The jumpsuit she had found so comfortable and professional now became a thorough nuisance as she tried to keep it out of the wet bushes. And the air was cold!

She returned to the car in record time, to find McKinnon stretched out on his reclining seat, his blazer off and folded for a pillow. He had also removed his shoes and had spread the blanket over his legs. His shirt sleeves were rolled back to his elbows, and in spite of the cramped quarters, he looked quite comfortable.

"This hotel isn't bad, Miss Benson. I might even give it three stars in my review."

"It isn't morning yet, McKinnon, so don't be too hasty. The beds don't leave much room for tossing and turning. In fact, I think it would be safe to say turning is probably out of the question."

Removing her shoes, Charly settled herself into her sleeping bag, trying to get comfortable under the steering wheel.

"You have more room than I have, T. G., but you also have more body to arrange, so I guess we're even."

It was dark now, and Charly could see nothing. She was quite comfortable in her sleeping bag, and having company while she was stranded was an extra bonus. He really was quite human.

"It's too early to sleep yet, Charly, so how about telling me what you were doing during the storm? I've been very patient up until now."

"Agreed. You have been patient and I knew you were going to ask, but I still don't know how much or how little I'm going to tell you. It just isn't something I'm comfortable talking about to most people."

"Why don't you just start at the beginning and see what happens? Believe me, I'll be an attentive audience, as well as a captive one."

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"Okay, McKinnon. But please remember, this isn't easy for me. How much do you know about metaphysics?"

"You mean séances, witchcraft, black magic, and stuff like that?"

"No, I don't. I mean dream analysis, reincarnation, spiritual realm as an actual part of the physical realm, telepathy, etc."

"I read a bit about it years ago, but I discarded most of it as someone's fantasy. With the exception of reincarnation, that is. I need more information, but it makes sense to me."

"Well, when I was about five, my parents joined a metaphysical study group. They brought home a series of instruction cassette tapes on meditation, dream analyses, holistic healing, etc., and played them over and over. I guess I absorbed a great deal of it, because I began having precognitive dreams when I was about seven. They were about fires, plane crashes, car accidents and stuff like that. The dreams usually happened about a week before the incident. When I would hear about it, I would become very upset, I guess thinking that I should have been able to prevent them from happening. But I never knew where they were taking place, just that they were going to happen."