This is the third installment of the Progeny chain story, started by Slyc_Willie. My thanks to him and to the others involved. Feedback appreciated.
Portland, Maine
Dorian looked out the unemployment office window. Fuck. It was raining again. Just what he needed.
Weather like this reminded him of why he should get a car. Of course, even if he had a car he wouldn't be able to drive it, since his foster parents had never seen fit to let him take driver's ed. When he could scrounge up change for a bus or cab ride he was all set, but since he was between jobs right now even the one-dollar bus fare was hard to come by.
So walking it was. Even though it was pouring outside.
"Need a lift?"
Dorian turned to look at the woman who had spoken. She was a couple inches shorter than he, with curly brown hair and a sweet smile. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to give rides to strangers?"
"Yeah, but I'm not good at doing what I'm told." She held out her hand. "I'm Monica Hollis."
"Dorian Truslow." He didn't shake her hand. He tried to avoid touching anyone or anything; physical contact set his gift in motion. Gift. Yeah, right. That was what one of his foster mothers had called it, when he was too young to catch on that he shouldn't let anyone know what he could do. Curse was more like it. Of course, he could always shut his mental door and keep the psychometric information out, but that gave him headaches after a while. Even though he usually only got information from objects, not people, why take a chance?
Monica didn't seem offended, which was unusual. A lot of people got pissed off when Dorian didn't shake hands with them. "So now that we aren't strangers, want a lift? It's raining pretty hard out there; you shouldn't be walking."
"How do you know I walked here?"
"I saw you come in."
Wrong answer. She might have seen him walk into the office, but everyone walked into the office; the parking lot was behind the place, and a lot of people parked on the street because the lot got full quickly. Never a trusting person, Dorian immediately became more suspicious of her. "How do you know I walked all the way here?"
She shifted her eyes to the window. "Lucky guess?"
Another wrong answer. Whoever this chick was, she didn't mean anything good for him, Dorian was sure of that. "I'll take my chances with the rain, thanks."
He started out the door, but she grabbed his arm. He pushed her away so hard she almost fell; no one touched him without warning. "I'm sorry," she said immediately. "I forgot you don't like to be touched."
"Forgot? Do you know me from somewhere?"
"Not exactly." She sighed. "Look, I know I'm not making any sense, and I know right now you're thinking I'm either a nutcase or dangerous. Maybe both. Just let me give you a ride somewhere and I'll explain everything, I promise."
"Fine." The last thing he wanted was to be alone with her, but that seemed to be the only way he'd get any answers. If she tried anything, he could fight his way out of it. He'd had plenty of practice at that in his twenty-two years. Starting at home with his biological parents.
Monica led him down the street to a small, brown hatchback. She unlocked the passenger door, then climbed in and scooted over to the driver's seat. "My door doesn't work. Get in. I promise I'll only bite if you ask me to."
"Not likely." Dorian got in and fastened the seatbelt. When he touched it, an image flicked his mind; headache or no headache, he slammed his mental door shut. He didn't want to know about her boyfriend or whoever had sat in that seat last.
She started the car and headed away from the unemployment office. "I thought we could go for coffee. Figure you probably don't want me knowing where you live."
"You got that right." If he could help it, she wouldn't find out anything about him. But he was very curious about her. "So once again, and let's try for truth this time, how'd you know I walked to the office?"
"I know a lot about you. I've been looking for you."
"Stop the goddamn car." The only people who looked for him were people he'd rather not have find him. "Now!"
"Wait, please. I knew that didn't come out right. I don't want to hurt you, Dorian. I want to help you. I've been dreaming about you."
"Uh huh." Okay, that had him beat in the freak category. "So I'm the man of your dreams, huh?"
She laughed. "Not exactly. Sometimes I dream about people who need help, or people who are going to be part of my life. Sometimes I don't know why I'm having the dreams, because the people in them never show up in real life. It's been going on since I was little, and some of the dreams are so vivid I'm not sure afterward whether they were dreams or reality. Earned me some strange looks when I was a kid, I'll tell you."
"Yeah." He was all too familiar with strange looks caused by psychic abilities. He just hoped the looks Monica had received hadn't been accompanied by fists.
"Sorry if I'm babbling. Anyway, I dreamed about you, and that's how I knew your name and stuff. I dreamed about meeting you in the unemployment office. That's how I knew you walked, because in my dream that was how you got there."
"Did you dream about me taking a piss in the men's room, too?"
"No." She paused. "In my dream, you took a dump instead."
That startled Dorian into a rare laugh. "Okay, points to you. So you showed up at unemployment to track me down?"
"And because I need a job. Who doesn't, nowadays? But yeah, I was hoping I'd find you there."
She pulled into a strip mall and parked in front of a chain coffee shop. "I'm buying. Come on, we'll be able to talk here."
"Did you dream that too?"
"Yep." She nudged him. "Get out so I can. My door, remember?"
Dorian got out and fought the urge to shut the door on her and run. Even though she didn't seem dangerous, it was hard to tell. It weirded him out that she'd dreamed about him. Who knew what she'd found out about him?
On the other hand, it was rare to find someone else with an ability, and he wasn't sure he wanted to push her away just because he was a suspicious son of a bitch. He waited for her to get out of the car, then followed her into the shop.
The place was deserted, other than a kid at the counter who looked bored enough to fall asleep. He seemed thrilled to take their orders; they were probably the first customers he'd had all day. Once they had their drinks, they sat at a back table, far enough away from the counter that the kid would have to work if he wanted to eavesdrop. "Trust me yet?" Monica asked.
"Nope, but don't take it personally."
"I know. You don't trust anyone. That's sad. You shouldn't have to live like that."
"Been like that all my life. I don't expect it to change any time soon. Look, you seem to know everything about me. Including my ability?"
She nodded. "Psychometry. You touch an object and gain information about the last person to touch it. Sometimes everyone who's ever touched it. Is that why you don't own a car?"