Phillipa Knicely

Phillipa Knicely


Phillipa Knicely is a normal teenager who accepts a scholarship at a prestigious but somewhat mysterious school ~ far, far away from her family and friends. Once there, Phillipa is confronted with several unnerving experiences. In addition, she is urged by one of her professors, Dr. Frauenhexer, to undergo the school's battery of tests for extrasensory perception. Oddly, the professor seems to know quite a bit more about Phillipa's upbringing than he could have possibly learned from her application.

It turns out that Dr. Frauenhexer has been locating promising candidates for his experiments and luring them to his laboratory. He has discovered a way to harness and strengthen the latent telekinetic powers of the students. He then sets about indoctrinating them ~ training them to become psychic assassins! He plans to offer their services to various governments for a handsome fee.

When Phillipa discovers the truth, she tries to extricate herself from the situation. However, several of the professor's more talented students have managed to push their psychic abilities to such extremes that they are able to conjure up all manner of strange forces and ectoplasmic beings from "beyond the veil."

During one of their attacks on her and her friends, Phillipa finds that her powers have grown stronger, too, and she ultimately defeats them.

She is assisted in her adventures by another student who takes an interest in her ~ young James Jekyll, whose late father had engaged in some dubious experiments of his own.

Eventually she becomes a member of a special government team of extraordinary crime fighters.


Pen & ink w/ watercolor on paper, 9" x 11".
Number 13 in Richard's Skeleton Key series.