22

Elizabeth Gilbert, who had been a fashion plate in high school, did not seem to be the same person anymore. When she was dressed in all black like way, she had the appearance of a lethal weapon that had been sheathed. Her tresses hung about her shoulders in a haphazard manner.

Denis offered a suggestion, saying, "You Could Go Somewhere Else." "I mean, after all of this is finished, you could continue the school year somewhere where nobody knows you, just as Katherine did," I said. "It's like she went to a community college."

Elizabeth was in a peculiar state of mind tonight after spending the day by alone in the barn watching the snow. "No, I don't think so," she said. She asked Denis quickly, "Would you look at my palm again? I want you to tell my future, my particular future." Denis obliged and looked at her hand again.

"I really doubt that I will ever recall anything that my grandma instructed me in... however,
well, I'll give it a go "Denis relented. She laughed as she grasped Elizabeth's extended hand and said, "There'd just better not be any more dark strangers on the way, that's all. You've already had all you can bear. You've already got all you can handle." "Remember when Caroline asked what you could do with two? I suppose you're finding out now, huh?" "Remember when Caroline asked what you could do with two?"

"Would you kindly interpret the lines on my palm?"

When Denis said, "All right, here is your life line-" his torrent of patter nearly came to an abrupt halt.
before we got started with it. Fear and dread could be seen on her face as she continued to gaze at Elizabeth's hand. She said that it need to come all the way down to this point. "But we had to cut it off so abruptly..."

She and Elizabeth stared at one other for a brief period of time without exchanging a word, during which Elizabeth experienced the same growing sense of unease inside herself. Then, Merit came in the door.

She responded with, "Well, of course it's brief." "It only signifies what already took place, when Elizabeth passed away from drowning."

Denis responded with a muttered, "Yes, of course, that must be it." She released her grip on Elizabeth's hand, and Elizabeth gradually withdrew her grasp on it. Denis spoke with more forcefulness and concluded, "That's it, all right."

Once again, Elizabeth was looking at her reflection in the mirror. The young woman who looked back at Elizabeth was stunning, but her eyes betrayed a melancholy insight that the older version of Elizabeth had never had. It dawned on her that Denis and Merit were glancing in her direction.

She said softly, "That must be it," but her grin didn't extend to her eyes at any point.


Nine


"Well, at least I didn't be taken over," Denis remarked. "However, I've had enough of this psychic.
anyhow; I'm sick of the entire thing; it was the last time, definitely the last time. things anyway; I don't care about any of it."

Elizabeth responded, "All right, let's speak about something else. Did you find anything out today?" as she turned away from the mirror. "Let's talk about something else."

Denis said, "I spoke with Alaric, and he's going to have another get-together the following week."
replied. "He asked Caroline, Vickie, and myself if we wanted to be hypnotized to help us cope with what's been happening. However, I'm sure he's not the Other Power because he's too lovely," Elizabeth said. "He asked us if we wanted to be hypnotized to help us deal with what's been happening."

Elizabeth nodded. She had begun to have second thoughts about the suspicions she had had about Alaric. It wasn't because he was kind; rather, it was because she had been sleeping in his attic for four days. Would the Other Power have really allowed her to remain there without harming her? Of course, Dominic had claimed that he had convinced Alaric to forget that she was up there; but, the question remains as to whether or not the Other Power would have been susceptible to Dominic's persuasion. Shouldn't that be much beyond our capabilities?

She instantly got the impression that it was possible that its powers had been momentarily depleted. The way Katherine's was going out now as it was burning out. Unless, of course, it had just been faking being affected all along.

She responded by saying, "Well, we won't cross him off the list just yet." We need to use extreme caution. What can you tell me about Mrs. Flowers? Have you discovered anything about her?

"No luck," said Merit. We went to the boardinghouse this morning, but she wasn't there when we knocked on the door. Katherine told us that he was going to attempt to find her in the afternoon.