The Vision
Published: 1977
Genre: American, Fiction, Ghost, Horror, Literature, Mystery, Murder, Psychic, Serial Killer, Suspense, Thriller
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Summary
Mary Bergen develops clairvoyant skills after being raped and maimed as a kid by her family's gardener, Berton Mitchell.
She assists the police in their murder investigations with the support of her older brother Alan and spouse. Unfortunately, she can only detect fragments of a crime as they occur in real-time.
Mary prevents a serial murderer from taking another victim a few days before Christmas. Following the trauma, Alan, who has always been envious of Max for entering his sister's life and taking over his job as her caretaker, attempts to persuade her to divorce him once more. She flatly refuses. He agrees with her decision and departs for a holiday.
Mary and Max return to their mansion for the holidays. She does, however, have a vivid vision of four women being murdered in the future. This has never happened before, as she could only experience visions in real-time before. Max attempts to convince her that it was all a dream, but she is skeptical. The following morning, a news program is shown revealing the murder of four ladies who shared a home by a single perpetrator. Mary believes she knows one of the victims.
Mary has her weekly appointment with her psychiatrist, who is attempting to help her overcome the horrible childhood incident by reliving it. She recalls pounding wings and a terrible voice talking to her.
However, before she can recall Mitchell's face, many glass figurines in the office begin pelting the two. The ruckus dies down after a few minutes.
That night, Mary sees the same assailant murdering three people at a hair shop. Max's pistol animates and begins shooting at them as she tries to visualize the killer's face. The pair becomes persuaded that they are being tormented by a poltergeist who is attempting to obstruct Mary's visions.
The next morning, another news broadcast confirms the triple homicide occurred. In a panic, she phones Alan, who calms her down.
Soon after, Mary has another vision in which the killer climbs a tower in King's Point and snipes locals during a Christmas Eve boat procession.
Percy Osterman, her, and Max head there to halt the attack with the approval of a police chief she knows. Mary's old friend and journalist Lou Pasternak lives in King's Point, where they stay.
The three attempt to identify the assailant. Berton Mitchell is mentioned, although Mary is aware that he committed suicide in his jail cell long before the trial, always professing innocence. They request that Osterman look into Mitchell's wife and son, whom they believe are still alive.
The next day, Mary attempts to recall the killer's face. However, a swarm of seagulls assault her and Max and refuse to go until she gives up. They then go to the King's Point police station, where they manage to persuade the town's dubious sheriff, John Patmore, to put cops in every tower.
However, no attack occurs that night, much to Patmore's chagrin. Following that, Mary has another vision of a lady she believes she recognizes being murdered by the killer while eating dinner at Lou's.
The three receive two pieces of unpleasant news the next day. The familiar lady Mary saw in her vision is discovered dead, and Osterman phones to inform her that Mitchell's wife and son perished decades ago in an arson assault on their trailer.
She convinces Lou and Max to drive her to a closed entertainment center with a tower that night, convinced that the sniper shootings will take place. Mary and Max break inside the center, while Lou stands guard in the automobile.
Mary is plagued by visions of fluttering wings and flashbacks of her childhood abuse. Max is at the bottom of the steps, while she is at the top of the tower.
The murderer arrives and stabs Lou to death before entering and attacking and injuring Max. He manages to remain still while the killer, later revealed to be Alan, climbs the stairs and confronts his sister.
Mary recalls her assault and understands it was Alan, not Berton Mitchell, who assaulted her. He tied her to the floor of Mitchell's cottage before biting, slashing, and stuffing a live bat up her vagina, which is where her memory of flapping wings came from.
Her brother managed to implant false memories and a psychic grip on the occurrence while she was in a coma at the hospital by warning her of all the dreadful things he would do to her if she ever talked of what truly happened.
All of the "poltergeist" episodes were caused by Mary's own powers acting against her as a result of the hold.
Alan also admits to murdering Mitchell's wife and children, and that all of the victims Mary recognized were prior girlfriends of his.
Max tries to escape the center while bleeding heavily, attracting the notice of incoming officers and Patmore, who misidentifies him as the killer and shoots him in the shoulder.
Mary, now that she knows the truth, utilizes her psychic abilities to cause the bats that reside in the tower to attack Alan. He trips and falls down the steps, breaking his neck.
A few weeks later, she attends Lou's burial and pays a visit to Max, who is recovering in the hospital. She cheerfully admits that she is no longer terrified of the dark.
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