The Wars of Ivory White (Book I: The Protector)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

Clad in identical black leggings and sports bras the colors were slightly different.  Tracy's was trimmed in a neon purple, Carla's a brilliant white.

"We need to focus on your senses." Carla said, as they made their way from the house towards the clearing. "We'll work on hearing first. I won't be able to give you instructions if you can't hear worth a damn." Carla said, "I'll go over to that bolder that's about 200 feet away. It's twice the distance an average human can hear from."

Running to the rock at an extremely fast rate, she stopped and faced Tracy. Talking in a normal tone she asked. "Can you hear me?"

"Yup!" Tracy yelled.

"You really don't have to do that. You can talk normally."

"Sorry. I'm surprised we can actually hear each other this far away? It's so weird."

"Okay. I'm going out even further. Close your eyes and focus on the sound of my voice."

"Okay." Tracy said, closing her eyes to concentrate. When she did, everything she heard was amplified. She could hear two squirrels fighting in a tree, a bird tucking straw into its nest and even a burrowing sound from some forest creature digging in the earth. Every sound brought an identifiable image to her brain. She could see what was making the noise. Then she heard a faint voice.

"Can you hear me now?"

Tracy grinned broadly. Not only could she hear her, but was able to tell how far away she was.

"Sure can, Verizon!" Tracy said loudly, the rapid patter of feet getting closer. When she opened her eyes, Carla was there.

"Verizon?" Carla asked.

"Yeah from the old 'Can you hear me now?' commercials?"

"Humf. You're a dork," Carla grunted.

"I know. I'm so 'a-dork-able.'"

Carla laughed with a snort, "Now we can work on your smell."

Picking up the knapsack Carla had brought with her, she handed Tracy a scarf before walking away. "I have some different scented  stuff that stink. I want you to tell me what you smell. Again, you need to focus, so put the blindfold on."

A light breeze had already brought several scents towards Tracy. The prevailing one of Carla's pepper smell caused her nose to run.

"How am I going to smell anything when that pepper perfume is so prominent?"

"Consider it a lesson on focus. Here's your first test."

Tracy sniffed cautiously, not wanting to inhale any more of the pepper than she had to. "I smell something floral... but artificial? Is it one of those lavender scented candles in the downstairs bathroom?"

"Yup. How about this?"

Tracy sniffed, "Smells like a vanilla candle."

"That's right!"

Tracy could hear the rustle and rattle that provided mental images of Carla's actions. She could sense her taking the lid off some sort of can. "Is that coffee? Wow, I didn't realize how strong it actually was. I think dead skunks smell like coffee, or maybe burnt rubber. Do you think that too? Or is it just me?"

"Considering that your powers have just kicked in, and you're more sensitive towards scents,  I hope you never come across too many skunks, unless you like the smell of coffee or burnt rubber." Carla snickered, as she rummaged through the bag for more things.