When Lights Collide Chapter 13

Daniel made his way through the kitchen and into the dining room. As he returned to the chair he’d previously occupied, placed his elbows on the table, and hid his face in his hands.

Questions flooded his mind and the voices of Grams and this Other voice felt like they were having dueling conversations in his head.  One spoke to him with love and kindness, the Other seemed to be friendly, yet had some sort of agenda and Daniel felt greasy and slick every time it spoke.

He felt movement around him and looked up just as Cara placed her hand upon his shoulder, 

“Are you ok?” she asked.

Daniel was surprised to see the genuine concern on her face, and even through the leather of his jacket, he could feel the sincerity of her compassion and concern for him.  

In fact, he noted that even though she only touched his shoulder, his whole body felt her warmth, her peace and her caring.

He tried not to flinch away from her hand, yet something in him seemed to take over and move him away from her touch. 

The voice of Other suddenly felt wild in his mind,

“Don’t let her touch you!” it hissed loudly in his mind, Daniel flinched in response, causing him to jerk away from Cara’s touch.

Cara in response, as though she could feel what he felt, flinched away from him as well, and as Daniel turned to apologize to her, he saw the look of confusion on Cara’s face..

“What was that?” Daniel asked, fear and confusion as clear as day on his face and in his eyes.

Cara smiled, “Let’s don’t worry about that right now, are you hungry?  I’m starved!” she declared as she turned toward the kitchen, surprised that she hadn’t noticed that Estelle was already busy preparing food for them.

“Oh!” Cara exclaimed, “Do you need some help?”

Estelle smiled “no dear, what I need is for you and this young man to sit down and talk, there are many questions that need answers.”

Daniel jerked his head up at the ‘young man’ statement as his Grams began giving him mental grief at not having introduced himself to these two women who, for whatever reason, decided to be kind to him.

As he absently rubbed the side of his forehead, Daniel began to speak, “Daniel, my name is Daniel.”  He looked at Cara, and said “I know your name is Cara, and I apologize for being in your home earlier, I–”

Cara interrupted him, “I know. I know your name is Daniel, and I know why you were in my home.  What I don't understand is why you're still here.”

“Be damned if I know either” Daniel stated with a shrug of his shoulders.  

He looked to Estelle, “I guess the bigger question is why you came to find me, what were you doing in Cara’s backyard?”

Estelle smiled warmly, “I was sent to find you, your Grams is worried about you.” 

Daniel looked at Estelle, “uumm, no offense ma’am, but my Grams has been dead for years, there’s no way she sent you to find me.”

Estelle simply continued to smile, “Ok, if you say so.”

Daniel stared at Estelle, again, confusion was as clear as day upon his face.. 

Cara looked at Estelle, and in her mind asked “can we tell him now?”

Estelle looked at Cara from across the room and nodded her head.

Cara intervened, “Daniel, Estelle has a special ability, a gift, much like mine, Estelle communicates with the Spirit realm.”

Daniel, looking like a deer caught in headlights, opened his mouth to reply, but no words would come.

“I can’t think straight”, Daniel finally spoke, “this is, this… what are you talking about?  Like talking to dead people?”

Cara looked to Estelle as Estelle looked to Cara and then they both looked at Daniel and in stereo responded “Yes, talking to dead people.”

The women gave Daniel a moment to let their words settle into his mind, neither were certain whether or not he’d get angry and leave or if he would be willing to accept the words that they’d shared.

Daniel simply sat, staring at the table in front of him, trying to understand what the women were telling him, still wondering if he was being pranked, trying to get his mind to make sense of what was going on and why he was still here.

Finally, he looked up at the women, “maybe we better start at the beginning, with simple words and go slow…” 

Cara smiled warmly and Estelle nodded as she replied “ok son, where do you want to start?”

Daniel felt himself start to relax into the moment, the tension leaving his chest and shoulders, his mind was still having troubles settling down, too much information and too much excitement had his brain bouncing from one thought to the next, not to mention the battle of the voices that was going on in his head.

