how professional the law enforcement in this town was. I rolled my eyes, but no one noticed. We continued looking around the house for clues that might help us find out where my mother was currently hiding. Then we came across a room. It was small. Like a chamber. I must have been the room that I had been born in.

I sick feeling grasp my throat as I entered the uniquely decorated chamber. I stumbled and feel to the ground. I felt as if I couldn’t move at all. I was so frighten, once more, just like a small child, but this time I wasn’t transformed. Just afraid, I guess. I hated being such a coward. The down slammed behind me and my mother appeared before my eyes. Draped in dark clothing, she was. She laughed an evil laugh before disappearing, again. I ran out of that room as quickly as possible.

“What on Earth…where are you going in such a hurry?” Sheriff Rolf said.

“It’s her. She’s here.”

“I didn’t see anyone enter…” Chelsea said. Emilio was now out of the cage and into her lap. She and Adam sat on the floor. The Sheriff smoking by the counter. It was as if they were immune to my screams. “I mean, your mother’s not here, Aimee. She’s probably hiding somewhere or something…. So, just chill, okay? You’re scaring Emilio.”

I must have fainted then. I must have been so overwhelmed with fright and confusion. I woke up the voice of Adam above me. “I’m sorry for not forgiving you, Amelia. She was here. Your mother was here. Don’t scream. Be quiet. She could be listening.” He whispered. It was like a scene from a scary movie. It was completely dark. I didn’t know how long I was out for.

“Where are they? Where’s Rolf and Chelsea?” I was so confused and upset. I couldn’t move from that spot on the floor. I was paralyzed in fear and my head was bleeding from the fall. As a matter of fact, Adam was also covered in blood. What had happened while I was knocked out?

“Amelia…” Is voice was full of worry and depression. This couldn’t be good.

“What?” I asked with a faint smile; hoping for the best.

“Chelsea’s gone.” He fought back tears. I could tell that he was trying not to cry. It’s so depression when strong men cry. If they can’t keep cool, then who’s going to help the rest of us?

“What do you mean…”gone”?” I asked before looking around the room. There she was. Spread out on the hard wood floor with her head knocked in on the side. She was dead. My best and only female friend was….dead. Her lifeless body made not a sound. She just lay there in a mess of blood. “Where’s the Sheriff?”

“Went back into town to get an ambulance for you. He thought it best for me to stay here with you because I was in better health, but I think that he was just scared.” He smirked a little and then held me close. “Oh, Aimee…I thought that we lost you, too.”

“I can’t be happy about my life when Chelsea’s dead. What HAPPENED here? What went on?” I was crying hysterically by then. I was so mixed up. Before he could answer a familiar person entered the house. Chris.
“CHRIS!” I screamed as I tried to get up. I couldn’t. Something must have been wrong where my head had hit.

“Don’ try an’ get up, girl. Aimee, I need you to stay where you are, okay?” His voice was so soft and soothing. Like he was speaking to a child. For once in my life I was glad to be so young. I had so many to care for me. Adam reached out and held my hand as Chris ran over to me with a huge bad of medical equipment. He took out a large pillow. “Lift up your head.” I did as I was told and he slipped the pillow under it.

“What HAPPENED here?”

Adam and Chris looked at each other before Chris began to speak. “Your…ma was here. She come in and kill Chelsea on the spot. She tried to get Emilio, but he ran under the floor boards. Then she went after Adam.”

“I thought that she wanted to kill ME? Why go after a kitten?”

“She wants to hurt you, Amelia. Inside and out.”

“Why?” I said. I couldn’t understand. I didn’t want to understand. This was my mother. She had loved me.

“We don’t know. Apparently you have the power that she wanted and she’s jealous. Dat’s as far as I could figure out, girl.”

“Well, if you wanted my ‘gift’ she could I have just asked. I don’t want them. Look what they did to Chelsea! To everything and everyone!” I burst out in more tears as I sat up off the pillow and leaned into Adam. I don’t need a man to make me happy. I just need love. Someone has to love me. I don’t care what sort. Just love.
“Anyone in here that’s alive and not a evil witch?” The Sheriff knocked on the door, then came in followed by a stretcher and medical workers. “Only one person can ride with her him the back. What one is the boyfriend.

I could see Adam and Chris both blush a little. “Neither,” Chris said, “But I’ll go with her, if that’s okay with Adam.”

“Of course it is.” Adam smiled and patted Chris on the back the way males do before walking out with the Sheriff to ride in the police car to the hospital.

Then the ambulance workers lifted my onto the stretcher. With the soft pillow under my head I got a weird sort of comfort. “Are you coming, Chris?”

