Winters Family Psi Chronicles 1: Transformation (12 page)

“Emily?” he said with confusion.

“I saw Mom die in a vision. I don’t know how or when but we need to do something,” Emily said.

“I’ll tell her to come here,” Jeremy said.

“Will she agree to stay with us?” Emily asked.

“I don’t know,” Jeremy said.

He abruptly ended their telepathic communication as she sensed his intention to call Kate Winters immediately. Emily decided that she would have to get a cell phone as soon as possible. She made her way to Jeremy’s room and reached out to knock on the door which opened abruptly, causing her hand to pass through the threshold. Jeremy was talking to their mother and ushering her inside. Emily frowned with annoyance as she stepped inside and he closed the door behind her with a telekinetic burst.

“Emily definitely saw you dead in the kitchen,” Jeremy said emphatically.

She eyed him with impatience as he continued the conversation. Emily wished she would have just went to the main floor of the center and made the call herself. She hoped Jeremy would argue passionately enough to convince Kate of the danger. Finally, Jeremy hung up and smiled shakily at her.

“She’s coming here right away. She’s going to get a flight as soon as possible,” Jeremy said.

“I don’t have any idea when this is going to happen. How will I know she’ll be safe?” Emily asked.

“She can live here,” Jeremy said.

“Will Julie allow that?” Emily asked.

“Yes because Mom is family. Besides, she’s a precognitive like you,” Jeremy said. “That’s the most profitable psychic ability.”

“She’s not nearly as strong as I am.”

“But she’ll be a lot stronger when she’s part of our network,” Jeremy said.

“What do you mean?” Emily asked.

“I know I can bring her in. It’s an ability I haven’t experimented with but this will be the first test.”

“Will Mom want to do that?”

“I think she will.”

“I don’t know. She’s always been very independent. Self-reliance is very important to her. I don’t think she’ll agree to live here,” Emily said skeptically.

“You’d be surprised. There have been deaths in our family,” Jeremy pointed out.

“I didn’t really die. I was kidnapped,” Emily argued.

“And then there’s Dad,” he said gently.

Emily nodded in silent acceptance. Maybe he was right and she was worrying too much. Emily was starting to wonder if her precognitive ability would drive her mad with the unrelenting terror and anxiety that it invoked.

“Everything will be all right,” Jeremy said confidently.

Emily smiled at him, gave him a hug, and went back to her room. She couldn’t get to sleep and gave up when daylight finally peeked through the curtains of her window. She took a quick shower, changed into a pair of black pants with a blue blouse, and headed for the dining area on the first floor. Julie and a couple of Emily’s colleagues were already munching on breakfast. Emily helped herself to some yogurt and an apple and joined Julie since she motioned her over. Julie was positioned on one side of the room near the corner.

“Good morning,” Julie said. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing,” Emily responded automatically.

“You’ve got a headache and you’re worried about something. Is it the vision you had of your Mom?”

“How do you know about that?” Emily’s back stiffened defensively. She wondered if she was broadcasting her emotions and thoughts so loudly that privacy had become an issue.

“Jeremy told me. I’m sorry that you had such a stressful night. Phones have been ringing off the hook because of your press coverage last night. You’re welcome to take the day off today,” Julie said. “Kate called back about an hour ago and said she’s got a flight that will arrive at two this afternoon. It goes without saying that you and Jeremy can go pick her up at the airport.”

“Thanks.” Guilt washed over Emily at the critical thoughts that had dominated her mind lately regarding Julie’s apparent manipulations and bossiness. Emily knew she would have to get used to taking orders from her. After all, Julie was now her boss.

“You’re welcome,” Julie said.

“I’m going to work today until it’s time to pick up Mom. I don’t think I’ll be able to get back to sleep. I appreciate the offer though,” Emily said gratefully.

“Anytime,” Julie said.

“I do have a question about Mom. If she wants a job here, are you going to let her work?”

“Of course. Jeremy will try to bring her into our psychic network but if it turns out that he isn’t capable of doing so, I’m not going to require that every member be a telepath or linked with us,” Julie said.

