Final ambush

The playground was dark and foreboding. The climber and swings had lost nearly all their coloring. The monkey bars looked fragile. The children lacked enthusiasm. They huddled together to keep warm. It was not cold in this place, but the kids were shivering.

Nepal could see his friends had arrived with him. Breyn, Etten, Jueqel, Dru, and Raymond started to explore, but Nepal stopped them. “Karden is near.”

The kids dropped away from one another like petals of a rose, and Karden rose up from the center. “This is my sandbox,” he warned. “I'm boss around here, now.”

Kelly was one of the children on the ground, and she was looking up at Karden with a fear stricken face.

Breyn plowed toward him. She got close enough to hit him once, but Karden swatted her away with lightning speed. “Kelly,” Breyn cried out. “Get up, sweety.”

Karden swung his legs around and kicked Breyn upside her temple. She went flying back to where her friends stood. “Yes, Kelly,” Karden menaced. “Get up, now.”

Kelly obeyed. The sandbox lost a little color.

“Now, Kelly, we don't like these intruders. It's our playground. It's our sandbox. We rule here,” Karden demanded.

Kelly put up her dukes, ready to fight. Again the playground lost color and the monkey bars gave in and collapsed.

Jueqel circled to the right and Raymond circled to the left. Karden followed the motion of Jueqel, while Kelly followed Raymond. Dru stepped forward and acted as if he would tackle Kelly. When she turned to face him, Raymond grabbed her.

Karden had also shifted his gaze to see what Dru was doing, and left an opening for Jueqel to make his move. He grabbed Karden by the wrists.

Suddenly the world went silver and Nepal thought he might be blinded. No time had passed when his sight returned, but the world he found himself in was changed. He could see Jueqel, still holding Karden, and Raymond had Kelly, but their threads of silver held more significance to his sight.

Jueqel was pulsing with a darker translucent silver that pushed down Karden's thread, and it made them dimmer. Nepal knew Jueqel was trying to cancel out Karden. Removed him completely.

Raymond was there holding on to the struggling Kelly. His bright silver pulse was giving life energy to Kelly's dieing body. A little color returned to her and to the playground. The monkey bars had started to rebuild themselves and the sun gathered strength to come out.

It didn't last long, however. Karden wasn't getting any weaker.

Dru ran up with a martial a kick that hit Karden in the back. Dru's leg appeared to get stuck momentarily before he hit the ground. Karden then grabbed Jueqel by the neck. He pulled him close to his lips and kissed deeply. Jueqel released and slumped to the sand.

Nepal had seen the life force drain from each attack as they hit Karden. Even Raymond's life giving ability was being used by this monster.

Breyn got up from the ground, and readied herself to make another attack, but Nepal put a hand on her. “Get the others out of here. He's feeding on all of us.”

“I won't let him have her,” she said, fury was about to explode within her.

“If you attack, he will be able to kill her. This is her mind. We have to let her fight it. We can be her backup,” Nepal hoped he knew what he was doing. “Now, get everyone out of here.”

Nepal walked over and between Karden and Kelly. He didn't think it would sever their link, but he had to try. Once there his grabbed Dru's hand and flung drew back to the spot where they had entered the sandbox. Next, he flung Jueqel to the same location. “Get them out of here,” he yelled to Breyn.

“Raymond, you have to go,” Nepal demanded.

Raymond stood there holding Kelly, “I can't. She needs this. I can keep her alive.”

A hand gripped around Nepal's neck. Its cold icy grip was familiar enough to bring back his first memories of their encounters. How the monster cam down the stairs and attacked him with crawling bits that froze as they tore into his flesh. Then Cheshin came, looking sickly. “Looking sickly,” Nepal said.

“What?” Ramond asked. “She's doing better, I think.”

“No, Raymond. Make her sick to her stomach.”

Raymond shook his head no. “What?” He asked, clearly not understanding.

The hand around Nepal's throat tightened and it made it hard to breath. He tried to explain to Raymond with, but it was no use. Karden's grip was too tight. He couldn't breath. Why was there so little air?

The lines of shinny gray tendrils appeared before before Nepal. He could see they were the tendrils of Karden. “That's how he imagines his abilities. As tendrils.” They penetrated into Nepal. They were icy, but not as much now. They had a warmth to them that spoke of pain and hunger, and a longing for family.

“Karden, I'll be your family,” Nepal said, trying to appeal to the monster.

The pressure let up, and for an instant, Karden stopped his assault.

“Give Kelly an upset stomach, NOW!” Nepal shouted with such force, he felt Karden take a step back.

Nepal turned to face Karden and found he had gone pale. His strength was diminishing.

Karden turned and ran to the edge of the sandbox. He fell at the edge and climbed over the board that kept the sand in its place. He took off in a sprint toward the small grove of trees.

“Not this time,” Nepal said. He was tired of this monster, and was ready to take him out.

Nepal reached the edge and had to put a lot of effort into jumping out of the playground. He found Karden huddled in and hiding behind a bush and under a tree. “Nice hiding place,” Nepal told him.

Karden screamed and ran toward Nepal. Arms reached and groped for Nepal's neck, but it was no use. Karden was too weak.

Nepal found this silver cords that lead from Karden to the gray grassy earth below him. “Karden, you are a monster. And monster don't exist anymore.” Nepal pulled on the silver cord. It snapped away with an echoing crack.

Karden breathed heavily and groped for air. Nepal carried him to the sandbox. Kelly looked better and the other children were up as well. Raymond looked worn out.

“I'm taking this thing with me,” Nepal said when Raymond looked at Karden.

Raymond nodded, and they left Kelly's mind, taking the monster with them.

Waiting at the door

Nepal's psychic strength had increased over the few weeks since the hospital incidents. He could delve deep into the minds of others, teleport, and move objects with his mind. He could even see the silver cords that connected people in ways unimagined by him. For all his strength, he felt helpless in the face of this little girl's plight. “I hated no knowing where Karden might show up. He was with us all along,” he explained to Armand.

“You could not have known. He only had a few clues. We don't even know what Karden is anymore,” Armand counseled.

“That is absolutly right, Armand,” Jueqel said while he walked to the center of the gym. “Bring her over here.”

“Right,” Nepal helped her up over to sit on a center mat.

“Etten and Dru should be here any moment now,” Jueqel said.

As if on cue, the two Oragwains arrived.

“How's our Kelly doing?” Etten asked.

Nepal noticed Dru had put on a couple kilos, and almost said something about it. What stopped him was the silver within silver he saw in Dru's stomach, as if something living was growing inside him. Is he pregnant? Nepal decided to ask him later. Asking Jueqel might even be more polite.

“Fine,” Kelly said, but she didn't sound fine. She sounded scared, but at least she showed signs that she was glad to see them. Moving to wave at Etten and even crunching her hand open and closed to throw him hugs.

Now, that he looked at her, she was paler than she had been at the loft.

Jueqel noticed, too.

There was another shimmer into the room. It was Breyn. “I've come to help. I want a piece of this guy,” she said and rushed over to Kelly. They hugged briefly, “Kelly, how you doing, baby? We'll get this guy.”

“Hi Aunti Brains,” Kelly said with more cheer.

Dru started to say, “I'm not sure...”

But Breyn cut him off with, “I'm not sure you'll be able to pull this off without me. I know his tricks. He almost had me. I will not let him take my favorite niece.”

Dru raised his hands in defense to ward off her tongue lashing. “As long as it's fine with Kelly.”

Kelly nodded emphatically.

Breyn told Kelly, “we gals have got to stick together.”

Jueqel started to say, “Gal...” But stopped with a look from Breyn.

Raymond came into the gym followed by Sherry, and then Tony.

“Sherry, I'd like you to take Tony and wait until we are through,” Jueqel asked. “Let me know if any dangers that may come.”

“That's why I'm here,” Sherry said. “We've been shut down of all premonitions. I can't get any future. It's all coming up blanks.”

Tony ran to his sister, “Kelly,” he said softly to her as they hugged. Kelly started to cry, and when her brother felt the tears on her cheeks his eyes welled up, filled with wetness.

Kelly choked her voice and cleared her throat. “Can you wait outside for me?” She asked.

“No, Kelly. I want to be here with you,” Tony pleaded.

Sherry bent down to give them both a hug. “Tony, you and I will wait outside. We don't want to get in their way,” Sherry explained.

“No, no, Kelly,” Tony protested.

“Will you be my big brother for a little while?” Kelly asked. “Can you do that for me?”

His tears flowed as much as hers by now. He'd wiped them away but more came. His red nose and swollen eyes still defiant. She looked at him in a way that communicated a warmth siblings shared. Something between a big sister and her little brother that was beyond words. That was enough to convince him to wait outside. Tony got up and ran to the door and waited just at the entrance, not wanting to give an inch, even when they closed the door.

Kelly convulsed, and went pale white. Raymond bent down to touch her forehead. He did something, Nepal couldn't tell what, but psychic energy flowed from him like a flamethrower. Color came back into her cheeks. Not perfect, but better.

“I think we'd better do this,” Raymond recommended.

My sand too

Kard watched from the bushes. The children played games all the time. He was afraid they would hurt him. That girl was the meanest of them all. She was their leader. They always did whatever she said.

Every once in a while, Kard got brave and stuck his head out of the brush, but fear would grip him and he'd go back in to hide.

Also, there were other big kids that would come to the park. They had come a few times, and they were much bigger kids than the mean little girl. They pushed the other children around, but never hurt them. Kard was even more afraid of those kids, cause the little girl never did anything to stop them. If she couldn't stop them, then they would surely beat up someone like Kard.

As it has happened, a few times Kard got brave enough to venture into the sandbox. He snuck in there while the girl was playing. She would do something amazing like triple back flips and run up a pole and twist off like some amazing acrobat from the circus, but she would get mad and scared right afterward.

Kard wanted to avoid her the most when she was upset. He didn't know what she would do if she ever found him.

Then, it came to him that he should try to make friends with her. Or maybe someway get to her that it was time for him to play in the sandbox. He was bigger than she was. He waited for the right time. She was playing. He crept into the playground sand and waited for her to do her amazing tricks. She jumped through each swing and looped herself up and over the swing. She landed with her hands raised like an Olympic gymnast.

