Racks of clothes hogged the first floor of the supermarket they had entered. Ain discovered it to be wholly illusory with the range of varied choices providing for what she suspected were the age range of the local populace. The young and those much, much older than she was.
She nevertheless found a few that fitted her well enough, tossed them inside a green plastic shopping basket while consciously adding the price. Arman paid for them, and then asked her if there was anything else that she needed.
"A nice, cool shower," she replied. Which happened to be the truth. He burst out laughing.
It was then she detected multiple thoughts that were simultaneously chaotic and yet with the singularity of an agreed plan from three, no, four men. The thoughts of the last especially a dizzying, slippery miss mash of fantasy masking reality. Drug fueled, most probably.
Prepping themselves up for something bad?
She began probing deeper into their minds but found herself unable to veer away from the manic mindless sashaying of the fourth.
They're inside a car. Sightseeing scenes they've seen countless times. Local thugs.
The driver cursing the laggard turbocharger pushing their ride forward as they arrived at the town's undrawn, invisible boundaries. Ain guessed people would be able to hear the racket from the souped-up throttle and exhaust combo in a few minutes. She glanced towards Arman, who didn't seem to notice her being all quiet suddenly.
Ain noticed her heart had begun racing. Her intuition flashing amber warning lights in her mind on the bad intentions the occupants had in their mind. Geared up for a swift hit and run and scooping as much as they could.
A bank in town? Which one? They didn't care. Any will do.
Arman had since noticed her steadfast silence and asked if something was wrong.
"Could be a gang looking for trouble, or nothing. Driving into town. Their thoughts are slippery. Probably high on drugs," she said.
"I thought you said you don't spy on people?"
"It's a general scan. It's not like I can switch my abilities just like that. Arman, they're here."
Her words startled him, his eyes scanning the departmental store and then looking at Ain for clarification. There were no one aside from them, a woman and her two children, and a teenager looking at jeans wear.
"As in the town center. Somewhere. We better get out there, see if we can help," she said, already moving towards the stairs as Arman's lips opened as if to protest.
Outside the departmental store, Ain spied a silver sedan - a swath of thick red dust covering parts of the paintjob. The large diameter exhaust, jutting out from its rear, announcing their arrival. She could see the four men inside. The car drove past the supermarket heading toward the upper part of the street.
"I think there's a bank somewhere here. Agro Bank or something," she heard Arman said behind her keeping pace as they slipped past people thronging the pavement.
Ain didn't answer as she scanned the area, found the bank and discovering to her dismay the sole security guard tired and dangerously close to dozing off. Then a sudden blackness engulfed him. At the time, she detected a sudden gush of fear, thoughts of possible injuries and even death from people around the unconscious guard's vicinity.
They've gone in. All of them?
Ain stopped walking and slipped to the wall between two shops. She had to have full concentration for what she planned to do and couldn't afford to have people bumping into her. Closing her eyes, Ain used her mind's eye to skip through a mass of minds until she found one who was in the bank. A male officer, transferred from the city five months back. Until then, he had enjoyed the calmness of small-town retail banking. She slipped into him and saw through his eyes.
Four men inside with a group of terrified clients. Two of the gang members had guns in their hands. Another dragged the knocked-out security guard from the entrance, a trail of blood staining the floor from a deep gash in his forehead. A sword in his other hand. She was dimly aware of Arman at her side. Others walked past, some looking, others ignoring them.
From within her host, Ain tried to sneak her scan into the four. The first three she did with ease as they displayed some coherence. The fourth was a haphazard maze of thoughts flipping between one reality to another.
She readied to extend herself. At the hospital, she was able to speak to the dead patient for a short while. Without much effort. She will attempt the same with the four to stop in their tracks. Coax them into letting the people in the bank go.
She began sending mental images to calm them. Green undulating hills, crystal clear rivers flowing into cascading waterfalls and cooling breeze. Saw the men suddenly looking at one another as she proceeded to fill their minds with questions, increasing the doubts over what they were doing, how their families would react…
Out of the corner of her host's eye, she noticed one of them suddenly shaking his head. He grabbed a female staff by the neck and planted his pistol at her temple. Ain could see in mind a ghastly image. Someone he hated all his life.
You left me to dad to do me as he pleases! I want to see your brain splatter!
Stunned by the murderous coherence in the man's thoughts, Ain exploded with an uncontrolled burst of mental energy focused on him. The intensity of her attack overloaded the man's neural activities and pushed his heart to compensate the sudden surge. Blackness engulfed his mind as it switched off. The dissipation of the man's remaining life energies sent his body into a wild spasm as the disconnect sets in.
Suddenly a shot rang out, loud and brutal. A second rush of blackness intruded into Ain's web of telepathic encroachment as the young hostage protested a death too sudden, too early. Pandemonium ensued with screams erupting over the killing broke Ain's induced lullaby on the gang. Regaining their senses, they were stunned to see one of their own slumping to his knees. Blood oozing from his nostrils and ears.
There was no hiding the flurry of murderous thoughts which zipped through their minds right of the bat. Revenge.
No! No more!
This time she was deliberate in her act. Ain lashed out with the same energy blast, this time against the trio's minds. What she didn't count was the strength as the intensity of her assault reverberated across the whole bank. She saw through her host's sights both robbers and hostages screaming in pain at the sudden huge pressure they felt in their heads. Their knees turned to jellies and their bodies buckling.
To her horror, she felt every mind in the vicinity of the trio flickering as though moving towards switching off. Ain pulled back her assault and fled her host realizing he would probably be the only one left standing. Perplexed over what had happened since witnessing the four's grand entry of his workplace with guns, swords and clear ill intentions.
