Stranger than Ficton

Chapter Two

So yes. I am psychic. Hard to believe I know but I have been since before my parents died when I was a little girl. I can remember seeing them die before they actually did. Traumatizing - trust me. Not something I would wish upon anyone. I have been having visions on and off since, my latest, the world of white. Although this one is a little different. It comes to me in a dream where as most of my visions come to me when I am wide awake in the world of the conscious. Anyway, Piper is the only one who knows of my special...gift as we call it. Sometimes I think it's more of a burden but it does come in handy from time to time, especially when there are cases of the...unusual kind. Unusual. Well cases of the unexplained or down right weird, Piper asks me to step in to help shed some light on the situation. I can see things through possessions that used to be owned by the victims. One hold and bam! Visions extraordinaire. It does however take a toll on me. Sometimes the things I see - aren't very nice.

Driving down the road I turn onto Harrison Lane and continue to drive. All the back roads were dirt and it took almost all of my concentration not to fish tail due to the roads being graded recently. I couldn't afford to total my car. Seeing the old Carrison letterbox I turn left making my way down the bumpy driveway littered with potholes. Nobody had taken over the place since old man Carrison died last July - it had almost been a whole year and still no one was interested. I don't blame them, the property did boarder the woods. You might ask why this was a problem. Well - these woods weren't anything ordinary. There were strange occurrences and disappearances long before I was here. 

Turning left I pulled my car up next to the old barn and hopped out. I could see police cars up against the tree line about 200 meters away from where I was. Yellow tape has been wrapped around trees cordoning off the perimeter. There must be another body. If it is, this will make the third one in less than 6 weeks. Walking through the knee high grass I made my way towards the site. I could see Piper hovering near the edge on her phone. The conversation looked heated. I saw her partner Detective Frost at the opposite end making notes in his notepad.

"Hi Adam". I said as I came up the last 5 meters. He lifted his head and gave me a grim smile. 

"Hi Hadlee". Adam replied before looking over towards Piper who was scuffing the ground with her shoe. A habit she took on when she was frustrated.

"Not good?" I asked as I came up and stood next to him looking over the scene. From here I could see the distinct sheet covering the body of a deceased person. This makes it number 3. Great. Now I knew why she needed me. 

"No, this is the third one in six weeks, I just can't understand how or why it is happening". Adam exclaimed pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"Mmmm" I hummed looking out into the expanse of the woods. It looked harmless, however, all things that harbored secrets did. I turned my head hearing Piper's boots crunching through the dead leaves announcing her arrival to our conversation.

"Thanks for coming out Hadlee, was wondering if I could get you to take a look". She asked indicating with her head where the body was. Looking over at the clearing I nodded and followed her under the yellow tape. It was strange. The other two bodies were found further in the woods and this one was found right on the edge. Made me wonder what had happened. 

"We didn't uncover much but he does have a ring on his left hand, a wedding band, could you take a look Haydes?" She asked using my nickname only she called me by. Sighing to myself I approached the sheet and lifted up a corner. White  male. Looked to be in his late 30's. His clothes were dirty like he had been dragged through the woods but there were no tracks when I looked up from the body. Nothing had been disturbed. Like he had just appeared. Strange. He had a wedder on his left hand, gold and plain looking. Piper approached with gloved hands and removed the ring. I probably shouldn't be touching evidence however  things in this town were done a little differently. 

"Here Haydes" she said placing the wedder in my hand. It felt weighty and shone in the early morning sun. Pretty. I could only hope for something like this in my future. I caressed it with my fingers and waited for images to come to me. Before long I was sucked into a memory. His wedding day. His wife looked beautiful. She smiled up at him and all I saw was love. So much of it was in her eyes. I felt a lump in my throat. I was glad that telling the family of their loss wasn't my job. I don't think I could look at her let alone pass on the message.

"What do you see?" asked Piper squatting down next to me looking me in the eyes.

"Nothing about the murder" I replied getting to my feet but not relinquishing the ring. Sometime it took some time for the right impressions to come to me. Especially those that depicted the demise of the victim. Walking a few steps away from where Piper was still squatting I closed my eyes looking up and feeling the sun on my face.

Another set of images came at me. He was poking around the old farmhouse and shed. It was old man Carrison's house - I could tell because of the way the porch wrapped around the house and the faded red paint peeling door. There was nothing else like it in town. I couldn't tell what he was doing but I could see him peering into every window possible. It definitely looked like he was looking for something. The vision faded and I turned back around to Piper. She looked up at me expectantly and Adam turned around.

"I saw him. He was poking around old man Carrison's house and shed. It looked as though he was searching for something" I said as I picked the ring up in my fingers and held it up to the sunlight which was filtering through the trees.

"I wonder what he was looking for all the way out here" mused Adam as he strode towards Piper to stand right next to her.  She shrugged getting to her feet.

"Beats me" she responded turning as the medical examiner pulled up. "I am sure Jer will be able to shed some light on how he exactly died" said Piper as she walked to meet with Jeremy our town's local ME.

Just as Adam got up and turned another flash hit came to me. I saw him look up and see a shadowy figure against the tree line of the woods. The sun was setting and the darkness was  creeping in fast. Next minute I saw him in the woods covered in blood crawling along the ground away from something. That was when he looked behind him and I looked up and saw it. 

What was that?

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