Instead of running this time, he stayed. She was scared. He could tell. He felt brave enough to face her. Now was his chance to show the bully that she didn't have to hog the sandbox.

She came over to him, and he stood up to her. She was scared alright, but that didn't stop her from pushing him down.

Kard ran back to the bushes as fast as he could. Once he got there, he saw that the girl was crying. So, he went back to the sandbox to find out why. He wanted to play, and she was just a crybaby, and it made no sense to keep him from playing in the sandbox with all the other kids. He could be her friend. He knew he could. She just had to give him a chance.

Cover it up

“Tony!” Jueqel yelled out from the study.

“Yes, Uncle?” Tony yelled back. Seconds later Tony came running into the study, panting and out of breath.

“What did I tell you about that?”

“I know,” Tony grinned.

“Never call...” Jueqel began.

Tony finished, “you Uncle.”

Jueqel's face messed up in mock disgust. “Alright smarty.” Jueqel actually like to be called uncle. Tony was a special boy, and he needed a family. But the 'Don't-call-me-uncle' was an on going game they enjoyed. “How are your lessons? Don't lie, cause I'll know.”

“Yeah, I know you know. They're great,” Tony said excited. “Sherry says I'm her best student, ever.”

Jueqel decided he would not tell Tony he was her only student, ever. “That's fantastic. Guess what?”

“What?” Tony asked.

“Your sister is coming over for a visit.”

Tony's face lit up and he was all a big grin.

Raymond entered the doorway quietly and leaned against it. He too had a smile on his face. “You'll be late for my class, Tony.”

Surprise popped Tony around to see his instructor. He whipped around the other direction and jumped a chair. “Sorry, Uncle Ray,” he said and ran out of the room. Raymond feigned a slap on the boy's head, but it was easily dodged. Down the hall he yelled back, “now, you'll be late for class.” Tony laughed, and then he was out of sight.

Jueqel like that, too. “He calls you Uncle Ray.”

“Yeah, well, the kid grows on you,” Raymond admitted.

“How you doing?” Jueqel asked.

“Honey, I'm doing much better,” Raymond walked up to the desk and leaned across it. “Now that I have you in my sights,” he said playful.

“I'm working,” Jueqel tried to defend himself, but it was too late. The trap was sprung, and all he could do was lean forward and plant a kiss.

Raymond pulled a way, too quickly. “He's right. I have to get to class. I'll get back to you on what we were just discussing.”

“Are you teasing me?” Jueqel asked.

“Maybe, you'll find out later.” Raymond was being very playful.

Jueqel threatened, “I can shut you down, Mr.”

“Sorry, you can't shut this down,” Raymond retorted. “Don't get me worked up. I have a day to finish here.”

Jueqel picked up a pad and attempted to hit Raymond on his way out of the office. It missed by a long shot, “but it's the thought that counts,” he mutter to himself.

Getting back to his notes, Jueqel mulled over the fact that they were unable to find Karden. He moved to the girl and then jumped into the boy, and then just vanished. He was like some kind of parasite. The girl made it out, a little shaken, but doing a lot better than they had expected. She could have died. There was no trace of Karden in the girl, and Karden didn't show up in the boy either. Other than the changes to their brains. Thought, that is more significant. If someone can alter a persons mind to tap into the psychic potential, it's unthinkable what might happen.

Nepal no longer sensed Karden's presence, and that was at least a good sign that he was gone. Keeping the children close was the best way to watch for signs of Karden's influence. The kids still needed needed to process, grieve, and rebuild a life for themselves.

Kelly showed some promise in psychic ability, though, not near as strong as her little brother. Karden really did a number on that little boy.

Jueqel flipped some pages and glanced at his report. Remembering the military psi were on the outskirts of the city. If they had come in, the situation would have been grave for everyone. “The military love their devices,” he wrote in the margins.

It took a couple weeks to clean up the mess made of that town. Agents were still scanning the area for people that had been impacted by this fiasco. Memory adjusting was hard enough on a small crowd. It would take a year at the very least to fix everything. The hard part was the loved ones of those that died. Getting them through all this, setting up dummy corporations and fake identities. The funds for the law suits had to be ready for all the court cases that would be won. You couldn't just erase the minds of every life that was touched by this tragedy. It was hard to imagine how anyone could cover up something so big, but it was going to be done.

Jueqel felt a message come to his mind. “Kelly is in trouble. It's Karden. We're coming.”

Jueqel's heart sank. The moment he had dreaded. Jueqel put out a message of his own. The Oragwains were needed once again.

Lofty living

“I love this place,” Kelly pranced around in her web-crawler outfit. She pretended spider silk would shoot from her wrist and wrap around a potted plant. When she tugged, it would sit there, unmoving. “I got you!”

Nepal and Armand found this loft at a reasonable rate. It was big enough for the three of them, and it was close conveniences found only in the city. Armand could get to his performances in no time using the modern transportation that blanks use.

They were watching their web-girl as she explored the immense space they would all share for at least 6 months, when the lease runs out. After that, they would see.

“Will my brother come to live with us?” Kelly asked.

“Not right away,” Nepal answered.

“And then only if you guys really want to,” Armand added.

“We planned to visit him this afternoon.” Nepal asked, “would you like that?”

Kelly jumped into the air and pretended to land cat-like on the floor. She feigned disinterest in visiting her brother, “I guess,” but her agitated movements gave her away. Excitement lay just underneath her composure.

“Thought so,” Armand said, joining in on the fun.

Kelly wheeled around twice and stopped in her spider web shooting stance. “Bam!” She let her web fly and pulled. This time the potted plant moved toward her. Not much, but it was there.

She screamed in surprise. Her hands flapping back and forth like she was trying to throw off the feeling.

Nepal ran over to her, “Kelly, it's alright. Don't be scared.”

She was shaking in his arms. Sobbing tears heated up her face.

At first, Kelly seemed to like her new abilities, but increasingly she found them harder to deal with. Nepal and Armand noted that more often than not, her abilities took her by surprise and scared her.

“You just have to learn to control it,” he told her.

“We'll take you to a special school that will help teach you how to not be afraid of your ability,” Armand said.

Kelly was shaking her head, “I don't want to learn.”

“Oh, honey, if you want it to stop, you have to learn to make it stop,” Armand said gently.

“That's right, you have to learn to make it stop,” Nepal agreed.

“I'm scared,” she said.

Nepal could see the silver threads that lined her eyes, and for a second, he sensed something strong stirring within her. “Kelly, are you feeling more than just scared? Are you having any bad dreams or feeling sick?”

She looked scared, and simply nodded.

“Are you having a dream right now?”

She nodded again.

Another flash of power from within Kelly jumped to the surface. This time Nepal recognized the power. It was Karden. “Let's get you to Uncle Jueqel,” he tried to sound like a caring parent, and he hoped his fear did not show.

Armand, however, did notice the alarm in Nepal's voice. Nepal sent out his thoughts to Jueqel, and let him know they were coming.

Armand grabbed a few belongings and came over and gave them a group hug. “Let's go.”

The room shimmered, but they didn't go anywhere. Nepal looked to Kelly, and her face was scrunched up. She was concentrating. “Oh, dear. Don't be scared. Let's get going. We need help.”

Kelly relaxed and the next shimmer landed them in the gym at the Red House.

I'm not coming back

Traffic stopped and the squad car wasn't getting them anywhere. “We'll get out here,” Jueqel said to the officer driving.

“We can walk the rest of the way,” Etten agreed.

They started running as soon as they managed to squeeze out of the vehicle, but were stopped by other motorists doing the same. Jueqel found a clear path through he median, because it had fewer cars trying to scramble away. Most of the attempts at using the median ended in cars and trucks scraping their cars on the lip of the curb that was so high, it was a wonder any of them made it at as far as they did. On van busted its headlight on the way up and left itself tires spinning.

Etten began to say, “We could get there...”

But he was cut off by Jueqel's instance they keep moving on foot. “Using any psychic abilities might draw him to us. We don't want this guy getting a hold on anyone of us.”

The Hospital was about a hundred yards away. Jueqel could see the psychic energy pulsing from the place. He could also see an ambulance and fire truck had juat made it to the scene.

Disappointed, he wanted to be there first, feeling sure he could have stopped the Karden. “Let's go,” he urged Etten.

They ran faster, dodging people and cars and even hitting a few along the way. They reached the entrance and knew things had already gone wrong. “Etten, change of plans. Find the girl by whatever means necessary.”

Jueqel was desperate to find her. He ran saying, “keep in contract with me.”

It wasn't long before he saw Nita reaching down to a place her hand on a boy that was being cradled by Raymond. “No!” Jueqel yelled out.

Nita did not stop. Dru and Kefen were getting up from the floor, and Raymond looked up to see him. There was something in his eyes. He couldn't tell what the message was he was supposed to get.

Desperate to stop Nita, Jueqel focused his thoughts upon her and canceled her psychic abilities. “I said stop.”

Nita's touched the boys face in a desperate attempt to join with him. She was confused about why her ability was not working, “I said, stop.”

Nita finally looked up. It must have dawned on her what Jueqel had done, and she leaped after him. Her speed normal as any other human. Raymond seized her wrist, and shook his head no.

She said, “the House will hear of this.”

“Yes, Nita. But I don't think I'll be coming back to the Green House,” Raymond said.

Cradle

Raymond, Nita, and Cheshin bolted out of the Ambulance and ran to the building's emergency entrance. There were to men laying next to a bench. Raymond believe they were dead.

Nita ordered, “flank him.”

Raymond called his inner strength and increased his speed. The world moved in slow motion as he went inside the building. Nita was faster, but not by much.

“Raymond? Can you hear me?” asked Cheshin.

“You're thoughts are clear,” Raymond answered. Puzzled it was so easy to break through. “How are you communicating with me?”

“When we joined, I left a back door.”

That wasn't right, and he let Cheshin know as much.

“Sorry, but under the circumstances, I didn't want to leave anything to chance,” Cheshin explained.

