The first thing she felt was the pain. Her head felt like it was about to burst... and judging from the painful throbbing sensation in the back... maybe it already had. Theesa opened her bloodshot eyes and winced as daylight assaulted them. She was in a bed, tucked under several layers of thick blankets. Her head was wrapped in a tight bandage. And it hurt.

"Unnngh..." Theesa sat up and threw the covers back. She immediately grasped them and pulled them over her as the freezing air touched her skin.

"Where am I?"

She looked around. The bedroom was large, but was almost completely unfurnished. The antique bed in which she lay was accompanied by a polished oak-wood end table... and that was it. Nothing else. No novelties adorned the hearth over the unlit fireplace. No curtains covered the room's only window.

Spare bedroom, thought Theesa. But WHO'S spare bedroom? And how did I get here?

She tried to remember last night's events... but she came up with nothing. She recalled getting off of the coach and asking directions for the Dragon's Inn. She remembered walking, and then everything became hazy... voices... a man dressed in blue... and then another man...one with white hair... he was looking down on her,... and it was very, very cold.

Her head...

She felt the bandages, and winced when her nimble fingers discovered the wound.

Did she fall? Was she attacked?

Attacked...

More memories bubbled to the surface. Men with swords... pain...

She had indeed been attacked, but that didn't explain where she was or how she got here.

Theesa took a deep breath and again braved the room's frigid air. She lurched over to the door and tried the knob. It was locked. She quickly shuffled back to bed and returned to the warmth of the blankets.

She lay quietly for a while... and then began drifting off to sleep. As her consciousness receded, Theesa's magic began to surface. Her hands were curled tightly around the edge of the blanket... they began to tingle. ..

The vision came first as a still image. An image from the past... A bedroom with a large window. It had two beds, both of which were occupied. The occupants were asleep beneath their blankets, one of which was the one Theesa was grasping in her hands. The faces.... their faces.... so familiar...

A man and a woman. The man was... dead? No... But he was so pale. His skin was smooth and youthful, but the mop of snow-white hair atop his head added decades to his appearance. Where had she seen that face before?

And the woman! It was HER!

Theesa jerked awake with a gasp. She released the blanket, and the vision faded instantly.

Me? she thought. Me?!? No... someone that looked like me....I have to see more....

Theesa grasped the blanket, and beckoned her talent to resurface. Her skin tingled as she forced the image to come...

It was a remarkable resemblance. The same long blonde hair. The same small features. And yet she was different. Taller... more refined...

Theesa deepened her perception... she felt the chill in the air, not from her own skin, but from the image. It had been cold in THAT room as well. She deepened further... and heard the gentle breathing of the sleeping couple. Theesa felt happiness and contentment from the woman, and the man as well. They were sleeping peacefully...

This isn't telling me anything, she thought. I need to know who these people are. I hope they don't mind my prying...

Theesa pushed forward with her mind. The image blinked... skipped forward a few seconds or minutes, Theesa couldn't tell which... and then something happened...

...

"AAIIIIIGH!!!" The young blond sat up suddenly in her bed, clutching the covers to her heaving bosom.

Across the room, her startled husband scrambled clumsily. He tried to leap out of his bed but instead ended up face-down on the floor.

"Wha-What?!?" he sputtered as he got to his feet.

"I saw it! I saw it AGAIN!! It was hideous!"

"Saw what, Jes?" December took a few deep breaths and calmed himself, the room temperature began to approach normal.

"That THING! It was... it had these... it had CLAWS and... and this...this LONG tail... It was coming to GET ME! Right outside that window!" The woman pointed to the window next to her bed. The man glanced at it, but did look outside.

"Jes, the bedroom is on the second floor. There was nothing outside your windo-"

"Ohhh...ohhhh, I'm going to be sick."

"Jes? Are you okay?"

Before she could answer, Jessica was on her feet and running from the room. Seconds later, the sounds of her nausea echoed through the house.

December started to follow, but then stopped. He winced, and then sat back down on the edge of his bed. He was out suddenly of breath... and the room was starting to grow colder again. He clutched his chest in pain, and began forcing himself to take slow, measured breaths.

Jessica returned. As she entered the room, her skin rose up into sudden, painful goosebumps.

"GOSH, it's cold in here! Sem? Sem what's wrong?"

