Chapter 33: One last question

Melissa felt the agony in her heart. She felt the tears that were begging for release, but she ignored all of it. With the three murderous Psychs standing a few feet in front of her, the situation had become kill or be killed.

“Sarah,” Melissa called back over her shoulder, “get yourself together, girl. Without you we’re as good as dead.”

Sarah was devastated, her face contorted in misery. A grimace replaced her usual smile. “I can’t feel him. Oh, Melissa, I can’t feel him.”

Melissa tried to show sympathy. She wanted to comfort Sarah. But if Paro had in fact died, then the loss would be great to them all—it would be something they’d never recover from. Yet, Melissa was not ready to join him. It was for this reason that she felt a growing annoyance towards the sobbing Telepath.

“You’re about to not feel any of us, either!” Melissa snapped. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

Sarah peered up at her, and Melissa immediately regretted her sharp tone. She could see in Sarah’s eyes that her words had stung. Sarah opened her mouth to speak but instead shook her head and took a breath.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Melissa, everyone.”

Sarah walked away from Kazou and Michael and came to stand with Melissa and Jack. She didn’t stop when she reached the two of them. She continued to walk and Michael shouted after her.

There was a large hole in the floor from where the two humongous Kinetic forces had collided, leading to what seemed like a maintenance tunnel below. Sarah walked carefully around it, pausing to glance at the destruction. She shook her head—it was the same reaction Melissa had when she’d first glimpsed the destruction.

What is Sarah doing? Melissa wondered.

Melissa tried to grab Sarah and pull her back. Jack surprised her and tugged at her own arm. “No, Melissa. Let her go.”

“But Jack,” she protested. Jack was not one to make demands of anyone, yet he seemed intent on allowing Sarah to walk right up to the three Psychs. None of the three appeared alarmed by her approach. If anything, they seemed amused as she stood before them.

Sarah was in her mid-twenties, but Melissa wondered if emotionally she was the youngest on the team. Despite being almost a decade younger than Sarah, Melissa was the one protective of Sarah, usually acting the role of bigger sister. Sarah tried to hide it, but everyone on the team knew she held a deep self-loathing and a complete lack of confidence. She was a beautiful woman, but if asked, she’d say she was hideous. Sarah was brilliant, but she thought herself an idiot.

When Melissa had first joined the team, Sarah had been the first person she’d connected with. She was kind beyond what most people were capable of, and never tried to be anything but helpful. Sarah hated confrontation, and she was tolerant of everyone. When Melissa was new and still struggling to come to grips with her life as a member of the Investigative team, Sarah guided her through it every step of the way.

Sarah did not have the frame of mind to confront people like Requiem or Ruin, so Melissa didn’t understand what could’ve possessed her to approach them. The possibility of violence usually terrified her.

“My name is Sarah Blighter,” she said in greeting to the three of them.

Requiem stepped forward and ran a hand over Sarah’s face, causing Michael to leap forward. Kazou grabbed Michael and held him in place. Melissa was tempted to charge in as well.

You’ve got to be kidding me. Just what in God’s name is Sarah trying to do?

“Darling, you’re like me, aren’t you?” Requiem asked. “You can do some of what I can, yes?”

Sarah neither flinched nor moved while Requiem ran her smooth fingers across her face and along her lips and chin. Melissa held her breath as she watched the exchange. She was curious to understand Sarah’s motives.

“I’m not like you at all,” Sarah said. “But we are both Telepaths, yes.”

Requiem removed her hand and shrugged. “When you walked over here, Darling, you were staring at me and only me. Why me? What is it that you want?”

“If we let things continue in the direction they’ve been heading, then more of us will die. And … it’s crazy when you really think about it, you know? Because when the smoke clears, all that’s left is the memory of the people we care about. Why do we have to do this to each other? It hurts me, don’t you get it? To see people die, to see them close their eyes and never wake up—I hate all of it. So, you asked me what I want, right? Well, I want you three to just give up. Please, just give up and end this. I don’t want to kill any of you, and I don’t want to see you die, either. Why can’t we just stop this?”

Sarah paused for a moment. Her features darkened and her breathing slowed. “You killed someone today, someone I really cared about. He was a person that believed in helping people, people like you, actually, and not just for the sake of saving others, but even to save you from your own selves. It’s for his sake that I don’t want to see you three end up in the ground. So please, I’m begging you, just surrender and let’s finally put an end to all of this pointless killing.”

Melissa felt a newfound sense of appreciation for Sarah. Even now, the Telepath only wanted what was best for everyone. Sarah didn’t show any trace of fear while she defiantly peered into the eyes of the three people that wanted her dead.

