Psychic Chapter Eight: Combat In the point of view of William Once again, all of my family and Drake were seated around the kitchen table. CJ sat on the ground near Lindsey. Dad spoke first. "So Drake, does this mean 'bad news for us'?" he asked, quoting what Drake had said the last time he visited. Drake shook his head. "Fortunately, no." he answered. "It does, however, mean bad news for the people in the East. The situation over there has become increasingly worse, and my squadron has been re-assigned to that area to help the psychics over there." Lindsey looked upset. Mother gasped. "What will we do if the killers come this way?" she asked in a worried tone. Drake calmly raised his hand to her. "My squadron has been called away, but I will remain here in Rexburg." he said. Lindsey gave a little sigh of relief. "But that's not why I'm here." Drake continued. "I am here to ask your family a favor." I could sense the slightest bit of hesitance in his voice. Was he afraid? "What do you need us to do?" Mom asked. Drake paused for a moment. "Since I no longer have my squadron, I'll need help keeping this area safe from the Psychic Killers. I would like to teach your children how to use their psychic powers in combat." There was a long silence. What did he say? I must've heard wrong. Did he say 'combat'? "What?" asked Grayson, speaking my thoughts. Drake put on a face I didn't think possible for him. He looked uncomfortable. "I know that it's a lot to ask, but the safety of lots of people depend on it!" he said pleadingly. "You're the only psychics for miles! If we can secure this area, then we can begin to teach others to fight back as well. Granted, only a select few will be able to learn this. Not everyone has the capability of using their powers to fight. Nor should they. But we know that your children can, don't we, Mr.Duncan?" he looked at Dad. Everyone turned to look at him. Dad glanced around at everyone and sighed. "Yes. Yes they can. Grayson, as well." he answered. I sat up in my chair. "What are you talking about, Dad?" I asked. The others nodded. "I worked at The Society right up until you stopped going to school, Will. I decided that since you would be home a lot, that I should be close enough to home to be with you and your sister more. So Mitch Donnovan landed me a job at the University here in Rexburg as a Chemistry Professor. While I worked at The Society, all members were tested to see if they had a certain gene that made their psychic powers react differently. This gene was able to make it so that psychics could fight using their powers. They wanted some of the members with this gene to be part of the protection services, like Drake, here. I have that gene. So do the three of you." he said, pointing to Lindsey, Grayson, and I." "There's a couple more psychics in the area that have this ability." Drake said. I will be meeting with them in secret later tonight. Only two members of their family actually have psychic powers." Drake said. My ears pricked. "April and her grandmother!" I exclaimed in surprise. Drake nodded. I sat in stunned silence. Oh no. This was horrible. I tried to imagine little April fighting against a band of ruthless murderers. I shuddered. April COULD NOT get involved. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to her. Drake's suddenly fierce, crystallic stare bored into my soul. "I can guess what you're thinking. For a psychic, you're not very good at hiding your emotions from others. You think I would willingly put psychics' lives at stake? I only proposed this idea because I think it will actually work. My job is to protect you. Not to put you on the front lines. I simply want to make it easier for you all to protect yourselves. You want her to be able to save herself if something happened, don't you?" Drake asked. I sat in silence. I hadn't thought about it that way, beore. I nodded vigouously. Drake's fierce stare became soft again. "Don't worry. I will make sure all of you remain safe." he said in a determined voice. I felt a litte more calm. Because I had the same determination. "How exatly do we use our psychic powers to fight?" Grayson asked. Drake smiled ruefully. "I'm glad you asked. I'll give you a little demonstration. Follow me outside." he said. All of us stood out in the backyard in a circle. All except Mom, who stayed inside to watch us. Drake had gone back to his motorcycle to get his backpack. He pulled out a black, three-ring binder and opened it. "Now," he said. "All psychics must register at The Society as members so that we can keep track of everyone. We have files on everyone. I have your files here." He flipped a couple pages. "Grayson Lee Duncan." Drake read. "Born on February 21. Registered as combat gene positive, Electropath." "What does that-" Grayson started to ask. "Lindsey Michelle Duncan." Drake continued with a slight smile. "Born on March 16. Registered as combat gene positive, Hydropath." Lindsey looked confused. "William Emmett Duncan. Born on July 24. Registered as combat gene positive, Pyropath." he turned to Dad. "Will you be