Unknown Touch (6 page)

Daniel, there's so much more I want to know about you. Thank you for caring about me. Let's play it by ear with the Stephen thing for now. I don't want to argue with you about it. I have tons of questions I want to ask about you...and werewolves in general. But I feel both of us slipping in and out of this dream or telepathy or whatever this phenomenon is. And if you can imagine, I started the day out driving to work and the next thing I know my car crashed into a lake, I was abducted by complete strangers, told werewolves exist and that I've been dreaming about one - YOU - also that I have such awesome psychic powers that are going to save you guys from total pandemonium. Ahhh!
I was really starting to lose it and feeling the connection with Daniel fading more and more.

Sleep, baby. It's time for you to simply sleep now. We will connect again tomorrow.

Daniel's concern for my well-being and sanity was evident in his voice. He tried to soothe me by caressing my hair and ended with holding my chin so tenderly with two fingers. In ways I didn't feel so alone anymore. And I don't think he did either. But what did any of this really mean?

Good night, Daniel…take care…,
I mumbled, lost the mental path with him and this time was out like a light. Not remembering any other dreams.

Chapter 5

Revelations

A barely audible, light tapping sound interrupted my snoozing. After the telepathy session with Daniel during the night hours, I had miraculously gotten a nice rejuvenating sleep. Perhaps now that I understood what and who the heck I was dreaming about, I could settle myself down a bit and get some peace. It had been exciting talking mentally with Daniel last night. I did look forward to another nightly session and was anticipating actually meeting him in the flesh. I would have to ask the gang when that would be. That irritating tapping sound was pecking away at my brain again and getting louder by the second.

"Am I going to have to throw a bucket of water on you to wake you up?" Dominic had chosen to open my bedroom door and was standing in the door frame, snickering at me.

"Oh, don't even mention water after my near drowning incident yesterday." I moaned with extra emphasis. "So, what's for breakfast?"

"It isn't ready yet. I'm working on it so if you need to get cleaned up, you know where the bathroom is. We have more clothes for you and personal goodies. I believe Tessa put a bag in the bathroom for you. Meet up in the kitchen when you're done." Dominic stated with a note of anticipation in his voice. I wondered if he knew about my telepathy experience with Daniel over night. I figured I would tell him later once I got cleaned up.

"Thanks, Dom," I said as I bounced out of bed. A shower and brushing my teeth sounded so delightful; I scampered off to the community bathroom.

After I spent a good forty-five minutes in there, I did feel very refreshed and ready to tackle the day's events. I knew without a doubt to expect more experimenting with my capabilities. Dominic more or less conveyed that to me last night at supper. I was really developing a wider and deeper perspective to the significance of this undertaking. Understanding my role in this mission to help the werewolves was important to me. I didn't want to be left out of the loop. I would press Dominic, Eli, or whoever to gain all the knowledge and information I could take in. I didn't want there to be any secrets. So far, I didn't sense any lies or deceit from the group, but I also knew there was so much more to learn about this situation and about werewolf history.

Breakfast ready?
I mentally asked Dominic. I figured any extra practice I could get in using my skills would be beneficial. And Dom would be tickled I was diving into this so wholeheartedly.

Hurry your butt up. It's been ready for a while now.
Dominic pushed at my mind.

You should know women take longer in the bathroom than men. I can't get ready in just a mere ten minutes like you can,
I laughed mentally for him and out loud as I took off for the kitchen.

He had made quite an impressive amount of food. At least to me it seemed like a lot since all I was used to eating was a boring bowl of lukewarm oatmeal every morning of my life. I dove in with zest and filled my plate with pancakes, eggs and sausage. I could get used to being pampered like this.

Dominic was partially picking up a few threads of my thoughts and replied, "We're all having a big breakfast and then everyone is on their own for a light lunch of their choosing if they even choose to eat. All this meal cooking takes up so much time, although I do love doing it. If we are on our own for lunches, everyone can get more accomplished working on our tasks then."

