Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (38 page)

“
Jack!”
both his mother and
Melissa called to him, jumping off the couch and kneeling beside
him on the carpet. They held him down, yelling his name, calling to
him. Jack’s mind filled with more images, more pictures, until they
blended together to make a concept, something he could understand.
His eyes widened in alert.

Jack sat up in a hurry and reached into
Melissa’s pocket. She gasped in surprise.

“
Jack, what the hell are
you—”

Jack took out the tiny device he and Michael
had stolen.

“
Michael!
” he
screamed, panic and desperation in his voice. “There are like,
five Psychs outside, and three more coming from a few miles away.
They want to kill Melissa and my mother and take me away, all of
them!”

“
Sweetie,” Alana said, rubbing his
face. “You’re just having a bad reaction to ‘the draw’, and it’s
making you delusional. It happens sometimes, just relax. No one is
outside. You’re a Telekinetic, remember?”

“Are you serious, Jack? Are you
one hundred percent sure?”
Michael sounded
worried, and he too seemed to have a note of panic in his
voice.

“
Yeah, Michael, I don’t know how I
know, but I just know that I know!”

Alana tapped Melissa on the shoulder. “Melissa,
why do you look so worried? Don’t let Jack alarm Paro over nothing.
He’s just having a bad reaction to—”

“
Your son is an Unrestricted,”
Melissa interrupted. Tears streaked down her face as she told Alana
what she had sworn to Paro she would keep secret. “I am so very
sorry.”

Alana looked crushed, like a car had run her
over and left her to die. Her face puckered, and her eyes grew
moist with dread.

“
So you’re saying that Jack just
used Telepathy? And that there
are
people outside my home
who want to kill us? Do you expect me to believe that?”

Melissa pulled her hair in frustration. “Yes, I
know this is a huge shocker, and I know you need time to think
about things, but if what Jack just said is true—and I promise you
that it at least has the possibility of being so—then we need to do
something right now.”

In an instant, Alana pulled herself together.
“Michael!” she called out, loud enough to be received by the device
in Jack’s hand. “Can you get in touch with Paro?”

“I’m going to try right now,
Alana, let me see if I can find out where they
are.”

Another voice chimed in, causing Jack to reel
in surprise.
“We’re right here.”
It was Sarah’s voice, but
how?

“Sarah, I don’t
understand,”
Michael said. It was Paro that
answered next.

“Do you really think you’re
smart enough to steal a piece of my equipment without me knowing? I
let you guys get away with it because I had a feeling something
like this might happen. It made my life a lot easier, to be honest.
I knew there was no way I could convince Jack to voluntarily walk
around with something like this. You two did my job for
me
.”

Jack didn’t care that he had yet again been
outsmarted. All he wanted to do was to make sure they were safe.
“Paro, what did I just do? I tried to grab a bowl of popcorn, but
instead I just blacked out and saw a whole bunch of
people.”

“What you did, Jack,”
he responded.
“Was save the lives of your
mother and Melissa. Hang tight, and keep this device on you at all
times. We’re only a few miles away. Jack, do you have any idea who
these eight Psychs are?”

“
No clue, Paro. I only know that the
five outside my house are not with the three. But they seem to want
the same thing. I have no idea how I know that, either.”

“The three must be the ones
we’re after. This is just how we expected it to happen. Now’s our
chance.”

As if by an invisible force, the device flew
out of Jack’s hands and landed into Alana’s. A tremendous, dark
fury covered her face.

“
The
three
you’re after,
Paro? Is there something you’re not telling me? God help you if I
find out you put my son’s life in danger for a case.”

There was a hesitation on the other end, before
the voice responded.
“Alana, I’m sorry, but you may as well
know the truth now. I planned to tell you soon anyway. Those
murders, the ones you must have no doubt heard about on the
news—two young Psychs with incredible power carried those out. We
don’t know why, but they seem to want your son to join them. In
fact they’re dead set on the notion, and I don’t think they’ll take
no for an answer. The people responsible are believed to be
eighteen years of age, with a recently acquired
accomplice.”

“
Andy!” Jack called out.
“But how? I thought you guys had him.”

“I’m afraid to say that the
prisoner transport was ambushed by our suspects, and they killed
everyone on board. They now have him back in their possession, but
for the first time we know exactly where they are, thanks to you,
Jack. We’re heading over to your home now. And Alana, please
forgive me, if you have any room left in your heart to forgive an
animal like me.”

Alana growled at Paro. “You were never an
animal, Paro, just a boy in need of a good whipping. And I promise
you when this is over you’re getting another one.”

She turned to Jack, barely restrained tears
moistening her soft eyes. “Jack, I’m so sorry. You’re an
Unrestricted. Why did it have to be you born with such a curse?
We’ll talk about this later, for now I need you two to go upstairs.
Go to your room with Melissa, and don’t open the door for
anything.”

