THE MOON STONE
Part 2

By Hardrive

Several days passed since Danielle’s encounter with the police officer. She used that time she experiment with the Moon Stone and got to know how to use some of its powers. The alien’s gift was amazing and there was much more to learn, but she had other obligations. There were deadlines to meet and several photo essays to produce before the end of the week, so she tossed the stone in her sock drawer and went about her business.

A few days later she was putting the finishing touches on the last article when the doorbell rang. It was the middle of the afternoon and Danielle was still in her underwear. She liked feeling comfortable while she worked so she normally didn’t get fully dressed unless she was expecting company. No one was expected today so she thought it might be a delivery. UPS always rings once and leaves the package on the porch, on this occasion the doorbell rang twice so she knew it wasn’t them.

Slipping on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, she headed for the door but stopped by the window to peek through the curtains. It was a man in a suit and he was carrying a briefcase, so she guessed he was a door to door salesman.

“Whatever you’re selling, I don’t need it.” She yelled through the closed door.

“I’m not here to sell you anything,” came the reply. “I’m with the State Attorney’s Office and I’m looking for Danielle Davis. Is that you?”

Danielle cracked open the door to get a better look. He sure looked like a lawyer in his expensive suit and slicked back haircut, but just to be sure she tried to probe his mind. The scan was unsuccessful. Then she remembered that she’d left the Moon Stone in her sock draw and apparently it was too far away for her to access its power. She was going to have to deal with this guy the old fashion way.

“Let’s see some ID.” She challenged the stranger.

“Sure.” The man said with a big smile and handed Danielle a business card. The card had a fancy gold embossed crest and it introduced the bearer as Paul Holderman, Assistant State Attorney. “May I come in?”, he asked politely.

Danielle was apprehensive. What the hell did an assistant state attorney want with her? Something about this wasn’t right so she gave him back his card and said, “This isn’t an ID. Let’s see something laminated, with your picture and an embedded holographic emblem.”

Paul looked annoyed as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a wallet. Flipping open the folder he held his ID to her face and kept it there until she nodded and stepped aside to let him in.”

“Sorry, but a girl has to be careful.” She said as she pointed to a chair for him to sit. “The world is full of creeps pretending to be what they’re not.” She added as she sat on the sofa across from him.

“Ain’t that the truth. He said in a mocking tone. Then he asked again if she was Danielle Davis. Danielle nodded and Holderman smiled. “You’re just a little itty-bitty thing, Not what I expected at all.” He mused as he opened his briefcase and pulled out a file with her name printed on top.

Danielle couldn’t help but notice that Holderman kept a gun and handcuff in his briefcase. He saw her looking at his gun and said, “My motto is, always be prepared.” Then he opened the file and got right to the point. “A few nights ago one of our patrolmen issued you a traffic summons.”

“Actually he wrote up a summons but decided not to give it to me.” Danielle corrected him.

“Well, that was very uncharacteristic of him. He’s one of our top producers and when he writes a summons he usually issues it.” Looking directly into Danielle’s eyes Holderman asked, “Why didn’t officer McBee issue the summons? Did you give or offer him anything in exchange for his… leniency?”

“No!,” Danielle responded, with a touch of indignation. “What kind of girl do you think I am?” Holderman didn’t answer. “The officer wasn’t feeling well,” Danielle continued, “and I offered to call 911 to get him some help.”

“Yes, he told us that. He also told us that he got sick right after he gave you the ticket.” Holderman stopped to look at Danielle and check for a reaction. He got nothing from her so he continued. “McBee told us that he thinks you made him sick.”

Danielle kept her poker face but she was worried. Could it be this guy knew about the Moon Stone? She considered running to her room to try and get the stone, but maybe that’s what Holderman wanted. The alien warned her that there were people that would try to stop her for using the stone. If Holderman pulled his gun before she could get the stone she’d be at his mercy. Danielle wasn’t sure what this guy’s game was but for the moment he had the upper hand so she was just going to bide her time and play dumb.

“So, what are you saying? You think I gave the cop a colonic? That’s funny.” Danielle said with a smile.

