Chapter 8: I Don’t Wanna

“Just relax, Jack. You’re making this so much more difficult than it really has to be.”

It was a struggle for Paro to keep frustration out of his voice. The Harris-kid was impossible to deal with, and while Paro was known for a great many things, patience did not number among them.

Jack retreated a few steps and had his back to the now broken jungle gym. Kazou and Michael had backed off as a gesture of goodwill, while Sarah and Melissa tried to speak to him gently in an attempt to calm him down.

“I don’t care what you guys are. Honestly, I don’t. I won’t say anything to anyone. I’m too lazy to even bother. But there’s no way I’m going anywhere with you people.”

He’s gonna make this hard for us, isn’t he?

“Jack, listen to me. In this world, there are laws, and there are rules. Often people break them without even knowing they exist, but the penalty is nonetheless enforced. Whether you’re involved or not, you may have valuable information that can save lives. More than that, you have to answer for some other things as well—namely an incident in your school that took place earlier this morning.”

Paro winced as Jack lifted up his chin in defiance, an age-inappropriate gesture expected of a four-year-old.

“I don’t know what any of that means. Why don’t you guys tell me what’s been going on around here. I wanna know why Melissa beat me up, and then just when I was feeling better two weird, crazy people came and said all kinds of weird stuff. Then they tried to beat me up again. Then everyone started punching each other and things started flying, and then more weird stuff was said. Oh, I also wanna know why they called me ‘brother.’ Wait a minute.” Jack paused and his mouth gaped. “Are they my illegitimate …? But surely mom would have told me. Ah Jeeze, they’re my siblings, aren’t they?”

Paro tried to be a tolerant man, he really did. But his glass wall of patience cracked, and he gritted his teeth. Sarah wanted to do this diplomatically, but Paro—and Melissa, from the looks of things—would rather knock him over the side of the head and be done with it.

“We’re trying to explain that to you, hun,” Sarah said. “But every time we try, you take another step back and ignore us.”

She was the closest to him, only a few feet away. Sarah was the only person Jack didn’t retreat from, and it didn’t surprise Paro. Sarah was among the kindest people he’d ever met. She was empathetic, understanding, and patient with everyone. Even the stress-inducing actions of the Harris-kid had little effect on her. Paro knew he chose right when he picked her for his Telepath.

If only it were possible for a Telepath to rip data from a person’s mind without damaging them, Paro’s life not only now, but for many years, would have been much easier. Unfortunately, the use of telepathy to extract data from a suspect ranked highly on the list of taboo practices. One minor misstep and the suspect could end up comatose.

Paro cleared his throat. “Listen to me, Jack, and listen to me well. After that little fire you started in class, if I wanted to, I could haul you into a lockup where you wouldn’t see the light of day for a half-dozen years. You’re lucky that all I want is information about the murders.”

Paro was lying, of course. It was a first time offense by an unregistered Psych. But still, he didn’t mind using fear to get his way. Not with everything at stake.

Paro’s comment seemed to agitate Jack. The boy bounced on his feet and frowned.

Good, let him be afraid. Maybe he’ll finally cooperate.

“Here we go with the fire again. I am so damn sick of hearing about that fire! All day long, everyone’s all like, ‘Hey, Jack, how did you do the fire?’ Or, ‘You’re under arrest for starting fires.’ Or, ‘I was so worried, Jack! I heard there was a fire today.’”

Jack stomped the ground. “Leave me alone about that stupid fire! I had nothing to do with it. Even if I wanted to I couldn’t. I never once in my entire life brought matches to school.”

Paro grunted. So, now he was going to try to deny it?

“As we have been trying to explain to you all along, you’re like one of us. You have both the ability and power to create a fire, perhaps even something much worse, the extent of which I don’t even know. That’s what we’re trying to find out. You can play innocent all you want, but even on the off chance you didn’t do it on purpose, you’re still responsible.”

