CHAPTER TWELVE

Melissa had arrived home later than expected that afternoon. "Where were you?" Mary Anne Morgan, her aunt, demanded.

"School," Melissa replied casually. It was partially true. Melissa had stayed late to audition for a role in the school play. That had only kept her for an extra hour and a half, however. After that, she had met up with Arnie and driven to Alex's house to do a bit of basic training in Psychic 101, so to speak.

"For this long? Do you take me for a complete idiot?" Mary Anne demanded.

Melissa struggled not to respond to that with a sarcastic comment and simply replied, "No... They were holding auditions for the school play, Aunt Mary Anne."

"Oh really? That's just one more thing for you to focus on other than your classes, right? Melissa, why can't you be a responsible girl? You're not as bright as some of the other girls in that school. You need to put class time first."

"Just because I get an occasional B, that doesn't make me stupid," Melissa argued. "In fact, most of my teachers say I'm gifted."

"Gifted at being the class clown, perhaps, but little more. Were you with a boy or something? I was young once, not so long ago. I know how things are."

Here we go again, Melissa thought. Any opportunity to remind me that she and my uncle took me in when she was barely eighteen and ruined any chance she ever had of having a normal life. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady!" Mary Anne shouted.

"I'm sorry..." Melissa said quickly.

"Do not make me tell your uncle about this!"

"No, please... I'm sorry, Aunt Mary Anne. I didn't mean to be disrespectful." Melissa struggled to keep herself calm. She didn't need this. Not tonight, when things had finally started going well in her life. She had new friends, and they understood her abilities even better than she did. She was finally beginning to feel like she belonged somewhere. Her mood had greatly improved, but her uncle's rage could shatter it in seconds.

"You're always disrespectful, you ungrateful brat! I took you in when I was still a child! I didn't have to do that, you know, but it was the right thing to do. I gave up everything for you. I'm lucky that I found a man who was willing to marry me when I had to care for a young child."

"He's my uncle. I'm related to him, too," Melissa pointed out. Her mother's younger sister had married her father's younger brother.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean he had to take you in, either. We did it out of the goodness of our hearts!"

"I know, Aunt Mary Anne..."

"Is there a problem?" Joseph Morgan asked, entering the house.

"No!" Melissa replied quickly.

"She's being a little brat again..." Mary Anne said.

"I'll take care of this, Mary Anne. You've done all that you can." Joseph took Melissa's arm. "Come on," he said.

"No!" Melissa shouted. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"She lied about where she was this afternoon," Mary Anne said, as she walked away.

Joseph dragged Melissa into her bedroom. "Is that true?" He asked her.

"I was at school, auditioning for the school play," Melissa insisted.

Joseph pulled his belt off. "Your aunt says you lied, Melissa, and she wouldn't make that up."

"She's wrong!" Melissa said, panicking at the sight of his belt in his hand.

"Don't make your aunt out to be a villain! You must respect us, Melissa!" He raised his belt into the air and brought it down against Melissa's shoulder.

Melissa shrieked in pain and tried to shield herself from further blows. Joseph grabbed her, shook her, and violently flung her onto her bed. He pinned her down.

I'm not here, Melissa thought to herself. This isn't happening. Melissa detached quickly, and it felt as if she was watching a movie of what was happening instead of actually experiencing it herself. She allowed herself to get lost in thought. She struggled to remember what she'd done earlier that afternoon, replaying it in her mind and how wonderful and safe she had felt.

Melissa had worked on some basic psychic parlor tricks with Alex. "Let's start with blocks," he suggested.

"With what?" Melissa asked, feeling mildly foolish for having to ask.

"A block keeps unwanted people and energies out. There's a difference between blocking and shielding," Alex explained patiently. "Blocks are like thick brick walls that are nearly impossible to penetrate. Sometimes, psychics throw these walls up intentionally to keep themselves, as well as any information they may have, safe. Other times, the blocks go up by accident, either because the psychic is panicked or someone else has manipulated the blocks. I'm going to try and teach you how to control them. Think of something, and try to block it from me."

Melissa had thought for several moments before deciding to think about the fact that she had cut fourth period that day. It was minor enough that it wouldn't matter if Alex was able to get it, but major enough that she had some desire to block the information from the general public. She wasn't sure how to block it, but made the effort anyway.

"Wow," Alex said with a smile. "You're a natural, Melissa. Your mind is like a vault right now. Okay, now let the block down."

