Winters Family Psi Chronicles 1: Transformation (20 page)

“We need to think of a way of convincing Elizabeth to help us,” Jeremy said. “Or at least leaving this place so she’ll be safe.”

“She’s completely entrenched in her decision to stay here,” Skylar piped up from the back seat. “I was reading her thoughts.”

“That’s an invasion of privacy,” Kate scolded him.

Skylar shrugged at her. “It was necessary.”

“We need to know more about how Rose’s ability works so we can discover a way of stopping her,” Jeremy said.

“She hasn’t developed her abilities until now and it’s been very fast,” Emily said. “She hasn’t even been self-aware until the last couple of weeks.”

“But her ability has given her life-times of experience in a matter of days,” Jeremy said.

“Maybe we should focus on seeing the future and identifying the drug that was made.”

“I tried that. Unfortunately, I’m not the one that is directly involved in making it. I’m just the leader in the underground movement against Rose. I’m sure the exact nature of the drug is never revealed to me because it wouldn’t make sense as I’m not a doctor,” Jeremy said.

“What about the people in your underground movement? If you can track one of the doctors that helped, he may be a precognitive that knows the formula,” Emily suggested. “After all, precognition is one of the most common abilities.”

“I’m pretty sure that most of the people weren’t part of the psychic network. They were non-telepaths,” Jeremy said. “But that’s worth a shot.”

“Surely there’s some way we can convince Elizabeth to leave this place. We can’t just let Rose kill her,” Kate said.

“We can’t stay and confront Rose. We wouldn’t stand a chance,” Emily said.

Jeremy turned the key to start the engine but nothing happened. He tried again but the engine wouldn’t start. A sudden flare of panic erupted in him. He looked up and saw the same emotion reflected in the eyes of the others.

“Something’s wrong,” Emily said sharply.

“Rose is already here,” Kate whispered. “We barely missed her in the original timeline but when I saw Elizabeth was in danger, it caused us to delay just long enough for her to catch up.”

Rose and Kevin cut across the neighbor’s lawn toward them. Jeremy tried starting the car one more time before stepping outside to confront them. Rose’s crazed eyes bore into his as she stopped a short distance away from him. Emily, Skylar, and Kate took up positions on both sides of him in a protective stance.

“You’re a bunch of fools,” Rose said coldly. “You made this entirely too easy for me.”

Even though Jeremy knew the end of his life was imminent, a strange sense of calm settled over him. He regarded her with an appraising look, wondering if there was any weakness he could exploit. He tapped into his intuitive powers and pulled hard at the inner strength of his psychic talents. His pupils dilated until his eyes were completely black. Emily was doing the same thing. A sudden gust of wind whipped over them and Jeremy sensed a concentration of heat. Instinctively, he realized that Rose was using one of her abilities to try to burn him alive. He pushed back against this talent and managed to keep the attack from manifesting. Kevin added his own efforts but Emily silently offered her protection as well. Rose quickly focused her attack and Jeremy had to push more forcefully to prevent it. He strained as the attack continued then abruptly stopped. Rose’s strength hadn’t waned but she was tired of spending too much time to kill him.

Jeremy used the opportunity to tap into his intuition again. He needed to think of a way of stopping her. This was his last chance. Abruptly, a painful pressure constricted his throat. He struggled to breath but found he couldn’t. Jeremy pushed back against Rose’s new attack and felt Emily’s assistance. Kate and Skylar telepathically joined with Jeremy which helped strengthened him just a little. Jeremy found he could draw breath now but the pressure against his throat and lungs still bore down threateningly. He wouldn’t be able to hold off the attack for much longer.

Images of Rose flashed in his mind. He could see her sitting down in plain clothes gazing sightlessly out of the window. Her body had been like an empty shell with no mind. Her thoughts had whipped in a mad, tangled, twisted whirlwind with no coherency. Jeremy suddenly couldn’t breathe again. He weakly struggled to defend himself against Rose’s and Kevin’s attack but it was hopeless now. Blackness crept along the edges of his vision and he felt Emily’s comforting presence retreating. A sense of betrayal slammed into him for just a split second before he realized it was the most logical act his sister could do. She would need the strength to fight Rose once Jeremy was dead. His knees hit the pavement and Skylar knelt down to hold him upright. Jeremy didn’t have much time left. Suddenly, the constriction against his throat and lungs left.

