ESPers

[pudding]

The air buzzed with helicopters as the air hummed with energy. The city block had been completely overrun with black cars and men scrambled back and forth to get to cover. Noises of gunfire echoed throughout the city as smoke started to rise from an unknown source somewhere in the city block. Inside a car a short distance from the scene, several people in suits sat facing a young girl. In between them, a walkie talkie was held and crackled voices came through.

"We can't hold out much longer! They're going to overrun us soon enough!"

"Are there any ESPers available to help? We've got a lot of people down!"

"We've been working on this for a long time," One of the men with the suits declared, looking at the girl who was sitting in the car with them. With a flick of his thumb, he turned the volume down on the walkie talkie until the voices were just a hum. "But there isn't any real other way. You're the strongest telepath we have and the only one we can send in. They don't know your face and they don't know you are actually with us. Our men are trained not to hit you but we need to make it believable or they won't rescue you."

"Remember, once you get in, you need to keep a low profile. Your communicator will let you call us when you need to be picked up but don't do it until you have a lead. We have no idea where their original base is and we have no idea where their leader is hiding." The man gestured to a small pin attached to the girl's shirt. It was hardly noticeable at first but that was the point with secret communicators, wasn't it?

"As soon as your ready, just go. It might be a bit shocking but you need to make yourself obvious for the enemy to notice you. As soon as you jump out of the car, we will pretend to chase you down. Run towards the center of the square and the rest should go smoothly."

 

In the midst of the fighting, Elliot was flying. There were only two other ESPers there but that was the point. The whole fight was just a ruse meant to distract the government from the real target. But even more than that, it was a test. He had to see how the two were doing in their studies and so far, he was impressed. He hadn't had to move from his spot floating above the center of the square yet as the bullets were deflected by invisible barriers. Hmm. "Watch your left," Elliot yelled and the female of the group responded with ease, raising her hand to summon a wall to stop a spray of bullets. Nodding contently, Elliot returned to surveying the battlefield quietly.

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Azure looked sad, and bored. "I already know." She smoothed her thick black cotton dress with white lace trim and fixed the pin. She wore a old fashioned black dress and a royal blue velvet cloak, her hair tied in a black bow. The pin was a little coat of arms, her family symbol was important to her, and wouldn't raise suspicion of she wore it continuously.

 

The girl closed her distant bright blue eyes and let out a long heavy sigh. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again replying softly. "Let's just get this over with...." She rested her hand on her dress pocket where she kept her book Frankenstein and a small box of tea. She had a slight Scottish accent, but mostly American sounding; she only wished she could take more with her. She fittled with her locket, a globe shaped lapis luzi that opens at the equator and is big enough to hold a small, one fourth carrt diamond embedded in the white gold bottom of the locket with a message around it and on the top half. The chain was gold and thick, she never took it off. This and the pin was the only thing connecting her to her old life. The only thing that reminded her of....... what happened... She shifted in her seat. "Let's go." She dropped the necklace and pulled out a pocket watch, a gift from the government for her agreement to serve with them and also her hypnotism method, the watch ticked loudly, and coupled with her voice, easy to hypnotize someone unknowingly.

 

The watch face was mother-of-pearl and the numbers Romen numerals, the watch itself was tarnished green tinted copper with a relief of a train on the lid, outlined in black patina. She kept it in her left breast pocket of her dress attached to a copper chain. Azure looked at the time, snapping it shut and placed it back in its proper spot she sighed heavily a second time. This time to still her nerves.

Edited March 3, 2015 by AroaraAngelwolf

[pudding]

"Alright, we'll start now," The men inside the car nodded then pushed the door open. Light flooded into the car as they turned to look at Azure. She'd have to make the first move in pretending to run away. The'd pretend to chase her into the middle of the crossfire. As an ESPer under attack, the criminals would no doubt rescue her and bring her back to their organization. That is, if everything went according to plan and Azure wasn't discovered. According to their intel, the organization didn't have a mind reader more powerful than Azure so they wouldn't be able to read her intentions as easily. But still, they were throwing her into a criminal group that killed people. Something could always go wrong.

 

 

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Azure sat until they started to wonder if she would move, before taking a large leap out of the car and making a show of stumbling away, hiking up her dress and running head long into the cross fire. Her cloak with the hood up and each movement was like Elsa fleeing from the castle into the mountains, it was hard not to spot her.

