Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (30 page)

“
Do you really think I’m going to be
okay?”

“
Yeah, you’re gonna be just
fine.”

“
Hey!” said a familiar voice. “I
hope you two aren’t going anywhere far. I mean, we’ve got finals
coming up on Monday.”

A gripping and horrifying panic rushed into
Jack, and coursed through his veins at the sound of the feminine
voice behind him. Melissa walked casually over and took a seat
in-between him and Andy.

“
Me-Melissa,” Jack croaked, “what
are you doing here?”

Melissa opened a bag of potato chips, and with
a relaxed sigh, she devoured each one in a loud crunch. She was
even dressed more casually than earlier, too. She wore tight blue
jeans and a white tank top. Her golden hair glided down the back of
her head. Yawning, she stretched her arms to get in a more
comfortable position between them. It amazed Jack that no matter
where she went or in what situation, she was always
gorgeous.

Melissa shrugged. “Not much, I was in the area.
Hey, Andy, what are you doing here? Didn’t expect to see you
around.”

She must suspect something!

The thought breached Jack’s mind like a sword
ripping through flesh.

Why else would she be here? Andy knows what
she is, he … he needs to stay quiet.

Even a complete stranger could see the look of
absolute terror and fright as Andy’s mouth gaped and his eyebrows
rose. He inhaled sharply and with his right hand, he squeezed
Jack’s leg.

“
Nothing really,” Andy answered.
“I’m just hanging out with Jack. How are you, Melissa?”

“
I’m just fine,” she said
cheerfully. “Here, want one?”

Andy declined the offer of chips and turned his
head away to face forward. The train would arrive in just twenty
more minutes, and Jack prayed that things would hold up until
them.

“
So, Melissa, do you normally come
to hang out at train stations?” Jack asked.

“
I could ask the same of
you.”

“
I’m just here seeing a friend off.
Andy’s gonna visit his grandparents, and I had some free time. Hey,
Melissa, aren’t you coming over tonight? Let’s go home now and
watch some TV.”

“
Nah, I’ll stay here and hang out
with Andy for a bit.” She gave him a playful nudge on the shoulder.
“I don’t think we ever really speak much.”

Andy’s face paled, and Jack feared he was only
a moment from either passing out or throwing up, perhaps both. Jack
was running out of ideas.

“
Are you sure?” Jack asked. “I mean,
I’m gonna leave. Do you really wanna stay here by yourself? Let’s
go together.”

“
No, I’m fine,” she refused yet
again.

Does she know?
Jack thought
frantically.
How could she? How could she even possibly
suspect.

Suddenly the realization dawned on Jack, and
even he trembled.

They knew there was another Psych in the
school! And because I originally met the profile, they suspected
that it might be a friend of mine. When I stormed out of there
earlier I must have looked really afraid or something … Oh God, I
did this! I bolted out of there like such an idiot. Melissa must
have gotten suspicious and followed me here. But how much does she
know?

“
Melissa, I really think we should
be going. There’s no reason for us to be here. What do you say?
Let’s leave Andy in peace.”

Jack shot Melissa his fiercest look, but the
one returned by Melissa trumped his and made him lean back in his
seat.

“
I’ll leave when I want—isn’t that
right, Andy?”

Just stay calm, Andy
!
Don’t let
her think something’s wrong. Stay calm!

“
Hey, Andy, are you alright?”
Melissa asked. There was genuine concern in her voice. “You’re
shaking like you’ve got a fever. Here…” She placed her palm against
his forehead. “Hmm, no fever, is something bothering
you?”

Andy trembled even more, and the look of
concern on Melissa’s face didn’t seem to help.

Jack cleared his throat and tried to change the
subject. “Sooo, Andy, how about those relatives, huh? You excited
to see them?”

“
Y-y,” he stammered,
“Y-y-y—”

This was not good. Andy couldn’t even speak—he
was losing it. There would be no fooling Melissa, and playing this
game was getting them nowhere. She definitely knew what was going
on. There could be no more doubt about it.

“
Please, Melissa, you don’t
understand. Just leave,” Jack begged.

“
Don’t understand what, Jack? Why
are you acting so strange?”

She was toying with him now. It was too much
for Jack to handle. He wasn’t good with words. He wasn’t good with
playing mind games, either. The situation was sliding out of his
control faster than he could manage. All he wanted was to save his
friend. All he wanted was for his friend to have some chance at
living his life. All of these things raced through his mind, as
tears began to glide down his face. He didn’t want this to happen
to his friend!

Before he realized he was doing so, Jack
grabbed Melissa and hugged her, pulling her close. She didn’t pull
away. Instead, she surprised him by returning the hug, letting him
cry into her chest.

“I know,
” she whispered in his ear. “
I know it can be really
hard
.”

“
Please, Melissa, I’m begging you,”
he cried into her. “Don’t do this, please. You don’t
understand.”

“No,”
she said in a soothing voice.
“I really do understand. I
know it hurts, Jack, just shh. Please, say no
more.”

“
You don’t have to do this.” Jack
felt the tears as they dampened her shirt, but she paid it no
mind.

“
I do, Jack. Please forgive
me
.”

“
How did you know?”

She ruffled his messy hair and smiled at him.
“
Because anyone can read you like a book, Jack. Why do you
think they let you go off alone? When you charged out like that,
Sarah picked up your fear and worry like you were a pair of
speakers playing explosive sound effects. She can do that, you
know? And it’s not hard to put two and two
together.”

“
Are they here?” Jack
pulled away and wiped his face, embarrassed for his display of
emotions.

Melissa nodded.

