The Kidnapping King

MIND MELD

SEVERAL HOURS LATER - STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - PRESENT DAY 

 "Oh, good," Inez glanced up as Ethan entered the music room, and Earl turned, in response, from where he was seated on the rose-brocade sofa, to look toward the doorway, where his great nephew was now standing.

"Are you feeling refreshed?" she asked as Ethan walked in and flopped down into a wing-back chair positioned close to the baby-grand piano.

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better now that I've rested for a few hours," he inhaled deeply and ran a hand through his loose, raven-black locks, "food helped, too," he licked his lips.

"Oh, you've eaten?" Inez raised a well-manicured eyebrow and tipped her chin.

"Yes," Ethan continued, "Flammel asked if I was hungry when I came downstairs, so Cook made me a plate."

"Ah, perfect!" Inez looked at Earl and a small grin turned up the corners of her mouth, "Well, then, how do you feel about conducting another mental experiment?" She waved a hand toward her uncle, who picked up the discussion.

"Yes, well, you see, Ethan," Earl cleared his throat and pushed his little round glasses up off the tip of his nose, "Your aunt and I discovered an anomaly in the behavior of my ring here," he lifted the translucent, faceted-red stone on his right hand in the boy's direction, "As you can plainly see, the energy within the ring is flickering, whereas previously, the light had been constant ever since Jack's powers manifested," he returned his hand to his lap, then continued, "Inez and I believe this behavior suggests that, even though Jack is currently in the past with your grandmother, the ring is still able to connect to him, across time and space, though that connection appears weak and intermittent."

Inez was nodding agreement. "We would like to see if you might be able to connect with Jack, using Uncle Earl's ring...which contains a drop of Jack's blood, and thus may provide a more direct connection to his mind than any other source available to us," she paused, pursing her carnelian-colored lips and squinted at her nephew, "would you give it a try?"

Earl removed the ring from his chubby finger, with some effort, and held it out in Ethan's direction.

Ethan stared at the ring, then at both his aunt and great uncle, then shrugged his shoulders and tipped his head to the side, "Sure, I guess so. Why not?"

Ethan stood and walked to where Earl held the ring out, waiting. He took it from his uncle's hand and turned toward Inez, "So, do I put it on, or what?" he waited.

Inez scrunched her eyebrows together and pressed her lips into a tight line. "I think it's best if you grasp it fully in your hand, instead. That way every part of the ring will be in direct contact with your skin. We want you to be able to achieve the best connection possible...especially considering the circumstances."

Ethan pursed his lips and nodded, then looked around the room. "Where do you want to do it?"

"The couch, I think," Inez looked past her nephew to Earl, who nodded agreement, and stood, vacating the space. "You should be comfortable and relaxed, so, like before, I think you should lie down," Inez stood and walked to the couch, lifting one of the decorative throw pillows, and placing it flat on the surface, as a pillow for Ethan's head.

Ethan reclined on the couch and grasped the ring tightly in his right hand, as Inez and Earl stood over him, observing.

"This time, though, Ethan," Inez quickly added, "if you make contact, see if you can talk us through what you're seeing, as it happens. We don't want you to try to control Jack in any way, at this point...try to remain undetected by him. We only want to view his environment and know who is around him, what is he feeling. Understood?"