Crowley's Window (Novella) Read Online Free

blue iris surrounded by white. It was eerily realistic, almost 3-D in appearance, and it even had black mascara around it and inked on eyelashes. When Abby moved her fingers, the eye seemed to wink at them. “With this hand, I can see into your past.” She held up her right hand. The tattoo on that palm was identical, except the iris was colored emerald green. “With this eye, I can see your future. What would you like to hear?”
    Charlie wasn’t sure, but the past seemed somehow safer. “Tell me about something in my past.”
    “Okay,” Abby said, reaching out with her left hand to touch Charlie on the arm. She felt him shiver at her touch and knew he must be wondering how she could find his arm so easily. Deep down, no one really believed she could do the things she claimed, but that was what kept them coming back—that sense of wonder, the hopeful feeling that just maybe she was telling the truth.
    As soon as she touched the boy, she knew his name and most things about him. The trick was not giving too much away. You wanted to tempt and charm the customers with half-truths and things that might fit their lives, without actually telling intimate details about them. People wanted to believe you were psychic in a fun way, a way they could go home and joke about, but most people—even the believers—didn’t want to know your powers were really true. No one was supposed to find out what a “freak” Abby truly was, so she just said, “I’m hearing the letter ‘C’. Is your name Chad?”
    “Nope. Real close though. Wow. The C was right. My name’s Charlie.”
    “Charlie. Yes, that’s it. Now I see it clearer.”
    Ray laughed in the other chair, unimpressed, but Abby continued on without acknowledging him. “I see that you’re a kind person, Charlie. A real nice guy, but in the past I think you’ve had some bad luck with girls, right?”
    “That’s an understatement,” Ray said, laughing louder.
    “Shut up, man!” Turning back to the fortune teller Charlie said, “Umm…yeah, I’ve always been kind of shy I guess.”
    Abby smiled. “Don’t worry, Charlie. You’ll be just fine. I’m seeing lots of girls knocking on your door soon. Just wait and see.”
    “Hey thanks, Aurora. That was cool!”
    “Cool?” Ray said. “Don’t be an idiot. She didn’t tell you squat. It doesn’t take a psychic to look at you and know you’re a dork with no girlfriend. Anyone can see that. Okay Aurora…my turn. And I’m not as gullible as my geeky brother here so you’ll have to do better than that to impress me.”
    “No problem. Why don’t we take a peek into your future?” Abby kept the smile on her face but didn’t like this guy one bit. He was rude and pushy and kept staring at her boobs thinking she couldn’t tell. She’d had a long night of guys ogling her body and although that was all part of the game too, she’d had enough and wanted rid of this jerk as fast as she could. Abby reached out with her right hand this time, but as she tried to move the crystal ball to the side a little so she could reach his arm, a powerful vision swept over her, the strongest she’d had in nearly a year. The vision hit her like a force–five tornado, catching her in its funnel cloud and pulling her up and out of her body, up and out of her fortune teller’s enclosure, up and out of the Sideshow Curiosities tent, and over to the entrance of the carnival where the crowds were beginning to trickle out into the parking lot.
    When Abby’s visions were this strong, the experience was much more than just a bunch of flickering pictures or shadow-shrouded images in her mind. For however long it lasted, she actually lived the moment—seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting every second in blazing Technicolor as if it were happening to her in real time. Even more than the physical sensations, when Abby was really tuned in she could pick up the emotional heartbeat of the situations, the raw, soul-deep emotions