“I'm sort of busy right now.”

“I can help. I'll help you find Karden. I sense the him close to the other side of the building. He has swapped bodies with a child. We don't want the child killed.”

Killed? “We have no intention of killing anyone,” Raymond stopped short, not want to say how far they would go. “I think I see him.” Raymond put up his mental shield. He didn't want anyone reaching into his mind right now. Not Karden nor Cheshin.

The last thought sent from Cheshin was a question, “him?”

Raymond moved with blinding speed to take the child by surprise. Two men were stading down the hall frozen and in pain. It looked as the two were Oragwains.

The child must have seen him. “But too late,” Raymond said as he crashed into the child. Before actually hitting the child, Raymond had felt an icy tingle that was similar to what he had felt on his first encounter with Karden.

To keep from hurting the boy, Raymond used his body to shield the child's fall to the ground and they slid into the wall together.

Kelly is that you

Nepal said, “I'm not sure what's happening, but I get the impression someone's life is about to expire. Karden is feeling very parental, and it's all a jumble. It's getting really bad.”

Armand didn't say anything, but looked considering.

“Something is going terribly wrong,” Nepal was becoming increasingly alarmed.

“Would you like to try to teleport?” Armand asked.

“How?”

“Well, we just do like they did. You were linked with them. You got a good impression of how it was done.”

Nepal considered, “they used remote viewing first.”

“Then let's try that. We'll try to reach Karden.”

“No not Karden. The hospital room he was in, because I don't think he's there anymore. I don't want to be in his line of sight,” Nepal said.

They held hands and focused on their target. It was no time at all before a clear image of the hospital came into view. They could see a lifeline coming from a man. They looked closely and found it was Karden showing the boy a game of taking life. The pain coming from that man was intense. It was unbearable. They redoubled their efforts and tried to explain to the boy, Tony, that that he was hurting the man.

The message didn't get through. Tony heard something, but it wasn't enough.

Nepal said, “I just got the distinct feeling of hiding in the bushes.”

They used the remote viewing to try and find Karden. Their efforts went unrewarded. Nepal was no longer able to sense Karden's presence. “He's gone.”

“What do you mean?” Armand asked.

“I can't feel him anywhere.”

“Can we find the girl?”

Nepal thought they could and they renewed their search.

The Yogan, Nita, was on the second floor searching quickly. She stopped and stared at Nepal and Armand, as if she could actually see them.

A little girl was on the floor, and she knelt down to touch her on the forehead. Nita was surprisingly gentle with the girl. Recognition shown on Nita's face and she took off toward the stairs.

Nepal hardly recognized the girl as Kelly, but it was her.

“Let's try to teleport,” Armand suggested.

“Alright, we just have to know that we are there.”

The world shimmered around them and they were at the hospital.

“It worked!” Nepal said. The world seemed threated with silver lines. So many, in fact, it was distracting.

The world spun and the next thing he knew he was in Armand's arms.

Cold as ice

Dru and Kefen hopped off the truck, and took off into circle their entrance. Death was in the air. It made Dru sick to think about all the damage one evil human could cause. The rest of these people would need theropy for the rest of their lives. “If the military are on standby, we have to make this quick and clean. It looks like it might already be too late.”

They ran into the building and at once felt a strong emotion. It was excitement. This guy was having the time of his life, at the expense of all these people.

Dru's anger must have flared out, because someone grabbed his arm. “No,” Kefen said. “Not now.”

They headed for the stairs, but before they got there a boy walked into view. His eyes were blazing blue white, and dark lines of living psychic energy were coming from him. Dru started to reach out for Kefen, but it was too late. The boy had them.

They boy grinned cold as ice. The world got dimmer as Dru's life force began to fade. Kefen cried out “Dru!”

He thought of their children and how much would be lost. It was a mistake to try to have a child now. What if we die, then it would have all been for nothing. The coldness ate at him. Taking him down. He tried to fight it, but it was difficult to focus on anything. He stayed within himself and tried to find a place to block the force that was taking everything away from him.

Dru could feel someone else's presence, but it was so faint, it was hard to tell who's it was.

A burst of pain, not his own, shot through his psyche. His temples throbbed briefly before it was stopped by the pain of hitting the floor.

He turned his head to see Nita coming down the stairs. Raymond had the boy in his arms, cradled protectively. Nita reached for the boy, but someone was telling her to stop.

You can't leave

“What am I?” Tony asked. “Mr. Shark?”

“Yes, Tony?” Kard answered.

“Am I a squid?” Tony asked.

“That's a good way to think of yourself,” Kard was pleased. “We are in an ocean and we have to collect as many sea life creatures as we can. In this game we have to be strong.” He projected mental images of fish and crabs and other cartoon like creatures.

“Like a real video adventure!” Tony was excited.

“Yes, now use your tentacles to captures fishes, and follow your sister.”

“Say, where are you, Mr. Shark?”

“The fishes are getting away, better hurry.”

“But...”

Kard reached out with his tendrils and found the boy. He reached inside the boys mind and forced the illusion of a sea adventure. “That's my boy.” The boy needed lessons, and it never hurt to make those lessons into a game.

Feeling weak, psychic tendrils sprang from Kard and found a banquet. He was not feeling all that strong, yet, and his hunger was far greater then he had ever been. He needed these people's strength. They could give him that much, at least, but what he wanted most of all was that guy. That guy at the other hospital. He was good. Or maybe that girl from the highway. She wasn't as filling, but just as tasty.

General pandemonium kept people running in all directions. Kard tried to leave the helpful ones alone for a little while. They brought a little order to the event.

Getting down from the gurney was difficult, and the dizziness nearly toppled his small girl's frame.

Someone of strength came at him. Kard had missed this one. Tall red hair, her bright colored clothes were distracting enough, but this woman was shaking bones at him. She was projecting something, and when it hit him, he drew it into himself. It was a joy to drink of such power. He absorbed everything she had, but she was soon spent. His body felt stronger, and he experimented with it by letting go of the gurney.

He didn't fall. That was good. He turned slowly around, surveying his surroundings. The floor had bodies laying about here and there, but it was not like before. There needed to be more bodies this time. “There are enough people here, and I think more are coming.” He received a message, and tried to trace it back to its source, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“Where?” was the question it had asked. Kard knew someone else was hunting him, but this time he had backup. The children were here. His children. Though, it was difficult say the girl was here.

Sand kicked up into his face. The other children were laughing at him. His hair had been cut too short, and they all knew it. They were going to pick on him until his mother came. But these children were colorless. They jeered at him, but it occurred to Kard that they would go away if he just thought about it.

“NO!” that little girl yelled. “You have to fight me,” she said as she kicked more sand into his face.

The sand stung his eyes, and he wanted to cry. He turned away to run, and hit the hospital floor. “What is happening to me?” He asked aloud.

A nurse helped him to his feet and asked, “are you alright little girl?”

Kard found the male nurse attractive. Something about his full lips made him want to kiss them. Did he have a 5'oclock shadow? No, but why did I think that?

Kard shook off the feeling and plunged tendrils into the man, draining him of all life. The nurse's expressions changed rapidly and an almost pleasurable looked flashed on his face. At that moment he could smell the man. No, he could smell men, sensuous and overwhelming.

Then he was on the sand again. The little girl was kicking him.

“You leave me alone,” she screamed. She pulled back for one hell of a kick.

Kard reeled back from the kick, cringed and waited for the pain, only to find himself clutching the gurney.

“This has got to stop!” Kard yelled with his little girl's voice.

The nurse's body slumped and knocked over the gurney.

Kard released it as soon as he discovered that holding on to it would take his small body with it.

“Fine,” he resolved to fix this situation. His tendrils reached for victim after victim. Draining as fast as he could. No matter how much he drained, it wasn't enough. His hunger only grew. After feeding on 5 at once, his efforts paid off, temporarily. He felt stronger, and managed to get into a wheelchair.

Tony came up beside him and said, “hi, Kelly.”

“Hi, Tony,” Kard felt a little awkward pretending to be Kelly. “How many fishes have you caught?”

“A lot,” Tony said and ran down the hall. He found some stairs and went down.

Kard felt the presence of a strong pair sitting outside. His tendrils grabbed for them, but he only caressed them lightly. The younger of the two on the bench started chanting some words. “Why, he's casting a spell,” Kard spoke with Kelly's voice. It still sounded funny to his ears.

He sent thought to Tony, beckoning him to come and learn a lesson about magic.

After the lesson, Kard felt it important to teach Tony more, but he didn't want to be Tony's sister anymore.

Though he was still standing in the sand box, Kard was facing away from the playground. Something was nagging at him to turn around, he did. Before he could react to the little girl on a swing coming at him on a direct course, the little girl's feet came crashing into him, unable to dodge her.

“You can't leave,” was all he heard from her before he found himself back in the wheelchair.

He was thirsty, and getting weak again. He sent out tendril to find more life and killed another one. He used his tendrils to move the wheelchair to an open restroom and there he saw Kelly's reflection in the mirror. She looked pale as a ghost, sickly, and possessed.

Another tendril sought out more life and when if found three in a car trying to drive away, he drained them at once. The mirror showed color come back into Kelly's face. She looked healthier and stronger. “I'll be damned,” he said, with her lips moving in the mirror. “Am I killing my little girl?”

Kard felt depression set in like a brick. He was back at the sandbox. The little girl and her friends were kicking and beating on him. He had no where to go, but he climbed up the latter and found he could avoid most of their blows if he just stayed up in the small loft on the climber.

After a while the Kard decided it might be safe to come out. He was wrong, because the other kids were hiding under the climber and pounced on him once he touched down on the sand.

Kard ran away and found a dark place behind the trees and bushes. He would hide there until the bad kids went away. Kard was so scared, he fell asleep.

Jax help

Preparation for this was taking far too long, in Dru's opinion. He was beginning to think Jueqel's plan to go in first might have been a good bet. He realized it was folly to think that, so, he refocused his attention on Kefen.

“When do you think we should have a child?” Kefen asked.

“Perhaps soon,” Dru answered. Kefen must have been thinking about this ever since he'd heard about the children being kidnapped.

