Mindstrike (Part Three)

Chapter Three

"Are you ready?"

Am I ready? To see them? To go back to life as it used to be eleven years ago?

"I don't know." 

Cadence watches me. It's like she can see my chaotic thoughts. Or maybe they're all too obvious.

It was so long ago. I've changed.

"You don't have to run anymore," she says again.

"I understand that. But..."
"I know." 

  Discord. That was the name of the man who pulled apart my family. He found out about me. By that time, I was done with hero-ing. I had a husband. I was expecting a child. 

He didn't care.

I was trapped. He cornered me between leaving my family or losing them forever. He taunted me. One night I woke up and he was in my house. Holding a knife to Jay's throat.
I left the next morning.
Jay understood. I explained everything and he reluctantly agreed that I had no choice. When Faith was born, I took her to him. From that point on, I disappeared from the face of the earth. I moved to a different town. I changed my phone number and any identification possible. I called myself Amira June instead of Rhea Silva. There was no trace of my past life. Up until now.

"I know," Cadence repeats.
I can't shake the feeling that she's experienced this herself.
"Are you sure they want to see me again? I've changed. Faith has never even seen me."
"Every night, Jay tells her stories of an amazing woman who saved his life and defended the world from evil. He never forgets a single detail from your height to the words you said. Faith spends every day hoping and praying to see this wonderful mother face-to-face."
I close my eyes. "I'm not that superhero anymore. I'm not Mindstrike."
"She will understand. Let her come and see you."
I look up at Cadence. "How do you know?"
She shrugs. "I've talked to Jay."
A sigh escapes. "Okay."
"Okay?"
"I'm ready."
Cadence disappears. A few minutes later, someone knocks on the door. I open it.
"Rhea?"
"Jay!"

The End.

Mindstrike, Part Two

Chapter Two-- Answers, Sort Of

I stand openmouthed for a second, shocked. I run outside, looking around. Long-distance transportation just isn't possible. She's around here somewhere.

"Looking for me?"

Cadence is leaning against my front door.

"How?" I demand. "How did you do that?"
She takes two quick steps forward, placing her hands firmly on my shoulders.

"You wouldn't understand if I explained it."

I step back, pushing her hands away. "What about everything else?"

She sighs. "You don't give up easily, do you?"

I cross my arms and shake my head. 

"Inside."

I follow her back into my living room, where we both sit back down where we were before.

"Your family misses you, Rhea," she begins, softly. 

I narrow my eyes, feeling all the pain of leaving them over again. 

"Did they..."

"No, they didn't ask me to find you."

I nod. "Good."

"Your daughter is all grown up now. She's the prettiest eleven-year-old you'll ever see."

"What did he name her?" 

"Faith."

I bite my lip. That's one of the names we'd discussed before I had to go. 

"He told her why you left."

"Has she shown any signs of--"

"She did not inherit anything from you."

A sigh of relief escapes me. 

"Why are you here?"

"They deserve to see you again."

I shake my head. "I can't. Ever again. It's far too dangerous."

Cadence leans forward, looking deep into my eyes, reading my thoughts. 

"Not anymore."

"I can't be sure of that. He... that... that monster can't be dead like they say. He's hiding."

"You don't have to be afraid anymore, Rhea." 

I struggle to breathe, frustration and sadness choking me. 

"If I go to see them, they'll get hurt."

"And if they come to see you?"

She asks the question in such a way that makes me look up sharply.

"You didn't..."

"They know where you are. But they won't come until you're ready."

I fall back into the deep softness of the chair. 

"Okay."

To Be Continued....

Mindstrike, Part One

                                                    Chapter One-- Questions

I am a mind reader.

No, I cannot read your mind. I have to be able to see you in order to read your mind, you know. And you're not looking at me, but the words on your screen. 

Anyway, that's not what this is about. This story is about how one day I met someone different and how it changed everything.

