by Danny, GoozX and T5
Stefano of the PSI-Unit lay unconscious on the third-floor balcony of the Revolutionaries' headquarters, the apartment building they called their home. He'd pushed himself to the limit protecting the heroes from the storm, and his body had quit on him.
This wouldn't matter so much, except for the two vampires that had crept up the side of the building via the drainage pipe, and made their way to the closest vulnerable human, Stefano, who was now passed out at their feet.
"Looks young..." one said.
"And tasty," the other replied. He picked up the unconscious PSI-Unit member and propped him up against the balcony railing.
"Do you get first dibs, or do I?" the one holding Stefano said.
"I do!"
"Fuck off," came the reply, and he brushed his colleague aside.
"NO!" shrieked a loud voice from above. Both the creatures looked up to find Daniela of the PSI-Unit charging toward them.
"What the--?" said the one holding Stefano as he was thrown off his feet. This took him by surprise, seeing as how Daniela was several feet away. Stefano slumped to the ground, no longer having the vampire to support him. Daniela hit the ground next to him, kneeling at his side and holding his shoulder up.
"Stef..? Stefano, can you hear me?" Daniela asked. No reply came.
"What did you do?" she asked, looking up at the vamps.
"He was like this when we got here. We never got the pleasure of knocking him out ourselves," one said.
"Good thing you came along," the other added.
"Now we get to feed from both of you," the first continued. They ran at her.
"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Daniela yelled. A telekinetic ram hit one of them in the chest, breaking his ribcage and pushing him straight through the railing, off the balcony. But while her concentration was there, the other grabbed her from behind.
"No! Let go!" she screamed.
"Maybe I'll have some fun before I drain you, eh?" the vamp said softly into her ear. He continued, "I can feel that, you know. I can feel you trying to push me away with your TK there. My grip may be stronger than your mind. Guessing you're not really a telekinetic by trade, then. Oh, yeah, I've read about you freaks. What are you, then? Psychic? Empath? Heh. Bet you're trying to mess around inside my head right now. Well, you'll find that things are a lot more straightforward when you're undead. Not a lot of feelings to worry about. Now let's see about draining you..."
Daniela sobbed. And the vamp was thrown backward off her. He sprawled onto the concrete floor.
"What's that, then? Your TK works when you're all worked up? When you get all emotional? The living... how easily manipulated..." the vampire said, standing himself up.
Daniela was on her knees at Stefano's side, glaring at the creature.
"After I've done what I need to with you, I'll drain him... then take my time dismembering his body... I'll bathe in his fucking blood!" the vamp yelled. She screamed. He flew backward over the balcony to the ground below.
Daniela put her head on Stefano's unconscious shoulder. "Wake up, Stef... just wake up..." she said, shaking him. "I can't do this alone."
Now, sometimes people got lucky. Sometimes, when you threw a vampire off a third-floor balcony with your emotionally charged telekinetic spike, he fell to his doom below. And sometimes, people got unlucky. Sometimes, despite his broken ribcage, the vampire managed to reach out a hand and grab onto the concrete edge of the balcony. And he would manage to pull his way back up while you're dealing with the second vampire. And sometimes this first vampire would sneak up behind you when you were tending to your unconscious boyfriend and ram your head sideways into the steel railing of the balcony.
That was just the way the cookie crumbled.
"Let's see you try that PSI-Unit shit when you're only half conscious. I doubt you could string together a sentence now, much less throw me off a building," the vamp said into her ear. She looked up at him through half-closed eyes.
"No..." she mumbled.
This was when Stefano opened his eyes.
Slowly drifting back into consciousness, he looked across the balcony. There he saw Daniela in the grasp of one of the vampires. It was staring down at her, a look of pure evil in its eyes.
He tried pushing it away, he tried stopping its heart, he tried crushing its skull, all from right there, where he lay. But it was no use. He had no energy left for that kind of telekinetic feat. He barely had enough energy to stand.
But stand he did. And he ran toward the creature.
"The hell?" it said, seeing Stefano charge toward it. It didn't really have enough time to contemplate this new eventuality, when Stefano ran into him with all the speed he could muster. The two fell off-balance, and Daniela fell out of the creature's grasp to the floor. Stefano and the vampire both toppled through the hole in the railing the vamp's first fall had made, and fell straight down to the ground below. Daniela thought she heard a sickening thud.
She crawled toward the edge of the balcony, looking over the edge. She saw the two bodies there. The vampire, she hoped, was dead. And Stefano...
He lay sprawled on the ground. His neck was snapped back at an inhuman angle. His arms and a leg were folded beneath him. He lay in a pool of his own blood. Sometimes you didn't need a doctor to tell when someone was dead.
Daniela tried to remain conscious. She tried to process the knowledge that Stef was dead. And he had died saving her.
She felt the bump on the side of her head throbbing, and bleeding. And she knew she couldn't stay awake for too much longer. She had time to shed a tear. She thought she heard the sound of an explosion coming from in front of the building.