Requiem’s expression didn’t change, except that now her eyes held a small glimmer of interest. “And why, Darling, would we just give up? Why, when we could simply kill the last of you and be on our way?”

Sarah breathed a sigh. “There’s more here that you don’t know. Let me tell you a little something about the way that things work and then maybe you’ll understand. You see, people like me and the ones standing behind me, we believe that when someone does something wrong, they need to be stopped. We go after them and we do just that. But there are others like us, and they exist for the people that we can’t stop. Now, these men and women I’m talking about—they won’t speak to you the way we do because they don’t want you to surrender.”

Sarah paused for a moment then continued, “Their only job is to kill you and everyone like you. And with the scene you’ve caused here, they’re sure to be on their way as we speak. Now look, I know you’re probably thinking to yourselves, ‘We’ll just kill them too.’ Well, there are many, many more like them, and if you don’t turn yourselves in then for the rest of your lives you will be hunted with no chance of ever negotiating surrender. I know the three of you think you’re powerful, but trust me—there are people out there who could kill you with a single thought. They will find you, and whether the people that hunt you are powerful or weak, whether they are tall or short, or even old or young. They will all have one thing in common—they hunger, they lust to see you die.”

Andy’s knees crumpled beneath him upon hearing this, while Ruin’s usual grin turned into a mask of outrage. “She’s lying!” Ruin said.

Requiem, keeping her eyes on Sarah, spoke to her brother behind her. “No,” she whispered. “Don’t you remember that ridiculous woman back at the Harris-boy’s house? She said something about killing us.”

Sarah nodded. “Yes, those are the people I’m referring to. There are many of them around the world, and no place you go will ever be safe from them.”

Requiem appeared to think for a moment before nodding her head. “I will make you a deal, Darling. Give us the Harris-boy and allow us our freedom, and I give you my word that none of us will ever kill again. Does that seem fair?”

Ruin glared at his sister. “Requiem, are you nuts? Don’t go making promises without—”

“Silence, you fool!” Requiem hissed. “Did you not hear what this goat-like woman has said to us? It’s this or a lifetime of nonsense.”

Sarah’s face took on a saddened look. “I don’t have the power to give you your freedom, or to give you Jack. Tell me, why do you want him so badly anyway?”

Requiem’s maddened expression softened for just a moment while she shot a passing glance at Jack, causing Melissa to feel an unexpected, burning anger.

“Because,” Requiem answered, “he has taken something from me that I want back.” She pointed to Jack. “He has taken my eyes and I want to know why.”

Melissa heard Jack shift on his feet, and she turned to look at him. He peeled his eyes back in surprise, then followed it soon after with a look of disgust.

“Nah-uh!” he said. “I didn’t take anyone’s eyes. That’s like, gross. Besides, I’ve never even been to med school.”

Requiem tilted back her head and laughed wildly into the air. “Oh, Harris-boy, Darling, you are a funny one!”

Sarah waited for her to finish her laughing fit before continuing to speak. “What do you mean he’s taken your eyes?”

Requiem opened her mouth to answer but stopped as she glanced over at Jack, who stomped his foot into the ground and wore a very stubborn look.

“Who cares what she means, Sarah? She’s obviously lying. I never took away anyone’s eyeball—that’s the weirdest and grossest thing anyone’s ever accused me of. And one time, someone accused me of eating a peanut butter and lettuce sandwich—also not true! She’s trying to get me into trouble, just like Melissa when she farted on the way over here and pointed a finger—”

Melissa dove at him, closing his annoying mouth shut. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Jack!” she yelled at him.

As far as Melissa could tell, Jack didn’t even realize that she was covering his mouth, as he was continuing to ramble, the vibrations tickling her palm.

“UUmmmph, ummumzm, sumpzmz ummp.”

“So you’re saying it’s either a lifetime of imprisonment or death?” Andy asked. He stood back to his feet, and his face held a twisted combination of relentless fury and pained sadness.

“I don’t know for sure what the punishment will be, but I can promise you that you won’t be killed. Can’t you see I’m only trying to help you?”

“Help us?” Ruin whispered. “Help us!” he screamed.

Ruin walked forward to join his sister, and for the first time that Melissa had seen, he entirely lost his casual, carefree look. Instead, he wore a visage of lunacy, of a terrifying madness. His sister’s paled in comparison to the growing mania spreading across his face. His lips peeled back, his eyebrows rose, and his nose curled as his entire body trembled. His hands began to shake too. Since the night she’d first seen him in the park with Jack, Melissa knew there was a deep darkness to him, one not displayed as openly as his sister’s. But never would she have expected this. No, this was beyond anything she could imagine.

