WE ARE THRILLED TO WELCOME TODAY'S GUEST, PSYCHIC AND AUTHOR, SHAUN MICHAEL O'NEAL WHO IS SHARING CHAPTER 1 FROM HIS NOVEL, 'CROSSROADS' #RWRTeamBlog #ReadWriteRepeat
- 34 minutes ago
- 11 min read
CROSSROADS - THE CLONES
The Call
Chapter 1
I got the call at 7 am. Not the best time to call me. I'm a night owl. Then again I have never meet a psychic that was a morning person. Me, I just can't seem to get to sleep before 2 am, so as you can imagine when the phone rang I was a little grumpy. The call wakes me up. Too bad, I was having a real adventure dream. The call is from this guy at some institute. They needed me to come in and try to read the mind of one of their dying executives. This call gets my attention, and I fast become coherent. The call is short. I have to be there by 11am this morning. They must really want the information from this guy, bad. This kind of job always pays a lot. Don't get me wrong, I do okay. Real psychics always do. It's not that rare to find one that is real. Yes, there are a lot of people out there giving us a bad name. They can be sent to jail for fraud. We now have laws in place. Some people will try anything for money. If they only know the tremendous responsibility that comes with the job. Going into someone's mind can be a tricky thing. You need to use the utmost caution and you may never divulge what you experience to anyone, other than the people that called and paid for a reading. It can be a real invasion of privacy as well.
I always have the right to say no to the job. I have only done this a few times. This is one benefit to being registered as a psychic. We have a union now. We even get hearth care! A lot of us do police work. I did that for all of one day. I was asked to read the mind of someone that was accused of murder. What I saw in this woman's head haunts me to this day. She was sentenced to the worst thing I can imagine. Her punishment? Her mind was wiped clean. All that she was, and all that she would even be, was deleted from her. A newer and gentler persona was implanted. Some call it the 'Soul saver'. I call it physic murder. I did not, nor will I ever have anything to do with that. I won't do it. As I said I quit that very day. I have a reputation for getting information others can't. I've always had this ability. I was born with it. It makes me stronger than those that gain the ability latter in life. I drag my self out of bed and head for the shower. I have to get ready for this one. The hot water running over me feels good. I want to stand there longer but time was not being agreeable. I soap up and rinse off. I stand there and let the hot water run over me, just a bit longer. It feels so good. I go over in my head what I have to do today. Going into the mind of someone dying has it's own special dangers. You never want to be in there as they pass away. A piece of you can be dragged to the other side.
I had a friend it happened to. He was never the same. I don't see him much anymore. He's so different now. It's too painful for the both of us. If this guy is really that close to death, I might have to say no. I get my butt out of the shower, dry off and get dressed. I put on my favorite rayon dress shirt. You got to love a shirt made from wood pulp. A casual sport coat, cotton of course and a fresh pair of jeans. I'm not that dressy. I punch the address into the GPS in my cell phone. It tells me how to get there. It's further than I thought. I head to my car. Traffic is not bad. The drive goes as planned. This place is out in the boonies. I don’t like it. Something feels off. I give the guard at the main gate my name and show him my I. D. He lets me in. I try not to read him, but his projection is so loud it's hard not to hear. I tell him, 'Yes I can really read minds and you should stop sleeping with Lisa, your wife's sister. Terry, your wife, is starting to figure it out.' He turns bright red and lets me in. I don't know why he wanted me to hear it. Sometimes people just want to see if I can really do it. It’s dumb. I’m licensed! As I drive away, I see him go into the guard shack and pick up the phone. Whoever he called is happy to know, I'm the real thing. I start to get a little more apprehensive. The building is about a quarter mile up this private road. This means really big money at stake. This place is huge!
