---

He couldn't get that news footage out of his mind. By the time Marvin had reached the scene the strange living flame had disappeared without a trace. No one knew what happened after it set the fire engine on fire. The firemen had scattered, and the cameras went dark. Everyone else on the street had wisely fled when it started spouting flames at the firemen. But the darkness on the cameras was too much like what he'd seen around Tiffany for him to ignore it. Either she and her friends were responsible for the living flame, or they'd gotten rid of it. Either way they were tied right back into the paranormal phenomenon that he was investigating.

He decided to try sending Agent Peters again, giving him instructions to try and talk to Tiffany alone.

In the meantime he had yet more paper work to do. He didn't have to worry about a cover story, at least, everyone had assumed it was some kind of publicity stunt gone bad. He finally got caught up with that around noon and went out for lunch. By the time he returned to his office there was a report in about a local psychic. She'd led the police to a kidnapped child. She also gave them a description of the kidnapper, which the child verified. The police were holding her on the assumption that she must be the actual kidnapper, or an accomplice to him. Marvin sent Agent Mason to look into it while he continued to think about his dilemma with Tiffany.

He was beginning to think that at least some of these events were real, not hoaxes. They were too numerous and widespread. And while he still believed that Sarah was involved somehow, he was sure that Tiffany had some kind of strange darkness related powers that she used to hide herself. Maybe it was Tiffany all along, and she simply made it look like Sarah was involved... he thought.

Marvin ended up spending hours after that helping Agent Mason clean up the situation with the psychic. Mason found the real kidnapper, and was able to prove that the psychic had no contact with him or the boy before she found him. The police were stubborn, though, and insisted she must have had something to do with it. Finally, they managed to convince the police that she was not involved. Once that was settled Marvin had a talk with the psychic.

"How did you find the boy, and describe the kidnapper?" he asked.

She shrugged, "I don't really know. I've always gotten glimpses of things before, but lately they've gotten clearer. This time I saw the boy being kidnapped and where he was being kept. I was never sure myself if I was really psychic or not, but I'm sure of it now. I don't know why things are coming so much more clearly now." She paused and looked at Marvin strangely before asking, "Why are you watching a shadow?"

That, more than anything else, convinced him that she might be for real. Ignoring her question, he said, "If you have any more visions like that one, please let me know." He handed her his card and returned to his car. He sat in thought for a moment before starting it up. He was about to return to his office when Agent Mason ran up to him.

"Sir, I just got a call! Agent Peters has been hurt!" he said.

"Where?" Marvin asked.

"The apartment of that woman you wanted him to contact." Mason replied.

Marvin nodded and headed over to Tiffany's apartment. When he got there police and an ambulance were already working. Michael and Jill arrived at the same time and Michael intercepted him, "What are you doing here?!" he asked angrily.

Marvin explained that he was just there for his agent and that seemed to mollify him. Since he knew that Peters was hurt, he headed for the ambulance first. As he'd expected, he found Peters lying on the ground being checked over by paramedics. He looked pretty bad. He asked the paramedics how he was doing and was told that he had broken ribs and a head injury. Seeing that he wasn't going to get any information out of him, Marvin went back to his car and got out his laptop. He'd had a similar setup to that he used on Sarah's apartment installed to keep track of Tiffany. He downloaded the most recent recording and played it.

He had to wonder what Peters was thinking, when he saw that he had searched Tiffany's apartment and then tried to drag her off by force. Then there was what appeared to be an accidental shooting, though Peters shouldn't have had his gun out in the first place. But what really got Marvin's attention was the blue light that shot from Sarah's hand to Peters' chest. His body was thrown twenty or thirty feet. So Sarah has some kind of ability, too! It must have been her that dealt with that fire creature, and Tiffany covered her. I'd better smooth things over, I might need these two in the future. he thought.

Marvin became worried as he approached Sarah and the others, as there was a large pool of blood underneath Ms. Keller. He apologized to them all for Peters' actions, and asked about Ms. Keller's injury. She woke and was very suspicious of him. He assured them that he had seen what Peters did, and what Sarah did, and that he wouldn't tell anyone about her. Then he asked if Erica needed the ambulance. She was the one who answered that question, though, by getting Sarah to help her to her feet. Keller, too?! he thought in shock, trying his best not to let his surprise show. Do all five of them have some kind of ability?

Erica remained suspicious of him and said they were done, so he gave Michael his card and left after asking to talk to them later. He returned to his office to write down a few notes and lock up, and then went home.

---

 
Friday was blissfully quiet, which gave Marvin a chance to go through everything he'd learned, and guessed, about Sarah, Tiffany and the others. He had no real evidence of any kind of ability for Michael or Jill, but Erica could clearly heal very rapidly. He knew Sarah had some kind of blasting ability, and suspected that her transition might not have been by normal means. Which brought up the question of whether she was completely female or not. Then there was Tiffany. She obviously had some kind of darkness related power that allowed her to hide herself and possibly the others. And if she'd killed John as he still suspected, she might also have some kind of life draining power. That would explain how he was reduced to ash.

One of Sarah's friends is probably responsible for all those distractions, but that can't explain all of them. The SUV, ATM machines, Corvette, angel, and fire creature are probably all distractions, but it's unlikely that the psychic would put herself in that kind of position on purpose. And she seemed as mystified by her abilities as anyone. Then there are all the other reports all around the world. Sooner or later there's going to be someone using one of these strange powers to commit crimes or harm someone. If Agent Peters is anything to go by, I'm going to have a hard time finding agents that can deal with all of this. And even those who can will be at a severe disadvantage. Maybe Sarah and her friends will be willing to help? Marvin thought.

As he thought he remembered that he'd asked the psychic to call him if she had any more visions. There had been other cases like hers all over the country and, probably, the world. He wondered if he should make contact with other psychics, but he was sure many of them were complete fakes and wouldn't be of any use. Marvin decided he'd put that idea aside until he was able to talk to Sarah and the others. Their abilities were clearly more advanced than anyone else, so they might have more information.

He visited Peters in the hospital, but he was still in no shape to talk. By the time he was recovered the investigation into his actions would be well under way. Marvin didn't think he'd have any trouble convincing Peters to keep his mouth shut about Sarah's ability, assuming he even remembered it. His doctored recording would show nothing to incriminate Sarah or the others, only Peters. He'd be glad to be rid of Peters and hoped his replacement would be better able to deal with the paranormal.

Saturday was equally quiet on the paranormal front, but Marvin was kept busy dealing with the aftermath of Peters' actions and injuries. He was still unconscious, so he couldn't be questioned yet.

Marvin had another meeting about his department after lunch. His superiors were concerned about Peters behavior, and Marvin said that he was going to need a replacement who was more open minded. Younger agents would probably be best, they all agreed. He also explained his suspicion that this situation was only going to get worse, and told them his idea of using psychics and any others that showed up to help him. He told them he'd met a couple of people who might be useful, but didn't say anything else about them. As he'd expected, they were only too willing to let him deal with it as he chose for now. Later on he knew there would be more questions, but for now they just wanted someone to keep a lid on it so people wouldn't panic.

After the meeting he tried calling Sarah to see if they were ready to meet yet, but there was no answer.

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 To Be Continued…
 

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