“Help us!” he screamed in something that was halfway between a laugh and a cry. “You want to help us? Where were you when …?” He stopped speaking and his eyes filled with a lustful hatred.

Sarah gasped as she was lifted into the air. “Sister, show me her heart—now!”

Melissa, as well as the rest of the team, didn’t need to hear any more than that. They charged forward. Melissa and Kazou leaped over the wide gap where the floor had been destroyed, while Michael and Jack dashed around it.

“Melissa!” Kazou shouted, running beside her. “Attack the Kinetic to kill. Take no chances!”

Melissa didn’t need to be told—she was ready. Feelings, emotions, consequences, these were all things that could be dealt with later. For now, there was only Ruin and the woman he was trying to kill. Kazou and Melissa were the first to reach the lanky Kinetic. As one, they threw their powerful fists down towards him, an attack that would kill any Psych, no matter how powerful.

Melissa attacked from the left, Kazou from the right. Sarah let out another gasp as she was dropped to the floor, released from whatever Kinetic binds held her. Ruin leaped backward, a maneuver that barely saved his life. The two Reinforcers of Paro’s team brought their full strength down on the spot he’d occupied just a second before, crashing into the floor and breaking completely through it.

Andy and Requiem were quick to assist their “brother.” Andy shouted something that Melissa couldn’t make out, and Kazou clutched at his face. “Sarah!” he screamed. A spot on his forehead, just below his vicious scar, turned red, and small plumes of smoke drifted out of it.

Sarah pushed herself off the floor and extended a hand to Kazou as if trying to grab him. Immediately, the smoke vanished, only to reappear about a foot away from the large Japanese man, which struggled to break through Sarah’s shielding.

“Melissa, duck!” called Michael. Melissa dropped to the ground just in time to avoid a two-hundred pound vending machine soaring overhead, aimed to kill the now frenzied Ruin. He did not try to avoid it. Instead, he made his typical gesture of chopping air, and the machine fell to the ground. It shattered, spilling out snacks and change. Bags of potato chips as well as Hershey and Snicker bars rolled along the floor while the sound of a thousand dropped quarters echoed in the destroyed terminal.

A thought came to Melissa. It was among the most inappropriate things a person could think during a life or death situation, yet it was beyond her control—a single penetrating idea rang out in Melissa’s brain, one that she felt deeply ashamed of.

If Jack stops to pick up any of those snacks, I’m going to kill him.

Ruin telekinetically picked up everything and anything, gesturing so fast he resembled a composer of a musical orchestra. Loose pieces of floor, broken glass, and even some of the snacks—they all flew towards Sarah.

“They’re trying to take out our Path!” Melissa yelled.

If a Telepath died during a battle between Psychs and there was no second Path, it was game over. If for even a moment Sarah stopped fighting off Andy’s Manipulation, he’d kill them one at a time with the same agonizing methods he’d used against Richard and his family.

Melissa needed to separate him from the fight. It was the best chance they had of survival. “Jack!” she called. “Get over here!”

Jack, who at the time was treading carefully around the chasm in the floor, was for some odd reason laughing. What was he on about now?

“Haha, Melissa. Scorpion from Mortal Kombat says, ‘get over here’ too.”

Melissa was going to kick his butt for that when they made it through this, of that she was sure. They would make it out alive, and he would receive a plethora of slaps for his outrageous comments amid a fight for their lives.

Jack ran to the side of her. Michael and Ruin were sparring to keep control of the various hazards flung around the room, while Sarah struggled to keep Andy from killing Kazou, who was still pinned down from the Manipulation trying to melt his face. Requiem was deep in concentration, and Melissa wasn’t certain, but she suspected the girl was weakening all of them. They were in a deadlock—and losing.

Melissa charged at Ruin, who turned to meet her. He was a Telekinetic of incredible power. Melissa knew he would be able to repel her attacks while still fending off Michael. He raised a hand to impede her, but before he could so much as draw an inkling of power, Melissa dashed off her right foot and leaped to the side of him and then ran in a straight line towards Andy.

Jack followed after her. Andy backed up as he saw her charge at him, and with all her strength, Melissa attacked again in a downward smash, one that was easy to avoid. Only this time, she wasn’t aiming to connect with Andy.

The ground below them cracked, giving way under the power of her monstrous strength. Jack screamed as the three of them plunged into the dark tunnel below.