A sense of relief permeated through Emily even though her temples were aching.

“Are you still feeling any side-effects from the burnout yesterday?” Emily asked.

“I’m really tired but other than that, I’m fine. I slept all right and the headache was gone before I went to sleep,” Julie said. “I suspect everyone will have different recovery times from psychic burnout. Of course, you won’t need to participate in offensive telepathic ventures anymore. Yesterday was just an emergency.”

“Of course. Thanks,” Emily said.

Chapter 13

Julie stepped into Jeremy’s office just as he and Emily were preparing to leave. She wore a black business suit that augmented the severe, hawk-like features of her face. She conveyed a sense of grimness that wasn’t completely uncharacteristic.

“I have some bad news that I wanted to tell you before you left,” Julie said to them.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked.

“The four Psi-Tech operatives that the police arrested yesterday were found murdered in their jail cell last night,” she said.

Disappointment and disgust crashed through Emily in a heavy wave. She should have anticipated something like this.

“I knew it wouldn’t be so easy to pin anything on Psi-Tech,” Emily said stiffly.

“Don’t worry. Our center is perfectly safe. We have plenty of guards,” Julie said. “One of them is a telepath. His name is Alex and his secondary ability is electrokinesis. A very rare talent that we’re lucky to have. He’s the one I assigned to escort you both to the airport.”

“Great,” Jeremy said. “Thank you.”

Alex arrived a short time later. He was a young man in his early twenties with black hair and brown eyes wearing a black tee shirt with jeans and tennis shoes. He, Emily, and Jeremy took Jeremy’s SUV to the airport. When Kate finally showed up, Emily hugged her effusively and was overcome with the joy of seeing her mother after all these years.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Kate said.

She hugged Jeremy and they went over to pick up her luggage. As they headed out to Jeremy’s car, Emily sensed a remote-viewer which she easily blocked. Jeremy’s gaze cut to hers with a look of concern.

“It’s been weeks since they tried to track you,” Jeremy said.

“I know,” Emily said.

“What is it?” Kate asked nervously.

“Someone’s trying to find me again,” Emily said.

“Let’s get out of here,” Jeremy said emphatically.

They climbed in his SUV and headed for the center. They had only driven about a mile when they could sense the presence of Psi-Tech operatives following them. The pursuers drove a blue sedan and there were five of them.

“Don’t sweat it. I can handle them,” Alex said confidently.

His gaze stared off into space for several seconds and the blue sedan suddenly fell back rapidly and turned off to the side of the road. Soon, they were out of sight.

“What did you do?” Emily asked.

“I killed their engine,” Alex said.

“That’s amazing! What ability do you have?” Kate asked.

“I can manipulate electricity.”

“That’s incredible! I wish I could do something like that!” Kate regarded him with envy and awe.

“You have an impressive ability of your own,” Emily said. “Seeing the future is very important.”

“I saw the news about Phoenix Enterprises and read the company FAQ online. I would like to apply for work there and live at the center,” Kate said.

Emily was flabbergasted to hear these words from her mother. She would have thought it would have taken a lot of persuading but Kate had come up with the idea all on her own.

“I anticipated you might be interested and spoke to the president of the company on your behalf. I can offer you a job as a precognitive specialist,” Jeremy said.

Kate chuckled at him. “I accept. Our family has turned into a group of forecasters.”

“Yes, indeed,” Jeremy said.

They provided Kate more information about Phoenix Enterprises and current events. The mood turned more grave as Jeremy got to the four Psi-Tech operatives who were murdered in their jail cells. Obviously, Psi-Tech had a ruthless quest for money and power. Phoenix Enterprises was the only safe haven for telepaths. Unfortunately, Julie couldn’t advertise that fact publicly but hopefully enough members would join them. Once most of the telepaths became part of the network, Psi-Tech would no longer be able to risk killing any more of them. At least, that was the plan.

When they reached the center, Emily returned to her office while Jeremy showed his mother to her room. Julie appeared at the threshold with a grave expression on her face. Emily felt her stomach knot up with anxiety but she smiled teasingly.

