Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (31 page)

Jack’s trembling increased even more. His
stomach began to hurt, and he dropped to one knee. Michael and
Sarah dashed over to him. “Jack, what’s wrong? Hey, what’s with
your eyes? Do you see this, Sarah?”

“
You mean that’s not normal?”
Melissa asked, rushing to them. “I thought it was just something
some Psychs did, since I saw Jack do it once before.”

Even Paro glanced behind him, surprise on his
face. “Hey, Sarah, is Jack okay? What’s wrong with his eyes? Why
are they dilated?”

Jack tuned out their nonsense. A simple thought
emerged within him, a simple reality made bright.

Andy is mine.

Jack remembered being this way before, and
somehow he knew he would forget yet again. But the thought brought
him no emotion, nothing did. For some reason, when he was like
this, nothing bothered him. There was no sadness, hate, or anger.
There wasn’t even fear. There was just him, and his thoughts. And
the things he wanted to do.

Jack got back to his feet. It would have amazed
him, if he could feel amazement, just how much simpler life was
when you couldn’t feel emotion. In a way, he wished it could stay
like this.

“
He’s mine,” Jack said in a
commanding tone.

Melissa came to stand next to Jack, unsure what
was going on. She had seen him like this once before, but only now
was she finding out that this was abnormal behavior. She hadn’t
been a Psych long enough to know everything about them.

Paro looked at him with ponderous eyes. “What
do you mean, ‘he’s yours,’ Jack? What’s going on? Are you feeling
okay?”

Melissa felt the first bite of fear. Jack
didn’t seem to be himself at all. In fact, he seemed to be nothing
even remotely like his normal self. He was detached, cool, and he
didn’t seem to be listening to any of them.

“
Paro, step away,” he
commanded.

“
Harris, don’t presume
to—”

Paro was cut off as a force slammed into him,
and Melissa saw him brace himself. The force caused him to step
back and drop Andy to the floor. His eyes lit up in shock, and he
looked at Jack.

“
Did you just try to throw me?” Paro
asked.

Melissa had no idea what was going on, but she
had the overwhelming sense that whatever it was, it wasn’t
good.

“
Jack, get back here. Hey, what are
you doing? Put him down!”

Now it was Jack that held Andy by the throat,
only he didn’t use his hands. The boy was telekinetically pinned,
and he looked at Jack with pleading, desperate eyes.

“
You think you know death, do you
Andy?” Jack’s voice was conversational, lacking any discernible
emotion. “Well, how about I show you what death really looks
like?”

There was a shriek from behind them. Sarah’s
voice called out with a dire sense of urgency.
“I’m detecting
Psych movement, massive amounts. At least ten! All with hostile
intent.”

Paro turned away from Jack, but Melissa didn’t
budge. Upon hearing Sarah’s warning, the nineteen living recon
officers raised their weapons and stood at full alert, their guns
clicking as they turned off their safeties.

“
Sarah, are you kidding me? Are you
certain there are ten Psychs heading our way? And all of them with
hostile intent? I’ve never been very good with Telepathy. I need to
know exactly what you’re feeling.”

Melissa turned her head around while still
remaining near Jack and Andy. Sarah was shivering with her head
downcast and off to one side—it was her gesture of gathering
data.

“
No, I was wrong. It’s about fifteen
now, and they’re all Telepaths, like me.”

Kazou and Michael had a grim look of death in
their eyes, one that was beginning to form in Melissa’s as well.
Fifteen Telepaths working together could kill them all. But none of
this made any sense.

“
You must be mistaken,” Paro said.
“Where would fifteen Telepaths come from, and why would they be
hostile? Please, Sarah, you must double check and make
sure.”

“
I am, Paro. And it’s at
least
fifteen! Maybe even more. I don’t know where this
army of Psychs has come from, but they’re heading right for us.
Paro … are we going to die?” She began to weep.

One of the recon officers ripped off his helmet
and threw it to the ground. “Not while we’re here, missy. Men!” he
shouted, addressing both the men and the women of the two squads.
“Are we dying here?”

“No!”
came the unanimous roar.

They lifted their weapons and waited for the
enemy. Paro surprised Melissa by grabbing her shoulder.

“
I’ve got no idea what’s going on,”
he said. “But if it comes down to a fight, make sure you run away.
Take Jack, and get the hell out of here.”

“
But Paro,” she
whimpered.

“
That’s an order.”

At once, a stench hit them, an abhorrent,
loathsome, reek of decay, which overpowered every other sense. The
stench of death was so strong that two of the officers
vomited.

Dark shadowy silhouettes could be made out from
the upper stairway, where one of the officers standing guard
screamed in the distance. The shadows came closer and closer. When
Melissa, and all those on the first level were finally able to see
what approached, every last one of them, even Paro, howled in
terror.

No!
Melissa thought to herself.
This isn’t, this can’t, this is not happening!

