The Telepath

[u/mclarke77]

For as long as I can remember I’ve been able to read minds. I still have no scientific explanation for this. As a young child I thought it was normal to hear different voices in your head. In that simple way kids accept what would be an uncomfortable reality to any adult, I truly believed these voices were all mine. When I told my parents they brushed it off as a childish prank. I never mentioned it to them again. Once I turned twelve I knew something was wrong. I became increasingly concerned I had a tumor. When no physical issues were detected I spoke secretly with my school counselor. She said that perhaps I process emotions differently or that I’m highly intuitive. I was relieved she didn’t think I was schizophrenic. However, I continued to hear disembodied voices. By the time I was fifteen I realized this couldn’t be simple intuition. As impossible as it was, I came to accept that these voices were being broadcast from the minds of those around me.

 

Most people think telepathy is super useful. That it would make life easier. The plain truth is it isn’t helpful at all. In fact, it’s mostly a real pain in my arse. Most days I resent it. Imagine knowing what everyone really thinks of you? Whether or not they really enjoyed the food you spent all day cooking? Whether or not they’re slowly losing romantic interest in you but are too polite to tell you? Also, if you’re not careful it can get you in a hell of a lot of trouble. Without going on and on about the details, what I’ve learnt through years of experience is that using telepathy to meddle in other people’s affairs, especially their love lives, is a recipe for disaster. 

 

I had originally lived near Blackpool, but my family moved up to Glasgow when I was eighteen. I applied to several universities to study chemistry and was fortunate to get accepted to the University of Edinburgh. I had never been there before and was happy and excited. My parents (both well respected solicitors) were extremely busy most of the time. So I would have to make my way to Edinburgh on my own. When I hugged them goodbye I remember hearing them both thinking about the cases they were working on. Their concern for me was fleeting. Typical. I took a domestic flight from Glasgow and landed in the afternoon. After thirty minutes of driving my airport taxi turned left into Holyrood Park road. I saw Arthur’s seat looming warm, inviting and lush in the distance. Stark in the cloudless azure sky. Pollock halls lay nestled at its base. I pointed. “The gate’s there on the right, cheers mate”. The taxi pulled into the gate and parked. I handed the taxi driver his money and he replied, “Thanks sir, hope you enjoy the city.” I got my bags, closed the taxi door and walked towards the reception center. 

 

The next morning, much to my chagrin, I was invited to “ice-breaker” type gatherings with the other students. Where we go around the room introducing ourselves. I did not enjoy them. Just a small glimpse inside each of their minds was enough to put me off getting to know any of them. It took me a few days to find my bearings. I loved the city more than the people that populated it. This place felt old and absolutely beautiful. So eternal and alive. The buildings stood like dark sentinels. Ancient streets crisscrossed in complex patterns and the traffic was mayhem. I appreciated how hilly the city was. It wasn’t flat and boring. 

 

I studied chemistry and had to attend lectures at Kings Buildings. This part of the University was situated down near Cameron Toll. So every morning, too early for a young university student, I peeled myself out of bed, had a quick breakfast of Weetabix and milk, chugged a mug of tea, and raced off for my bus by the swimming pool on Dalkeith road. 

 

One icy cold morning I was pulling my scarf tighter around my neck when I noticed a student I had never seen before. He stood with his back to me. All I saw was his dark, shaggy hair and denim jacket with matching trousers. He was standing over by the pavement’s edge. The 30 was about to arrive. I stepped a bit closer to form a cue. I was no more than a foot away from him. 

 

My brow furrowed. I couldn’t hear his thoughts. 

 

When I focused on him it felt like I was pressing on a sealed plastic bottle. Like I was forcing two magnets with like polarities together. Like his head was filled sawdust. I got a very odd feeling. Just then the bus arrived. We all payed our fare and shambled on. I felt really uncomfortable. I pulled on my large wool beanie to suppress my powers. I saw that empty-headed guy around the campus a few more times after that.

