Smirnoff's eyes popped out of his head when I showed up at his door.
"The hit was great. The pay is in. I want to talk to Celeste." He looked at me knowingly.
"She predicted correctly. It is her gift. The strangest things are reality." I nodded as he let me in. If she was right about the future, then what of the past?
Celeste sat on a golden brocade chaise in the lounge. She looked plain without make up but it suited her better than eye gouging red lipstick.
"I believe my prediction was correct? They always are." Gone was the blank look. This was a woman who knew her power. "I also believe you are here to ask about the past." I nodded. She pointed to a chair.
"Sit." I did so obediently. I didn't believe in psychics and all that but she was right. And it was unnerving. Her hands reached out feeling the air around me. She sighed in exasperation.
"The signal is not as strong, but I can make out a few shapes." She closed her eyes this time.
"Better." Her brows furrowed and drew together.
"I see a girl again. I can see above her shoulders though. Short black hair. And the same red dress. There is a boat. I see water. Crystal blue. James Bond speeds by in his boat. It is just like that movie. Then there are fish. I'm under water. Then there's a palace, covered in gems. And huge stone elephants. They are taller than myself." She tightened her face. And then sighed. She looked sad, or disappointed.
"I was interested in those memories. They looked very fun." What? They were fun? So much for my victim of violence theory. I must have been too silent because she watched me intently. "Say something."
"I don't know what to say." That was the honest truth. A girl? She was kidding right? She wasn't.
"I find her face is blurry in the visions. You don't remember her. But the red surrounding you is more than a billowing skirt. It's... the red thread." Smirnoff, who I had forgotten, watched in fascination and piped up. I was glad he asked; it saved me the trouble.
"The thread is what binds lovers together. She looked young body wise. It is safe to say she was in her early teens. She was not particularly memorable but your spirit knew her. You want to look back at least five years. The spirits say that, not me." I dismissed the vacations involving water and elephants in the past five years. That narrowed it down to a handful. They were mostly in Asia.
That meant Thailand, India, and the Philippines. The underwater made me think of my diving experiences. I was sure that was snorkeling in Thailand and diving in the Philippines. Adding a palace, which I assumed could be a diamond encrusted temple, I thought Thailand. I went there twice.
One was little less than fifteen years ago and the other was ten years ago. I was fourteen and nineteen, respectively. I had a better bet at when I was fourteen. A young adolescent body would have appealed to me then. The red dress would have made her memorable. Even if subconsciously.
"What are you thinking?" Celeste's voice pulled me back into real life.
"I remembered every vacation I could recall. No girl, but I have a pretty good idea." She beamed at me as I got up to leave.
She charged me for services rendered. Luckily, my job pays well and it was like giving out spare change.
"Tell me if you find her." She called after me. I heard something that sounded like I was a living love story. It bit me in the arse because it was true, I thought in my car. I decided to go back to the apartment. I was going to book the first flight and go to Thailand.
It was crazy. I sat down in front of my laptop. There was a ticket for a plane that landed in Taipei. Then there would be a transfer to Thailand. I looked through a photo album there was a word in the back ground of one the photos of my parents. Squinting I could make it out. It sounded familiar. Then it hit me. That was the specific part of Thailand. I started typing in my credit card number.
Wait what? What was I going to do? Comb the country for a girl who was likely to be a local as a tourist? This whole thing was insane. I closed the lap top. Was I going to drop everything because a psychic told me to? Sure she was right a out a few things. Big whoop. It was all one big coincidence. The poster at the theater could be seen by anyone clubbing, almost all girls wore cheetah print. And the fish? There weren't as many ways to explain a red fish but there were some.
Yes, I wasn't going anywhere. I wasn't going on a man hunt across Eurasia for a girl I only met once. She could be horribly ugly. She could be abrasive. She could be married. She could be dead. I couldn't even recall her face. What the hell was I doing?
My hands moved of their own accord, they clicked by one the purchase before I could stop them. Damn. The phone rang but I let the machine take it.
"Celeste here. I just thought you were going to have second thoughts, so I wanted to say this: It is worth it. I met my match back in high school and those were the happiest years of my life. He died in a car accident, but I think of him every day. Finding the right person is the best thing you can do." There was the click of the receiver and she hung up.
I sat there in the silence. Forget the clairvoyant or psychic or whatever she was. It wasn't a supernatural force, it was me. I wanted this hunt.
Let the chase begin.
WALL IS UP.
I'll have you know I'm messing with the time line here. Sergei's takes place over a few days. Syrai's and the Non-OC's are over six months.