The whole team had assembled at the kitchen table and were vigorously chowing down. This was obviously a common pattern for them of having big breakfasts, little or no lunches and reconvening for a decent supper meal. I could live with that. There was a nice, compassionate feeling in the air as everyone ate, mostly in silence. Minor chit chat, but it always seemed to be their preference to wait until after they ate to begin any major talks.

Eli, having finished his breakfast, stretched back in the chair and looked over at me. He gave me that warm, fatherly, knowing smile and said, "Kara, I've had an interesting conversation with Daniel early this morning. As you know, I planned on calling him today and thought I would do this before he got too busy with his resort responsibilities. Well, to my surprise, he was definitely expecting the call. He even seemed relieved to hear from me since that was confirmation for him that he wasn't losing his mind in reference to a dream he had last night. And you, Kara, were a participant in that dream from what he reports. It appears you were able to establish a vivid conversation with complete clarity with him this time. That is extremely remarkable."

"Gee, Eli, you kind of stole my thunder as the saying goes! I wanted to tell everyone myself once we finished eating so I could brag about how well my little experiment went." I frowned slightly at him.

Dominic about dropped a plate on the floor after this revealing announcement from Eli. I suppose he hadn't eavesdropped on my sleeping last night after all. I touched at his mind and sensed a tiny bit of insecurity and concern.

"I didn't bother snooping into your thoughts while you slept. I figured the chances of you and Daniel connecting last night were pretty slim since you were totally exhausted." Dom had this look on his face like he had failed or not done his job properly. He thought it was his duty to keep a watchful eye on me and any psychic occurrences I encountered.

I said, "You know, Dominic, you don't need to be in my brain all the time. Everyone needs to sleep including you. Do you really think you can prop yourself up on your bed every single night and zone into my brain the entire time I'm sleeping, monitoring every detail of my dreams? That's impossible. You're going to turn into a zombie or have to start sleeping during the day. And puh-lease don't tell me there are really zombies now…?"

"Umm…" Zac started to speak but everyone glared at him, "I think we'll save that topic for another time."

"I have a lot to learn, don't I?" I stated.

"Well, Kara, is there anything more you can tell us about this dream, this telepathy thing you had going on with Daniel last night? This is so exciting," Tessa was sitting on the edge of her chair about to fall off waiting for more information.

I noticed Dominic's eyes jump from Tessa to me. He definitely wanted to hear more, too, but there was apprehension and uneasiness in that look he had. Even jealousy? Oh, come on, I had only met him the day before. He couldn't be jealous.

"After I went to bed, at some point during the night, I recognized that the dream I started having was familiar to me. From what everyone told me during the day, this had to be Daniel I was dreaming about. Basically, I focused on making a mental connection with him to try to pull us out of this whacky dream state and make it seem more real. That way we could talk to each other like when Dom and I communicate with our minds. It worked really great. At first I had to convince him he wasn't totally dreaming all of it and that I was a real, live person not a figment of his imagination. I told him about how we were going to help him and about my psychic abilities. I said Eli would call him in the morning as proof of my existence. And, of course, Eli you did just that, making a believer out of him." I decided not to divulge all the personal, emotional details I had experienced during my contact with Daniel. I even put up a slight mental block against Dominic, fearing he would detect there was something more on a deeper level that I wasn't telling them. I didn't want to ramble on like a schoolgirl about all those wonderful, loving sensations Daniel made me feel. It would be embarrassing and uncomfortable to discuss such things except perhaps with Tessa…maybe.

Eli reported, "Daniel said that at this moment, Stephen hasn't done anything violent since he killed that farmer, which he claims was done in self-defense. Although, he's still acting too aggressively and Daniel fears Stephen could snap at any moment. He commented he will be glad when we arrive down there knowing we've got a few tricks up our sleeves to help him out." Eli then looked over at me and winked. I knew I was one of those tricks he was referring to. I hoped I could work my magic to everyone's satisfaction and perform a good deed without letting anyone down.

