Psycher Chronicles

A Return Stroke

(Clarence Love)

THUNDERCLAP!

A flash of light and an immediate burst of sound erupted in the night sky, illuminating two figures who were running through a storm that seemed to have come from nowhere. Their first attempt to leave the area came when they ran towards their van, only for a second burst of lightning to strike the van, causing it to burst into flames and sparks right on the spot.

The two ended up abandoning the vehicle, despite its doors having been blown open from the blast. A blast that seemed to somehow defy all forms of logic, or at least it would have, had someone not noticed the high-powered batteries and other paraphernalia needed to knock out a raging elephant, or in this case a raging werewolf. For a moment Clarence thought about getting some of the more incriminating items from the van, only for massive sparks to ignite right in front of him.

With so many students on campus, and the van catching fire and all but reaching out and trying to make contact with them as they dared to enter their vehicle, they eventually gave up and decided to leave. In his mind Clarence knew that no doubt firefighters and EMTs had been called and were likely on their way at this very moment.

Unfortunately, Clarence had more important things to worry about as the most recent burst of electricity struck down at the open courtyard, one that landed directly in between them and the massive library, a typical hunting ground for the duo.

BOOM!

A concussive burst of electricity hit just in front of the duo as they tried to go forward towards the library, towards their noted hunting grounds. This time the impact was so close, and enough water had accumulated that they were both blown back with concussive force. The electrical devices in their hands and pockets didn't help as they acted as secondary explosive devices. His phone bursting violently in his jacket pocket.

"What the fuck was that?" Clarence cried out, his clothes half soaked with rain, as he clutched his clearly injured right hand to his chest while he got up to run. The explosion had somehow turned him around, and now he found himself running towards the nearest building.

"I don't know," Jackson, Clarence's friend and longtime accomplice cried out, he too had multiple new injuries over his body. He spoke loudly as if unable to hear. Then again, the fact that there was blood pouring from both of his ears would likely indicate why there was such a problem. White plastic shrapnel could clearly be seen as the source of those trails of blood.

Then as if the sky was calling out for the two to continue to run faster, a blot of lightning began flickering in the sky, and struck down not a dozen feet away.

Rumble.

This time the ground quaked violently, throwing Clarence and Jackson to the ground. Even now the ground was just wet enough to cause clumps of mud to cling to their clothes.

BOOM!

From this distance enough of a shock went through the ground that once again any electronic devices on their bodies would have been fried, had they not already exploded upon the first impact.

The world was dark around them, as the bursts of electricity had knocked out the power. The faint distant whirring to life of auxiliary generators could be heard, but now, it was just Clarence and Jackson out in the middle of a vacant field. All while the steady beat of cold winter rain pelted them, piercing their clothes and stealing heat almost instantly.

While the evening had been relatively warm for an early December night, the sudden addition of chilling rain made it just a touch more painful. Not enough to cause damage, but enough to momentarily cause a minor jolt of electricity to course through him as it searched for a way into the ground below. Then again, but now everything hurt, so it might have just been a figment of his imagination that the lightning was chasing after him.

"How is there lightning in December?" Clarence found himself asking, as he scrambled to his feet for a second time, this time he felt woozy, both from blood loss and from nearly slipping as his feet tried to slide out from his quick movements.

"What?" Jackson yelled, clearly having a hard time hearing due to the damage to his ears from a burst electronic device. Clarence himself was feeling the effects of ringing in his ears from being so close to the consecutive bursts. For a moment Clarence wondered if they had somehow offended Zeus himself, who was now coming down to deal with the duo personally. Of course, such thoughts were quickly dismissed as that could not be the case.

"Come on," Clarence yelled out, and began running. While he wasn't certain if Jackson could hear him, he did seem to catch onto the fact that they needed to get out of the open field were they were the equivalent of two moving lightning rods, and into a building that would act as a lightning rod on their behalf.

Flash.

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Another flash of light happened off in the distance, for a second Clarence felt his aching body resist his movements. Even now he could feel mud and sludge from the ground seeping into his already open wounds. Still, he could worry about infection later, for now it was time to get to the computer lab, at least that's what he thought the computer lab was, it was the one right across from the library and next to the tall tower.

Slam, clatter, clang.

Metallic doors slammed open, as the electronically powered magnetic locks were clearly off, as more lightning had apparently taken out the grid. Once inside the two slammed the door shut behind them, both keeping out the cold rain and giving them something solid to rest against.

"Get away from the metal!" A receptionist cried out.

Gooseflesh.

Clarence could hear the almost invocation of that warning begin to happen immediately, as the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise. Feeling the rising tension, Clarence forced his already aching body to rise to his feet as he pushed his way forward, leaving one mud covered handprint on the door.

"What?" Was all Jackson had a chance to say as his ears were still causing problems for him. He looked left to see Clarence getting up in a hurry, but his brain didn't seem to react quickly enough, for the next second, disaster struck.

KABOOM!

A bolt of lightning arced through the sky, bypassing the large tower nearby, veered left and somehow struck the metal that made up the majority of the reinforced door.

Even with just one hand against the door, it was enough for his body to act as a conduit for the pulsing current of electricity that was a burst of lightning. This eruption erupted with such force that he felt his body both burning and instantly blistering.

"Four," Clarence found himself calling out, trying to count the number of near misses he had suffered from the currents of lightning.