Jeremy’s vision cleared and he greedily drew in deep, painful breaths of air. He saw Rose lying on her back and swiftly picking herself up. Emily had knocked her backward with a burst of telekinesis. It had taken Rose completely by surprise and she’d lost her concentration. Her crazed black eyes honed in on Emily who was now the main focus of her attack. Jeremy felt the sudden burst of psychic energy. Emily didn’t have much time. Abruptly, Jeremy was struck with an idea that came to him with a burst of intuitive insight. He focused on Rose’s connection to the psychic network. He traced the dark, disturbing links of energy that linked her to them and abruptly cut them away. In an instant, Rose was completely separated from the psychic network.

She gasped in shock and the black of her eyes shrank to reveal the piercing green of her irises. The flat, cold, emotionless pit of her eyes was replaced by fury and madness.

“I’m going to burn you alive!” she shrieked.

Kevin turned to regard her with surprise as he was taken aback by the lack of emotional control. Rose’s gaze bore into Jeremy’s as her hands balled into fists and a flare of psychic energy welled around her. It was much weaker than the power she had controlled less than a moment ago and instead of manifesting, the energy quickly waned and flickered out of existence. Rose stumbled and fell backward. She lay flat on her back gazing sightlessly up into the sky as her mind quickly reverted to its former state before she’d joined a psychic network.

“What did you do?” Kevin shrieked furiously.

Twin lightning bolts burst from both of his hands and shot toward Jeremy. He quickly halted the approach of the attack and concentrated on repelling them. After several seconds, the lightning fizzled out. Jeremy swiftly cut off Kevin’s connection to the psychic network. Kevin gasped and drew in several deep breaths as his body spasmed. His black eyes converted to their normal brown color and his power quickly fizzled out to normal levels. He pointed his hands at Jeremy to unleashed more lightning. His electrokinetic talent spurted uncontrollably and fizzled out. Several small flashes of blue lights flared from the palm of his hands but he couldn’t directly enough energy to launch an attack. Blood trickled from his nose and his body jerked several more times. His mind desperately reached out toward them and groped clumsily in an attempt to link but no one was willing.

His body jerked uncontrollably and he flopped onto the ground like a fish out of water. He died less than a moment later.

“What happened to them?” Skylar asked with a mixture of fear, astonishment and relief.

“Rose’s mind was dependant on the connection to the psychic network. Without it, she returned back to her former existence. She’s no longer cognizant of the world around her. With Kevin, I’m not sure what happened,” Jeremy said.

“I know what happened,” Emily said woodenly. “It’s what would happen to any telepath or multipath whose abilities had stabilized once they became a part of the psychic network. Once we’re plugged in, we can’t disconnect or we’ll end up sharing the same fate as Kevin. Almost instant death.”

“You mean we’re all dependent on the psychic network to live?” Kate asked with horror.

“Not you but me, Jeremy, and Skylar,” Emily said.

Kate’s horrified gaze fixed on Kevin’s lifeless form and she shuddered.

“It might not always be this way. Generations from now, we may evolve to the point where multipaths are common and there’s no need to be linked with others,” Emily said.

Epilogue

As was common at the end of a work day, a surge of satisfaction over a job well done rushed over Emily as she logged off of her computer.  Skylar ambled into the room to check in on her. It had become a habit with him shortly after the two of them started dating several weeks ago.

“I’m almost ready to go,” Emily thought to him.

She jotted down a few notes on her notebook that she kept on her desk and tucked it away in one of her drawers. It had been almost a year since Rose was returned to Evergreen Terrace Center and in that time, society was stabilizing and people were growing accustomed to their new psychic abilities. Jeremy’s talent had been dubbed connectivity psi and those who possessed this rare talent were valuable commodities. Phoenix Enterprises managed to acquire two such talents in addition to Jeremy while Psi-Tech employed five with several European companies employing several. Emily reflected on the feeling of freedom and safety that she now enjoyed. Every time she glimpsed the future, there wasn’t a trace of the mortal danger that had plagued her relentlessly for so many years.

Emily’s eyes misted with tears as a sudden series of visions flashed sporadically in her mind of her future with Skylar and their children’s future as well as her brother’s life and children. She’d never seen so far ahead before and the beauty and joy of those moments overwhelmed her.

“Are you all right?” Skylar regarded her with concern.

“I’m just fantastic.” Emily leveled a warm smile at him. “You wouldn’t believe what I saw. I saw our families in the future. Everything’s going to be different. There’s going to come a time very soon when everyone’s a telepath. It will be like an entirely new world.”

“It’s already an entirely new world,” Skylar said wryly.

“Even more so in a few generations,” Emily advised. “And I’ve seen our descendant’s futures. There are some that could use a little help. I think I’m going to make some journals for these people to help guide them through difficult time periods.”

“That would be a huge undertaking.”

Emily grinned with excitement. “I know. But I have some ideas on how to keep my predictions accurate in spite of how things tend to change.”

