For a writer, a bookshop was like a little piece of heaven. Ettraven hadn’t intending on finding the shop, but like most great things in life, she had happened upon it most unexpectedly and had been delighted. The shop it’s self was small, not big enough for many people but she’d been surprised at how popular it was. It wasn’t that there were many people inside at once, but lots of people came in and out quickly. The door didn’t have one of those annoying little bells on it that jingled, announcing to everyone that you had decided to come in. Instead, the only way you’d know someone had entered was by a soft wave of outside heat that would take you away from the perfect climate control of the bookshop.

Nestled in one of the comfy, used red couches in the back near a lonely looking window, Ettraven was surrounded by several small piles of books. She couldn’t make up which ones she wanted, so she’d decided to read a little bit of each to figure it out. The problem was, reading them made it harder to choose. Each book she read tugged on a little part of her soul and almost made it hard to put it down. That was the problem. Sighing, Ettraven closed the book and set it on her maybe stack. She had three stacks consisting of maybe, yes and no. No was by far the smallest, with Maybe and Yes rivaling each other in height. Frowning, she stared at the stack and shook her head. She was going to blow her whole paycheck on books because she didn’t have the will to halt her addiction. Well, at least it made her happy.

Standing up, Ettraven made way to the section that had caused all these problems in the first place… the romance section. She hated the new modern books, instead choosing to go for the older, more worn pages of lovers’ history. Some of them were true stories, some of them were fictional and most of them have intense love scenes… love scenes she had never known anything about. Yes, although she was pretty she had never been to bed with a man, or woman. She’d been offered countless times to warm the sheets of strangers, of friends, and even past boyfriends but she’d always declined. She wasn’t saving herself for marriage, but she was saving herself for love. Ettraven didn’t love those people and she found it hard to give away a piece of her soul to them if she couldn’t see forever in their future. So, much to men’s delight or demise, she was still a virgin and rather proud of it.

Her finger stopped at a love story about a vampire and a human. It seemed ridiculous that a race, species, whatever… would be so hard to overcome concerning love? Ettraven was open minded, and even though she’d never been around any non-humans to her knowledge, she liked to think she’d be accepting of them. Still, she pulled the book out because like any good addict, she knew she wanted it and was good as self-harming. Walking back to her stack of books, she sat down and plopped it open. After reading the first chapter in a matter of minutes, Ettraven sighed and set it on top of the maybe stack.

What on earth was she going to do?

Frowning, she stared down at the books. Her slate grey eyes were observant and her expression thoughtful as she read each of the spines to try and decide which ones she wanted. As she sat there, lost in thought, she unconsciously wrapped a lock of hair around on of her fingers and swirled it. Her white blouse look slightly crumpled as she sat in the chair, but she looked neat still. It was tucked into a pair of dark jeans with brown leather boots. It was unclear how high they went up her pant leg since the denim was covering it. Ettraven looked more like a college professor than a writer. There was some horrible myth that all writers wore tacky clothes and constantly looked like they just fell out of bed. Not her. Ettraven liked looking clean cut and polished. She wasn’t into fancy clothes and theatrics, but she did like looking presentable.

As she was sitting there staring at the books, her eye lids slowly fell and the warmth of the sunshine coming from a window close by slowly tucked her away to quiet afternoon nap. As she sat in the little crimson, over stuffed seat her foot jerked and her tall stack of ‘Maybe’ books toppled over onto the ground. Ettraven jumped, sucking in a rather loud gasped and looked around the bookshop to see if anyone had noticed her. True to form, everyone had and Ettraven blushed, moving from the chair to the floor to rest on her knees as she picked up the books that now littered the floor around her.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Police in Crescent City, Del Norte, were shocked to find the bodies of Jameson(54) and Lucille(48) Hillard murdered in their home after receiving a report of screams from the property.
The bodies were described as having been ‘cut and sewn’ in a manner similar to the 'Y-shaped cuts' a medical examiner would make when performing an autopsy. The police on scene were heard as referring to the murders as yet another strike by the infamous M.E. Mangler, a killer who had first appeared three years ago, and whom the police have yet to find. None of the wealthy couple’s artwork and other valuables have been touched, and the murders once again baffled police as no one had any reason to kill the elderly couple.

Neighbour Shelly Sheavers explained why she did not go to investigate when she heard the screams. “They’re always fighting and screaming at each other. I usually call the police and they come out for a routine check up on the two, usually leaving someone behind to watch them for the night. I didn’t really think much of it.” None of the officers on scene did either, it seemed, as they only arrived four hours after miss Sheavers contacted them.