Halderman kept his gaze locked on Danielle. He peered deep into her eyes and waited for her to react. No doubt he was playing some kind of waiting game, hoping to wear her down under the strain. Obviously he’s never sat in a blind for hours waiting for a family of quail to run by. After a half minute of silence Holderman broke eye contact and gave up. Pulling a cell phone from his pocket he pressed a button and walked about 10 feet away before he started talking.

“I’m not getting anything from her.” He told his contact. “I don’t think she has what we’re looking for. Hell, she didn’t even know who I was or why I came to see her. She’s just a dumb kid who doesn’t know anything. I think McBee must have eaten a bad burrito or something. I’m closing the investigation and shelving her file.”

Turning to Danielle, Holderman excused himself for having taken up her time. He closed his briefcase and was about to leave when Danielle asked him to wait. Holding up her hand she told him she had something to show him. Running to her room she picked up the Moon Stone and returned with a big smile on her face.

“Sit down,” she commanded in a voice filled with self-confidence. “Now I have some questions for you. Holderman’s mind went blank as his will evaporated under the influence of Danielle’s overwhelming power. Responding to her command, he sat there like a zombie, his mind an open book just waiting to be read.

“Tell me, who sent you here?”

“I was sent by my boss, Alex Barns, the Attorney General.”

Danielle waited for him to tell her more but Holderman went silent after he answered her question. “So, why did Barns send you to question me?”

“He wanted to know if you have any extraordinary psychic abilities.”

“What?”

“He wanted to know if you have any…”

“I heard you, but I’m not going to play 21 questions. Just tell me everything you know all at one time.”

“My boss is a very rich and powerful man. He’s gotten everything he has by controlling the criminal justice system in this county. He gets a piece of all the fines, fees and payments made to the Courts. He also gets part of the State and Federal funding for Prisons and Community Control.”

“How the hell did he get all that power?”

“He has associates with psychic powers. They know everything about everybody who is anybody in this County. They use that information to blackmail, control, and frighten people into doing whatever they’re told. That includes getting cops to issue unwarranted traffic tickets, judges to exonerate criminals, and the system to put innocent people in jail.”

“Putting innocent people in jail?”

“Well, innocent or only guilty of lesser crimes.”

“But why? Doesn’t it cost a lot of money to keep people in jail?”

“It cost the taxpayers a lot of money but the system itself profits from each person placed into custody. Barns is a facilitator for the system and to that end, he and his associates have set up a net to catch and process people through the system. They prey on the most vulnerable members of society. I’m talking about the poor, the young, the uneducated, foreigners, people who are mentally or psychologically challenged and people that live outside the mainstream. They feed these people into system and provide the system with money, the life blood that keeps it going.”

“And who or what is this system?”

“Almost everyone that makes money, directly or indirectly, from the administration of the criminal justice system is involved. Most of them are honest men and women who believe they are engaged in a worthwhile profession, but in one way or another they all profit from the system and therefore have an interest in maintaining the system. Self interest is a very powerful motivator and Barns and his people use that self interest to obtain the support of these unwitting collaborators that help them maintain the status quo.”

Danielle was horrified by what she heard. “I can’t believe our whole criminal justice system has been usurped by these monsters. But that can’t be true in all cases. This corruption must be an extraordinary situation and peculiar only to places where people like Barns are in control.”

“The entire system is designed to make money.” Holderman continued, “and where there is money to be made there are always people like Barns ready to exploit the situation. This county has been franchised to Barns but the syndicate operates on a national level. There are tens of thousands of people like Barns all over the country. Do you think it’s an accident that our criminal justice system is not only the most expensive in the world, but that it also incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world?”

Danielle was in shock. If that’s true, the whole system is compromised and what was created to serve justice for the good of all, has been turned into a money making machine designed to fill the coffers of greedy people that don’t give a dam about justice. And not only that, but these wicked people are bringing pain, suffering and misery to hundreds of thousands of individuals and their families.

Danielle had to think about all that for a while. Then it occurred to her that maybe that’s why Barns targeted her, so she asked Holderman if he was sent to arrest her and put her into the system,

“No, Barns wanted me to find out if you had any extraordinary psychic abilities. If you did I was to kill you and report to him. He would have sent a clean-up crew to erase any evidence of my visit and plant evidence to incriminate someone the syndicate wanted to punish. Then, the criminal justice system would have descended on the crime scene and conducted an investigation. Eventually they would have arrested, adjudicated and incarcerated the person the syndicate targeted. Millions of dollars would have been spent on processing the case and my boss and his associates would have gotten a nice slice of the pie.”