Just a second he answer before running back into the house. While I was completely in the ambulance, he remerged with a small black kitten in his arms. “Emilio!” I was glad that my kitten was alive and even more glad that Chris cared enough to save him. He’s a good friend. Yes, just a friend. I accept that and I just don’t care anymore. He and Loni are going to raise a beautiful family, I’m sure.

Inside the ambulance Chris sat beside me. It was a while until town and we didn’t speak much at first. Chris started the conversation. “I know you’re different, Aimee. I’ve know that since the moment dat I met ya. I’ve always loved you, though in different way at different times. Ya like a sister to me, girl. I love you forever. No matter what anyone ever says, I’ll always see the good in you. Everyone is unique in their own ways. Everyone is different.
“It’s just the luck of the draw that you happen to be more different than others. Nothin’ ta be ashamed of. It’s just your personality. Your power is part of you. Everyone has unique talents and quirks. We all must embrace our differences so we don’t all become the same. Imagine how borin’ dat would be.

“I swear that one day you will become a role-model for all teenagers everywhere. You don’t have to tell about your powers. Just about your abusive parent. How you lived through that is a wonder. It’s amazing that you and Adam and Emilio all survived. Chelsea will be missed greatly. I never met her, but I used to talk to her on the phone. Before you say anything, yes, I was checking up on you through her, but she really was your friend. She really did care for you. So many cared for her. It’s strange how you don’t know how many people care about you until you die. Well, she’s lookin’ down on us right now. We need to stay strong in times of great depression. We need to stay strong for Chelsea.”

[Clairvoyance]

I got out of the hospital after a week of observations. The doctors had to be sure that my head was alright. I was frightened, of course. I guess I’m scared too often, but I just don’t care anymore. Being frightened is only human. I need to be everything human that I possibly can be just to make sure that my powers of telekinesis don’t over rule me.

Loni and Chris go married in July. She was eight months pregnant and more beautiful than ever. She didn’t feel very well, though and it was hard for her to be on her feet so during the ceremony that had her sit on a chair. It was hilariously adorable, I think. Chris looked so handsome up there. When I was younger I had always dreamed that I would marry him, but now they’re a new man permanently in my life. You guessed it, Adam Bow. I’ll never let him go again. I don’t care how many fish are in the sea, he’s the one that right for me. The perfect catch.

I went to the hospital the day that Loni’s baby was born. Eight pounds and three ounces, she was. What a beautiful child. They named her Anna Grace. I love that name. It’s so peaceful and charming. It got me thinking about my own children, but I quickly changed the subject in my head. I’m only sixteen-years-old. I have so much ahead of me. So, it’s the end of my fairytale. My best friend gets married and I ride off into the sunset with my love…well, it’s the end of my fairytale…for now, at least.

***
FINISHED

[Terro]

Wow, thats a lot of reading material :) I'm sure this will be a good read. I'll post my thoughts as soon as I finish it.

[Silverm00n]

Clairvoyance,

I enjoyed your short story so much! I have only a few small critiques for you... When the story began you wrote that Amelia lived in a motel. Then in the next chapter you said "her apartment." I don't know if she relocated, it wasn't mentioned. The only other thing is that there are some small grammer issues, like instead of "from" you wrote "for." (Maybe it's just copying error from paper to computer?)

You are an extremely talented young lady, from what I see, in all the work that you have shared on this forum. You keep this up and I will be buying your books soon and asking for your autograph!!!:D

[Terro]

Wow, I am only only starting the 4th chapter but I'm already pulled in. This story has a dark feeling to it but in a interesting calm way. It's hard for me to explain but I believe that this is the feeling you wanted the reader to get. So far I'm loving it and I'm sure that Aimee has a great adventure in store for me.

[Clairvoyance]

Clairvoyance,

I enjoyed your short story so much! I have only a few small critiques for you... When the story began you wrote that Amelia lived in a motel. Then in the next chapter you said "her apartment." I don't know if she relocated, it wasn't mentioned. The only other thing is that there are some small grammer issues, like instead of "from" you wrote "for." (Maybe it's just copying error from paper to computer?)



The 'from' and 'for' was laziness on my part. *giggles* The motel/appartment thing WILL be fixed! So will everything else. It began as a role-play on some 'X-Men' message board. I only started writing this as a book about...January first of this year. :rolleyes: Okay okay, I should have fixed it allready. Again, my laziness. *laughs* It's my second novel/novella. They wouldn't publish my first because I was only twelve at the time I tried for a publisher. I got discouraged and since I've been afraid to try a publisher once again. PublishAmerica has been great to me, though. Very thoughtfull in the way that they turned me down. I must be older in order to actually get the thing looked at without it being mistook for a joke. That's they way it is, I guess. :rolleyes: