Then will the truth of this world be revealed…

Lucia tried to back away as Kristy walked slowly, purposefully toward her. The girl’s blonde hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail, revealing her blank, expressionless face. Lucia bumped into a discarded table behind her, and in the moment it took to glance back, the dead-eyed girl had charged in, swinging the bar overhead.

Lucia dove out of the way, and the table seemed to explode as it was struck, sending shattered wood everywhere. She kept scrambling to avoid the follow-up attack, but it didn’t come. Reaching the middle of the room, she saw Kristy still slowly withdrawing the bar, then turning.

Lucia glanced up and Elena, curious. Sure enough, her old friend had a look of intense concentration on her face, and was focusing her attention on Kristy. Apparently the mind control ability she was using was taxing her somehow.

Elena had mentioned that giving Kristy a command that was open to interpretation had resulted in unexpected behavior, resulting in the very Gamma theft that had led to this moment. Maybe she had switched to giving specific commands to avoid that same problem…could Lucia use that somehow?

Kristy was advancing again, her improvised weapon once more raised above her head. Lucia tried to keep her calm, knowing panic would be the end of her, and started looking around the room for anything she could use.

There were any number of small objects scattered around, but she immediately discarded any thought of trying to block or deflect the swings of the heavy bar that Kristy was effortlessly wielding. Lucia needed a better plan, but first she had to confirm her suspicions.

As Elena’s puppet advanced, Lucia began putting as many obstacles between them as she could. Some were tripping hazards like stray weights or trash, others were tables and equipment that required Kristy to walk around them. Interestingly, the zombie-like girl carefully walked around each object, as if they were insurmountable.

Glancing back to the balcony, Lucia could see frustration on Elena’s face. Please don’t make this harder than it has to be, the voice whispered in Lucia’s mind. I don’t want to do this; I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I don’t have a choice. You’re trapped down there, and Kristy can make it quick.

“You’re living in a dreamworld if you think I’m going to let you kill me, Elena!” she called out, truthfully just wanting to distract the small, murderous girl as much as she could. “And don’t pretend this isn’t exactly who you are! No one goes straight to murder in a matter of days unless they’ve always been capable of it!”

You don’t know what you’re talking about! The voice seemed to scream inside her head. You have no idea what it’s been like to live as a Psychic for a year, terrified every day that I’ll be found out! You’ve barely dealt with it for a week and look what it’s done to you!

It was Lucia that stumbled then, surprised at her former friend’s accusation. She had to dance around a few other obstacles to put more space between herself and Kristy, but the mind-controlled girl had begun smashing through anything in front of her, and it was getting more difficult.

Finally Lucia caught a break, as she spotted a long wooden pole sticking out of a nearby pile of discarded objects. She grabbed it while she ran past, then quickly inspected it while Kristy knocked over tables and broken furniture as she advanced. The pole looked to have been broken off of something, was slightly thicker than a broomstick, and was nearly Lucia’s height.

She’d found a weapon.

The broken end was sharp, and would work as a spear if needed, but the simple truth was that she really didn’t want to kill Kristy. Even if the girl was an awful human being, she didn’t deserve to die, especially not because Elena was using her. But Lucia didn’t feel that she deserved to die either, and she’d been taught from a young age that sacrifices had to be made.

She took pride in the fact that Kristy had never been able to beat her in a direct fight before, though. The larger girl had always been stronger, but never faster, and based on how much bulkier Kristy was with her growing muscles, combined with Elena micromanaging her movements, Lucia suspected that was still true.

Her plan was taking shape–Vincent wasn’t the only with plans–and she knew she had a few options. First she hoped to surprise Elena by switching from running to attacking. That meant she needed to disguise what she was doing, so Lucia charged to the door that was in clear sight for the other Psychic.

It was locked and chained, but Lucia made a theatrical show of trying to pry it open with the pole she was holding. The wood was old and dark, and Elena should be too far away to tell that it wasn’t made of metal, and would obviously have no chance at wedging open the door.

Lucia positioned herself carefully so that her body was already perfectly positioned for maximum leverage when she saw Kristy approaching in her peripheral vision. It didn’t appear that Elena suspected anything as her puppet’s behavior was consistent, and Kristy raised the long metal bar over her right shoulder for what would be a devastating blow.