“I'd like to try, now,” Kefen said in a tone that hinted it was more of a question.

“Why now?” Dru asked.

Kefen didn't answer right away. Instead he looked out over the flat plains. Grassland as far as he could see.

“When did you find this place?” Dru asked.

“I didn't. Nepal had it in his head. I thought it would be secluded enough to talk,” Kefen answered.

It was secluded. Traffic could be heard off in the distance, but it wasn't visible but for a tiny speck that might have been an semi truck hauling by. “So, let's talk. Why do you think we should have a child now?”

Kefen answered with a question, “do you think we're going to make it?”

Dru wasn't at all certain that everyone would make it through the day, but the Oragwains had the best chance of survival. “Yes, we'll all make it.”

“We Oragwains,” Kefen clarified.

Dru nodded softly.

“But Breyn almost didn't make it,” Kefen explained. “If she had died, I don't think I could have lived with that. Her mothers were our best friends, our companions.”

Dru felt the waves of empathic energy washing out of Kefen. It was as if he was expecting doom, when Dru felt none.

“When will we be ready to raise a child?” Kefen asked defensively. “I think being ready is something that happens once the child has come.” Kefen was serious.

Dru's choice to not parent until the clan needed another member was a valid choice. When emotion plays into decisions about choosing to have a child, it made for a variable he was not willing to easily concede to.

“We are about to go into a very dangerous place,” Dru started.

“And anyone could get hurt, but I want us to have a child together,” Kefen insisted. “Yours and mine.”

Dru considered his options, and if this was going to be done. It was going to be done with the best interest of each. He dug deep into his own emotional reservoir and decided, “I want to carry a child to term.”

Kefen looked surprised, but recovered quickly. “I will have a girl.”

“And I will have a boy,” Dru added. It felt almost like a game. They had not spoken of this for many years, but now that the decision was made, it felt right to do it now.

They embraced, and Kefen said, “we must do this quickly. We will be needed soon.”

“Alright, a quickie it is,” Dru said playfully.

Their shirts came off and their bellies pressed against one another. Dru could feel the chamber inside his navel and called it forward to push out a small gray mass. The navel opening widened for both of them, and the tantalizing tickle of anticipation was almost more than Dru could bare. “I forgot how good this felt,” Dru said panting.

Kefen was also panting, “making babies is hard work, but a pleasurable work.”

“Lucky, Oragwains are the only ones that can do it this way,” Dru started to say.

But Kefen finished, “otherwise, there would be a population explosion. Humans wouldn't stop.”

Kefen had been pushing his through, and the moment the masses touched, something went off in Dru's mind. It filled his mind with sensations reserved for the most intimate of moments. When two join as one and the pleasure is all consuming.

The mass was looking for direction, and Dru directed it to finish the trip as a girl. Dru could feel his genes and those of Kefen's genes fold into place. Cell division had not commenced, but would soon start once inside Kefen. Another request from a mass had come to Dru. This one was from Kefen, and it had been directed to boyhood. Dru took it into himself to settle in the birthing chamber.

Shutter after shutter wracked Dru, and he could feel the same thing happening to Kefen. It seemed a non-stop ecstatic journey into parenthood. The mind-blowing orgasm that they shared had never been as powerful has it had been at that moment.

They sat on the grass. Dru smiled, “I'm pregnant.”

“Me too,” Kefen giggled.

They got up and put their shirts back on. Dru felt their bond was even stronger, now that they carried their children. Protectively, he was reluctant to go into battle against Karden.

Kefen said with a passion Dru had never heard from him before, “let's rid the world of creatures like Karden. Our children need a safe place to live.”

Receiving an image of the destination, together, they shimmered to the gas station a few blocks from the Hospital. Police, and Psi-cops, were ready to move.

The Psi-cop staring at them had been concentrating, and visibly relaxed once they arrived. “I was keeping everyones eyes peeled away from seeing you come in. You guys should really be a little more discrete about using your abilities.”

Kefen smiled, “that's why we have men like you to help us out.”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. The Psi-cop's grin dropped to a frown, “so, it's like that, huh? Well, I may not be the strongest Psi on the force, but I can hold my own.”

Dru interrupted the Psi's tirade, “what is the status?”

The Psi-cop asked, “and you are?” Feathers ruffled, this bird was obviously attempting to be official.

“Dru and Kefen,” Dru pointed to his partner.

“I'm Sargent Jax,” the Psi said and turned to look down the street. He pointed to the building. “That place is a hotbed of psychic activity. Only we can't tell what's inside. We're being prevented from all sorts of psychic entry. The fire and police departments have begun to block off the streets. We're trying to keep the blanks away from any real danger. We hope they'll stay content with crowd control, but I have my doubts. A few agents from the Houses are heading in with the locals. After the Sieshin, Yogan, and Thero Houses got involved, every local resource in this town has been tapped. And I mean tapped. I've heard the military psi force is on standby. Don't know what's going on with them, but if they get involved, this is going to fall apart, and fast. Psi-cops are being called in from all over, but we're not the heavy hitters we used to be.”

“I'm sorry you had to get involved,” Kefen consoled. “I heard about one of your men running into Karden.”

Jax whipped his head in surprise. “Karden?”

“You know him?” Dru asked.

“No, but we were not told his name.”

Dru thought that was curious, “I wonder why?”

“If anyone of us knew a Karden, we might likely get the idea in our heads to find him ourselves,” Jax explained. “I hear taking on this guy is dangerous to even his mother. Oh, look. Your ride is here. Come on. Let's get you a change of clothes.”

Jax directed them to gas station's restroom and inside were pants and jackets of fireman's garb. Dru and Kefen looked at each other knowingly. Jax apparently got the inside joke and snorted, “guys, are you here to play or get the bad guy?”

Kefen actually flirted and said, “I'm ready for whatever you can dish out Jax.”

Cheshin joins the Yogan

“What's taking them so long?” Raymond asked.

Nita looked at him blankly.

“He is going to get away,” he said impatient.

Nita raised her eyebrows, “what makes you so sure?”

Raymond didn't understand question. Was she testing him? She would only ask it if I were to under suspicion. She's right. I should be watched carefully. I may not be the right man for this assignment. Regardless, our mission cannot fail.

This time it was Raymond that reached out for Nita's hand. Her hand snatched his quickly.

Change of plans. They are keeping us in the dark. We do exactly as they say until we have the precise location of Karden. Our mission, otherwise, has not changed. We will have him, dead or alive. Keep your mind shielded. Then next time Karden attempts to seize control of our bodies, nausea may be the key to get him to release. We learned from Karden that he is afraid of being sick. If that fails, shut down all activity and maintain stasis for thirty seconds. He may loose interest quickly, and the distraction others bring will assist.

Maintain nausea through ALC and Q10 over production.

If contact is made, join and apply group stasis through induced dopamine depletion. Use nausea if Karden proves too difficult to join.

They released hands, and Raymond felt better about their mission.

Cheshin shimmered back into the room. “We will travel in with the local police force and a few other agencies. Will you have trouble getting through the crowds? We're not sure what will happened, but Karden will most likely sense us when we get there.”

“You have no need to worry about us,” Raymond said.

“Yes, we will be fine,” Nita said in an almost pleasant tone.

Cheshin face went blank. “I was asked to join with you, if needed.”

“What about Jueqel?” Raymond asked before he could stop himself.

“No need, now, but it may come to that,” Nita snapped sharply.

“I'm taking us to a local fire station. Any objections?” Cheshin asked.

“None.” Nita said it so quickly. Raymond knew he'd should not have mentioned Jueqel.

Cheshin put his hands on their shoulders and the world shimmered around them.

They stood in a yard, facing the backside of a fire station. We wait here.

“I will search the perimeter,” Nita said as she took off. Her enhanced speed blinding to everyone, but Yogan.

Raymond waited for her return. Confident in his ability to complete this mission and get back to House Yogan. He needed cleansing. He needed it fast.

“So, you are attracted to Jueqel?” Cheshin asked bluntly.

“No,” Raymond said quickly. Maybe too quickly.

“Sorry, you can't lie. I saw it happened.”

“I am not allowed to have such feelings outside the Yogan.”

“Too bad for you, huh?”

“What do you mean?” Raymond asked.

“You are restricted to loving only your own kind? What kind of life is that?”

“It's a wonderful life,” Raymond defended. “House Yogan provides for everything. The physical and mental benefits of discipline and self control are beyond measure. You cannot know the extent of what I speak. You must take my word for it. The Yogan are perfect.”

“I can know, if you show me.” Cheshin offered.

“What do you mean?” Raymond asked, suspicious.

“Allow me to join with you. I would like to know of this perfectness of which you speak.”

Raymond thought it might be a bad idea and said as much.

“I might even like to join the House Yogan afterward,” Cheshin said.

It would be worth it to have an Oragwain in the Yogan fold. They could learn the art of teleportation. “But it would take too long for you to understand. You have to agree to a group join under different circumstances.”

“I'm almost ready to join already. I just need a little push toward perfection.”

“I'm not sure,” Raymond said honestly.

“I know Jueqel would then become a very understanding person. I am good friends with him. He might be able to trust House Yogan if I were to join your house,” Cheshin sounded very sincere.

Raymond felt something stir in himself at the mention of Jueqel. “He would be a valuable ally. House Yogan would benefit from House Thero. The could more fully cooperate.” Am I thinking clearly? It's the right thing to do, isn't it? He kept asking himself that question.

Cheshin was nodding his head. “Do it now? or do you think there is no time left to try?”

Raymond wasn't sure if this was the best thing to do at the moment, but how often would there be a chance to get Jueqel on their side. This would present itself few, if only this time. “Join then,” he agreed and stuck out his hand.

Cheshin grabbed his hand and the joining commenced. It was confusing at first. Raymond had a hard time maintaining control and seperation between the two consciousnesses they shared. The sharing got a little too deep, he thought, and then things cleared up.

We are the Yogan. Our physical statue is the attainment of perfection in maintaining absolute control. For happiness and harmony with all life and systems on Earth and ultimately the universe. Here is how I feel about the Yogan. Will you join us now?

