C2 Chapter One

EYGPT – 2183

Torri looked up at the night sky and as ever was in awe of the vastness of the universe. She had always appreciated the beauty of the many constellations of twinkling stars. Although she knew that they were millions of miles away, they looked so bright and vibrant, almost as if they were there to light the way to some secret place. It was here on the banks of the Nile, alone on her favourite spot by the shimmering light of the Egyptian moon that she found time to reflect. It was when she was here more than anywhere else that she felt the loss of her grandfather, she missed him so much. His protective arms around her whenever she needed comfort; his words of wisdom, whenever she felt lost. Oh she missed him so much. She had been only fifteen when he had passed, but she had known that it was going to happen, she had seen it in one of her many visions. It had come to her one evening, quickly and without warning, as they always did. She had been unable to contain her tears but knew that she could do nothing to prevent what must be. She had reached the tender age of three when these visions had first started and as a young child she had been frightened and bewildered, not understanding what was happening. They were so vivid that many times she felt that she was physically there, witnessing whatever event was being shown to her. At first she had not been able to tell anyone, in fear that she would be ridiculed or even that she would get into trouble. Her grandfather had been the first person she had found the courage to confide in with the hope that he would make things better as he always did. He, more than anyone had understood her and accepted her “gift” as he explained it to her, which had made her love him even more. He had never judged her or lost his patience; her kind gentle grandfather had given her the precious gift of his unconditional love. Reflecting back now and although at the time it hadn’t seemed strange that he had shown no surprise at her revelation, she was sure that he too had a gift and so he had been able to understand her completely. He had been her guiding star, helping her along, what started out as a rocky path, before she was able to finally accept her “gift”. A gift that sometimes made her feel alone and vulnerable, she felt different, even from her own mother and father but even at her loneliest times she could feel her destiny beckoning and it gave her hope. Spiritualism was nothing new and it had been fairly widespread and accepted many years ago but now, not many people actually practised it or made it common knowledge that they had such a gift. Torri believed that perhaps it was not looked too kindly on by the T.R.I.G.O.M. board, but after all it was not controllable. She often had an overwhelming feeling that her destiny was connected to her gift and during some of her visions, her conscious mind faded from reality so that she was actually in the place and time of the event that she was being shown, feeling, hearing; all her senses alive with the moment. It was not uncommon for her to feel weak and nauseous for some time after but she had learned how to cope and tried to live her life as normally as possible. Now, years later and after having had many experiences of this kind, she knew that whatever role she had in the future it would take all of her courage and faith but that she was becoming stronger and stronger and so she had learned not to be frightened; instead she embraced her gift, knowing that one day it would be needed.