April 28, 2012
Mistrust and the Pre-Emptive Strike

What I was going to decide about Sandra and Mr. Peterson didn't matter. The decision was taken out of my hands. Sandra, Klavier, and Griffin showed up while I was out shopping this week. They were not happy in the slightest after reading last week's post. Fortunately there were people all around. Sandra had Klavier by the arm and his legs clattered together even when the rest of him hung still. Griffin did most of the talking, which made sense given what Sarah and I had pieced together. I tried to convince them that I wouldn't turn them in. I reminded them that I know all too well what happens to psychics captured by the O.S.I.R. I couldn't do that to someone.

They tried to corral me down the street toward an alley. I don't know if it was Sandra or Klavier pushing me along. I have to guess it was her; it wasn't that rough, though it was insistent when I tried to step back against it. Nearing the mouth of the alley a sudden feeling of relief washed over me. Just before we turned into the alley, basically a couple heartbeats after the relief registered with me, I saw a small red circle of light on the brick of the far corner's building. I resisted entering the alley but then relented. The red light disappeared during that beat and then returned for a split second.

We moved down between the buildings toward a dead end. I started arguing with them again that there was nothing to worry about. I could feel a thread of panic starting to run through me. I was shoved hard and stumbled forward, my hands out in front of me. By time I straightened out without falling and turned around Klavier was floating in the middle of the alley and Sandra was pulling out the sledgehammer. A bunch of small red lights lit up in the alley on Sandra and Griffin. A voice shouted, "Stop where you are!"

The sledgehammer flew out of Sandra's hand and Klavier swung it at my head. I willed the hammer to fly at the wall beside me and both it and Klavier hit the bricks. There was a shot and an object hung in the air in front of Sandra. It was a tranquilizer dart with red feathers on the end. I tried to push it forward and it splintered into pieces and sprayed it contents in the air. Griffin was shouting that I had betrayed them. Klavier rattled against the wall and the hammer's head spun wildly. More shots were fired and the darts broke, pieces ricocheting everywhere. I shouted, "Enough," and Sandra was slammed against the wall.

Klavier broke free, but the hammer stayed put where I held it. He lunged at me and I barely stopped his motion. I didn't know what else to do so I picked up Sandra and told Klavier I would kill her. I thought that maybe I could frighten him. I could not. Instead it only made him angrier. I could barely counter his frenzied motions and the sledge escaped my grip for a moment. Another shot rang out and the head of the hammer went flying in a spray of wood splinters as the handle exploded. Then the weirdest thing happened. The temperature started to drop.

Klavier flew about in zigzags as I tried to keep him away but couldn't hold him in place. I changed tack and told Sandra to call off Klavier or I would hurt Griffin. A man I had noticed entering the alley said, "That won't be necessary, Joshua."

He was wearing a medium-blue silken suit and I was so surprised Klavier almost hit me, but he stopped in mid-air. Myron Nath said to the wooden figure, "You will be no more trouble, will you?"

The remains of the sledgehammer's handle shot straight for Myron's chest. I slammed it into the wall instead, and Sandra slumped to the ground before I even heard the gunshot. Griffin screamed.

Barely understanding what happened I said to Myron, "Sarah thought you were just some deluded ghost hunter."

He said, "I never gave her any other indication."

Tags: death, decisions, empathy (psychic), Griffin Crowther, Klavier, Myron Nath, Mr. Peterson, OSIR, Sandra Delcan, Sarah Jayne.