Cheshin released Raymond's hand and drew in a deep breath. “Wow, that was incredible. I can see why you love the House Yogan. I wish I could join you. My bond with the Oragwains is strong, but you have brought be closer to the Yogans than I had ever imagined.”

Raymond felt a little disoriented. “That didn't seem normal. I lost control for a second. Are you feeling any negative side effects from our join?”

“A little dizzy, but I'm really O.K.” Cheshin waved it off.

Sirens blared and Nita came running back.

“We should go with the dark red Ambulance truck,” Cheshin said. “Remember Karden will be waiting for us. We take the East Wing of the Hospital. Emergency Entrance.”

“We go now,” Nita demanded.

Final lesson

Nepal watched as Armand pulled out cards and paper and a marker. His almond eyes were knowing, his skin light tan and dark hair cropped short. Nepal couldn't help but notice the strong shoulders, and muscular arms would show underneath the fetching charcoal suit each time he bent his elbows. The five o'clock shadow added to his already significant sex appeal. If circumstances were different, Nepal may have asked him out.

“This can be dangerous. Why are you so eager?” Armand asked.

Nepal realized he must have been fidgeting. “I think I can help my friends,” Nepal answered.

“How can you help them if you cannot control your abilities.”

“I'm not sure I need to control them as much as everyone thinks,” Nepal said. “Let's get started.”

“Right then,” Armand consented. “Lets find out what you know. When I first contacted you, your mental communication was, shall we say, a bit much. Do you think you can try it again, but this time with less force?”

Nepal felt a little embarrassed at is naiveness. “Sorry, I wasn't sure you could hear me. The message was too faint.” He stopped hoping he had not said the wrong thing and started again. “Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were not a all that potent. Ah, sorry, I didn't mean that your potency was bad, because I don't know how potent you are. Ahem, no that not right, I mean. It's just that,” Nepal stumbled for the words, but everything he wanted to say would just come out wrong. He gave up.

Armand stared, his face as blank and serious.

“O.K. I'll try it. How can I do this?” Nepal asked.

“Send me some thoughts. And I'll tell you when it's too 'loud'.” Armand instructed.

“Like what?”

“I'll start then,” Armand said. “I'm going to think something to you. Follow through with what I'm about to think.”

Nepal closed his eyes and waited for a message from the really hot guy standing in front of him. He wondered how soft his lips were, but then remembered that he should be waiting for a message. When it didn't come, he opened his eyes.

Armand was shaded in varying reds, blush and bashful. He was smiling. “Close you're eyes, please,” he ordered, his voice sweet. “I'm sending the message now.”

Nepal waited and started to shake his head to indicate he wasn't getting the message, but found on the return shake, he was stopped by a pair of lips pressing onto his, forcing his mouth open. The stubble prickled his face and brought with it a stimulating sensation that broke him into a passionate embrace. Nepal kissed back and drew Armand closer.

An inner voice spoke to him, “you're mind is open.” It was Armand's voice. “Focus on me.”

“No problem there,” Nepal thought.

“Other may be listening to us,” Armand warned.

Nepal tried to pull away, but Armand resisted.

“No. Focus on me. Place a wall around us. Keep everyone else out of our thoughts,” Armand instructed.

“How?”

“Imagine a wall around us,” they broke away for air, and then started making out with more desperation. “Do it now, Nepal. Imagine a wall. Keep everyone else out,” Armand demanded.

Nepal felt a surge of strength and imagined a wall. It was easier to imagine the wall painted into place and then dragged around them.

“Very good,” Armand was pleased. “You did that easily enough. Now, let me into your mind. Let me inside you.”

Nepal wondered, “how?”

“Let me know you, Nepal,” Armand insisted.

Nepal felt a mental pressure, something he had felt before, but this was easier. Softer and stronger. This was a firm request. Nothing like the first time.

Armand was reaching inside, feeling his way around. Probing Nepal in and out. “Show me more passion, Nepal,” Armand instructed.

Nepal recalled what passion he could from the past, and then knew there had never been passion the likes of which he was feeling now. Nepal brought the passion he was currently feeling to Armand, and in return, Armand did the same for him, cycling their whirlwind affection. Their adoration for one another built upon the lust that surged between them.

As their senses began to merge, the scent of each other was made that much stronger. Skin on skin was translated over and over into a powerful tactile sensitivity, which threatened to explode between them with each movement, for each movement was like a thousand movements of the same. Half open eyes would catch glimpses of their facial features, they could hardly tell who's eyes belonged to who, who's lips where who's. Their sensuous sounds echoed to each other in waves of harmonic pulsing that stimulated their rhythmic embrace. Tasting their masculinity brought new heights to their orgasmic attack upon one another. Naked to their shared consciousness, they spent an eternity probing themselves, hunting and stalking that which made them promise more and feeding upon it for one another.

The pressure between them built until they were ready to burst, and when they did, things were just beginning to fall into place.

Armand pulled away from Nepal. They were still standing, but their clothes were drenched. Sweat penetrated their nostrils, hinting of what may happen again, if they were not careful.

Armand smiled. Nepal could see he had a glow about him that was unmistakable. He felt it too. They had changed. They both knew it. They were different. They had shared more with one another than any to people on earth. Well, maybe not as much as the Oragwains, but they were designed that way.

Armand's cards began to lift from the floor and float up. They fell, but then picked themselves back up again and made their way to Armand's hands. “I can do this now,” Armand's voice showed he was thrilled at the prospects.

Nepal used his mind to “see” the cards. All of them at once. He knew their order, their shapes and their number. “I can see things like you can.”

Armand shook his head slowly, “I think you can see a lot more than I could, but you're right we can see things further away.”

“You are a Psychinian?” Armand asked.

“That's what they tell me.”

“You have had dreams of other places, and of aliens.” Armand said.

“Yes, and now you've had them too.”

Armand shook his head, “technically you've had the dreams, I just remember them.”

Nepal smiled, and bent to kiss Armand.

They locked lips and touched each other's minds again. They held back, this time, and did not dive into one another.

“This guy Karden is in your head. I can sense him.” Armand said.

“Yes, I sensed him a few times,” Nepal explained. “He took something from me.”

“That means you can find him, and you can get to him,” Armand said.

“Yes, I can sense him now. If I focus, I can pick things out that he is doing,” Nepal knew he didn't have to explain, but Armand was understanding, and he knew that.

Their wetness was getting sticky and they both looked toward the locker room. Nepal knew it was time to take a quick shower. He sent a message out with his new control on telepathy, and asked for a change of clothes for the both of them.

For brevity, trying to avoid another long encounter with each other, they took separate shower stalls, and dressed quickly, but together.

People were dying and they had to help.

“Lesson's over,” Armand said.

Amateur

Armand took off his blindfold and the audience applauded loud and long. The absorbed enthusiasm for his performance replenished his confidence. All doubts about his work as a performing artist melted away. He kept reliving the end of last week's performance. It felt good to be back in the show. Hopefully tonight's show would be just as good.

One thing kept troubling his mind. The nightmare he'd had last night made it hard for him to concentrate. Getting up to use the restroom as everyone else had was even more disturbing. And who was this “Nepal” he was going to meet?

The nightmare began simply as an ocean voyage to some tropical island. It promised to be a good dream, but as soon as the sail was up, the sky turned dark and the waves began to crash. It was horrible from that moment on. Nepal kept asking, “how do you steer this?” Armand had never sailed in his life, but in this dream he knew all about sailing. He tried to explain it to Nepal, but the waves kept knocking him over and the wind made talking ineffective.

The dream was clear enough to him. Nepal was someone he was to meet with and teach. The rest of it was as clear as his blindfold. Well, if this is going to happen, I'd best get in touch with him. Armand pulled out an old board with peg inserts. He picked them out and closed his eyes. He focused on the holes and inserted pegs as quickly as he could find them without looking. When he was done, he felt satisfied his mind was clear enough for the task ahead.

“Nepal,” he said aloud. “Calling Nepal.” He felt absurd every time he did this, but it usually worked with the image of them in his mind .

A faint almost audible buzzing at the back of his imagination got louder. It built in strength and a voice came through so loud he covered his ears, as if that would block out a loud voice that was only in his head. “Hello? Who is this?” asked the booming voice.

Armand got the impression the guy on the other end was thinking he was on a telephone. That's when he realized at he had to get this guy some help. “Why do I get the amateurs?”

Nepal asked, “what?”

“Hi Nepal. Do you know who I am?”

Armand felt a pressure in his mind. An intruder. Nepal was clumsily rummaging around for Armand's identity. “My name is Armand. Would you like some help finding it in there?”

Another pressure, this one more precise and not at all clumsy, penetrated his psyche. It was almost painful, but it soon stopped.

“Armand, I am Etten,” came a second mind. “Sorry for the intrusion, but you contacted us.”

“I was trying to help...”

“Yes, you were. And I would appreciate it if you would meet us in person.”

As soon as Armand agreed, the air shimmered and he found himself in a different room surrounded by people he did not recognize save Nepal. “I'm here. What can I do you for?” Armand tried to sound pleasant.

“Your timing is incredible,” Dru said. His voice suspicious.

“Not anymore incredible than what you just did,” Armand was looking about the room. This was real. He was transported to this place. Who knows where?

“You've trained new psychics, and now you are looking for Nepal?” Etten asked.

“That's it in a nutshell,” Armand admitted.

“How?” Nepal asked. “How'd you know I needed training?”

Armand considered the question. It was something he got used to doing. He'd get a feeling and a dream. The next thing he'd be doing is showing someone else how to tap into their potential. “It was meant to be,” he said. It was lame, but what else could he say? “I've been at this for years. It happens two or three times a year, and I help the new guys and gals get used the underworld.”

“Underworld?” Dru scoffed. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“No offense, but the world we live in isn't exactly on top,” Armand defended his remark.

Jueqel interrupted before Dru could speak. “Semantics. Drop it. We have more pressing thing to get done.” He turned to Etten and said, “I don't like the idea of you bringing in psychics off the street. We've compromised enough already.”

