Gifts Given

The endless desert was still as Piper drove steadily through the night. Despite the simmering sunny days, the night always had a bone-chilling feel to it. The sky was clear with only the moon in sight. It was a good thing, too, because there isn't much one can do if they get caught in one of the state's infamous summer thunderstorms. Piper wasn't about to go down as one of the stupidest people to drive through such conditions. Fortunately, she planned everything around the weather. In fact, she would not have been able to make the connection had there not been a full moon on this night. She grinned at the thought of how well she prepared for her stay in Arizona. Only a moment later, her smile vanished when she heard the same loud bang she had heard back near the fire.

"God dammit, Willy, don't do this to me. Not now!"

Willy slowed to a crawl and puttered a bit more before letting out another loud bang. His lights dimmed. Slamming her fist on the steering wheel, Piper cursed and forbid him to do this to her. Her frustration soon turned to concern. "Come on, Willy, you know I love ya big guy. Don't die on me now." Willy couldn't last any longer and his lights went completely black. Abandoned in the middle of the highway, Piper let out a deep sigh. "Great. Just great. Why is it that everything I touch falls to pieces?" She set the stick to neutral and hopped out of her jeep fully prepared to push him out of the way of traffic, should anyone decide to drive their way at this ungodly hour. Once Willy's cold and silent heap was pushed out of the way, Piper went back inside and contemplated the night's events. If ever she needed some one's help, it'd be now. Lately, she'd experienced what she referred to as audio deja vu. Who could she talk to about something so peculiar? Throughout the last month, she'd hear things that were about to happen before they actually happened. "I should have known. Back at the fire, I heard that bang and I should have known it'd end up being poor Willy's cry." Although, Piper had a gift, she viewed it as some sort of meaningless mental infection probably brought on by stress. "What good is being able to hear what's going to happen, if I don't know when or wear what I hear will even take place?" She was partially right, in her thinking. It is difficult to piece together some of the sounds she hears and know why she hears them. It's even more difficult to hear a call or cry for help and not know how or even who to help. Just like a voice coming through a static radio wave, Piper, heard another premonition.

"Dad, we're going to have to stop the car."
"No, listen to me. We're not stopping until we get to that spirit man or whatever he is that is supposed to help you. We need to get to him and fast. We don't have time to help some stupid woman who can't drive to save her life. It's out of the question."
"You know I'm right. We have to stop. While I was sleeping, I saw her. She's one of them and she's going to help us but she doesn't know it yet."
"I don't give a rat's ass who she is, we're helping you first and we're not stopping."
"What about what mom made you promise, before she died?"
"How'd you know about that?"
"Dad, you know I'm gifted. Can't you just believe me when I tell you what we need to do? I'm not a bad person. I'm going to save us. You need to believe me and don't question it, please dad."
"All right. I know you're not a bad person. It's just hard for me right now. I love you and I'm listening."
"Okay, well you see she's..."

The conversation was cut short. "Great, more audio deja vu. What am I supposed to make of that?" Half the time Piper picked up conversations that weren't of the utmost importance. A couple of times she heard the conversations her roommate was going to have with her boyfriend before they even happened. Perhaps, that was a beneficial premonition after all because it prevented Piper from losing sleep that night from what she knew would inevitably turn into a long and loud argument. She had time to call her roommate and ask her to spend the night at her boyfriend's because she needed extra study time. Their argument ended up being at his place, where she was far from and didn't have to hear when it actually did occur. Although her roommate, Emily, filled her in on the details the very next day at school, Piper was able to have a peaceful night.

A pair of headlights pulled up behind her pick-up jeep. Blinded from the beams, she could only make out that there were two passengers in the car. Nervously, she rifled through her purse and set her hand around the leathermen hunting knife she once found on a camping trip. She'd never used it on anything, but carried it with her whenever she was nervous about going out alone. She whispered to herself, "Please don't make me have to use this." She squinted into the dark as their lights dimmed and she could see an older gentleman getting out of his car.