Winters Family Psi Chronicles 1: Transformation (13 page)

Emily woke up abruptly and checked the time. It was shortly after five. She sensed that her life was in danger but had no idea where the threat lay. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as panic gripped her. She turned on the lights, grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen so she could jot down as much information as she could remember about her vision. Unfortunately, she knew very little. She tried falling back asleep but the troubling sense of danger loomed over her. Emily finally gave up on going back to bed. She took a quick shower, dressed, and made her way to her office downstairs. She typed a report and submitted it to Julie and her brother. Emily looked over the calendar to see the appointments that were already made and wondered if it was possible to keep up on them.

Emily tried to look ahead in the future to see if she could discern specific important events that would lead to Psi-Tech’s altered future. Unfortunately, she couldn’t glean anything useful. Julie arrived unexpectedly which made Emily realize how much time had passed as she glanced over at the clock that showed it was a little after seven.

“I didn’t realize you were such an early bird,” Julie said.

“I had nightmares,” Emily said.

“Yes, I saw your report,” Julie said gravely. “Nathan sent me a report with the same vision. Unfortunately, he didn’t see any details that we could track. He had a couple of brief impressions of Kevin like you did. Kevin was working with somebody it seemed but he couldn’t get an image.”

“I didn’t see that report,” Emily said musingly.

“He copied you,” Julie said. “Have you checked your email recently?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve been trying to get more details and lost track of time.” Emily glanced down and saw that she did indeed have an email from Nathan, the only precognitive in her department. “Thank you for letting me know.”

“Of course,” Julie said. “Breakfast has arrived if you’re hungry. It’s going to be a long day.”

“Yes, it is,” Emily agreed.

“I’d like for you to set aside short periods of time where you will be unavailable for calls so you can focus on Psi-Tech’s future to try and determine what’s going on over there,” Julie said.

“Sure.”

“And tell Nathan to do the same thing. I know that we’re completely booked up but I’ve got a bad feeling about your visions,” Julie said.

Chapter 14

Rose gazed sightlessly out the window of her room as she sat motionless in the chair. She spent most of her waking hours in this position. Her eyes focused and she sat up straighter. She took stock of her surroundings then rose to her feet and crossed the room. She pulled out an envelope, a pen, and a sheet of paper from the pile she’d stashed underneath the bed. She had used her ability to make one of the orderlies give her these supplies then forget that he’d done it. She wrote a brief message for George Hendricks to let him know that his psychic network had the ability to link with telepaths and that it would greatly benefit him to advertise to help those telepaths who suffered from abilities that were too strong to control. Phoenix Enterprises didn’t yet have the resources to advertise outside their local area but Psi-Tech could create television commercials across the entire country. They would achieve unspeakable power in a very short period of time and were no longer threatened by the telepaths.

At the end of the letter, Rose signed with a backwards R next to an infinity symbol which was how she’d been communicating anonymously to George Hendricks for a couple of years. She had given him enough advice to earn his trust and hopefully he would jump on the information she provided in this letter. All of her carefully laid plans would come to fruition soon. There were a couple of threats that had popped up but she could take care of them fairly easily. First, she needed to get this letter in the mail. Rose folded the note and sealed it an envelope with George Hendrick’s address. She used her electrokinesis to shut down the power in the entire facility which would prevent any surveillance cameras in the hallway to record Rose’s apparent lucidity. She stepped toward the door which opened of its own accord and happened to find Ken. She immediately flooded his mind with a powerful stream of psychic energy. He froze and stared at her in horror. He tried to escape but couldn’t. He was the most resistant out of all the staff members at the facility to her mind control.

Rose wished she would have found an easier target. She concentrated on his mind until she was certain that he was under her complete control.

“Take this letter and immediately put a stamp on it then take it to the drop box outside. Don’t let anyone see you do it. Once you come back inside here, you will forget we had this conversation and that you mailed the letter,” Rose said forcefully. “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Ken said.

