Could it be only him? Could he have a special ability to pick up…?

Pick up what, crazy boy? Vibrations as if you’re psychic? Ooh, you could star in a Stephen King novel.

He heard a maniacal laugh in his head as if one of the King crazies had taken up residence with the other annoying voices that kept talking at him.

Then he thought back to his own argument with her. So long ago, but fresh in his mind as if they’d squabbled this morning. He wished it had been this morning because he now knew he should have apologized at once. He’d happily eat humble pie to have his life returned and to have never seen the look in Morris’ eyes just before he died.

That was scary as hell because he could empathize with that cursed feeling. To be defenseless, waiting for that bus to hit, unable to get your feet to move.

His argument with her was when this whole shebang began. He’d felt a shift in the energy in the air about him, as if a wave had rolled in and wrapped around him. Then, as quickly as it came over him, it receded leaving him doubting it was only his over-active imagination. A writer’s mind is a tool and a writer has an innate ability to focus thoughts and mold any person or event into a whole other entity.

And that’s what he’d do. Focus his sharp concentration on every step he had taken to bring him here. He’d make notes as if writing a novel’s outline and, just like his books, as he wrote he imagined the answer would reveal itself. This was to be no book though. This was the recounting of his downfall and, hopefully, the road map of his survival.

He raced back to his car as the sun began to set, turning the surrounding trees into a crowd of giants looking upon him in judgment. After everything, that he could now handle; they were nothing compared to literary critics.

A clasp of hope now fastened about his heart. Where his energy had begun to fade, his mind and body felt supercharged. And determined. How determined was he?

More than ever before in his life. He could do this. Nobody had stopped her until now, but he would find a way to solve the mystery of Orelia Mason. He’d be the lone warrior who faces the invincible monster and frees the world from a terrible curse.

No more second-guessing. No more worrying about his past career or where he’d end up if he failed. He didn’t care anymore. Just knowing how and why she preyed on others was enough reward. Stopping her would be a bonus. Getting his life back the ultimate reward. If the God of fortune looked down upon him at this moment, William hoped he saw the makings of a fearless hero. He’d never been one before, but who knew? Maybe he could become one now.