Free The Power of Forgetting by A M Russell Page A

pint of Black Sheep.’
    Morel looked at
Davey who nodded, ‘Sounds good.’ He said.
    He got us the
drinks and we returned to the table, ‘you are quite the one, aren’t
you.’ he said pointing at the pint. Davey watched him intently, and
I felt puzzled. ‘What do you really do?’ I asked.
    ‘I have a
useful ability. Like I said; I don’t use this…. skill for just
anything. I am aware of the way it brings attention to me. I have
found it useful for solving some crimes that were completely stuck.
The ones we had reached a dead end with. It is tiring, and required
a lot of concentration. Karis has helped me focus more, so that I
don’t need as much energy to make it work. She said that I can find
it better if I think of it as putting the fulcrum in the right
place.’
    ‘You are a
traveller?’ I asked him quietly.
    ‘Yes… in a
manner of speaking. But I do not myself move through the causal
plane. That I leave to others like yourself, who are not shit
scared of one’s place in history being erased.’
    ‘That is not
true you know.’ I said.
    ‘That may be
so. But if I was you… but I’m not, I’d really try to get to grips
with the limits of my own power.’
    I looked away.
I didn’t know what Karis had told him about me, but I was curious
to see what he could do.
    ‘Will you show
me?’ I asked at last.
    ‘Yes, of
course.’ He said, as if he had been waiting for me to ask this. He
turned to Leo; who nodded at Morel. I realised this had been
arranged for my benefit, and perhaps maybe Davey and Marcia’s as
well. I took Marcia’s hand. I was nervous. Karis sat down next to
Morel.
    ‘Do you need my
help?’ she asked him.
    ‘Err…yes,
please. I need all these other people excluded from the circle.’ He
sounded rather nervous too. I realised that he had one shot to
prove himself to me. He might be with Karis as a friend now, but
perhaps it was more than that. I began to feel some admiration for
this guy. Who was preparing to expose his secret to me and the
others. I realised what he meant when he asked Karis to exclude the
others. All the people in the bar who were just ordinary customers
and weren’t part of our group.
    ‘Alright,’ he
looked at me and loosened his tie, ‘I need us all to go to the
space near the fire place. No one has been standing or moving
through there for the last twenty minutes since we arrived.’
    ‘Can we take
our drinks?’ I asked him
    ‘You could. But
it might be better to not do so…. especially for you Jared.’
    We all
complied, and stood waiting for him to do something.
    Morel seemed to
be in some discomfort. Karis took his hand, ‘What amount do you
need me to put in?’ she asked him.
    ‘Can you just
be ready to catch the deceleration…. there is a lot going on in
here. But this is the only safe way for it to not leave a
trace.’
    ‘Everyone
ready?’ asked Leo standing straight and tall. Laura was tucked
under his left arm, and looked up at him smiling. She seemed so
small and slight. Janey wrapped her arms round Davey, who looked
surprised and a somewhat scared. Karis held Sam and Marcia’s
Hands.
    ‘Will you let
me?’ he asked, offering his hand to me palm upwards. I glanced at
Leo who nodded.
    ‘Alright.’ I
said.
     
    David Morel
took my hand. I felt a really strange gut pulling tug. There was a
moment of fuzziness, and then we were in the bar again just as
before. I almost laughed… until I saw myself sat there across the
room. I saw Morel walking from the bar and switch the glasses. He
leaned over and slipped the note in Marcia’s pocket. A moment later
he moved the mats as Janey’s glass was lifted. He had written
something on the back and flipped it over while talking.
    I started
across the room.
    ‘No! Jared!
Don’t move.’ That was Karis. But I was already slipping between the
tables. I glanced back at Morel who looked pale and seemed
uncomfortably warm.
    ‘Stop!’ shouted
Karis.
     
    There was an
absolute silence. Karis came up