Once is chance,

Twice is a coincidence,

Three times is a pattern,

Four times is fate.

Stumbling forward, Clarence felt his legs and muscles tightening as everything burned with pain. His mind fought and tried desperately to move forward, but his body was wobbly, jelly likely had more definition than he did currently as he fought to try fall forward.

Splash.

He landed against the floor, his face and body hitting the marble flooring with a hard squish. The last thing he remembered was students running forward and grabbing both him and Jackson, before pulling them further inside the building.

His body was shutting down as pain began to cause his mind to sink inward on itself, collapsing from its own overwhelming stimuli being released due to pain. As he closed his eyes, he could see the bursts, the first one coming from his vehicle, the one that started this whole mess. Closing his eyes he both wondered how lightning could strike a vehicle, he thought a vehicle would be safe, but closing his eyes he saw it, the return stroke, the bolt of lightning that goes up from the ground and reaches up to seemingly summon the bolt of lightning from the sky to a fixed point.

As he closed his eyes, he could almost see the return stroke first, rising up like a slithering serpent, blocking his path and causing him to run and alter his escape path. He saw this, and then his mind finally shut off, as he reached the limit of what his mind and body were capable of processing.

***

(Misha Tulley)

Spotting the two creeps was easy, it was only after she felt that they were using a banned and pirated version of the Surreal application that she felt something was amiss. As she quickly noted the two, and tried to come up with a plan for how to catch these two in the act.

Fortunately, nature seemed to be ready to apply an assist, as a rare December storm seemed to appear almost out of nowhere. While the pressure had been building for some time, it looked like nothing would come of the accumulating force, that is, until she felt it. Not much, but enough of an electrical imbalance to be worth her time.

Focusing on the two, she watched as they began to make their way towards a parked car near the unlit streetlamp. One that conveniently failed to illuminate their back license plate, or vehicle model.

A quick scan also showed that the camera that was capable of recording this area of campus was conveniently offline, something her access to the campus network told her. All this meant that should these two succeed in finding a next victim, they would be able to take her out without anyone noticing, right from the heart of campus.

That was when Misha decided to act. By now, the use of lightning and effects of electricity were becoming second nature to her. Even still, the idea of being able to reach out and affect electricity from the stratosphere and call it down as lightning was beyond her at this point. Or at least it should have been, if she didn't cheat.

Rather than focusing her will on the electrical currents within the clouds, Misha instead focused her efforts on something closer. By simply pushing an arc of electricity upwards from the ground, like a vestigial arm waving at heavens, she managed to do the impossible. She managed to attract the attention of the heavens and get it to strike down exactly where her arc of lightning generated.

This was how a vehicle made out of mostly aluminum parts and hosting rubber wheels managed to receive a first and most violent strike, as not just one, but five different jolts of lightning all struck at the same spot within seconds of each other. Each jolt generating sparks that both fried computer components rendering the vehicle inoperable and finally resulting in the vehicle catching fire.

From there it was oddly satisfying watching the two culprits who were caught wildly crying out with woops of joy as they chased down a frightened and changed werewolf through the woods. If the two had paid attention, they would find that much of the path they took was similar to the murder trail they had followed while cutting down many of their victims.

While Misha herself felt fully justified with the idea of striking down both of the monsters right on campus, she felt that a quick death would be too merciful for the duo. Also, their death would mean that much of the information found from their vehicle would likely go unnoticed, or worse covered up by the corrupt police force. Which was why Misha had made such a grand spectacle about everything, Including the doors to the van all but being blown off with violent force. Their eruption was of course aided by Misha's manipulation of mechanical devices.

"Still watching the storm?" Darcy asked, peering over and looking out from the very library that the two had attempted to run to for safety first. A Library that offered a clear view of both the street, and the path taken by the duo as they scampered to safety.

"Yeah, looks like it's about to end," Jasmine replied from her spot right next to Misha.

Hearing that, Misha just shook her head as the police and firefighters rushed to the computer lab and tried to put out the carefully burning vehicle. A vehicle that Misha made sure to only burn enough to draw attention and media coverage.

Even now, Misha could see the media crews recording the scene from the street. With so many cameras rolling, covering up any evidence found would likely be tough.

"I think it has only just begun," Misha said, as she mentally prepared to work the next stage of her plan. This was a test, to see how deep corruption had spread, and just how much cleansing she would need to perform in the coming days.

If Misha was going to be here, she would make sure this place ran as efficiently as possible.

***

(Sgt Carol Knight)

The night was already bad, thunderstorms in December never boded well for anyone. As a sergeant, Carol took it upon herself to be out in the field, even when it was miserable.

Little did she know, that while she was out, she would be guided by the hand of God again.

Crackle.

Her earpiece came to life, in that same odd way it had when she was in the woods. Then in that same angelic voice, she heard the words that would cause chills to run down her spine.

"Look in the burning van, and record everything you see."

Hearing that voice, Carol felt her back tighten. Looking around, she looked to see if anyone else had heard that comment, but of course no one had, as it was a message meant for her.

Knowing what this meant, she steeled herself and began moving forward investigating the wreckage. Given that the doors were all blasted open, she had fair game to look inside. As she got closer, she looked down and yes, she was in fact recording.

With that last check in place, she opened the door, and found what she had been looking for, and unfortunately more.