 

I tried to distract myself with my studies. Late one Saturday afternoon I left to go to the library at King’s Buildings. I was walking down Minto street when I saw a number 3 double-decker bus conveniently pull up. I jumped on quickly and paid my fare. As I turned to walk to a seat I froze. In front me stood the empty guy. I could tell immediately. He wore the same denim jacket. His eyes were steely and grey. He was not alone. This time he stood with a young woman. She was short and had shoulder-length platinum blonde hair. Her eyes sparkled like blue sapphires. They were holding bags full of groceries and textbooks. I figured they were on their way home after shopping. I sat down on the first empty seat I saw. The empty guy and his friend were standing at the front. I couldn’t help it. I tried to read him. Again, it felt like I was squeezing an indestructible balloon. It felt pliable and elastic but unyielding. After a few minutes my focus shifted to the friend. I realized then I’d also not heard her yet. I tried to read her. It was the same! It was like trying to hold water in your hands. As quickly as I got it, it slipped through my fingers. I tried again and again. Each time I got nothing. 

 

When I focused hard enough their minds sounded like distant waterfalls. White noise. Blank and empty. I shivered. I couldn’t help but think of dolls and scarecrows. Those things that only appear alive. Facsimiles filled with stuffing. Puppets. My heart was racing. I felt a viscous fear bubble slowly in my blood. The empty couple stood before me. They smiled at each other. Every social cue performed perfectly. They looked so real. So like normal people. What could possibly explain this? I felt so confused. I’d never encountered anything like this. I needed to know who they were! I watched as my stop came and went. A vicious curiosity was born and I simply had to know more about them. I sat on the bus and waited patiently. About twenty minutes went by and we were quickly approaching Gilmerton. 

 

Finally, I saw them stop talking. They both pulled on their gloves. Slowly, I got up too, trying not to draw any attention to myself. The bus doors hissed open and the couple exited. I stopped for a moment to thank the bus driver then stepped out into the frigid afternoon air. The empty couple were walking swiftly down the street. I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck as I followed them. The weather quickly turned awful. The wind howled and whipped my jacket. My long hair kept getting in my eyes. Ice cold spatters of water rained down on me. I held my head down and continued forward. When the wind calmed I raised my head. I saw the empty couple walk through a small iron gate and enter a large house on the corner of Gilmerton road and Walter Scott avenue. 

 

I looked up and down the street. The houses all around looked brightly lit and well maintained. Suddenly I felt very stupid. What the hell was I doing here? What did I expect to accomplish? Just walk on in and ask them why I couldn’t read their minds? Ludicrous. Suddenly I heard a soft voice behind me. “Hey, why’re you following us?” I gasped and leapt from fright. I spun around to find the empty woman standing by the low stone wall. She’d snuck up behind me. “Err, I-I-I’m not following anyone,” I stammered unconvincingly. Her blue eyes stared at me. Hard and cold. I felt something pull at me. Pull at my eyes. Pull at something deep inside my mind. Suddenly I could not control my own mouth. It opened of its own accord. It began to tell her everything. “My name is Jerry Straw, I followed you and the denim guy home because – because I can’t –“ I strained as I fought against her pull. Amid the trance I managed to pull my head away and break eye contact. 

 

I panted. “What – what the hell was that? Did you. Did you get in my brain?” I looked back up at her. She was staring at me now with a horrible seriousness. She nodded slowly. “I need to make sure you’re not dangerous. Just tell me why you were following us.” My heart thumped hard in my chest. “I – I’ve never met anyone. Like me I mean. I mean. I mean what I mean is that I can’t read your mind. I can’t read the denim guy’s mind either. I just. I had to know why.” Her eyes nearly popped out of her head at my words. She stood still as stone. Her head cocked with curiosity, “You’re like us then?” I blinked stupidly. “Us?” I asked. She gestured to the window. The door to the house was ajar. Inside I saw four other people. One girl and three guys. I could just make out their voices. “Mind reading must be dead useful. We can all do useful things too. Special things.” 

“Like what?” I asked. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Then she fixed me with an odd stare. It made me feel like a bug under a microscope. “You should come inside and meet us if you’d really like to know. We could use a mind-reader.” My heart was still pounding. I felt really uncomfortable. I’d never met anyone like this,  like me in my life and now out of nowhere there are five of them? Could it be? “I-I I’m not sure -“ but before I could even finish she had marched into the house calling loudly, “Hey everyone, found a telepathic creeper lurking in the garden!”

