Winters Family Psi Chronicles 1: Transformation (4 page)

Emily waited patiently for the return of a remote-viewer. When she sensed someone locking onto her position, she pushed against the intruder. The individual slipped and flailed about in confusion as Emily continued to obstruct the psychic lock. After a moment, Emily’s head throbbed with pressure and she wondered if she’d be able to successfully utilize this particular defensive technique. It was rather simple but it would have been better if she were endowed with stronger telepathic ability. Finally, the tracker gave up and the pressure in her skull immediately eased. Emily was silently congratulating herself on this minor success when she sensed the tracker’s return. She braced herself and swiftly pushed back against the intruder. After a moment, she could tell that this was a different remote-viewer than the one she’d just blocked. Emily took a deep breath as the pressure in her head returned more quickly this time because she was still fatigued from the last ordeal. The pain quickly intensified and fatigue washed through her body. Emily took deep breaths and forced herself to remain focused. Again, she succeeded in fending off the intrusion. Both remote-viewers had failed to observe her or her surroundings.

Emily wondered how long it would take for them to try again. She rested for several more moments then peeked into the future. Emily saw herself running from her car which had two flat tires in the back. She dashed toward the woods at the side of the freeway. A blue sedan screeched to a halt as a man in the passenger seat leaned out and shot her three times in the back. Emily’s body slammed into the grass as the shooter leapt out of the vehicle and approached her. After he verified she was dead, he rushed back to the car and it sped away. Emily’s heart raced and adrenaline pumped through her veins as she snapped out of the vision. Because she hadn’t been able to check the time, she couldn’t be sure exactly when this would occur. Unfortunately, this proved that her current plan would fail.

Chapter 4

It was late in the evening by the time Emily parked her blue sedan in front of a medium-sized white house with neatly trimmed shrubbery, a healthy lawn, and a double garage. The owners of this home, Ryan and Julie Saunders, were both destined to become great leaders in the future. After the transformation, Julie had become a level six telepath. Emily wasn’t sure how long it would take for her to figure out how to employ her new psychic ability but generally speaking, telepathy was easy to identify. Emily knew she couldn’t elude her stalkers so she’d decided to warn the two telepaths who lived in Richmond Heights whose names she’d memorized. Her original plan had been to try to save her brother first then to warn a bunch of telepaths in different cities in the Seattle area about Psi Tech. Unfortunately, Emily’s precognition showed her that no matter what route she took, once she left Richmond Heights, the security operatives from Psi Tech would track her down and execute her. She’d temporarily held her fate at bay by remaining in the city and focusing all her attention on blocking the remote-viewers so they couldn’t lock onto her position. She found it exceedingly difficult but always managed to succeed as long as she pulled off the road so she could divert her entire focus and psychic energy on telepathically fending off the trackers.

Emily had hoped she would be able to thwart Psi Tech’s plans for the future but they were a large company and too powerful. At least she had managed to experience a partial day of freedom and perhaps by warning Julie and the other telepath in Richmond Heights, Tim, she would change the outcome in a positive albeit minor way. If just two very important people could evade Psi Tech, perhaps the future wasn’t completely lost. Emily purposefully approached Ryan and Julie’s house as her thoughts churned chaotically. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure what she should say to convince this young couple that they needed to flee and change their identities. They would probably think she was one of those crazies who proclaimed the end of the world was at hand. Emily reached out to knock on the front door which unexpectedly opened. Julie was a young woman in her mid twenties, short, and medium-set with brown eyes, an aquiline nose, and curly black hair. She wore a bright purple dress and smiled warmly.

“Emily, what an interesting surprise,” Julie said.

Emily gaped at her with astonishment but quickly composed herself. Ryan took up a position beside his wife. He was only slightly taller than her with black hair, brown eyes and a wary expression on his face.

“Do you know her?” Ryan asked.

“No but she’s kind of like me,” Julie said.

“In what way?” Ryan said.

“She’s psychic. I think she has telepathy like me.”

“Yes, I do but it’s only a secondary ability. You’re stronger,” Emily said.

“Secondary ability? What’s your primary ability?” Julie gazed at her with open curiosity.

“Precognition.” Emily took a deep breath as she prepared herself to convince these people it was time to go. “I’ve come to warn you that you’re in grave danger. There’s a company called Psi Tech whose been aware of psychics for a long time. They knew the electric storm would come and transform virtually everyone into a psychic.”