As with most other cases purportedly involving the Mangler, no official statements have been released to the press, and it is said that local Police Chief, Gavin Murray, had some reporters forcibly removed from the scene. “The scene has not been processed yet, and every piece is crucial to finding out who and what this killer is.” He had said. Considering the fact that the Mangler has been eluding authorities for years the lack of faith in the department does not come as a surprise. No doubt the question on everybody’s mind is this:

Who is the Mangler?

Doctor Kenley Mitchels had the following to say after studying the different reports of the crime scenes: “This is a methodical person; he works carefully, almost lovingly on his victims, demonstrating a real love for what he does. However, like most serial killers, there is an underlying mental instability…

Callinan frowned as he continued to read the profilers paragraph on him before crumpling the newspaper and throwing it in the nearest dustbin before continuing on his way down the sidewalk, a laughing Hector in tow. “Mentally unstable, deep, underlying anger – possibly at an institution who spurned your genius – tortured animals as a child… seems like they think they have you all figured out. Lucky for us the half the police department has their heads shoved up their asses, wouldn’t you say?” He joked as they walked, Callinan shaking his head, though he was smiling. “And a new record… they actually managed to keep the story out of the papers for nearly a week… they must be getting desperate at hiding you from the world.” Callinan chuckled. ”People are always trying to shield themselves from the truth.” As usual, after a murder, Callinan and Hector were on seemingly better terms, though the guilt would probably not take long to set in – it usually did a few days after the first article about one of his murders appeared.

But not yet… Callinan was too busy thinking about his two latest victims and his discoveries to be feeling guilty. Instead he was walking and whistling, a smirking Hector behind him. ”No wonder those two looked like they were dying the other night… they really were. Both with poisons in their systems? Husband poisons wife, wife poisons husband… I wonder if the one knew the other was killing them while they attempted to do the same.” Hector chuckled. “Both were rich in their own right. Money can be a powerful motivator, especially in old age. Besides, you read what that Shelly-woman said. They weren’t exactly sailing on the LOVE BOAT anymore. And she used some nasty shit, that old lady…” Callinan nodded. After examining the two he was shocked to find different poisons in their systems, more than likely because of being poisoned by their spouses. But the wife had decided not taking chances. The husband had been grounding rat poison and used that on his wife, but that Lucille… she’d been using small doses of Tetrodotoxin. Even if the old man had found out about being poisoned there would have been nothing he could do about it – his death would have been a nasty affair indeed.

So deep in thought was Callinan that he did not notice where he was until he looked up, seeing a bookstore just ahead. He smiled and Hector groaned as he realized what Callinan was looking at. “You just finished that damn book yesterday… how about giving me a break?!” But Callinan was already heading into the store. ”Stop whining. You’ve had your fun, no let me have mine.” he said, nodding his hello to the young woman behind the counter before heading straight for the latest novels of his beloved Saul, King and Koontz. And there were quite a few… he hummed softly as he picked three from the shelves – a new King and two wonderfully terrible looking Koontz novels. He would look them through, maybe purchase all three, who knew. He had a real love for these books. “You need to find some new reading material.” Hector laughed as they both walked to the couches in the back of the store… only to have a heap of books land on their feet. ”Blast!” Callinan curses and a particularly think hard cover book landed on his feet. But the young woman to whom these books belonged didn’t seem to notice him as she looked over to the more occupied section of the shop before picking up her books. “Well then, go be a gentleman, as always.” Hector said jokingly before sitting down.

Callinan hesitated but a moment before bending over and helping the young woman with her books. There were a considerable lot – clearly she loved to read… or she was indecisive…”Or both!” Hector piped up merrily as Cal continued helping her. ”Clumsy moment?” he asked, looking up at her and smiling.

Blast!

Ettraven hadn’t realized that the voice had come from just beside her. She’d been so shocked, so startled, that the only noises she really and truly heard was the gasp that had escaped her throat. Many people looked, some ignored her, and for that she was thankful. Putting a palm to her forehead, the dull ache of a headache started and she inwardly sighed. A side effect from not allowing the magic in her blood to be released. The headache would only grow worse over the days until she used it, but until then, she’d suffer in silence. It was a normal occurrence, a headache would happen every month or so if she hadn’t used her Telekinesis much. She would have liked to ask someone why, but who could you trust now a days? So, she’d stayed silent and she’d do small amounts of magic at home until the pain in her head stopped throbbing. She closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead a little harder and the ache subsided… for now.

