Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (20 page)

“
Nope, just us. That’s the one.
First, you have to … draw from it. It’s hard to explain unless
you’ve done it.”

Jack couldn’t believe this. All his life he had
ten fingers, ten toes, and that ‘thing’ that he could feel. He
thought everyone did!

“
So what do I do, Michael?” Jack
asked.

“
Well, like I said, first ya gotta
draw on it. Go ahead. You should already know what to
do.”

Jack closed his eyes and searched for that
sensation, that feeling of something else. He felt it, and with a
deep breath, he drew from it. Then he screamed, jumping out of his
chair and waving his arms around frantically. Sarah leapt backward
as Jack fell to the floor writhing in discomfort.

Kazou and Michael both laughed at him while
Sarah gave them disapproving glares.

“
What the hell was that?” Jack
yelled. “Oh God, that felt … terrible.”

“
That’s called the sensitivity,
Jack,” Michael said between chuckles. “You get that when you first
start out. Don’t worry, I promise you it goes away after
time.”

Jack didn’t care if it went away after the
third time. He was
never
doing that again. It was by far
the most unpleasant and disturbing sensation he had ever felt. It
was both disgusting and uncomfortable. It wasn’t pain, as in the
sense of being injured or pulling a muscle. It was more like an
extreme feeling of unease.

“
Jack, talk to us,” Sarah said. She
helped him back to his feet. With a trembling hand, Jack picked up
the knocked over chair and sat back down at the table.

“
It was like … Well, here’s the best
way I can describe it. You ever try and ‘scratch’ your eye when
it’s itchy and the lid keeps closing? It was like trying to force
yourself to be able to touch your own eye, but at the same time, it
felt like throwing up. It was awful! I’m never doing that again. It
just feels … wrong. I feel like it’s going to be really bad if I do
it. Like it’s going to hurt or kill me.”

Michael gave Jack a friendly punch on the arm.
“It’s like that for all of us at first, Jack, but the only way to
make it go away is to keep doing it. Now, try again.”

Jack was petrified. He didn’t want to try
again. It was the most sickening thing he’d ever experienced. It
was actually
worse
than trying to touch your eye while
making yourself vomit. It was even worse than the Airbender
movie.

Melissa finished whatever she was doing, and
with the gloves on her hands, she grabbed Jack’s arm.

“
Jack, hold still, I need to draw
some blood.”

“
With a needle?”

“
Durr, what else?”

I’m going to get a needle?

“
Jack, get back here!” Melissa
shouted. “And stop laughing and help, Michael. Restrain him or pin
him to a wall, but do something other than stand there laughing
like an idiot.”

“
I can’t,” Michael said. He looked
like he was struggling to form words. “I ca—I can’t.” Tears were
streaking down his eyes while he laughed at Melissa’s frustration.
She was going to break Jack’s face when she caught him. Ignoring
Michael, she bolted out into the hallway after Jack while Kazou and
Sarah stared wide-eyed like morons.

“
Jack, you get back here right now!
Or so help me God—”

“
Shut up, Melissa!” he screamed back
at her. “I’m not going anywhere near you with that medieval torture
device in your hand. That’s not a needle—I saw that thing. It’s a
freaking sword.”

Unbelievable,
she thought to herself.
A tiny little needle triggered his fight-or-flight
response?

She ran out of the hallway which had the doors
on both ends and entered into the wide second-floor opening of the
Juvenile department. Secretaries, assistants, and even other Psychs
all turned to stare as Jack whirled past them, followed by Melissa
in close pursuit. She realized she must look ridiculous—a
sixteen-year-old high-school girl chasing after a boy while wearing
latex gloves and carrying a medical needle.

She stopped in front of an older secretary’s
desk. The silver-haired woman looked up at her in confusion as
Melissa grabbed a stack of files in a brown paper envelope from the
desk. “Sorry, gotta borrow this for a second.”

She flung it at Jack. It spun twice in the air
before hitting him on the back of the head, causing him to stumble,
but unfortunately not to fall. Jack kept on running. He zipped down
the staircase, descending two steps at a time.

Melissa followed after him. She paused,
reaching the small banister overlooking the lower floor. Drawing
power into herself, she leaped over it and landed softly on her
feet in front of Jack. Now she was mad—she was going to enjoy
this.

“
Just for that, Jack, I’m going to
draw an extra vial. No, two extra vials. Then I’m going to pump it
back into your system just so I can draw it again!”

Melissa noticed the crowd that was forming
around her, but she didn’t care. There were now over two dozen
people surrounding them in a circle, with Paro and the rest of the
team joining in. Everyone had their eyes on her and Jack, yet none
seemed to intervene. Damn Psychs and their curiosity.

Jack didn’t care what Melissa’s intentions
were. He was
not
about to have that jousting pole rupture
his heart. There was no way that thing was touching his skin—no way
in hell. He didn’t know why so many people were looking at him,
either. Couldn’t they just mind their own business?

