Possessed

How
had it come to this? Keva’s body shuddered as he settled over her, his slim
hips slipping between her thighs, the long curtain of his raven curls sliding
like silk over her sensitized skin. His full, sensual lips glistened with her
dew, and he smelled of her. He buried his face in her neck as he fitted his
cock to her opening. The possession was a pleasurable burn as he rocked back
and forth until she’d taken him to the hilt. His deep groan filled her with
need even as he began to work her. Lacing his thicker fingers with hers, he
began to saw his considerable length in and out of her body. Her delicate
tissues parted, no barrier as he stroked through her walls. Keva felt herself
losing control, and she couldn’t believe it. Her hips lifted into his
possession of their own accord.

This
was never supposed to happen. She didn’t handle clients this way. The day had
started out as usual, if perhaps a little dull. And then she’d responded to an
emergency call for the need of a Channel for a psychic in desperate need of
help.

Keva
Lane scanned the article in the
New Psychic Journal
concerning the
emergence of new procedures to diagnose special abilities in individuals as
young as ten. The current protocol was to wait until seventeen, though, if
parental permission was denied, as it often was, testing did not occur until
eighteen. No parent wanted to find out that their offspring was a mutant. She
hated that word and the stigma associated with it. Psychics were not mutants.

She
put aside the research journal. She liked to keep on top of the latest research
despite the fact that she would never be one of the doctors here at the Nevada
branch of the Institute of Parapsychology, IOP for short. Her value was not in
the information her brain could store but in the way it could process the
powers for the psychics that filed through the facility for treatment. She was
a Channel and a damned fine one.

Psychics,
while given equal rights, were still persecuted and mistrusted to a certain
degree. They were encouraged to use their abilities at home and, if at all
possible, to hide their talents. This worked fine for those of lesser talents,
but those with more experienced talents developed a painful buildup of untapped
psychic energy. And when that happened, they needed a Channel to absorb those
powers and then disperse them. Channels had no ability to hold the powers they
absorbed. Within minutes of a session with a psychic, she could feel the
energies pouring back out of her body. It was as though it sweated out of her
pores. She had only seconds to appreciate the beauty of what it was to see the
world through the eyes of a psychic.

There
wasn’t a lot of glamour involved in being a Channel. Channels had no problem
blending in with society. The most backlash Keva received was from her own
family. They didn’t know why she wanted to work with freaks. No matter how many
times she told them that psychics were not dangerous, they refused to listen.
They didn’t understand the importance of her work. Every phone call with her
mother always ended in a plea for her to come home to North Carolina and get a
normal job.

Her
family wasn’t  the only peopleOthers outside her family also seemed to have
difficulty accepting that this is what she wanted to do with her life. The last
two men she’d dated had both had problems with her work. It was true that if a
psychic was attracted to their Channel, there could be some arousal during the
connection. But it was a small charge and certainly nothing a Channel would act
on. And it wasn’t like they were left alone during the procedure. There was
always a doctor present and usually with a student resident or two in tow.

Keva
glanced up when she heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Amy, another
Channel, bustled into their shared office and sat at her desk. “Morning, Keva.”
She wiggled her mouse and began clicking.

“Morning,
Amy.”

“I
just had a wow session with a jerk with an astounding talent for telekinesis.
For a solid
minute
after we disconnected I could move shit with my mind!
It was amazing!”

“A
minute! Wow, he must have been really powerful.”

Amy
bobbed her head and the bun on the top of her head wobbled. Her thick, black hair
was held aloft by jeweled chopsticks. Amy flashed a grin. “The rush was the
best I’ve had this week.” She began rapidly typing. After each session, they
were required to log extensive notes about their experience. Channels were an
invaluable tool for scientists to learn more about the minds of psychics.

Keva
checked her appointments for any last-minute changes. Scheduling was done
entirely on the computer. No one would tell her if there had been any
alterations. She would only be alerted in the case of an emergency. It was her
responsibility to keep on top of her schedule. She had a light load today. Just
a couple midlevel clients, twins, both of them clairvoyants. She had worked
with them a number of times. The lack of appointments didn’t mean she wouldn’t
end up dealing with last-minute walk-ins or emergencies. Some psychics were
mistrustful of the IOP and refused to come in for treatment until they had no
other options. But, in the meanwhile, she would enjoy the free time. Keva
reached into the lower drawer of her desk and pulled out her copy of
Pride
and Prejudice
.

Dean,
their other office mate, strolled in half an hour later. “Ladies,” he said
before flopping into his desk chair. He began typing furiously using only his
thumbs and pointer fingers in a surprisingly efficient hunt-and-peck method.

The
office was a square just large enough for the three of them and a couch they
kept by the door. Dean and Amy’s desks were on opposite sides of the room
facing each other. Keva was lucky to have the spot opposite the door and in
front of the window. She had an excellent view of the desert sand that
surrounded the IOP. The building was isolated for miles in any given direction.