 

She ran directly into the fray, then, hidden by her cloak, dropped her skirt letting her legs get tangled and fell spread eagle on the ground. She expected the impact to hurt, but what she didn't expect was her chin hitting the asphalt, jarring her teeth and biting her lip hard enough to draw blood. She twisted back looking at the men following her while trying to get up, her foot got caught in the lace, ripped it and made her collapse again. Not planned but it looked real and that is exactly what they want.

 

Azure managed to scramble up and start running again, her eyes locking on the flying boy sending a single message so he had no doubts about her power. "Help me!" She fell for real this time, rolling on the road and getting tangled in her cloak. Shoot! Not planned not planned, buy it please, dang it! Why do I have to ware such cumbersome dresses! She thought to herself as she tried to get out of the heavy folds of her clothes.

Edited March 4, 2015 by AroaraAngelwolf

[pudding]

A sudden, obvious movement caught his gaze as Elliot turned his head. The flash of blue in the corner of his eye had alerted him something was wrong but even as he saw the figure running towards the center of the square, he didn't move. The spray of bullets paused as several men in combat uniforms followed the cloaked figure. But he didn't move. Not, at least, until a voice rang out in his head. It was crisp and clear and not blurry, unlike the voices of less powerful telepaths that helped to make up the masses of people who were a part of his organization. The girl was an ESPer and it was clear from her situation that she was trying to evade capture.

As the guns clicked loudly and started to lock on the girl as she fell yet again, clearly hindered by her clothing. In an instant, Elliot had moved from his place in the sky, his feet planting firmly on the ground as an invisible force propelled him down to the ground at an inhuman speed. He landed between the girl and the men just as they opened fire. However, before they could reach Elliot or the girl, the bullets suddenly stopped in mid air. They fell to the ground in a clatter and, realizing their shots weren't getting anywhere, the men stopped and stared. Elliot frowned before holding out his hand. While he had been letting the other two show off, he was actually moving into action now. The shield that had been protecting them suddenly expanded outwards, forcing the people around them back a fair distance. Frowning, he quickly turned his attention to the other two ESPers flying above them.

"We're leaving!" He called out and the two quickly soared down, landing next to him.

"Wait, what?" One of them asked but Elliot ignored her in favor of kneeling down next to Azure.

"Leaving. We've got something more important than playing with these fools." He held out a hand, intending to help her to her feet. "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"I am the only one who caused injury to myself is myself by having such heavy clothing." She took his hand and stood up and smoothed her dress, patting off the dust and sighed. "I ripped the hem, I'm going to need to fix that. Now, I do believe a thank you is on order..... " She looked at him and nodded a thanks. "Thank you for that very hesitant rescue." She spoke sarcastically, then turned to the girl. "And if you think one more time that I am stupid blonde who needed rescuing, then I'll give you nightmares for three days, have fun sleeping...." She added.

 

She fixed her cloak and once more, shut off, her face going blank eyes distant and blank like she had no thought behind them, her voice monotonous. "My name is Azure, I am a telepath and a hypnotist. And as you herd, I am a powerful one.... " She looked back at the men, the closer to the truth the better it is to lie. "Those men caught me, but I managed to escape, I don't want to be a living lie detector and read the minds of sick twisted men.....nor do I feel like being a living lab rat and being studied in a glass box. "

Edited March 4, 2015 by AroaraAngelwolf

[pudding]

"Now hold on a minute," The girl said, looking at Elliot. With a telepath, whispering would clearly have no difference so she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Elliot. "We can't just stop everything to bring her back. I know you like to bring all the ESPers you find back to base but we need to be more careful than that. We are supposed to be a secret organization."

"I agree with Mary," The boy said, staring at Elliot with a frown. "We need to be more careful. We know you're technically higher ranking but it's not safe to do that. We can't just let telepaths into our home knowing that they could read things off of us."

Elliot turned to look at the two of them then sighed and tapped his chest. Attached to a small chain was the tiniest charm with the letter E on it. "You two haven't been around long enough but all higher ranking officials have devices to negate mind reading. It comes with a down side of being unable to use our abilities to our full but it's a fair price to pay considering we can't have leaked secrets. Anti-ESP devices have their place in every situation, even if most of the time it's just a way for regular people to keep us down." He played with the small charm for a moment before looking up at the two of them, smiling. "The situation is covered. If I want to help our kin, I'll do that as I see fit." He looked at the two teenagers then reached out and patted their heads with a smile. "We aren't some kind of exclusive club. Any ESPer who needs our protection won't be sent away." With a smile, he turned to look at her, tilting his head to the side. "It seems to me like your best option is to come with us. We're here to make sure we ESPers are treated justly in the world. Even if you don't want to join us, we can offer you protection from the normal people harassing you."

