Dead To Me

When I was done, Co

“Hey,” I said defensively, “it was your mop of sandy brown hair that gave you away more than your Stepford expression. Besides, you should be thrilled these days. You’ve really outgrown that Cro-Magnon look!”

I knew that seeing the world through another’s eyes was a particularly invasive procedure and I left out how hard young Co

“What about everyone else in the vision, kid?” he asked. “Tell me who they were. I need to see how accurate your power is.”

I thought for a second. “It seems obvious that the older kid must be your brother. And I’ll take a stab that the woman was your gra

“Why do you say that?” Co

“She did exactly what my grandmother would have done,” I said, laughing. “I was hella-accident prone.”

“All right. Good so far,” Co

“Easy,” I said. “Spider-man.”

He sat there looking both saddened and amazed. “Astounding,” he said. “I know we deal with these kinds of minor miracles on a regular basis, but I tell you…being on the receiving end of it, when it’s actuallyyour life being told back to you…well, that’s a horse of a different color, kid.”

I nodded. “But I’m curious,” he continued. “You sounded unsure that we were at the Cape? Why couldn’t you tell? I mean, yes, we were, but you couldn’t tell that?”

“Not for sure,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m a passive passenger in these visions, not a driver. I’m only able to take in details of what the younger version of you specifically saw. I can’t force him to focus on any signs that might tell me where I am, but I do pay attention. Nothing screamed out ‘Cape Cod’ directly, but I remember the town of Amity fromJaws, so it seemed like a fair assumption. The way my visions happen, I can kind of fast forward and rewind them a bit, but they don’t let me be in control of what I’m allowed to see.”

“Maybe we can change that,” Co

I smiled with the tiniest hint of pride and sipped at my coffee. Feeling triumphant, I asked, “That older kidwas your brother, right?”

He nodded in response but his face grew dark. Gone was the amazement of the last few minutes, replaced by the more familiar look he used when distancing himself from a case.

“I’m sorry,” I said, breaking the silence. “Is there bad blood between you two? Do you not keep in touch?”

He stared at the floor for several moments, just long enough for me to feel truly uncomfortable.

“Not really,” he said softly. “My brother and Ihaven’t talked in years, as a matter of fact, but it’s not what you think. It’s not like we had a falling-out or anything. He went missing about two years after that summer. It was another one of our yearly trips to the Cape, like the one you saw, and he just disappeared one day while we were all at the beach. Busy day, lots of people, and he was just gone in a heartbeat. That was the last any of us saw him. Big police investigation and everything.”

“Jesus,” I said. “I’m sorry. I had no idea…”

Co

“How could you, kid? I had totally forgotten why I had kept this thing anyway. Came across it while searching for some old hex dolls. Hadn’t thought of it in years. Everything got kinda cloudy when he disappeared, you know? I’m just glad you were able to catch a glimpse of him in your vision, kid. I’d give anything to see those days again. That’s gotta be something.”

Co

“Maybe I could help you manifest the power,” I said hopefully. “I even picked up one of the departmental pamphlets about recognizing the signs of psychometry in others.”

“Clairvoyance or Clair-a

Seeing the melancholy look on his face, I was more determined than ever.

“You never get even the tiniest of visions like these?” I asked. “No flashes, glimpses, maybe something you might have labeled as dйjа vu?”

Co

“We’ll see about that,” I said. “I’ll be damned if I can’t teach it to you somehow.” I paused. “So you’ve only got the one, then?”

“One what?” Co

“Area of expertise,” I said.

Co

“Huh?”

Co

I tried to appear casual as I glanced her way, pretending to check out theMaltese Falcon poster on the wall behind her, and found myself staring once more at the fetching woman I had made eye contact with earlier.

Outside of her natural beauty, I saw nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Great skin, smartly dressed in black pants and a dark brown leather blazer. I judged her to be in her late twenties with an elegance that radiated from porcelain-like features perfectly framed by a river of wavy brown hair. Luckily, she wasn’t looking directly at me this time. I congratulated myself for stealthily sneaking a peek at her and avoiding any awkwardness. I leaned across the table toward Co

“Women are your expertise?” I whispered. “What about her?”

“Oh,” Co

5

I often imagined how cool my life would be if I were in a movie. I would say all the right things and have all the right reactions in any given situation. Most importantly, I would no doubt be as cool as I have always imagined myself, but at that moment in the Lovecraft Cafй, I found that reality was having no part of my delusions. As soon as Co

My foot caught the edge of the coffee table, causing an alarming clatter of cups as it began to flip over (-1 to me for causing a commotion). I started to fall, but not before my replacement coat billowed out around me like bat wings while I spun out of control (-2 for appearing spastic). As I fell back, I accidentally kicked Co

That’s when things got weird.

The delicious beverage flew through the air, sailing toward the woman on the sofa, but instead of splashing all over her (regularly a -4 offense), it passed straightthrough her (with no previous scale to judge it on, I’d have to give it a -8 million at least). Oddly enough, she didn’t seem to notice, but suddenly I could see what was wrong with her. Now that I was looking at her closely, she was semitransparent. I could see the plastic cup resting inside her form against the back of the sofa, its contents sloshed all over. The woman seemed to become slowly aware that something was going on, but the look of confusion on her face told me she wasn’t quite sure what exactly had happened. She glanced back and forth between Co