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e477a02
|
"I haven't eaten," Aaron says, nodding down at the large white bag in his hands. "And I'm guessing Daniel didn't feed you on the way over, because . . . well, because he's . . . so I bought extra. Do we have plates in the kitchen, Sam?" When Aaron and Sam go off in search of utensils, Deo says, "The older brother is a pain in the ass. But this one, I could learn to like."
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the-delphi-effect
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Rysa Walker |
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4820309
|
"We're about five steps down when he says, "I feel like we've walked into a horror movie. Two teens sneak down to the basement, where the psycho killer lurks in the dark." "If you're trying to lighten the mood, it's not working." "Don't worry. The psycho killer always targets teens who are sneaking to the basement in order to make out. But I do wish we had a flashlight."
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the-delphi-effect
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Rysa Walker |
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3656258
|
It's like saving up that perfect comeback you read in a book or heard on TV--it always sounds good in your head, but it never quite fits in real life.
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the-delphi-effect
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Rysa Walker |
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25009fc
|
"I'm not delusional, Aaron. I know he's nearly six feet tall. Deo's not a little kid to anyone but me. But I held him when he cried. When he a little kid. I promised him I'd keep the monsters away. That I wouldn't let anyone else hurt him. I . And now--" I stop and pull in several deep breaths. I don't want to lose it again like I did this morning. "It makes me so angry!"
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the-delphi-effect
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Rysa Walker |
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0c61f34
|
"You can skip the part in the middle where he goes off on a tangent about how the Delphi psychics contacted the Grand Duchess Anastasia while on these drugs. Pretty sure she'd have been dead by then--" "Never stopped me." He pauses for a moment. "That's . . . true. good point."
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the-delphi-effect
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Rysa Walker |
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5ebdc99
|
"I nod. "Thanks. Molly was definitely right about one thing, you know." A grin inches across his face. "That I'm gorgeous?" , I think. "No," I say. "I that you're a really nice guy, but now it looks like you're developing this huge ego problem . . ." I swat at him playfully and he catches my hand. "One more thing. When Deo is back safe and sound . . ." He stops and his shoulders slump. "What?" "Well . . . I was about to ask if you'd want to go to a movie or get dinner. But we'd probably have to worry about you picking up a ghost or me realizing the guy at the next table is about to punch his waiter. Maybe we could just watch Netflix and . . ." He stops again and closes his eyes. "I truly suck at this. I was not going to say , I swear to God. I was going to say watch Netflix and order takeout." I lean forward and kiss him. It's a quick kiss, just a featherlight brush of my lips against his. He looks surprised. I probably do too, because that wasn't at all planned. It just seemed right. "I'd like that, Aaron. When all of this is over, I think I'd like that a lot."
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the-delphi-effect
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Rysa Walker |
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1adc7c5
|
"As soon as he turns the key, a man with a heavy British accent starts talking about giants not being meant to live in groups. "That's . . . Hagrid." " ," Aaron says. "I got the full set as a Christmas present from Mom and Tay, since I'm in the car so much. I've read the books, of course, but . . . nice to listen to them, too." And so we listen for the next ninety minutes. Well, Aaron and I listen. Taylor is asleep ten minutes in. I close my eyes and try to lose myself in the story. The entire trip, I only check my phone twice. That's the closest I've been to relaxed all day. Harry is just wondering whether Cho cried because of Cedric Diggory or because he's a rotten kisser when Molly speaks up."
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the-delphi-effect
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Rysa Walker |
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9ba947c
|
Whenever a stray thought about Aaron, Taylor, or their relationship with Molly wanders into view, I push it into the folder near the back wall so that I can quickly shove them away from Dacia's prying eyes. I visualize that inner wall as an impenetrable fortress, surrounded by a force field, encased in a Cone of Silence, and covered by a Cloak of Invisibility.