When the man leaned down beside her, she looked up at him surprised. Like I said, she hadn’t realized he was there before. She was stunned, speechless… terribly confused. The man that was helping her, well, he shouldn’t have been in a bookstore, but on TV, a movie star… something more than a ‘regular Joe’. For a moment, she disregarded his question and stared at him with a confused look on her face. Surprise slid behind slate eyes, her face still a canvas of expression. It was when she realized she was being rude that she dropped her gaze to the floor and blushed softly.

“I’m… I’m sorry, “ She stammered, rather uncomfortably, “You looked like someone I once knew.”

It was a lie. She’d never seen anyone that handsome in her life. The thought shook her to the core, not only had she’d lied, but she’d looked like a complete idiot in front of not only the whole store, but him. Why did he matter anyways? She didn’t know, and it perturbed her that he could have such an effect on her. No one had ever caused her to forget basic speech before and one had caused her to lie like that. For a moment, she wished she was outside because the room was beginning to feel stuffy and hot, thick with embarrassment. Clearing her throat, she tried to focus on what he had asked her moments before she’d completely lost her mind.

“Indeed, a clumsy moment. It’s becoming more serious, I might need to see a doctor.“

Smiling softly, she let it go and stopped pretending to be so perfect. So, the man was handsome and looked like Zeus or some other Greek God, but she was not. She was a simple girl, who had been told on several occasions she was pretty or beautiful, but those all those men had one mission in mind. Her pants. Who believed a man with a motive? This man had been a victim of her rather clumsy nature. Normally, she wasn’t this scatterbrained, but it looked like it was getting worse. Maybe she should see a doctor? When the last book was set back on the stack, she looked at him and gave him a sweet, thankful smile.

“Thank you for your help. If I hadn’t made you a war victim, none of this would have happened. If you have to see a doctor about any injuries, send me the bill.”

Smilng at him while she spoke, her little joke made her feel a bit better. If he didn’t find it funny, then oh well. She’d found out too late in life that she couldn’t please everyone, as much as she wanted. Standing, she out stretched a hand to shake his hand, offering her name as penance.

“I’m Ettraven. Ettraven Itheria…”

Her voice was still soft, casual… but there was an undertone of something else. Would he reject her friendly offer or would be be-spelled by her? She’d go with the former in this case. Ettraven was almost positive that women threw themselves at him on a daily basis. Well, she would not wait for him to catch her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the view. All her life, she’d been waiting for the ‘right’ man, and even of he walked out of that door in a few minutes, she’d still have her dignity which was more than what some people had.

Before the girl even noticed their presence, Hector was already studying her. One could say that while Callinan was the corporeal being, Hector was the part of his mind that noticed everything he normally wouldn’t and bringing it to his attention – a normal part of his brain activity, something that most people had but simply didn’t use, seeing images and storing them away without really seeing them, manifested as a being he could see. And this was why Hector was already noticing all the finer details about the girl – the first of which was that she seemed a little unwell as she rubbed her forehead. “There’s something wrong with the poor girl.” He told Callinan, smiling from his perch on the chair. Callinan nodded his agreement as he bent down to help the girl. ”It would seem so. Perhaps just a headache.” he commented in reference to her having rubbed her forehead. Hector shrugged, having started to page through a book with a frown on his face.

But Callinan was distracted from his train of thought once he noticed the look of surprise on the young woman. He frowned slightly as she continued to stare at him, having stopped picking up books and just watching. Hector chuckled, dropping the book he’d held with a dull thud on a little table. “Now now, what do we have here?” he teased playfully, and Callinan finally decided to speak to her. ”Are you alright?” He asked her finally, hoping to draw another reaction out of her. It did, in the form of a blush and an apology, followed by a quick explanation. ”She’s lying, isn’t she.” Callinan asked, while smiling at the young woman. ”It’s perfectly alright.” Hector, having taken a bit more interest now, sat forward and nodded. “Definitely lying. Look at her body language. She is the epitome of uncomfortable.” Callinan nodded – he’d noticed. But he didn’t say anything further, not wanting to make her even more uncomfortable.

