Peter’s hands shot out and grabbed her head, pulling it toward his. Helena prepared the calculations to send an electrical surge through contct but hesitated as Peter’s voice entered her mind.

“Please, don’t shock me. I’m begging you. I just want to talk. I can’t go any deeper into your mind anyway. I’ve used most my Focus on the twins.”

Helena kept the calculations ready, but she was curious why he would risk so much, knowing she was an electric based esper. My electricity will discharge if you try to burrow deeper and you know what will happen if I strengthen my electrostatic field. What do you want Peter?

Peter winced but sighed in relief. “Look, the twins are moles. We’ve been captured by WITCH.”

What’s WITCH? Helena felt Peter’s head shift as he gulped, clearly in pain.

“WITCH is an organization … no, more like a government. They officially only have control over New Genesis, the proclaimed esper capital. However, they rule over thirty percent of Elestveeve.”

Helena felt a flash of irritation enter her veins and reprimanded herself deep in the pits of her mind. No … the Great Houses rule over the majority of Elestveeve with the Deities as advisors. My House rules a vast amount of land.

“I don’t doubt the reputation and power of the Vandreds, but how else do you explain a member of the Main House being kidnapped?”

Helena’s brow furrowed, keeping her speculations hidden. What is WITCH? I’ve never even heard of this government and what do they want?

Peter sighed. “As far as I can tell—they want us. The twins are at the lowest part of their organization, recruits from Genesis. They’re trying to get higher in rank, so they posed as moles to stimulate the situation. As for WITCH, I haven’t the vaguest idea to what they want specifically. They’re a whispered night terror where I come from; a remote shoreline village that I doubt you’ve even heard of.”

Helena held back a sigh, Peter could be playing her. What are the twin’s exact orders?

Peter shifted uncomfortably. “They were told to keep you alive at all costs and to shove the situation along...”

What do they have planned for me if I’m meant to be kept alive? She tried to shield her thoughts by actively calculating her surroundings. Is this Drake’s plot after all, why else keep me alive? That man, Ventre, came for me and Drake willingly gave me up, even knocking me out himself. It’s impossible to lie to Telepaths that grain full brain access unless they’ve been implanted with memories they believe to be true.

Shifting her focus for an instant, she scanned the room, expanding her receptive radius, migraine slowly intensifying. The twins were still talking to each other by the pool, West was dragging the girls to the corner and propping them against the wall.

“Stop!” Peter yelled into her mind as he broke away, cradling his head. Rubbing his forehead and shaking slightly, he took several seconds to regain his composure before leaning back in.

“Please, please—please stop calculating! And … and stop thinking in general! Your thought process is so much faster than mine, its throwing information backlash at me. It’s becoming painful just deciphering your thoughts and your shield isn’t helping! Do you—always—actively use calculations to help mitigate the work in your subconscious … no, never mind.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, he continued. “Short answer, WITCH has Great House supporters. I don’t know who, but it’s the best explanation I can come up with, obviously not the Vandreds, but some other Great House.”

Consciously keeping her higher mental levels clean, she deliberated on the information, using her feelings more than thought. No … Drake obviously knows WITCH and was willing to give me to them for some reason. For all I know we could be WITCH’s link to the Great Houses … if WITCH is real at all. Maybe this is a House power play, but Drake is the undisputed heir, why get rid of me? The first and last memories of my parents were when I was three years old.

“The twins are preparing to push you into action. When you push them back, they’ll end the experiment by knocking everyone out. They’re debating on the topic now. They’ve been told to initiate events, but not to end it. They’ve been going against instruction. Their names are actually aliases; Liam’s real name is Hew, Tacker’s is Mike.”

Helena pulled away from Peter’s forehead so she could truly think for a moment. Peter could be telling me all this as a trap, but he really seems near the edge. If he were the mole and wished to harm me, he could have used one of the twins as a proxy. He used a ton of strength on the twins, for all I know he programmed them to kill Tom to throw me off completely, but why not use Tom to control me then? He’s either brilliant or my expectations of him were too high.

Peter’s muscular activity was dragging. His heart beating in tempo to the thick, wheezing breaths that brushed hot moist air across her cheeks. I need more information before I move. Acting will place a further drain on my Focus and physical strength. I also need to find out West and Tamie’s abilities so they can’t retaliate if Tamie and Rean wake up. She renewed contact with Peter, electric calculations at the ready. What’s sapping our Focus and physical strength?