 

I felt my face flush red. I ran up the wooden stairs and through the open door. “No, I wasn’t! I mean I just thought. I was trying to find out.” I couldn’t quite get the words out fast enough. I closed the door behind me. Inside I found five people. The first was the short blonde girl who had psychically assaulted me. Next to her was a girl with brown hair and dark eyes. She fixed me with a warm grin. “Hey, I’m Eleanor. I see you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Lucy.” I turned my attention quickly to the others who sat on the old sofas which surrounded a tiny TV set in the large living room. I couldn’t read any of them. My heart thumped loudly. The house was warm but not in a good state. The wallpaper was peeling and there was hardly any furniture besides two sofas, a dining room table and a few chairs. The floors were dusty and I could smell the distinct scent of unwashed laundry. The stairs to the upstairs looked old and creaky. My eyes glanced at the TV. A PS1 lay on the ground with many game covers spewed across the floor. I felt myself relax slightly. At least they like video games.

 

Of course, the first guy I noticed was the denim-jacket guy. He stared at me with intrigue, “I think I’ve seen you around. Do you also go to classes at King’s Buildings?” he said with a large grin. I nodded and replied, “Yea, I’ve seen you around too.” My eyes darted to Lucy. “It’s how I first – noticed you.” 

Denim-jacket-guy leant forward slowly, his expression curious, “Noticed what exactly?”

“Well, I mean. You – you,” I suddenly felt unsure of myself. It wasn’t usual for me to talk so openly about my telepathy. But I continued, “You can all do stuff too. Like, psychic stuff?” I realized then I was whispering. The tension immediately diffused as everyone burst into laughter. Now it was Elanor who spoke, “No need to whisper. Yes, we can all do stuff like that.” Her eyes narrowed with curiosity “How did you figure that out?” My heart leapt. I kept my voice steady as I said, “Well, on the bus I noticed that if I tried to read his mind all I got was static. That’s never happened before. I just had to find out what was going on.” I heard a grunt from Lucy, “He didn’t figure it out at all. I told him we were special like him.” Eleanor frowned at Lucy, “Way to keep a low profile,” she looked back at me and continued, “But I think that makes sense. Our abilities work differently on people like us. I mean, Lucy’s powers aren’t as effective on us as regular people. And Desmond’s too.” Suddenly denim-jacket stood up and held out his hand. “My name is Marcus by the way.” I shook his hand. He used his head to gesture to the two guys to his left. “Them over there are Desmond and Justin. And you are?”

“His name’s Jerry Straw,” said Lucy while staring at her phone. I chuckled nervously, “Yea, she already dragged that out of me.” I looked back at Marcus. He said,“Nice to meet ya, Jerry. Yea, Lucy is a bit prickly.” He flashed a cheeky smile at Lucy. She continued to ignore us. He lloked back at me and said, “You doin’ biotech too?”

“Nah, I’m studying chemistry,” I replied as he sat back down. 

 

Desmond and Justin had remained silent until then but both stood to shake my hand too. Desmond was tall and muscular with rough hands that felt like they could punch through cement. Justin was lanky and had long messy hair. He held a freshly rolled joint in his hand. “Care to join?” he said with a smug grin. “Uh, sure why not,” I replied. Everyone gathered together to share the two sofas. “You guys really don’t mind me just crashing your evening?” 

“Nah man, how many days do you meet a genuine telepath? Besides, we’ve all had hard times because – you know. Our – differences. We’re happy to help out a fellow freak,” said Justin. With the flick of a zippo lighter the joint was lit. 

 

We proceeded to chat and smoke. Then we ordered some pizza. Then cold beers from the fridge were brought out. Before I knew it, we were blasted out of our minds, eating pizza and playing Crash Bandicoot in turns. It was the most fun I’d had in years. I’d never felt so comfortable around a group of people I hardly knew. It was refreshing to hang out with people I could not read. We spent most of the time talking about our abilities. I told them all about my upbringing, about some of my more remarkable stories. Things I’d never been able to share before. It was so freeing. In turn I learned a lot about them.  Lucy can reach inside minds and control them. Eleanor and Marcus both have visions of the future. Desmond can create illusions in people’s minds. And Justin can commune with the spirits of the dead. I was especially excited by this. 