“But why would your boss want me dead?”

Barns is very powerful, but there is one thing he fears. He was told by his superiors that someday a person with extraordinary mental powers would come to destroy him. His bosses seem to know everything and after they warned him, he became very apprehensive. Barns hired me to investigate anything unusual that happens in this county. When officer McBee told him that you made him sick, Barns wanted to know if you had any powers that made you a threat.”

“Have you ever found anyone that meets his profile?”

“No, but the man is absolutely paranoid. He has eliminated several people that he suspected could be threats. Even being cleared by me is no guarantee that he won’t go after someone he suspects.”

“And would you come back and kill me if Barns ordered you to do it?”

Holderman nodded. “It’s my job.”

Danielle thought for a moment. “Well I guess that makes Barns a threat to me.” Then she gave the matter a little more thought and added, “Actually he’s a threat to everybody and he can’t be allowed to continue his evil enterprise.”

Formulating a course of action, Danielle asked,
“Does Barns prosecute any of the cases himself?”

“Yes, if there’s enough money in it or when he wants to send a message to intimidate someone.”

“When will Barns be in court again?”

“Tomorrow, court room 2B at 9 AM. He’s going to cross examine a cop that’s been paid-off to perjure himself.”

After getting all the details, Danielle turned to Holderman and gave him instructions. “You will remember nothing of this conversation. When I say goodbye, your memory will reset to the time when you finished your phone conversation. Is that understood? Holderman nodded.

“Goodbye Mr. Holderman.” Danielle said with a smile.

The assistant state attorney returned her smile, picked up his briefcase and walked out of her house.

After he was gone Danielle thought about all the things Holderman told her. for the first time since she was given the Moon Stone, Danielle felt a touch of fear. She was afraid of this man called Barns. She was afraid of the power of his syndicate. But most of all she was afraid that she wouldn’t know how to use the Moon Stone to defeat this hideous monster.

Danielle didn’t know what to do, but if she was going to confront Barns, she was going to need help. That meant she was going to have to call her boyfriend Mike. He was her best friend and confidant and if there was one person she could trust with her secret, it was Michael.

As expected, Danielle’s call went straight to voice mail. That was okay. What she had to tell him was something she needed to say in person, so she just left a message asking him to come see her right after work.

Danielle’s relationship with Michael was very complicated. Their fathers were cousins and business partners. Michael’s father was an archaeologist and Danielle’s dad was the team photographer. The two families lived and work in such close contact that even though their kids were six years apart, Mike and Danielle grew-up like brother and sister. Starting at the age of sixteen, Danielle began to accompany her father and his cousin on digs in Mexico. It was during those outings that she really got to know her pretend brother. They spent all their days and nights together and it wasn’t long before their relationship became romantic. By the time Danielle was eighteen, she was having sex with Mike right under their parents’ noses.

Because of the difference in their ages and because their parents still thought of them as brother and sister, they had to keep their relationship secret. Using a secret language that allowed them to exchange subtle messages, they were able to keep one step ahead of their parents. It also helped that they enjoyed their parent’s full trust and they had many opportunities to be alone. Their parents never suspected that the love their children felt for each other was anything more than the natural affection that sibling enjoyed.

After their fathers died in an airplane crash it became even more important to keep their secret. Their mothers were distraught but took solace in the fantasy that they still had their blended family. Mike and Danielle didn’t have the heart to confess that they had been betraying their fathers’ trust for years. The only thing they could do was to wait until the time was right. Meanwhile, Danielle went off to pursue a degree in photo-journalism and Michael finished his doctorate in anthropology.

After they graduated, their mothers were very proud of them and they were delighted when they leaned their children lived in the same town. They visited their children often and encouraged them to keep in touch with each other. They would have been totally horrified if they knew that this brother and sister were keeping in touch in ways they never imagined could be possible.

That night, when Michael arrived, Danielle ran out to meet him at the door. When she tugged at his arm to pull him into the house, he expected that she wanted to take him directly into the bedroom but was a disappointed when she announced that they needed to talk.

