Salem's Sight (7 page)

“
Call him Skyler,” Mom
said. “That’s a more masculine version of the name.”

“
Okay little Skyler, you’ll
have to deal with a sissy name.” He meowed as if he understood and
Mom and I both started laughing.

“
I’ve got to admit, he’s
adorable.”

“
You’re just glad he’s a
boy,” I said as I picked him up and snuggled him to my face.
Immediately he started purring loudly.

“
We’re going to do
homework,” I said as I walked toward the stairs.

“
Let me know if he can find
the answers,” my mother yelled after me.

At first Skyler was content with me
holding him, but then he stretched out, hopped off my lap, and
curled up next to my feet while I studied.

His gentle purring suddenly stopped,
replaced by a loud “Errrnw.” I looked down to see his ears pinned
back as his wide eyes scanned the room. In one swift movement he
stood and began to circle a spot on the bed, like a child playing
musical chairs. Mid-stride he stopped and slowly tipped his little
head toward heaven.

He stood motionless like a little
stuffed toy.

I looked at the ceiling. Nothing was
there.

“
Come on, Skyler. Don’t
freak me out.”

He didn’t move.

“
Hey,” Berkley called as
she entered the room while I almost jumped out of my skin. “I
couldn’t wait to see your cat.”

“
Kitten, and he’s a bit
preoccupied.”

“
He’s so cute, oh he’s
beautiful,” Berkley sing-songed. Then she stopped short and looked
up. “What’s he looking at?”

We both stared at the same spot, but
the human eyes couldn’t make out what the cat eyes obviously saw.
“I can’t see anything, but he hasn’t moved.”

“
Cats, oh wow, Salem, Cats.
Don’t you get it? Cats are supposed to be guides to the spirit
world.”

Okay, she might have had the highest
GPA in the junior class, but I had to wonder why I was the one
seeing a shrink.

Without so much as a twitch from his
eyes, Skyler meowed. If he was talking to Grandma, I still wasn’t
privy to the conversation.

****

That night I had the dream again, the
one where I was inside a giant flame. I wondered what Dr. Martin
would think about it, but wasn’t sure if I should discuss it with
him or not.

Luckily for me, Skyler was there. I
didn’t have time to thrash about. See, he had a thing about quick
movements. Evidently under the covers my feet masqueraded as toys
or prey. Either way he pounced and woke me up with a few playful
bites.

CHAPTER six

Whoever invented homework should die a
slow and painful death. Like the school day isn’t long enough. I
mean, at least adults get to relax after work. That’s what Mom was
doing as I chipped away at my homework. She sat on the other end of
the couch watching the news intently, pausing occasionally when I
needed some help.

The television droned on in the
background, not distracting me in the slightest. For me, the news
wasn’t exactly television. It was boring to the extreme, even more
than homework.

Skyler sat up straight and meowed at
the set. I was going to laugh and point out that he didn’t enjoy
the news any more than I did, when I looked up and a chill settled
over my body.

Suddenly the blah, blah, blah turned
into words – loud, clear, and exacting. That isn’t what gave me
goose bumps though.

For a second I was sucked into the
giant flame displayed on the screen. A massive burning fire, no
longer a part of my nightmares. But instead now a major part of
someone else’s.

Only now it was for real. The blaze
was real. My fire hadn’t been imagined. It certainly hadn’t been
representative in any way of the car accident I’d been in. My flame
burning out of control was on the TV.

The hair on the back of my neck stood
up like a cat in attack mode and goose bumps marred the flesh on my
arms. Somehow the fire that was being pictured now had been in my
mind before it happened.

Impossible.

“
Mom?”

“
What honey?” she asked
without turning toward me, her eyes still riveted to the
destruction she was witnessing.

“
See the fire on TV?” Much
to my amazement, my voice sounded much more calm than I actually
was.

“
Yeah,” she said only half
paying attention.

“
That’s the one that was in
my dreams.”

It took a second or so before my
mother caught on that I meant it was the same fire and when she did
she tried to dismiss it. “It was a fire like that?” She turned and
looked directly at me.

“
Um, no Mom. It was that
exact one.” I nodded frantically in the affirmative hoping she’d
believe rather than question. No such luck.

“
Oh come on Salem, what are
you trying to say?” she asked frustration laboring in her
tone.

“
I saw it before it
happened. Call me weird, but it’s true.” Okay, so I was saying the
words in a calm and collected manner, but that was probably shock
because inside I was shaking. Seriously shaking.

“
Don’t be silly, honey. One
flame pretty much looks like the next.”

The heat intensified and I could feel
the burning of flesh. Not pain exactly. I wasn’t in pain. I was
detached from it, yet knew what it was like on some de-magnified
level. I focused on the television, but was at the site at the same
time.

“
There’s a person in that
flame. The authorities may not know he’s there yet. And it’s a he,
I’m almost certain.” That detached voice wasn’t coming from the me
that was trembling inside. It was coming from somewhere else, like
I was split in half or in two places at once.

“
What are you
saying?”

“
I’m saying that I saw the
fire before it happened and I know there’s a person inside burning
to death. I know it because I experienced it the other night. I can
even feel it now.” I shook my head and tried to let the feelings
in. But it was too late. The man was gone.

My heart raced with debilitating fear.
I shouldn’t know this. There’s no way to truly know this. Yet I
did.

“
He’s already dead. I guess
there’s no reason to call the police. I’m not sure what I would
have said, still, I would’ve called. But he’s dead so there’s no
point. They’ll find him.” I knew that too. “It’ll be on the news
tomorrow.”