“Everybody?” Ryan asked with frank disbelief. “I don’t feel any different.”

“Many people’s abilities won’t show up right away but many will. There has always been a small number of psychics but the electric storm somehow caused an evolutionary transformation in everyone around the world,” Emily said.

“You’ve been a prisoner of Psi Tech for many years but now you feel you’re going to die no matter what you do. You think I’m in danger because I’m a telepath,” Julie said. Her eyes widened in horror as she picked up more dire thoughts. “Psi Tech plans on murdering every single telepath.”

Emily was at a complete loss for words. She hadn’t expected this conversation to unfold so easily.

“This is crazy!” Ryan cut in.

“No, it’s the truth,” Julie said.

“I have to leave. You know what to do,” Emily said.

“Wait!” Julie exclaimed. “You can’t go now! We need to talk!”

“If I stay any longer, I’m putting you in danger.”

“I’m already in danger. Knowledge is power and I need to know more. You’re going to tell me about the future. You were thinking that I’m going to become very important and I need to understand why,” Julie said.

“You don’t understand. There are three remote-viewers tracking me down. I’m not going to be able to block them for very much longer. If I’m still here and they lock onto my position, they’ll know I’ve warned you,” Emily said.

“I’m willing to take the risk. If you don’t spend too much time, the danger I’m in will be at a minimum.”

Emily debated silently with herself as Julie held the door open and regarded her expectantly. Emily sighed with resignation and stepped inside the household. Ryan frowned with disapproval and followed the two of them into the spacious living room. The room was tastefully furnished with cream-colored sofas, a coffee table, a modest entertainment center, and a couple of bookcases.

“Would you like some coffee?” Julie asked.

“Sure. Thanks.” Emily smiled in gratitude. She knew it was selfish to prolong the visit but she was starving and the coffee would help revitalize her. It didn’t take Julie long to return with two large mugs of coffee. She handed one to Emily. Emily inhaled the fragrance appreciatively and as she took a sip, noted that it had just the right amount of cream and sugar.

“I’ve read a lot about psychics. To tell you the truth, parapsychology has always been a fascinating field of study for me. Can you start by explaining the highlights on remote-viewers and telepaths and how they’ll affect the future society?” Julie said.

Ryan folded his arms defensively as he perched on the sofa beside his wife. Emily quickly outlined the major events including the discovery by telepaths that would enable them to become extremely powerful. Julie also questioned her on her own imprisonment and work at Psi Tech as well as their plans for the future. The entire conversation took far longer than Emily had planned on. She had finished her entire mug of coffee and talked Julie’s arm off.

“This is really horrific. Psi-Tech is like the embodiment of evil,” Julie said.

“It sounds that way,” Ryan agreed.

“Tell me. Do the telepaths form one large psychic network among themselves and is it confined to merely telepaths or can psychics whose secondary ability is telepathy join the network as well?”

“Anyone who has level four telepathic ability whether it’s their primary or secondary talent can link with others in the network. Once a network is formed, multiple members of the network can bring a weaker telepath into their group. Before I realized how hopeless my plan was, I had thought I could form a link with Skylar who is an old friend. Unfortunately, he’s a level nine telepath whose ability is too strong to control. Only telepaths who are born with level nine strength can survive. Assuming I would succeed in creating a network connection with Skylar, I had hoped that we may pull my brother into the connection as well,” Emily explained.

Her throat tightened and her eyes misted with unshed tears. She wouldn’t live long enough to see her brother again. Julie’s expression softened and she patted Emily’s hand sympathetically.

“Please tell me about your brother. What’s his name? What’s his ability?” Julie asked.

“His name is Jeremy. He’s a multipath. His psychic power is off the scale. Level nine is the highest that can be measured. Multipaths have more than two abilities. They don’t start out that way. It seems to just happen and once the onset of the symptoms appear, they die within a couple of weeks. The power is too unstable and their brain can’t handle the pressure. In the future, the telepaths have the idea that perhaps multipaths could be saved if they were to become part of the psychic network. I can’t see that far ahead so I don’t know if it’s possible to save my brother,” Emily said shakily. She took a deep, steadying breath as she forced her painful thoughts aside. “It doesn’t matter anyway because I won’t even be able to see him again.”

Julie squeezed her eyes shut and Emily realized she’d become deeply moved by what she’d learned. Guilt stabbed at Emily for troubling her with this burden. She had merely come here to warn Julie of the danger she was in and to leave.

