PARABNORMAL SISTERS

Chapter 9

Chief Richards sits in his kitchen watching a surveillance video on his computer: Karen beside his house having an argument with thin air. Pausing the video, he looks across the street to Karen's house and dials his phone.

"June, hi, it's Hal from across the street." He listens politely. "I'm fine, thanks. Hey uh, I'm worried about Karen. She seems to be...well...I think the recent student suicides...have affected her."

* * *

"What's going on?" Panic already in Karen's voice. A crippling knot in her gut almost doubles her over. She heard someone at the door and her parents talking, but she was not prepared to find the state psychiatrist with her mom and dad huddled around a laptop.

June and Steven are mortified as the case-worker shrink replays the surveillance video for Karen.

Angry, frightened and offended, Karen growls, "You've been following me?"

"Everyone's worried about you, honey," replies mom.

"It's only for a few days," injects the shrink coldly.

Two attendants in white smocks emerge from the kitchen, Karen freaks and jumps to her feet.

"Please sweetie, don't fight," begs her mother.

"Oh no," Karen shrieks. "No!"

An attendant block's her way. They wrestle trying to restrain her.

"NO! NO!" She wriggles and kicks.

"Hold her." The psychiatrist is quick with the needle -- the sedative hits Karen hard. She melts. He holds up the empty syringe. "A straitjacket doesn't work with her." He shrugs. "She keeps getting out of them."

Amy has a fit and sends a family portrait flying off the end table. Everyone is too preoccupied with Karen to notice. They quickly load Karen into a waiting van, and the shrink and his attendants drive off with her. Mom and dad embrace in tears as they watch the white van take their daughter away.

"I have to find Chuck." Amy takes two steps, turns into an orb and zips down the street. She flies through Chuck's house passing Becky doing her homework in front of the TV. Amy pauses outside his room. "Chuck?" She peeks in and finds Chuck at his desk. "Chuck."

Her tiny voice comes from the earbuds on his desk. Startled, he jumps out of his chair. "Amy?" He picks up an earbud and pushes it into his ear. "What's up?"

"It's Karen. She's been taken to the mental ward at the hospital."

"The mental ward! Why? For how long? Can we go see her? Chuck shoves his ghost box in his pocket and grabs his jacket.

Amy shakes her head forgetting that Chuck can't see her. "They have her so drugged up she'll be asleep for hours."

Chuck stops in the doorway. "This is so wrong."

"I don't know what to do."

"I do," replies Chuck. "I'm going to go talk to that cop."

"No. Don't! I'm telling you. Chief Richards hates my sister. I think he's the one who had her locked up."

"Karen's in there for something that's not wrong with her and there's a murderer on the loose. He needs to hear the truth."

"No. He won't listen. No one ever listens," Amy hisses. "I have to go. I need to check on my parents. My mom was pretty upset. Can you get your mom's car?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Meet me in front of my house in the morning. We'll head over to the hospital."

"Okay."