“Go,” Rose ordered.

She watched Kevin walk away before returning to her room and closing the door. She felt her consciousness leaving Rose’s body and knew her visit would end soon. She quickly surveyed the room to make sure she hadn’t left any clues to what she’d done then sat down in the chair. When her consciousness seeped away, Rose’s gaze lost focus and she hunched forward slightly.

Chapter 15

Business over the last couple of days had dropped off considerably at Phoenix Enterprises as Psi-Tech had launched a heavy advertising campaign to attract new telepaths to their psychic network. Emily had been flabbergasted when she’d first heard the news but her visions now made sense regarding Psi-Tech’s new improved status in the future. They already had several large facilities in three different states and enough money to advertise everywhere in the country. If Julie, Jeremy, and Emily couldn’t think of a way to increase their own network soon, there would be no way to compete. Emily already believed it to be a hopeless cause but her brother was determined to find a solution. Now that business had dropped off, Emily had more time to study Psi-Tech’s future. Unfortunately, she had learned very little as events kept altering drastically.

Somehow, Psi-Tech must have gotten hold of a powerful precognitive that knew exactly how to change events that benefited their company. In several years, it looked like Psi-Tech would actually seize control of the government. Emily hadn’t realized the senior management was quite that ambitious. She was currently working in her office with Jeremy seated across the room at his desk. She could feel his concerned gaze on her and looked up to smile reassuringly.

“Don’t worry,” she said.

“I can’t help but worry,” Jeremy said. “I’m getting a sense that you’re somehow in danger.”

“We all are,” Emily said.

“Something’s wrong,” Jeremy said with alarm.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s Nathan,” Jeremy said.

He could sense a disturbing ripple emanating from Nathan’s position in the psychic network. He telepathically alerted Julie who asked him to meet her at his office. Emily followed Jeremy down the hall to Nathan’s small, tidy office. He was slumped forward against his desk unconscious. A powerful disruption suddenly exploded around Nathan’s position in the psychic network. Jeremy didn’t sense the same effect coming from his sister until she began to pass out. He caught her before she collapsed and Julie burst into the room. She quickly took in the situation and knelt beside Jeremy to get a closer look at Emily.

“What’s going on?” Julie said sharply.

“Some sort of psychic disruption,” Jeremy said slowly as he tried to puzzle out the cause of this dangerous phenomenon.

“Can you help them?” Julie asked.

“I don’t know.” Jeremy frowned at his sister with concern and tentatively reached out with his mind to ascertain her condition. “She has some sort of shield around her. I can’t get through without possibly hurting her.”

“We should get them to the hospital,” Julie said.

“No, they would be in danger there,” Jeremy said as his intuition kicked in. “They were both attacked at a psychic level.”

“Psi-Tech,” Julie said sharply.

“I believe so. It’s the only explanation,” Jeremy said.

“It must be because of their precognitive abilities,” Julie said musingly. “They’re perceived as a threat because they might be able to discover what’s going on at Psi-Tech.”

“I’m going to get Emily back to her room and see if I can find a way to help her,” Jeremy said.

“Good idea. I’ll have Nathan brought to his room as well,” Julie said.

Jeremy carried his sister to her room and found Kate waiting for them. Apparently, Julie had informed her of what had happened. Unshed tears welled in Kate’s eyes as she took in Emily’s condition.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Kate whispered with anguished despair.

“She’s going to be fine,” Jeremy said reassuringly.

He gently laid Emily on her bed as Kate anxiously hovered nearby.

“How do you know that?” Kate asked. “It’s like I got her back for a week and when I finally get to see her, she’s dying.”

“She’s not dying,” Jeremy said. “I see her waking up but I can’t tell when.”

Kate blinked at him in surprise and nodded slowly. “Yes, I see it too. I guess there is an advantage to being a precognitive.”

“Definitely,” Jeremy said.

“Julie thinks this is an attack by Psi-Tech,” Kate said shakily. “How can we protect ourselves?”

