Chapter three

Disappointment hits Selma harder then a speeding truck when she smells the disinfected air of the Center and the strawberry mint candies her Doctor, Doctor Ben, used to carry.

The whistling had reminded her of Will but he’d gone into the sublevels and no one ever came back from there, not even in her visions.

She wasn’t going to find Will in a vision, she was sure of that.

Selma wondered if he was still alive, if he was nearby. She could still remember him laughing at her as he skated past her at the ice rink, but that was more then a year ago. She’d seen him once since then but it was not the same; it was like he was asleep " only his eyes were open and staring.

 

Selma recognizes the day the vision was taking her"she’d been wishing for it when she thought the Center was good but later dreading it when she knew the truth.

This is the day her doctor disappeared and the day the Center finally believed in her powers.

It was during the first months after the mass hysteria had started. The Center was busy sorting out the ordinary crazies from the real freaks " the ones who didn’t just see the monsters but who were the monsters or who could become them.

 

At first, the vision shows her a glimpse of the floor, somewhere in the Center. Then the light expands until through it she sees the sides of Dr. Ben’s brown loafers and then Jenny’s white sneakers.

Selma could hear their incoherent voices as they shuffled into the room.

 

The light dims then explodes into a full room and Selma sees her own crossed ankles hanging over the side of a bed and her hands picking at the Center’s issued grey PJs.

Her normally red and bitten-down fingernails are long and neat. Her hair is shorter, redder and is tied up in pigtails, a style she stopped wearing years ago. There are tired looking bruises under her eyes. This ten-year-old Selma now whistles an old nursery rhyme Will had taught her.

 

For a suspended second, the ten-year-old Selma stares at the older one.

But then the second was over and the younger girl’s eyes wonder away. Already, she whistles a new song.

 

 

In a Center containment room in Sublevel Four, Selma’s body lays connected to an IV and a heart monitor while a third mysterious machine’s mechanic arm hangs above her head.

The arm trains a light on Selma’s face while its monitor reads standby.

 

Selma’s closed eyes produce tears that roll across her temples and into her neatly combed hair just before her lips twitch into a strange smile.

She hadn’t moved on her own in two days but late last night and early this morning, her heart rate and blood pressure had gone up and now she was crying.

 

By the time the machine with the mechanic arm starts to generate an image, a flutter of activity had already began across the planet behind bolted and screened doors as people bartered. They bargained for access to the security tapes, audio recordings and most importantly, recordings from that special machine, a machine they’ve dubbed the DI: the dream interpreter.

 

At the Center everything was business as usual; they had a Doctor on call, nurse Jenny in house and as usual as ever a shady official with the title of Observer sulked around. 

It has never been clear what the observer was supposed to be observing whether it was patients, the machinery or staff members but he never failed to show up during patients’ sessions.

 

The only change this time other then being on sublevel four is the Center’s sedative specialist and his equipment was prepared to treat Selma.

At the moment he was with another difficult patient one who made fires with her mind if she wasn’t heavily sedated.

The specialist is prepared, if she ever opened her eyes, to pump Selma with enough sedatives that would kill most horses.

It wouldn’t kill her, he’s pretty sure particularly with her tolerance for sedatives, but she wouldn’t be running away and refusing to sleep anymore.

 

 Jenny uncrosses her arms and checks the MDR’s monitor and nods at a skinny short man waiting outside of the room.

He wore a silk tie, a dress shirt and a fowl expression. He struts into the room like a proud parrot.

“Hello, my name is Jennifer Lodging, but you can call me...” Nurse Jenny says stretching out her hand.

“Shhh, she’s working.” The man says pushing past Jenny and ignoring her outstretched hand. He drags a stool in front of the DI screen as a very dim image of a neat white room with a little red head girl sitting on a bed appears on screen.

The image flickers as Selma shifts in her cot moving out of the light that lit her face.

 

The observer frowns in Selma’s direction, now that the Center had this machine it was no longer necessary to put up with the moody teenager and her frustrating issues. They just needed her well enough to have her visions. Perhaps they should invest in restraints he thought briefly before dismissing the idea.  It would be a waste of money; she wasn’t going to wake up again, he’d pump her with tranquilizers himself if I came down to it.

