There were monsters at the door, their strong claws and thick hooves digging into its structure made frail from years of being exposed to nature's rigors, and there was little she could do. Ain stood naked and rooted in the middle of the room, empty except for her own shadows, a dark blot beneath her feet. She stared at the entrance, its ornate design breaking the monotony of the opaque, windowless wall. She had glimpsed their hulking dark shadows, flirting in between the periphery of her vision, encircling her, searching for a breach to force their way in.
How did I end up here?
She remembered being in a village, at a house, with (strangers? friends?) and they told her she's not who she thought she was. That her name wasn't Ain and was instead another, a stranger's name. And they told her she was a homewrecker who enticed husbands to forget their wives and children, breaking hearts and destroying families.
No!! I can't be her! It's not possible…
The door splintered as liquid black tendrils oozed into her space, contaminating it with a toxic and nauseating darkness that coalesced into the form of a human arm, the fingers adorned with hooked claws. Ain retaliated blindly with a knife hand strike, her fingers steeled, shocked to find the monster's hide soft and supple. She heard a choking sound, opened her eyes and saw a man atop her, one hand on her shoulder. His eyes bulged and Ain felt warm liquid on her own hand. Embedded in his throat, tearing apart skin and crushing whatever was beneath.
Her mind switched as Ain became aware of two other men pinning down Yani. Another standing next to an open window of the prayer hall, and one more rushing at her from the left.
In one swift movement, Ain spun to her side, the momentum carrying the sharp of her elbow crunching into bleeding man's jaw, tumbling him away from her as the other attacker's foot smashed into the empty place where she once was.
Ain was on her feet now, instinct taking over. Using her movements as leverage to push the whole body forward, her knee connecting with the assailant in mid-section and her right elbow hitting his left temple. Unlike the first man, this one didn't buckle in pain and instead swung with his left arm, just missing Ain's face and hitting her shoulder.
She leapt away from him, both hands in front of her, her right leg raised at the knee. Ain stared at her opponent crouching in a horse stance. Yani's muffled scream bothered her, but Ain knew she couldn't take her eyes or mind away from her opponent, who kept shifting his weight from one leg to the other. He suddenly lunged forward, his hard fist brushing across her chest as Ain sidestepped the strike and followed through with her own swinging knife hand which he managed to block. They reel off each other and, in the semi-lit darkness, she saw his eyes staring sharp at her.
…pin her down… my bulk…
Ain caught the man's stray thought and latched on it, shouting into his mind at the same time feinting a snap kick with her left leg, only to execute a round house strike, the balls of her foot smashing into the man's head past a swiftly raised arm. He stood firm until she fired a mind blast and shorted his senses. Her opponent eyes went all white and he fell into a prostrate position before slumping unconscious to the floor.
Ain turned her attention to the other two men assaulting Yani, one astride her with his hand on her mouth while the other holding her arms. They both stared at her, eyes wide opened, their attention no longer on Yani. She caught the palpable fear rising in their feeble, chaotic thoughts.
Blind followers.
She had little sympathy for them, taking them both out with a quick mind blast, and immediately scanned the area for the last man, found him still hiding in the shadows, his thoughts going "…what do I do now…dammit…"
Disgusted, Ain channeled the nasty, horrible thoughts of the other two in what they wanted to do to Yani direct into his mind, turning him the victim instead. She heard a guttural scream and saw the silhouette of a man bolting out through the window, clambering the perimeter wall before disappearing into the back lanes. A quick mind scan told Ain there were no one else as she proceeded to pick through the memory of the bleeding one, eyes looking at his victim-turned-aggressor.
Ignoring him, Ain went over to Yani who had managed to push the man straddling her to the floor. Her body was shaking. Taking a deep breath to calm her own racing heart, Ain knelt and helping Yani to her feet, as they both stood up before the four men, three unconscious, another weakening by the second from his loss of blood.
"Who…?"
"Scums. Must have spied us walking here and thought we were easy victims."
Yani looked around at the fallen men, her feet prodding the prone bodies of the two who had totally overpowered her minutes earlier. She glanced at the one bleeding heavily from his neck wound.
"Syafa, we should help stem the bleeding, or he'll die."
Ain didn't answer her, prying into the man's mind, surprised to read no presence of John Doe's tendril of influence in his thoughts. Instead picking up nuggets he was the main architect of the assault against them. Rape, sodomy, sick thoughts in his mind.
"Please, Syafa. He needs medical attention."
Ain turned and stared at the woman who had just lost her son, and who almost became a rape victim. Incredulous in reading the compassion in her thoughts, the doctor in her assessing the amount of blood staining the carpet.
"Go ahead and help him. I'll call for help," she replied, her mind extending outwards, scanning for the police officer who had approached Yani in the aftermath of the fire, the cool composure she had detected in his thoughts perfect for a mind nudge.
Ain found him asleep, remnants of the day's tragic occurrence in the loss of three lives still playing heavily in his thoughts. She slipped into his mind the image of Yani attending to the injured man. Her using a tee shirt found as bandage to stem the flow of blood. Ain retreated away when the young police officer stirred into wakefulness.