“If anyone can do it, you can. But I don’t think we should delve too deeply in our own destinies. Let’s leave ourselves a few surprises.”

“I can handle that,” Emily agreed.

She and Skylar left the building with a sense of giddy anticipation. It was thrilling to have her entire life to look forward to.

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The following pages are a preview of the next installment of the

Winters Family Psi Chronicles,

Project Onyx

Chapter 1

As often as the recurring nightmares afflicted him, Brian would have thought he’d become accustomed to them. Instead, he found himself just as disturbed as always when he abruptly awakened in his dark bedroom. Fear clawed at his gut as a black mist in the shape of a man floated over him for several seconds before dissipating. Brian took a deep, cleansing breath and turned to gaze at the readout on his digital alarm clock which told him it was only a little after three in the morning. He closed his eyes and willed himself to relax and go back to sleep. He reminded himself that the black mist had been only an illusion spurred on by the nightmare. Finally, he drifted off to sleep but his alarm blared soon after. He reached out with his hand and slammed the snooze bar.

The tinkling of mini wind chimes drifted to his ears, indicating his older sister was already awake. Brian lay back in bed as exhaustion drew him back to sleep but the alarm went off again. He turned off the alarm and reluctantly got out of bed as it was after six and he needed all the time to prepare for the day. Brian turned on the light and sat down on the office chair at his desk. He set the oven timer for forty minutes and assessed the condition of his mental shields. As a level ten empath, his psychic strength was off the charts and it was imperative that he maintain a constant mental barricade to prevent his ability from overwhelming him. He was dismayed but not surprised to find his protection almost completely eroded. He always had the nightmares when he struggled with maintaining a strong enough mental barricade to keep his empathy under control. All the high level talents on his mother’s side of the family suffered from the same recurring bad dreams and theorized that they were a warning of possible psychic burnout which for a level ten talent would lead to death.

Brian would often suffer from this recurring problem for just one or two days before recovering but this time, it had dragged on for over a week. He forced his fear aside and immediately set to work on strengthening his shielding. Unfortunately, he could tell it wasn’t helping much. When the timer went off, he was still exhausted and the mental barricades were still extremely weak. He dreaded going to school today and suffering the deluge of emotional energy imbalances that his peers and teachers suffered. When he finished showering and dressing, his older sister was already almost finished with her breakfast and coffee. Amy smiled amiably at him as she took another sip of her coffee. Her hazel eyes conveyed a cheerful mood and her slightly dampened, long blond hair flowed freely over her shoulders. Her bowl of oatmeal shuffled restlessly from side to side and the three empty chairs at the table fidgeted as though alive and afflicted with ADHD. Amy was a level ten telekinetic so it was a rare experience to find her surroundings quiet and still. Her psychic energy sent constant twinges of pain in his forehead, chest, and gut. When his psionic shield was this weak, everyone caused him pain except for other level ten empaths.

“Good morning.” Amy offered a pleasant smile.

“Hey sis,” Brian said as he fought off another yawn.

Amy took another assessing look at her younger brother.

“You look exhausted.” Amy’s brows furrowed with concern.

Brian ignored the comment as he crossed the room and poured himself a bowl of cereal. Even though he and his sister possessed off the charts psychic ability, their telepathic strength was well below average so they couldn’t sense the condition of other people’s mental barricades. Their father, Paul, unexpectedly emerged in the kitchen and overheard his sister’s remark.

“You’ve been having problems for about a week. I’m getting concerned,” Paul said.

He was medium set, and clean-shaven with short, wavy brown hair and hazel eyes, and wore a blue polo shirt and black pants. His level six telepathic ability was average with level five empathy that made him a perfect fit for his job. His proximity intensified the twinges of pain that stirred in Brian. Brian felt his father gently probe his mental shielding.

“Dad, stop it.” Brian’s lips curved in an irritable frown.

“Did you spend forty minutes on strengthening your shielding?” Paul asked with concern.

“Yes.” Brian disliked his vulnerabilities being so exposed. He wished he shared just the average telepathic ability like everyone else even if he had to give up his empathy. Brian could clearly sense his father’s and sister’s anxiety over his current condition.

“We’re going to need to take you to a shielding specialist.”

“No!” Brian said forcefully. He hated the invasive feeling of a level ten telepath working on his mind and knew that while the individual worked, they could sense a lot more of Brian’s thoughts than he cared to share. It wasn’t that he had any dark secrets but the intrusion on his privacy and allowing a stranger access to all his innermost thoughts disturbed and embarrassed him.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Paul said. “And you could die if this leads to psychic burnout.”

A moment later, an unnatural sense of calm stole over Brian as his father’s empathy washed over him. Brian angrily pushed away the psychic energy that his father flowed to him even as his body instinctively welcomed the reprieve.