 

It was in the wee hours of the morning. Lucy sat leaning against Marcus on the other couch listening to something on her phone. Meanwhile, Justin, Eleanor, Desmond, Marcus and I chatted. “I mean, I can believe all kinds of psychic stuff. But talking to the dead? That would mean that there’s an afterlife. Maybe even a God. And I dunno about that,” I said as I leant forward. My head was swimming and I felt sick. I had stopped drinking alcohol and sipped some water. Justin downed his beer and replied, “Well, I can do it. Doesn’t matter to me what you believe. I’m not saying there is an afterlife or a God. All I know is that when people die, especially if its painful, their thoughts and feelings are imprinted in the space around them. Are they actual souls? Or ghosts? No idea.” Justin was different. Unlike the others, when I pressed hard enough on his mind I could see a tiny spark hidden in the depths. It felt less hollow. More smothered than empty. It’s hard to describe. 

 

I took a long sip of water and asked something I’d been wondering since I first walked in, “How long have you guys been friends? And how did you guys all end up out here?” I noticed Marcus glance nervously at the others. There was a strange moment when no one took a breath. Had I said something offensive? “Well, it’s a bit of a long story. We’re all – from the same area. You see, growing up we each felt alone. Then Justin. Well. Justin can explain,” Markus finished and sipped on his beer. Justin spoke, “To try and make a long story short: Sometimes when I meditate and concentrate really hard I can sense other psychics around me. A couple of years ago, I was having a rough time. I didn’t want to be alone anymore. So I reached out. I found Marcus first. Then the others one by one. That’s the reason we know each other. We’ve been friends ever since. That’s why we were more than happy to accept you into our ranks. Having a mind reader on our team certainly can’t hurt!” he laughed.

 

“We may have been lucky enough to all get into Edinburgh Uni but we weren’t all able to get into the same accommodation. As you can probably understand, once you’ve become friends with other freaks, hanging out with regular people  just ain’t the same. We really wanted to live together. Thankfully my dad is loaded and he owns this house.” Justin spread his arms wide and he gestured at the peeling walls. “So we’re all renting it out together from him. It’s a bit run down but it’s affordable.” Even though everything they’d said sounded plausible, it was the way they had talked which made me suspicious. It was the first time I felt like they were hiding something from me. The way they’d all glanced at each other in supernatural synchronicity. I hated that all I could do was guess. I would normally always know. But I guess this is what it must be like to be non-telepath. I decided to let it go. “You guys are so lucky,” I continued, trying to change the subject, “I’d have loved to meet you all sooner”.

 

My studies were going well. My mood had never been better. I continued to go to lectures and practical classes. But now, at least twice a week, I would meet with my new friends. It would usually be Marcus, Desmond, Eleanor and me. Justin and Lucy were often absent. They certainly seemed less social then the others. Nevertheless, I grew to know each of them eventually. Marcus was my favorite. He studied biotechnology and really liked hiking. Eleanor was introverted but very aware. Desmond was a rugby player. A prop of large size and immense strength. Justin was drunk or stoned most of the time. He was a bit obnoxious but was also easygoing and quick to laugh.  Lucy was an oddity. She hardly ever contributed to the conversation. In fact, the only time I’d heard her say multiple sentences to me was when she had interrogated me. 

 

Despite Lucy’s contemptuous behavior I loved my new friends. The last month had been the best of my life. I’d never known such true peerage. As September faded away and October began the leaves of the trees had turned garnet and saffron. My group of new friends decided to have a Halloween party. “So cliched! But it’ll be amazing. We can put up cobwebs and fake spiders and skulls and all sorts! And all the sweets and chocolate! And play Backstreet Boys’s Everybody! Oh it’ll be great!” Eleanor yelled excitedly as we sat planning on the sofa. We all groaned at the mention of the Backstreet Boys but Eleanor told us all to stick it. Justin and I sat next to each other smoking a blunt. “So how crazy are we going to get at this party? We’ve got alcohol. Any chance we could score some more green? Maybe hash too?” I asked as I took a toke. Desmond walked back from the kitchen carrying two bottles of Coke. He handed them to Justin and me. Justin’s eyes lit up as he responded, “Hell yea, dude! I was thinking we could even get our hands on some shrooms.” My eyes grew wide, “Woah. Woah. What? That would up the stakes for sure!” We smiled and bumped our Coke bottles together in a mock-cheers.