Now that he and Melissa were surrounded, Jack
had nowhere to run. What could he do in this situation? What was
the right choice to make? Melissa walked slowly towards him with a
sadistic glee on her face. She was going to torture him.

“
Melissa, don’t make me hurt you!”
Jack warned.

She laughed. “Try it! You couldn’t beat me if
your life depended on it. Now, sit still and take your
‘
medicine’
.” She pronounced the word venomously.

Jack had never fought a girl before, but with
the size of that needle, it truly was life or death. He knew now
that he had to knock her over, much like he had tried to do with
the toy-soldier. Then he could run past her and make it to
safety.

He reached into the part of himself that he
hated, that place that made him feel sick. He wanted to double over
and pass out. The feeling was so damned uncomfortable. Jack grinded
his teeth as he opened himself up to it.

The moment the power started pouring in, Jack
knew he’d die if he didn’t stem it. The power raced into him,
almost like poking a tiny hole on the bottom of a submarine—it
slipped through the tiniest of cracks. He only allowed himself to
remain open for the smallest fraction of a second. Any longer, and
somehow Jack knew he’d be blown-away by the storm forming inside
his mind.

Melissa grabbed his arm and tried to steal his
blood. Jack had no idea how to use the little bit of power that had
trickled in, so he acted on reflex alone, guessing. With an audible
crackle, Melissa cried out as she was sent ten feet back, like a
fly being swatted by an invisible hand. She landed on her butt, and
a look of surprise appeared on her face.

Her surprise quickly turned to ferocity as she
narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that,
Jack.”

Before Jack understood what was happening,
Melissa was charging at him, and it was only then that Jack
realized he was in a fight—him, Jack Harris, in an actual fight
with another actual person, and in something that wasn’t Street
Fighter or Tekken. This had never happened before. He always
wondered what it would be like to be in a real fight, and now he
was going to find out.

Jack wasn’t sure how he pushed her back the
first time, but he tried it again. He still had enough of the power
to make a second attempt. It was as if his brain was a computer
with thousands of buttons, levers, and triggers—simply learning
them wasn’t enough, because they were constantly shifting and
moving. He didn’t know which was which, and with nothing else to go
on, Jack reached into his mind and grabbed at one
randomly.

He guessed right because an instant later, he
felt the exertion of his own energy projected into Melissa. But
this time, she was only slowed to a standstill instead of flung
across the room.

How come it didn’t work? I don’t get it—I’m
sure I did it right.

Melissa shook it off and continued to charge.
She slammed into him, and Jack was knocked to the ground. Once
again, he bit his tongue while drawing the power into himself. Then
he searched for that same trigger. It was moving around wildly in
his mind—he needed to focus.

He grabbed the trigger mentally and forced
power into it. With a grunt, he hurled the force at Melissa, and
she was again sent flying, lifting off him as if thrown. She
flipped once in the air and landed on the balls of her feet with a
click against the ceramic tile. Who knew she could do something
like that?

“
Whoa, awesome! You’re so cool,
Melissa.”

She smiled. “It’s so damned hard to stay mad at
you, Jack, but we’re not done here. You picked this fight, and now
we’re finishing it.”

Jack nodded. “It’s my first real fight, you
know? Hey, umm, Melissa—you’re … you’re
doomed
. I’ve waited
years to use that word.”

“
You’re something else, you know
that?”

Melissa rushed at him yet again. Despite the
awful feeling, Jack allowed himself another small drop of power.
This time, Melissa seemed to be going in for an actual fistfight.
She balled her hands into fists and swung at Jack.

Years of being bullied and hit, pushed and
prodded, were for the first time in Jack’s life paying off. He knew
what he had to do. Jack ducked under her overhand blow, and for the
briefest of moments came to an understanding. Jack had always been
told not to hit girls, so he didn’t, but then again, he never
really hit anyone. Melissa, though, was as strong as she was
beautiful. Jack realized that it would be more offensive to treat
her like a princess than it would be to beat her like a
guy.

Jack countered, throwing his fist at her with
all his strength. Her left arm was still extended from her missed
punch, and Jack remained crouched down from having ducked under it.
He pivoted, and his fist collided with her abdomen, forcing her a
step back. His hand ached as if he’d slammed it against a
rock.

“
So, you want me to step up my game
then, do you, Jack?”

This is not gonna be good.

Melissa went in for another volley of attacks.
Once again, the years of pummeling Jack had taken allowed him to be
somewhat evasive. He ducked under one swing, going off nothing but
reflex, then Melissa spun, attacking with a backhanded
swipe.

Jack kicked off his front foot and dashed
backwards, dodging by a centimeter. Melissa didn’t give him the
opportunity to recover. She closed the distance and jabbed Jack in
the face before he could react.

He felt the impact as it sent him backward, and
this time, it was he who landed on his rump. He shook his head to
clear the dizziness that followed.