“Hey,” Armand objected. “I'm not some street psychic. I'm a trainer.”

Jueqel cut him off and went clinical, “excuse me. No offense was meant. Street psychics is a term we use for your kind. You refer to yourself as a Trainer, did you say?”

Armand did take offense, and told them as much.

“Semantics!” Dru snapped, “I do not live in the underworld.”

Well, they had him there. “I get your point. I'm here to help. Nepal, this is unusual. I'm used to someone with a little less strength behind their abilities.”

“Can we speed this along?” Dru said impatient.

Jueqel put up his hand and said, “you're right. We have to go.”

Nepal cried out, “aren't I going with you?”

Jueqel laughed, “no. I don't think you can be of much use just yet. You're still learning. This man here will show you the ropes. Take it slow, but I'm sure you will learn quickly. The longer we put this off the more people are going to get hurt.”

Armand was alarmed at these words, “people are getting hurt? What do you guys do around here? You are pretending to be superheros or anything like that, are you?”

Jueqel rolled his eyes, “this is House Thero.”

This was unexpected, and Armand hoped it didn't show on his face, but it did, he knew. “I see.”

Jueqel pointed to Sherry, “she is in charge here.”

Sherry squeaked.

Jueqel had always wanted to do that to her. “She can help you find a place to safely show Nepal what he needs.”

Armand was more concerned about getting back home. He didn't want to miss tonight's show, and if at all possible he didn't want to be in this house. “How do I get back home?”

Everyone was ignoring him by this time, except for Sherry and Nepal. “Come this way, please,” Sherry said. “I'm sure they will get you home when they get back.”

“Why isn't anyone worried I might be a danger here?” Armand asked.

Sherry looked at him with eyes anyone would get lost in, “I would have seen it, if you were a danger.” She blushed, “besides, everyone here is far more dangerous than you are, I expect.” She blushed even more this time. “Here's a good place to start,” she directed his attention to a set of double doors.

The doors opened into a large room with mats on the floor and padding on the walls. “Expecting violence?” Armand asked, but then regretted asking.

Luckily, she didn't answer.

Nepal seemed eager enough, “let's get started.”

Armand said, “yes,” and took out his cue cards.

Part of the game

“I'm tellin' you, I feel somethin's about to happen,” said the elderly man on the bench to the younger man beside him. They were waiting for a bus, and twice a minute the old man would say, “duh bus is comin'.” He got these feelings, you see.

The bus was due any moment. So, the old man would be proved right when it pulled up, but until then they would sit. Nephew would listen to his uncle's chatter.

“Uncle,” said the younger man. “Something is always about to happen. That's how the world turns. Now, stop going on like it's the end of the world again. I don't know what those doctors give you, but every time I bring you here, you're jumping out of your skin.”

Nearly noon, the rays of the sun shown down glinting off parked cars. The bus stop was in an odd place, being so close to the emergency entrance. Nephew figured they knew what they were doing when they built the place. Good thing he wasn't in charge of building this hospital. The bus stop would be well away from any emergency vehicles.

The bus came into view, but it stopped to the flashing lights. Police cars pulled out in front to block traffic. More flashing light came around and over the median. From the other direction fire trucks, ambulance, and unmarked cars started to fill the street.

“Damn, hehe,” Uncle giggling that old laugh that old timers do so well. “I tol' ya. Din't I? I tol' ya.”

“Wonder what's going on?” Nephew asked.

“Yourn mama had them feelins' too. Ain't cha feelin' it?”

“Yes, Uncle. I do.” Nephew did feel it. In fact, he knew the feeling very well. “Mamma done told you. Now, hush,” he said, starting to sound like his uncle. That was unsettling enough. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a charm. He recited a few words. Slowly, in his mind he could see trouble. Perhaps bodies on the ground? He was just about to get a clear picture.

“Damn, boy!” Uncle yelled in his nephew's ear. “You practicing that hoodoo?”

The image was blown. Nephew wheeled on his uncle and wanted nothing better than to throw fury at him, but the old coot was smiling, and it was hard to smack him down down when he smiled. Instead he settled for a less violent way and socked Uncle in the arm playfully, “what'd you go and do that for?”

Before the old man could smart off something equally rude as the time he farted loudly in the library, a calm chill wind blew in over them. Made them cold and tired and had the creeps all at once.

Nephew tried one of his mamma's spells. An incantation to ward off evil. He started it, but never finished. He'd forgotten the words about halfway through. His thoughts muffled when two demon or angel spirits talked in his head.

The first disembodied voice poked fun at him, “look my son. This one thinks he is casting spells.”

A younger disembodied voice laughed gleefully, “is that real magic, Mr. Shark?”

Mr. Shark replied, “maybe, but it looks like he's psychic and doesn't know it. Here is another lesson for you. Dig out his thoughts and tell me what you find. Is it really magic?”

The son was apprehensive, “but will it hurt?”

“No, it's only a game. Like a video game. You will be fine. No one important gets hurt in our games.”

That settled Son, and what happened next was more painful than anything Nephew had ever felt in his entire life. His memories were ripped out one by one. He had remembered a time when... and then it was gone.

After explaining each memory to Mr. Shark, Nephew could not remember which memories were missing. Son paid no attention to Nephew's screams. “Those aren't real screams. It's part of the game,” Son told Nephew. Nephew was very close to believing him, but each time the pain would rip him a new one.

Another voice intruded into his thoughts, “the pain is real, Tony. You're hurting a real person.”

The last thing Nephew remembered was a fight ensuing. He wasn't sure what kind of fight, but he knew he had lost.

Welcome to the family

“She's deathly pale,” Kard heard someone say outside his room.

Weak from his earlier efforts, he laid his head down. If he was in someone else's body, he could take it easy for a while. Take a break. Close my eyes for a little while.

Kard found himself in a playground. He was the tallest kid. He didn't recognize anyone here. He had been left alone with all these children. The other kids didn't seem to be all there. They played and played, but they were not having fun. There was one little girl in a bright red jacket that jumped off of her swing and came bounding toward him. She was coming toward him so quickly, he thought she would bowl him over.

“Who are you?” She asked. Stopping inches away from him.

Kard backed off from this very bold little girl. She was intimidating with her bright red jacket. She even appeared to get larger as she stood there expectant.

“Name!” She demanded.

Kard jumped awake in his bed, the dream quickly becoming a distant memory. He felt cold and clammy.

A lady was adjusting one of the machines next to his bed, “how are you feeling?”

“Not so good,” Kard's voice came out crackling, and he wasn't sure she heard him.

“We'll fix that right up,” she said and punched a few buttons on the machine.

A wash of familiar warmth filled him. I know that feeling. It was some drug they were pumping into him. Into the little girls body. “It wasn't fair”, he heard himself say.

He panicked and sent out a tendril to the woman. This time it found its mark. He pushed her mind, and commanded it to stop the medication. The nurse did as instructed, sat down in the chair beside her and took a break from all the hard work she had been doing the past thirty minutes.

Kard picked through her mind a little, but found the effort was too hard to maintain for very long. “This body is not big enough for me,” he thought out loud. Again, he was surprised at the crackle in his voice. Instead, he decided he needed a little sustenance, and feed off of her life force.

The medication began to wear off almost immediately, and in no time at all the woman had slouched over the arm of the chair. The next nurse to come in, Kard was ready for. He drained the man as he had so many others. He was beginning to feel whole again. “Maybe this body is going to be alright for me, after all.”

Before this nurse had fallen dead, he punched up a button on the wall. He didn't have a chance to say anything before he fell, but it was enough to bring in another nurse.

Only this time, it was a doctor that walked into the room. The doctor noticed the little girl looked healthy, but the two nurses on the floor alarmed him. Kard didn't give the doctor time to respond before he forced his tendrils to drain as quickly as they could.

Soon, Kard felt good enough to move on his own. He swung his legs to the side of the bed, but found the whole process complicated. First his new body was out of proportion to what he was used to. It kept getting dizzy on him. Second, the rails wouldn't move, and he did know how to unlock them. Third, getting out from under the layers of sheet and blanket was hard, because it seemed heavier than these things used to be.

Using his tendrils to do the work for him, Kard was moving objects as needed. He got down from the bed after nearly falling from it, and attempted to walk. He gripped the sides to help balance himself. It was hard going at first, but he was starting to get the hang of it.

Suddenly, the floor rushed toward him. He put his hands out before he hit the sand with a soft crunch. The little girl in red was towering above him. “I asked you for your name?”

Had she pushed him down into the sand? He couldn't remember. Was he just here a second ago? He couldn't remember that either.

“Get up, so I can push you again.” She said angrly.

Kard felt as though he should cry. This was very upsetting. His parents were not here. These kids were mean. This girl was likely going to beat him up.

She grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground. She pushed him backward, and he hit the floor of his room.

Kard's I.V. popped out and he was bleeding. It hurt with a deep throbbing pain, and he felt weak.

Just then his next victim walked in and saw the little girl on the floor. Alarmed, the nurse didn't notice the other bodies but quickly tried to patch up the wound. The nurse grabbed for something, that's when she notice the bodies. Her alarm heightened.

The tendrils did their work and soon another body was lying on the floor. The bleeding had slowed, but not stopped. Kard plucked from the nurses mind how to stop the bleeding. He applied pressure with the gauze and waited before he tried to move again.

He didn't know how long he could keep this up. If people kept coming in the room, he wouldn't be able to climb over the hill they would make. He chuckled at this, but did not find it funny in the least.

He looked up at the girl in red. Something about her looked familiar. Did he know her?

“If you don't give me your name, I'm going to be so mad that you'll regret it!” she yelled at him with such force that Kard the world went flying.

His head hit the floor of his room. The pain was intense. He felt two tendrils reach out in random directions. They found one patient. It was a little boy. The boy was Tony.

Kard pulled the tendril away. He didn't want to hurt his little boy. He worked so a hard to have a little boy. His children. He would protect his children. He could do it from the girls body. Or maybe he'd find a new body. He wasn't sure how, but it could be done again.

Remembered plans, Kard resolved to move on them. “I've got to get Tony,” his voice cracked. “We've got to get out of here.”