Melissa struggled to get the block down, but had no idea how to do it. "Easy," Alex said. "Don't force it. Forcing a block down hurts." Alex gently guided the block down. Melissa's mind felt like it was tingling. Alex shook his head and tried not to laugh. "You're hanging around Arnie too much. No more cutting class," he said firmly.

Melissa blushed. "That felt weird," she said.

"It won't feel weird once you get used to doing it yourself. Let's try again." Melissa threw a block up around another bit of information with no effort, and this time, after a couple of minutes, she was able to guide her block partially down. "I'm sorry, Alex," she said. "I don't mean to take so long."

"It's okay, honey. You'll get it eventually. It takes practice," Alex replied.

"Yeah, I still have very little control over my blocks," Arnie said. "And I've been training for years."

"Well, you're empathic. That makes it harder," Alex reminded him. "You're very sensitive to these things."

"So, if that's a block, what's a shield?" Melissa asked.

"A shield is much more deliberate than a block. It involves taking your energy, merging it with whatever you need, and blocking out a specific entity or energy. A good shield is difficult to break. A great shield is nearly impossible to break. Great shields take a long time to grasp. We're going to start with good ones. A bad shield would be more of a block than a shield. It serves its purpose temporarily, but is nearly guaranteed to shatter after a short time. I want to teach you to avoid making those," Alex said.

"Okay. Educate me!" Melissa replied enthusiastically.

Alex helped Melissa raise a ball of energy in her hands by rubbing them together and then stretching it. She could feel the warmth and intensity, and it actually felt like it weighed something. As the energy took on an almost solid form, Alex told her to toss it to him. She shrugged and did as he said. He caught it, and then added his own energy to it. When he tossed it back to her, it seemed to weigh more. Melissa was fascinated by this.

"Think of something you really want to be protected from," Alex said.

Melissa didn't have to think for long. She immediately pictured her uncle.

"Okay, now add more energy to the ball, this time, focusing on the thing you want to be protected from," Alex instructed. Melissa did as he said. "Now, toss me the energy."

Melissa tossed the energy to Alex. He looked concerned for a moment. He added a significant amount of energy to the ball, and tossed it to Arnie, who added his own in. When Arnie tossed it back to Melissa, it was so heavy, she nearly fell over. Alex steadied her.

"Now, smooth the energy out. Picture it as a flat blanket," Alex said. Slowly, the energy began changing shape, and soon, it was a blanket.

"Wrap it around yourself tightly, and keep it there," Alex instructed. As the blanket of energy wrapped around Melissa, she felt safer than she could ever remember having felt in her life.

"Congratulations, Melissa," Alex said. "You have a shield."

"Thanks, guys," Melissa said gratefully.

"Melissa, why are you so afraid of the man you pictured?" Alex asked gently. "Who is he?"

"He's no one," Melissa replied quickly. "I just don't want him around me, is all." She glanced at her watch. "Oh man, I need to get home before my aunt and uncle freak out. I'll see you guys later. Thanks again!" She ran off.

Now, as she came back into awareness, Melissa prayed she had fully understood shields. The blanket of energy was still around her. If she could just tap into it, she stood a chance.

Please work, she silently prayed.

Joseph suddenly screamed and jumped up. Covering himself with a blanket, he stared at Melissa. "What in God's name is that?" He demanded. He saw a thin veil around Melissa. It was black, with green snakes drawn onto it. The snakes began to move, staring at Joseph with their red eyes and hissing, their blood-red tongues moving as they did.

Joseph screamed again. "The devil! This is the devil's work!" He shouted. He had always been terrified of snakes. He fled the bedroom, still shouting.

Melissa didn't move for several moments. When she finally did, she reached into the drawer of her bedside table and pulled out the sewing kit she kept in there. Hidden beneath some of the yarn was a razor blade.

At that moment, her cell phone rang. Melissa looked from the blade to the phone and back again before sighing and picking up the telephone. In as calm a tone as she could manage, she answered it, "Hello?" She knew she sounded as perky as usual, and was surprised at how well she always pulled that off.

"Melissa? Are you okay?" Arnie asked.

"Sure, why?" Melissa asked.

"I just... I had a really bad feeling that... Never mind."

"That what, Arnie?"

"That something was wrong."

Melissa couldn't help it. She began sobbing as everything hit her at once.

Arnie knew his vibes had been right. "Oh, Gods, Missa, what is it?" He asked, feeling her emotions even at a distance. "What happened?"

"Meet me somewhere?" She asked.

"Sure, but tell me what's going on first."

"Please, Arnie... Please... I have to get out of here."

