Winters Family Psi Chronicles 2: Project Onyx (15 page)

“Thanks,” he said.

Derek forced himself not to cringe at the sight and for once Brian seemed oblivious to his emotional reaction. Paul came running from the parking lot and rushed over to them. More kids had gathered to watch.

“Brian, can you stand up?” Paul asked.

“No,” Brian said.

“The ambulance is coming. They’ll be here any minute. I called them before I left,” Paul said.

The principal strode toward them just as Driscol and Hurst came into view. The principal, Mr. Kurs arrived at just the same time as the two FBI agents who broke into a run when they spotted Brian and Paul.

“What happened here?” Mr. Kurs asked gravely.

“Someone attacked him with a psychic weapon of some sort and ran off in the woods over there.” Derek gestured at the woods and the gawkers all turned to look as if ready to see the attacker come charging out of the trees to finish the job he’d started.

“I’ve already called for an ambulance,” Paul said reassuringly. “Brian feels weak but steady. He’ll be fine.”

“Good,” Mr. Kurs said then turned and spoke authoritatively to the crowd of onlookers. “There’s nothing more to see. Go about your business.”

They reluctantly left the vicinity while Hurst intently eyed Brian then turned sharply to Paul.

“Do you know what kind of weapon was used?” Hurst asked sharply.

“No, I don’t,” Paul said.

Hurst turned her back on them and walked a short distance away as she spoke with Morgan.

“Where was your guard when all of this happened?” Paul leveled an accusing gaze at Driscol.

“He was dead,” Driscol said grimly. “Brandon killed him somehow.”

Paul was taken aback by the news and turned back to his son with renewed concern. The ambulance pulled up just as Morgan arrived. He rushed over to Brian and frowned as he scanned him.

“Can you pick up anything?” Hurst asked.

“Yes, he was attacked by a healer,” Morgan said.

“A healer did this?” Mr. Kurs asked with outrage.

“A newly developed healer,” Paul said. “It’s a long story.”

“I expect to hear all about it as soon as Brian is safe,” Mr. Kurs said authoritatively.

“Of course,” Paul said.

Chapter 16

Brian recovered thanks to a healer at the hospital along with supplements administered to him by the medical staff. His psionic shield had weakened along with his physical condition so even though he felt a lot better, his empathic and telepathic senses were wearing him down. He had only spent an hour at the hospital before the doctor had discharged him. He leaned back in his seat on the couch in the living room as his father, Dick, Derek and Amy visited with him.

“I can’t believe they would attack you. Why in the world would they do that?” Dick asked.

“They must think I’m a threat to them somehow,” Brian said.

“Agents Hurst and Driscol want to put us in protective custody. Instead, they’re having at least two agents watching over Brian at all times,” Paul said.

“Don’t let them talk you into protective custody. That really sucks,” Dick said.

“We may not have much of a choice if there are more attacks,” Paul said.

“How are you feeling?” Amy asked with concern.

“Quit asking me that,” Brian said emphatically. “I’m okay.”

“I can’t help it. I’m worried,” Amy said. “If I’d been there, I would have kicked Brandon’s ass.”

“Oh, please,” Dick said derisively.

“I wouldn’t have to raise a hand to do it either,” Amy said grimly.

“You’re not that strong,” Dick said.

The couch shot up into the air and everyone clutched it to keep from falling as it had vaulted straight up by about twenty feet and now hung suspended and motionless.

“You don’t think so?” Amy said sarcastically.

“Knock it off!” Dick said with a sickened expression on his face. There were two primary phobias for him; the first was spiders and the second was heights. Not that he’d ever admit to either one.

“You’ve made your point,” Paul said and looked pointedly at her.

“All right!” Amy exclaimed with exasperation.

She slowly lowered the couch down and Dick rose to his feet and took up a standing position about six feet away. Amy grinned at him mischievously and Paul shot her a warning look.

“I could have done the same thing,” Dick said as he crossed his arms defensively across his chest.

“Why don’t we play darts or something?” Derek suggested.

“Sure. Let’s go,” Dick said.

“Hurst is stopping by tomorrow afternoon to resume our hypnosis sessions. I gave her a good lead this morning but she was too late to find Ashley,” Brian said.

Dick was distracted by this remark and the dart he tossed actually hit the wall beside the target. Amy and Derek chuckled at the sight while Paul tried not to. It was rare to see Dick play like that as he was so competitive.

“I wish you wouldn’t say stuff like that when I’m playing!” Dick said with disgust.