  Everything started on a completely normal Saturday. I had gone to the store for milk and sandwich meat. As usual, I was idly listening to everyone else's thoughts. Which isn't as creepy as it sounds, by the way. Anyway, it's usually all normal stuff.

Is he ever going to text back??

I hope she gets home ok.

All I have left is to pick up that medicine.

I know you're reading my thoughts.

I stop in my tracks.

Hello, Rhea.

Glancing around in alarm, I see a woman staring at me from the other end of the aisle. She looks only a year or two older than I, with a soft black baseball cap pulled over a mass of red curls. She's taller than me and is dressed in a black tee and dark jeans. Whoever she is, she doesn't want too much attention. 

I've been looking for you.

Stifling the urge to run away, I walk quickly to the woman.

"Who are you?" I whisper.

"Someone who needs to talk to you," she replies quietly. 

"Why?" I narrow my eyes slightly. 

Meet me outside in the parking lot.

The woman walks away swiftly. I finish getting my items and pay for them as quickly as I can. But instead of going out to the parking lot, I head to the other end of the store, to the gardening center. Nobody's here, considering it's November, and I'm free to slip out through one of the employee doors and avoid the parking lot altogether. 

Walking briskly to my house, I feel the tension leaving my shoulders. Whoever that woman was, she can't possibly know where I live. Nobody knows that.

I spoke too soon.

The woman is standing on my front porch when I arrive, waiting for me. 

Thought you could lose me, right? I'm a bit smarter than that.

I march up the steps. "Who are you?" 

"My name is Cadence Bellmonger. I've been looking for you, Rhea Silva." 

I set my jaw and open the door. "Inside.'

She follows me into the living room and takes a seat on the couch while I set my bags down on the counter. 

"What else do you know about me?" I demand, returning to pace in front of her.

"Your name is Rhea Silva. You can read minds. You've just turned forty-two years old. You used to have a family. And you're hiding from something... or someone."

I scowl at the mention of my family. "Why have you been looking for me?"

She meets my eyes steadily. "I can't tell you yet." 

"Then why are you here?" I'm trying to read her thoughts, but she's blocking all of my attempts with an image of calm ocean waves. 

You can't do that, you know. I've been trained to avoid mind reading.

I frown. "Who are you?"

"You've already asked that. In fact, you keep asking a lot of the same questions."

"And you keep not answering them." 

"I'll explain everything if you'll only answer a few of my own questions."

I sit in the big chair across from the couch. "Why--"

Cadence holds up a finger. "I told you I'd explain. Just answer my questions and I'll answer yours."

"And if I don't?" I lean forward, resting my arms on my knees.

"I have my own ways of finding out," she replies coolly. 

I sit back and cross my arms. "I'm not telling you anything." I look away, scowling at the floor.

Cadence says nothing. Eventually, the silence begins to bother me and I look back at her. Then I'm unable to look away.

Cadence is staring straight at me. Her piercing blue eyes are slowly changing from blue to light lavender to an impossibly deep violet. The air around her seems to darken with the intensity of her gaze. I find that I'm paralyzed, unable to move anything but my eyes. After what seems like forever, but in actuality is only a few minutes, Cadence sits back and the strange state dissipates. 

"I have my information," she says quietly. 

"What... what did you just do?" 

"I mindsearched you. I enjoyed it much less than you did." 

I bite my lip. "What did you find?"

"The answers to my questions."

"Are you going to answer any of my questions?" 

"Our deal was that if you answer my questions, I'll answer yours. You did not answer my questions of your own accord."

I stand up quickly, clenching my fists. "You know what I'm capable of. Answer me."

Cadence smirks-- and disappears.

To be continued.....

Sharing Graphics And Art

Hello, dear readers!

Today was a pretty productive day: I started a new graphic novel (I'll talk about that in a later post possibly) and finished a couple different stories. But now my brain is empty and I'm having trouble coming up with a good subject for a blog post. Therefore, to the backup plan: Sharing art!  Here's some graphics that I've designed (mostly book covers for books that don't exist) and some of my recent art.