"Nothing... I'm just...out of breath... you surprised me, that's all."

Jessica snatched her fur-lined robe out of her closet and drew it tight around her body. She approached her husband, but he held out his hand to keep her away.

"No,...too cold... I'll be... okay... just let me...gimme a minute."

December let out a long sigh, and then relaxed. The room temperature stabilized, as if someone had just shut a open door.

"I'm fine, now."

"Yeah... now that you've sucked the heat out of half the house." Jessica smiled at her husband. December smiled back.

"Sorry. Guess we'll have to build a fire, now. You will, I mean. I cant-"

"I don't mind."

"What about YOU?"

"Just fright, I guess. That's the third time this month... I don't know why you won't ask around and see if any of the neighbors knows what it is..."

"I have, and no one's seen it. Not even me."

"Are you trying to say I'm crazy?"

"No."

"Good, 'cause I'd WHOP you good if you were."

December chuckled, and then burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"You hit me and you'll hurt your hand. Then it'll be MY fault."

"Of course it would."

"And then your brother would KILL me."

"And I'd help."

Jessica sat down on her husband's bed and threw her arm around him. She drew him close despite the biting cold that hovered around him.

"So what was that, really, Sem?"

"What was what?"

"Just now. With you."

"Jes, you know how hard it is to control sometimes. Maybe you should sleep in another room-"

"I will NOT! If I cannot share a bed with my husband then I will at least sleep in the same ROOM with him."

"But it's not SAFE! In the middle of the night, I could... I could..."

"But you HAVEN'T. You're not going to scare me away that easily. Besides... I stuff you off in a room by yourself and you'll have all KINDS of women running in and out of here." Jessica shook her husband's shoulder, trying to get him to laugh. He didn't.

"Like what woman would want a freak like me..." he said.

"I did. And I still do."

"Yeah, but we're married. You're supposed to say that."

"Yes, and I married you in spite of your little problem."

"You're the only woman on the planet who would have."

"Oh, and how many wives do you WANT?"

"I don't know... Fifty. Sixty." December gave a sarcastic grin. "December Chyrnomir and his Sixty Wives... has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?"

"I'll ring your head! Speaking of rings..."

"OOOO! I've got to go! Ylthon's waiting for me!" December leapt of his wife's grasp and began dressing himself. He managed to put his pants on inside-out and his shirt on backwards before Jessica sighed and helped him.

"What would you do without me." she said.

"uhh...Look very foolish?"

"Riiiight."

"See, I got it right this time!"

"You're learning. So are you going to ask Ylthon, today?"

"Ask?"

"The partnership he promised. You've been his apprentice for what... four years now?"

"Uhhh, I don't think this is the right time-"

"Sem, you've been saying that for months. When IS the right time?"

"I don't... there's just no need. I like being a jewelers apprentice... and the added hassle of being part-owner isn't really worth the money."

"And how would YOU know?"

"uhh... well... I wouldn't?"

"Bingo. Besides, what are you going to do, be an apprentice all your life?"

"No. I guess not."

"Ask him soon, okay?"

"Okay."

"I mean soon. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon."

"Soon. I gotta run, Jes."

December leaned down to kiss his wife, pressing his thin, cold lips against hers. She kissed him back without hesitation.

"I love you, December."

"Not as much as I love you, Jes."

December turned, tripped, and stumbled out of the room...

...and the vision faded.

Well THAT didn't tell me very much. But I've got names at least. December and Jessica.

Theesa opened her eyes and was startled to find that she was no longer alone.

Towering over her was a man who could only have been the modern-day December. His face was the same, but the deep scowl that it wore was nothing like the smiling youth she had seen in the vision. His hair was still shockingly white, but it was much shorter and conservative now. Gone was the unkempt mess of the youth in her vision. December's sky-blue eyes were cold and devoid of anything remotely approaching happiness. His body, too had changed... he was still tall, but his weight had tripled at the very least. December's once lanky arms were now bulging with muscle. They lay folded across his massive chest. He wore brown pants and a simple white vest... sleeveless despite the bitter coldness of the room.

"What did you see?" he said. His voice was deep, like the low, rumble of far-away thunder.

"What? I-"

"Answer the question. What did you see?"