Jack seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, because it was the first time he stood still since they had arrived, and he was no longer jittering. He looked over to where Sarah and Melissa were slowly approaching. In an instant, his eyes widened in delight, and he grinned at Paro.

He pushed himself off from where he leaned against the jungle gym and pointed a finger at Melissa. “Ah hah! I got it! Wow, this all makes sense now. She did it! Yup, it was definitely her. It was Melissa’s fault. Just look at her, playing all innocent and stuff. She’s totally responsible and she knows it. I bet she’s only blaming it on me so she won’t get into trouble.”

Melissa snarled and looked ready to pop a blood vessel. “Why you little—”

“Calm down, Melissa.” Sarah grabbed Melissa’s shoulders. Melissa was rolling up her sleeve with her hands balled into fists and outrage covering her face.

“Melissa couldn’t have done it,” Paro said. “She’s neither a Telekinetic nor is she a Manipulator. She wouldn’t have been able to set a room on fire.”

“Oh yeah? Well, I don’t know what that means, but what if she used a scroll of enchanting and that changed her ability?”

“A scroll of what?” Paro looked around at his team. “What’s he on about now? What’s this ‘scroll of enchanting’ he’s ranting about? Anybody have a clue?” Michael and Sarah looked at each other then shrugged.

Kazou cleared his throat. “I don’t know,” he said. “But it sounds like some kind of spell-thing.”

Spell-thing? Don’t tell me he …

“Okay, hold up a minute now, hold up. Jack,” Paro began, “do you mean to tell me you thought from everything that happened today that … we were using magic?”

“Well, I was actually gonna say Sorcery, but why split hairs, right?”

Paro shook his head as a powerful sense of both realization and surprise dawned on him.

I’m arguing with a complete imbecile. I can’t believe it. Here I am, standing in the middle of a children’s playground, arguing with an absolute moron. This is the most demeaning thing I have ever done. Shame on me!

“Okay, that’s it. You’re coming with us right now. I’ve had enough of this. Get over here, you little runt.” Paro took a step forward.

“Like hell!” Jack attempted to dart away, but before he could make it two yards, Melissa dashed from behind him and tackled him to the ground.

“Not again, Melissa!”

She pulled him to his feet and smiled at him. From what Paro had gathered, Melissa had roughed Jack up a bit when she suspected his involvement in the murders. This time, she didn’t hurt him. In fact, she had something of a playful aspect to her.

“Come on, Jack. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Stop being such a baby. Paro, what do we do with him?”

Paro sighed. “The Heli won’t be here for another few hours, but I know a good place we can chat in the meantime. Let’s bring him to the van. Jack, are you going to walk, or do I need to drag you?”

For the love of God, I hope he doesn’t continue to make this difficult for us.

Jack had a sour look on his face. He crossed his arms and turned his head away. “You might as well drag me. I’m not listening to a word you sorcerers have to say.”

Paro opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he noticed Michael. He had a devilish grin on his face. Michael strutted over to where Melissa held Jack.

“Actually, you’re gonna cooperate with us in full, buddy. You’re gonna do every last thing we say, and do you know why? Do you know why you’re gonna cooperate?”

“Why’s that?” Jack asked.

“Because if you don’t, then you'll never get to see Melissa in her tight gym uniform when she works out back at H.Q.”

Melissa’s eyebrows rose to the top of her face. She shot a deadly glare at Michael, who grinned like a madman. Her eyes promised payback and revenge.

Jack tapped Paro on the shoulder. “Hey, you said your name is Paro, right? I’ve been thinking about it, and I think some seriously dangerous stuff might be going on here. I’ve decided on second thought to come with you. I think I might be able to help.”

Paro watched as Sarah turned away from everyone so she could laugh silently into her arms. Kazou joined her, pretending he had to sneeze.

Melissa tightened her grip on Jack’s shoulder, causing him to grunt in pain. “Keep moving, buster, or I’ll throw you back to the ground.”

It took the sound of his own voice for Paro to realize that he too was laughing.

Damn that Harris kid.