The Playing Fields First Draft

Chapter Sixteen

     It wasn't long before Claire felt that someone was watching them.

     What are these creatures like? Claire wondered, she looked toward the boarded-up buildings. The two women found that most of the City was boarded up. All tight, nothing loose enough for either of them to pry open alone, either to keep them on a path the fae wanted them to be on.

     Or we could find that they locked the City creatures in there to observe their abductees. Claire thought.

     "Think that we're walking around in circles?" Claire asked Mari.

     Mari shook her head. "No, if we were, we'd make more progress than we are now." She looked toward Claire. "What're you thinking?"

     "Thinking?" Claire asked.

     "Yes, Rick would ask these questions if there was something behind them." Mari explained. "So, what are you thinking?"

     "Just because Rick would do something like that doesn't mean I'll do the same." Claire protested, then she gave a slight grin. "I was only thinking that these buildings are boarded up to keep the City's creatures inside to keep an eye on us." Claire confessed.

     "For what reason?" Mari asked.

     Claire shrugged. "That's what I was trying to figure out."

     Mari looked up toward the upper levels of the building. "I don't see anything in there." Mari said.

     "That's what has me worried." Claire said.

     "Can you feel them?" Mari asked.

      Claire nodded. "Just a bit."

     "Aren't you tired?"

     Claire had a kind of passive alert on her, while psychic powers could took their toll on her, the passive abilities took less of a toll as they took less energy from Claire. While packing them on could take their toll, keeping one open, even in Claire's drained state, was possible.

     "Thankfully it's a passive ability." Claire said.

     "There's a lot more than you're letting me on." Mari said, suspicion replaced whatever sadness remained from Rick's death. "How do you know that if you're just growing into your powers?"

     Claire sighed, annoyed that she had to let this cat out of the bag. "My name is Claire Fischer." Claire struggled to get her last name out, she didn't like advertising where she came from.

     "Fischer, like that family of paranormal hunters?" Mari asked, her expression unreadable.

     "The very same." Claire said.

     "That explains a lot about you." Mari said. Her frown stuck for a while, then widened into a smile. Both Claire and her burst into laughter, they laughed until tears came from their eyes.

     "Yeah, I suppose it does." Claire said, as she wiped her tears.

     "I'll guess that they taught you all that you needed to know about psychic powers before you gained them." Mari observed.

     "You could say that." Claire said.

     "So, you don't need a mentor?" Mari asked.

     "Nah, I do." Claire replied. "I burned a number of bridges by not growing into my psychic abilities."

     Mari shook her head. "That's too bad."

     "Doesn't matter." Claire shrugged. "I figured out how many real friends I had pretty quickly."