Four stories of nothing but glass. I think it's over a quarter mile long. There is a door man, most likely another guard. This means real money. I have a name of who to ask for at the front desk, once I'm inside, that is. Just a name. The name, Mr. Mercury. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this. I find a place to park. As I do, I can see the security cameras all turn to follow me. I drop all my mental blocks. I need to hear something, anything. I know this one thing, nothing about this job is feeling right. All of a sudden I feel something or someone. It has the feeling of a woman. She's telling me it's alright. This stops me in my tracks. Am I sensing another like myself? Her feelings wash over. It's cooling and warm all at the same time. With this wave of calm, I make sure my shirt is tucked in and I head for the building. I'm asked my name, and the name of who I'm seeing. After hearing the name I give him, he opens the door with a card swipe. As I enter, I make sure to look at everything. A good look around. Before me is an odd mixture of medical office and extreme opulence. Around the walls are couches and chairs. To the inside, more chairs and small tables. At the far end is a desk with two people sitting side by side. I still have the feeling of calm, so I head for the desk. Two very nice ladies greet me with smiles. As I get closer, I can see they are twins.
The one on the right taps the bluetooth at her ear then says, “Hello, Mr. Shaun. Please sign in. Mr. Mercury's attache' Mr Aday, is on his way down to escort you to his office.” She hands me a tablet to sign. From what I can see there is a contract attached to what I'm supposed to sign. With a smile, I ask what it is. The other woman chimes in, “This is just a nondisclosure contract. Even the janitors have to sign them here. Don't sweat it.”
“Thanks but if it's all the same to you, I would like to read it first.” Twin 1 says, “Here at Dead Ringer, we have a lot of trade secrets. You never know what you might see.” From the sound of her words and the fact I was looking at what I hoped were twins and not. I could not bring myself to say the word on my mind. To confirm my worst fears, I read one of them. My fear was more than justified. They are not just twins they are clones! My next thought was to turn and run, run for my life. As I start to turn, I see that there by the door are now, two armed guards. It does not take a psychic to know, I was not going anywhere now. My worst nightmare came rushing into my mind. The same thing most of my kind worry about, becoming a lab rat. Or worse, having my brain dissected. I have no choice. I will have to run. I dropped the pad and turned for the door. If I can get into one of the guard's minds, I can make him think there is a fire or something. As I think this I hear a voice in my head.
It's the same one that gave me comfort as I was driving. She says, “It's okay, don't panic. I'm here. You will meet me very soon, my love.” My love? Why did she say that? The feeling of calm came back over me. Who, or whatever she was, or is, I have to find out, now. With my hand shaking, I pick up the tablet and sign my name. One of the 'Twins' comes over and asks me if I would like some water. I decline, just in case they want to drug me. Not that it matters at this point. I sit back down. In my mind, I reach out for the woman's voice. To my surprise, I make a connection. She tells me her name is Rose and that I will not be hurt in any way. She tells me to try and not think much. We can be read here. Before I can ask her how, she breaks the connection. A man walks up to me. “Hello, Mr. Shaun! My name is Mr. Aday.” He holds out his hand. I drop all pretense and listen for anything I can hear. To my surprise, I can't hear a thing from this man. It makes me wonder if he is a clone, or in someway genetically modified to resist my kind. I have read about the government working on ways to block psychics. I shake his hand in the hope direct contact will increase my ability. I can here nothing from him. He just smiles at me. “If you will follow me, Sir. I'm sure you will find the answer to all of your questions. He takes the lead and together we head for the double doors at the back wall of the waiting area.
He places his hand on the wall scanner, and the doors open. As we walk in, there is a glass wall to the right. Behind it I see a full size pool, running track weight room, sauna, the works. People look happy. I hope so. This place gives me the creeps. At the far end of the hall is an escalator. I think to myself, this is odd. I have not seen an elevator. I know they must have one somewhere. If nothing else for freight. Up the first and then the second, third, fourth, and now the fifth. This has to be the top floor. This floor is smaller than the rest. It must be in the middle of what I thought was the roof. If they want to read a dying man, I have no idea where he might be. Outside the glass walls there is a roof top garden with flowers and vertical vegetables. I see a woman harvesting some of the veggies. This does little to make me feel any safer. There is an office, again with glass walls. I can see a man sitting behind a large ornate oak desk. Mr. Aday opens the door and shows me in. He does not come in with me. The man behind the desk stands up and walks around to me. He is a short man, no taller than 5'5”. I find this makes me feel a bit better. He, at least, has not been altered, I hope anyway. He holds out his hand, I take it and give it a good shake. I don't feel any malice or malevolence within this man. I hope this means no cutting up my brain. He's looking at me as if he is trying to tell if I'm looking in his head.
