He started small: beetles, ladybugs. When his focus was pure, and his mind was right, he could train his attention and direct the insects in a general direction away from him. Later, he graduated to small animals: squirrels, possums, raccoons. Soon it was domestic animals: Neighborhood dogs would bark; the stray cat would walk toward him, pause, and walk away. There was the occasional gerbil.

Don’t say gerbil. You’re detracting from the message.

But gerbils are cute. I like gerbils.

Lose the gerbil.

He learned to alienate humans with his words; later, with his eyes. He could alienate people with a thought, alienate people that were out of his range of vision. People he couldn’t see, didn’t know.

On a distant continent, someone is feeling a slight chill on the back of the neck, a prickling of the scalp.