Expect Deception

Livvy grounded herself, creating an energy cord from the arches of her feet down through the concrete sidewalk and into the earth beneath. With solid psychic grounding, she began draining off the unease, ramming it down the energy cord, mentally asking it to be absorbed and neutralized by Mother Earth herself. The relief that materialized was enough to reinvigorate her.

She lifted her overnight bag and purse from the sidewalk and started walking, but each step brought a greater sense of unease. Her energy grounding could not keep up with draining this additional trauma. Livvy’s pace quickened as her sense of crisis grew. By the time she arrived at the intricate, wrought-iron Hamilton House entrance gate, she was almost running.

She urgently pressed the intercom button to open a connection with Delphi’s PBX switchboard. Denise asked in her usual cheery voice for the day code. Livvy gave the code and, additionally, identified herself. Sometimes voices weren’t identifiable  over the intercom system. “Send the Jeep down to get me. I’m too weak-kneed to walk a half mile.”

“What’s the matter, sweetie? You having one of those spells again?”

“Correct on the first try, Denise. I barely made it to the gate from the trolley stop.”

“I’m right on it, my friend. Hang in there.”

The intercom buzzed and the gate clicked open. Livvy grasped the gate just as the church bell struck eight o’clock. A blast of energy hammered her, shaking her back and forth as if she’d touched a live transmission wire. She screamed, high pitched and loudly.