Lucia didn’t hesitate, however, and swung her own weapon from the opposite direction, spinning almost entirely around with as much strength, and speed as she could possibly manage. Kristy made no move to defend herself, and the thick, dense pole cracked into the left side of her head with a sickening sound, and the impact was so strong that the pole split against her skull.

Lucia grinned with triumph, but that smile faded as she realized Kristy hadn’t even moved an inch from the impact. Not only was there no indication of a wound, but Kristy’s own attack continued as planned, and the heavy metal bar was whistling through the air with alarming speed.

Lucia had no time to properly dodge, and instead did the only thing she could, moving closer to her attacker so she was struck by the bar’s middle instead of its end. She managed to tense and twist so the cold metal didn’t collide directly with bone, and instead felt the impact across the left side of her upper chest, shoulder and arm.

The shock of it was so great that Lucia didn’t feel it right away. Instead she found herself sailing through air, until her back crashed into the ground, and she rolled backward, then slid a few feet before her momentum finally ceased. Pain flared out from where she’d been struck, but she didn’t have the breath to scream.

Forcing her eyes open, she was grateful to see that her arm wasn’t just a mess of broken bones as she feared. Instead it simply hung limp at a disturbing angle, seemingly dislocated. Lucia blinked away tears as she forced air into her lungs, then realized Kristy was almost within swinging distance again.

Desperately she scrambled to her feet, holding her left arm so it wouldn’t swing around too much as she made her bruised body limp across the gym. Please, Lucia. You’re only making this more painful for yourself.

“Shut up!” Lucia managed to scream in defiance. As her pursuer smashed her way through the alarmingly few remaining obstacles in the gym, Lucia begrudgingly admitted to herself that the first step of her plan had gone far worse than she imagined. Still, she refused to give up.

There were still other options, and she was determined to survive this horrible night. If the puppet wasn’t a valid target, then Lucia would turn to the puppeteer.

As she moved and dodged around objects, she regained some semblance of balance and her mind cleared. Unfortunately the pain in her arm and shoulder grew with her improved clarity, but there was little she could do about that at the moment. At last she felt coordinated enough to begin striking back, and was pleased to see Elena appeared to be struggling even more to control Kristy.

While Lucia dearly wished she could outlast the other Psychic, she understood enough to know that even if Elena abandoned direct control, she could still resort to interpretive commands. Simply telling Kristy to ‘kill her’ would be less reliable than moving her around at will, as the powerful girl might decide the best way to achieve the task was to bring the building down and kill them all.

Still, Lucia had little doubt she’d still end up dead that way.

No, her only hope was to break the control Elena had, and pray that together she and Kristy could stop the traitorous Psychic. To that end, Lucia had been taking an inventory of everything she could use for that purpose. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she released her arm and began darting around the room, grabbing and throwing in one motion.

Elena was suddenly assaulted by small weights, scraps of metal, unrecognizable debris, anything light enough to be picked up and thrown. The girl could duck out of the way, but that left Kristy uncontrolled, and the puppet’s pursuit was reduced to fits and starts, as the direct control phased in and out.

Still, it wasn’t working as well as Lucia needed it to. Elena was one floor up in a dark area, and none of the random objects were easy to aim or throw. Lucia had been hoping for at least one direct collision to stun the girl, but instead she was quickly running out of ammunition, and Elena had taken to moving around and making herself a harder target.

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At last it was Lucia who made the fatal mistake. She decided to risk grabbing the splintered pole she’d used on Kristy, and was trying to line up a javelin toss, hoping to spear her old friend. Elena seemed to see this as a real threat–apparently having more confidence in Lucia’s abilities than she herself did–and commanded Kristy to hurl her own, heavier spear.

Lucia spotted the change in tactics in time, and managed to throw herself backward, barely avoiding the missile. She crashed to the ground, and before she could even consider her next move, and weight fell on top of her. Kristy was pinning her to the floor.

Lucia’s left arm was still useless, and her right reached up to fend off her attacker, but she had no real chance. Kristy’s dead eyes looked down at her as one hand caught Lucia’s wrist, and the other wrapped around her throat. Then she began to squeeze.

Lucia’s constitution had been enhanced when she’d Manifested, but the stronger girl was squeezing the life from her seemingly without effort. She could just barely make out Elena over Kristy’s burly shoulder, staring down at her with a regretful expression.