Peter took a deep breath before answering. “The Focus drain is coming from Focus draining stones around the cameras or something of that nature. I know that must seem strange, but I know of these stones. If there is a large amount of them in a room, they’ll drain an esper’s Focus and force more strain on the mind to hamper ability tasks. I’ve never felt these stone’s effects, but it’s the best answer I have for both physical and mental exertion.”

Helena’s brow furrowed. You say you can vouch for the mental portion of the stones, but not the physical. You can’t correlate the two events, because you have no other explanation.

Peter shivered and they both winced as a pick dug at their brains. She broke away from Peter and managed to keep her reception active, searching for the other esper’s reactions. Helena felt a twitch from West, but not the twins. They aren’t as drained as everyone else … why? Because they haven’t been using their Focus as much? She leaned back in to communicate with Peter.

“It has to be the stones.” Peter’s internal voice sounded pained.

Why? I haven’t even used much Focus, unlike you that tunneled around the twin’s brains and who knows how many others.

“All I can say is that the stones have a harsher effect on espers who continually use their abilities.”

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Helena pulled away again. I need to compile all the information I have before striking. I’d like to continue gathering facts, but there are times for action and times for speculation. I’m nearing the end of my physical limits and then I’ll be defenseless. The orchestrators behind the scenes might have considered this. It’s about time I act. West is the person most would assume to take leadership. He’s clearly the eldest and seems to have the best interests for the group.

Tom’s ability clearly marked his dependence upon women, since he could get whatever he wants from them. The first thing he’d do in an unknown situation is taking on a slave and the best way to accomplish that would be to take on the center of attention, allowing his need for physical contact.

Both Tamie and Rean were the closest to Tom when he awoke. West needed to be awake to witness Tom’s reliance on the females of the group. Rean needed to be conscious to show the group the parameters of the room and to wake everyone. I can see no other purpose for her addition than to be used as a variance to the group and puppet for Tom. Tom likely hated other males because of his ability. Having so much female attention attracts spiteful eyes … at least I heard Drake say that once … though in sarcasm...

The initial kick to West set off the leadership battle. After that, West was completely focused on Tom and his slaves. At the start, I was the furthest away from Tom. It was no coincidence. Everything seems perfectly orchestrated, down to the letter … but maybe not Tom’s death...

Helena shoved down a groan as her migraine escalated. Peter was supposed to meld with what everyone was doing, but would constantly be scanning thoughts to find what’s going on. He’d instantly be drawn to me because he couldn’t read my mind. The twins are sleepers. They would surface later and did, killing Tom, which Peter says they weren’t supposed to do. Tom was a part of a Lesser House, it seems plausible they’d want him alive, considering his ability and probably would have joined WITCH if he felt he had to by his personality.

It’s all starting to fit into place, but a few issues still remain. Once Peter found out who the moles are, he’d concentrate on gathering more information out of them. The question is … why the twins would allow it? Unless, they don’t know Peter’s a Telepath. That means they probably don’t know my ability or anyone else’s.

Why would WITCH do that to upcoming initiates? They haven’t been given the full amount of information to act accordingly. Were they meant to figure it out on their own as a test or meant as sacrifices?

Helena’s mind seemed to pulsate as a strike worse than any previous hit her psyche, making her entire receptive view go black. Intaking a sharp breath, she wiped a tear away that fell down her cheek. I’m nearing my limit.

She brought Peter’s head back for a final time. Peter’s breathing was ragged. “Please—do something.” He pleaded.

I need West and Tamie’s abilities. Helena pushed. Mentally she could still take it, but she knew her physical limit and they were drawing to a close; she still had a bit of time, but only a little.

Almost in a scream, Peter said. “West—senses—Tamie—can’t read.” He broke away and started rocking back and forth, clutching his head.

West shouldn’t be able to sense abilities or exact positions, because he couldn’t find Tom in the dark or what his ability was. It must deal with something more specific to a particular element. He seems to be the least violent in the room in any case. I’ll save him for last. In all indications and if Peter is right, once I knock out everyone in the room, it’ll be over. I’ll have to incapacitate Peter to be safe.

If I’m right, WITCH doesn’t even consider the twins worthy of their ranks. There has to be a greater design and only specific people being tested. The twins won’t advance past this stage, but it seems something’s in store for me. If this isn’t a ploy by Peter or any other puppeteers … Peter himself might be the orchestrator. The portion that continues to confuse me is this physical exertion. Why would a stone have that effect, it doesn’t make sense. That’s it. It’s time to act.