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"So that's why I can send you a message but didn't receive a reply..." She spoke out loud. "Now, I would like protection, my parents among others think my power is odd and strange. Normal people got uncomfortable with it and either avoided me or thought such twisted sick thoughts to make a young lady shiver in shear disgust and fear.... but..... if you convince me to join you in your escapade, I would think about it..." She stood up straight and boldly stuck out her rather thin and tiny chest. "This place though is not a area to discuss such trivial and political matters...You said to leave, so I implore you to lead the way."

 

Good, good.... play hard to get. Don't agree right away. I am a good actor, and just might pull this off. I hate toying with emotions though... hopefully I don't have to... or get emotional... I hate doing that. She thought and sighed, turning her attention to her dress assessing the damage and what she needed to fix it.

 

((Italics alone, her sending thought, different font, her own private thoughts.))

Edited March 4, 2015 by AroaraAngelwolf

[pudding]

"Exactly," Elliot declared with a smile and a wave of his hand. "It's one way only but it doubles as a means to limit our powers. Sometimes less can be better." He pulled at his shirt and let the necklace fall into place so it was hidden from sight. The pendants were expensive but served their purpose well enough. There were only a few high ranking individuals, after all. As soon as you knew a secret worth keeping, you were given a necklace and made to wear it always. It was the only way to make sure everything was safe. Newbies like Mary and James didn't know anything important so they didn't have them. "Anyway, James, would you be so kind as to take us back? We've done enough here for now and that should keep them off our trail for a while." He made a mental note of the broken sounds coming from Azure's mind. He disliked it but giving her a personalized anti-ESP device might be a good idea. It could at least help her not do things accidentally or read minds that she didn't want to.

"Right," the boy said and quickly snapped his fingers. There was a pulling sensation before the air snapped back into place and the smell of burning was gone. They had appeared in a circular, grey room that connected to a long hallway. Lights flickered overhead as Elliot turned to Azure. "This is one of our points of access. It acts as a base for meet ups but nothing important is kept here. As a third generation, two bases similar to this one are under my watch. We can talk here without worrying and there are a few spare rooms where you can stay."

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Azure was holding a hand to her mouth. That almost made her loose her lunch. She nodded. "If you would give me just a moment to retrieve my stomach from my throat we can talk then. " She muttered and leaned against the wall breathing deeply. Her own private thoughts didn't project to anyone, she knew how to block people out and pick who she wanted to read. She learned that quickly, but in larger crowds it was harder to block and gave her headaches. The noise was equivalent to a monster truck rally in a opera house and five trucks are revving up at the same time. She breathed deeply trying to calm her flipping stomach.

[pudding]

Elliot stared at her for a brief moment before opening his mouth. "Oh, was that your first time teleporting?" He asked. He could see how the sudden transport across several miles for the first time could be starting for someone and cause sickness. He had long since grown used to the feeling and since Mary and James were siblings, it was natural for them to be used to each other's powers. Clearly, however, they didn't have the same opinions as him as, as soon as they touched down, James quickly took Mary's hand and they darted down the hall, leaving Elliot and Azure alone. "I didn't realize. People don't usually respond so poorly."

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"I am still green, very new at it yes..." She breathed deeply to calm down. She straightened when her stomach has settled. "People don't normally hear other thoughts, and going from many voices to silence is quite unsettling.......Now, considering that I cannot read your mind, is there anything you would like to tell me or me tell you? Now... is there something sewing things I could use to fix my dress? And hot water for tea... " She pulled down her hood off for the first time and smoothed her golden curls that framed her gaunt thin face, rounded cheek bones and light distant blue eyes. Her lips thin and more pink then her skin, although hardly noticeable. Her skin so white, the contrast with the dark colors made her appearance ghostly. The poor girl looked like she hasn't been eating well and so thin it was painful, not emaciated, but more like a anorexic, although she didn't have that disorder, she just ate very little.