"How did you know I could-"

"This house is my sanctum. No magic can be used within these walls without my knowledge. Now, answer the question, woman."

"I saw... you. You and your wife. She was frightened about something."

"And what else?"

"I- Aren't you even going to ask me my name?"

"Your name is Theesa. You booked passage to Montfort on a caravan. Upon your arrival, you vanished and then ended up on my doorstep some time later."

"How do you know all that?"

"Who sent you? Charn? Blaymore?"

"I don't know either of those-"

"You lie."

"No. Honest, I don't-"

"You crossed paths with Blaymore last night, just a short distance from this house. Explain."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even remember what happened last night."

"You were accosted by thieves, two of which were left dead by your blue-clad compatriot."

The memory flooded back... those men... she had been hurt...

"You are now in my guest bedroom. Your wounds have been treated."

"Thank you."

"I did not want you to die before I could question you."

"Well, I told you I don't know anything. And I don't want to impose on you and your wife..."

"Why do you look like her? The resemblance... how and why was it done?" December's voice had changed slightly. There was an edge now... a trace of something he was trying unsuccessfully to hide.

"Who? Your wife? Is your wife here? Maybe she-"

"She is dead." The edge Theesa detected a second ago was gone. December spoke the words as if he were stating the weather, or the color of the sky.

"I'm sorry."

"It was long ago, as you have seen."

"Well I don't know anything about your wife besides what I saw. I'm sorry about that, too... sometimes it's hard to control, especially when I'm asleep or hurt. I'm sorry for prying." Theesa pulled back the covers and noticed that she was still dressed in the clothes she had been wearing. She tried to sit up-

"I am afraid NOT."

December placed his hand on her chest and pushed her back down. A chilling cold began spread outward from where his hand touched her body.

"HEY!!" she yelled.

"I cannot allow you to leave."

"HEY! LET ME GO!"

"Believe me... it would be best to answer my questions directly, rather than dealing with my interrogator."

"Help! HELLLP!" Theesa clawed at December's hand and arm, but her short fingernails didn't even leave a mark. It was like scratching stone or... ice.

"This room has been warded against sound. No one can hear you."

"HELLLLP!" Theesa felt her chest going numb from the cold and crushing pressure.

"Why were you sent here? Who do you work for?"

"P-please let me go." Tears welled up in Theesa's eyes. "I don't know anything. please. please..."

"Tell me."

"I- I can't b-breathe..."

"Tell. Me."

"...please..."

Theesa's thrashings intensified as she tried to squirm away from December's freezing grasp. He was too strong. Too cold. She had lost feeling in her chest now. She couldn't breathe... the room began to grow dark.

"I cannot do this." December removed his hand. Theesa gulped air into her tortured lungs and rubbed the feeling back into her chest. Her skin was completely numb, and was very nearly frostbitten.

December looked down at her, with his arms folded across his chest once again.

"You shall have to deal with N'Doki after all."

"You- You tried to kill me, you bastard! You saved my life and now you're trying to kill me! Why?!"

"I am December."

"Oh that explains a LOT! What were you trying to do to me... turn me into a-" She looked at December's pale skin and white hair. "What are you, anyway?"

December scowled.

"You do not know who I am?"

"December Chyrnomir." Theesa repeated the name from the vision.

"No, that man is dead. I am December."

"You're a lunatic, that's what you are! Look, I'm sorry I intruded in your little 'sanctum' here. I'm sorry I picked YOUR doorstep to pass out on, but I didn't have a lot of choice at the time, okay? I was scared and hurt and lost. I'm sure your wife was a wonderful woman but I don't know anything about her or Charn or Blaythorne or whatever."

December stared at her. Theesa stared back.

"So what are you going to do now?" she said.

"You will remain here. As my guest."

"Prisoner, you mean."

December turned and left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Theesa listened for footsteps, but there were none. Perhaps the room really was 'warded against sound.' She rolled out of the bed and found her worn shoes placed neatly in the far corner of the room. She slipped them on and headed for the window. A quick look told her that she was on the second floor. The street below was deserted.

She tried to raise the lower frame, but it wouldn't budge. There was no lock to be seen, but it was fixed tight. She pounded her fist against the glass, which didn't so much as rattle.

"Dammit I've GOT to get out of here!"

