Psych Investigation Episodes: Episode 1 (A Young Adult Scifi / Fantasy) (45 page)

Alana grabbed Deven’s shoulder, gripping him by
the tattooed general’s insignia and pulling herself up into a
sitting position. Deven had to admit, she was one tough
woman.

“
I didn’t mean to kill him,” she
said with remorse. “But it was life or death.”

Deven looked over to the massacred Op. team
member, Julian Santos, once a powerful Telepath, now nothing more
than a dead body.

“
Alana, where did the rest of
Cemmera’s team go? They aren’t here.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Hopefully,
they went to hell.”

Deven laughed uproariously. “Still with the
dark humor I see, Alana.”

She grabbed his other shoulder and lifted
herself back to her feet. Deven watched as anger replaced her
sadness. She looked around at her ruined home.

“
What’s going to happen to me now?
They’ll kill me for what I’ve done. I’ll be sentenced to death for
sure. For a civilian to attack and kill a member of a Psych team …
what crime could be worse?”

Deven tried to remain straight-faced, but he
couldn’t help but grin. “How do you figure, Alana? It was him who
committed the serious crime of attacking a general.”

Alana made a sour face. “General? I quit ten
years ago. What are you on about, Deven?”

Deven’s grin widened. “Yes, you did quit ten
years ago, and a wonderful retirement you had. I still wonder why
you gave it all up, coming into my office yesterday and
reenlisting. But who can tell?”

Alana gave him a reproachful look. “Deven, tell
me you didn’t.”

He reached into his pocket and revealed the
document, showing her the blood-seal. “But I did, General Alana
Harris, welcome back.”

Alana’s face contorted, going from
anger, to confusion, finally settling on unfiltered amusement.
“It’s this or death, isn’t it?”

Deven shrugged. “Do you really want to find
out?”

He braced himself. What he had to say next was
going to sting. Most of the Psych Generals were serious, uptight
people, lacking any sense of humor whatsoever. Alana and Deven had
been the only two generals back in the day willing to mingle, and
on occasion even party with those who’d served under them. He was
glad to have the woman back—even if it was against her wishes—her
playfulness and humor made her the only general he’d ever really
liked—the only general that was similar to him.

When she saw his expression, she definitely
knew what he had to say was going to be bad. “Out with it,” she
demanded.

“
Rose has had another vision, Alana.
It was about your son.”

As he spoke the words to her, she fell to her
knees and looked at him with pleading eyes. “That’s not the life I
want for him,” she begged.

Deven spoke with genuine sympathy. “But it’s
the one the world is going to need. Without him … God help us
all.”

Jack squeezed his fingers around the seatbelt
across his chest. He closed his eyes, struggling to remain calm as
the large van accelerated and sped along The Outerbridge Crossing
leading into Staten Island.

Andy had killed yet again. Several miles back
they’d come across a dead family lying on the side of the road, all
showing signs of death by Manipulation. Despite the need for haste,
Paro had taken the time to at least cover what remained of their
bodies—it wasn’t much—before they continued along and resumed the
chase. From what the team could piece together, the three were only
interested in the family’s vehicle, a silver Lexus ES.

One thing was clear though—their deaths were
unnecessary. Jack still didn’t know much about Psychs, but he knew
that the one called Ruin, the Telekinetic, could have easily pulled
them from the vehicle and left them on the road. Instead, Andy had
decided to slaughter even more people.

Jack cried out as the vehicle made a sharp
left. The van tilted slightly and pulled into the wrong lane,
cutting off slower moving automobiles in front of them. Cars honked
and drivers screamed while the van raced over the bridge. Jack
looked out of the rear window and noticed that some cars had even
come to a stop. Furious drivers exited their vehicles and shook
fists, probably wondering why on earth someone would drive like
such a maniac.

The nineteen recon officers didn’t appear
bothered by the reckless driving—neither the insane speed nor the
angry shouts from civilian vehicles. Jack didn’t see any fear on
their faces, except for the times when they looked over at him. Why
did he, out of all people, intimidate the tough-looking men and
women of the recon teams? Jack shook his head. He supposed that now
wasn’t the time to find out. The recon officers sat with assault
rifles held over their laps, hands gripping the weapons in a tight
squeeze.

The rest of Paro’s team showed no trace of
fear, either. Paro was up front, shouting orders at the driver
while Sarah remained deep in concentration looking at the ground.
The only time she looked up was to shout information at Paro, and
then she’d return soon after to continue her Telepathy. Michael and
Kazou were making small talk, and Melissa was sitting with her
(gorgeous) legs folded while she read a fashion
magazine.

Would now be a good time to make another
move?
Damn, I’m not good when it comes to women so I don’t
know all the rules. Is a high-speed chase a good or bad time to
turn up the heat? Michael would know.

Jack looked over to Michael. The blond-haired
rogue met his eyes and tipped his cowboy hat. Jack didn’t know
anything about Telepathy, but when it came to Michael, he didn’t
need to. Lately, it seemed like the two could exchange feelings
just by glancing at each other.

Jack winked, and for a fleeting moment, he
shifted an eye over to Melissa. Then he returned to meet Michael’s
gaze and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“What do I
do?
”
he thought with a shrug.