I’m sorry, Lucia, the voice whispered into her mind, and suddenly Lucia was somewhere else.

***

“I’m sorry, Lucia,” her father called out as he dragged her down the hallway. Another explosion came, and the building shook beneath them. Lucia looked up at the back of her father’s head as he charged forward, pulling her behind. The slick black hair that she and Vincent had inherited was dusty from debris as the ceiling cracked above them.

Two NGG soldiers appeared at the end of the hall, their black uniforms and helmets making them seem like grim reapers from the stories Lucia read. The men raised their large guns and she heard herself scream. Her father halted, and pushed her behind him protectively.

It wasn’t much comfort though, as Lucia knew her father wasn’t like her mother. He wasn’t one of the Cult, he couldn’t hurt people. And so, at seven years old, Lucia knew she was going to die, and she cried–even though she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t.

Then she heard the screaming, and flinched against bullets that never came.

Lucia gathered her courage and poked her head out from around her father, only to see the two soldiers holding their heads as they collapsed. A moment later her mother stepped out of a room in the middle of the hallway, looking down at the men she’d broken with disgust.

Lucia knew that look, and it was turned on her father next. “Where are you taking my daughter?” she asked in her scary voice. Lucia couldn’t bring herself to speak, but in her mind she repeated over and over: Please don’t break daddy, too.

***

Lucia’s eyes could barely focus, but she knew she didn’t need them. She didn’t need eyes, or the hand that was pinned, and she certainly didn’t need the crude weapons she’d been using. All she needed was to embrace the part of herself that she hated most.

Her mind reached out, and she found Elena’s immediately. It was so much louder than Kristy’s. It was like a bright light shining in a dark sky, and Lucia caressed it with her own, knowing it. She felt the shape of the thoughts within, but couldn’t make sense of them. That wasn’t her talent.

Instead, it was the rest of the delicate mind that her ability sought. Lucia felt memories, she felt impulses and desires, she felt consciousness, and everything that made Elena who she was.

Lucia began to rip and tear.

Distantly she was aware of the hand at her throat loosen, but Lucia’s mind was committed to its task. She understood that truly talented Psychics could use this technique like a scalpel. They could remove specific memories, or even excise nightmares and trauma. Lucia didn’t possess such a light touch.

Instead, Mind Ravage ripped everything apart, in a feral and desperate way.

Lucia understood that this normally wouldn’t be possible with another Psychic, or at least not a trained one. For the same reason that Elena hadn’t simply taken control of her own mind, a Psychic had natural defenses that made mental intrusions difficult. Thankfully Elena’s energies had been burned up controlling Kristy, and now Lucia’s power was able to run rampant.

There was no sense of time or true awareness of the real world. Lucia was lost in the ruins of what had been the makings of a person named Elena. She still struck out wildly in every direction, a vague instinct of self preservation pushing her onward. But there was something else as well. Something she refused to acknowledge but knew was there: a sense of satisfaction that came from embracing destruction.

She only came back to herself when she realized her body was shaking, and finally her eyes came into focus, and she saw a terrified Kristy leaning over her. She was trying to shake Lucia awake, possibly worried that she’d been successful in her attack, and pain exploded in the dislocated shoulder.

“Stop,” Lucia whispered through an injured throat, and Kristy fell backward in relief.

“I’m sorry,” the powerful girl whispered. “I thought that I…I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t have a choice,” Lucia said in a hoarse voice. Then she considered what she’d done, and tears filled her eyes. Did I have a choice? she wondered. At last Lucia made herself sit up, and groaned as her dangling arm shifted. Without a word Kristy leaned forward and smoothly popped it back into its socket.

Lucia let out a pained scream, then fell back to the floor, gasping. “Sorry, better not to know it’s coming, trust me,” Kristy whispered, then she turned and took a few steps away. “Is Elena…?” she asked sadly. Lucia didn’t know how to answer, she just lay on the cold floor, holding her shoulder as tears continued to fall.

“Are you going to kill me too?” Kristy asked after a few quiet moments. This, at last, seemed to break Lucia out of the trance of pain and shame that she’d fallen into. She slowly regained her feet, trying to think of what to say.

Kristy turned to look at her, “I know what you are. Elena…she was controlling me most of the time, but she also talked to me sometimes. I don’t know why. But I know she was a…I know you and her were the same.”