Theesa slipped off one of her shoes and placed it on her hand. Then she drew back her small fist and slammed it into the glass with all her strength...

It was like punching a brick wall. The rebound nearly broke her hand.

"Damn." she swore under her breath. Theesa looked around for another method of escape. She knew the door was locked without even trying it, but she tried it anyway.

The knob turned. The door swung open.

hmmm...

Theesa found herself in a long hallway, with a large, ornate window on one end and a stairway on the other. There were five rooms, counting the one she had just 'escaped.'

What now?

Theesa started toward the window. She passed a closed door on her right and reached out to try the knob. It was locked.

Theesa checked to make sure she was still alone, and then closed her eyes and placed the palm of her hand against the door. She breathed deeply and opened her mind to whatever impressions were present... There was nothing, save an eerie blankness that sent a chill down her back.

That's strange... she thought. There's always SOMETHING... Some kind of imprint, even if it's just a stray emotion. But this...

Theesa continued down the hall. At the next door she repeated her scan, and was rewarded with the same empty void as before. It was obvious that she would learn nothing this way. Perhaps if she could get some kind of personal object, like the blanket. Maybe then she could discover what sort of madman was holding her.

Theesa reached the window, and found it secured just as the one in her room. On a whim, she placed her hands on the wall and opened herself....

...she got something...

... an image... a woman. Dark Skin. Leather armor. A whip? She was climbing in the window. The woman stepped onto the floor and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She was frowning... such ANGER...Then she crept silently down the hall...

...the vision faded.

Well, SHE managed to get the window open. thought Theesa. Of course, she was built like an brick wall.

Theesa made her way to the stairs at the opposite end of the hall. On the way, she tried the remaining two doors. Both were securely locked and completely devoid of impressions.

Theesa tip-toed down the carpeted stairs. The temperature was noticeably colder here, and seemed to drop further with each step she took. She could see the front door, and, after she had gone halfway down, she saw December reclining in a chair in the living room. He was like a statue... a sculpture of a man lost in his own thoughts. He was facing away from her, staring into the darkness of an un-lit fireplace.

"Have you finished spying?" said December. He didn't bother to turn around and look at her.

"I-" Theesa shot a glance toward the front door. Could she make it? Was it locked?

"I assure you that you cannot leave this house, though you may try if you wish. I can also assure you that there is nothing even remotely incriminating in any of the rooms."

"Incriminating?"

"Is that what you are? Tower Guard? Sent to investigate me? You will find nothing."

Theesa crept down a few more steps.

"If there was nothing to find, then why did you almost kill me upstairs? What are you afraid of?"

"I fear nothing."

Theesa put a few less steps between her and the door.

"Sit." said December. He waved his pale hand at the other chair in the living room. It was identical to his own, and it faced December at a slight angle. There was an antique table between the two. "Sit down."

Theesa hesitated. She looked at the door...

"Go ahead and try if you wish. THEN sit."

Theesa made a mad dash for the door. She grasped the knob in her hand and twisted. The knob wouldn't budge. She pulled on the door, and then began pounding on it. Finally, she screamed at the top of her lungs until she got dizzy.

"Now, sit down." said December.

She looked at her captor. He was so smug and arrogant just sitting there. He hadn't turned to look at her once. And now he was giving her orders!

Orders which she found herself obeying.

Theesa walked into the frigid living room and sat down. She looked into December's cold blue eyes as he continued staring into the empty fireplace.

He said nothing. The only sound was that of her own breathing. Not his... only hers.

"I'm cold." she said after a while.

December did not respond, but the room suddenly grew *less cold.* There was no warmth... but it was as if someone had just shut the door against a cold winter night. Just like in the vision.

"How do you do that?" said Theesa. "I saw you do that in my vision."

"And what else did you see?"

"I told you already. You and your wife, nothing more."

Silence.

"You were sick." she added. "something was wrong."

"Control was more taxing then."

"Is it different now?"

Silence.

"Well if you're going to keep me prisoner then at LEAST you can talk to me!"

"I have no need of conversation."

"Everyone needs to talk."

"No. Not everyone."

Silence.

"Damn you! Let me go! Open that door!"

Silence.

"Why am I here? Why did you bring me into your house just to take me prisoner?"

"To assess your value... either as a threat or an item of usefulness."