****
She opened her eyes and felt Arman's hand on her shoulder. A gentle, but firm shaking of her body. Around them, a small crowd of curious onlookers.
"Are you okay, Ain?"
His words registered barely. Ain found herself slumped on the pavement with her back against the wall from her earlier standing position when she entered the bank staff's consciousness. Her heartbeat seemingly normal.
She tried to stand up on her own, only to have Arman slipping one arm under her arm and across her body. Propping as she made it to her feet.
"You're bleeding, Ain…"
"Huh?"
Someone passed Arman a piece of tissue paper which he then softly dabbed below her nostrils. Murmurs around her. Ain tried to take a deep breath and felt a clogging of her passageway. She coughed to rid of it and spat out a dollop of coagulated blood.
"Careful, Ain. Use this instead," said Arman.
Ain took the other tissue paper and placed it against her nostril. Peered past Arman to nod a silent thank to the woman who had handed them to him. The others had begun to dissipate. Further away from them a ruckus was heightening in the noise level. Arman voiced his own thanks to the woman who was with her daughter. Assured her it was probably just a case of fatigue on Ain's part. She nodded her agreement and soon, they were the only two left still rooted on the spot.
Found Arman staring at her. A questioning look she didn't need to read his mind to figure out what he was thinking. She tugged at his arm, glancing towards his parked pick-up. Quick to catch her hint, Arman held Ain in support as they slowly walked off.
****
Did you feel that too, C?
She did. The sudden telepathic surge had knocked her to her knees at a most inappropriate time when all eyes were on the occasion she hosted. Her aide was the first to react. He slid in beside Carissa and pretended to pick up an invisible item on the carpeted flooring of the stage they were on. Another hand sneaked behind her back, stopping her from tottering. A split second, instinctive act which only the most discernible, and probing eyes would have noticed.
As soon as the ribbon cutting ceremony went underway, she made her way to the tent the property developer had set up for their VIP guests. Not before directing her aide to continue accompanying their chairman and alert her should anything arise. He knew enough not to query on what had transpired on stage.
She readied to contact her Cabal closest confidante as soon as she sat in the comfortable sofa within the air-conditioned enclosure when he pinged her.
Knocked me out for a loop, C. Was it her?
I think so.
You didn't…
Don't go there, Johan.
Sorry, C. It's just that we're at the top tier. If one of her outbursts could floor us…
I wasn't floored. It just caught me by surprise. That's all. Was anyone else affected?
Unfortunately. I was showing our new additions the ropes with the surge struck me. They weren't prepared at all to handle to increased feedback.
Fried?
One. Unfortunately, our minds were linked. The others are nursing a nasty headache. What happened, C?
I'm looking into it. She's too much like the Ghost. I think whatever happened wasn't in the vicinity of whoever it was she had throttled.
You mean…
Yes. A burst of this magnitude would drive those within range cuckoo. Alas, I am in public right now. You must do it, Johann. Scan for any tell-tale mass telepathic shocks pointing where she had been.
On it. Just give me a few minutes to steady myself. Had to erect my defenses at the cost of the intern to stop myself from switching off.
I know. Be careful. And get someone to prompt that psycho from the hospital. He can be of use him when we locate her.
… Who, C? Must be someone of experience but the risk…
Your choice, my dear. This is your chance to rid someone you don't fancy.
… You know me far too well. Will do. Ciao for now, C.
She felt the phone in her hand slipping in time with her disconnecting the telepathic link.
I am weaker than I thought. Damn!
Carissa steadied her grip. She was alone inside the tent, but it was still risky for her to go hunting for the elusive young woman whose abilities was a clear threat to everyone. Not just them.
I hope she has the sense to be more discreet. We might have to think of the greater good and work with the authorities on this upstart.
****
Arman saw how they were going against the flow of others who were just too excited to notice the couple seemingly running away from where the excitement was.
Still recovering from seeing Ain seemingly passing out at the busy pedestrian walkway after she had mentioned something about a robbery, Arman was wary of losing focus. He still could remember the tingle in the edge of his mind as though John was still in the periphery, ready to pounce.
The noise level had heightened as they reached his parked pickup. Arman heard shouts ringing loud of the police, shots fired, and people killed.
He knew Ain was at the thick of whatever had occurred at the bank. She had been in trance for a long while, semi consciously staring into space. There was just nothing happening until Arman thought he saw one moment when her body glowed slightly, seconds before she was back to her own self.
Tucking Ain into the passenger seat, Arman got into his side, started the engine and drove off. From the rear-view mirror, he could see the gathering crowd who had begun to fill the road. Ain looked far more relaxed in her seats, crumpling the tissue paper. Reddish spots pointing how much she had bled earlier.
Arman spotted a small four-wheel drive briefly in his rear-view mirror. A weird one since they were almost the only vehicle moving away from a growing traffic stand still leading to the town area. Was it following them, thought Arman only to see the other car turning left into another road.
"I'm getting more paranoid," Arman grunted, shrugging off the feeling, his mind thinking of where they could put up for a while to rest, gather their strength and nurse themselves back to normalcy.
"With good reason."
Ain, her face gazing down. There was an almost contemplative look in her face. Arman figured she was ready to tell him what had happened.
She drew a deep breath. Said nothing.
Let her recover, Arman.
He switched on the radio and tuned into the classics, as soothing music filled the cabin. Saw Ain closing her eyes once again. This time conscious unlike moments ago at the sidewalk.