“This is just impossible. I hope you don’t expect us to go into hiding,” Ryan said in a biting tone.

Julie’s eyes remained tightly closed and she ignored her husband completely. He shifted uneasily and didn’t continue to argue with her. Emily suddenly sensed an intrusive presence.

“I’ve stayed too long. A remote-viewer is trying to lock onto me,” she said.

Emily closed her eyes so she could concentrate. She pushed out with her mind against the intruder. Her head immediately pounded with pressure and fatigue as she had been doing this constantly for the entire day. After a moment, she felt an added push coming from elsewhere, aiding in her efforts to prevent the remote-viewer from locking onto her position. Emily’s headache quickly eased since she was no longer expending much psychic energy. When the remote-viewer left, Emily opened her eyes and regarded Julie pensively.

“How did you learn to do that so quickly?” Emily asked.

“I was reading your thoughts and emulating your actions,” Julie explained. “It was a simple exercise. It didn’t take much effort on my part.”

“It isn’t difficult the first few times but when you have to do it repeatedly all day long, it wears you out,” Emily said.

“I can take over with that so you can rest,” Julie said.

“I really should be going now.” Emily hastily stood up from the couch.

“Knowing what a nightmare you’ve been through for all these years, I’d be a lousy leader if I were to let you set out on your own now,” Julie said sardonically.

“I appreciate your kindness but I’m putting you in jeopardy.”

“Nonsense. I’m already in jeopardy because I’m a telepath. Psi-Tech wants me dead. If you want to help me out, you’ll give me some time to think of how better I can strategize to stop them from killing the others,” Julie said.

“It’s impossible. There’s no stopping them,” Emily said sadly.

“Nonsense! I can’t allow them to slaughter thousands of people just so they can become stronger and richer than they already are,” Julie said obstinately. “I want you to take a nap and I’ll stand guard to keep the remote-viewers away.”

Emily shook her head with disbelief. Julie couldn’t possibly believe she could think of some way to defeat Psi-Tech while Emily took a nap. Ryan was regarding his wife with a guarded expression that reflected Emily’s doubts.

“I don’t want any more argument. Let me show you the guest room and you take a nap. When you wake up, you can have a snack before you go gallivanting into the night to warn the other telepaths in Richmond Heights that they’re in danger,” Julie said forcefully.

“All right,” Emily conceded.

She followed Julie to the guestroom then flopped down on top of the bed after her hostess left. Emily stared up at the ceiling and reflected on how luxurious it felt just to lie down and do nothing. It was doubtful she’d be able to drop off to dreamland right after indulging in a cup of coffee but at least she could rest. Soon, she stiffened with alarm as a remote-viewer approached. Before Emily could start her defensive technique, Julie pushed against the intruder and effectively prevented him from achieving a lock. Emily smiled to herself as she realized what a lucky reprieve this was. For Julie to be so adept with her new ability, she must have immediately realized she’d developed telepathy after waking up from the transformation and practiced all day. It must be one of the character traits found in natural-born leaders; to practice and hone any useful skill that would give the individual a tactical advantage. Before Emily realized what was happening, she drifted off to sleep.

Emily awakened in the morning and abruptly sat bolt-upright in bed when she realized she’d dozed off for much longer than several hours. She leapt off the bed to find Julie sitting on the couch in the living room reading a book. She gazed up at Emily with a bright smile and reached out to pick up a journal that rested beside her.

“Good morning,” Julie said.

“Good morning,” Emily said warily. “I thought we agreed that I would take a nap.”

“And so you did,” Julie said flippantly. “It was a long nap but a much needed one.”

“You must be exhausted,” Emily said.

“I could use some sleep but I’ll be fine.” Julie flipped through her journal and jotted something down in it. It was a small book with lined paper and a blue cover. “I’ve been writing down questions as they come to me. We have a lot to discuss. I’d like to get some sleep first though. Ryan is in bed but he’ll be up shortly.”

“You don’t expect me to stay here even longer,” Emily protested.

“Why not? The remote-viewers can’t find you so there is no hope of them discovering where you are, is there?” Julie asked.

“I suppose not,” Emily conceded.

“Help yourself to some coffee in the kitchen. Let me show you where I keep the cereal in the cupboards.” Julie rose from the couch and strode into the kitchen.

She quickly chose a bowl from the cupboards and set it on the counter for Emily then showed her where she kept the cereals.