Lucia immediately grew furious and she opened her mouth to deny what the other girl said, but she stopped when Kristy backed away, absolute terror in her eyes. This is what people are taught to think of Psychics…and for Kristy, it’s completely true. Lucia also had to admit that she couldn’t claim to be different. Not really. Not anymore.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she said finally, but Kristy didn’t relax. “I don’t…I don’t want to be like her. I don’t want to be like this. I just am.” The other girl just kept staring, and Lucia let out a sigh, then went to sit down on a chair that hadn’t been smashed yet.

“My mother was a Psychic,” she said, not really knowing why. “She was powerful, too. I grew up watching her hurt people. I think…I think she did something worse to my brother.” Kristy was watching her curiously now, and Lucia wasn’t surprised. Few people knew about their mother, and she’d never told anyone what she just told this girl who’d nearly killed her.

“I’ve spent my whole life being terrified that I’d turn out like her. People used to say that I reminded them of her…I hated that. So I started watching people…closely. I wanted to understand them so I could understand her.” Lucia gazed upward, looking at the stars through the skylight.

“I wanted to understand her so I could be different. But I think understanding her is what made us the same. She always understood everyone…it was the best way to know how to hurt them.” She looked back at Kristy.

“If the NGG takes me, they’ll turn me into a weapon. They’ll make me tear people’s minds apart as training. They’ll make torture their enemies…our friends. Please Kristy, don’t send me to them. I never asked for this.” Her rival stared at her for another long moment, then finally looked away.

The blonde haired girl walked a few paces, then looked down at her feet. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, and Lucia found she couldn’t even bring herself to hope. She also didn’t want to let her think about what she’d do if she believed Kristy was going to turn her in. She was scared to imagine it.

Scared people make bad decisions.

Finally fear overran faith, and Lucia started planning. She would have to listen to the girl’s thoughts–she couldn’t trust her words, whatever she said. And if Kristy planned to turn her in–a sound interrupted Lucia’s thoughts and she looked over to see her would-be murderer land on the upper floor. It’s too late, Lucia thought, she’s gone.

A moment later there was a soft thud as Kristy landed back in the center of the gym, Elena’s body in her arms. Lucia stood up in shock, and recoiled when she saw Elena’s face, locked in an expression of horror, saliva dripping from a corner of her mouth.

Lucia wanted to ask what Kristy was thinking, but the larger girl clearly had a plan. She marched back toward the broken floor, and scooped out a pile of Gamma. Without hesitation she began feeding it into Elena’s harness, one after another…a deadly amount.

Lucia slowly approached, not entirely sure where this was going, and scared to ask. Kristy spoke without looking up from her grim task. “They’ll find her tomorrow. The NGG Psychics won’t need to come. You and I shouldn’t be seen together though, no reason to risk it.” She kept feeding more Gamma, long past what would be needed.

“I don’t know what to think of this night,” Kristy whispered. “Or what I should think of the last few days…I barely remember them, but I’ll never forget the feeling of another person controlling me.” She looked at Lucia, “It’s hard not to hate all Psychics right now.” Lucia turned away, understanding more than the girl would ever know.

“I’ll make sure this doesn’t come back to you,” Kristy continued. “I don’t know how you plan to avoid being found out, and I don’t want to know. But it won’t have anything to do with me. I have my own future to figure out,” she glanced down at her own powerful arms. “It’s gotten complicated enough already.”

Lucia couldn’t help herself, and she risked a question. “Why are you helping me?” Kristy finally stopped forcing Gamma into the small girl, as Elena’s body had started to spasm. She didn’t look at Lucia when she answered, watching her tormentor die instead.

“We never got along, but that’s bullshit kid stuff. This–” she gestured at the shaking body, “this is what the real world is like for our kind.” Elena finally stopped moving, and Kristy bent down to grab the Gamma in one hand and toss the body over her shoulder with the other.

She walked away from Lucia then, but paused a second later. She turned back slightly, “I hope you don’t end up like your mother.” She took another step, then said even more quietly, “But not as much as I hope I don’t end up like my father.” Then she jumped up to the next floor.

Kristy stopped to toss down a rope that was secured to the railing. “Goodbye Lucia. Good luck,” and then she was gone.