“What do you mean?” Brian asked with confusion.

“Talking about murders and dreams,” Dick said accusingly. “You’re trying to make me mess up.”

“I’m sorry,” Brian said.

Dick threw his last dart which hit dead center and he smiled with satisfaction. It was Derek’s turn next.

“Do you dream about the kidnappers a lot?” Dick asked.

“Just about every night,” Brian said.

“Why do you think that is?”

“The trainer who worked with me at the wellness center said that connectivity psi will get dreams about people who are a threat to them. Since the researchers kidnapped me, my subconscious still views them as a loose end. After Brandon’s attack, I’m sure it’s working overtime to provide me with even more dreams about them,” Brian said.

For a split second Dick looked as though he’d been slapped but his expression turned sympathetic.

“It must be rough having that ability,” Dick said.

“Yes, it is. I’m afraid it may dictate my career choice in the future. Virtually all connectivity psi become investigators as they seem to tune into crimes around them without conscious intent. It’s impossible to ignore it. If they try, they are forced into an investigative line of work eventually,” Brian said. “That’s why I’m going to work for Phoenix Enterprises. It will give me the freedom to do more than one job function so my connectivity psi won’t rule my life. Once I’m connected to the Zen Network, I may not receive so many disturbing dreams.”

“That’s a good decision,” Derek said. “I’m going to work for them, too.”

“You are?” Dick asked with surprise. “Why?”

“I want to feel good and live pain free,” Derek said.

“That just sounds odd,” Dick said disdainfully.

“I might just join them too or I’ll end up working in the military,” Amy said.

“I’m not going to work for them,” Dick said emphatically.

“No one’s asking you to,” Brian said.

“I think they sound like a cult and I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” Dick said scornfully.

“Teresa suspects the same thing but is still thinking about joining them,” Paul said.

Amy took her turn and her score pushed her in the lead with Dick in third place due to his lapse in performance earlier. Their scores were written on the small white eraser board pinned to the other wall. When Dick took his turn, he performed flawlessly with a bull’s eye with every toss. He excused himself to go to the bathroom. When Brian’s turn came, he took his time but was still last place. His head began to throb as his mind whirled with scattered events through his life and the vague sense he was in danger. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on what the ultimate outcome should be as he realized this was his aggregate intuition at work. Unfortunately, his empathic and telepathic senses were adding to the mix and he couldn’t make any sense out of anything. He finally shored up his psionic defenses as best as possible and tried to make everything dormant. It wasn’t working very well. Dick returned just before his turn came up and they continued with the game until Brian announced he was going to lie down for awhile and possibly go to bed early.

Brian brushed his teeth and performed his usual shielding reinforcement as he listened to the subliminal programming music but fell asleep before he finished. He dreamed with jumbled scenes of Amy, Derek, Brandon, Samantha, and Ashley. Everything changed too rapidly for him to make any sense of it until the dreams shifted once again to Samantha. She paced the living room and had just answered her cell phone. Her face was pale with dark shadows etched under her eyes.

“Was your mission successful?” Samantha asked.

“No, Brian managed to block my attack somehow. My abilities were destabilized and weakened temporarily,” Brandon said.

“We can’t let him live knowing that he’ll eventually discover our identities with his connectivity psi. I have some disturbing news to report as well,” Samantha said tightly.

“What is it?”

“Norman is dead. It looks like his electrokinesis somehow turned back on his own body. He was lying in the middle of the floor in his kitchen and he was electrocuted. His body looked like it had been cooked,” Samantha said. “That’s the reason that he hadn’t reported in for so long.”

“We have two really big problems to deal with: Ashley and Brian,” Brandon said crisply. “I don’t think I’ll be able to get close to Brian again now that I tried and failed once. They’ll increase the number of guards. I was lucky that he only had one before.”

“I might be able to take care of Brian. If I can just get within a block of him, I can remain hidden and use my remote-viewing to lock onto him while I use my pyrokinesis to set fire on him or his surroundings,” Samantha said.

“You have pyrokinesis now? That’s four secondary abilities!” Brandon exclaimed.

“I know! It’s fantastic!” Samantha said.

“It must be a lot of strain on your body. Are you sure you can handle that? I’ve only got one secondary ability at the moment,” Brandon said.

“I’m fine,” Samantha said crisply. She scowled and rolled her eyes with annoyance at his impertinence of questioning her leadership. “I’ll take care of Brian. You try to track down that bitch, Ashley.”