Danielle sat Michael on the couch and asked him to listen to what she had to say without interruptions. He agreed and listened to her whole story without saying a word. When she stopped talking he looked at her and carefully thought about how he would phrase his reply.

If anyone else had told him that fantastic tale about meeting an alien, being given a magical stone and then having a hostile encounter with a police officer and an assistant state attorney, he would have thought they were trying to pull his leg. But since Danielle insisted that she was telling the truth, Michael decided to take her at her word and consider that her story might actually be a sign that she was having a mental breakdown.

Looking deep into her eyes he evaluated her pupils to see if they were dilated. Then he ran his fingers though her hair to see if there was any signs of trauma. As he massaged her scalp he asked if she had taken any pills, eaten any mushrooms, or smoked any really good weed.

The answers were, no, no and no. Then Danielle opened her hand and showed him the Moon Stone. “With this, I can read thoughts and control minds.”

The egg shaped objected glowed and Danielle began to give him a demonstration by describing his day.

“This morning you got up late and had to eat breakfast at the faculty lounge. You had half a bagel with cream cheese and a cup of espresso that was so hot it burned your tongue. At ten o’clock you were suppose to give a lecture on Mayan agriculture but ended up talking about the division of labor in Mayan households. In the afternoon you had a conference with a student. A little slut named Amy Suber. She said she wanted to discus her thesis but she just wanted to flirt with you. You spent the whole hour talking about her trip to Cancun and looking at her vacation pictures that featured her posing in a very skimpy bikini.”

“Are you having me watched?” Michael said with an air of indignation.

“Michael, look at my lips. Look carefully; very carefully and tell me. Do you see my lips moving?”

Michael looked at her with a puzzled expression. “When did you learn to do that?”

“Look away Michael.” She said while pointing to the window. “Now look back.” When he turned his head she was gone. Michael jumped to his feet and quickly looked around the room. Not finding her he made a full 360 degree turn and when he was facing forward again, there she was standing where he last saw her.

“How the hell did you do that? Have you been practicing slight of hand and illusions?”

“You think this is a card trick?” She said as she leaned into him while reaching down to caress the slight bulge at his crotch. Michael looked down at her hand and felt his manhood react to her erotic massage. It felt good and he lifted his face to meet Danielle’s sumptuous lips. After enjoying a very wet and sexy kiss, he opened his eyes and watched her pull her face away, a string of saliva still connecting their opened mouths.

Suddenly Michael leaped out of his seat and stepped back as if he had just been hit with an electric shock. With an expression that revealed his pure sense of horror he realized that he had just kissed his mother.

Then, right before his eyes, his mother’s face turned into Danielle’s. Her smiling expression seemed to say, do you believe me now?

Michael fell to the floor and sat there unable to speak. When he finally recovered his voice he asked, “You say an alien gave you that stone?”

The rest of the evening was taken up with a full review of the conversations Danielle had with the alien and the man from the state attorney’s office. Michael agreed that he would stay with her that night and accompany her to the court house in the morning. He was a little concerned about what she intended to do, but Danielle assured him that she was only going to probe Barns’ mind and determine if he was going to be a threat to her.

The following morning, Danielle and Michael were on their way to courtroom 2B. The only thing they worried about was getting the Moon Stone past security but there was no problem. Whatever the stone was made of, it didn’t have a trace of metal.

Finding a corner in the back row of the courtroom, the couple made themselves as inconspicuous as possible. While they waited for the trial to begin, Michael turned to Danielle and asked if the Moon Stone could make them invisible to the courthouse’s security cameras. Danielle didn’t think so. She explained that the Moon Stone amplified her thoughts and gave her the ability to read and manipulate other peoples minds but she didn’t think she couldn’t prevent a camera from recording their image.

By 9 AM all the spectators and participants were in the courtroom. The court stenographer and the judge’s administrative assistant set up at a table next to the witness stand. Holderman sat alone at the prosecutor’s table, and on the other side of the room a small black man in an ill-fitting suit sat next to his court appointed lawyer. A weeping woman and an elderly couple sat in the front row just behind the defendant. No doubt they were his family.

