Chapter 9

I grabbed the laptop, before the electrified forcefield shoved me back down.

Arianna started screaming, and wouldn't--or couldn't--stop. It blended with the shouts of the hostiles who had invaded my home and were trying to kill me. After all, you don't try to hit someone with an electrified forcefield like the one I was encapsulated in if you wanted to take them back alive, and not looking like charred hamburger.

[Arianna, you have got to stop!] I yelled in telepathy. When she didn't stop, I mustered what telepathic strength wasn't being used on the shield to command, Stop yelling!

This was a command that ran much deeper than telepathy. I'd never really tried to make someone do what I wanted them to, but I was pretty sure that I could.

I held my breath, then released it as Arianna fell silent. She wasn't looking so good--glassy eyes, almost white, clammy skin, lips an unnatural purple shade. Shock? I mean, it wasn't like I was a medical professional or anything like that.

But before I could do anything to help her, I had to get rid of this stupid, crackling field of energy that engulfed us. With much effort, I slowly expanded my force field. Whoever I was fighting against was strong. Each telepathic push felt like a physical blow to my body, causing me to lose all of my breath in a great rush.

You think you're going to win?! Well, I've got news for you!

Brain power, or sheer mental energy, is what a telepath uses. Sometimes, they'll even use someone else's mental energy and brain waves to give them power. But sometimes, all you need is a very, very powerful emotion. I can tell you right now, anger is a very powerful resource.

My force field flashed silver as it instantly expanded outward, smashing against the four walls. It slowed, flowing into every crack and nook, growing and cracking like water freezing in the fissure of a rock. I knew I couldn't keep it up, so just as quickly, I retracted it so it surrounded just Arianna and me.

"W-what's going on?" she croaked.

"It's gonna be okay," I lied. Then I focused back on the enemy.

They wore sleek black exo-suits, complete with helmets with tinted visors I couldn't see through. As was pretty common with most exo-suits, there were two swords (or katanas) criss-crossed on the back, a gun strapped to each thigh, and a knife on each side of the calf. Huge, scythe-like blades attached at the elbow, coming out past the hand.

Certainly not a hugging bunch here. (You know, because if you tried to hug someone with those blades, you'd chop them half.)

They pulled themselves out of the walls, where'd they'd been shoved. The chandelier fell from the ceiling, followed by a rain of dusty plaster that poured over the curves of our force fields. Silence ruled for no more than a few split seconds.

"You can give yourself up, and it will be easier for you," one of them (the leader?) said.

I snorted. "Get that from the book of cliche movie lines? As if!"

Apparently, he didn't appreciate my humor. "Your choice." His own force field against mine, causing my to stumble backwards against my protective wall.

Arianna's fingernails dug into my arm, drawing blood. I winced, biting my lip to keep from crying out. Show no weakness--that's something I was taught since I was little, when the bigger kids followed me around, looking for opportunities to make my life miserable.

"I'll tell you what--how about we both just walk away, and I don't kill you?" I was stalling, trying to think of a plan.

"Or I could just kill you. The blood stains wouldn't match the decor, but that can't be helped." He shrugged.

Out of my peripheal vision, I could see the others closing in again, closing off the front door. I might be able to fight my way through, but there was no guarantee. It was one thing to risk my own life, but Arianna's...

The commander made a sweeping motion with his left blade, and the soldiers instantly sprang into action. With Arianna clinging on for dear life, I shot upwards, toward the ceiling.

This is going to hurt.