"WHO" might know what's going, Eric?" We were in his Corvette, heading faster than I was comfortable with along the highway.
"An old friend of mine. I've known her a long time. I mentioned her to you, once. She may be able to help us make sense of what these visions are. We'll just have to see when we get there, won't we?" He gave me his signature grin.
Soon we pulled up to a nondescript house in a modest neighborhood. A medium range sedan sat in the driveway, a small security light burned over the front door.
Eric came around and opened the door for me. "Shall we?"
"I guess. I sure hope you aren't getting me into anymore vampire shit again." Suddenly another I was aware that there was another void standing in the driveway, another vampire.
"I assure you, that while I may be a vampire, there's no - how did you put it? 'Vampire shit' that goes on here." A small, delicate woman was chuckling quietly at Eric's side. She had long, dark hair, large brown eyes and a calm, quiet countenance.
"Sookie, may I present Mary Tolliver, psychic vampire extraordinaire." Eric gestured with a flourish.
"THIS is the psychic you said you had?"
"Well, he never HAD me," Mary said with a chuckle and a swat at Eric's ribs, "but he used my talent once, and he did try to sweep me off my feet. But he's not my type, shall we say. I don't like blondes!" She and Eric both started laughing hysterically at a shared joke.
"Um, okay..." I was a bit lost.
"Sorry, lover, ages old joke. Vampire humor. But, let's get to the point, shall we? Mary, we are in need of your gift once again. My dear one here has been having some disturbing dreams and we are hoping you can help make some sense of them."
"Of course, I'm sorry, please come in." Mary led us into a modest living room, furnished much like any human living room I had ever seen. Couch, arm chairs, television. The two chairs sat next to each other in a conversational style. I looked around for a small table with a crystal ball.
"I'm afraid you won't find one. Don't need it. Totally useless."
I looked at her sharply. "How did you... how did you know? Are you telepathic, too?"
Mary laughed. "No, everyone looks for the crystal ball. It's supposed to come part and parcel with being a psychic. But the reality is that being psychic is a gift, just like your telepathy. I don't need any tools to do it - it just happens."
I laughed. "Sorry. I should've known better. Me, of all people, right?"
"It's okay. Have you ever been around someone else with a gift before?"
"No. I mean, well, vamps all have different talents - Eric can fly, Bill has a heightened sense of smell, you know. And my friend Sam is a shapeshifter. So just those types of gifts."
"Well, this was my gift before I was turned. Luckily, it stuck." Mary laughed. "Why don't you have a seat in this armchair. Eric, you sit over there on the couch." He sank down into the sofa and stretched his long legs out in front of him. "I'll sit in this other chair next to you."
"What happens now?"
"Well, this will be a bit different than my usual readings, I should think. Usually, I'll take someone's hand and I can see what's going on in their head, and I relay that to them. Then I try to help them make sense of what they are seeing. I can help them tap into things that their conscious mind won't let them accept."
"That's what I do! Well, the part about holding someone's hand and seeing what's in their head. Except I usually can just see if they are telling the truth, and what thoughts are in their head."
Eric chuckled from the couch. "This should be interesting."
"That's what I meant about this being different from my usual reading. I can see what's in your head when I touch you, and you can see what's in mine when you touch me. So what I suggest is, why don't you tell me what you see when you read me? Since you are already trained to see truth, I think will be able to read what you see when I read you." Mary said.
"I've never tried anything like this before, but I guess we can give it a shot." I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and took Mary's hand.