joining us, Mr. Duncan?" he asked. Dad bowed slightly. "I'm afraid not. I am confident in my children's abilities. I have to keep my job to provide for them." he smiled, but I could tell he really did want to be with us. He wanted the action. I wondered how much action he used to get when he worked for The Society. "I don't know a lot about Etymology," Grayson admitted. "But I think those long words you called us have significance with electricity, water, and fire?" Drake nodded. "Correct. Parapsychological brain power has the ability to bend things to it's will. You've heard stories about how psychics have been able to see beyond the grave, speak to animals, or move things with their minds?" he asked. We all nodded. "But those people aren't really psychic, are they? I thought they were just pretending." I said. Drake nodded his head from side to side. "Some of them are, but others actually can. You don't hear much about them. Because the ones who actually are psychic are taken in by The Society. We don't want our talents being exploited for... selfish purposes, if you will. You can see how being able to do these kinds of things might be used the wrong way." he said. We all nodded again. "What can you do, Drake? What type are you registered as?" Lindsey asked. Drake hesitated. "We don't really know what to call it." he said. "Right now, we just call it Telekenesis A. It's a little bit... unnerving of a talent." he said. We all waited for him to continue, so he finally did. "I can make people think they're in pain with my mind." he said bluntly. "Telekenesis is different than combat. It manipulates the mind, rather than actual tangible things. Like water, fire, or electricity." Grayson held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean we'll actually learn to control that stuff?" he asked in disbelief. Drake smiled. "Lesson one." he said. "Can you see it?" Drake asked. I was standing a few feet away from him. He was holding out a lit cigarette lighter in his hand. I stared at the little flame for a while. It looked like a little glowing glob of orange light. It quivered in the slight breeze every so often. "Yeah. I see it." I answered. Drake nodded. "Now close your eyes. Do you still see it?" he asked. I closed my eyes. Everything was dark. I scuffed my shoes in the grass uncomfortably. Lindsey and Grayson were both watching. I felt foolish. "Um, how am I supposed to see it with my eyes closed?" I asked. "Focus." Drake's deep, commanding voice told me. "Feel the flame. The heat. See it with your mind." I focused as hard as I could. Suddenly, I could see a tiny faint blur in my mind. It flickered and glowed... like a flame. "I see it!" I said. "Keep your eyes closed, William." Drake said. I realized I had opened them in my excitement. I closed them again. I could still see the flame. "Now, without moving at all, put out the fire." Drake said. I flinched. Drake continued. "You OWN fire, William. Fire belongs to you. You control it. You decide whether burns or not." he said. I concentrated. Fire belonged to me. It was mine. I could make it do what I wanted. I just needed to.. Make it. Go. OUT! The flame in my mind disappeared. I opened my eyes. Drake was holding the cigarette lighter, but the flame was gone. He looked impressed. "Very well done, William. Now, you must promise me something before I begin teaching your cousin and sister." he said as he walked toward me. He turned me to face them. "You see them?" he asked in a low voice. "You see your family? Your home?" he asked. I nodded. "Now picture your friends. Picture the people you care most for in your life." he said. Images flooded my head. Jackson, Steve, Hannah, Emily.... April. "Picture all of these things." Drake told me. "Now, you must promise me, for the safety of all of these people, that you will not practice controlling fire without me here. Dangerous things could happen to everyone you associate yourself with if you got out of control. You would be a danger to your friends and family. Understand?" He said. I nodded slowly. I didn't want that to happen. I was scared to even think about it. "Now promise me." he said. "I promise." I whispered. Drake nodded. "Well done, William. You have passed lesson one of combat training." he said. "You may go inside." I thanked him and walked toward the house. I said goodnight to my parents and went upstairs to my room. CJ was in my bed, waiting for me. CJ asked. I smiled and petted his head. "Yes I did, CJ." I answered. I changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed. As soon as my head came in contact with my pillow, I was sound asleep. At school, I told April what had happened the night before. I told her how I could control fire, and Lindsey could control water, and Grayson could control electricity. April nodded. "Drake came to my house last night, too!" she said. "I am combat gene positive. I'm..." she squinted one eye as she tried to remember. "Telekenesis B." I blinked. Was that what Drake had? I tried to imagine April with that kind of power. It was unsettling. "Do you know what