She did, however, finally answer his own question, ending by saying that perhaps she should see a doctor and smiling. “Well, aren’t we lucky. Go on ahead and tell her you’re a doctor Cal.” Hector urged, smiling as well, but Callinan shook his head. ”Not right now.” he was also smiling at the girl, nodding. ”No harm, no foul.” he stood up with the last book in his hand, placing it on the pile, and returning the smile she gave him before she talked about injuries and a doctor again. At Hector’s chuckle and raised eyebrow, Callinan decided to play along. ”There’ll be no bill.” he chuckled. ”I am a doctor and in my professional opinion there should be nothing more than a small bruise – nothing to worry about my dear.” Hector clapped playfully and teasingly. “Isn’t this just a Kodak moment.”

Callinan smiled when the young woman offered her name, reaching out to shake her hand and only now really looking at her. She was by no means an ugly woman, with long brown hair and rather soft eyes. “Very pretty, this one.” Hector commented from the side, and Callinan nodded. ”She is.” his hand curled around hers. ”Callinan Keane, but feel free to call me Cal.” he said before releasing her hand. His eyes drifted over her books – “Seems like she’s a stickler for romance, doesn’t it?” – before he looked back at her. His own books were also on of the small tables and he felt rather inclined to sit down and start reading them – He had finished his last book, after all, and he really wanted another as they helped keep his mind relaxed – but the doctor that he was wanted to know about Ettraven first. Hector laughed. “You fuss too much.”

”I don’t mean to intrude, but you didn’t look so well a few minutes ago. Perhaps you’d like to sit down?” he waved back to a seat, frowning slightly. ”Or are you sure you’re alright?” Hector, naturally, couldn’t let such an opportunity for commenting pass and he poked right in. “What are you, the doctor in shining armor? Sit down, read, find a damn book and lets be off. There are things to do!” But his words fell on deaf ears as Callinan waiting for a response from the young woman.

“Oh, well I do apologize.”

When he informed her that he was a doctor, she didn’t know if she wanted to clap or crawl away. It was an interesting career path, one that she didn’t feel like she had the stomach for, but she’d been around a lot of doctors that were not the nicest of people. She’d always found that they wanted to further their career by doing odd experiments on people, testing them to see if they could fix some sort of defect. Ettraven didn’t believe in the types of defects they always seemed to be trying to reverse. It was one thing to try and find a cure for aids or cystic fibrosis but quite another to fix freckles or try and manipulate a ‘power that someone had. God forbid some egotistalic, power hungry doctor found out about her innate ability to move things with her mind. She was sure they’d tried to take out her brain and discover the secret.

As she looked at Callinan though, he looked warm—safe. There was something in his eyes, something surreal that caught her attention. Ettraven was a writer, so naturally, she could turn nothing into something. She would go home, write about the mysterious bookstore doctor who purchased, what was it—Koontz?—and had shimmer pale green eyes that held some sort of story. Lurking behind the man with a mask was a mystery Ettraven wanted to reach out and touch, pull from his mind but she knew better. Men with stories were hardly to be trusted, rarely should they be sought as soul mates and never… let your guard down. She knew those kind of men, she’d written about them in countless books. But, Cal seemed different and even if she stereotyped them in her stories, she wouldn’t make herself feel guilty about stereotyping him now.

“Callinan, that’s quite unusual. I’m sure it’s gets butchered just as often as mine does.”

The feel of his hands were smooth, they were doctor hands. That was one thing she did like about doctors. You’d never meet a good doctor who didn’t take excellent care of himself. Cal, as he preferred, seemed to take wonderful care in his appearance, much like her. She’d run into to many ‘writers’ who looked like they hadn’t bathed in weeks, just so they could get their muse working. She never could understand why a muse, or any form of creativity, would come with stench. She’d always found that being clean helped her be creative. Her book publishers seemed to think so as well. When Cal asked if her if she was alright, she looked surprised that he had noticed that she hadn’t felt well earlier but after all, it had said he was a doctor.

“No no—I’m fine. Just a headache from stress.”

Truth was, it was stress. Stress from not using any form of magic in weeks. When she was about to ask him if he’d care to join her, a sharp pain hit her head. Her eyes slammed shut, high pitch ringing filled her ears and she pressed two fingers to her temple. At the sudden surprised of the high degree of pain that hit her, Ettraven lost some of her control. The table beside them jumped, slamming rather loudly back onto the ground with some of the books falling back onto the floor. She opened her grey eyes, horror filling them as she stared at the table then looked up at Callinan. Had he noticed? Most of the store had turned to see what the commotion was this time, but no one had seen… not like he might have. She opened her mouth to speak, but words failed her once again. The only thing that came to mind was that she had to get out of this place, with or without her books.