“All right. I’ll call you when I have more news,” Brandon said after a short pause.

Samantha disconnected the phone and dropped it on the couch before rushing to the bathroom to pop a few more pain killers into her mouth. She swallowed them down with a glassful of water and frowned at her pallid reflection in the mirror. A trickle of blood oozed from her left nostril. She swiped it away impatiently and fear slammed into her. Her aggregate intuition warned her about the genetics pattern she’d been studying for countless hours. There was a problem. The genetic codes that the retrograde virus had added weren’t the complete answer to the multipathic abilities. Something else was missing. Otherwise, Brandon would have developed more than one ability. Samantha shook her head and reminded herself that Brian was an unacceptable security risk.

The scene abruptly vanished and Brian found himself behind the wheel of his car pulling into the driveway of his house. Night was rapidly descending as he left his vehicle and headed for the house. The door was slightly ajar and Brian halted in front of it. Adrenaline rushed through him as he recognized this scene. The door opened fully to reveal a man silhouetted in shadows even though the fading sun was shining directly on him. A switchblade glinted in his right hand. Brian stood his ground instead of retreating and the man didn’t immediately attack.

“Who are you?” Brian demanded.

“I’m the one who is going to kill you,” the man said in a disturbing, distorted voice. “You can’t escape me. You’re living on borrowed time.”

“Who are you?” Brian demanded again.

“You can’t escape the psychic burnouts. They will kill you soon. You’ve only bought yourself some time and it’s running out.” The man took a threatening step forward.

“Leave me alone,” Brian said shakily.

The man thrust out the knife and Brian hastily leapt back out of range. The man continued forward and Brian swiftly retreated down the street, pumping his legs as hard and fast as possible. The killer laughed with amusement from directly behind him. Brian abruptly awakened and stared up at the ceiling in his dark room. He turned to read the digital display on his alarm clock which told him it was a little after three in the morning. A deep, exhausting fatigue had settled into his body and mind. Brian realized he hadn’t finished his nightly routine before going to sleep. He sat up and awakened his second sight. He instantly saw a large, muddy link attached to him. It was the same energy transference psi who kept persistently reestablishing a connection with him. It took Brian several moments of deep concentration to dissolve it. Afterwards, he spent an hour shoring up his psionic defenses. He felt a lot better now but still extremely tired. He belatedly remembered that he should record the dream while he remembered because if he drifted off to sleep, he’d probably forget many of the details.

Brian’s hands ached as he reached out and grabbed the DPU on the nightstand. He set it down beside him on the bed as he clenched his hands into fists to warm them a bit. He shivered uncontrollably and suddenly became aware of a form of psychic energy focused on him. He pushed himself out of bed and the oppressing cold eased a bit before taking hold again. Brian shivered as unimaginable cold seeped into his body. He rushed across the room to turn on the lights. His numbing fingers brushed clumsily across the wall before he managed to find the touch panel to activate the illumination. Lights flooded the room and he blinked for a moment to allow his eyes to adjust. The cold became worse and he realized that his life was threatened if he didn’t manage to break the hold.

His door burst open and Amy rushed into the room. Her eyes glittered with anxiety as she focused on his pallid skin and blue lips.

“What’s going on?” she asked sharply.

“Some sort of psychic weapon,” he said. “It’s so cold.”

“Dad! Come quick! Brandon is attacking Jeff somehow!” Amy shouted.

Brian stumbled backwards and perched on the edge of his bed as the energy and heat leached out of his body. Uncontrollable shivers wracked his body. He closed his eyes and brought up his second sight. Psychic energy shimmered around him. A strange sickly red luminescence pulsed over his matrix. The general direction of the source of the energy was discernable only with careful concentration as a fluctuating wave that pulsed in and out of his visual spectrum of detection. It was a long distance attack but he was probably within a two block radius. Brian reached out towards the source of the attack but lost his hold on the second sight. His body was shutting down and he was losing consciousness. Paul burst into the room.

“Dad! He’s dying!” Amy shouted frantically.

“It helps when I’m moving but I can’t walk on my own,” Brian said weakly.

“Amy, bring him to the car,” Paul said swiftly.

Brian’s body lifted into the air and floated after Paul toward his car.

“Keep him moving until I get ready to pull out,” Paul said.

Amy nodded as she kept her intent gaze focused on her brother. Brian’s body floated around in an unpredictable pattern that kept him in the vicinity of the car. Paul started the engine and Amy hopped into the back seat.

“Okay, now,” Paul instructed.