Once everyone was in place, the jury was brought in and the bailiff asked everyone to stand. He announced that the court was in session. Then a large middle-aged man dressed in a black robe walked into the room and the bailiff proclaimed that the honorable Judge Frank Wellmen was presiding.

After the judge read the particulars of the case, he reminded everyone that today they would be hearing the end of the prosecution’s case and their key witness would be testifying. Slamming down his gavel, he asked the prosecutor to bring in his witness. The doors at the back of the courtroom opened and a uniformed officer, walking just behind a robust man in a custom made suit, paraded up the aisle. The officer was led to the witness stand and the robust man amounted that he was Alex Barns and he would be representing the state.

While the witness was sworn-in and the preliminary questions were asked, Danielle scanned the officer’s mind and obtained the actual facts of the case. Her mouth hung open as she reviewed what the officer intended to say and anger swept over her features after she ascertained how totally innocent the accused man was.

Barns’ began his presentation by promising the jury that he was going to present irrefutable evidence that would absolutely prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the accused committed the crime for which he was on trial.

“We’ll see about that.” Danielle muttered under her breath as she squeezed her boyfriend’s hand and gave him a big grin.

Meanwhile, Barns walked over to the defendants table, looked the accused right in the eyes and said, “We will prove that this man deserves to be put in prison and kept there for the rest of his natural life.”

When Barns said that, the man’s wife and parents began to sob and the defendant turned and tried to comfort them.

Swaggering to the exhibits table, Barns picked up a gun. He introduced it as exhibit “M.” Then he asked his witness if that was the murder weapon. The officer said it was and went on to present a barrage of forensic reports that collaborated his testimony.

“Now remember, Sergeant Kelly,” Barns pontificated, “you are a sworn officer of this court and under oath to tell the truth. Tell us, is this the gun you found while executing a search warrant on the premises of the accused?”

Danielle’s eyes narrowed as she concentrated on the witness.

The officer’s face went blank for a few seconds and then he looked at Barns and said, “I brought the gun you gave me into the defendant’s house and placed it under his bed just as you instructed. Then I called the other officers and announced that I had found the murder weapon.”

The unexpected testimony made the judge wake up from his lethargy and take note. All the members of the jury moved to the edge of their seats and the defense attorney stopped writing and looked up. Barns was stunned and for several second he just stood there not sure that he could believe his ears. He looked at his witness with an incredulous stare and asked, “What?”

The witness reiterated. “I planted the evidence, just like you asked me to Mr. Barns. Then I pretended to find it and labeled it as one of the exhibits collected at the scene.”

The Jury gasped and the judge pounded his gavel repeatedly on his desk. Barns demonstrated his outrage by repeatedly shouting that he objected to the testimony. “This witness had obviously been tampered with.” He said while pointing to the officer. “I demand that his testimony be stricken from the record and the jury be instructed to disregard.”

Danielle concentrated her attention on the defense attorney who promptly came to life and began to demand that in light of the officer’s testimony, the court should drop all charges against his client and charge the state attorney with subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Pandemonium followed with everyone in the courtroom talking at the same time. The commotion prompted an army of uniformed officers to pour into the courtroom. They immediately surrounded the defendant, pulled him to his feet and handcuffed him. Then they forced his face onto the defense table and held their guns to his head.

All the while the judge kept banging his gavel and calling for order. Danielle then trained her thoughts on the judge and gave him the courage to make a ruling. “I find the defendant not guilty and order his immediate release.” The judge then ordered his Bailiffs to clear the courtroom and bring the defendant and the court reporter into his office.

By the time the judge left the courtroom, Barns was surrounded by police officers but he was defiantly not in custody. He just kept looking around the room so Danielle and Mike decided to get the hell out of there, but just as they made it to the door, Barns pointing to Danielle and shouted, “You!” and gave her a scowl.

Danielle looked directly at Barns and the two stared at each other for several seconds. You could see the hate in Barns’ eyes. Barns seemed to have some psychic ability of his own because he tried to resist Danielle’s command to back off. He held his ground until his head started shaking and his nose began to bleed. Holding his head with both hands, Barns screamed, fell back and crumbled to the floor. Someone shouted for the paramedics and Michael grabbed Danielle’s hand and pulled her out into the hallway.