"An item? Is that what I am... an 'item'?"

Silence.

"It's a bluff. If I were an 'item,' then you would have killed me upstairs. But you didn't. You couldn't. You said so yourself."

"I said no such thing."

"You're lying; I heard you. It's because I look like HER, isn't it? I look like your wife... I look like Jessica-"

"Do NOT say that name." The temperature dropped suddenly. Theesa had to fight to keep from shivering.

"I hit a sore spot. Tell me about her."

"No."

"Okay. I'll start, then... My name is Theesa Lemay, and I am not a spy, an assassin, or anything else that you think I am. I was born in Reshold, but my family moved away when I was young. My mother was a halfling, so that makes me one-quarter elf. I guess I inherited my talent from her elven side. I married a man who I was very much in love with..."

Theesa paused, trying to gauge any reaction from December. There was none, so she continued...

"We lived in Dorus, a small town. Ever heard of it?"

Silence... and then:

"No."

"Very few people have. We lived there for I don't know how long. It was a paradise, really... until Winton was killed last year. He was my husband."

She paused again. No condolences were offered.

"I tried to hold on for a while, but there was simply nothing for me there. I decided to come to Montfort to find work. I can cook and sew... that's bound to be worth something."

Silence.

"So then I came here... got attacked by thugs... and the only person to offer me anything resembling kindness turns out to be some kind of paranoid lunatic who first tries to FREEZE me to death... and then decides to keep me hostage in his house. That's Theesa's life story... Now it's your turn."

"Your magic. Tell me about it."

"...uhh.... okay... It's nothing really. I get impressions from things. I see images. People leave these imprints on whatever they touch, especially if they are experiencing extreme emotion at the time. I can pick up those imprints and see the images. Sounds and sensations too. There's some kind of fancy word for it, but I can't ever remember-"

"Psychometry." said December.

"Yes. Yes, that's it."

"That talent would make you a very effective spy."

Theesa sighed and held her head in her hands. Why was this man obsessed with spies? What was he hiding?

"Do you read people, as well?"

"No. Living people give off to much interference."

"Corpses, then?"

"Uhh.... no, I've never tried to... uhh..."

"Animals?"

"Usually just flashes of fear and hunger. Nothing I could ever create an image from."

"The future?"

This time it was Theesa's turn to be silent.

"Answer the question," said December. "Can you see the future?"

"No."

"You are lying."

"Well, I've... It's... I can't control that part of it. Sometimes when I try to read an object I'll get a flash of its future instead of its past. It doesn't happen very often; and even when it does, it's too quick to see anything definite."

December sat in silence, apparently digesting everything Theesa had just told him. Theesa let him sit for a while until the silence threatened to send her screaming back up to her room.

"Aren't you going to tell me about yourself, now?" she asked.

"I am December. That is all you need to know."

"Okay.... what does December do for a living? Are you still a jeweler's apprentice?"

December raised an eyebrow.

"Your talent is very detailed." he said.

"No... it's your impression on that blanket that's detailed. That day must have meant something very special to you."

"Perhaps."

"Tell me about it."

"No."

"What was that thing your wife saw? A nightmare? Was it real... is that how she died?

Silence.

"So how did you find out my name? And where I was last night?"

"I have my resources."

"And your resources didn't tell you that I'm not a spy? They can't be all that good, can they?"

"You are trying to discern the nature and limits of my organization. You will fail."

"What organization? I don't even know who you ARE!?"

"I am Decem-"

"You keep SAYING that, but WHO is DECEMBER!?"

Silence.

"The thing you do with the cold...," said Theesa. "What are you? Some kind of mage?"

No response.

"I touched your hand upstairs... when you were trying to kill me. Your skin is cold. And hard. Are you... made of ice? Is that why you keep it so cold in here?"

"No. It is a common misconception. I will not crack or melt."

"Flesh and Blood, then."

Silence.

"Okay... I'll shut up and freeze to death in silence while you stare at the wall. How's that?"

"No," said December. "Tell me more."

"More about what? My vision? My talent? Why I am NOT a spy?"

"Neither." December turned and looked at Theesa for the first time since she descended the stairs. She squirmed under his gaze...

"What then?" she said.

"Tell me more... about Theesa Lemay."

[To Be Continued]