“That was… weird. I have to go, nice meeting you Cal.”

She gave him a smile that only said one thing- worry. The lines on her face deepen with thought, her expression still stayed the same—horror still lingered in those slate grey eyes. She turned away, picking up a brown, leather bag off the red couch and turned to face him, ready to leave.

”…and he hath made death itself the gateway to eternal life. Look with love on this child and make him one with the Son in his suffering and death so that, sealed with His blood, he can wander with you forever… He is God of power and mercy, and he hath made death itself…”

“Why do you fight it so hard Callinan?” the soft, calm, cool voice of the shadowed figure asked, interrupting the whispered prayers. There was no answer forthcoming. “Do you really think it will make much difference? To you or that kid…” but still the whispering voice didn’t answer, repeating the prayer. The owner of this voice sat on the ground, rocking back and forth over the body of a young boy. The child was clearly no longer alive – careful stitches decorated the top of the small cadaver’s head, indicating that at some point the top of it’s skull had been removed. The plastic underneath the body was, surprisingly, covered in very little blood, lending a slight pinkness to the body, giving a very false impression that the child was only sleeping… just the horrible stitches betrayed the truth. The shadow walked forward, coming closer to the rocking young man and placing a hand on his shoulder – something he found agonizing and yet comforting at the same time, just enough so not to shrug it off.

“Callinan…” the shadow said again, and this time Cal did answer him. ”I killed a child, Hector. You asked me to kill a child and God forgive me, I did… just because there was something unique and unexplainable about him…” He began to cry, streams of tears flowing unabashedly down his face. Hector kneeled next to him and took Callinan in his arms, holding him almost as a father would a heartbroken son. “Yes, and now we know what we need to know… one day you will be thankful for this information…”

He might accepted her apology, smiled at her when she’d made a joke about their unusual names or even accepted her explanation about her headaches, but the moment the table had jumped next to him even as the young woman seemed to experience an intense pain, nothing was clearer in Callinan’s mind than his memory of that day. He had met the young boy and his mother because the child had severe migraines. What neither of them did tell him was that the boy was strong – not physically, but mentally. It was only when the child had a fit during the examination, the mother patiently waiting outside, and damn near pushed Callinan off his feet without touching him that he realized these ‘head pains’ was something more. Naturally his examination couldn’t find anything wrong with the child, and the mother and boy went home with a prescription for the child.

Two weeks later he was sitting at the boy’s funeral, mystery explained, and feeling very, VERY guilty.

Even as he stared Hector sat up, frowning as he looked at Ettraven. “No fucking way… “ It had to be a fluke, or his imagination… or something. He couldn’t have happened on another ‘telekinetic’. A chance to correct a past mistake. But he couldn’t be that lucky… telekinesis wasn’t supposed to exist. Besides, there could have been a million other things that caused the table to jump. It was just coincidence that she happened to experience pain right at the moment the table jumped. Hector didn’t look away from Ettraven as he snorted. “Of course there is. Lets see… hmm… I can’t think of any.” Was his sarcastic remark. And Callinan still couldn’t look away. No matter how much he tried to convince himself he was reaching at straws, the memories of the young boy and what had happened was still dancing at the forefront of his mind. And her horror as she looked at the table –a s well as just about every patron in the shop looking at them – only convinced him more. The pain, the table, her reaction…

“I never would have believed…” Hector said, watching the girl as she prepared to flee, Callinan having missed her few short words completely. It was only when she picked up her leather case and turned to look at him that Callinan realized he’d yet to react to anything since the table had done its little jump. Hector would have none of this and stood up quickly. “Talk to her damnit, or she’ll leave!” Light dawning on his fogged mind, Cal instinctively reached out to grab her arm, gently so, to stop her from leaving. He couldn’t let his one chance at redemption leave. Hector had different reasons for allowing this. As far as he was concerned, the sooner Callinan rid himself of the old regret, the sooner he would take another step closer to accepting the fact that he was a killer, whether he liked it or not. If this young woman could be his little redeemer, well, so be it.