“I don’t know. We should take a moment to try and see if anything like this is going to happen within the next couple of days. I’m not good at pinpointing precise events like that so I’m not sure how effective I’ll be.”

“Okay.”

They lapsed into silence which dragged on for quite awhile before Jeremy gave up.

“I don’t see any attacks and it looks like they’re both going to wake up on their own,” Jeremy said.

“Yes, that’s what I see. But how do we know that there aren’t attacks that we just aren’t seeing?” Kate asked.

“There’s no certainty but I can safely say the likelihood is minimal,” Jeremy said.

“I’ll watch over Emily if you need to get back to work,” Kate said.

“I really should,” Jeremy said reluctantly.

Even though work had dropped off, scheduling was still very tight and they couldn’t afford to lose any clients to Psi-Tech. At the end of the day, Jeremy tried to one more time to see what was causing the future to alter for Psi-Tech. He focused his will on seeing the details but they remained elusive. His pupils dilated until there was only a sliver of color in his eyes and the temperature in the room plummeted. His hands flew over the keyboard as he searched online for random key words that flashed in his mind. He was no longer tapping into his precognitive ability but had turned to his intuition. He blinked in surprise when he found several listings for psychic research companies. They were located in California, New York, and New Jersey. Jeremy clicked on the company based in California called Psychic Parallels. This company hadn’t received any press attention and had started up yesterday. Somehow, these new companies were linked to what was happening with Psi-Tech. Julie unexpectedly entered the room and strolled over to him.

“I don’t expect you to work clear through the night just because we’re partners,” Julie said teasingly.

“I was trying to see what was going on at Psi-Tech,” Jeremy said. “I intuitively received keywords for an online search and discovered there are three new psychic research companies like ourselves and Psi-Tech.”

“Really?” Julie asked sharply. “Are they subsidiaries of Psi-Tech?”

“No, they are owned by individuals and haven’t received any publicity. They’re advertising online. The closest one to us is in California. I think we need to check them out.”

“Is it your intuition?” Julie studied him appraisingly.

“Yes. I feel they are somehow linked with what is going on,” Jeremy said.

“Interesting,” Julie said musingly. “I would like you to go with Emily when she wakes up.”

“Okay.” Jeremy was relieved she hadn’t asked him to go immediately because he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to leave his sister in her current condition.

“I hired four more telepaths who can help us keep up with our work load. I’m sure I’ll continue to recruit a small number of people,” Julie said.

“I’m surprised they would choose to live here when they don’t know the danger that Psi-Tech poses,” Jeremy said.

“I’m letting them live here rent free while they work for us but it’s not a requirement. They’ll look for a home in the area. The salary I’m offering is very generous so we’re definitely going to attract new staff members,” Julie said.

“I wonder how we can possibly compete with Psi-Tech,” Jeremy said.

“If new companies like us begin to pop up everywhere, we won’t have to compete with them on our own. There will be plenty of competition. It may take the heat off us but I’m definitely going to want to learn how they’re linked with Psi-Tech,” Julie said. She smiled encouragingly at him. “I’ve got good news. Our psychic network has expanded to include over six hundred members.”

“That’s great news!” Jeremy exclaimed.

“Yes, it is.”

He checked in on Emily before getting a bite to eat. She was still unconscious and Kate was with her. Kate said she’d already eaten and preferred to stay with Emily so Jeremy went to find Skylar. The two of them went to the eating area for dinner and decided on sweet and sour chicken since they were tired of pizza.

“So how are things going? I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since yesterday,” Jeremy said.

“I’m okay. I visited Emily a couple of times during breaks. Kate said she’s definitely going to be okay. She saw her waking up in the near future. Is that what you saw?” Skylar asked with concern.

Evidently he didn’t share as much faith in Kate’s precognitive abilities as he did Jeremy’s.

“Yes, she’s going to be fine,” Jeremy said reassuringly.

