‘Yes.’
‘Of…’
‘What?’
He points at the window. ‘What did you photograph?’
Shit.
A crow caws.
‘A crow.’
‘A crow?’
‘Yeah.’ I swallow. ‘I love crows.’
He blinks.
‘It’s for an art thing, with Meg.’ I push out a nervous laugh. ‘Weird, I know.’
He walks across to the window. ‘Oh, I see… Nice crow.’
‘What?’
He shouts down, ‘See you in a minute.’
I glance over his shoulder and see Paul waving up at us. I briefly contemplate banging my head against the wall as I realise that Cormac thinks I was photographing Paul.
‘Oh no. It really was a crow.’
He smirks. ‘Sure thing. Well, try not to fall out the window next time.’
I nod. ‘Yes, definitely.’
He frowns. ‘Right, I have to go. Paul’s heading into town too. You remember Paul, yeah? Five foot eight, human, no feathers.’ He picks up his backpack.
Kill me.
‘Good luck with the interview.’
‘Cheers, man. I’ll see you after. Might invite Paul along.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yeah, happy birdwatching.’ He winks and goes.
Paul is looking up at me from the street and I wave. Did he see me with the camera? He can’t have done, right?
He waves back and I fully blush. Then Cormac appears and I duck.
As the embarrassment fades away, the memory of the vision comes back. I sink down on the bed and flex my fingers before changing the film in the darkroom bag.
That vision was different. Before, it was like seeing two photos at the same time, like watching a 3D film without the glasses on. But this time it was like the past had replaced the present and the sounds were so vivid. I felt like I was in it.
I let out a breath as I clutch the camera to my chest.
My power is getting stronger.