The more I knew for certain that it
was real the more frightened I became. My stomach tightened and I
felt chilled to the bone. What was happening to me and how could I
make it stop?

My mother just stared at me as if I
just went over the edge. Or at least that’s what I thought. Looking
back she must have been thinking of my grandmother and how she had
claimed to have the same ability.

****

My mother’s birthday was coming up and
this was going to be a tough one. See, Dad always bought her just
the right gift. He somehow always found something that was the
perfect fit. And of course, often expensive.

Dad was the bling king. The jewelry
store in the center of my old town used to send him a Christmas
card and a calendar every year. Dad always made sure his ‘girls’
sparkled. Mom’s anniversary band had enough sparkle to rescue lost
ships at sea. And I was the mini-bling. I had enough fourteen carat
gold at fifteen to rival an Egyptian Pharaoh.

For Mom, this birthday would be
blingless. And it’s not so much the expensive present as the
thought of someone thinking you’re special enough to buy
it.

This birthday would be the first one
without someone who would spoil her. No parents. No husband. And
what could I get that would make up for the wonderful gift she
wouldn’t be getting from Dad?

Nada.

But I had to try. I checked the yellow
pages and luckily there was an antique store within walking
distance. I figured it would be easier finding something different
in a place like that than in the local mall.

My biggest surprise occurred as I
walked through the opened door. Robby stood on a ladder with a dust
cloth making china plates presentable. His butt wiggled slightly as
he cleaned and I could have watched the show for an indefinite
amount of time. Unfortunately, an elderly woman with salt and
pepper hair caught me. She closed the door and when she did the
bell at the top jingled causing Robby to turn.

He must have been as surprised to see
me, as I was to see him, because he lilted forward and momentarily
lost his balance.

The elderly woman gasped and clutched
her chest with her hand. “Robby, darling, be careful. You gave me a
fright.”

“
Sorry, I will,” he said to
her as he smiled at me.

“
The gentleman from the
garage called. Said to tell you he’d definitely have that part in
before the dance.”

“
Thanks, Gram.”

She glanced over at me and then back
up to Robby. “Do you have everything here under
control?”

Robby looked down at me and smiled.
“Yeah. No problem.”

“
Good. Now I’ll go back to
making my Stroganoff and leave the young lady to you.” She turned,
winked at me and walked out.

Great, just great. First, I tell his
dad his son is a hottie and now Grandma catches me red handed, and
red faced I might add, checking out his butt! That’s what gave me a
fright.

A fright. Cool old lady word. I like
the vocabulary that elderly people have. Not like parent’s slang
that just sounds dorky and stupid. The generation before them used
words that have slipped away from modern language. That’s what
makes it cool.

“
You wouldn’t happen to be
stalking me, are you?” he asked when she was out of
earshot.

My jaw dropped open and I stood
unintelligently catching flies. Not even able to utter a
sound.

“
I’m kidding.” He descended
the ladder and stood in front of me. “Do you like antiques? We’ve
got some great stuff here.”

I nodded and wondered if that applied
to his grandmother, she certainly looked old enough to be
considered an antique. But I was just being nasty because I’d been
caught … well, being nasty.

To be honest she was really pleasant
looking and didn’t look as old as Mrs. Taunton, although I guess
they were around the same age. And the cool thing about Robby’s
grandmother was she even had an inch or two on me and I’m not
exactly short.

I wouldn’t feel big and gawky next to
her the way I did with my own grandmother. That would be my
father’s mother, Queen Bee, who was petite and would always say to
my mother, “I hope she doesn’t grow too tall.” My mother would
grumble under her breath, “I hope she’s as big as an Amazon.”
Unfortunately, just hearing it always made me slouch in front of my
grandmother. I gazed up at Robby; there’d be no reason to slouch if
I were with him.

I glanced around the store hoping
something would jump out at me. “Um, I’m looking for a present for
my mom. I’m not really sure what I want. Just something
different.”

He pointed out hand painted china
dishes and figurines and then some hand blown glass items. Then I
saw it. Cinderella’s glass slipper sparkling in the light from the
window.

When I was little we used to watch the
video practically every day right before Dad came home from work. I
always called it ‘Mommy and me’ time. I remember she bought me
clear plastic shoes from a toy store that came with a crown and
every day I’d leave one shoe on the steps for Dad to find when he
came home. He’d make like he was the prince and would search the
house until he found me.

I wanted that glass slipper. It’d be a
gift with meaning. But it had to be fine crystal and I was sure I’d
never be able to afford it. I knew that because unlike many of the
items in the store, it was behind glass.

“
Which piece are you
looking at?” Robby asked playing the part of salesman.

I stepped closer and put my finger on
the glass and pointed to the slipper. “This one.”

He grabbed a set of keys from his
pocket and unlocked the display case. The slipper sparkled more out
of the case and as he handed it to me our hands touched briefly. My
hand tingled and my belly started doing flips.

I turned the crystal over to see if
there was a price tag but there wasn’t. “It’s pretty expensive,
huh?” More than anything I hoped I was wrong.

He started to check the spot where the
slipper had been then stopped. “I can get it for cost if you’d
consider doing me a favor.”

I stood like a mannequin trying to
imagine what kind of a favor I could do for him.

“
I paint,” he said when I
made no effort to respond. “The first time I saw you I wanted to
capture your face.”

And I had imagined him running from
fear. “Wow, an artist.” I hated myself for getting tongue-tied
around him, but my IQ only lowered when he showed
interest.