Free The Witch's Ladder by Dana Donovan

doom, it completely overwhelmed me, except then it was accompanied by a sharp pain in my neck.”
    “ So, perhaps it’s no coincidence. The killer snapped Barbara’s neck.”
    Gordon said, “I have to tell you, I find all this interesting. In the case of both Travis and Barbara, Valerie experienced phantom pains relating to the injuries of each. Yet in the case of the homeless men she had no foretelling sense of doom or phantom pains.”
    Lilith said, “You might have something there. We should ask ourselves, why is it that Valerie could sense danger for Travis and Barbara, but not the other two victims? Was it because she knew Travis and Barbara, or because the others were not psychic?”
    Valerie said, “I have an idea. Let’s try psychometry. Lilith, will you help me?”
    “ Yes, of course.”
    “ What’s psychometry? Jean asked.
    Lilith looked to Doctor Lieberman. “Doctor, would you care to explain?”
    She knew he would. As the girls got ready, he explained to Jean the exotic method of prognostication with his usual flair for details. “In theory,” he began, “psychometry allows an individual to gather information about a subject by simply holding an object, which that subject either owned, or came in recent contact with. We base this theory on the belief that the human mind radiates an aura of consciousness, constantly transmitting a record of one’s existence in all directions. This record is then absorbed, or recorded in the day-to-day objects in which that person comes in contact with. Through psychometric examination, a clairvoyant such as Valerie can review or replay a record of someone’s existence in her mind, merely by concentrating on the object connected with that person.”
    Jean nodded as Doctor Lieberman enlightened her on the finer attributes of psychometry, but in her eyes, Lilith could see that her understanding of the subject remained sketchy, at best. Lieberman continued. “For this experiment, Valerie is going to first try her luck with an object that belonged to Barbara: a scarf she left behind at the workshop the night she died.”
    Before beginning the experiment, the group pulled the large oak table to the center of the room and positioned chairs around it. Next, they turned out the lights in the hallway and adjacent rooms, as well as the main lights overhead in the workshop. The only remaining light then came from three lone wall sconces mounted between the windows. When all was quiet, Valerie began. She held the scarf in her hands and concentrated on it intensely. She could feel the energy in her fingers ignite as she rubbed along the length of the scarf, sensing every stitch and thread.
    “ I’m starting to see something,” she said, her eyes tightly closed. “I see Barbara walking toward her car. She’s looking at something, something in the sky. It’s the moon. It’s just the moon, but it’s so big and full. It’s beautiful. There are a few clouds—not many, sweeping across the face of it. They’re moving so swiftly.” She inhaled and exhaled with a shudder. “It’s cold—so cold and lonely, but the moonlight, it’s shinning so brightly on the parking lot. The car is well illuminated. She’s walking toward it again.”
    As Valerie described the events, Jean took notes, recording the particulars on a pad of white-lined paper. Everyone else sat with folded hands, motionless and spellbound.
    “ I’m in my car now,” Valerie said, vicariously living out Barbara’s last moments by assuming her identity. “I always do my pre-drive checklist just as Daddy taught me. I know it’s silly, but Daddy says it’s good practice.”
    Akasha nudged Shekina with her elbow and the two girls giggled. “Daddy says it’s good practice,” she mocked in a hushed voice. Valerie remained undistracted.
    “ Let’s see. I lock the door—check, release the parking brake—check. Make sure all the light switches are off—check. Then I—”
    Gordon watched Valerie role-play