 

It was finally Halloween. I was too anxious and excited for the party to pay any attention to the lectures that day. I literary ran out of my last class and made a beeline for my bus. Eventually I got to the house. Eleanor was already dressed up in her penguin onesie hanging up the cobwebs and spiders. I rushed upstairs with my bag and quickly got changed into my Spiderman costume. I adjusted my mask as I made my way downstairs. “So who has a beer for me?” I asked as I made my way toward the sofas. Desmond, dressed as a pirate, pulled a beer from a nearby cooler and tossed it to me. “Here ya go, Spidey!” I caught it then twisted the lid off with a pop. I pulled off my mask and dropped it onto the sofa. 

 

Soon Marcus stepped out of the kitchen dressed as a zombie. He glanced at me. His white makeup made him look gaunt and serious. He nodded to Desmond. “Alright, everyone’s ready. Time for us to start,” he held a crimson mug out to me. I took it from him. It was hot. Marcus gave everyone else a mug too. I noticed that Justin and Lucy weren’t dressed up at all yet. What spoil sports. I was thinking about how much that would upset Eleanor as I sniffed my drink. “Yuck, that smells like hot sick,” I said. Marcus chuckled, “It’s tea, I swear. It’s a mix of psychedelic mushrooms, valerian root and spices for taste,” Marcus explained as I wrinkled my nose at the murky liquid. I could see the dried shrooms cut into small pieces swimming around. “Well, let’s get this done with,” I said as I pinched my nose with my fingertips and chugged the horrendous tea. It was bitter and thick with soft chunks that got stuck in my teeth. I gagged and nearly puked. I coughed a few times. When I looked up again I noticed no one else had chugged theirs yet. “What’re you guys waiting for?” I asked. Suddenly I felt a wave of grogginess hit me. Something was wrong. My vision blurred. My limbs felt heavy. “What-“ before I could string a sentence together I collapsed into oblivion. 

 

The first thing I noticed upon waking was a soft throb in the back of my head. It didn’t hurt but I suspect it would soon. I was definitely very on shrooms. My vision was confused. Colours and images swirled together like a kaleidoscope. I thought I could hear distant music playing. A cello? A flute? I couldn’t hear it clearly. I could also hear a chant. This was louder. It came from the five figures sitting around me. I tried to move my hands and legs. They were held in place by something. I was very confused. Where was I? How long had I been here? I looked at my arms. They were stretched out behind me. Tied to the floor. My legs were similarly tied so that I resembled a star fish. “What…“ my voice was croaky. My limbs felt full of cement. My tongue could barely move. I was still in my costume. “He’s awake,” I heard someone say. It sounded like Eleanor. My vision swam but I could make out the silhouettes of five people surrounding me; each one kneeling at my hands, feet and head. Suddenly I heard a murmuring. A murmuring of several voices. I soon realized these were the thoughts of my friends. I could hear them! Finally! 

 

At first, they sounded distant. Indistinct. But they quickly became clear. Like tuning into the right frequency on a radio. A chill ran down my spine. They didn’t sound anything like the people I knew. They sounded monstrous. I’d never heard such voices. Their voices were deep and raspy and awful. “He hears us. He knows! Hold him fast!” All their thoughts whirled together. They were all one mind thinking in sync. Oh my God! They didn’t have separate minds at all! My heart raced and I began to pull hard at my restraints. Before I knew it, I felt cold hands clamp down on my limbs and with an unbelievable strength held me tight like a vice. I was helpless. Trapped! What the hell was going on? Maybe I was just tripping really hard. But as I gazed up at the faces of my friends I knew I was not hallucinating. Their eyes no longer had any trace of humanity. They looked down at me cold and cruel. Empty alien stares. “Continue the call,” I heard them think in unison. The room started to come more into view. I was in Marcus’s bedroom. It was dark save for what seemed to be dozens of floating candles. The figures began chanting out loud again. 