Michael had no issue picking up on Jack’s
message. In return, he twirled his finger in the air then made a
fist, slamming it into his palm. Jack understood the meaning
perfectly.
“Tell her she has nice hair.”

Jack summoned all of the courage he could
muster and cleared his throat. “Hey, Melissa, I love your golden
hair. You really are the most beautiful thing in the
world.”

Melissa ignored the response and turned another
page in her magazine. “Paro,” she said after a moment. “Jack and
Michael are up to their nonsense again. Do something about it
please.”

Paro glared at the two of them. “Cut it out,
guys.”

Michael gave Paro a look of outrage. “I haven’t
said a word to Jack, or Melissa for that matter, in like, ten
minutes! She’s got no proof or nothin’.”

“
I don’t care,” Paro growled. “I
believe everything Melissa says, especially when it comes to you
two damn Kinetics. Whatever it is you’re doing, cut it out and be
serious.”

Unrestricted or not, Jack was being treated
like the affinity he was born with. Paro had told Jack that his own
natural affinity was Reinforcement, like Kazou or Melissa. Jack
wondered if that was why Reinforcement was so much easier for Paro,
or if that was why he used it more than anything else.

Jack didn’t think it was possible, but the van
managed to pick up even more speed. It left the bridge and entered
Staten Island. Jack watched in horror as they approached a
tollbooth. The vehicle showed no signs of slowing down.

“
Paro, aren’t we going to stop?”
Jack asked.

“
Like hell,” he said. He shouted an
order to the driver and the van continued forward, crashing into
the lowered gate and ripping it off the booth. The teller shouted
through the window at them as they sped past. He picked up a phone,
probably calling the police or something.

Not even a minute later, Paro’s phone rang, and
he snatched it from his pocket. “Yeah … yeah, don’t worry. Yeah,
that was us. Send the police away and tell them to stay clear.
That’s right, yeah.” His eyes widened. “Please don’t tell me that.
She’s a general again? My life is going to be even more miserable
now.”

Jack didn’t know what he was talking about, but
he suspected that Paro had called off the police. It was amazing
what they could get away with.

“
I think we’re close!” Sarah called
out. She stood up and pointed to something in the
distance.

Jack turned to look out of the front window.
He’d never been to Staten Island before, but he was surprised by
just how open it was. Unlike Manhattan, Staten Island looked like a
slightly more enclosed area than his own town. There were small to
large houses, stores and small shopping centers, followed again by
more homes. It was hard to see in the dark of night, but speeding
past a red-light in the distance, he could just make out the silver
car.

The driver shouted at Paro, but Paro shouted
back even louder. “I don’t care, slam your foot down!”

Jack moaned as the engine screamed at them,
picking up so much speed that Jack had to struggle not to cover his
eyes like a child. The van rocketed into a narrow street. A
pedestrian removing a grocery bag out of his Honda jumped out of
the way. With a loud crunch his passenger-side door was ripped off
the vehicle, smashing into—and denting—a parked car just ahead of
him.

“
We’re all going to
die!
”
Jack shouted, undoing
his buckle and standing up. He didn’t know where he was going, but
his first instinct was to flee. He realized just a moment too late,
how stupid of an idea it was to take off his seatbelt.

The van, with no apparent warning, took a sharp
left, and Jack was sent flying to the front. Paro shouted curses as
Jack slammed into him, sending both he and his team-leader banging
into the radio system. Music blasted at a volume so loud that even
if the collision with the car door didn’t wake up the residents on
the street, then the booming voice of Lady Gaga surely
would.

“I’m on the edge, of
glory.”

Jack tried to get off Paro and failed, unable
to regain his balance. Before he could try again, Melissa grabbed
him by the neck and pulled him back to his seat. Her fingers were
squeezing way harder than they needed to be.
“Ouch, stop, it
was an accident!”

“
Don’t get out of your seat again,
Jack. Are you nuts? Don’t force me to sit on your lap and buckle
myself in with you. Act like an adult.”

The word “
myself
” hadn’t even fully
left her lips, and already Michael was giving Jack a massive
thumbs-up.

“Get out of your seat!”
his expression shouted. Jack thought the better of
it and strapped himself back in as Melissa returned to her own
seat.

They were gaining on the car, faster than Jack
had believed they’d be able to given the large size of the van and
the speediness of the silver car, which was only a block ahead of
them now. The car sped past a stop sign and almost impacted with an
oncoming minivan. Even from where Jack was sitting, he could see
the outlines of the three murderous Psychs.

“
Can you stop it, Michael?” Paro
asked.

“
No, their Path is protecting the
vehicle. I can’t do anything to it.”

Paro nodded and didn’t hesitate, revising his
plans in an instant.

“
Michael, we’re going loud! Break
it.” Paro ordered.

Jack wondered what the words meant, but he
didn’t wonder for long. Michael squeezed his fist and the front
window of the van shattered outward, spraying sharp chunks of glass
to both sides of the street, far enough away that the van didn’t
risk running over them and getting a flat.

Four of the recon officers rushed to the front
of the vehicle, weapons in hand. Paro stepped out of the way, and
Jack watched in bewilderment as the four guns flashed, the sound of
gunfire overshadowing even the tremendous roar of the
engine.

“
Back-left tire hit,” the leftmost
officer called. She was the youngest-looking of all the recon
officers, perhaps only a year or two older than Jack.