The one with power. The silent center hummed and throbbed and I could feel the potential waiting to be molded.
I felt the animal in the center. Fur and muscle and speed and veracity.
As I gently pulled at the panther in my center, it pounced, digging its claws into the golden center and tearing through my chest. White hot energy poured over me and I struggled against the inky blackness of its fur.
There was a flash of golden that pushed me into the abyss. As I fell, the panther took control.
Chapter Ten
I woke up bathed in sunlight and warm. I stretched and rolled my shoulders and wiggled my toes against the flannel sheets of my bed.
Bed? I thought quickly as I sat up. I was in the guest bed. How in the hell had Iris managed that? I grabbed the pink robe now thrown over the rocking chair and headed downstairs where I could make out the distinct smell of bacon.
“Good morning,” Iris greeted as she poured a cup of coffee and handed it to me in the doorway. I was beginning to think that she might like me.
“Was everything okay last night?” I asked as I sat down at the little table.
It was a blurred dream. I was usually so good at remembering my dreams. Turned most of them into movies, actually. But this was different, this was hazy and just out of reach in the back corner of my memory.
“Were there any rabbits involved? I had this thing with rabbits a few weeks ago and it was awful.”
Iris laughed. Iris’s was three hardy laughs and then she hid her giggles underneath, like it was something that surprised her and she reeled back within herself. She shook her head as she cooked the eggs and flipped pancakes. “No. How do you feel?”
I thought for a moment. “Good. Really good.”
Iris turned around with a big smile and a full plate of breakfast food. “Wonderful. Now eat up, we have a full day ahead of us.”
I looked down at the plate and had a sickening thought. I wasn’t hungry.
L ater that morning, Iris and I were in the front yard and to an onlooker, probably looked like we were having one hell of an argument, standing roughly ten feet apart and both glaring in the morning sun. After loosening up with some brushing, Iris was trying to teach me shielding. Trying being the operative term.
“Brush me,” Iris directed.
When I did, I didn’t feel anything. No cashmere, no power, no nothing. Like she was human. Like she really was the innocent old lady she appeared to be.
“That’s a shield. Think of it as a container for your energy. It keeps you in and others out.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Without a shield, another wanderer could read your mind or take your energy or see your future or do a number of things, but shields can also protect other people from you.”
“Like keep me from throwing boys against cars.”
“Something like that. Try it.”
“How?”
“Remember the examples that I gave you; it can be a brick wall, a steel door, a cape, whatever makes you feel safe.”
Safe? Could anything make me feel safe anymore? “My townhouse. I feel safe in my house.”
“Visualize your house around your heart then. Make it safe.”
A house around my heart? My life was quickly going from the Syfy channel to the Lifetime Network.
I closed my eyes and relaxed. It was becoming easier and easier to find the gooey magical center. The warmth beat in time with my heart. I saw the golden ball in the darkness behind my eyelids and slowly visualized walls going up around it. But a birdsong distracted me.
“Concentrate.”
I tried harder. Find the marshmallow center and put a roof on the top. But it wouldn’t stay up.
An hour of this and my brain started to hurt. Iris went to sit on the porch but she made me stay out in the yard. “Keep concentrating,” she would say at regular intervals.
“This isn’t working, Iris.” I was whining. It was true. Maybe my ADD was kicking in but it just wasn’t working.
“Fine,” Iris said as she slapped the arms of the rocking chair on the
I felt the animal in the center. Fur and muscle and speed and veracity.
As I gently pulled at the panther in my center, it pounced, digging its claws into the golden center and tearing through my chest. White hot energy poured over me and I struggled against the inky blackness of its fur.
There was a flash of golden that pushed me into the abyss. As I fell, the panther took control.
Chapter Ten
I woke up bathed in sunlight and warm. I stretched and rolled my shoulders and wiggled my toes against the flannel sheets of my bed.
Bed? I thought quickly as I sat up. I was in the guest bed. How in the hell had Iris managed that? I grabbed the pink robe now thrown over the rocking chair and headed downstairs where I could make out the distinct smell of bacon.
“Good morning,” Iris greeted as she poured a cup of coffee and handed it to me in the doorway. I was beginning to think that she might like me.
“Was everything okay last night?” I asked as I sat down at the little table.
It was a blurred dream. I was usually so good at remembering my dreams. Turned most of them into movies, actually. But this was different, this was hazy and just out of reach in the back corner of my memory.
“Were there any rabbits involved? I had this thing with rabbits a few weeks ago and it was awful.”
Iris laughed. Iris’s was three hardy laughs and then she hid her giggles underneath, like it was something that surprised her and she reeled back within herself. She shook her head as she cooked the eggs and flipped pancakes. “No. How do you feel?”
I thought for a moment. “Good. Really good.”
Iris turned around with a big smile and a full plate of breakfast food. “Wonderful. Now eat up, we have a full day ahead of us.”
I looked down at the plate and had a sickening thought. I wasn’t hungry.
L ater that morning, Iris and I were in the front yard and to an onlooker, probably looked like we were having one hell of an argument, standing roughly ten feet apart and both glaring in the morning sun. After loosening up with some brushing, Iris was trying to teach me shielding. Trying being the operative term.
“Brush me,” Iris directed.
When I did, I didn’t feel anything. No cashmere, no power, no nothing. Like she was human. Like she really was the innocent old lady she appeared to be.
“That’s a shield. Think of it as a container for your energy. It keeps you in and others out.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Without a shield, another wanderer could read your mind or take your energy or see your future or do a number of things, but shields can also protect other people from you.”
“Like keep me from throwing boys against cars.”
“Something like that. Try it.”
“How?”
“Remember the examples that I gave you; it can be a brick wall, a steel door, a cape, whatever makes you feel safe.”
Safe? Could anything make me feel safe anymore? “My townhouse. I feel safe in my house.”
“Visualize your house around your heart then. Make it safe.”
A house around my heart? My life was quickly going from the Syfy channel to the Lifetime Network.
I closed my eyes and relaxed. It was becoming easier and easier to find the gooey magical center. The warmth beat in time with my heart. I saw the golden ball in the darkness behind my eyelids and slowly visualized walls going up around it. But a birdsong distracted me.
“Concentrate.”
I tried harder. Find the marshmallow center and put a roof on the top. But it wouldn’t stay up.
An hour of this and my brain started to hurt. Iris went to sit on the porch but she made me stay out in the yard. “Keep concentrating,” she would say at regular intervals.
“This isn’t working, Iris.” I was whining. It was true. Maybe my ADD was kicking in but it just wasn’t working.
“Fine,” Iris said as she slapped the arms of the rocking chair on the
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