 

The observer shook his head the Center should have hid the machine from Selma better; there were ways to block her visions. I was just a matter of hypnotic suggestion and specially made storage spaces.

Selma had tried to escape at every opportunity since she’d figured out what it did and what it would mean for her.

 

Abruptly the DI machine begins relaying the sound in Selma’s vision. The Observer suddenly turns his attention to the nurse who’d miraculously found the runaway psychic. He had a few questions for her, but it could wait until after Selma has had her vision quota for the day.

 

 

Selma watches as a fly buzzes past her and thinks she can feel the air off its wings. She shakes her head; she knows it’s impossible but she a feeling that this is more than a vision. It feels closer then the others, almost like the glass between here and there was gone.

Like whatever was stopping her from dropping into her visions was gone.

It reminded her of the visions she had at the beginning before the Center had believed. Back then anything seemed possible.

Back them she felt like she could do or ‘go anywhere she wanted’. Selma suddenly caught her breath the thought felt odd and almost familiar to Selma like she’d heard someone say it to her before. Then quite suddenly she remembered the hooded figure, the grassy field and Jenny’s Volkswagen.

Selma shivered remembering the mind games Will and Kendra used to play trying to test how much Will could do.

 Selma never liked it when Will used his powers; there was something criminal about pushing people around with your mind.

 

Selma reaches out to the image her fingers shaking in the light her hands touched the cold water like surface of the vision with surprise.

 Normally she’d be jerked away if she tried to touch and jerked or toward it like it when she tried to turn away, but not anymore. Something had changed.

 

 

 “…breathe in through your nose and imagine the air travelling from the top of your head then all the way down your spine. Then breathe out. Think about your safe place and relax.” Jenny voice floats out as she softly lifts her hands for emphasis.

Doctor Ben roles his eyes catching the younger Selma eye they suppress their smiles.

 Dr. Ben never did like Jenny’s idea of ‘helping’ patients. He only put up with it because it seemed to have a calming effect on Selma.

 

 

Selma pulls her hand away from the light as she watches Jenny. She feels a smile spread across her face but the tears that float off her face ruin it. Selma tries to close her eyes but they are already closed and again Selma thinks about leaving.  

It made no sense; Jenny would never betray her they were closer then that, they were always closer then that. Selma was missing something. She had to be.

Selma suddenly remembers that the Center is watching this vision with her and she feels disturbed; her mind wasn’t hers anymore.

 

 

The younger more naive Selma nods at Jenny and asks when she can go back to school.

Selma calls out. “Selma, if you can hear me; Don’t trust them.”

“If you’re feeling up to it we can do your math drills when Dr. Ben and is finished.” Nurse Jenny says glancing up as almost as though she heard the older Selma’s warning.

“Did you hear that? Never mind these machines play a number on my ears.” She says looking at the younger Selma like she couldn’t figure something out.

“You were asleep; these things you see are just dreams. That place isn’t real.”  Doctor Ben said jumping in.

“Wait, can you guys can hear me? Hello? Hey!” The older Selma yells.

“Doctor Ben do you have an uncle named Swaran?” asks the younger Selma sliding off the bed.

“Selma, sit down you’ve been asleep for almost two months. You’re still weak.” Doctor Ben says as he and nurse Jenny rush forward to support the wobbling ten-year old, but she stubbornly brushes them away.

“You do don’t you. I thought so. You were very sad that he missed your tenth birthday when he promised he’d get you that model car.” She says cheerfully despite the exhaustion arranged her features.

Doctor Ben crosses his arms over his chest. “Selma I don’t quite understand what you’re trying to say.”

“Yes, you do. I know that your mother loved to wear this red and brown hat but it got torn the day before your tenth birthday so she wasn’t wearing one when you took your birthday picture. It’s the only picture you have where she wasn’t wearing that hat before you went to boarding school.”

 

Doctor Ben takes a surprised step back from the young Selma and nurse Jenny takes hold of Selma’s hands wrapping her fingers around them in a familiar way.