Arnie could feel how desperate Melissa was. "Okay. Where are we meeting?"

"The waterfront, by the ship, just past where we met," Melissa decided. "Bring a car."

"Okay. Will you be alright until then?"

Melissa shrugged. Then, remembering that they were on the phone and that Arnie couldn't see her, she said, "Yeah, I guess."

"Okay. I'll see you soon." He hung up.

Melissa threw the sewing kit into her backpack, along with a clean uniform and her books for school. She climbed out of her bedroom window and down the tree that had led her to freedom whenever she'd felt the need to escape before. She could hear her uncle still shouting that the devil had marked her. If it was 1692, Melissa would have been in trouble, but since the witch hunts had ended long before, she wasn't too worried about any of the neighbors hearing him and taking him seriously. She hurried toward the waterfront.

~*~

When Arnie pulled up to Pickering Wharf and parked the car, he was nervous. Melissa had sounded awful, and he could feel her anxiety. Something was very wrong, and he wasn't sure what to expect. His nervousness was replaced by rage, however, when he walked toward the ship and saw her.

"Who did this to you?" He demanded. She had been badly beaten.

"I don't want to talk about it," Melissa replied.

"I'll kill them, Missa!"

"Arnie, it's nothing. I'll be fine."

"Nothing? You look like someone tried to kill you!"

"Please don't make me talk about this, Arnie... Please? I just need to not be alone right now, okay?"

Arnie softened. He'd never seen Melissa look so fragile before. "Okay," he said. "What are we going to do?"

"Drive."

"I can do that, but where are we going?"

"Anywhere but here," she replied.

"Okay." Arnie didn't ask any other questions. He and Melissa got into the car, and he drove away from the waterfront, and soon enough, out of Salem. They drove in a silence that was only broken by the radio for hours. Melissa was unable to bring herself to speak, and Arnie wasn't sure what to say. The silence was a comfortable one, however. Melissa felt safe with Arnie by her side, and Arnie felt that he was helping her, even if he didn't know how he was doing it.

As the sun came up, Melissa began feeling a lot better. "Thanks," she said suddenly.

Arnie was startled by her voice, considering it had been hours since either of them had spoken. "No problem," Arnie replied.

"I needed that."

"Anytime, Missa."

Melissa kissed him. Arnie felt dizzy. He pulled over and kissed her back, holding her in his arms as he did. Melissa got into it quickly, and began going further, but that was where Arnie stopped her.

"Missa, you're hurt," he said.

"So what?" She asked. "I'm already healed, thanks to you... And don't think I didn't notice you taking on my injuries, by the way."

Arnie shrugged. "You needed it."

"Yeah, well... Arnie... I need this now."

"You need to get laid? You sound like a guy," he said with a slight laugh.

"You don't understand."

"So explain it to me, Missa," he replied gently.

"I can't." Melissa stared at her shoes and started to cry.

"Melissa, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to upset you," Arnie said softly.

"It isn't you. It's everything. Look, Arnie, forget it. I shouldn't be asking you to do this."

"It's not that I don't want to, Missa, but I don't want you doing something you're not ready for."

"I am ready. I need this. I need to feel you touching me, kissing me, doing other things..." She sighed. "Safe. I need to feel safe, Arnie, and I feel safe with you."

Arnie could feel her need then, like she'd exposed an open wound to him. He kissed her, and began to run his hands over her body gently.

Melissa was startled by his sudden willingness, but quickly allowed herself to enjoy it. She was safe. Arnie would never hurt her. She could erase the bad thing that had happened by replacing it with something good.

Arnie was terrified by what he was feeling. He had developed feelings for Melissa that were not safe for her, but as long as he didn't act on them, she would be okay. Close friends with benefits, Arnie reminded himself. That's what we are. Very close friends with benefits. I love her, but not like that. Arnie stopped letting himself think and just allowed himself to feel the pleasure of the moment.

As she gazed at the rising sun, Melissa allowed herself to get lost in Arnie, and she wasn't afraid anymore. She was safe.

~*~

An hour and a half later, Melissa's hair and eyes were blue, and she had changed into her fresh uniform. Arnie dropped her off at her high school. She was acting as if the previous night had never happened and everything was perfectly fine. Arnie found this mildly odd, but decided not to call her on it. The important thing was that she seemed to be okay for the time being, and he knew he'd be seeing her later on. He'd be able to check up on her and make sure that she was still functioning. Until then, he tried to tell himself that he didn't need to worry so much.