Quickly looking around and finding himself satisfied that most of the other patrons had refocused their attention on the books before them, Cal looked back at the young woman. ”Maybe you should sit down. I… I’m not sure I know what just happened, but I do have a theory. And if I’m right I think you need to relax…” he tried to remember what the boy had said brought on his little mental bout… it had been something about not being allowed to ‘use it in the house’. Probably meant his parents did want him to use it at all… He looked back at her. ”Sit down and try to focus on something else. Refocus your mental energies.” One thing was for certain – if she wasn’t a telekinetic he was really sounding like a crazed lunatic right now. Hector laughed. “An interesting notion.” He continued in an almost commentator like voice, “Let’s see what happens now…”

As grey eyes lifted in shock from the wooden table, Ettraven stared at Callinan before she spoke. Shadows passed his eyes, as if something was occurring to him. Fear bubbled up inside her and she immediately knew she had to get away. The fear stole her breath and it took her a moment to regain herself before she stuttered something about having to go before turning away from him. Her heart was pounding so loudly, the rush of blood filling her mind as she tried to get out of this shop. It was so small now, so suffocating. The light that had once streamed in like little slivers of golden ribbon was now piercing knives, digging into her eyes. The pain in her mind screamed and she had to shut her eyes. In doing so, one of the windows on the opposite side of the shop bust, throwing glass everywhere. Unintentionally, she shielded them from any stray shards that might have made it their way. People screamed, the boy at the computer jumped and backed away. Ettraven froze, opening her eyes as she felt the hand grab her arm.

Normally, she would have shrugged it off, run like a rabbit to get away but there was something comforting in his touch. She knew he knew. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind, his reaction had confirmed it. The fact that he hadn’t screamed to the entire shop who was causing this mess calmed her slightly. As she turned around to look at him, the lump in her throat was hard to swallow. Ettraven listened carefully, her eyes wide with fear. Several of the patrons in the shop were now looking around for a rock that “must have been thrown by one of those hoodlums outside”. They’d never find it and probably rationalize it like most humans did anyways. Faintly, in the distance, she could hear someone sweeping up glass. Guilt brushed her mind, but she knew she couldn’t confess. Mystical talent was hardly accepted, and most of the time, many people died.

When Callinan suggested she sit, Ettraven shook her head and took a step back. The pain in her mind flared up again but she pushed it away, forcing herself to stop moving anything. She knew if she couldn’t get away soon, or stop the headaches, she’d probably destroy this bookshop one book at a time. When the good doctor suggested once again she sit, there was a hesitation before she nodded and sat. Glancing across the room, she saw that most of the people had left the boy alone to clean up and had either left, or gone back to looking at books. She was glad that most people where so very oblivious to their surroundings.

Carefully, she watched Callinan as she settled in on the chair. What he spoke sounded smart… logical. Whenever she had gone through things like this, she usually just went home and moved her furniture around and after a few hours… the pain was gone and she would carry on with her life. Today, it seemed like there was not going to be any going home and redecorating. The interest that gleamed in this man’s eyes was terrifying and unnerving… but oddly it was reassuring and a bit flattering. After all, most people go screaming into the night whenever they find out something like this.

Ettraven closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and relaxed her body. The pain faded slowly, and she cautiously pushed the cool air in her body out, using it in such a small way no one would notice what she was doing. Perhaps she hadn’t intended on Callinan being the victim of her release, but since he was already on her mind, she used it and allowed the pain to ease from her body through the magic that chilled her blood. It was like a cool breeze, coming from her as she sat on the sofa across from Callinan. A simple stir of air that would blow across his skin like a lovers hot breath, so soft and noticeable by him alone. It was cold, like ice however. It travelled up and under his shirt, running over his skin and swirling around the sensitive areas of his nipples. Slowly it crept up under his pants like daring little fingers looking for treasure. When it would seem that it would continue going up, up for the gold, it faded away and was gone.

Ettraven opened grey, unclouded eyes. She sighed and slumped back in the chair. It had been so simple, but in that it had been a challenge. Chaotic usage of telekinesis was easy. You just pick things up and throw them away… but small uses was hard. It was very precise and concentration was key. When she was a child she would practice on floating leaves in the wind. She’d accidentally ripped up thousands before she’d learned out to be gentle. That small bit of ‘magic’ relieved her pain but wore her out. For a moment, she was lost in her own thought about how relieved she was before she realized how exactly she’d used her gift. Looking from nothing really, to focus on Callinan… she blushed. Ettraven hadn’t really violated him, although he could have seen it differently, but most people got a rush when they were touched by magic. Her brother said it felt like all his nerve endings were exploding with happiness. She never really understood that.