Jack felt a rush of pride for his mother so
powerful that it almost moved him to tears. After everything that
had just happened, she was pulling herself together, fighting
through the confusion and planning on how to take
action.

“
Mom, I won’t leave you by yourself.
Those guys are gonna be here before my team is.”

“
Your
team?”

Ah, crap, I just can’t keep my mouth
shut.

“
That doesn’t matter right now, Mom.
I won’t let them kill you.”

“
Melissa,” Alana said.

“
I know, Mrs. Harris, I know.”
Before Jack could raise a questioning eyebrow, Melissa grabbed him
by his neck and dragged him up the stairs.

“
Melissa, no! What are you doing?
You can’t leave my mom alone down there! Damn it, Melissa, what if
she dies?
Let me go!
”

“
I’m sorry, Jack. I
can’t.”

Jack struggled, but to no avail.

Mom!

“
Melissa, please, you’ve got to let
me go.
Get out of the way!
”

Melissa wasn’t budging, no matter how much Jack
pleaded. It wasn’t just because she was doing her job—the reason
she was even there in the first place—but more, she had made a
silent promise to Alana. If she had to knock Jack over the head,
she would, but so long as he stayed on the other end of the room,
he could beg and plead as much as he wanted.

She stood with her back to the door, her arms
spread out in a wordless refusal of passage. Jack paced back and
forth between his bed and the dresser, running tense fingers
through his messy black hair and over his eyes. His boyish features
covered with worry.

“
Everything will be fine, Jack. Paro
and everyone will be here soon. You just have to believe in
them.”

She hoped that was the truth, she really did.
It would break her heart to see anything happen to Jack’s mom.
Since meeting the woman, Melissa had really taken a liking to her.
From the bottom of her heart, she didn’t want to see any harm
befall Alana, but she would be willing to do anything to keep Jack
safe.

Paro’s voice came through the device in her
ear, which she’d snatched from Jack after dragging him upstairs.
She never would’ve expected Jack and Michael’s stupidity to turn
into something that could save their lives, as without the device
they’d be forced to use cell-phones, unreliable in a life or death
situations. They were able to speak with the team in real
time.

“Just hang tight, you two. We’re
coming as fast as we can.”

Alana was not willing to be insulted. She
watched from a small opening in the window above her front door as
five people attempted to approach her home in silence. Alana didn’t
like snakes or people that acted like snakes. If they wanted to
start trouble, they’d have to meet her face to face. She had to
admit, though—without her son’s warning, she’d never have noticed
them. Things were easier to spot when forewarned.

Jack
.                                        

Why did her only child have to be an
Unrestricted? They would never leave him alone now. Was there
anything in this world she could do for him? Alana clenched her
fists and took deep, relaxing breaths, forcing the worry and
sadness from her mind. To live, she’d need to remain
focused.

She threw open the front door and shouted at
the five dark silhouettes across the street. “I know you’re there!
You want to talk? Come here then. Don’t sulk in the darkness like
cowards.”

The five shadows ceased moving. What Alana
assumed was the leader turned to her and walked towards the nearest
streetlamp, revealing her face in the scant light amid the
darkness. She was around Alana’s age but she looked hardened,
brutal, and a great deal sadistic. Under normal conditions, she’d
be an attractive woman, but with a gaze like hers, even the
dirtiest-minded would stand clear.

“
I’ve never been one to appreciate
being called a coward, Mrs. Harris. Very well, I’ll
oblige.”

Alana led the woman into her home then asked
her to take a seat at the kitchen table, where just hours before
she’d been enjoying small talk with Melissa. She grabbed a pot from
under the kitchen sink and boiled water, preparing tea.

Four men entered the home, following behind the
woman in the same gear that Alana knew was used by recon officers.
The woman was the only one dressed in casual clothing, with
blue-jeans and a black-knitted sweater. The men were Psychs, no
doubt. Their recon gear fooled no one.

“
My name is Cemmera Wilson. I am
both a team-leader and Captain of the Operations Department. Your
son, Jack Harris, age sixteen, Telekinetic—we are here for him.
Please stand aside and let us do our job.”

An Op. team? An Op. team is in my house for
Jack!
Alana’s thoughts turned frantic.

She had no idea why an Op. team would be after
her son and probably neither did Paro, or he’d have warned her.
Something like this shouldn’t even be possible. From what Jack had
let slip, it sounded like he had already been signed up to a team,
which meant he wasn't suspected of any criminal
activity.

Alana forced herself to smile, adding cheer and
merriment to her voice. “Ah, you want to see my son? Okay then, no
problem at all! Just show me the signed kill-order, and I’ll bring
you to him myself.”