Edited March 4, 2015 by AroaraAngelwolf

[pudding]

Elliot's lips pressed together in a slight frown but he shook his head and forced himself to smile. The expression had been brief but that didn't erase the feelings that he was hiding. At least he had managed to intercept the government officials before they captured her. He highly doubted they would even care, except for the sake of their little test subject. He had seen far too many ESPers forced into horrible situations to ever trust someone that didn't have powers. "I can look into some sewings supplies. For right now, how about we get started on that tea? We can go sit down somewhere and talk about what's going on and what this place is. The government has sparred with us plenty of times but normal folk tend to just know of us as terrorists. We can offer you a place to stay if you need it, or let you go beyond that if you actually want to join us. A good half of the people in the bases under my control tend to be civilians so you don't need to feel pressured in any direction."

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Azure nodded. "I always keep a box of tea with me.... and a book. Please, lead the way..." She waves to the door, holding part of her skirt up so she wouldn't ruin it even more. She couldn't read his mind but she saw his look. But, he didn't know she did it to herself, and the government didn't like the fact she doesn't eat much.

[pudding]

"Of course, of course," Elliot replied and quickly walked out of the room. However, he had only taken two steps before his feet lifted off the ground and he began to float down the hallway instead, humming to himself as he turned around a corner. The hallways looked very nice and carpet covered the floor. Rooms with numbers on them lined the hall and as the two of them moved, it was clear there were many other inhabitants. Several small children darted from one room to another in some kind of game, most of them not noticing the two. But one, a little girl with long, brown hair, stopped and looked up at the floating man. Immediately, her face twisted into a smile as she jumped upwards, grabbing ahold of one of the ends of his long, white scarf.

"Eli is back!" She yelled happily as Elliot quickly landed to avoid being choked by his own scarf. "We missed you!"

"Hey, hey," He said, picking up the girl and gently removing her from his scarf before setting her back down again. "I'll play with you all later, alright? I've just got a little bit more work to do tonight." He patted her head then quickly shooed her off to rejoin the game she had been playing with the other children. He watched her run off before pausing at a nearby door. Lifting his necklace out of his shirt, he leaned forward and pressed the metal charm against the door knob before opening the door.

The room looked like a tiny apartment, complete with a tiny table with four small chairs, a small kitchen and a bed. As with everything else, it was clean and well-looked after but it didn't seem like anyone was using it. "This can be your room. It's previous resident moved on from here since they only needed temporary shelter while they got back on their feet." He paused for a moment then looked back at Azure, tilting his head to the side. "I can get someone else to guide you around later on. This whole place is a big maze just in case someone breaks in. You need a special key to even find your way out of the sleeping quarters but that's mostly just to keep the kids out of work."

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Azure had crossed to the counter and pulled out a cedar box, about the size of her hand and set it on the counter. Her voice sounded distant as her eyes where, like she was the one hypnotized rather than the one doing the hipnotizing. She pulled out Mary Shelley's book and placed it by the box, flopping through the cupboards trying to locate a kettle. "I would like to be shown around.... would you like tea too? I have mint mix;peppermint, minta and spearmint. I also have a Valerian mix with chamomile and meadowsweet herbs, it calms nerves and relieves headaches.. then there is the last box with California poppies for sleep, feverfew for migraines and hops for insomnia. I would avoid that one unless you count on sleeping...."

Edited March 4, 2015 by AroaraAngelwolf

[pudding]

Elliot gently closed the door behind them to keep the children out before walking around the counter to look at the small box. Oh, that was interesting. He knew a lot of people who liked tea but it was never really his kind of thing. "Oh, none for me," he replied, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders rather sheepishly. "I've got to watch what I eat. My powers tend to be very fickle so things like caffeine make them go a bit haywire. Besides, I prefer water. I'm a bit boring when it comes to drinks." He paused for a moment then held out a hand. From the topmost shelf, the cupboard door suddenly swung open and a kettle floated outwards, landing on the counter. "I make sure all of the rooms are neat so I know where all of the supplies are," He explained as he took a seat in a chair nearby. "Anyway, questions. I imagine you have a few for me so I'll answer what I can. Err... Or what I am permitted to. Since you haven't joined us yet, there are still a lot of things that can't be said."

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"Thank you. That is quite understandable secrets must be kept...." She filled it with water and flicked on the stove and put on the pot. "None of this is caffeinated. I too am particular about what I have. Every thing I eat and drink smooths headaches, or anxiety...being here around so many people.... it.. .. hmm how to explain it. ...... "She sighed heavily. "It does things to you, reading others like a book. " She tapped the book, her voice growing softer and softer until it was barely a whisper when she was done speaking. "It...... you lose track of what is really said.....then.... one day.... " She fell silent, hand automatically fingering the globe on her necklace. She shook her head and sat down after getting him a glass of cool water and looked into space for a long moment lost in her memory.