And then, for the second time that day, a member of the PSI-Unit passed out on that third floor balcony.
Downtown Puerta Mibela, La Perdita:
The streets had begun flooding. Cars were stuck and people stranded in the open. A young mother held her baby close as the wind and hail pelted the side of her SUV. Tears were in her eyes; she should have been more careful.
The car began to shake uncontrollably. She kissed her baby's forehead. The end was at hand.
The car stopped for a moment and then was lifted off the ground. A clear bubble formed around the car, protecting it from the hail and violent winds. The mother pressed her eyes up to the glass, wiping it clean.
Outside, a beautiful woman, almost angelic-like, hovered over the flooded streets. Her reddish-brown hair swayed with the wind. An innocent smile formed on her face.
"Kevin," she began, "Brianna, get them out of there and to shelter east."
"Yeah, ma'am," Kevin of the PSI-Unit replied as he used his telekinesis to fly toward the car. His twin sister Brianna stayed back and kept a force bubble around Kevin's body to protect him from the hellish rains.
Guida-Sofia was an independent young lady, but her mind drifted and wondered where Devlin was. In her heart, she knew that she needed him. But where was he? Connection had been lost hours ago. But he was okay. He had to be, right?
The PSI-Unit was invincible. Three years running, and they had never been defeated. The team, with the help of their mentors Marc and Tanya, had saved La Perdita countless times. Devlin was fine. Probably just keeping families uptown safe. Yeah, he had to be.
From the corner of her eye, Guida-Sofia saw it: a hand. On the wrist was the government-issue PSI- Unit bracelet. Blood covered it.
Guida-Sofia landed on the pavement. With hesitation, she moved closer and closer to it. With a single thought, she lifted the steel and stone that covered the body.
Her psychic scream was: OH MY GOD!
Axel, the youngest member of the PSI-Unit at ten years old, lay in a bloody mess, his face covered in bruises, his clothes torn and body scarred. But Guida-Sofia felt it, a thought. He was still alive, if only barely. His eyes opened.
"Don't try to speak, Axel." Guida-Sofia paused. "I'm going to get you to a hospital. You'll be fine."
"No, leave me." Axel paused. "Hundreds are at stake."
"What's going on?"
"An army... cult, been building up under city." The boy began sobbing. "I'm sorry, I was weak, too weak."
"Axel, you're scaring me..."
"I gave them the access codes; they're gonna attack. Please go, stop 'em."
"Axel, I'm sorry, I have..."
GO! came Axel's psychic cry.
Guida-Sofia knew what she had to do. She held Axel's hand for a moment and then lifted her body into the air, breaking straight through the violent weather. She moved faster and faster, pushing herself faster than she ever thought possible.
Finally, she reached the team's official government-sponsored building. From the outside, the star-shaped building and everything around it looked as normal as they could in the midst of the stormy weather.
As she burst through the front doors, the true horror of it all sunk in. She was too late.
Kate Jenston, a receptionist, laid across her desk in a bloody mess; three bullets had been put in her chest.
Patricia Heart had been taken down with only one bullet, struck in the side of her head.
Mark Steven Patrick, an intern, had taken a beating before he was shot in the back of the head.
There were hundreds of government employees in the building, and this was a bad sign of things to come.
With her senses in overdrive and her mind a mess, Guida-Sofia was no match for the blow she received to the head by a steel pipe. A collar was placed around her neck, negating what little power she could muster.
Heavily armed soldiers flooded into the room; they had been hoping for one of the famed PSI-Unit to return home. The colonel entered next. Guida-Sofia was knocked down to her knees, and her arms were held behind her back.
"My dear," the colonel smiled and brushed his hand along her cheek, "two-hundred and thirty-four have been killed on your watch. Your team is dead. Your home is mine."
Before Guida-Sofia could respond, the colonel put a bullet in her head. Her last thought was of Devlin. Her last desire was to feel his touch.
In a few moments, Kevin and Brianna would return to where they had left Guida-Sofia. Only, she would be gone, and they would truly be alone in the world. Axel would be gone like a shadow covered with light, a mysterious stranger his only savior.
Although a few in the team yet lived, the PSI-Unit was truly dead.
Marc and Tanya, mentors to the PSI-Unit, had been stuck on a remote part of the island assisting with the hurricane rescue operations when they felt the deaths of Devlin, Stefano, and Guida-Sofia. They were unable to make contact with the survivors -- Daniela, Kevin, Brianna, Axel -- and suspected the worst.
Their work in the PSI-Unit had been rewarding until they had decided to go public. Marc had been opposed to the idea from the beginning, but the politicians and the ones funding the place were adamant that they shouldn't hide like they were criminals but instead work publicly and cement a good solid image of being the island's true heroes.
Now both of them knew, just as the others now did, that the Psychic Security and Intelligence Unit was finished; although some would survive, the team was gone for good. But who, they wondered, would replace them as La Perdita's protectors?
Tanya wept, and Marc swore that the ones who were responsible would suffer for their crimes, and their suffering would be beyond their wildest nightmares.