that does?" I asked. April nodded. "It means I can move things with my mind!" she said. "Drake won't let me learn just yet. He says I have to finish learning to control my psychic powers first. So starting next Monday, I'm going to take a week off from school and go to Boise with Nana. There, she'll finish teaching me." I was stunned. "You mean you're that close to finishing?" I asked. April smiled and nodded happily. I frowned. Was I the only one who had taken forever? April cocked her head. "What's wrong?" she asked. I shrugged. "I was just surprised you're learning so fast. It took me seven years to get finished." I said. April's eyes grew wide. "You must be a master!" she said, her voice full of wonder. I laughed. "Yeah. I'm a master." I said sarcastically. I gave April a big hug. This was one of the reasons I loved her. Anyone else would've thought something was wrong with me for taking that long, but not April. She just assumed I was amazing. That was one of the things that made her so wonderful. The next few weeks went by in a blur. During the day, Lindsey, Grayson, and I went to school. After the sun went down, Drake would show up and teach us how to use our psychic powers for combat. I started to really get the hang of controlling fire. Soon, April began to join us in our training. Drake had been really impressed that she had learned how to control her psychic powers so fast. I was proud of her, but I wondered why it seemed like I was the only one that had taken a long time to get the hang of it. Fire became my hobby. It didn't take long before I could sense even the tiniest ember. I could move fire, too. I could hold it in my hands without burning myself. I could even throw it. Soon, I began carrying a matchbook with me in my back pocket wherever I went. I didn't use it in public, but during training sessions, if I needed a quick flame, I'd flip out my matchbook and start a fire. "Fire is controlled in two parts, William." Drake said to me during one of our training sessions. "It is mostly controlled by your mind, but your emotions play a part as well. If you are angry or scared, the fire will burn hotter. If you are relaxed or calm, the fire will burn cooler." We were both watching the ball of flame that was hovering only a centimeter above the palm of my outstreacthed hand. It glowed brightly in the darkness. The sun had set and the stars were beginning to appear in the night sky. I could only faintly see April and the others practicing their skills by the small river that made its way through our backyard. I looked back at Drake. He was still watching the fire. His piercing white eyes looked even more piercing when lit up by my fire. I frowned. "I still don't understand how it's burning." I said. "It's burning the oxygen in the air. It dosen't need wood or paper. Your mind is like the wood. You decide where it burns." Drake replied. I watched the fire burn. It glowed in the darkness. I wondered how hot it could get. I started to try, but suddenly, I felt a shock of pain shoot through my arm. I lost concentration and the fire went out. I let in a loud gasp. "What was that for?" I demanded of Drake. He started at me fiercely with is icy eyes. "William. You must understand. You are a lot like me, in a way. You must never reach your full potential. If you did, you would be unstopable. The fire might not consume you physically, but it would consume you mentally." he said in a low voice. I nodded slowly. "Did you try reaching your full potential?" I asked suddenly. Then I bit my lip and wished I hadn't. It wasn't my place to ask. But Drake just smiled thinly. "I did." he answered. "I ignored my teacher. I wanted to become more powerful to protect the people closest to me. I thought I would be able to control it. It wasn't long before all I wanted was more power. Soon, anyone who came near me was automatically tormented by the pain I subcontiously inflicted. I nearly killed my little sister." I stared at Drake through the dim light. I could see pain in his eyes. I glanced at Lindsey. I really did love my sister, however much we had squabbled over the years. I didn't even want to imagine trying to hurt her like that. Or anyone else close to me, for that matter. Over the next few weeks, Lindsey became quite adept at controling water. She was graceful, poised, and splashed Grayson and I a lot. Grayson had a little bit more trouble controlling his powers. He didn't let that get him down, though. He always had a giant grin spread across his face. He usually ended the day's lessons with his blonde hair standing on end because of all the electricity he let off. There was static electricity in the air all of the time, so finding electricity was a breeze for him. His problem was controlling it. He usually shocked himself or surrounding objects. Eventually, we had to make him promise to stop screaming 'Pikachu!' every time he let off electricity. April seemed like a different person when she was using her telekenesis. She wouldn't say a word, and her face would look expressionless. Her eyes, however, seemed to