Chronicles of the Unknowns: Control

Chapter 22

Jake POV

I felt a shockwave of Giovanna's power travel through me. Almost everyone else was brought to their knees, but my strength allowed me to continue standing. Giovanna raised one of her hands and her aura began to swirl, quickly taking a physical shape. Within seconds she had created several long spears, out of thin air.

She had absolutely zero hesitation when she launched them directly at us. When a spear came at me, I caught it with my bare hands. It was enshrouded with her aura, so it tingled when it made contact, but it otherwise did not real damage. Using my fingers, I snapped the spear in half like a pencil. Unfortunately, many others were not so lucky. Several people were on the ground - silent and still.

There was barely any time to register the carnage before she attacked again. This time, an assault on the mind and senses. Her aura permeated the air around us and with it a high pitched screech that pierced through any and every thought I had. It drove me to my knees, hands covering my ears. Part of my mind knew it wasn't real - it was just a hallucination - but what did that matter if it felt like it was real?

I found myself crawling to get away from her. With each movement, my fingers dug into the ground leaving divets in the concrete. There was a purple haze in my vision, but there wasn't much I could do about it, but make a mental note. As I put my distance between us, the sound diminished enough that I could take in my surroundings again. I was closer to Jason now that I had been before. That probably wasn't a coincidence - his telepathy could very well be reducing the effects of the illusion.

Daisy Lynn was next to him. I noticed Jason wasn't moving. He was seated on the ground, cross legged with his eyes closed. It was clear he was channeling all of his focus into his telepathy. Daisy Lynn stood on her feet, using her hydrokinesis to block any attack Giovanna threw at them.

More spears created by magic catapulted through the air, aimed directly at them. Without raising a finger, Daisy Lynn dropped the temperature, frost forming around them. The spears froze in mid-air rendered harmless. Before she could take a breath of relief, there was another onslaught. This time a mixture of spears and magical energy itself.

Daisy Lynn ripped the moisture right out of the air and created a wall of ice around them. Hundreds of spears rained down, slamming into the ice with loud cracks and booms on each impact. There was nothing she could do about the aura enshrouding them, but it was clear that Jason was the defense for that.

While I couldn't see his perspective, I imagined he was their eyes and ears. Daisy Lynn could see through the magic thanks to his telepathy. I knew being closer to Jason meant I would be protected as well, but it was clear that Giovanna was targeting them more so than the rest of us. I wanted to crawl closer, but found myself moving toward Giovanna.

The image of my brother, which had become blurry before, intensified. Ricky crouched down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"You don't have to die in this fight," he said.

His words pulled me into a lull.

"You'll be safe with me. You don't have to agree with everything Giovanna does, but we're family. We're better off together than apart. We can figure out the rest later."

Was this really a fight worth dying for? Did I really want to be on this side, knowing that it meant having to one day fight my brother? Or worse yet - kill him? It didn't seem like it.

In the corner of my eye, I saw one of Giovanna's attacks catch Daisy Lynn off guard. Jason quickly intervened, his telekinesis bringing the physical manifestation of Giovanna's magic to a grinding halt. Unfortunately, because his diverted attention meant that his telepathy was not as protective. The purple haze that had only been in the corners of my vision now coated everything. Ricky was no longer a vivid image, but a tangible person.