The phone call...

"Now look, girl," said Catherine in her wonderful southern drawl, "something's coming down the pike and everyone in the community is buzzing." "You're kidding," said Chris trying to grasp what her friend was telling her. "No, I'm not. We've been getting strange dreams, odd feelings, and some really weird readings for a few days now," replied Catherine. The whole community meant all of their psychic friends who were in the online community. It was amazing how close these people had gotten over the years and many had never even met in person. The World Wide Web had become a paranormalist's dream, anyone who was anyone in the world of psychic ability, witchcraft, paranormal investigation, etc... and had a bit of credibility had found each other on the web and had created a safe community where people from around the world could gather and share. Granted, there was the occasional faker or nut chase but they usually weeded themselves out pretty quickly. There was no time or patience for frauds or charlatans.

"I'm serious," said Catherine, "you need to get plugged back in and try to figure this things out." Catherine had always had a nose for unusual cases. "As soon as I get rid of this buzzing in my head I'll see what I can come up with," promised Chris. "Alright darlin, I'll talk to you later." With that Catherine hung up. Chris knew that Catherine was right, and anxious for a really good case. Things had been pretty run-of-the-mill for the PI lately. Just the usual cases; infidelity, divorces, custody battles, and the odd murders. Nothing that really peaked any serious interest. "Oh well," signed Chris with a slight smile. Her friend would just have to wait and see like everyone else.

Chris' morning went by with no real note of anything out of the ordinary. By early afternoon she was getting a strong nagging feeling to call her parents. Chris put it off as nothing more than a psychic email from her neurotic mother. But it was still a feeling that she just couldn't shake and by the time she finally gave in to it the phone rang as her hand hovered over it. Chris jumped as it rang and fumbled to pick it up, receiving a nasty jolt from the hand set. Surprised and a little dismayed she said, "Hello." It was her father and his voice sounded strange. "Let me talk to Bill," he said. "Dad, what's wrong?" She asked, panic rising up from her stomach. "Just let me talk to Bill," her father insisted. "Alright," was her reply and she handed the phone over to her husband. She watched and was drawn into the essence of the conversation. It hit her like a punch to the solar plexus, she knew.... She knew exactly what had happened. She saw the trigger being pulled on the gun, she could smell the mixture of burnt gun powder and blood. She saw her brother's body lying on the bed - lifeless.

As her husband finished the strained and hushed phone call with Chris' dad, she slowly sank down into the nearest chair. She hated the fact that she already knew what had happened. "Not soon enough," she kept saying to herself. "Not soon enough..." As she wrapped her arms about her body trying to keep out the horrid icy surges that were trying to invade her body. After Bill hung up the phone he turned to her and saw that she already knew. "He's dead, isn't he?" She asked as the tears started to fall. "Yes, darling, he is." Bill confirmed quietly. "When was he shot," she asked as she tried to desperately wipe away the tears that insisted on streaming down her face. "Your dad didn't say, they just got the phone call themselves." Bill slowly came over and tried to put his arms around his wife. She jumped up from the chair and began pacing the floor. "Did he say anything about what happened to Patrick?" She asked in almost a whisper. "No, they just need us to get there as quickly as possible. I assured them that we were on the way." Bill replied as he came up behind Chris and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why didn't I know sooner!" She sobbed. "Why couldn't I see it before?!?" She was starting to double over from the weight of her pain. Bill gently reached out and held his sobbing wife. At that very moment he hated her talent, he hated the pain this was causing her. For a while he just held her and let her cry out some of the sorrow and hurt that was ripping through her.

A shot rings out....

The cold gray December day is silent and icy. The trees are bare and only the occasional hawk sits on high looking out across the frozen fields, watching for movement and a meal. Muted words make their way outside of the trailer that sits at the end of the row. Anger is heard and followed by shouts and screams. Silence follows for a moment and then a shot rings out, echoing throughout the metal homes and barren trees. The closest hawks take flight, startled from their quiet observance of the landscape below them.

The sound of the gunshot rang continuously inside of Christen's head, rousing her out of the dream that had her trapped. She sat up with a start, heart pounding, palms sweating and a cry on her lips that died there. The early pre-dawn light glowed faintly through the bedroom window. She lay there trying to slow down her breathing and get out of the grip of adrenaline that held her tight. Another dream, another premonition, another feeling of dread. "Maybe not," she thought to herself, "maybe it's just a bad dream. Just a little subconscious housecleaning." After mulling things over for a bit she finally got up quietly, trying not to disturb her husband. Chris knew that she wasn't going to get back to sleep again and decided to start the coffee and clear her head.

The quiet of the early dawn hours were always peaceful and soothing for Chris, today was different though. There was a buzzing in her ears that she couldn't shake and an ache behind her eyes that was just strong enough to be annoying but didn't warrant any serious attention. Well, things would straighten themselves out soon enough, thought Chris. As in the past, she would either have verification that an event had occurred that would prove her dream to be true or she would have to just push past it and get on with her day. That was always the way of things for a psychic.

Her talents were joked about by law enforcement until they came knocking and asking for help. Luckily, Chris had a good friend that worked as a great go-between and kept the fools and idiots at bay. Sure enough, the phone rang a little past 7:00 AM and Catherine was on the line full of concern and questions. It might have seemed uncanny to most people, the close tie that Catherine and Chris shared, but it worked well and kept Chris grounded. Catherine always knew when Chris had premonitions. The two women had worked together on several cases over the past few years. Catherine was a nationally known private investigator and had always been known for being a no-nonsense kind of investigator. Her reputation and talent had helped to give validity to Chris and her abilities early on in her career. If being a full time psychic can be considered a career.