shine. She bore a striking resemblance to Drake when she tried moving things with her mind. She could only move small objects, though, and not for very long. It would wear her out. He wouldn't say anything to her when he was teaching her. He would only stare at her with his shimmering, crystal eyes. He must've been teaching her telepathically. We did have a lot of fun, each of us with our newfound powers, but in the back of our minds, there was the looming reality of why we were learning this. It was because we eventually might need to fight for our lives. I had an uneasy feeling that grew stronger every day. Like danger was slowly creeping closer. I woke up one day to CJ jumping around in my room excitedly. I groaned and got up. Grayson heard us talking and got up as well. We peered out my window. Sure enough, The ground was completely white, and little white flurries were floating to the ground. My window was frosted around the edges. I smiled. "It's not like you've never seen snow before, CJ." I said. CJ jumped up and put his front paws on my chest. he begged. I remembered it was Saturday. I looked at my alarm clock and saw that it was about ten o' clock. I sighed and got dressed for the day. "Alright, alright. Calm down, you ball of fuzz." I said with a smile. CJ whimpered happily. He didn't wait for me to get ready and ran down the stairs by himself. "You two have fun." Grayson mumbled as he crawled back into bed. I came down soon after CJ and ate some breakfast. Mom was humming a christmas song. I laughed. "Mom, it's not even Halloween yet." I said. She smiled. "Welcome to Rexburg." she replied. I laughed. I knew it was true. Winter lasted a long time here, and Rexburg didn't wait for December to get into the holiday spirit. CJ kept whining for me to hurry up. "Hey, Mom? Is it alright if I take CJ to Smith Park? I also might hang out with my friends later if I can get a hold of them." I added. Mom nodded. "Okay, Honey. Just let me know." she said. I nodded. On my way out the door, I grabbed my winter coat from the closet and a frisbee. CJ already had his favorite ball in his mouth and we went out to my car. I was immediately greeted by the frigid air outside, and ambushed by tiny cold snowflakes on my face. We both jumped into my pickup and drove into town. I had to admit, Rexburg did look nice covered in snow. I knew I wouldn't be thinking the same thing next March, when everyone would be sick of the snow, but right now, I was enjoying it. CJ looked out the window of the pasenger seat of my car as we drove. He was whimpering excitedly. Soon, we got to the park. CJ jumped out of the car as soon as I opened the door. We fell into our old routine of me throwing the ball, and CJ running after it to bring it back. Suddenly, I saw a flash of green and then something hit the side of my face. I jumped, but it was more out of surprise than pain. "Oh! I'm sorry! I'm such a bad aim! Are you okay?" Said a voice. I turned to the source of the voice with a grin on my face, forgetting the pain. "April!" I said happily. April looked surprised. She had a light blue coat on and a pair of black boots. I stooped down and picked up what she had thrown at my face. It was a neon green frisbee. I handed it to her. "I'm so sorry, Will! I didn't even recognise you with that big green coat on!" She gave me a hug. "Is your face okay?" I smiled. "I think I'll survive somehow." I said dramatically. She laughed. Nikki said, barking. I looked at Nikki. So that's why April was here. Her dog must have wanted to come to the park as much as my dog did. CJ and Nikki were standing together a little ways away in the snow, waiting for the frisbee. "Um." April said uncertainly. She held the frisbee like it was a bomb. I smiled. "You want me to throw it?" I asked. She smiled. "Yes." she said. She gave me the frisbee. "Here. I'll teach you how to throw it." We spent at least two hours at the park. We tried building a snowman, but there really wasn't enough snow on the ground for that. We swung on the swings, played on the little kid toys, went down the slide, made our dogs go down the slide, had a snowball fight, caught snowflakes on our tounges, made snow angels, and ended up walking around the park on the walk way holding hands. I coudn't remember having a better time in my life. April looked so beautiful with the snow landing on her long brown hair. Her cheeks were red from the cold, and she smiled at me and looked up at me with her beautiful grey eyes. "I should probably head home." April said sadly at one point. I looked down at her. "Why?" I asked in disapointment. April sighed. "Well, Caleb wanted me to help him make his Haloween costume, but I needed to take Nikki out first, or she would've gone crazy. Caleb's probably wondering what happened to me." She said. I nodded. "Then you'd better go home." I replied. I took her face in my hands and kissed her before walking her to her car. I waved as she drove away in her little red car with Nikki in the pasenger seat. CJ piped. I laughed. "Come on, CJ. Let's go home. It's freezing out here!"