“The…the guy who attacked us…” She paused when Heidi looked down, seeming suddenly depressed. “D-Did the two of you, like, kiss during the movie or anything?”
Heidi gawked at her. “What? No, of course not!”
Lexi looked dejected. “Oh, okay. Sorry then. Sam was just really angry when we were leaving to come pick you up, and we were trying to figure out if that had something to do with it.” She paused. “Sorry,” she repeated, beginning to back out of the room.
“W-Wait,” Heidi replied. “Actually, he did sort of kiss me on the cheek. And it was after I called you too.”
Winter abruptly looked at me. “Same image.”
“What?” I said in confusion.
Her pale green eyes were intense. “He did kiss her on the cheek, and she got upset and pulled away, but the image that popped into your head just now is the same as her memory of it. Just a different angle.”
I gawked at her.
“Different angle?” Freya repeated in confusion, only to glance over her shoulder when both Lexi and Heidi came rushing down the stairs. “I’ve seen Sam’s memories recently,” she continued, looking back at Winter. “And I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Different angle,” Winter repeated louder, speaking to Lexi and Heidi now. “Sam has the same memory in his head as Heidi, but it’s from a different angle. His memory isn’t from her perspective. It’s more like he was there, watching from up close.”
Heidi looked a little embarrassed, but Lexi gasped, focusing on me. “Sam…”
“What?” I asked seriously. “Come on Lexi, just say it.”
“Sorry, I’m just trying to think if it even makes sense.” She paused. “Sam, you don’t, like, have some kind of specter like I have…do you?”
Freya and I immediately exchanged a look. “Like, an astral specter?” she considered out loud.
“I…I don’t know,” I admitted. “How would I even figure out if I did?”
Lexi’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know how it would work for you. For me, I had to practice trying to see into another room. And when that didn’t work, they ended up designing a special cubicle for me, where I’d hold onto a wire poking out on both sides, trying to see how many fingers my coach was holding up, or what was on a flashcard.”
“Well that wouldn’t help me,” I realized. “I can see through walls anyway with my second-sight.”
“Maybe it’s like a different kind of sight,” Freya considered. “I mean, obviously it would be, but what if you tried closing your eyes and also tried to ignore your second-sight too. Tried seeing what someone was doing without using either of those forms of vision.”
“Then I’d probably start freaking out,” I replied seriously. “My claustrophobia would likely kick in.”
“It won’t,” Winter reassured me. “I’ll keep you stable.”
I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
Lexi nodded. “Okay, let’s do this. Maybe I’ll take my car down the road so you can’t see me, and then have my sister on the phone. You can try to guess how many fingers I’m holding up.” She paused. “Think that will work?”
I shrugged. “We can try, but I can see a pretty good distance with my second-sight, so you’ll have to drive at least a half-mile just to make sure.”
She nodded again. “That’s not a problem, especially since there’s hardly any traffic on our road,” she replied, turning around to head toward the garage. We were still using the borrowed CDS car, which was currently back at the office due to our helicopter ride, so her sky-blue Ferrari was available.
I watched her pull away and begin heading down the road, before she started calling Heidi, who picked up right away.
“Okay, she’s gone past as far as I can see,” I told her.
Heidi relayed the message, prompting Lexi to drive a little further, before pulling off onto the side of the road.
I looked at Freya.
“Ready?” she wondered, her crimson eyes sympathetic. “We’ll be right here for you. You’ll be able to still feel us.”
“And I’ll keep you stable,” Winter reminded me.
I nodded, taking another deep breath, and closed my eyes.
My reflexive response was to begin focusing on my second-sight, but after a moment, I tried to reign that in too, trying to focus my thoughts on Lexi.
Heidi spoke up, her phone held up to her ear. “She wants you to guess how many fingers she’s holding up.”
I nodded, feeling both Freya and Winter with their hands on me, trying to comfort me while everything went truly black.
Lexi held up her index finger, feeling ridiculous about what she was planning to do, but knowing it might help. After all, it was what helped her begin using her own specter – her coach making a funny face at her. Later, the man explained that sometimes a sight that would provoke an unexpected emotion, like laughter, could help make the ability sort of click into place.
The amusement would pull on her focus, helping her overcome that hurdle preventing her from ignoring her other senses.
Taking a deep breath, she leaned forward slightly, rather than bringing her finger to her face, and began pretending it was Sam, kissing him at the top gently a few times, before beginning to lick as seductively as she could manage.
She then moaned while beginning to suck, having zero idea if that would help, but figuring the worst case was only she’d know she was doing this.
‘Damn, Lexi. How are you so hot?’
Winter unexpectedly laughed, prompting me to open my eyes. “He can see her,” she announced with a grin.
“Wait, she was really doing what I saw?” I asked seriously.
She nodded, her pale green eyes amused. “I latched onto her before she left, so I can still hear her thoughts.” She laughed again. “It was hard not to react, but once you actually ‘saw’ it, I couldn’t keep it in any longer.” She grinned. “Go ahead, tell Heidi how many fingers she’s holding up.”
Needless to say, Heidi looked confused.
I cleared my throat, glancing briefly at Freya. “Umm, one.”
Heidi relayed the message,
