The Clairvoyant
Carlie sighed before she opened the door. Sure, she knew why she was here. When she was growing up, she was called insightful. It was only a few years ago when she discovered what she really was.
And what would enhance that.
Sure, she made a small fortune, using her gift and her “special effects” to try and really help people. She never had a set rate, leaving that up to the people she helped, but her successes and her guidance finally caught the attention of the local police.
She walked into the station with her assistant, knowing full well what this was about. It wasn’t due to any insight on her part, it was the fact that this case had gained national attention. The FBI were there, now, and they were already very doubtful of psychics.
Carlie knew why, too. Many so-called psychics used subtle hints and clues, as well as very dubious methods, to try and get people interested. But they weren’t her. She knew that she could find Debra, the kidnapped girl, and knew how she could do it too.
The desk sergeant looked up as she entered. “Can I help you?”
Carlie introduced herself and her assistant. “We were called in to try and help with the kidnapped case.”
The sergeant looked at her a moment, then called back. After a moment, Carlie was allowed into the back.
The back rooms were a mess of desks with papers piled high on it, police officers going in and out as well as the unmistakable air of federal agents and the smell of burnt coffee. One of the officers came forward, introducing himself to Carlie and her assistant before taking them to the breakroom. Carlie looked around for a moment. “No, not here.”
It was apparent, to her, that what she asked for was somewhere else in the building, despite the fact that she garnered the attention of the three other officers in there. “I need to see the family. Where are they?”
The detective, now that she knew that, took the hint and took her to another side room. Before she even entered she could feel the tension and the anxiety coming from it. Someone was waiting to hear what was going to happen next.
A fed was in the room with the parents as she entered. The fed looked over at her with polite disinterest. It was clear, to Carlie, that he’d tried psychics before and was thoroughly unimpressed by their abilities. When the detective introduced Carlie to the family, they seemed to recognize her. “Aren’t you the one who does special effects for your readings?”
Carlie just smiled after taking the mother’s hand. “Yeah, that’s me. Now I know Debra is someone that’s very special to both of you, more than you let on with all your TV interviews. She’s what?”
The mother seemed a little shaken by that statement. “She’s our only daughter, the only child we’ll ever have, but how did you know that?”
Carlie just shrugged. Sure, it had come to her as she touched the mother’s hand, clearly, but she needed to know more. She needed to make the connection. “Okay, now I’m going to share with you how I do these ‘special effects,’ and it might be a little alarming, but it really does help.”
She sat down on the table in the middle of the room, then laid flat. She took a deep breath as her assistant took out a large katana. The officers took notice of it. “Don’t worry, it’s just for me.”
Carlie gritted her teeth, holding her breath as the assistant laid the blade on her bared waist. The sharpness was unmistakable as he sliced into her. She had been cut like this before, so knew what to expect. She shuddered a little as the blade passed the point where it hurt.
Carlie never got tired of the fact that she could be cut in half. The feelings of the division were almost indescribable joy. But, for her, it meant something else. The impressions she was getting from the room came into sharper focus as the blade continued to cut into her. She could almost feel the fed’s curiosity at the fact that she was actually being cut in half and the detective’s alarm at the same fact. The parents were just dumfounded.
As the blade slid into her spinal column, she had to keep from crying out. It always felt so good, yet so painful, as her spine was cut through before finally being in official halves, but the pain was minimized as her body was divided.
Her assistant looked over at her as she nodded. They were ready for the rest as he proceeded to slice off her head, the bizarre feeling coming to her every time. The feelings in the room intensified even more and she could tell the father was getting excited by the fact that this young woman was being cut to pieces in front of him. “Don’t forget my feet.”
Soon, she was all in pieces, her feet laid aside her lower half as the assistant helped her sit up. Her top half was helped onto the table in the middle of the room with her head placed in front. This was how she earned such a remarkable reputation for being a psychic, the fact that being cut to pieces gave her clear impressions that she knew were true. It was how she did all of it, no special effects, just magically enhanced psychic powers. “Okay, take my hands.”
As she felt her hands being taken, she closed her eyes, letting the energies flow into her.
Fear, anxiety, worry. Where was she? She had to look around to find out, even though she knew what it really was. “Who are you?”
The small voice called out from her own mouth. “I’m a friend of your mommy and daddy. My name’s Carlie.”
Confusion. “Where are you?”
Carlie tried to answer the best she could but changed her mind. “No Debra, where are you?”
Debra looked around, and Carlie could see several features. “Go to the window.”
There wasn’t much Debra could see, so Carlie tried something different. She had Debra look around the room some more, trying to find some sort of marker where she could identify where these people were keeping her. As she did so, Carlie assessed Debra’s condition. Aside from being extremely scared, Debra seemed unhurt. Sure, Carlie could tell they were less than 10 miles from where she was, but she had no idea where, in that radius, she could be.
That’s when the idea flooded into her mind. “Debra, look at the shadows from the window.”
Sure enough, the shadow, from the nearly-noon sun, came straight in. This could only mean north. She had her bearings, now she had to remember some of the other details.
Carlie gasped as she came back to herself. Everything still seemed so clear, so visible. “Detective, she’s in a warehouse somewhere to the north of us, one in a large yard. There was a number, 52, on one of the walls in the room she’s being kept in.”
The detective and the fed hurried out to try and see the location as Carlie picked up her head, placing it back on her neck. As she maneuvered to reunite her halves, the parents looked at her. “Don’t worry, she’s not hurt, just scared. She missed you and wanted you badly.”
She picked up her detached feet, placing them back on the end of her ankles, then waited as the fed came back in, declaring it to be the craziest thing he’d ever seen as they led the squad to the warehouse district.
Carlie didn’t stay still. The parents asked how this was all possible, so she told them. When she’s in halves, she gets a clearer picture of her psychic abilities. They grow even more when she’s also beheaded, but, when her feet get cut off, she can project herself to wherever someone needs her to. They needed to know their little girl was okay and that she was coming back, so she honed on that and was able to actually communicate with her.
It was when they were moving out that she decided to leave. She knew they’d find her, and they’d bring her home to her parents, but Carlie didn’t want any of the praise. She knew what would happen the minute it was mentioned how accurate her psychic abilities were. She’d become famous, the ones that brought kidnappers, robbers, bad guys in general to justice.
So, she knew they’d have to leave. Sure, it was easy when the customers thought her being in pieces was only a special effect, something to heighten the tension. But to be the girl that could solve anything by being cut apart was unappealing. How many tests would they put her through? How much study would she have to undergo?
So, yeah, they’d wonder about where she went. Sure, yeah, they’d believe a little bit more in magic and in the impossible. And, sure, yeah, they’d try and explain what they saw to no avail, but, for Carlie, it was enough that she could help bring the family back together again.
And that was enough for her.