Second Floor: Dark Visions
Kaitlyn's Rooms
Here is a synopsis of Dark Visions 1: The Strange Power by L. J. Smith.
Chapter One
The story begins with Kaitlyn Fairchild sitting in class, doodling. Her hand itches with the uncontrollable need to draw. She sees the kind of picture that has made her an outcast--the kind that comes true--it's a picture of a girl with what appears to be a spiderweb over her face. Kaitlyn is called to the office.
The office aide tries to be sympathetic, but she turns her beautiful smoky blue eyes on him, rendering him speechless with fear. Once in the office, she finds she's not in trouble at all, in fact, there is a woman from California there to see her.
Chapter Two
Kait remembers her from the vision screening last fall. The woman, Joyce Piper, informs her that it wasn't a vision screening at all: it was a test to see if any students had psychic abilities. In all the country, only five high school seniors had powers as strong as Kaitlyn's. Joyce knows all about Kait's drawings.
Joyce tells Kaitlyn that the Zetes Institute in California is sponsoring a year-long study of psychic power, and Kaitlyn has been chosen to participate. There's a college scholarship if she says yes--but she says no. Joyce tells her she can learn to control her talents.
There is a loud noise outside: a car accident. In the most damaged car is a little girl, face pressed against a broken windshield. Kaitlyn recognizes her picture and Joyce promises to teach her how to control her talent. She agrees to go to California.
That night, Kait dreams she's on a lonely peninsula overlooking cold, gray water. Someone calls her name, but when she looks up, the dream ends.
Chapter Three
When Kaitlyn gets off the plane in California, she is accosted by a man in red robes. He drags her into the empty jetway and shows her a photo of a giant crystal, but she kicks him and runs. She finds Joyce, but he gets away. On the way to the Institute, she thinks about how much she does not like boys.
At the Institute, she meets her roommates, beautiful Anna Whiteraven from Washington, who can "talk" to animals, and friendly Lewis Chao, a psychokinetic from San Francisco. In the hallway, she runs into another roommate, handsome Rob Kessler, from North Carolina, a healer.
Chapter Four
The final roommate is sullen but gorgeous Gabriel Wolfe. He arrives in a California Youth Authority van (CYA) at the same time as Mr. Zetes and his dogs, Prince and Baron. Lewis says that the CYA is jail for minors. Rob has met him before. He doesn't like him, and the others wonder what his talent is.
Mr. Zetes informs them that they are "superior to the rest of humanity." Kaitlyn thinks that's a bit odd and notices that Gabriel seems to think so, too.
The next person they meet is the very moody Marisol Diaz, a college student and Joyce's assistant. They go upstairs and Gabriel declares the largest room his. When Lewis protests, Gabriel explains what a jail cell looks like. Lewis backs off. The others decide that they will double up in the smaller rooms, and that the remaining one will house the TV, stereo and computer.
Gabriel thinks about Kaitlyn and Rob. He is interested--mildly--in Kaitlyn, but he despises Rob.
As Kaitlyn drifts off to sleep, she thinks about how much she likes her roommates--most of them. She wakes up to find Marisol standing over her bed, hissing a warning: "Watch out or get out."
Chapter Five
Kaitlyn wakes up the next morning very happy, then remembers what happened with Marisol and confronts her. Marisol brushes her off, and then snarls at her that it was just a joke.
After breakfast, they begin their experiments. Rob tries healing Fawn, a girl with MS. Kait realizes she's beginning to fall for him. Her own experiment is to draw whatever picture comes into her mind without any outside stimulation. Fawn is concentrating on a picture. Kait draws her own face, with an extra eye in the middle of her forehead. Then the screaming begins.
Chapter Six
Gabriel's volunteer is screaming. Gabriel refuses to say exactly what happened in the back lab just as Mr. Zetes arrives. Further testing is put on hold. Kait and Rob make lunch while the others start work on the common room. Rob says the study is good for humanity.
Later, Kait tells Anna about her feelings for Rob and they plan how to get him to notice her. After dinner, Kait goes outside to sketch and be alone. She is attacked by the man from the airport again.
Chapter Seven
Gabriel comes to her rescue. He has a knife and threatens the man, saying if he sees him again, he'll forget he just did two years for murder. It works. When they go inside, they all decide not to tell the police that Gabriel was involved--it would violate his parole. He goes to his room and tries not to think about Kait.
Kait lays awake in bed, thinking about what Gabriel said to the man. She gets up and knocks on his door. He lets her in and tells her he's a telepath. She sympathizes about having people be afraid of you. When she tries to leave, he blocks her. She sees the vulnerable side of him.
Chapter Eight
He tells her about a girl at the research center in Durham, where he met Rob. He loved Iris, but accidentally drained all her life energy, killing her. Then he went on the run. He went to jail for killing a guy before the guy could kill him first. He stops being nice and she leaves. She tries not to think about him anymore.
Their first day at school goes very well. During the tests that afternoon, electrodes are hooked up to monitor Kait's brain waves. When she has trouble concentrating, Joyce adds something under one of the electrodes. She sees a picture of someone in a doorway and a bunch of grapes. She draws the grapes, which is correct. She gets a terrible headache, and Rob gives her energy to feel better. He begins to see her as a girl.