“More bad news?” she said.

“In a manner of speaking. It may turn out to be good,” Julie said. “I have Sharon from Psi-Tech and one of her associates in the conference room. There are two guards watching over them. Sharon wants to meet with you, me, and Jeremy.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re the management team for Phoenix Enterprises,” Julie said.

“I see.” Emily reluctantly rose from her desk. “We should wait for Jeremy.”

“I already told him and he’ll be here in a second.”

Sure enough, Jeremy arrived a moment later. The three of them made their way to Julie’s spacious conference room. Sharon and a skinny teenager sat on one end of the table. Emily sensed a disquieting energy emanating from him. She sat down between Julie and her brother at the table.

“Thank you for meeting with me,” Sharon said pleasantly. “This is my associate, Kevin. He’s a specialist for Psi-Tech.”

“What kind of specialist?” Jeremy inquired.

“One such as yourself,” Kevin said.

“A multipath?” Emily asked.

Kevin’s disturbing brown eyes shifted to her. “That’s right.”

“I want to start out by apologizing for the misunderstanding with the Psi-Tech operatives. They went rogue on us and were going to kill Wendy,” Sharon said.

“So you’re saying that they weren’t acting under your orders or those of Psi-Tech?” Julie said briskly.

“That’s correct.”

“We both know that Psi-Tech is trying to kill as many telepaths as possible to avoid creating a powerful psychic network that you feel is a threat,” Julie said. “It would be best to just speak honestly.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sharon said with a convincing look of puzzlement on her face.

“We can all sense the deceit from you right now. We can only read your surface thoughts but you just betrayed yourself by reviewing your agenda just now. For some reason, it’s human nature to repeat the truth to yourself as you lie,” Julie said crisply. “Why have you come here?”

Sharon adopted a stoic mask on her face. “We came as a gesture of goodwill to reassure you that we don’t wish to compete. There is plenty of business for the both of us.”

“You want to be the sole company to provide psychic services,” Julie said. “You broadcasted that information very clearly to all of us. It would be best to just be honest.”

“All right,” Sharon said slowly. “Telepaths are considered a threat However, we are going to cease hostilities against you. There is nothing to fear from us.”

“Is that so?” Julie said.

“Honestly. We will make no move against Phoenix Enterprises. I promise,” Sharon said bluntly.

“We accept your gesture of good faith. We in turn will not make any move against you,” Julie said.

“Thank you.” Sharon rose from her seat. “That is the reason for this visit.”

She and Kevin strode for the doorway. Sharon abruptly halted and turned to throw Emily an apologetic look.

“I’m very sorry for your stay at Psi-Tech. Our policies are changed now. We would never do that to you again,” Sharon said.

“All right,” Emily said in a noncommittal tone.

Sharon and Kevin wordlessly filed out of the building. Julie, Jeremy, and Emily remained in the conference room to discuss the unexpected meeting.

“She was able to block me out when she was talking about making no move against us,” Julie said.

“I got through to her surface thoughts. Psi-Tech considers it a risk to attack anyone who is part of the psychic network at Phoenix Enterprises. To make sure they avoid any confrontations, they are going to avoid killing any telepaths in Washington state but all others are fair game,” Jeremy said.

“She is such a liar,” Emily said furiously. “I hate her!”

“I also sensed that she’s in a psychic network somehow,” Jeremy said.

“That’s impossible,” Emily said. She remembered some information that she’d foreseen in the distant future but hadn’t documented for Psi-Tech while a prisoner working for them. “There was a theory that empaths might be able to link. That would be the only explanation for why Kevin is still alive if he really is a multipath.”

“If they have their own network, they may expand their power base to the point that they could possibly move against us in the future,” Julie said.

“I haven’t seen any hint of that but I haven’t looked ahead for more than a few years. Everything changes too much to see events with any degree of accuracy for farther than that,” Emily said.

“How strong a precognitive is your mother?” Julie asked.

“From the ability she’s discussed with me, I would guess she’s about a level four or five,” Jeremy said.