“
Jack, what’s going on with you
two?” Andy seemed to be recovering his voice. A look of panic
spread across his face. “You know what? I’m an idiot! I just
remembered that I wasn’t supposed to visit until next week. I’ll
see you guys around. I’m heading home.”

Andy tried to rise, but not before Melissa
grabbed his arm. A look of fury and terror radiated off of him as
he met Melissa’s gaze.

“
Let me go, Melissa! What the hell
do you think you’re doing?”

“
Andy,” she whispered, “you know who
I am, don’t you? I can see it on your face.”

Andy tried to pull away and his voice filled
with desperation. “No! Let me go—get your hands off me!”

Jack tried to look away. He tried to ignore
what he was seeing. It felt as if his heart were being ripped in
two.

“
I don’t enjoy doing this to you,
but if you struggle, I’ll hurt you. Look around you, there is no
way out.”

It took Jack a minute to realize what Melissa
was talking about, but when he saw it, he wondered how he and Andy
had missed it in the first place. All around them, the people on
the benches, the janitors, even the ticket salesmen—they had all
been replaced by men and women in disguise. Every one of them was
beginning to converge on Andy, about twenty in total. They opened
their bags and removed massive assault rifles, and with a
tremendous roar surrounded the frightened boy.

“Don’t move, don’t move! On the
ground—now!”

Andy wailed. It was a cry of pure anguish and
terror, as twenty assault rifles were leveled at him. All around
the room the men and women spread out, covering the perimeter and
blocking all exits. They didn’t seem willing to take any
chances.

“
One move and you’re dead,” came a
voice from behind them. Jack spun around to see Paro, flanked by
the rest of the team.

“
Excellent work, Agent Harris. I
know it’s never easy the first time, but you’ll get used to
it.”

Andy’s eyes widened in surprise and betrayal.
“Y-you were in on this, Jack? You … you betrayed me? Why, Jack? I
trusted you! You were the only friend I had in this world! At least
tell me why?”

Jack cried again. “No, you don’t understand,
Andy. They followed me. I didn’t mean to do it, I
swear.”

“
I hate you, Jack, I hate
you!”

Melissa kicked out Andy’s legs and knocked him
to the ground.

“
Melissa
!” Sarah screamed.
“
Watch out, there’s activity
!”

There was a murderous scream from behind
Melissa, as the nearest recon officer clutched his throat and the
skin bubbled around his neck. In one of the most horrific things
Jack had ever seen, the officer collapsed, and the area around his
neck became nothing more than a gelatinous, bloody mess.

Andy looked at Melissa. A sickened grin formed
on his face. “You’re dead, Melissa!”

Things moved really fast. Jack was knocked out
of the way by an invisible force while the same force pulled
Melissa away from Andy, sending her hurtling into Jack. He was sure
Michael had done it. Paro sped past the two, charging at a speed
that transcended human capability. He grabbed Andy by the throat,
lifting him into the air and causing him to gasp under the pressure
of Paro’s squeezing hand. Then Paro ran forward while dragging Andy
along with him, before slamming the boy against the wall, pinning
him to it.

Small puffs of smoke started appearing inches
from Paro’s face, as if an invisible match was continually being
lit and then put out around him.

“
That won’t work on me, kid. You may
as well cut that nonsense out right now. As it is, I might just
kill you to save me some time and trouble. After all, you did just
kill one of my men. Look at them. They want nothing more than to
lodge a bullet in your brain for what you just did.”

Jack pushed himself off the floor and looked in
disbelief at the body of the officer that moments ago was a living,
breathing human being. The rifle was still in his hand, and his
face was distorted, nothing more than red mush.

“
Andy … did he?” Jack struggled to
form words. “Did Andy just kill that man?”

Sarah rushed over and tried to cover Jack’s
eyes, but he pushed her away. “Answer me, damnit! Did Andy just
kill that man? Melissa, answer me!”

Jack had never used such an angry, commanding
tone with her before. Yet she obliged and answered him. “I’m sorry,
Jack, it was my fault. I wasn’t fast enough, I—”

Jack stormed past her before she could finish
speaking and came to stand beside Paro. Andy’s terror was replaced
by a thunderous hate. He groaned, struggled, and ripped at Paro’s
fingers. Paro had him pinned against the wall, hand extended, grip
tight on the boy’s throat.

“
Jack,
” he croaked,
“please, kill them, kill them all! You’re like me … you know
what we have to go through every day. Do it! Help me, kill
them!”

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Andy
was actually asking him to murder people.

“
First tell me something, Andy.”
Jack was surprised that Paro was allowing him to have this
conversation. He seemed content to simply hold the boy in place
while Jack had his words.

“
Did you kill Richard’s family? Tell
me the truth and I’ll help you. But please, Andy, I need to know.
You told me you didn’t kill them.”

“I’m … sorry, Jack,”
he croaked.
“But you know he deserved it, all
of them did. I did what I had to, for what they did to us at
school. I did it for us, Jack. I did it for us! I went there, and
I—”

Jack didn’t feel the explosion of rage until
after the words were out of this mouth.

“SHUT THE HELL
UP!”

Jack trembled, he actually trembled with anger.
This was a terrible feeling, a horrible feeling. It was sickening,
but he couldn’t control it. He looked at Andy and poured the hate
into his voice.

“
You killed little children, Andy!
Little girls, seven year-old angels, whose only wrong doing in life
was to have met you! You killed his mother, you killed all of them!
How could you … tell me, how could you!”

“Jack, I had the right!”
his voice was raspy. Paro didn’t seem to be easing
up on him. “
You don’t understand—I had the
right!”

Jack wanted to vomit. “The right? The hell do
you mean you had the right? No one has the right to do what you
did!”