Wide Open Spaces (Teagan)

[Natalie St. Clare]

Well, at least Teagan wasn't moving away from her or asking her about her own future. But it was natural to be curious upon hearing a story like hers. And her questions were pretty much on the mark. It was true, when she met people, she could always see right into their very core, to the person that was inside. Most people put on a face to the world, that was covering up their true selves. Natalie saw them without their masks, and it could be frightening at times.

"I've seen people who think they are good, but inside they are selfish and filled with resentment. And I've seen people who act like they think they are better than others, but are really lonely and scared and have no confidence in themselves. Most people are not what they seem, and they don't even realize it. It's good sometimes, because I know who I can really trust. But it gets to be too much sometimes... I don't know if the things I am feeling are from myself or the people around me."

[Teagan Kelly]

She shivered at the thought. That would be unnerving, to say the least, and Teagan could not begin to imagine what that felt like. Sometimes she didn't even know what she was truly feeling. It would be horrid to have all those emotions running through her.

It would also be terrifying to know the future of others with just a touch. Teagan was dead scared of the future and anything it entailed. She definitely did not want to know what would happen to her or to anyone else. That would be horrible because there would be little you could do to change it.

"I think... I think that you are a much stronger person than I. I would not be able to handle that at all," she admitted, looking at the girl with something akin to admiration and a weird sort of pride.

Teagan felt like she had known this girl forever. She was so proud of her for being able to do that which she could not. Even if Natalie did not like it and sometimes was over-whelmed by it, she knew she would not have fared half as well.

[Natalie St. Clare]

Natalie leaned back against the back of the tree branch she was sitting on. It was true that she had already been through a lot for a girl so young. Her mother's death, her sister's death, nearly losing her father, and her uncle's disappearance, and now her cousins as well... it was a lot to take in. Her so-called "gift" had sort of prepared her for it all, but she wasn't so sure that was a good thing. She didn't want to get used to this, to get hardened to the pain of loss.

"You never know what you can handle until you're tested," Natalie said simply.