Who is Rebbsie Taylor?

Today is my duel for the Dueling Bards. Please drop by and add in your two cents about the outcome of the situation.

Rebbsie Taylor, the character I entered in the duel, is the MC in my WIP THINKING OF YOU. (For more information on THINKING OF YOU, you can read the summary on the Projects page or browse previous posts.) She is a Controller, or Trol for short. These are people whose bodies can emit vibrations that change certain aspects of their surroundings. For Rebbsie, that aspect is other people's thoughts.

Because of her unique ability, Rebbsie was recruited for an elite government team of Controllers when she was only fifteen. Her team became her family, their leader her love. Then the Department of Wave Manipulation, the secret section of the government that dealt with the Controllers, started killing them off.

In THINKING OF YOU, Rebbsie is now twenty-two and working against the Department to save members of her species, primarily children. Her mind and memory are unreliable due to grief and an undiscovered repercussion caused by her waves.

Rebbsie is well-trained, but sometimes impatience and passion cloud her judgement. She is sarcastic and smart and portrays great confidence, but her mental illness causes her to second guess herself. She also has a flare for the dramatics.

But instead of me telling you everything, why don't I let her show you? The following excerpt is a flashback mixed with a dream.

Dark. Or maybe empty was a better word. I could see but there was nothing to see. No walls. No ceiling. No edges. No curves. I had no clue what I stood on. I wondered if I was dreaming or dead or if I had completely fallen off my rocker.

The quiet drenched me. I started to count my breaths and realized I couldn’t hear them, despite the up-and-down movement of my chest. Listening, I found I had no heartbeat. Dead then. Damn.

Before the thought could really sink in, the void space around me began to fill. The outline of a room appeared, familiar shapes fading into being.

The love-seat lounged in its spot, looking shriveled without Star splayed across it while Trent hovered on the edge. Tass’s mini trapeze dangled from the ceiling, for once not twisted into a pretzel-like state. In the front of the room was Clarence’s swivel chair—the pulpit from which he preached. Around and around he would spin, staring at the ceiling while he talked. I used to stare at it too, trying to figure out what he saw. The table Kyle and Treshie propped their feet on still stood in the back. A large rug dominated the center of the room. Without touching it, I could feel the fibers against my skin. That had been my place.

And this. This was our conference room. Where we had planned missions. Where we had been a family. It was a good place to spend eternity.

I closed my eyes, waiting for it to hit me, waiting for the knowledge of my death to take its toll. But the seconds went by and I felt nothing. I frowned. Death shouldn’t be this easy. I am dead. Nothing.

I opened my eyes, frustrated, and I was no longer alone. They occupied their respective spots, settled in as if they had been there the whole time. My team had arrived. Another me lay on the rug, eyes closed.

Sound rushed to my ears, the creak of Tass’s swing.

“It needs to be oiled again.” Tass said. Her voice had a weird tinge to it. Like it had been recorded.

She scooted off the seat and walked into the closet, coming out with a small oil can, a replica from The Wizard of Oz. Tass loved that thing. What had the Department done with it once they’d booted us out? What had they done with any of our things? She climbed back onto her perch and started dripping oil into the joints.

I watched her, confused at what was happening. A bittersweet deja vu swept over me.

“What is the first thing you do if you are ever captured?” Clarence asked, drawing my attention. He began his daily speech, as he often did, with a question. He faced the far wall, his back to us.

“Swear?” Kyle asked. He slapped Treshie a high five under the table.

I grinned. My replica did the same. Those two always made me smile. They used to make you smile. The grin slipped from my face.

If you want more of Rebbsie, I guess you'll just have to go check out the duel. ;)