Hand in hand they ran down the corridor that led to the elevators. Just as the elevator arrived, Barns stepped out of the courtroom, looked around and spotted Danielle. He pointed in their direction and a half dozen officers ran towards them. Mike and Danielle leaped into the elevator and prayed that the doors would quickly close but the doors remained open until the elevator was filled to capacity. The cops arrived just as the doors were closing, and though one of them called for someone to hold the doors, it was too late.

As the elevator descended, Michael turned to Danielle and warned, “We’re not safe yet. We still have to get through security at the exit and I’m sure they’ve already called down with our description.”

“Don’t worry,” Danielle assured him. Take off your jacket and walk real slowly. I’m going to make the guards see us as an old couple. They’ll never suspect who we really are.”

When they got to the exit there was a bottle neck at the check point. Everyone leaving the building was forced into two lines that had to pass by four guards. Danielle hesitated. “I’ve never tried to control more than one mind at a time. Maybe I can do two but I’m sure I can’t do four.”

“You don’t have to,” Michael assured her. “Just concentrate on the two guards on our line. The other two will be focused on the people on their line and probably won’t even notice us. Come here; take my hand and huddle up close, keep your head down and hobble as we walk together. I’ll pretend that I’m helping you.”

It seemed to take forever but eventually they made it though the line, but just as they got to the door one of the guards called for them to stop. Danielle and Michael froze in place as the guard came towards them. Taking Danielle by the arm he opened the door and led her into the parking lot.

After thanking the guard they started walking slowly towards their truck. Fortunately it wasn’t parked too far away and they almost made it when they heard a pounding sound coming from behind them. Looking back they followed the sound to the second floor window where Barns and Holderman were banging on the glass. The two lawyers had spotted them and were banging on the window and using walkie-talkies to direct his officers to them,

It was time to stop the slow walk routine. Running as fast as they could they made it to the truck. While Danielle fumbled with her keys, Michael turned and saw Barns talking into his walkie-talkie. Then he saw several cops with radios walking in their direction.

“We can’t get in your truck now.” Michael said. “Barns is up there watching us and once he sees us getting into the truck he’ll call every squad car in the area and we’ll be trapped. Can you shield the truck from his view?”

“I don’t think so. He’s too far away and I’ve never tried to hide anything this big before. Let’s just crouch down behind the truck. Barns won’t be able to see us and I can block us from any cops that get too close.”

Crouching behind the truck, they kept perfectly still as several cops walked right pass them. One stood nearby and they could hear the instructions coming over his radio. Barns was telling them to look for a young couple who were confirmed terrorists. They were described as armed and dangerous and should be shot on sight.

“What the hell are we going to do now?” Michael wanted to know. “Those two fucks want us dead and these trigger happy cops will be more than happy to carry out his orders.” Just then they heard a familiar voice. It was Barns. He came down to supervise the search and he was personally looking behind every car. This guy was clever and he knew about Danielle’s mental abilities. If anyone could figure out how to catch them it was him.

“This is the last place I saw them.” Barns told his assistant. “Quick, give me your gun. I’ve got an idea.”

“Holderman did as instructed and Barns yelled out to Danielle. “I know you’re here someplace. You’re using your psychic powers to hide, but you can’t hide from me forever.” And then he pointed his gun into the air and fired off a shot. The sound startled Danielle and she lost concentration for a second. “There you are, I see you.” Barns shouted. But Danielle quickly regained her composure and made herself and Michael invisible again.

“Come here you guys.” Barns called to a couple of cops that were running in his direction. “I’ve found the terrorists; they’re back here behind this truck.”

While the police officers made their way to Barns, he addressed his invisible adversaries. “Listen you two, in a few seconds every officer in the area will converge on this position. When they get here I’m going to order them to shoot into this area. There’s no way you can use your mind tricks to conceal yourself from all of them. And even if you could, with all of them shooting into this area, eventually one of them is going to hit his target. After you’re dead, I’m going to go upstairs and get that stupid judge back in line. I’ll put everything back the way it was. So you see, all your trouble has been for nothing.”

Danielle and Michael allowed themselves to become visible and Barns smiled. “So, you’re giving up. Well, I don’t take prisoners.” As soon as the first officers arrived, he waved his gun to call them over.