At
the appointed time, she met with the twins, Rafaella and Rafael. Working with
Rafaella was a breeze. She was the stronger of the two, and she appreciated the
help. Rafael was mistrustful and came more to support his sister than out of
any real need for the assistance of a Channel. She returned to her office after
the appointment. She had just completed her notes when Dr. Larsen stuck his
head around the corner. “Are you free?” Both Amy and Dean were with clients.

Keva
nodded. “What’s up?”

“Last-minute
drop-in.”

She
picked up her tablet computer and followed Dr. Larsen to an examination room. “What
type of talent are we dealing with?”

“Clairvoyance
from the description of her symptoms. She’s uncharted and untested.” Which
meant they weren’t positive what her ability was or the strength of her talent.

“What’s
her name?”

“Emily
McKethan. She’s nineteen.”

Keva
paused before the examination room and entered the client’s information into
her tablet. The information would automatically sync with her office PC.

Emily
was already seated in one of the comfortable chairs they would use during the
procedure. She had short, spiky blond hair, the tips of which were dyed bright
orange. Her ears were covered in earrings from the lobe to the top. She jingled
when she moved from the multiple bracelets she wore on her slender wrists. Currently,
she was in constant motion. She had one foot balanced on the knee of her other
leg. Her leg bounced up and down rapidly. She ran a hand up her bare arm, and
Keva could feel the psychic energy crackle in the air.

Keva
sat in the chair opposite her and placed her tablet aside. No one liked to feel
that they were the lab rat in a scientific study, and she tried to make sure
that her clients never felt that way. She held out her hand to the young lady.
“Hello, Emily. I’m Keva. I’ll be your Channel for today.” Dr. Larsen sat in a
chair off to the side and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible.

“Hi.”
She nodded but did not reach out to shake her hand. “Sorry, I’m too sensitive
for handshakes right now.”

Keva
nodded. “Do you only get readings from people, or can you get them from objects
also?”

“Both.
Usually it’s manageable, but lately it’s unbearable.”

“Have
you been using your ability at home as much as possible?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,
we’re going to have to hold hands to do this. Don’t worry. You won’t get a
reading off me. Channels are like voids. We absorb your energy.”

“You
won’t take it completely away? I mean, I don’t want to lose my power.” She
picked at the frayed knees of her jeans. “It’s been crazy lately, but I…I like
it. It’s what makes me different. You know?”

Keva
smiled and nodded. “I understand. I can’t take your power. Only the excess
flows into me.”

“Will
I need to do this again?”

“Yes,
but you probably won’t need to come back for a few months. Your talents may be
growing as you age. If you learn to manage it better, you may not need to come
here again.”

Emily
took a deep breath. “Okay. What do we do?”

Keva
extended her hands, palms up. “Take my hands and simply let go. You probably
don’t realize it, but you’re probably always holding your powers in check. Let
go, and I will take care of everything else.”

Emily
nodded but she paused, her hands hovering over Keva’s. Her dark brown eyes
locked on Keva’s as they finally made contact. The connection opened in an
instant. Tendrils of energy washed over her. It started in her palms and ran
delicately through her body like a winding stream. She felt the universe
expanding around her. Emily’s eyes glowed a lighter brown for a second and then
it was all over. They broke contact.

Keva
lowered her hands onto the armrests.
Amy sat in this chair last. She’d been
attracted to her client even before they’d established the connection. Before
that it was Ryan, one of the Channels in the office to their left.
And then
the universe shrank down to its normal size and she couldn’t see any more. Emily’s
powers left her, dissipating out into the ether.

Emily
ran her hands over her face. “Oh.” She sighed and then she laughed. “Thank you.
That is so much better.”

Keva
smiled. “I’m glad.” She stood and picked up her tablet. “It was nice meeting
you. Dr. Larsen will escort you out.” She hurried back to the office to enter
her notes. Emily was definitely a clairvoyant. Based on what she’d felt during
the connection, Keva estimated her to be a lower-level talent. They graded
psychics from A to D, C being the lowest they ever saw here because the
abilities of D level talents were so negligible some of them didn’t even know
they were psychic. A D level could go through life simply believing that they
were lucky, always at the right place at the right time, or constantly just
skirting disaster without ever recognizing that an inner ability was guiding
them. Level-A psychics knew what they were and fought a constant battle to
appear normal.

She
would judge Emily to be a C who was beginning to migrate up to a level B. If
Emily returned, the doctors would demand that she be tested.

Amy
and Dean migrated back in and out. It was almost five on a Friday. Some of her
friends were talking about driving into Vegas for the weekend, but she wasn’t
interested. She hated the sound of the machines in the casino. It was
overwhelming. She’d much rather have a quiet weekend at home with a book.

She
was pulling her purse out of her drawer when the office phone rang. It was a
rare occurrence, and it usually signaled an emergency. Keva sighed. She was the
only one available again. “Hello?”