“Ok,” Daniel said, so suddenly that Cara jumped, his head jerked in her direction and he said, “sorry, but I need to start at the beginning.”

Cara nodded in understanding, “It's ok, there’s no need to be sorry, we can start wherever you need to.”

Daniel nodded in response, and as he leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table, he again looked at Cara “I was sent tonight to check you out, you were too close to the women of the Club, they kept talking about you and how amazing you were and how much you seemed to know.  

Exactly what is it you know about the Club?”

Cara looked at Daniel, trying to understand his question, her head tipping to one side, she replied, 

“I don’t know anything about your club, just like I don’t know anything about you.”

Daniel studied her, her face, her eyes, he knew she was telling the truth, yet, from what he overheard the Club women talking about, she knew things that she didn’t seem to know she knew. 

As he nodded his head, Cara continued, “I only know what I am given to share with those who come to me for guidance and assistance.”

Daniel looked hard at Cara “You mean like a counselor or some shit?”

Cara giggled, “No, not quite, Daniel.  I am a psychic medium, I work with the Angels, and the Spirit of God to help others find peace and guidance in their lives.  What do you think I do?”

Daniel just kept staring at Cara, a blank expression came over his face, he had no idea what to do with the words that she said, he wasn't certain what they meant nor how to understand them.

Cara never broke eye contact with Daniel, her Guardians were guiding her now, and maintaining eye contact was important.  

Not that Cara could look away if she’d wanted to, because until that moment, she had not noticed how beautifully green his eyes were, “like emeralds” Cara thought to herself.

“Go easy with him Cara, it's important he understands, it's important that he knows you are being honest with him.” Her Guardians whispered to her.

Suddenly, Daniel looked like he was beginning to understand, he again looked hard at Cara, “so, you mean this psychic stuff is real?”

Cara opened her mouth to respond, but no words came, she thought for a second that he was pulling her leg….

Estelle interrupted their exchange, “what does your Grams say?” she looked at Daniel as she spoke, 

“You’ve been hearing her in your head all night, what does she say about us?”

Daniel stared at Estelle, “How do you know that? How do you know what is in my head?”

Estelle smiled, “just answer the question, what does your Grams say?”

Daniel shook his head, he couldn't believe this was the conversation he was about to have, he turned to Estelle, “she told me to go with you, to trust you, to be polite…but how do you kn–” 

Estelle interrupted, “so, if your Grams is good with you being here with us, what's the problem?”

“The problem,” Daniel spoke with frustration, “is that I don’t understand any of this, and I feel like I’m losing my mind, going crazy..”

Estelle seemed to be studying Daniel “before tonight, have you ever heard your Grams in your mind? Ever received messages from her?”

Daniel just shook his head, “No, not that I know of, and definitely not like tonight…”

Estelle turned back to the stove and began stirring the soup in the pot.

Cara, who had been waiting patiently, spoke carefully to Daniel “why don't you start at the point where you ended up in my house, and share with us what happened from that moment until now.”

Daniel looked deflated and tired, 

“That's a lot of moments to put words to.” he replied.

“I know, but it will help us to explain things to you, maybe even help you understand what is going on.” Cara said with the hint of a smile on her lips, “we’re here to help and you’re here to be helped” Cara said with a shrug of her shoulders, “sounds like perfect timing.” 

Daniel nodded his agreement and understanding, “well, I can definitely start with the weird stuff!”

Cara gave Daniel a moment to collect his thoughts and headed to the kitchen to make coffee.  She was actually quite impressed, she didn't think he’d stick around, yet, here he was, at least for now, trying to get his thoughts together, and open to having an honest conversation.  A rare breed indeed.

As she poured mugs full for each of them, Estelle began plating food for the three of them.

When Cara turned to leave the kitchen, she noticed the time.  

It was 1:11 am.

To keep reading, CLICK HERE for chapter 14!