Page 13 of Seer
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Definea lot.”
My phone rang. It was her.
Fuck.
“I’ll get more beers. You talk to the psychic woman.” Steve jumped up before I could respond.
Glaring at Felix, I answered. “Hello?”
“Hi, Cal. This is Delphia Shaw. I’m so glad you contacted me.”
She seemed nice at least. So far.
“Yeah, um, so do you mind telling me about your visions?”
“Of course, sweetie. I’m sure you’re wondering if I’m some con artist who’s going to ask you for money or something.”
“Oh, uh....”
“It’s only natural. You probably only called me because your friends would keep after you if you didn’t. Anyway, let’s see. I’ll start at the beginning since my talent evolved over time. You may not have gained all the bells and whistles yet.”
“Evolved?” I nodded thanks at Steve when he set a beer down in front of me. Felix watched me avidly from the other end of the couch, his fists pressed against his mouth.
“Oh, yeah. Let’s see. I started having visions at night when I was around fourteen years old. To start with they weren’t anything big, just fender benders or other things that happened to people I knew. Luckily I wasn’t the only one with talents so my parents didn’t panic.”
“That’s nice.” I had not had the same experience.
“When I got older I started having visions about people I’d never met before, which was weird at first. Not sure if it’s the same for you, but if I don’t know the person they kind of look unmolded, like I’m seeing a placeholder or a mannequin instead of their real faces.”
I clenched my fingers around the phone as sweat prickled under my arms.
“Let’s see. Um, when I was in my twenties I started being able to see people’s second selves. Like, if I run into someone and they have a profession they strongly identify with, like a dancer, then I see sort of a shadow of the dancer overlaid on top of their physical self.”
Holy fuck.
“I won’t scare you with what happened when I was pregnant. All those hormones, you would not believe. You won’t have to worry about that.” She laughed.
“Oh, um, wow.”
“But as I got older, my visions had a wider geographical radius, and I learned how to trigger one when I was awake. There’s lots more too, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. Um, did any of that ring a bell for you, sweetie? You don’t have to tell me either way, but if we have similar skills I might be able to help you fine-tune your abilities.”
“Um....” Should I tell her? After how my mother had reacted, I’d kept my visions to myself as much as possible. But it sure sounded like her abilities were the same as mine.
I glanced at Felix and Steve. They nodded encouragingly at me.
Fuck it.
“Yeah, what you’re describing is pretty much how my abilities work.”
Delphia squealed, and I yanked the phone away from my ear. “This is so exciting!” She asked me about how old I’d been when my visions started and how old I was now. Then she said, “And your family? Do you have any other family members with similar talents?”
I made a face. I should’ve expected this question. “No. It was just me and my mom, and she definitely doesn’t have any psychic talents.”
“No worries, sometimes it randomly appears in families. How did your mother react when you started having the visions?”
I couldn’t stop a bark of laughter. “She, uh, didn’t react well, so after a while I told her I’d stopped having visions.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Steve roll his eyes and exaggeratedly mouth,Didn’t react well?
“Oh, you poor dear. Well, you won’t get that sort of response from me or mine. If you need a support system, you’ve got one.”