He explained to Skylar what he’d learned about the new psychic research companies.

“I’m surprised that they would start up so quickly,” Skylar said. “It takes money to start up a business.”

“Yes, it does. I’m really curious about what we’ll find,” Jeremy said.

“I’d like to go, too. If there’s a link with Psi-Tech, it might be a good idea for at least three of us to be there.”

“Sure, you come,” Jeremy said.

After they finished their dinner, they checked in on Emily who was still lying unconscious. Kate paced back and forth in the room.

“I can’t take it for much longer,” Kate said.

“It’ll be okay,” Jeremy said.

They waited in silence as time dragged on. Jeremy sensed something strange and reached out with his mind to identify the phenomenon. After a moment, he realized that faint, dissonant ripples shuddered through the psychic network. Jeremy wondered how he could stop them. They weren’t doing any damage at the moment but that could change. He theorized that this may have preceded the first psychic attack that had immobilized Emily but that he hadn’t noticed. Abruptly, the dissonant ripples focused onto specific targets. Someone’s mind screamed in agony and Jeremy pushed back against the attacker. The target abruptly change and new destructive waves of dissonance energy crashed through the network. Jeremy tracked the new target but before he could intervene, it switched again. He quickly reached out to find the new victim but wasn’t fast enough. Fortunately, he had so far prevented anyone from losing consciousness.

Jeremy continued to pursue the attacker and at the same time tried to develop a strategy of locating him quicker. Whoever was doing this possessed a psychic imprint that was very familiar.

“Julie, I need some help,” Jeremy said telepathically.

“What do you need?” she said.

“Someone is attacking different people in our network. I need help locating him quickly and pushing him out when he attacks,” Jeremy said.

“I think that some remote-viewers would come in handy,” Julie said. “I’ll contact them to coordinate efforts with you to track down the intruder.”

“Okay. If you think that will work,” Jeremy said doubtfully.

“It’s the best course of action,” Julie said crisply.

A group of telepaths met with Jeremy and he directed them to the next target when it occurred. They were successfully in helping to push back against the intruder when the next assault came. Following the same behavior as before, the attacker instantly retreated when they intervened.

“Did anyone track him down?” Jeremy asked.

“We see him,” two of the remote-viewers responded. “He’s at Psi-Tech in Seattle. We’re trying to see if we can ID him.”

“Show me what he looks like,” Jeremy instructed.

A very familiar image popped in his mind’s eye. Jeremy quickly identified the teenager as Kevin, the one who had visited the building earlier from Psi-Tech. He seethed with anger as he remembered Sharon’s reassurance that they wouldn’t attack. He telepathically relayed what he’d learned to Julie. Julie informed him she was going to call Sharon immediately. Jeremy doubted it would do any good so he instructed the remote-viewers to guide him to Kevin. They hesitated before complying with his order. An office materialized in Jeremy’s mind as he located the attacker. Kevin sat in a cushioned, black chair at a black desk with his hands planted on its surface. His black eyes were open and a distinct chill permeated the room.

Jeremy focused on pushing against Kevin’s mind in an instinctive attack. Kevin had obviously sensed his presence because he instantly blocked it and aimed a powerful stream of dissonant energy at him. It was much stronger than the earlier attacks and Jeremy instinctively retreated back to his body. Unfortunately, Kevin managed to follow him and continue the assault. Pain wracked through Jeremy’s body as he struggled to ward off the stream of psychic energy piercing into him. For some reason he couldn’t protect himself. Jeremy abruptly changed tactics and fought back instead of defending himself. Kevin was caught off balance and Jeremy took advantage of the surprise by pushing him roughly away.

Julie burst into the room to see if he was all right. Jeremy sagged against the wall as his legs threatened to collapse. Fatigue swamped through his body and he stumbled over to the bed to sit down. He’d successfully inflicted some damage to Kevin but had also suffered quite a bit himself.

“Are you going to be all right?” Julie asked.