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
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7080f85
|
There's no shower, no paper towels. Just the sink, cold water, and hand soap. Carrie He has a point. There's blood on my arms and neck, even in my hair. Nothing to do but start scrubbing, hopefully before someone walks in with sleepy kids in need of a bathroom break. I'd probably give them nightmares for a week.
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
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33d5691
|
Why? Because your grandfather gets hunches and you have some sort of psychic abilities, do you automatically believe everything? Someone walks in your door saying she can torch the place using her mind, do you accept it as fact? Demons, vampires, werewolves? Sounds like a good idea for a TV show. Your partner is named Sam--are you sure your name isn't Dean?
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
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0994698
|
Maybe it's just the fact that this has been one bitch of a day. Either way, his question annoys me. I kind of want to reach across the coffee table and smack him.
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
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7c6e9db
|
"Okay," I tell Aaron, once I've hung up. "Just so you know, Deo will call Dr. Kelsey, the police, the FBI, the entire Avengers team, and anyone else he can think of if I don't check back in half an hour." Aaron rolls his eyes. "You have a very possessive boyfriend." I start to correct him, but maybe having Aaron think Deo's my overprotective boyfriend is a good thing. I could say he's at the gym, lifting weights."
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
|
1a4906e
|
Someone dropped her off in a shopping mall food court just before her third birthday. Pinned to her dress was a note with the name Anna, a date of birth, and the words, .
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
|
92b1e64
|
He recorded me once, so I know exactly how I look when I'm engaged in one of these internal dialogues--and that makes me determined to avoid them in public. My eyes go blank, unfocused, like no one's home--which is ironic if you think about it, since the problem isn't that nobody's there, but rather that we've exceeded the maximum occupancy of one.
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
|
cd1ed82
|
And then the light turns into a snake, and I turn into a snake, although I'm pretty sure those last two are due more to my choice of bedtime reading than to Molly's memories.
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
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e01bbcf
|
"But I'm still too wound up to sleep. So I browse through the audiobooks on the intranet, hoping I'll find the one I'm looking for. It's there. . I skip to Chapter Twenty-One and forward to a section near the end. Hermione is accusing Ron of having the "emotional range of a teaspoon." I wonder if Aaron is in the car now, listening to the same thing. And then I shove thought into the folder with the others."
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
|
9724bb2
|
"Shut up!" Dacia digs her nails into my skin. "You do not do the talking. I do not need you to tell me about your other phantom . . ." She waves her hands, like she can't find the word. "The dead-in-your-head people."
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
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3112b7c
|
After a few miles, I push play and the audiobook starts. It might be nice to ride through the night, believing in magic for a while, magic of either the Hogwarts variety or the Muggle sort that will keep Daniel alive. But Aaron and Taylor must have been in the car a lot over the last few days, because they're way past the point where we left off. And I'd forgotten how dark this one is at the end. They're past the Ministry of Magic and back at Hogwarts now, where Dumbledore and Harry are arguing about Voldemort. About Voldemort crawling inside Harry's head and trying to control him. Way too close to what happened in the lab for comfort. Deo and I both reach to turn it off at the same time.
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
|
4a1ba87
|
"For the past year, food of some sort has been a permanent appendage to Deo's hand. Sometimes both hands at once. At first, I teased that he was going to get fat, but then he shot upward--six full inches since last summer. Now I have to look up at , not the other way around. This amuses him. I don't really care as long as he doesn't call me "Short Stuff."
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
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4088903
|
Unfortunately, I'll need to watch them again at some point, because my mind keeps straying back to reality. I envy Deo's ability to lose himself in fantasy for a while. That type of break seems almost as useful as sleep for keeping stress at bay, and I've never really mastered it.
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |
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280bf9a
|
"Didn't anyone ever teach you why it's a bad idea to make assumptions?" He raises his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. "It makes an ass out of you and me." "I see you're both smart pretty." He laughs and settles into another smile. "
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the-delphi-effect
|
Rysa Walker |