She watched Yani then going from one unconscious man to another, carefully checking their pulses, thoughts on her new friend and how she could tackle four men on her own. Observing more closely the fallen four, Ain saw that they were in their mid-30s, of heavy built except for her martial art adept opponent, and all barefooted.
Clearly, they didn't want to announce their approach. Bastards!
Her disgust on all five men shimmering, she found the escaped one having collapsed in front of his house, his mind tormented to the point of lunacy with continuous thoughts of his two friends gang raping him.
Glancing at Yani and her compassion, Ain ended the man's agony by extinguishing the planted thoughts slowly from his mind to leave but a scant memory, remembering the impact of erasure on Suraiya. The passing thought and image jolted her.
Suraiya's dead. Ashraf. Yani's Pak Nan. All because I had let my guard down.
She had allowed her enemies to slip in and toyed with Suraiya's mind, goading her into blowing the house. She could feel the rage building within her, ready to explode.
"Syafa? Your hand…"
Yani's words startled her, as Ain refocused her raging thoughts, stared dumbfounded at the doctor who was pointing to her right side. Ain lifted her arm and saw her right hand was all bloodied.
"Ouch. Didn't realized I was injured."
"How did you do it, Syafa? How did you manage to take on all of them? I saw them. One minute they were all over me and then they just keeled over…"
Ain winced as she began to feel the pain flaring in her left shoulder where her second assailant landed a strong blow. Yani was staring at her, the face expectant, waiting for a plausible answer.
"Now is not the time, Yani. Unless you want to explain things to the police who would be arriving soon…"
"The police? How did they know? You were with me all the time, and I'm sure as heck you don't have a cell phone with you. There's no one else aside from us and these… comatose. What? The police have cameras everywhere now?!"
Please calm down, Yani. This is not helping matter.
"Oh my god…. You're a telepath…"
I woke up from coma with these new abilities, Yani. It was not something I was born with.
"You can read other people's thoughts? Their memories?"
Ain didn't say a word, aware that Yani's trust and warmth towards her ebbing away as suspicions grew. She however caught an increasing sense of excitement, a vapid curiosity in Yani's mind, the scientist within her stirred.
"Yes and no, but now is not the time to talk about me. They'll be here soon so we better scoot before they do."
Her expression betrayed the mixed emotions she was having and then muttering softly, "Oh God what the hell is happening to me…"
She then stared at Ain, her eyes sharp and unblinking.
"Lead us away."
Taking the same escape route of their fifth assailant, Ain clambered up through the open window leading to the back lanes, helped Yani and strode off, their pace increasing as the kaleidoscopic light show of the arriving patrol car lit the village main road, its siren silent.
"Do they know where to look?" asked Yani, breathing hard from their pace and then answering herself.
"I forgot. You're the telepath. You must have told them the exact place. Did you also give them a heads up on who they are?"
Ain heard a haughty laugh from her companion.
I did. Now will you stop talking to conserve your breath. At this rate, you be flat out before we reach anywhere. Just think about what you want to say to me.
Silence ensued, the village intersection looming close.
Like this? Can you hear me? Why am I talking to myself this so damn crazy…?
Yes, Yani. I hear you fine.
Oh my God. ….. So, then you do know about Saari?
Not until we met and only after you told. Truthfully Yani, I did not even recognize you, only a vague familiarity.
"What…"
What were you doing reading random people's mind? Is that what you telepaths do?
I wasn't reading anyone in specific. My scan works like a radar and I would just zoom in whenever I pick out interesting or nasty thoughts.
Me having interesting, nasty thoughts. Imagine that….
They reached a junction and Ain turned into the main road heading towards the town, as Yani paused.
"Syafa... Wait up. You're not planning to walk all the way to Kuala Selangor, are you? That's crazy!"
"I'm taking us to those shop lots over there. I've found a ride sharing driver."
You really don't remember a thing about your old self?
No, I really don't. I woke up wearing a hospital gown and hearing the thoughts of a man wanting to murder me in my sleep.
My God! Why?
There is another with my abilities and he or she is after me.
One of your team members? Is it Saari?
Ain stopped, turned around, stared at Yani, an arm's length away.
"Maybe it's him. Maybe it's someone else. What I do know is that the beast doesn't give a damn about the lives of others."
Wait. Your saving my life at the house… you knew we were in danger, didn't you?
"I…"
I'm sorry I couldn't save everyone. I had let my guard down. You remember Suraiya, the girl who was with me? Whoever it was slipped into her mind, goaded her into setting up the explosion.
"Murder? You're saying my family was killed because somebody wanted to get at you?! Why didn't you come clean with the police then?
And tell them what, Yani? They'll lock me up for the loony bin or send me to a lab to cut me open to see how I'm doing this!
…. Ashraf, Pak Nan… murdered…
In the semi lit darkness, Ain saw Yani bit her lower lips, tears flowing from her eyes, in her mind, memories of her son playing. She felt a pang of her own emotions waiting to burst and steeled herself.
I'll get the driver to come here to pick us up. We can rest at my place.
There was no answer from Yani, her thoughts firmly on Ashraf. Ain soon became aware of police presence at the prayer hall and their discovery of the four men. They had also awakened those staying near as the increased buzzing of their thoughts swarmed her mind.