Chapter Nine
Just when they are about to kiss, the others walk in. Kait catches Marisol pushing her picture of the third eye under the door--with the words "WATCH OUT. THIS COULD HAPPEN TO YOU" scrawled across it. Marisol refuses to answer Kait's questions again, but mentions a pilot study and implies something is wrong at the Institute.
Although Gabriel said he thought something was wrong at the Institute, he refuses to help her with Marisol. She goes to Rob, and they tell Joyce, who says Marisol's on medication. That night, Kait dreams of the windswept peninsula again. She wakes up to shouting.
Chapter Ten
Kait, Anna, and Rob run downstairs. Lewis is in the kitchen and Marisol is lying on the floor. Rob tries to heal her while Anna calls 911. Joyce returns from the store as the paramedics arrive. They take Marisol as Mr. Zetes pulls up.
Kait forgets a book on the way to school. Back in the house, Mr. Zetes appears from out of nowhere in the hallway. During art class, she draws one of her pictures. It's of someone standing in a doorway. Later she tells the others about it, and about Marisol. They realize something's amiss.
They wait until Mr. Zetes leaves and sneak downstairs to figure out where he'd appeared from that morning. Gabriel stands watch upstairs. Anna calms the dogs.
Chapter Eleven
Lewis opens a panel in the wall. Rob and Kaitlyn go inside. They find an office at the end of a corrider. It contains files on each of them labeled "Project Black Lightning," and others labeled "Black Lightning Pilot Study-Terminated." They also find a list of trial dates and a grant from NASA for investigation of psychoactive weaponry.
Upstairs, Gabriel tries not to feel compassion--or anything else--for Kaitlyn. When he realizes Mr. Zetes is coming up the back road, he warns them the only way he knows how: telepathy. He links all five of them. Anna and Lewis run upstairs while Rob and Kait hide behind the desk. Mr. Z is about to find them when Gabriel distracts the dogs. Mr. Z leaves, and they get out. They ask Gabriel to disconnect their minds, but he doesn't know how.
Chapter Twelve
They decide that the "web" will go away if they go to sleep. On the way to his room, Gabriel collapses but refuses Rob's help.
That night they all dream, together, of the peninsula. When they wake up, they are still connected. Joyce says Marisol is in a coma. They don't tell her about the web.
Chapter Thirteen
At lunch they decide to go back to the lab and research psychic links. Anna finds an article that says five minds linked together is the only stable kind of link, and the only way to break it is for one of them to die. Kait finds an article that says crystals can store chi, or life energy.
Over the next week, they try to find a way to break the link. When Joyce tests Kait again, Rob creates a distraction and Kait discovers a tiny crystal under the electrode over her forehead-her third eye. While the crystal is there, they are connected so strongly that Gabriel, who is blocks away, can hear them. Kait gets another headache and goes upstairs to lie down. She sees Gabriel talking to Mr. Zetes outside.
Chapter Fourteen
She goes outside and eavesdrops. Mr. Z tells Gabriel how important he is and invites him back to his mansion in San Francisco. Kait jumps up and says she wants to go with. Gabriel is annoyed with her.
He says that with the "right training," they could reach their potential. He leads them through a hidden doorway, and Kait recognizes her picture of the silhouette.
He leads them to a room with a huge, grotesque crystal. He says he has contacts that can make them very rich. He mentions that there would be "very few assassinations." He says a pilot study went wrong, and admits to "quieting" Marisol.
Chapter Fifteen
Mr. Z asks them to quiet Marisol's family. Gabriel seems okay with that, but Kaitlyn says Mr. Z is insane and accidentally mentions the web. Mr. Z is furious and orders Gabriel to kill her. He says he would rather kill Mr. Z, and tries to unleash his mind on him to no avail--because of the web.
Mr. Z traps Kait in a cage and locks Gabriel into a chair with restraints. He moves the giant crystal so that it's touching Gabriel's forehead. It causes excruciating pain for him and Kait. It also causes the link with the others to be stronger. The others tell Joyce and come to the rescue.
Rob realizes that he loves Kait. Joyce says the only way to help Gabriel, who is unconscious, is for all of them to touch the crystal at once. Kait feels the need to draw.
Chapter Sixteen
Kait draws the picture in her mind: Joyce handing a glass to Marisol. She realizes Joyce is with Mr. Z. She tells the others not to touch the crystal as Mr. Z and the dogs burst into the room.
Mr. Z aims a gun at Lewis as Gabriel wakes up and lashes out with his mind at Joyce, Mr. Z, and the dogs. The dogs are killed, and the humans are knocked unconscious.
They all manage to get outside. Gabriel accepts help from Rob, and the others contribute their energy to him, too. Kait draws another picture in her mind, of a white house from their dream. They decide to try to find it, hoping the people there will be able to help them.
The Possessed
Back to the Boarding House
The Dark Visions graphic on this page was created by and belongs to Anna Winkler/Damon of the Night World.
