The Sister(20)

‘Turn the sign around on the door, Dr Ryan, and lock it for me, will you?’

He did as she asked without question; a sense of unreality pervaded as he turned the sign to Closed and, crouching, turned the key in the lock. He stood and sensing someone right behind him, he spun around.

She was there. He’d known it would be her. She lifted her face to him, her eyes a myriad of changing shades of green. He saw himself in miniature reflected in their opalescence.

Her soft lips parted as they touched his; she orgasmed almost instantly, shuddering against him, electrifying him; he marvelled at the joys of her, knowing it had barely begun. What he’d known for a long time would happen was happening. The second prediction was coming true.

It was an experience he would later note, like being born again.

She’d broken her vow of chastity. Abandoned by her powers, he again lost the chance to study her. Perhaps it was fated he shouldn’t know more and once he’d served his purpose, she never allowed him to sleep with her again.





Chapter 16



A few months passed and Vera closed the shop on medical advice. Ryan had invested in her practice, buying the unit to keep the pressure off her. A year later she was ready to open up again, he helped her with the cleaning and preparations. Despite her weakened state, she now considered it safe to handle the stone again. She took it from her pocket, removed one of her gloves and, making a fist around it, closed her eyes. A renewed vigour infused her, restoring her fully. He was incredulous as he watched the change.

Later, he added to his notes. Vera seemed to relish losing her powers. I’m sworn to secrecy over the reasons for it, but she seemed to know it served a greater purpose. She enjoyed the freedom from responsibility more than anything, although the events of the past few months seem to have sapped her strength. I examined her in my capacity as a medical doctor and, as I signed the necessary paperwork, she decided to share something with me. He outlined what he’d witnessed, and concluded. She keeps a mysterious black sphere about her wherever she goes – she calls it 'The stone'. It seems to invigorate her. I suspect it is the source of her power.

She remained close to him, even working with him as he sought to make scientific sense of her. She wouldn’t elaborate about the stone, other than to say it was her talisman. Without gloves, she wouldn’t allow him to handle it, telling him he’d taint it.

‘Taint it with what?’ he’d asked.

Because she couldn’t lie, she chose her words carefully. ‘Some things are beyond human comprehension.’

‘I'd like to examine its composition further, I’ve never seen a material quite like it, it’s almost obsidian, but how did it become so perfectly spherical?’

She replied, truthfully, ‘I don’t know.’

‘If—’

‘No more questions,’ she said, closing the matter firmly. ‘You asked if I could help you in the more extreme cases, to unravel what you cannot?’

‘That’s right, I did.’

‘The answer is, I can, but only if it plays a part in the bigger plan.’

‘What plan is that?’ he asked.

‘I can’t tell you, it’s always changing.’

‘But you will help me?’

A vague smile was on her lips as she handed him a sealed envelope.

‘What’s this?’ he said as he took it.

‘Inside the envelope is the third prediction I told you of when I was thirteen. You must not open it until the day comes.’

‘And how will I know when that is?’

‘You will know,’ she said.





Two of her predictions with regards to him had already come true, and he’d witnessed countless other accurate forecasts of the near future. He had no doubt that, in the fullness of time, the third would come to pass as well.





Chapter 17



Tuesday 15 July 1975





A shrill unearthly wail cut through the air, curdling the blood, suspending time, silencing everything.

High in the hills, the expedition line stopped abruptly, and then began to move again, reversing its direction. A head count revealed four boys missing, the remaining eleven boys and three teachers snaked back along the path, descending fast.

Above, silent and unnoticed in the cloudless sky, a small cruciform fleck circled lazily against the sun. The buzzard observed the unfolding drama below with avian indifference.





Kirk found Bruce Milowski rocking backwards and forwards in a foetal, squatting position, close to the edge of the pond, rambling to himself incoherently about evil spirits and moving shadows. Wild-eyed, he told Kirk how the water had sucked each of his friends under, one by one.

‘I tried, I really tried. I threw Brookes my shell, and he caught it. It should have saved him...’ he gnawed on his knuckles until the skin broke.

‘What are you talking about, boy,’ Kirk said, ‘you’re not making sense.’

‘Because I can’t swim – don’t you see?’ Without warning, he repeated the blood-curdling scream that first drew them back down the hill. Up close, it was ear splitting.

His behaviour spooked the other boys, infecting them with wild fears and imaginings. A sense of panic rose among them, the atmosphere palpable; filled with blind dread and confusion. Kirk recalled similar scenes in the war. These kids are shell-shocked.