Before long, everyone started parting ways again. Each had their own designated duties to take care of for the day. Dominic and I headed off towards the research room. I wondered when I would be allowed to go to the surface, to be outside, or if I should consider myself part mole from now on. And so far it had only been about a day of living down here but it felt like a week. I realized I couldn't go trouncing around Highland with the story of my departure spreading through the grape vine. After all, I was supposed to be taking off to the great unknown on a road trip to California. I could not be seen by anyone in this area or it would blow my cover.

"Dom, when are we going to Kentucky Lake? And the town is called Hamlin, right?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Probably in about a week. We want to make sure you are ready and not stumbling into this blindly. You have far surpassed our expectations with your progress and skills. So I'm pretty sure it will be a week and we'll head down there. Yep, it's in Hamlin, Kentucky. Daniel actually owns several resorts and campgrounds around that whole area and the one he lives at is where we'll be staying. We may move to a different location if necessary but we'll start out there."

"Wow, I can't believe he owns so many places down there. He must be loaded to be able to afford all that and the cost for the upkeep." I was fishing for information.

Dominic casually responded, "You need to keep in mind, he's been around for a long time. Let's see here, if I calculated correctly, he is 342 years old. And when you've been around as long as he has, a person has the ability to invest money again and again over time which just keeps making more money, if you see what I mean. He is very smart and many years ago he bought up a lot of stock in certain high-profile companies that have done unbelievably well. That keeps him rolling in the money. Also, it's interesting to know, that they are the original owners who established those getaways. The resorts are meant to give him and the others in his pack something to do. It helps them blend in and usually keeps them busy and out of trouble. Plus they do make money from the resorts and campgrounds, too. Just an added bonus."

I nodded. Did I hear him say 342 years old? Daniel looked awesome for being so old if that was the case. I fished a little more, "In my dreams, Daniel doesn't look old at all. How come?"

"He became a werewolf when he was only 26 years old back in 1693. He will remain looking the way he does forever. He won't age. So in some ways, he is still only in his mid-twenties. Weird, huh?"

Definitely strange. At least I was learning more bit by bit. This was good but there were many more questions I needed answers to yet. I fully intended to keep asking every chance I got. For the next several hours, we practiced our mind reading skills in various forms and functions. For fun, and to allow me to work on mind manipulation some more, Dominic had me place an image in Tessa's mind of bringing us some drinks and granola bars. It worked without a hitch because within two minutes of putting that thought in her head, she arrived at the door with our midday snack.

"Hi guys! I thought you two might like something to munch on," Tessa announced as if this was such a nice gesture she had come up with all on her own. Dom and I smiled and thanked her and off she went feeling good about herself. We decided not to reveal to Tessa the little trick I had played on her mind. We discussed how some of the team could eventually get aggravated with me if I kept messing with their minds. In fact, they might start to distrust me. So, I would keep the mind games to a minimum within our gang and wouldn't broadcast to everyone each time I did experiment on them.

Dom said, "Let's go outside. I need to work on my telekinesis with bigger objects."

He took the lead, since I wasn't sure where the door to the great outdoors was located. It didn't take long and we were standing in front of it. I swear if you blinked too many times you could walk from one end of the command center to the other end. The exit was near the community restroom. He swung open the heavy steel door and we walked up a set of steep stairs as our footsteps echoed eerily in this tight area. Then he reached out to unlock another steel door, a few more steps, and I was joyfully breathing in fresh air from outside.

I followed Dominic down a little trail that led further into a wooded area. An old tractor equipped with a blade for shoveling snow sat nearby. I noticed a fire pit area with a neat circular picnic table set up next to it. I sat down to watch Dominic practice his mad skills. He was zeroing in on some wood stacked up for burning. It was nice to see this laid back setting and the ground showed evidence of a recent bonfire I'm assuming they had. Suddenly, my peripheral vision was aware of activity. Dominic was mentally moving the stack of firewood, piece by piece, into the pit.