*Note- This story is part of a series.
1. PsiCATs: Cale
2. PsiCATs: Olivia
3. PsiCATs: Tessa
4. PsiCATs: Wren
5. PsiCATs: Hunter
*Note- The events in this story occur before the events in "PsiCATs: Cale".
PsiCATs: Hunter
By: Chrystal Wynd
Part 1
Strange things happen in Chrystal Heights.
Now, some residents would take issue with this statement. Many people live their whole lives in Chrystal Heights and never notice anything unusual. They find Chrystal Heights to be everything the brochure says it is, and these folk sleep soundly every night.
This story is not about them.
A city is ultimately defined by its citizens. The good, the bad, the in-between. Sometimes, however, a city is defined by a small group of residents. This is the case in Chrystal Heights.
Every city has its mysteries, its persons of intrigue, its dark secrets. More rarely, a city will have beings of power.
Chrystal Heights has more than its share.
There are many reasons for this. Some of these reasons are common knowledge, which will be discussed another time. Some of these reasons are known only to a select few, and for good reason. These, too, will be discussed another time. The point, however, remains...there are beings of various levels of power within Chrystal Heights.
Some people might feel this is an obvious statement. And they'd be right. But the point isn't about beings with power. The point is actually a question.
What is that question, you ask? Simply, what happens when a being of power has no mental, moral or ethical restraints?
*****
The Chrystal Heights Mental Health Clinic is located in an older-looking two story building.
The first floor is primarily for storage and offices of those who don't deal directly with the public, such as the head of custodial services and the security office. The second floor is much nicer, as it houses the offices of the various psychologists and psychiatrists who staff the clinic.
The psychologists serve a purpose in the sense of giving the clinic a visible presence. They serve in a consultative and advisory role and many troubled teens and professionals swear by them. They are the face of the Chrystal Heights Mental Health Clinic.
It's a front. Or, at least, it isn't their only purpose, or even their most important. That distinction lays in their underground basement facility.
The underground basement facility is designed to detain those residents who have the dual distinction of displaying both a psionic ability of some sort and a psychiatric condition severe enough to warrant separation from society as a whole. The underground facility is designed to be fully secure, of course, but the occasional escape is still attempted periodically.
Rarely...very rarely...the attempt succeeds.
*****
Officer Arlene Turner was a Chrystal Heights police officer working as a security presence for the Clinic. She was aware of the nature of the basement facility, so when the elevator doors to the lower levels slid open and a lithely muscular man in an orange jumpsuit emerged, Turner immediately drew her nightstick.
"On your knees now, Bobby!" said the officer, "and put your hands behind your head!"
The escaped prisoner's eyes glittered. "Sure, Turner," said Bobby. "That's going to happen."
Turner was no fool and she didn't wait for Bobby to comply. Athletic and strong, she knew her way around a brawl. She stepped forward and swung her nightstick.
It should have ended the fight right there, but Bobby ducked beneath the blow and whirled into a reverse roundhouse kick, striking Officer Turner in her midsection. Caught flat-footed, Turner's breath whooshed from her body as she stumbled back from the force of the blow.
It had been a hard kick and Turner was hurt. It wasn't enough to put her down, however. Still gripping the nightstick in her right hand, she stepped forward and again swung at Bobby's head. Bobby leaned to his left and she missed, but then Turner brought the club back again in a vicious backhand.
Bobby took a step forward and forearm-blocked Turner's backhand. His left hand formed a fist with an extended knuckle, which he drove into Turner's tricep. Turner yelped and her hand opened reflexively, causing her to drop the nightstick.
Bobby rotated his hips and snapped a kick into Turner's already sore midsection. She grunted and bent over slightly. Bobby's shoulders had swung around from the momentum of the kick, but he swung his arm back and backhanded the police officer across the cheek.
Turner stumbled back. She was hurting, but she had gotten the separation she needed. Her hand slid down to her holster and she drew her stun gun. It was time to end this.
"Say goodnight, Bobby," she said.
Bobby's eyes glittered and his pupils seemed to shrink. "Oh, I don't think so, Turner." He said.
Not one to waste words, Turner pointed the stun gun at Bobby and tried to pull the trigger.
Nothing happened.
Turner's fingers were numb and useless. She couldn't pull the trigger. Panic beginning to set in, she switched the gun to her other hand.
"Stupid fucking cop," said Bobby.
Turner aimed the stun gun at the escaping convict with a surprisingly steady hand. For a moment, the officer thought she had succeeded. Then she realized with a sudden spike of dismay that her hand was slowly turning the weapon in her direction.
Her eyes widened slowly. "Okay...stop," she said, as the weapon aimed itself at her midsection. "Please don't-" She was unable to finish her sentence, as her finger then pulled the trigger.
The taser projectile struck and her stomach muscles locked. Every muscle in her body contracted as her body short-circuited. Moments later, the stun gun rolled from nerveless fingers and Officer Turner dropped to the ground.
Bobby reached down and grabbed Turner by her hair with one hand and her belt with the other. He picked up the officer with seemingly no effort and dropped her onto a nearby rolling gurney. He removed her belt and strapped her into the gurney. Then he used her handcuffs to lock her wrists over her head to the metal apparatus.
"Hey!" said a voice. "What the hell are you doing?"
Bobby turned. A male nurse, dressed in green scrubs, stared at him incredulously.
Bobby didn't have time for this. His pupils shrank. "Strip," he said.
The nurse blinked. Then his eyes widened as his hands began stripping off his uniform. Finally, he stood naked in front of Bobby, unable to move.
Bobby nodded. "Fine," he said. "Grab your clothes and follow me."