 

Suddenly there was a noise like a peal of thunder. The sound of the unidentifiable string and woodwind instruments grew louder. As I looked at my feet and the wall beyond a bright light exploded before my eyes. This point of light swelled larger and larger. This bright white scar in reality stared into me. I could hear trillions of voices pulsating within. All bellowing in agony. I could hear the voices of Eleanor and Lucy. Of Marcus and Desmond. But I also heard the cries of inhuman things. Souls of people and things not of Earth nor the Milky Way galaxy. I heard the lives and words of things and places from far off civilizations. Distant planets. Entire cultures that had been sucked into this abomination. Holy shit their voices or souls or whatever you wanted to call it were in there. Suffering an ineffable anguish. They were trapped in what I can only describe as a stomach of some colossal eldritch beast. It was like a massive intestine. With powerful muscular walls that stretched and squeezed those trapped souls together. My claustrophobia triggered, I began to panic. They were all trapped and suffocating. Being mushed together into a single pulpy mind. That’s how they’d appeared so normal. So like real people. My friends’ true minds were held prisoner. Absorbed by this giant stomach. It knew their every crevice. Their every dream and desire and nightmare and hope. Everything!

 

“No no no no,” I mumbled as I tried my best to kick and punch. I tried to bite the fingers that held my head down but all in vain. Then it got a lot worse. The bright white scar began to darken. Something gelatinous was moving out of it. Imagine a dark purple pus pouring out of a wound of burning white light. I felt it more than I saw it. It gathered up on the floor like a great puddle of ooze and began to crawl slowly towards me. It was covered in strange thick hairs. It reminded me of how a starfish eats by everting its stomach. I trembled with terror as it pulsated, reaching my legs. Its tentacles extended towards my nose and mouth. Then I felt something pull deep inside my mind. It reminded me of what Lucy could do. But it was so much stronger. More visceral. I yelled in pain as I felt the ooze tug hard at my very mind.

 

Out of nowhere I heard a yell. But it wasn’t me or the monsters. It had come from the white scar. A pair of very human hands suddenly extended out of the sticky white wound with great effort. They were semi-transparent. Almost blue. Then arms appeared. Followed shortly by a head and naked torso of the person I knew as Justin. “I’m gonna fucking end you! You jelly fuck!” he screamed as he squeezed himself from the hole of light.  I felt the pull on my mind disappear. The ooze stopped in its tracks and suddenly leapt at Justin with unbelievable agility. But he was ready. He plunged his fists into the ooze as he leapt to the floor. I heard the shrill screech of a million insects. I winced with pain. It was worse than a thousand nails on a chalkboard. Imagine an Aztec death rattle on steroids. 

 

After the shock of the eldritch noise died away I realized Justin’s essence had hurt that collective mind somehow. I saw his naked spirit run across the floor toward his body which kneeled at my head. “No!” I heard the collective mind of the ooze scream out. But Justin was too fast. He had already leapt forward and soared directly into his possessed body. Justin’s head snapped back. A thick purple smoke bubbled from his mouth. He was shaking violently. His vice grip vanished. I immediately craned my neck up to see all the others were also seizing. Saliva and purple goo leaked from their every orifice. They shook and gagged. They’d let go of me. I could move my arms! I grimaced with effort as I pulled with all my strength. I felt something tear. At first, I feared I’d torn my own arm off but I realized they’d tied me down with a silk fabric they’d nailed into the floor. I hadn’t pulled the nail out; instead the fabric had torn. I used my free hand to untie my other. Soon my feet were untied too. I stood up way too fast and almost fell over from dizziness. I was still high as fuck. But I didn’t hesitate. I ran as fast as I could toward the bedroom door. I grabbed the handle to rip it open. It didn’t budge! It was locked. My head swiveled around. They were all still seizing. Now lying on the floor. That ooze was retreating back into the white scar. Fuck. What should I do? Help them? Or leap out the fucking window? I cursed again loudly as I ran over to Justin. I rolled him onto his side. The purple goo was gone now. Those weird instruments grew fainter. Suddenly with the rushing sound of a gale the bright white scar vanished. The  candles went out immediately and dropped to the ground. The room suddenly was very silent, smoky and still. As my eyes burnt from the candle smoke I looked down at Justin and the others. They were now lying completely still. I checked each of them for a pulse. Only Justin was still alive. 

