Stuff Of Legend

Chapter 7

       That night, Piper couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned and listened to the slow breathing of Audrey and Wren. Piper didn't know why she was so restless. She thought it had to do with today's training activities or something else, but she just wasn't sure. Thinking about what Zale was prying at had rattled her.

She couldn't stand lying in bed any longer. Piper shoved on her dirty shoes and grabbed a jacket to wear over her tank top. Taking a flashlight, she walked out into night and towards Bischoff. There was a light on. Going inside, sitting at a table in the room across from the kitchen was Charlie. On the table in front of him were multiple flies and papers scattered everywhere. He looked up when he saw Piper walk in.

"Can't sleep?" he asked and motioned for her to sit across from him. She took up his offer.

"I don't want to disturb whatever it is you're doing," she told him.

"Don't worry about it, I've got all night and all day and all night again. I just do work stuff while everyone else is sleeping. Whenever someone can't sleep, they come up and we just talk a little. It's nothing new. So what's on your mind?" he asked.

"I don't know. Just stuff," Piper replied.

"Was it about what you did today? I would think you would be tired after fighting off possession. Especially from Zale."

"Why? What's wrong with Zale?"

"Nothing is wrong with him. He's just one of the moodier people here. People with mental abilities aren't normally perceived as the closest and open of people. Zale's also kind of new. He and two others arrived here a couple months ago. When he first showed off his possession stuff, it was intense. He's really good at it. People don't talk to him much because they're afraid of it. Also of him. He supposedly came from a bad background; I don't know the full details."

"Well you seem to know a lot."

"I just here things. News spreads quickly around here. With a dark power like his, they're normally targeted by the not so nice deviants. All I've heard, and I don't even know if it's true, is that he was with some shady people."

"Well, I don't think my sleepless night is about Zale's tricks," Piper said, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her tired eyes.

"Maybe you miss home? A lot of new comers tend to miss their families. You miss your family?" Charlie asked all sincere like. Piper crossed her arms.

"Well, Dr. Gentry, I don't think it's that either. You haven't asked about my family till now, why?"

Charlie shrugged his shoulders, "Families is always a touchy subject, I figure to stay away."

"Touchy subject for you or others?" Piper questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, obviously your family life isn't that great so you don't bring it up 'cause people will ask you about it." Piper said matter of factly.

"How do you know my family life is bad?"

"Let's see," Pieper said, examining Charlie, "You call family a touchy subject and people who don't want to talk about a subject don't bring it up. I've been here all week and you haven't asked about my family or anything about my home life. Then there's the drama of being a deviant. There are many stories about how a deviant in a normal family normally makes things very complicated and most of the time there's conflict. So let's take that into consideration.