 

“I’m not finished.” She said brushing away Jenny’s hand away.

 “I know why your uncle Swaran missed your tenth birthday and why your mom looked so angry in the picture.  It’s wasn’t because he was working like you always thought, it has to do with money he borrowed from Henry and the work he had to do to pay it back, it was so you could go to school so you would be a doctor and work here. Find Henry he had powers before everyone else, he had the dream first.”

The doctor is silent, and Jenny grips a folder looking from the doctor to Selma and back again.

“I’ll figure out what’s going on here, don’t worry Selma once I do, we’ll find a way to deal with your unique problems.” Doctor Ben says at last shaking his head.

“Doctor Ben, you don’t believe me, you think I’m tricking you.” The ten-year-old Selma says angrily gripping the bed her voice sounded hurt.

 

“I didn’t want to say, but I know about the cat and why you want everyone to call you doctor Ben instead of your real name, Benidiar. Ben was your neighbour’s name.”

“What are you talking about?” a look of sudden panic spreads across Doctor Ben’s face.

“It’s OK you got away with it. His parents never figured out how it happened, neither did the police. But you know I can’t smell burnt matches without remembering what the two of you did. Do you still remember the cat do you still hear it screaming? I do, and that’s not all I remember. I remember everything. Everything.”

“No. Stop it.” Doctor Ben says stepping forward interrupting Selma but his pager suddenly goes off. He stops to read the page before rushing out the room nearly crashing into a nurse standing outside the door.

 

“You shouldn’t do that Selma.” Jenny says anxiously watching the chubby young nurse collect the things she dropped when Doctor Ben bumped into her.

“It’s the truth, besides you didn’t see what he did, it was horrible.” Selma said jutting her chin forward.

Nurse Jenny shakes her head and starts to fill out paper work.

“Selma I don’t think you should be advertising what you can do. There are people out there who would be in danger because of it.” Jenny said putting down her clipboard.

 

“That only because they’ve done something bad. Besides I’m not afraid of anyone, it’s not like I’m the only this sort of thing is happening to. I’ll bet it’ll be on TV pretty soon.” The younger Selma said nodding.

“Did you see that in one of your"um dreams?”

“Not exactly, but come on you can’t believe that this sort of thing could be kept secret, I mean people aren’t stupid they’re going to notice when toddlers lift cars, when old ladies are flying and when people disappear into thin air. ”

Jenny taps her pen against the clipboard worriedly as a young Selma chatted on about the future.

 

 

 

The observer glances at Nurse Jenny. Jenny doesn't move she doesn’t even blink. The observer grins, he could practically hear Jenny’s heart speed up in fear.

He can tell that she was afraid of what he might ask. The Centre knows how to take care of threats and they know how to do it well. Now time to get her to say something damming.

 

The machine produces sounds that mean that Selma’s emotions and thoughts are interfering with the connection. The machine beeps again and this time the observer feels his own heart speed up in anticipation.

He always wanted to touch a fragment of this power, the power to see through time and space. He wanted to have control like no one else before him.

 

The machine whimpers louder and more violently then ever before. Liam appears out of thin air but nurse Jenny and the Observer do not seem to notice him. Nurse Jenny leans forward to touch Selma on the arm.

 

“Why is she dreaming about this?” the observer asks Jenny as he curiously watched the old nurse tightly wrap her fingers around Selma’s hand. Liam walked over to nurse Jenny’s bag and began rifling through it, he stopped to make what he was touching invisible before taking out a small bag. Liam began to quietly make his way across the room to Selma.

 

“How on earth am I supposed to know? Look at the God damn machine, maybe it’ll tell you.” The old woman says glaring at the observer who continues to watch the old nurse with suspicion.

 

“I was wondering if it was because it’s about you because you double crossed her.” The observer grins, “You do know what happens if she dreams about you, right? You have to go through an intense screening process. That could be weeks, months or even years in isolation or you might be too dangerous for even that. At your age they might not bother and just put you in the morgue.”