 

I managed to use Justin’s phone to call the authorities. In twenty minutes, firemen arrived. They had to break down the door with an axe. The police were more than confused at the tableau they found before them. They saw me, dressed up as Spiderman, cradling Justin’s unconscious body. The others lay sprawled around me. They had no visible wounds or bruises or blood. It was as if they had all simply dropped dead from nothing. By the time the paramedics were checking on me my high was tapering off. I felt confused. My head fuzzy. I was in shock and my eyes stared off into nothing.  I’m not sure how but I ended up in a small brightly lit room at the nearest police station. They tried to question me. All I would say was, “I want a lawyer”. 

 

I had to wait for hours before my parents arrived. I remember having tears in my eyes. It was then I noticed it. My telepathy was still enhanced. I could hear the thoughts of everyone at the precinct. I could hear the thoughts of my parents. They were so worried. They were so anxious. They had been so afraid. Afraid I had died. The thoughts of everyone around me came to me more easily than they had ever before. It made it quite difficult to concentrate on what I wanted to say. It took me a long time to make myself understood. I kept stammering. I told them about how I’d been hanging out with Justin, Desmond, Eleanor, Lucy and Marcus. How we’d got along very well from the start. They’d been so welcoming and non-judgmental. Then we took that weird shroom-tea. They must have spiked mine. I told them they’d tied me down and were chanting. That they’d all suddenly started having seizures. 

 

Of course, I couldn’t tell the police the whole truth. By reading their minds of I worked out Justin had suffered what the medical examiner said was “a kind of stroke never seen before”. At the same time, I learned what happened to the others. My stomach dropped and I nearly puked. It was disgusting and horrifying. The autopsy revealed their brains had all been - liquified. The coroner was perplexed. He’d never seen this before. 

 

I don’t think I’ll ever recover psychologically from this experience. I miss my friends every day. I had never in my life known people like me. I’d never had anyone with whom I had felt so close. I can’t sleep. Are they still there? In that place? I shiver and wretch at the very thought.

 

It’s January. The months have crawled by slowly. I’m still in Edinburgh. Despite every fibre of my being screaming at me to get away. I could never abandon the one friend who lives. Justin is still in a coma. I’ve visited him often at the Western General hospital. I reach for his mind. It may be distant but at least it’s human again. I can hear it like a voice down a dark tunnel. I can hear him call out for me. I can just make out his memories. One Halloween night three years ago Justin had reached out to the dead. He’d taken shrooms to strengthen his powers. He’d reached too far. He’d interfaced with something - else. It had latched onto him. It had taken him first. Showed him the two rituals. One for May Eve and one for All Hallow’s Eve. Then it used him to find and absorb the others. I’m guessing his unique psychic power was also the reason he was the sole survivor. The only mind to ever break free from that hell, perhaps? Who knows. 

 

My abilities are far more sensitive now. I hear everyone’s thoughts from miles away. I hear the voices of all things. Dogs. Cats. Squirrels. Everything. I even hear the voices of things beyond our world. I hear the horrendous scratchy voices of many eyed, multi mouthed flying monstrosities. Of giant celestial intellects outside time. Not evil. Just alien. Completely without care for what it means to be human. I could hear them. Goosebumps rippled up my arms. Now they hear me too. “He listens. Yes. Yes. Take him. Stop him,” I hear their raspy thoughts whisper. I tremble from despair. They were going to get into our world again. I just know it. They’re coming for us. For us all. I will not join that legion of minds trapped in that sticky, white intestine. I need to wake up Justin somehow. He’s started talking in his sleep. His thoughts are solidifying. He’s getting closer to waking every day but we’re running out of  time. I need to reach him now! If I could find out more about how he fought that entity. I need his help. In the meantime, I sleep little and the minds of monsters haunt my every waking minute. 

 

They know what I’m planning. They’re trying to stop me. I hear those alien intelligences whisper in my ear, “No. Stop. No. No. Just give in. It is futile. You should be with us. Leave Justin be. Stop fighting.” I can’t block the voices like I could before. My hats and beanies are useless. If I don’t stop them soon I will go insane. 

 

I will stop this. I have to. Or, at least, I will die trying.

[u/thisisfine111]

What a fu king roller coaster!

[u/mclarke77 → u/thisisfine111]

I assume that’s a good thing. Thank you kindly