“Stop it!” Brian said heatedly. “I’m not your patient!”

“I’m just trying to help you.” Paul regarded his son with concern.

Brian noticed that the chairs were fidgeting harder now and some of the cupboard doors were flapping wildly as Amy watched her brother with anxiety. Guilt slammed into him as he sensed her sympathy for him as well as her anxiety over his condition. Paul’s similar emotions blared at Brian like a foghorn. He swallowed as more guilt rose in him. He allowed the mental healing energy of his father to flow over him.

“I’m sorry.” Brian threw him an apologetic look. “I don’t mean to take it out on you.”

“We know.” Amy stood up and patted him affectionately on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”

She left the room and a quiet stillness immediately settled over them.

“Maybe you should stay home,” Paul suggested.

“I’ll be all right, Dad,” Brian said. “I feel like I’m struggling already and I’ve got a couple of B minuses. You know what happens if I get a C or lower in anything.”

Paul nodded gravely but Brian could sense a burst of quick mental laughter. “Your mother made it very clear she would revoke your car privileges if that should ever happen.”

Teresa had purchased a car for both her children on the condition that they maintained at least a B in all their classes. She made it very clear that she would immediately take it back if they failed to meet their end of the bargain. Once they graduated from high school, they received permanent ownership of their cars. Until then, the title was still in her name. Teresa was a consultant for the military with top-secret clearance. Her work often took her away from home for extended periods of time. All level ten psychics were required to work for the government as their numbers were limited and their strength made them dangerous. Shortly after the Catastrophe of 2018 which had eventually resulted in an entire world of telepaths as well as a myriad of other psychic abilities, chaos had threatened to tear apart society. Governments had quickly mandated regulations to control powerful talents in order to maintain order. The average telepath was a level five and the maximum capacity that current technology could detect and measure was a level ten. Most people exhibited a secondary ability while there were rare individuals called multipaths who had more than one. For some reason, multipaths always demonstrated level ten strength in all their abilities.

Almost everyone chose to link telepathically to the worldwide psychic network, called the Global Net, which greatly augmented their strength. Only a handful of individuals, mostly religious fanatics, chose to remain telepathically isolated from society and to form their own smaller networks. Even though only about twelve percent of the population possessed the gift and curse of a level ten ability, it tended to run in families. Teresa’s family had more than their share of powerful psychics. Brian envied his mother and his sister. From what he’d observed, their abilities never turned against them although it was always a possibility with their strength.

Brian hastily finished his breakfast and prepared for school. By the time he slipped behind the wheel of his blue sedan he was already running late. He managed to arrive to his first class literally seconds before the bell rang. His first class was the most boring and monotonous but the least stressful as well as the easiest to pass. Brian didn’t have to study much because if you took notes well, it was almost a guaranteed A if you just read them over once. He squirmed in his chair as the emotions of his peers screamed at him. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and his breathing spiked and his body’s survival instincts kicked in. Because he was a level ten empath, he could vividly feel the emotional state as well as the energy of the emotional imbalances of anyone around him. The weaker his mental barricade, the stronger the stimuli. The psychic input that bombarded virtually all level ten psychics awakened the survival instincts and created a visceral reaction that was practically impossible to ignore which necessitated powerful shielding to prevent this from happening in the first place.

Sometimes, the abilities of level ten psychics became too much for the human body to handle which the medical community referred to as psychic burnout. Brian fervently hoped this wasn’t the case because there was no way to combat it other than with the aid of shielding specialists which were psychologists with level ten telepathy. Even this approach wasn’t a surefire way to prevent psychic burnout. As the day progressed, Brian found it increasingly difficult to concentrate as everyone’s anger, irritation, giddiness, happiness, boredom, passion, love, and depression relentlessly prodded at his mind. His third class for the day was algebra and he sat near the back of the room next to his best friend, Derek.

“How’s it going?” Derek said.

Brian hesitated because his friend’s turmoil twisted his gut.

“You and Amy have been talking about me.” Brian forced himself to adopt a neutral expression on his face.

Normally, he would have kept this discovery to himself but he didn’t concern himself about such niceties when everyone’s emotions were constantly beating at his senses and exhaustion had seeped into his body. Brian still harbored mixed feelings about his best friend and his sister dating. They had believed they were hiding it from him for over two weeks but he’d known all along. Because Derek shared the same ability as Brian, he should have known better than to think he could keep it a secret. The energy that sizzled and exploded between him and Amy was impossible to ignore. Brian had pretended not to notice for over two weeks as they had snuck around nervously behind his back. One day, he’d finally told them they made a great couple and the tension had released like a damn bursting.