Tony would have to help. Kard wasn't strong enough in this body to get far. So, he decided he would teach Tony how to do things with his mind.

Tendrils reached into Tony's psyche. He was awake, but just barely. They had to medicate him for some reason. The tendrils opened up pathways of thought that Kard thought might be useful for teaching.

“Hello, Tony. I want to show you some things. No. No. Don't resist. This is going to be fun. Would you like to learned to move objects with your mind?”

For a while Kard thought he could hear screaming, but that was so far away, it didn't seem to matter. So much didn't matter. Only teaching Tony what he needed to learn. Tony needed help, and he needed Tony's help, but Tony's mind wasn't accepting the things he needed to be able to do things properly. Kard found he could change a few things in the mind. Fix a few thing. Put them in their proper place. Make the mind better able to handle the lessons. Kard didn't think the lessons were hard, but they needed to learned and corrections had to be made.

It was taking forever to get through to Tony, but the lessons were almost complete. A short break and all would be well. Just a little break. The world around Kard went dim for a little while.

Kard watched the hallway lights pass him. He was on a gurney. They were taking him somewhere. A mask was on his face. They were saying something, but it wasn't important.

Tendril reached out for the people around him and he slowed to a standstill. Once he had his fill, the orderlies, nurses, and doctors fell one by one.

“I'm tired of being pushed around,” his voice still cracked, but it was getting a lot easier.

More people came, he could feel it. He drained them and felt stronger. He sat up and looked around. He managed to not be dizzy this time. People were rushing about. Back the way he had come, a someone collapsed. Then another. Kard had not fed on them. Curious, he sent his tendrils out to investigate. He found a chilly sensation that almost crawled upon his own tendrils.

Kelly's birthday

Tim Brady dressed as a clown for his daughter's birthday. “Happy Birthday” was written across his chest. All the children knew it was Kelly's father, but they easily put that information aside when he started doing magic tricks. Balloon animals and hats played in every child's hand. No one was left behind. Not even the parents that came. For most of them had funny balloon jewelry decorating their necks or arms. It was a big deal for the neighborhood. Tim had made sure of that.

Nepal laughed at the cute jokes. Tim's annoying laugh was endearing when he had that getup on. “Tim, you were born to be a clown,” he called out.

Tim gave him a wry smile that was exaggerated by the clown makeup. That made the kids laugh. So, he did some tumbles and little acrobatic tricks that parents should probably avoid. It looked like he pulled something there, but chose to ignore the pain.

Kelly was having the most fun of them all. Her little brother was next in line for the happy race.

“TIME FOR CAKE!” TimTim The Clown announced.

Happily they cheered and went to large bench. Kelly took charge of seat selection. She had designated each spot and which would be best, depending on who was going to sit by who. “I want you here and you here. You can't sit there cause you fight too much.” The parents watching her take control couldn't help but laugh. The other children obeyed her. No questions. Except of course for her brother. He wanted to be on her right side, just to be contrary. Kelly obliged without question.

Nepal thought it was a good party. He had never known as good a party when he was a child. Kelly was a strong willed, take charge little girl. Her little brother seemed like a quick study, mimicking her attitude and manerisms.

“They are going to make one hell of a team,” Nepal said to Crystal.

“I hope so,” Crystal said with more than a touch of pride.

Plan of action

Jueqel knew he had to tolerate the Yogans one more time, if he could. He didn't know what they were up to, but it didn't feel right to him. There was some other motive behind their actions. Especially that Raymond guy.

One wrong move, and he would disable the Yogan. He would disable the entire area, if it came to that. He turned to sketch of the hospital grounds. He would be brought in on the south side, the Yogans would be near the East Wing.

Jueqel looked up from the map and told those present, “Perhaps, I should go in first and suppress all psychic activity. It think it's the best chance we have of getting Karden.”

Breyn was shaking her head, “Karden will sense you coming. He was quick. I had no time to react.”

“How did Cheshin get by the encounter? I mean, he stood between me and Karden, and he wasn't stopped,” said Nepal.

“Didn't Cheshin mention anything about being attacked?” Jueqel asked.

“Cheshin wasn't feeling all that well when he got to the site. I think the psychic storm made him nauseous. We were not helping matters by maintaining the 'one-mind',” Etten answered.

“So, was he attacked?” Jueqel asked.

“I don't know, but I would say no,” Etten answered.

Nepal closed his eyes. His face contorted with concentration. When he opened them again, he said, “He does not remember getting attacked. It wasn't like Breyn's chilling experience or anyone else's creapy crawling.” Nepal glowed with pride.
Jueqel noticed Nepal's use of his new found psychic talent. “Nice to see you putting your abilities to practice,” Jueqel commented.

“I think sending you in first would be a bad idea,” Dru said.

“If I knock out all psychic activity...” Jueqel began.

“If you knock out all psychic activity, we will be unable to provide you with backup,” Dru cut him off. “And if you can't suppress Karden enough to keep him from killing you or getting away, we would be worse off than we are now.”

The room got quiet. Jueqel felt he needed to get close to Karden and broke the annoying silence with, “what if the team were to come in the old fashioned way. By vehicle. We'll have the local police to help.”

He looked to the others in the room. Their expressions were all mixed with apprehension. Perhaps it wasn't the best of plans, but it seemed a good one to him.

Jueqel inhaled a quick breath of surprise. Someone was coming with an important message. Nepal had it noticed, too.

Seconds later, Sherry came running into the room, “wait, wait.” She stopped at the table, panting from the effort. “I think you should know, there is a problem with Karden.” She stopped talking and stared wide eyed at all the people in the room. Her mouth quivered like she wanted to say more, but couldn't.

Jueqel wanted to laugh, but thought that would be inappropriate. “Sherry, it's alright. You know everyone here. Take a deep breath and let us know what going on. Peoples lives are at stake.”

That snapped her out of it, “people are in danger. Yes. You're right. Sorry. I have to tell you. Karden did not swap bodies. Yes, he did leave his body, but it wasn't a swap. The girl was not in his body. That means she is in danger.”

“Is in danger?” Nepal questioned. There was confusion in his voice.

“If she is still in there, her mind may have retreated to some corner. He may have erased her, but it is unlikely.”

“Why would you say that?” Dru asked.

Sherry stuttered at answering his question, “I, I...” She visibly calmed herself by taking a deep breath. Letting it all out at once she began, “Karden would not know how to erase a memory so completely. That takes training.” She seemed pleased with herself. She did manage to get that part out without falling apart at talking to Dru.

“What do we know of Karden?” Kefen asked.

“We know he drained the life out of all those people at the hospital. He could do that again,” Sherry answered. “There is a report of a Psi-cop that may have run into Karden on a road not far from the hospital.”

“He picked through my mind. It was painful. I had flashes of things I'd done. It was so cold,” Breyn shuttered. “My memory came alive, but he twisted my thoughts. I thought I was dying when my life passed before me.”

“He vanished from the rest stop,” Jueqel added. “So, he can teleport, now.”

Breyn affirmed, “that was one of the memories he'd pulled from me.”

“It means he learns from sifting through memories,” Kefen said.

“Or something similar, yes,” Jueqel added.

Nepal said, “he was able to blow the door of its henges.”

“He has a kind of telepathy,” Dru put in. “And possibly empathic abilities. Remember the wakeup call we all got early this morning?”

“And he can absorb psychic attacks,” Nepal said, looking at Dru.

Dru ignored any implication Nepal may have suggested.

“He can transplant his consciousness,” Sherry said.

“It also means that Karden is not bound by the rules of mortals anymore,” Jueqel added. “He has at his disposal an array of getaway routes. His arsenal is unmatched, and we don't know how to hurt him. Besides that we don't want to hurt the little girl.”

“Don't forget he may be vulnerable to a psychic storm or to getting sick,” Etten added.

“What do the Yogans say about him?” Dru asked.

Cheshin was shimmering into the room when the question had been asked. Jueqel and Nepal were already looking to the spot where he was to appear. Cheshin's voice came echoing in with his presence, “as usual, the Yogans will require something in return for information, but I think Raymond would talk to us. The ice giant he serves will give us nothing, I'm afraid.” He looked around and asked, “are we going, now?”

Nepal asked, “what's the little girls name?”

Sherry answered, “Kelly.”

Cheshin readies the Yogans

Cheshin stepped up to the Yogans. “We'll be leaving here in a few minutes. I've been asked to escort you to our destination.” His tone was emotionless as he looked them up and down. He allowed his eyes to see to that place in the world that had the silver lining. The aluminum hue overlaid their forms. He could see the psychic energy they pulsed into their own bodies. It was as if these two were on steroids. Which, in a way, they were.

“Why do you look at us like that?” Raymond asked.

Nita was obviously shocked at the statement. She slowly turned her head to eye him.

His manner was cold and calculated, and he repeated the question when Cheshin did not answer right away.

“What way?” Cheshin asked.

“Why do we care?” Nita asked of Raymond.

“Curiosity,” Raymond said plainly.

“Because they think of us as monsters,” she answered. Contempt was in her voice, along with fear and something else Cheshin couldn't quite put his finger on.

“Yes, in a way you are correct,” Cheshin feigned aloofness. “You modify your own bodies. You are not as human as you once were.”

“You are not human,” Nita spit out.

“We never were,” Cheshin retorted. “But we are human in our hearts. You do not appear to be even close to having a human heart.”

“Human is a state of genetics,” she said in a clear confident voice that spoke of disdain for those not of her ilk. “Self made humans are still humans. Test-tube...” She started, but cut herself off.

“So, you say,” Cheshin conceded. The conversation would have gone nowhere, but that wasn't the purpose of the little chat. He knew enough about them now. Although she was cold, she had something inside that burned. He could use that, if it came to down to needing take them out. The man, however, was suppressing something far more sinister. Something he was going to loose control over. It would eat at him, and betray him. Cheshin was sure of it.