There is a big difference between actively reading someone and just listening to what is being broadcast. It sounds like a fine line, but it's not. Think of it in this way, you're sitting at a bar or in a restaurant, someone is talking very loud. You can hear it, right? The same applies to reading minds. I'm not going through their heads looking for things after all. Just hearing what they are, shouting at the top of their mind, as it were. He asks me to take a seat. I do as he asked. “Mr. Shaun, I would like to welcome you to the institute.”
I cut him off, “I was told you have a dying man you need me to read. I should start as soon as I can.” With a little smile he sits back in his chair.
“Soon enough, he is being prepared as we speak. We, or should I say, you, will have more than enough time to read him. Mr. Dean Walsh was in a car accident. He had just purchased a classic 1955 Porsche 550. He had just picked it up the day of the accident. He was one of our best researchers. He is paralyzed from the neck down and in a coma. He is not expected to live.” Mr. Mercury dropped his head and choked back a tear. I have to say, he has real feelings for Dean Walsh. I could tell that they are close friends. This information gives me a better feeling about being here. I tell him I am ready whenever he is. As I am saying this, his phone rings. He pulls him self together and answers,
“Yes? We'll be right down.”
"That was Dr. Santana. Mr. Walsh is stable. We can see him now.” He stands up and motions for me to head to the door. I have a feeling of dread again. This time, I am not comforted by the woman in my head. I have to focus on the job at hand. I start by clearing my mind.
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IN THE AUTHOR'S WORDS
It has taken me a lot of years to finish this book. More than I care to think about. This book has five stories. Each completely different. However. They all have one thing in common. Every character, at some point, will have to make a life changing choice. In some of the stories, the choice will be made for them. The theme of the stories remain the same. In each, there is a crossroads.
I have been asked, “How do you come up with this stuff?” Believe it or not. Most come from dreams. All but one of these in crossroads, I dreamt. When I dream them, the entire story happens in my head. From start to finish. The only one I did not dream is. 'Set Adrift.' That one was a bet from a friend, who said, “Bet you can’t write a story about boats and zombies.” I guess I won.
I have so many more stories to tell. Here are a few that are coming up, and a little of what they are about.
'The Blood Spot' Magic, Vampires, Werewolves and Ancient Gods.
'Emotional Sojourn' Poetry, thoughts and observations.
'Father And Son' Some of my shorts, Some of Johnny’s.
I’ve started yet another new one. It might be called, 'The Lost City' A journey of self discovery, and of very old truths that have been lost to antiquity.
'The Core Drill' What they find could change everything.
'Human Bomb' Shining a light into the darkness.
At least one more book of short stories. Yes I have that many.
Waiting for film - Yes I write scripts as well.
'The Blood Spot', after writing the book, I have it as a series.
At this time, I have the first 13 episodes written. Each episode will run approximately one hour. it will be a two season run. 16 episodes in total.
I have 2 scripts registered with The Writer's Guild in Hollywood. I collaborated with a long time friend, writer, and teacher, John Eggett. The scripts are, 'MAD' A possible end of the world, crime drama.
'The Foxhole' A single character, single camera action short. As I have said, I have so many ideas.
I will be doing a new edit on my two books already in print. They are, 'The Evil In The Dark' and 'Garden Of Shadows'.
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COMING SOON: On Sunday, 19th April, we are delighted to welcome back, Snjezana Marinkovic, who is sharing an excerpt from her novel, 'Rocky: The True Story of a Dog Who Adopted Humans Nobody Else Wanted'.
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