Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (23 page)

“
I am growing bored with this,
Dearest Brother. Can we end him and look for someone else to play
with?”

Ruin frowned. “Sister, he’s first starting to
show us how loud he can yell. Do you really want to stop
now?”

Requiem had been acting off these last few
days. This was usually her favorite part. With a shrug, he turned
to face his sister. “Oh, very well, but I want to do it myself this
time. I’ve never tried it.”

“
But what about the evidence,
Darling?”

“
Forget the evidence—who can stop
us?”

Ruin pulled a small knife from the side of his
loose-fitting jeans and crouched down in front of the wailing man.
With his left hand, he lifted up the man’s head, tilting up his
neck as much as it would go.

“
I know how to make him stop
screaming,” he joked.

Slowly, so as to enjoy each moment, Ruin ran
the blade deeply across the man’s throat. He didn’t expect the
blood to gush all over him the way it did, but he had to admit it
was actually kind of cool. The man’s screams diminished into
half-hearted gurgles, as if he were choking or drowning in water.
As the light left his eyes, Ruin rose back to his feet and turned
towards his sister.

“
More fun than I thought it would
be,” he said.

“
Dear me, brother, but you’re
covered in blood. You need to get rid of those clothes and clean
yourself up. You look like you’ve been swimming in a pool of the
stuff.”

Ruin shrugged. All in all, it wasn’t as fun as
their usual method, but it was still a unique experience. Maybe he
should have Andy try it sometime? Thinking of which, he hoped their
new brother was holding up well. They were going to need him to
help catch the Harris-kid and kill all the other fools.

If luck existed in this world, then Jack had
none of it. As his mother soared by on the East Parkway, Jack
realized he’d not only make it in time for half his classes, but
more than likely the entire day’s worth.

He did have to admit, though, driving through
Manhattan from the ground was almost as awesome as flying over it.
Mom and Melissa had distracted him by pointing out buildings and
weird-looking stores. Some blocks had as many as forty to fifty
different shops. It was incredible. His mom promised she’d bring
him back here during the summer break. But they wouldn’t fly there,
which Jack found disappointing.

His mom’s van was relaxing, spacious, and Jack
had no problem catching a bit more sleep as they drove through the
boring parts after leaving the city. He’d have slept even if he
wasn’t tired, what with the ridiculous conversation Melissa was
having with his mom in the front seat.

In a way, it was hard to believe. It was almost
like the two had been meeting for weeks and had been working
tirelessly on creating
the most
boring conversation that
had ever been conversed in all of human history. Alana and Melissa
went back and forth discussing matters so trivial and unimportant
that at first Jack thought they were joking around and creating
satire. At one point, while fading in and out of sleep, Jack had
actually heard the two discussing bags, of all things, from some
place called “Juicy Couture” or something like that. Why any human
being would want to carry on a conversation about storage
compartments was beyond Jack’s ability to comprehend.

Jack had tried several times during the ride to
bring up more important, vital matters. He’d tried to discuss
things such as the release date on the upcoming James Bond movie,
or whether or not
Hunters
were
finally getting
nerfed
in the
next big patch. Melissa had reached over the front seat to give him
a tap on the head and a threatening glare. His mom laughed at it
all too—whose side was she on, anyway?

Jack woke when the car slowed and pulled up
into the school lot. He groaned. The worst part of school was
actually entering it. It was still awful throughout the day, but it
was at its peak-awfulness when it was first beginning, and he took
those dreadful first steps into the building. Why did his area of
New Jersey have to be so damned close to New York City? This was
the first time in Jack’s life where that had ever been a bad
thing.

So, after all that
,
I end up back
here again anyway. I don’t get it. If I really started that fire,
couldn’t they at LEAST throw me in prison for a few
years?

“
Jack, come on,” Melissa
commanded.

Jack moaned and purged himself of drowsiness.
Before he could leap out the back of the van, his mom, with the
reflexes of a ninja, grabbed him and pulled him close for a kiss on
the cheek.

“
Jack, I knew all this nonsense
would happen someday, but you know what? I’m glad it’s finally all
out of the way. You’ve had a bunch of excitement these last few
days, I’m sure. But now life is going to return to its normal
routine. This is just something we live with, and I promise you
that on most days you’ll forget you even have any of the abilities
you do.”

Jack sighed. “But Mom, why don’t we
just—”

Alana cut him off before he could even finish
speaking. “I know what you’re going to say—it’s what every new
Psych thinks. But using your power for personal gain is not only
very much illegal, but it’s highly immoral. If you want to make
money and be successful you need work to hard like everyone
else.”

Jack shook his head. “That is
not
what
I was gonna say, Mom. I was gonna say why don’t we talk more about
this at home. I just found out about all this shocking stuff, and
I’ve got so many questions. My world has been shaken. I don’t know
if I’m mentally capable of going back to school just
yet.”

