**Radcliffe, I'm everything. I'm the creature. The snake, THE MAN WHO FLEW, the hole in the air, the flames, everything you've hated, feared and dreaded.**
Withdrawal. Thunderbolt! More and more now.
Frantically, Keller defended himself, throwing up block after block, only to have it torn down by the ever-spreading bolts of pure mental energy. Finally he withdrew into his own body in haste, realizing that Radcliffe's conquest would mean his revival.
When he opened his eyes, Radcliffe was sitting in the chair, yawning.
Probably, Keller thought, he had no knowledge of his fetal state. Good. "Well, Radcliffe," he said, "I need only one more thing to complete the picture. Now focus again on 11:17 last night, when you found your wife dead on the floor."
Image:
Fear. Terror. Anxiety. Nonono. Hole in the air. THE MAN WHO FLEW. Pain. Withdrawal. Complete mental block.
With a shock, Keller realized that in seven hours Radcliffe had been turned into an A-3—just below Keller—thanks to ... Sally.
He analyzed the symbols. Impressions: No teddy bear (no real concern for the wife, then). No creature (no more unknown fears). No snake or demon or flames, signifying evil and terror. Just the hole in the air and the man who flew.