What awaited them was literally something out
of a nightmare. Slowly, at a crackling, slithering walk, ten
decaying skeletons emerged from the staircase. Some had swords in
hand, others had knives. They had dark red eyes, and blood smeared
from their feet, leaving red trails as they walked closer to the
astonished recon officers.

“
Don’t shoot!” Paro ordered, but to
no avail. The recon teams began opening fire as soon as they saw
the creatures. Even the loud pop of their automatic weapons
couldn’t dull the sense of smell and the sight of pure
horror.

Their weapons had no effect. The creatures
shoved them aside and kept on moving. Sarah wailed, pleading with
God to make the things go away. Even the staunch Kazou, the man who
never showed fear, whimpered as the nightmarish beings approached
them. Michael dropped to his knees and prayed, while Paro and
Melissa stood as the only two unshaken.

Paro didn’t say anything, he just watched
motionless, his body trembling. Melissa’s mind filled with an
oppressive dread. It almost knocked her off her feet.

Sarah reached over to grab onto and hug
Michael, pleading with him,
“Save me, please, Michael! I don’t
want to die! Please don’t let it get me!”

Michael held her close, tears pouring down his
face. “We’ll die together, Sarah. There’s so much I never told you.
So much I wanted to. I …” He cut off as the things neared
him.

The crackling sound of bones rubbing together,
combined with the stench of death was too much for even Paro to
handle. He fell to his knees, tears in his eyes. Melissa was more
shocked at that than anything else that was happening. Paro had
never cried before. Michael, who had known him longer than anyone
else, had once told her that nothing made him tear up.

All around the room the officers, the team,
everyone, they were all falling to the ground, trembling, hugging
themselves and each other, screaming at the tops of their lungs and
begging for mercy or divine intervention, or anything that would
make these wicked things disappear.

The creatures spoke—they actually
spoke!

“
Annnnnddyyyyy,”
they
chanted.

“
Annnnnddyyyyy.”

Melissa took a moment to gather the situation,
struggling against the overwhelming desire to simply die, to lie
down and never wake up, if only it meant peace from these
creatures.

Why are they chanting Andy’s name?
Why would they … Oh my god!

The realization and understanding almost
knocked her off her feet. “Paro!” she screamed. “Paro, do you see
what’s happening here? Hey, Paro!”

Paro was on his knees, trembling, whimpering.
Melissa forced her legs to move, she fought against the oppressive
sense of death and slammed her fist into his face.

Paro’s eyes snapped back to their normal fierce
intensity, and he shook his head, looking around him. He looked at
Melissa, his expression one of pure gratitude. “You just saved our
lives, Melissa, thanks.”

“Sarah!”
Paro roared.
“It’s an illusion, and you’re a Telepath,
fight against it! There are no other Psychs!”

“That’s
impossible,
” she called back.
“I can
see them, I can smell and hear them, and I can even feel them! Not
even fifty of the strongest Telepaths working together could do
this. THIS IS REAL! WE’RE GOING TO DIE!”

Paro grunted and looked behind him, to where
the skeletons had passed him and Melissa and were heading towards
Andy. All around the room, the team was now laying face down,
crying and groaning. The recon officers were
unconscious.

“
It’s Jack, isn’t it?” Melissa
asked, tears in her eyes. When Paro nodded she shook her head. “But
how? How can one person do this?”

“
To even think about that right now
is suicide,” Paro said. “All that matters is stopping him and not
dying. He’s killing us, Melissa! Jack is killing us. He’s attacking
our minds.”

The skeletons approached the boy. Andy didn’t
seem to be breathing any longer. Blood was trickling down his open
mouth and even from his eyes.

“Anddyyyyyy,”
the creatures chuckled, converging on him. They
now had human faces, each one bearing the face of a member of the
Davin’s family.

“
Jack!”
Melissa screamed,
louder than she had ever screamed in her life. “
Stop this, now!
You’re killing us! Please, Jack! You’re going to kill all of
us!”

Jack didn’t seem to hear her. He was staring at
Andy with a blank expression, while the boy seemed to be in a
comatose state, bleeding from every orifice. Andy would die within
a minute at the rate this was going, and the Recon officers would
probably only last another five. If this wasn’t stopped within ten
minutes then every last person would be dead, besides
Jack.

She couldn’t let Andy die. Jack would never
forgive himself. She had to stop him. She had to stop him before he
did something that would ruin his life.

She tried to charge at Jack, but there was a
barrier between them. It hurt her to merely touch it and was almost
agonizing if the touch was prolonged. Melissa didn’t care—it was
life or death. With every last bit of power she commanded, she
slammed her fist into it with a roar, shattering the defenses Jack
had erected. She tackled him to the ground, and all at once, the
room was quiet. The skeletons faded, the oppressive feeling was
gone too, and all that was left was her lying on top of the weak
and fragile-looking Jack.

He looked spent and exhausted, his eyes red
from crying.

“
Uh-oh, Melissa,” he said. “What did
you do this time?” He closed his eyes and passed out.