Living in an Unseen World

Ok so this starts off pretty slow no sex for now but I promise it doesn't stay a complete taco fest. It'll get some sausage thrown in the mix next chapter and the sex to come will be steamy and worth the wait. I just want to develop the sisters' characters and an understanding of their lives a little before I jump right in ;)

All feedback is welcome!

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Chapter 1
Storm in the Distance

Sometimes, right before I fall asleep, I can pretend. I can fool myself into thinking everything is normal. I almost believe it. I almost believe that I will drift off to sleep and dream simple dreams, normal dreams and normal nightmares from my own subconscious. I hope that it'll all go away before tomorrow: the visions, the sight, the "gifts" will all be gone. Then I wake up. Fresh dreams burned into my memory, but not just dreams they're omens, visions of things to come. I try to forget but it never works. I try to ignore the unseen but I still see them: spirits, souls, the ebb and flow of energy that spider webs through everything drawing the unseen to its steady current of life to replenish their weary unearthly bodies. I watch as the fey grow the gardens and harass the clueless humans; the different courts playing their sometimes frightening roles. I see the souls of the living shining through their earthly shells and the souls of the dead rejoining the great ebb and flow of this world. I see the hesitant souls linger and the kind spirits comfort: whilst the unkind leach them until they have no more power to keep from fading to nothing. Then sometimes I see the fearsome and the evil. They are the collectors who capture the innocent souls and feed on them till they're strong enough to go after the living.

I never wanted this. I never wanted this power.

"Charlie..."

"CHARLIE"

"CHARLIE!"

Layla's snapping fingers and annoyed voice broke me out of my day dream abruptly enough to make me jump. I was over flowing the trough, again.

"I swear to god Charles they claim you're the smart one."

"Oh, shut it I'm not in the mood..."

Layla's concerned eyes sought out my evasive ones. Like always she knew what my deal was without any verbal prompting.

"Dream?"

"Yea... not a pretty one either."

Concern settled on her beautiful features. My younger sister by two years she was like a funhouse mirror reflection of myself. Our mother was Irish and Italian and our father Cherokee. It always made people scratch their heads trying to guess our nationality. The genetic mix was boldly different for each of us. Where my hair was almost black hers was like caramel and honey. Her green eyes held more gold where mine leaned more towards blue. Our skin was the same sweet golden brown of our fathers that glowed in the sun. Yet where I barely passed five feet she almost reached six. She was long limbed with generous soft curves in all the right places whereas I was lean curves and had an athletic look ... I always imagined she was what Aphrodite was supposed to look like. She turned heads of both genders wherever she went she was bubbly and fun with an ease in social settings that would make all others seem dull and lifeless compared to her shining soul. Her soul burned like the sun and showed she was just as beautiful inside as out. I always puffed up in pride of my sister and wouldn't know what to do without her.

The concern on her face made me smile. She was always empathetic almost to a fault. The dream seemed almost silly now. Just a strange vision I couldn't even interpret anyway. I finished filling the troughs and headed for the feed room with Layla hot on my heels. As I turned to hit the light I noticed Layla's expectant look.

"What?"

"Seriously? You're gonna leave me hanging like that? You know that's not gonna fly."

"Not much to tell. I really don't even know what the hell this one was about..."

"Well, tell me so we can figure it out."

"It seriously is not a big deal let's just finish up."

"Bullshit! I felt how much that dream scared you and if you're scared then it's a big deal to me Charlie."

"Ugh.... please just let it go. We'll talk later."

"You know it's so not healthy the way you bottle everything up. You should really consider seeing a shrink."

That got a chuckle and a giggle out of us. As dark as it is we always got a kick out of how we imagined a shrink reacting to the things we felt and saw. It would definitely mean a strait- jacket for the both of us and enough anti-psychotics to make a horse drool.

Layla, you see, also had similar gifts. She could feel pain in people from a simple paper-cut to a broken heart. She knew what hurt people and she knew what healed people. She was a natural healer and it drew people. She was a guiding light for the weak and wounded and sometimes I wondered at her unending, unfailing strength to care for others. That sort of Mother Teresa kindness and patience was a trait we did not share seeing as I was a notorious hot head.

After we finished feeding and watering the many animals who called the Skyband Ranch home we found ourselves taking a breather with Widow Wilson and an ice cold glass of sweet tea on her porch. The summer sun had just finished coming up a while ago and it was already hot as hell. My t-shirt and jeans stuck to me as I attempted to cool myself with the cold tea glass against my forehead. I was imagining diving into the creek at the back of the middle pasture when Widow Wilson broke the silence.

"Something is coming girls. I don't know if you can feel it but the tides are changing."

"Charlie had a dream last night that upset her... could it be a warning?" Layla wondered.

I contemplated what Widow Wilson said coupled with my dream and it made me uneasy.

Widow Wilson was like Layla and I but with years and years of experience controlling and exploring her gifts. She could dip into the universal ebb and flow of the universe and see all kinds of things past, present, or future. If she said something was about to happen then you listened.

"What was the dream? My feelings have been vague and unclear almost as if something has muddled them. Like trying to see a fish at the bottom of a pond after the water has been stirred and muddied."

"Well I honestly didn't understand any of it. It started out normal enough. The horses were spooked by a storm blowing in and a couple broke out of their pens and as I was trying to catch them and calm them down a bit I kept feeling like I was being watched. Like something was closing in and I was suddenly scared. I wanted to panic with the horeses. I felt my hair raise and suddenly felt like there was a predator out in the dark and I was the prey. Then the rain and lightning started up and the wind was so loud I could have sworn it sounded like howling all around me. I made a break for the house but before I knew it I was surrounded by shadows dark moving shadows they were animals but I couldn't make out what. They were snarling and snapping and I wanted to scream. Then I woke up"

Widow Wilson contemplated this for a while and began rocking slighty in her rocking chair like she always did when she was thinking. We sat in silence awaiting her input. She always knew what my dreams meant. Before we could get an answer she was up and heading to the house to make some calls.

"Great. Vague as always..." Layla grumbled frustrated at not getting to satisfy her borderline nosy curiosity.

I just chuckled and stretched feeling better knowing I wasn't facing this alone. We three had each other to face this veiled threat heading our way. Setting out to finish up the chores Layla and I went back and forth on who got to muck out the stables and who cleaned the tack. We finally settled it with rock-paper-scissors; and, of course, I lost. Grumbling about being elbow deep in animal shit for the next hour or so I attempted to smack Layla in her derrier with a filthy poo covered boot and she skipped away laughing at my swing and a miss.

I couldn't hold back the self-patronizing laugh had I wanted to. Regardless of what was coming life was good and THAT was something I was ready to protect. I wasn't scared of the black cloud on the horizon anymore, I was ready. I was ready to fight for this.