 

“That’s only if the vision shows me doing something stupid enough to threaten Blackfly. I’m pretty sure Alliance’s crime bosses have people who are actually infected to deal with. Besides who are you trying to fool? I was fully briefed before bringing her in. As long as I’m not infected, I’m fine.” Jenny pursed her lips disapprovingly at the Observer as he smirked.

“And you claim you don’t know who helped Selma escape. That you haven’t done anything you don’t want Blackfly to know about.”

“I was the one who brought Selma in. I don’t understand why you suspect me. There’s nothing that points to me.” Jenny says leaning in on Selma and finally unwrapping her hand the sleeping girl’s in practiced flourish.

Liam steps in between Jenny and Selma. He touches Selma’s hand gingerly and glances past the observer to the DI screen as it goes blank.

 

“Why did you do that, anyway?”

“Bring her in? The money of course.” The old nurse says smiling slightly as she notices a flicker of what was Liam’s reflection on the blank screen.

 

“Well, that makes things simpler, doesn’t it?” He says still glaring at the old nurse. “It makes all the hard questions go away, doesn’t it? You did it for the money. But you know to me it all seems weird. The two of you were like mother and daughter, poor little girl with no mommy and an old bat with no one to live for, anymore at least.”

 

Liam turns to look at Jenny with raised eyebrows, which she missed because he was still invisible. He shrugs and turns back to his task he took from Jenny’s bag and began to slowly put into Selma’s pocket.

 

“I’d prefer if you’d be quite now.” Jenny said through gritted teeth. Liam begins to slowly put his hand in Selma’s pocket watching the observer. Liam might be able to make things invisible but someone would notice if Selma or her pockets disappeared.

 

“Hmm,” The Observer laughed  “I’m sure you would your daughter is a rather sore subject. But besides that, I really would like to know why it took you six hours to bring Selma in, I could have gotten her in in two.”

 

“Then you should’ve, but you didn’t, now would you let off with the third degree I’m trying to watch this?”

“There’s nothing on screen anyway.” The observer sighed turning around in his stool and tapping on the side.

Liam pulled his away from Selma breathing a sigh of relief.

“Piece of junk!” The Observer said slapping the machine hard. The observer picked up his radio and began a rant about faulty machinery but stopped as if began working again

 

Liam circled around Selma’s bed and again he put something from the bag into her pocket.

 “I think she’s dreaming it doesn’t seem to be an actual vision this time.” Jenny said just before the machinery malfunctioned a second time.

“And how do you know that? Look at it unexplainable static, recording out of order, white outs.” He said using the radio to point at the screen. “It’s acting like an ordinary machine recording an ability and here I thought modified objects were immune to abilities.” The observer says with a strange look in his eye, Jenny could almost feel him thinking Unless...

He puts down the radio slowly.

 

“It is, but we don’t know if and when Selma has normal dreams. This machine can’t tell the difference she might be having normal brain activity and this thing doesn’t know how to translate ordinary dreams into images.”

 

“So what?”  The observer replied wondering what Jenny might be hiding. He knew she was hiding something. He could feel it.

“So maybe this is a dream an ordinary illogical dream.”  Jenny says as the DI machine played the image of Jenny dropping her clipboard before freezing again.

 

“What we were looking at was Doctor Ben’s last day. Selma’s convinced the Center has something to do with his disappearance and we both know she can’t have a vision of Doctor Ben anymore, not unless he stopped his work with Mr. Smith?”

 

“He’s still working with him.” He said absently.

The observer paused and gave Jenny a look. “But you know I think you’re lying. I think you’re hiding something, you know doing all that weird things you do to her when she’s sleeping. Finding her when out best finders could not and taking and extra four hours to do it.” He said looking at Jenny’s hand. “It just adds up to a whole lot of strange.”

 

“This is the third time a machine we’ve modified has malfunctioned.  One of those times was when Selma went into a shop we were keeping tabs on, the security camera went haywire just long enough for Selma to buy something and walk out. I don’t need to mention that the camera was modified so that wouldn’t happen. Someone’s helping Selma and I want to know who.”  The observer said pointedly.