“I want you to shoot these two.” Barns said pointing behind the truck. When the officers looked and didn’t see any terrorist they hesitated. Barns began to loose his patience and said, “I know you can’t see them but I want you to point your guns into this area and shoot.” Again, he got no response. “What the hell is wrong with you idiots, can’t you follow simple instructions.” As more officers arrived Barns became irate and pointed his gun at the officers. “I’m ordering you, all of you, draw your guns, aim in that direction and fire…. I said, aim and fire!”

Finally one of the officers picked up his gun, took aim and fired. Then another started to shot and another. Before long they were all discharging their weapons. The area became a regular shooting gallery and by the time the shooting was done at least a hundred rounds had been expended and two bullet riddled bodies lay on the ground.

Barns was right. Danielle couldn’t control more than a few minds at a time so there was no way she could keep herself invisible to a whole squad of officers. Unfortunately for Barns, he only knew about one of Danielle’s abilities. Not only could she make herself invisible, she could also change the way things appeared.

When the first cops arrived, she allowed them to see her and Michael as a couple of very scared senior citizens huddled together in fear. When Barns started waving his gun and ordered them to fire, she directed the cops to see Barns and his assistant as a couple of gun-toting terrorists. Barns kept waving his gun and yelling at the cops to shoot so they did. And once the first officers began shooting, the rest assumed these were the terrorist and joined in.

That night, as Danielle and Michael lay in bed watching the TV news coverage, they were amazed by what was reported. Little was said about the innocent man that was exonerated when a crocked cop changed his testimony. And nothing was said about Barns’ complicity in the cop’s perjury. It was all about the terrorist attack on the court house. According to the news, a whole gang of terrorist overran the courthouse with intentions of setting off a bomb. The newsmen speculated that if the terrorist had been successful, they would have killed dozens of innocent civilians. According to the anchorman, the plot was foiled by Alex Barns and Paul Holderman who fought side by side with law enforcement but regrettably, the two heroes lost their lives in the ensuing gun fight. The announcer went on to say that their bodies would be laid to rest… blah, blah, blah, blah.

Michael and Danielle turned off the television and shook their heads in dismay. Then Danielle snuggled up close to her man, and in a very seductive voice said, “All that excitement today has made me kind of horny. Do you want to fool around a little before we go to sleep?”

“Okay, but only if you promise not to turn yourself into my mother again.”

“Oh baby,” Danielle teased as she suggestively traced her finger around his lips. “Are you still mad about that? I didn’t turn myself into your mother; I only made you see me that way.” And then she jokingly added, “I was only trying to put a little kink into our love life.”

“Oh yeah,” Michael said as he sat up in bed. “If you really want to turn me on and put a little kink to our sex life, maybe you can try making yourself look like Amy Suber.”

Danielle dropped her seductive expression and gave Michael a long icy stare. Then she turned her back on him, dove under the sheets and covered her head with the blanket.

“Oh come on baby.” Michael pleaded as he tried to slip his hand under the sheets. “I was just kidding.”

Danielle pushed his hand away and in a very stern and angry voice said, “Good Night!” .

For a long time, Michael laid silently in the darkened bedroom. He knew he’d screwed up and Danielle’s stubborn stillness told him that the mood had passed and he’d missed his opportunity. There was nothing to do now but go to sleep, but just as he was about to get under the covers, his attention was diverted to a dark and sinister figure that was standing at the foot of the bed.

“What the….?” Michael began a question he couldn’t finish. Moving quickly he drew his knees up to his chest and sat up while urgently poking at Danielle’s shoulder. When she didn’t respond he jabbed harder and repeatedly called her name.

“I said No! Danielle gruffly pushed Michael’s arm away. “Now go to sleep.”

“I can’t.” Michael replied with a trembling voice. “Not with that thing staring at me.”

Danielle tried to ignore Michael’s anxious tugs but his persistence became annoying. Abruptly sitting up, she followed her boyfriend’s terrified stare to the bottom of the bed. Barely visible in the dimly lit room she saw two large eyes peering at her. Then she heard a familiar voice in her head and knew there was nothing to be worried about.

“Gab-el? What are you doing here?”

_____________ end chapter 2______

Please let me now what you think of the story and if you’d like me to write another chapter.

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