 

She shook her head slightly focusing slightly. "How many people are here? And how big is this place?"

Edited March 4, 2015 by AroaraAngelwolf

[pudding]

"Oh, well I guess it wouldn't hurt then," Elliot replied after a moment. If it didn't have caffeine, surely it was fine. He didn't know that much about tea, though. Hesitantly, after a few moments, he shrugged. She had already gotten him a glass of water so he could just explore it later on. Falling into silence as she began to lose herself in a thought, he picked up the glass of water and took a small sip, only to nearly spit it back out when she suddenly bombarded him with questions. "Calm down," he said, raising a hand. "This is the largest of the bases under my control but it still only houses about a hundred people. It's never been filled to capacity, though. I don't know how many people are currently here but half... no, maybe more are just children or civilians. I guess there's only around forty people here right now."

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Azure toyed with her locket getting up when the water was ready and fixed herself a cup of tea. "Try a little of mine to see if you like it. " She got down a little glass and poured a bit into it, the mint smell strong. She sat with her cup and set the glass down by him. "When did your powers manifest? Don't worry about me, ask away if you're curious, I will answer them.... if I can that is..."

[pudding]

"Very early," Elliot admitted as he sniffed the air. Mint wasn't one of his favorite things but he reached out anyway, letting his hands wrap around the cup. It felt warm under his fingers and he slowly pulled it closer. "I don't even remember it very well," he added but the lie was whispered through his teeth. It was a touchy subject. He didn't talk about that with anyone. It had been a rough time for him and nobody needed to know about it. "I grew up here, though. I mean, not here. This base is new. But that's beside the point."

He paused then took a small sip of the tea before quickly pushing it back at her. No, he didn't like that at all. "What about you?"

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Azure sighed. "I was born with telepathy, got hypnotism when I was ten.... " She sipped her tea. Setting it down on the table she looked at him. "Any children here with my ability?" She asked, avoiding the question about her old home life and walking around his life, she didn't have to read minds to know a subtle lie when she hears one, but she wasn't one to pry.

[pudding]

Elliot nodded as he rested his arms on the table. The glass of water lazily floated up to his mouth and he sipped at it, clearly not entirely focused on what was going on. Bringing up his past had brought up too many bad memories. With the faintest shudder, he forced them back down with another sip of water and a slight shake of his head. "I'm not sure," he replied with a shrug. "Children tend to be more unstable when it comes to powers. There are a few strong ESPers among them but one day, they can be showing a power they didn't have the previous day. There are two but their case is special. It has more ties to our organization than civilians are permitted to know." He shrugged slightly and leaned back in his chair, toying with the sleeve of his shirt. "I'll give you some time to think about it. You're welcome to join our organization, or you can just stay here. You're also free to leave whenever you like, if that's what you want."

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"We will see..... but I would like to train them. Every esp power deals with the mind.... but... telepathy deals with one's own mind, and others....... if I can train them in the art of meditation, perhaps it would make it easier for them to shut out unwanted thought....."

 

True, she wanted to help the kids, but is she didn't find anything out, the government would be mad at her and do horrible things, she never been on the government's bad side but she didn't want to be.

 

"I will think that over, now is there some catch to join or pitch you have to give me? Any organization has a pitch....I would like to ask you more questions about yourself, but .... I know that can be a sore subject... at least, that is what I gathered from your recent lie. I would not pry, though. I know from experience, privacy in one's mind is an important thing, and if it is breached.... People don't react well....."

Edited March 5, 2015 by AroaraAngelwolf

[pudding]

"I cannot allow that," Elliot replied rather flatly. "Like I said, their case is special. We've already found a solution to their problem and any interference could upset the balance we've created. If you want to meet them, that is perfectly fine. But training them is out of the question." He let the cup of water drift back to the table, now completely empty of liquid. With a sigh, he leaned a bit more forward, planting his elbows upon the table. "Our organization is criminal. Anyone who is an ESPer is allowed to join but you need to know that you will likely see people die and have to steal things. But you get to know more things. If you live here as a civilian, there is always a risk and you aren't allowed to explore the entirety of the base. But if you prove your worth in the organization, everything will be opened up to you. We're a family here and you would get to be a part of that."

"Now, that being said, you are free to ask me things about this organization. But my past is confidential, as are most people's. We come from places we'd rather not discuss with outsiders. If you stayed with us for long enough in the organization, you might be told more."