Perception

XXV

Anna sat back in her seat and stared out of the window of the little Volkswagen Sarah was driving down the A10. She didn't actually spend very much time outside of Amsterdam, but every time she did she was struck with how different it looked here. How flat it was, how different the houses looked, how you could see for many miles over green fields with black and white cows.
She was very glad that Sarah was driving. She'd not done much driving here, so the driving on the wrong side of the road would scare her some.
Nothing ever seemed to scare Sarah.

Anna stared out over those fields as her mind's eye floated softly back to the library, and the study session with the boys, yesterday. Eli had smiled at her so fondly as she'd walked in, and even now the memory made her smile in turn.
"Did you get home okay, Eli?" she'd asked him. Even if that was a silly question, he was here, wasn't he?
"Yeah, no worries, Anna. I found the bus straight away, got home in no time flat." he had responded, little lights dancing in his eyes.

She'd kind of expected things to be awkward, sitting across from each other again now after the night they'd had, but it really hadn't been. Eli had been serious, he had been charming, he had even been funny again at times. And she had quite naturally, seamlessly in fact, been part of the group process.
In all honesty, it had been great.
Then she'd spent the evening telling everything that had happened the night before to a very excited Sarah.
"So, does this mean you're dating, Anna?" she'd asked her quietly, the light in her own eyes not so different from the ones she'd seen in Eli's that afternoon.
"No, it doesn't." she'd smiled, even though she knew full well that a good part of her didn't agree with that decision.
Not the rational part, though.
"I asked him if we could be friends, and he said yes."
Sarah had nodded, and Anna knew full well what she was thinking. But Sarah also knew some of her history now, so she hadn't pressed, in fact she hadn't said anything else about it, and they had had half a bottle of white wine between them and gone to bed.
Or to couch, in Anna's case.

The seer's house was so very ordinary, a completely normal terraced house in a completely normal, nondescript row of houses in a completely normal newish housing estate in a completely normal village.
Anna smiled to herself.
What had you expected, Anna? Up side down crucifixes and circles with pentagrams?  Cobwebs in the windows?
To be honest, maybe part of her had expected that.
"Wow, it looks so... normal!" Sarah said as she turned off the engine, and Anna laughed out loud.
"Yeah, that's just what I was telling myself."
"God, I'm nervous, and it isn't even about me!" Sarah added, and Anna nodded.
"I know. I'm so nervous it's not even funny."

They got out of the car and walked to the completely normal, dark red front door, and Anna steeled herself as she extended her finger to press the bell.
The door swung open almost instantly, like the seer had been waiting behind the door.
Or maybe simply walked there at just the right moment?

"Anna, I'm so glad you made it here."
A small woman with intense eyes stood in the door opening and gave her the kindest smile.
Anna's eyes shot to Sarah's in shock.
What? How did this stranger know her name? Sarah had told Anna that she very purposefully hadn't told the seer anything, hadn't she? She'd just told her who her grandmother was, and that she had a friend that needed help. Nothing else, so they'd be able to see if she was legit? But Sarah just looked back at her, clearly every bit as astounded as she was.
Suddenly that strange electricity coursed through her again and she almost stumbled over the threshold as she entered the seers house as quickly as she could.