Melissa and Alana laughed together. Alana
ruffled Jack’s hair. “If you were anyone else in this world, I’d
believe that, sweetie. I’d take you home right now and help you
cope with it, all of it. I’d answer your questions and hope that
someday you can wrap your head around this insanity. But you’re
you, Jack. Let’s be completely honest here—you’re already thinking
about playing video games after school. In a way, I’m glad that
you’re you, because as a mother I know you don’t have to live with
all these torturous feelings and questions. For years and years, I
wondered what I’d say to you if you ever found out what I was—the
things I’d try and do to make you understand.”

Alana sighed. “And then that day finally came.
I showed up to H.Q and you knew at once what I was, and who I was.
For a split second, I was worried what you’d think about me,
wondering what all this meant to you and how your life would be
changed, but within twenty seconds of finding out the truth, you
already started focusing on something else. That’s who you are, and
that’s why you’re so special. I don’t know anyone else like that,
Psych or otherwise. Now quit trying to bail out of school. I drove
like an animal to get you here on time.”

Melissa yanked Jack out of the van, and
together they walked towards the school building, stopping to wave
once more at Alana before turning around.

“
She’s right, ya know.”

“
Hmm?” Jack buzzed. “Right about
what?”

“
You’re really not like anyone
else.”

Jack shrugged—he didn’t see it. The two entered
the courtyard to the tall, three-story building. Well, tall for
where he lived. Nothing could compete with New York City. He’d only
just returned from it and already everything seemed like a
dream.

School, as expected, didn’t change at all in
the few days he had been absent. It was a semi-disorganized mess.
The students waited inside the courtyard until seven a.m. sharp,
when the doors would open and they’d be allowed to go
in.

In some places, there were circular cliques of
friends, some exclusively guys and others solely girls, and a few
were mixed. Several played stupid games like hacky-sack. Jack felt
that any game you couldn’t win was stupid. Would that technically
make him stupid for the massive time he put into World of
Warcraft?

Many people walked around aimlessly, stopping
to chat with friends before moving along. It was the group closest
to the west-end of the courtyard that attracted Jack’s attention.
Sitting on the small bench was an odd mix of people. One was a
hairy boy, resembling more of an animal than a man—Stephen Menar,
rival to Jack Harris. Across from him on the shabby bench sat
Antonio Delgado, an even greater rival. From the looks of things,
the battle had already begun.

Jack didn’t so much as sprint as attempt to
leap over to them. He was stopped mid-stride and wondered what
force was tugging on the back of his shirt.

“
Where the hell do you think you’re
going?” Melissa said with a snarl.

“
Melissa, what gives?”

She released the back of his shirt and poked
his chest. “You’re not to leave my sight for even a minute. I
thought we went over all of this. I’m in a kind mood today, so I’ll
allow you to do whatever it is you were going to do. Just walk
slowly, and keep close.”

Jack didn’t know if he should’ve been happy or
not, but for some reason he had the odd feeling that Melissa was
going to make his life a living hell. Luckily, his father had
taught him how to handle this situation when Jack was growing up in
one of their few late-night conversations when he wasn’t away on
business.

“
Woman, I need me some
space.”

Slap!

Okay, Jack noted. That approach didn’t work.
Rubbing the handprint forming on his cheek he led Melissa to the
bench filled with the eight people society had labeled misfits. He
felt into the pocket of his dark jeans, making sure the
true
source of his power was present. Forget all that
Psych nonsense.

“
Gentlemen,” Jack said, “the master
has arrived.”

Four people leapt up from the table with
excitement on their faces. Antonio slowly approached Jack. “So,
Jack, you’ve finally come to die, have you? I wondered why you
didn’t show up the last few days. I’m sorry to do this to you,
buddy, but your time is up.”

Antonio reached into his own pocket. What
happened next was almost too fast to follow. In a high-pitched
shout, Melissa called out, “
Jack, get down!”

She pushed Jack to the ground and then lunged
at Antonio, grabbing his free hand before it could leave his
pocket. The boy howled in pain as Melissa twisted his arm around
his back and pushed him face into the bench.

“
Melissa, what the hell are you
doing?”

All the boys at the table laughed as Antonio
wailed in pain. “Is this how you fight now, Jack? Have you no
honor? In Mexico, you would never be allowed to play again for this
kind of treachery.”

“
Wait, don’t tell me …” Melissa
released the boy and turned towards Jack, who was getting back on
his feet. He had to think of something quick.

“
Sorry about that, Antonio. I’m
trying to teach her the rules of the game, and she thought a
counter was a physical assault.”

Melissa blushed a deep shade of red, and all
around the table, the eight boys laughed at her. Antonio once again
reached into his pocket to reveal the stack of playing
cards.

“
Class is going to start soon, so
let’s make this quick, Harris.”

Jack only managed to play half a game before
the doors opened. The exaggerated moan came not only from the
bench, but from people all around them. Like a league of zombies in
route to a corpse, the students of Elms high shuffled in the doors
and headed to their first class of the day.