 

“I understand that the people you represent have a lot on the line here but no one not even Selma can fully control what she sees and when she sees it. You are going to face the fact that this one, at least is probably a dream and that we don’t really know how any of these things work.” Jenny said with a small smile.

 

“You’re not just a nurse playing mommy who’s gotten greedy. You’re a lying manipulative freak.”

“What?”

“You’re something suspicious"a dangerous element. You know the type I’m supposed to report.”

“Yes, you caught me. I’m a kidnapping evil no good fairy godmother. Please tell me you realize how ridiculous you sound.”

“I don’t know about the fairy bit but you’ve seen the things in here, what these freaks are and what they can do. So don’t patronize me, besides sounding silly won’t matter if I’m right.”

 

Jenny pursed her lips and didn’t say anything. She just wished Liam would be quick about his work.

Liam put his hand in the bag and picks up a receipt and frowns not sure if it was supposed to go into Selma as well. He turns it over and notices the note Jenny had written on the back. Liam takes time to read it. As he stopped interfering with the DI it begins to play again.

 

“…that was so many years ago, I nearly forgot about it, but she knew. I can’t believe her. No, she’s just a mischievous child.”

 

“Doctor Ben who was on the phone?”

“He said his name was Henry. It’s so strange, that’s the name Selma just gave us and he wanted Selma. Something strange is happening here….” The DI stops as Liam slowly and carefully puts the receipt into Selma’s pocket.

 

Jenny catches the expression the Observer makes as he hears the name Henry. A thin layer of sweat began to break out across his forehead as he loosens his tie.

Jenny frowns, who was Henry and why was the Observer so nervous about him.

 

 

 

Selma watches herself walk out of the room.  This was the last time Selma saw Ben in real life.

The noise in the corridor swallows up Selma’s voice and Doctor Ben’s conversation on the payphone reaches her through the open door.

 

“What do you mean? I can’t tell you that. I’m sorry sir but exactly who do you think you are?”

Doctor Ben snorts. He pauses for a moment before starting again.

 

“What, no. What are you insinuating.”

“There is no problem. I’m free tomorrow. Yes, my office is fine. But wait what does Selma’s condition have to do with it?”

“Classified! I’m her physician.” Selma’s doctor pauses for a long time.

“No, is this a joke? May I have your name again? Henry, and who do you work for? Confidential? I cannot believe that anyone with this much clout would support such an idea.”

Doctor Ben is silent for so long Selma begins to think that he had hung up and left the pay phone.

“Yes, I’ve seen it. Very. Goodbye.”  This time there was a resounding click as Ben replaced the pay phone’s receiver.

 

Doctor Ben puts down the phone down and walks into the room clearly dazed.

“Who was that?” asks Nurse Jenny.

“Huh, just some lawyer.” Doctor Ben said quietly as he put on his coat. “Before I leave, Jenny. Do you know anything about Selma’s extended family?”

 

“Her dad came in with her Aunt for a visit yesterday and her aunt and cousins are coming in again on Saturday. I don’t think her grand parents are taking time away from their store this time, but they’ll be around.”

“No not visitors maybe a far off uncle or estranged grandparent who might want access to her records. ”

 

For the first time since she picked up her pen Jenny stopped writing.

 

“No, not anyone who would need a lawyer.”

“I see. That’s a bit strange, then. Well, see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, goodbye Jeffery. Wait, sir what did they want?”

Doctor Ben doesn't turn around and stares at the door instead.

“How did she know about Ben and the cat? Jennifer that was so many years ago, I nearly forgot about it, but she knew. I can’t believe her. No, she’s just a mischievous child.”

 

“Doctor Ben who was on the phone?”

“A man. He said his name was Henry. It’s so strange, that’s the name Selma just gave us and he wanted Selma. Something strange is happening here today, Selma isn’t the only one they’ve asked for.”

“What? Who else did they ask for and what do they want?”

 

Doctor Ben’s shoulders climb toward his ears but he doesn’t answer the question. He walks out the room with his soldiers still hunched.

 

“Henry? Who’s Henry?”  Selma calls out hopefully. Jenny gasps spinning around she drops her clipboard.