Unforeseen Dives – IXb – A Trouble In Paradise

IXa – A Trouble In Paradise

The clatter of broken glass on the floor wasn’t what I expected. My brains didn’t repaint the walls but the non-reader’s did. His body thumped to the ground. My eyes registered the event but my brain took a while to catch up.
Wayne wasn’t taken by surprise at all. He dived for the gun in the dead man’s hands. A bullet whistled over his head. He rushed to me and when my brain finally caught up with the events, Wayne’s arm held me to him and a gun convinced me to stay still. He spun me around so his back was to the wall and I faced the window.
Ryan rolled on the ground and fell into a crouch by the door. Casey remained on his chair; he probably checked every attacker’s mind to ensure he wasn’t in anyone’s crosshairs. Or he didn’t care. This scene could get dicey. Or more dicey.
I had a hard time thinking straight.
“You should hit her.” Casey commented, pointing his chin at me. “Her brain is ripe for the picking with all her knowledge of the organization.” He concentrated again. “Forget about it. Your mind has been pinpointed too. Oh well…”
Casey sighed and dropped to the ground, face on the floor. He laced his hands behind his head. Though he thought he ought to die, he apparently privileged his cause and refused to die in vain. I wished Wayne would follow his example.
The stress made me prompt dive. I realized Wayne was doing exactly that. He sifted the possible future with the frenzy of a man who has no escape. Telepaths on the other side picked all the information right in his head and countered every plan. His utopia died today. Unfortunately, no plan was perfect and every last one of the futures ended in a bloodshed.
Unless…
I wrestled Wayne’s brain as furiously as I could. He struggled back and I felt the gun against my temple move. Desperate, I choked his consciousness or, at least, I tried to. I had never separated a mind from its body before.
The futures changed for a kaleidoscope of the possible outcomes of our confrontation. With each push from one of us, the probabilities were altered. If Wayne partially emerged from the Ocean, he could pull the trigger and blow my brains out. If he returned to reality completely, he wouldn’t risk diving again and I was back to the helpless hostage square.
The one of us who dominated the other would lock his opponent in the Ocean.
The future waltzed around in our heads as our mental struggle stifled our bodies. The troops would move in soon. I just had to keep Wayne occupied until then.
My shoulder sent an unexpected jolt through my body as the disorientation from the dive drove us to the back wall. The pain distracted me a moment and I felt Wayne’s mind slither out of my grasp, heading back to the surface. I dug in the suffering he inflicted upon me to find the strength to push forward. My consciousness clawed on his and pulled him back under.
“I thought you understood.” Wayne talked to me through the Ocean again. I wouldn’t let it destabilize me.
“I understand why you’re mad. I understand the logic of your madness. I can’t abide by it.”
My thought was barely finished when Wayne’s consciousness vanished into oblivion. I emerged from my dive to find his body at my feet. The odd angle of his neck left no doubt as to the cause of death. I stared at him for a moment, bewildered. A pool of blood also spread at my feet. I followed the river to Ryan’s missing forehead. I should have been glad he could hurt me no more but in the moment, his spilled brains were just another horror forever etched into my memories.
Soldiers brushed past me. I followed their hurried footsteps to Casey, still lying on the floor.
“Don’t hurt him!” I bellowed. Despite everything, he was Casey. I had seen and lived too many horrors. His death would be the drop to overflow the vase. His death would break me. I tried to throw myself over him but a pair of strong arms held me back.
“Don’t worry,” a feminine voice whispered in my ear. “He’s not planning to attack so they won’t hurt him.”
I knew that voice. So many times I wished to hear it again. Was I just dead?
“No, you’re not, silly,” the soothing presence whispered in my brain. A flow of peace waved its way through my consciousness. I hadn’t felt such a pleasant telepathic presence for a while now.
Pulling me into a hug, Rebecca shushed and rocked me. Someone brought a blanket. She wrapped it around me slowly. I winced when it brushed my shoulder but welcomed the warmth.
And I cried.
Rebecca hummed a tune as if no one else existed, as if no other task was hers but to nurse me back to freedom. Back to sanity. Her whole mind breathed protectiveness and the disappearance of my nightmares. It was over.
As she held me closer, I felt the small roundness of her belly. I laughed. And it felt so good. So right.
“You’re going to be an amazing mother,” I whispered when the hysteria receded.
“I think Daniel would disagree. I doubt he’ll let me go out in the field again for quite some time.” She laughed in my hair. “Let’s patch you up so you can be the awesome godmother.”
Suddenly, my tears doubled as the image of the cadaver up in the torture room hit me. Rebecca’s mind wrapped around my panic and forced it calm.
“I know,” she broadcasted. “I’m okay.” I knew she shielded her true emotion for my mental safety. “We’ll talk more once you’ve had a good night sleep.”
Rebecca’s arms opened up so a paramedic could get ahold of me. He was a telepath too and infused me with calm so I wouldn’t panic once Becky pulled back.
“I need medical attention.” I stupidly thought before falling unconscious.

Coming next Wednesday: Xa – A War On The Horizon >>