“Thank you, Maggie. Do you have any honey?” She only looked up from her work briefly to ask the question.
“Sure. I’ll bring it right out to ya.” Maggie hurried from the room.
As soon as Maggie was gone, Amber appeared beside Shera again. Shera, what’s a mark?
“What, sweetie?” Shera asked, without looking up from the drawing.
A mark. That guy that’s coming over here, was looking at you, and he said that he had found a much more interesting mark.
“Oh, did he now? Well, we’ll just have to see about that! A mark has several meanings, Amber, but in the way he used it, and judging by his emotions, he meant that I was someone that he had chosen to show special attention to.” She let the emotions slide over her skin, as he came closer to her. He exuded confidence and a strong attraction for her.
So, he likes you! The little girl giggled and added, He’s really cute, too.
Shera laughed aloud, just as Han reached the table. He looked at her confused, then said, “Hey, I’m Han Lyang. Can I sit down?”
She looked up from her drawing and smiled. “You’re right, he is.” She laughed again at his puzzled expression, then turned to the little girl and asked, “Amber, do you mind, if he sits with us?”
She giggled and bounced beside Shera. I don’t mind if you don’t. I like him!
She looked back at Han, who did not know exactly what to say. “You can sit if you still want to. My name is Shera Avery.”
“Here ya go.” Maggie came walking up to the table and set the small bowl of honey beside the cup of what Han realized was some kind of tea. She put a second cup down, beside where Han was standing, and added, “I saw ya were comin’ over to talk to Shera, so I brought ya some, too.” The woman turned and walked away.
Han slid into the booth and looked at the cup. “What is it?”
“Green tea.” Shera watched him very carefully, as she spooned the sweet, sticky substance into her tea and stirred it. “Would you like some honey?”
“Sure, thanks.” She handed him the spoon and pushed the bowl over to him. It was obvious that he was nervous about what he had gotten himself into. “So, what are you drawing?”
“Really? Of all the questions to ask, that’s the one you choose?” She chuckled and handed him one of the drawings that she had already finished. “This is Amber; she used to live here about seventy years ago, with her mom.”
He was so preoccupied with the remarkable drawing that he hadn’t realized what she said. Han looked at the sketch in amazement. She was a beautiful child, with long dirty blonde, spiral curls pulled up in pigtails with long black ribbons, and she had vivid, bright green eyes. She didn’t look like she could be more than ten. The little girl was wearing a lacy off-white dress with black fringe, and her button-down boots were black leather.
It hit him, then, looking at the clothes, what she had said. “Wait, you said seventy years ago?”
“Ah, you caught that, did you?” Shera watched, as he went from shocked to excited.
“You’re claiming to be sensitive? Prove it!”
It was Shera’s turn to be shocked. “Well, that was different! Okay, how about I tell you what you told your friends before you walked over here.”
Han looked over at Collin, Liam, and Hawk, listening to make sure he couldn’t hear anything they were saying, then turned back to the young woman in front of him. “Okay, I’ll bite. What did I say?”
“Amber, I need you to remember his exact words.” She paused, nodded her head, then said, “‘Not this time, guys. I think I’ve found a much more interesting mark.’”
Han’s jaw dropped open. “There’s no way you heard that! You can really talk to ghosts?”
She smiled at his enthusiasm. “I can do more than that. I can see them, although, not the same way I see you, more like I see them through their emotions. They show me what they want me to know, and I put it on paper.” She handed him the other drawings that she had finished.
He nearly dropped them in horror and disgust, when he realized what he was holding. “Oh, my God!” The top picture was also of the little girl, but she was lying in a pool of blood. Her throat had been slit, and there were stab wounds and cuts all over her stomach, chest, arms, and hands. Her green eyes stared at him from the page, cold and dead, and her mouth was still open from screaming in terror. He could even see that her cheeks were stained with tears. He looked at Shera in dismay, “They show you this?”
“It’s not always so bad, and then again, sometimes it’s worse. In this case, she won’t show me everything; just that and the shadowy figure in the next one. It’s what she sees when she looks at the man who hurt her. She’s blocked out his real face.”
Han shifted the drawings so he could see the last one. He shivered at the monster on the page. The creature was more shadow than man, with horns protruding from his head. He had long canine-like fangs and a long serpentine tongue that was split and bloody. Han stacked the sketches back up, and asked, “Can I borrow these for a minute?”
“Sure.” Shera watched, as he got out of the booth, and crossed to where the others were setting up equipment.
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