Peter glanced up at her intently. “What are...”

Her left hand darted out and grasped the back of Peter’s neck. She sent an electrical surge up his spine. He tensed then fell limp. Helena slowly guided his body to the floor, feeling cold sweat starting to gather around her skin. She wiped Peter’s sweat from her brow and dried her hands on her pants.

Slowing her breathe, she quit reading the information sent back to her and sent her perception into quick bursts, like still images. The twins were still standing near the pool of water, intent upon their conspiring conversation. West had just finished dragging Tom’s body to rest next to the wall, where Helena had awoken. As if he sensed the shock, she had sent through Peter, his head snapped up and he looked about him, his muscles tense and wary.

Helena slid off her shoes and tucked her pants into the top of her socks before standing as softly and quietly as possible. Doing the same with her shirt, inserting it into her pants, she stilled her breathing before running through the plan one more time.

This should be enough to cancel the sounds of my clothing, hopefully. Sound travel at approximately three hundred and forty meters per second in ideal temperatures. I don’t know how swiftly in this cold, stagnant room. I’ll have to adjust my footsteps as carefully as I can with the twins.

Helena extended her field into a two-meter radius and checked her Focus drain. This will have to be enough. I should have enough energy left to subdue the twins and West … barely.

Helena began to move covertly across the ground as Drake had taught her; she placed her heel down first, rolling her foot slowly forward toward her toes, and moving with the muscles in her hips. She walked in a crisscross pattern, putting her left foot over her right, balancing on her left before bringing her right foot down in a mirror of her first.

As she moved closer toward the twins, she slowed with their fumbled footsteps. Coming into sensory radius, she made a slight change in position to circle behind them. Did they finish their conversation? It doesn’t matter. They are trained … supposedly at some level, so I’ll need to assume they’ll catch the air pressure change in this stagnate atmosphere. I’ll need to be quick and precise, calculating their trajectories.

They were still speaking in hushed tones. “No, Mike—we can’t, you know that Ventre told us.” Hew angrily stated.

“But...” Mike furiously started to whisper. Helena’s hands darted toward the base of their necks. Both twins reacted as they sensed her movement, and they tried to evade in opposite directions, exactly as Helena had predicted and both slid right into her hands. Hew managed to let out half a curse before a sharp burst of electricity incapacitated them. They dropped to their knees and then to the floor with a heavy thud.

“What’s going on?” West’s pitch was nervous. “I sensed someone using their abilities, just now—someone new—is that you Janice?” I see … he can sense when an esper uses their abilities, but it seems it has to be a certain output or else he would have sensed my static field manipulations. Why didn’t he speak up when I knocked out Peter or with Peter himself?

Helena didn’t answer him as she moved around the room, toward the girls and West. As she neared, her breath caught in shock. With her perception now consolidated, she realized that Tamie was not unconscious, she was in fact quite awake.

With my receptive ability diminishing, I didn’t see Tamie regain consciousness! I don’t think I have enough energy for both West and her. I’m barely standing as it is. For Tamie, it must feel like she’s awoken from a dream. She’s scouting the situation.

A sharp burst of pain erupted from her mind and she felt blood start dripping from her nose. She clamped her jaw shut to not cry out in pain and the room fuzzed statically as her black vision somehow blurred with even darker spots.

She heard Tamie rise and West cried out from the corner. I have to take out Tamie first! She’s the most unknown and I don’t know her personality as well as West’s. Dashing forward using what fragmented receptive visions she had left, Helena placed her hand against Tamie’s forehead.

Tamie cried out in astonishment but had enough time to place a grip under Helena’s chin and squeeze her throat. Applying the formula, she sent an electrical surge through Tamie’s skull. Tamie’s grip tensed then slackened as she dropped to the floor. Helena's throat burned and she saw her vision haze, consciousness wavering. Stumbling toward West, she forgot silence. It would be a scientific miracle if she even made it to him.

Tripping, she fell. Her hands flung out wildly, trying to catch herself. She barely managed to slow her decent and realized her hand had landed on something soft. Tracing it, she realized it was a hand. Moving her fingers up the arm, she reached its face. Why’s West on the ground? Helena’s thoughts fluttered. Did Rean do something to him … no, I didn’t see any flames … Tamie? The last thing she remembered was a brilliant light shining around her as she blacked out.