Cheshin briefed them on what was discussed earlier, and brought them up to speed on the whereabouts of the little girl that may contain Karden. “Before we go, I must also tell you, the hospital is full of sick children, many of them are orphans. We don't want an incident that we have to clean up. I'll take you two through the back entrance. Others will take and close in on the remaining sides. I'll be in periodic contact with you, so keep your mind open to my signature. It will be a temporary rapport. And I will be two seconds away, if you need me.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Raymond said.

“Fine,” Nita said.

Cheshin did not like the sound of that “fine”. “Then lets go,” he told them.

Psychic Blanks

“The precogs are reporting some post-cognition reports. I've confirmed it with the authorities. Karden Lowen body was found dead,” Sherry's voice expressed concern over this.

“Good,” Dru said. “That's one less lunatic in the world.”

“He found the house of one of the employees that worked at the hospital,” she continued. “Kard killed the mother and may have tried to kill the children, according to police. However, we have come to believe the children were not in any immediate mortal danger. The emotional imprint left at the scene indicated a very happy and playful time, up until the mother had died. Things went fuzzy soon after that.”

“How did he die?” Jueqel asked.

“The police think it was an aneurism, but have not confirmed it. We have confirmed that Karden did die from blood vessel dilatations in the brain,” she was attempting to sound clinical, Nepal thought. “We could also tell it was deliberate.”

“Suicide?” Nepal asked. “Is that even possible for a psychic to do that?”

“Insane ones, I'd guess,” Etten said, shrugging.

“Dilations? You mean more than one?” Jueqel asked.

“Yes, that is correct,” Sherry answered. She smiled, apparently pleased that someone picked up on that fact. “He tried to fix something that was happening in his brain.”

“Fix what?” Nepal asked.

“Yes, fix what?” Jueqel asked.

“We have not determined that, as of yet, but it may be related to the medications that caused him to come around. We're looking into the matter.” She appeared expectant.

“You're holding out on us, Sherry,” Jueqel said. “Spill it.”

She playfully twisted her hands together, and looked as embarrassed as she ever had. “There was one thing that we're having trouble with. The children have been hard to track down. More specifically, the girl. We know where they are, but psychically, they are hard to see.”

Nepal spoke up, “I don't think Karden is dead.”

Everyone turned to face Nepal with the same questions, “Why?”

“I think I would have felt it,” He said. “I've been having these flashes of being in another place. It was a dream at first. I was at a house. The house had two children, a girl and a boy. There was a ocean fish game that we all played. I did not feel like myself. I had no control over the dream. There was a woman that was killed, I think. She hit her head on a table.”

“The mother is reported to have died from trauma from a head wound.” Sherry admitted. “However, we believe she was dead prior to that. Her life force had been in a standing position when it left her final living impression.”

Nepal continued, “I next dreamed about being in a hospital bed. There was a man that came in and something pushed him backward. He ran from the room.”

“You say these were dreams?” Etten asked.

Dru scoffed, “Dreams?”

“Yes, the first one was a dream, but the second one was after I ate breakfast,” Nepal looked apologetically toward Jueqel. He wanted to tell Jueqel then, but other things got on his mind and he soon forgot to mention it. He wasn't even sure it was real.

“When we attacked Karden,” began Kefen. “I felt I had lost something. Well, it wasn't me, it was that Nepal felt something had been lost. We all felt it while we were joined.”

Nepal remembered. “Yes, that's right. Something seemed to be missing there at the last.”

“I remember,” Dru admitted.

“You think that there is a link between you and Karden?” Etten asked.

“I think Nepal is just discovering his abilities,” Jueqel added, waving his hands as if the topic was going in the wrong direction.

“No, I think they have it right,” Nepal objected. “Something was lost to Karden. I think it was part of me. Something that...”

Jueqel interrupted, “that's impossible. Psychininas cannot loose parts of themselves, can th...” he trailed off to consider.

“Yes, I think we can,” Nepal said.

“So, what happened to Karden? If he's dead, how can he be going?” Dru asked.

“One of two things happened,” Sherry said in that I'm glad you asked perky tone. “The first is that Karden had time to manipulate the children's minds to be similar to his own. At least partially. We think he may have the ability to actually give blanks psychic abilities.”

Dru's fist slammed down on the table. “What!” It was not a question.

Sherry stepped back from the outrage and glanced at the exit. Obviously sizing up her escape route. “I...” was all she could manage to say.

Jueqel snapped a quick glare at Dru and mouthed, “calm down.”

Dru sat down, disgusted, and gave a grudging palms out, which indicated she should continue her briefing.

Sherry timidly stepped back up to the table. “Karden may have switched bodies with the girl. He may have had the ability to do that. If he did switch bodies, then he may or may not have replaced the girls mind with his own. If she is in there with him, she might be fighting to get her body back, but most likely she would know how. If she does fight back, then he might end up erasing all remnants of her mind from his new body.”

“The girl is either possessed by Karden or hypnotized by him?” Nepal asked.

Jueqel nodded, “that's a good analogy.”

Coldness deep inside

Why should he have to forget? Is it not natural to fall in love? Something humans have been doing since human copulation was even possible?

“No,” Raymond told himself. “I cannot be in love. It is against all the rules. It's against everything I believe in. It would not be respected. I need to be cleansed.” He repeated these things to himself over and again.

“Jueqel is not worth it. He doesn't even like the Yogan. How can I think he would reciprocate friendship, let alone love?” He stopped himself from digging the emotion deeper. Even thinking about the possibility made it that much harder to stop.

Raymond looked inside himself and dove into his psyche. He reached for the emotional thread that was causing him so much trouble, and tracked it to it source. He set to work on repairing the damage. Rewiring his mind, emotions, and even altering his own memory, not changing the facts, but changing the perspective. He didn't want to have to deal with this again, and it would also make it easier in the cleaning process.

It took some time before he accomplished the task, but he was sure he had the emotional baggage wrapped in a nice little package for easy retrieval.

He opened his eyes. Nita was staring down at him, “everything fixed?” She said this with artful warmth. Unusual for her, he didn't like it.

“Packaged up,” Raymond snapped.

“We'll see,” she snapped back.

“When do we leave?”

“In thirteen minutes,” she answered.

“Just in time then,” he admonished.

“Indeed,” she said coldly.

That was more like it. Nita was cold. That's who she was to the core. He needed to be cold like she was, always in control. With these new emotions packaged away for the House to remove, he felt much closer to the coldness that dwelt deep inside him.

Don't worry

Tony pulled away and went over to the man. “Mr. Shark?” he asked in a timid voice and pushed on the body. It slumped to the ground, and that made Tony scream.

Kard watched his body slump over lifeless. Tony looking at the man on the floor and back to him desperate and ready to panic. He tried to get up, but found the effort difficult. He went dizzy and had to sit. He tried again, and forced himself to keep from falling. He braced himself on the wall.

“Kelly, something is wrong with Mr. Shark,” Tony explained.

Kard looked for Kelly. The effort made his head spin, and dirty blond hair fell into his eyes. He fell back to the floor. He could not see Kelly. Rationally, it was not sinking in. He tried to send out his tendrils, but nothing happened.

Tony had come back over to where he was, and touched Kard's cheek. “Kelly?” he spoke into Kard's face. He held both cheeks, now, and turned Kard's head to face him to make sure he had Kard's attention. “Kelly! Mr. Shark is hurting.”

The world spun out of control, and Kard laid himself back on the floor. It felt safer on the floor.

Tony screamed again, “Mommy!” This was the hair curdling scream that came from terror caused by a world shattering event.

An emotion so strong that for an instant, Kard sensed what the boy was feeling. Kard was becoming sadder by the moment. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to curl up and find a nice place to sleep.

“Kelly, help Mommy,” Tony begged. He was saying something else, but Kard was too tired to recall what that was.

Kard had to rest. So, he slept.

With all the noise that followed, it didn't take long to wake up again, but the room had changed. Things smelt familiar. It was the smell of antiseptic and cleanser. The sheets were white. The blanket was white. He was in a bed. A room with a TV and tall curtains. The railings on either side of his bed had been raised to keep him from falling off. There was a beeping to his left. He turned his head to see what it was. It was a heart monitor, he could see plainly.

His head spun for a second, but it quickly passed. His hand felt sore, and when he looked at it, he was looking at unfamiliar fingers, palm, and wrist. They were too small of hands to be his own, but when he moved them this way and that, the hand responded as if it were his own.

The IV attached to his wrist felt uncomfortable, but it was less of a distraction now. He reached up for his face and felt along its features. That's when he encountered the hair he had found before. He had not been ready to believe it then, but this time time, there was no denying it. He was Kelly.

Then he remembered his own body laying lifeless on the floor at that woman's house. “Oh, my,” came from his lips, but the voice was not his own. It was the little girls voice. “I don't think this will do. No, not at all. I can't hang out in this,” he began talking to himself.

A man dressed in all white came into the room. Kard got a little upset that he had not sensed the man's presence and could not sense it now. “Hello, Kelly,” the man said in a tone he knew all to well. It was that condescending tone one gets from hospital personnel when they think someone is immature enough to enjoy baby talk.

“Hello,” Kard tried to speak just as condescending, but it came out crackling and mixed with too much rage. It sounded as if he was excited and happy, which was the last thing that he felt at the moment.

“And how are you feeling today?” the man asked. He began to move about the room, picking up items, checking equipment, writing something down, and adjusting the curtains.

Kard wanted to know his name. So, he attempted to probe the man's mind, but everything was coming up blank. “I can't,” he said under his breath.

“I said, how are you feeling today?” the man repeated, patiently showing the contempt nurses always showed Kard. “Oh, how silly of me,” the man said in an even more pleasant voice. "I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Tanner, and I'm just about to leave work, but you will have a nice young lady coming in here in a little while to take care of you. Her name is Breanna, and she's just the sweetest person you ever could meet."

This goo goo talk would drive Kard insane. By this time Tanner was at the foot of the bed, smiling his bright white smile, with his bright white shirt, talking his bright white talk. Kard let out a, “AAAHHH!” An instinctive tendril reached out for Tanner, and found it's target, but only briefly. Tanner bounced away from the tendril as if struck by a soft blow to the stomach.

Tanner became alarmed, and ran out of the room saying, “don't worry, I'll get you some help.”