Page 54 of Air Of Mystery
I tried to get her attention again. “Sunny.”
There was no response. Her blue eyes were vacant, and I realized with some concern that my cousin was trapped in a psychic vision that only she could see.
Even as I continued to record, I gently took hold of her chin and tugged her face away from the house and back toward me. “Soleil June Golden,” I said firmly, using her full name.
“It’s the weirdest thing...” she whispered, her eyes still empty.
“What is?” I asked.
“I’m looking at the house but seeing an overlay of Dracula’s rotting castle.”
“Are you picking up on the energy of a vampire?”
“Maybe, but it’s not the Hollywood, sexy kind...” Her voice was a whisper as she continued. “I’m seeing a Nosferatu type. Scary, repulsive...” Sunny blinked rapidly and came back to herself.
“You okay?” I asked, taking the dog’s leash from her limp fingers.
She shook her head briskly, as if trying to shake off what she’d seen. “Sorry. That sounded a tad melodramatic.”
“Don’t apologize,” I said softly. “I believe you. I can’t see visions like you do, but Ifeelthat something is wrong. And besides, take a look at Manny.”
Sunny glanced down and saw that Manny had pressed up against her lower legs and was growling. As if to protect his mistress.
She immediately bent down and patted his back. Manny’s growls subsided but he stayed alert, to the point where he was quivering.
“We’re out of here,” she said to me. Taking Manny’s leash, she immediately began to jog down the sidewalk, farther away from the old Victorian.
I clicked off record and hurried to catch up with my cousin and her dog. Silently we jogged together down the old brick sidewalk, and we didn’t stop until we reached the edge of the historic district and the beginning of Sunny’s neighborhood.
Once we were there, she slowed to a walk, and Manny was acting like his happy, goofy self once more. We walked in silence the rest of the way to her house. It wasn’t until we were inside and sitting in her living room that I asked her what else she had seen.
“It was a cross between a waking vision and a psychic impression,” Sunny tried to explain. “I did experience a vision, but it used metaphors and images that I was familiar with to get my attention and to warn me of—”
“Of danger,” I finished for her.
“Girl, I’m telling you right now, it does not matter what they do to the outside of that house... It’s simply all for show. It’s a cover.” She ran a nervous hand through her hair. “Whoever is fixing up that house wants to make it appear asenticingas possible.”
“To lure people in?”
“Exactly.” She shuddered.
Manny jumped up on the couch and curled up in her lap.
“Thanks Manny,” Sunny said, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Thanks for trying to warn me and for protecting me today.”
“Manny the wonder dog. He’s a brilliant familiar.” I smiled at him. “You were amazing, Manny.”
The beagle barked twice as if to say, “Of course.”
“You deserve a cookie,” I told him.
The dog’s ears perked up.
“Do you want a cookie?” I asked him, knowing full well where the dog treats were kept.
Manny scrambled off the couch and raced for the kitchen.
“Don’t give him more than one,” Sunny called to me as I went into the kitchen to give the dog his treat.