“I’m…” pausing, she let out her breath she didn’t realize she was holding, “sorry…”

Biting her lip, she looked down and frowned slightly. What on earth had gotten into her?

For a moment Callinan was sure that he would lose this one chance, that Ettraven would simply turn around and leave. It wouldn’t be such a surprising action, considering the fact that she’d just used a rather supernatural gift to both lift a table and break a window. The small comfort to Callinan was that it seemed no one else in the shop had connected the two incidents, nor come to the same conclusion that he has. “Of course they didn’t. They don’t have your experience, and they’re not doctors. They will, however, become suspicious if you don’t get little miss muffet here to calm down. Next thing you know she’ll be blowing the roof to Timbuktu.” Callinan nodded in agreement as he urged the woman to sit down. She needed to relax, to calm her mind. He knew that if he were to look at her brain right at that moment the synapses would be firing like mad, little sparks running through her brain at an incredible speed and with unnerving intensity. And the sooner he managed to convince her that the best thing was to use that generated power, the sooner they would all be in better condition and a lot safer.

”I will not harm you. Please, you need to expel the excess, as much for your sake as for ours.” And he had good reason to say this – after his study of the young boy he’d come to the conclusion that if they managed to suppress the natural bouts of telekinesis despite the pain it caused them it could result in Intra-Axial, or intra-cerebral haemorrhage. In other words, if you did not use your gift, you might as well sign your own death warrant. And since he’d already caused the death of one telekinetic, he certainly didn’t feel like killing another. It was for this reason that he found himself relaxing slightly more when Ettraven listened to him and, instead of running away, took a seat. “Well well, good doctor one, telekinetic zero. Seems like she’s still under the impression you’re some kind of predator, the way she’s watchin’ you.” Hector chuckled from behind him as he cocked his head to the side. “Pity. I would have liked to the inside of her brain. Imagine the fireworks.” Callinan frowned at this remark. ”Forget it Hector. Not another one – I refuse. You’ve managed to convince me to do many things, but this time I’m sending you to hell.” Hector simply laughed, waving his hands innocently before taking a seat. Callinan, on the other hand, focused on Ettraven before taking a seat right across from her.

”How do you feel?” he asked her when she closed her eyes, apparently relaxing, but no answer was forthcoming. Instead of speaking again, Callinan simply leaned in slightly closer, studying her as she breathed. “What the hell...?” Hector suddenly piped up as the air around them shifted as if being manipulated by some kind of supernatural power. Callinan, also surprised, quickly recovered. ”I do believe she’s using her telekinesis in a way that would be a challenge to her.” “To use more power and concentration? Smart girl...” Callinan nodded at Hector before turning his attention back to Ettraven, intrigued by what was happening – until he felt an icy breeze brush his skin. A shiver ran up his spine at the cold as he looked over to Hector. ”Well... this is unexpected.” the man laughed, shaking his head. “Who woulda thought that our dear Cal would be the victim of the next bout of telekinetic activity?” But at this point Callinan was beyond the ability to respond.

When he’d told Ettraven to refocus her mental energy, he’d not expected that he would be the one to feel this energy. He could feel the cool air floating across his skin, beneath his clothing, over sensitive skin. It was an indescribable sensation. ”Seems like there are still things about telekinesis that goes unexplained dear friend.” This time it was Hector who nodded, though he did so laughingly. “Talk about an invasion of privacy! I always said you needed a good shagging, though I didn’t quite mean it this way...” with that he laughed even harder, causing Callinan to frown. ”Shove it, Hector.” Finally the sensation faded into nothingness – and not a moment so soon. Cal’s eyes met Ettraven’s as they opened, and he needed no degree to see that the exercise had tired her. As she slumped in the chair, composing herself again, so too did Callinan use the time to recompose himself, stubbornly ignoring the various mocking remarks and laughs Hector was shooting his way.

It wasn’t too long before Ettraven refocused on Cal, and he wasn’t too surprised at her expression and her blush – considering what had just happened it was to be expected. “Seems like our lady here didn’t quite plan on ‘wrapping herself’ around you.” Hector commented. Despite nodding, Callinan didn’t hear this comment, smiling instead at the young woman who was clearly embarrassed by what had transpired. ”Please, don’t worry about it. You needed to relax. It was... interesting.” He chuckeld before he leaned forward again, but this time it was to get a better look at her eyes. All seemed alright at a glance and he raised an eyebrow, smiling still. ”Feel better now?”