“If she becomes part of the network, she’ll be a lot stronger. When were you going to try that?” Julie asked.

“Late this afternoon if there’s time,” Jeremy said.

“Why don’t you go ahead and set up an appointment with her? This is just as important as the work we’re doing for our clients as she has the potential to assist us in generating greater revenue in the very near future,” Julie said.

“I’ll be sure to schedule her in then,” Jeremy said.

“Thanks.” Julie smiled briefly before leaving the room.

“I guess we’d better get back to our office and start helping out with the phones,” Emily said.

When they returned to their office, they set their phones to available which caused them to immediately ring. Emily received call after call for the entire afternoon and clear to the evening. The majority of the callers were powerful telepaths from areas as far as Portland, Oregon wanting help in controlling the side-effects of their abilities. Emily had two options to give them. The first was to sign them up for a class that helped them discipline their thoughts and develop mental shields which were successful for those whose abilities weren’t too strong. The second option was to link with the psychic network at Phoenix Enterprises. Linking with the psychic network would immediately give them complete control of their talents and allow them to live normal lives. The downside was that some people didn’t like the idea of being linked to strangers. Part of Emily’s job was to reassure them that they could easily shield their minds to keep their thoughts private and that no one could eavesdrop. Julie charged a very affordable fee for joining the network but waived the fee if the participant wished to work for Phoenix Enterprises.

No one had been interested in relocating to the center for work but surprisingly, almost everyone wished to become part of the psychic network. Emily supposed that the reason for this high level of interest from the callers was that it was an easy and cheap fix for their current predicament. This was going to expand their psychic network exponentially. Emily wondered how long it would last. Even though the office closed at five, most of the employees continued to answer the phones and schedule appointments until late in the evening. Jeremy had returned to the office and helped with the scheduling so she hadn’t had a chance to ask him if he’d succeeded with adding Kate to their network.

“The answer is yes,” Jeremy said right before Emily could ask.

“That’s terrific!” Emily exclaimed.

“She can telepathically communicate to members in our network. We’ve been talking back and forth for the last couple of hours,” Jeremy said.

Emily reached out with her mind to search for her mother. She found her and performed a telepathic knock.

“Emily, it’s so good to hear from you. I didn’t realize how much fun this would be,” Kate said.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying this, Mom,” Emily said.

“It’s been a blast,” Kate said. “There’s still pizza in the main dining area. I’m here now if you’re ready for dinner.”

“I’ve been ready a couple of hours ago,” Jeremy interjected.

The room had several other members munching on salad, chicken, or pizza. Emily and Jeremy grabbed some pizza and joined Kate at her table.

“You guys have created an impressive facility considering it was done in about a week,” Kate said.

“You’re right. Everything’s happening so quickly,” Emily said. “Nothing is the same as I foresaw it. It’s all different now.”

“And that’s good,” Kate said. “The future you saw was bleak. It’s good to have a brighter one on the horizon.”

“I can’t tell you how good it is to see you in person. Even though I had planned my escape from Psi-Tech for years, I didn’t think I’d ever have this opportunity,” Emily said.

“I can’t tell you what a profound sense of joy and relief I felt when I found out you were alive. It’s such a terrible burden when one of your children passes on,” Kate said.

“There should be a law against that type of thing,” Emily teased.

“Yes, there should be.” Kate laughed at her daughter’s unexpected humor.

Emily spoke to her mother for quite awhile before retiring for the night. She had no difficulty falling asleep but dark precognitive visions plagued her dreams. Psi-Tech’s future changed rapidly as it somehow gained advantages in its power. Emily couldn’t discern any specific details as the outcome shifted too rapidly. She sensed that someone was causing drastic changes in the future. Obviously, Psi-Tech had an extremely powerful precognitive working at the company. Kevin’s image flashed in her mind a couple of times. In one vision, his eyes were black like Jeremy’s when he was using his ability in a major way. Of course, Emily already knew that Kevin was a multipath because of his visit to the center. Somehow, it seemed Kevin was part of the threat that caused the future of Psi-Tech to alter so drastically.