Chapter 6

Pain was everywhere when I woke up. Somebody was holding me and causing more pain. I tried to curl up to at least avoid some of it but it didn't work.

"Piper, snap out of it. We need you. Forget the pain. It's in your own mind." More pain came to my face as my head was violently moved to one side. Three more surges made my head ring even more and I tried to crawl away from it.

A sudden shock came to my face but it was cold water. It went up my nose and in my mouth. I began to sputter and moved again to get away. Another slap came and my anger came through. Whey won't they let me die?

Suddenly an image was pushed into my mind. I saw Fournier taking over our property in Toronto and killing the babies and raping the youngest members of our group. I had to stop him. He ripped Jessica's small head off and was only a step away from Stan.

I shot up from the floor to kill but Fournier was not there and neither was my pain. "What happened?"

Everybody was here and alive. I felt so thankful. Herb said, "Fournier attacked us much harder than we expected. All of us went down. My natural block went up but this time it was much stronger. I felt pain like never before but my block seemed to shed it as if it were water and I had a wetsuit. Fournier was compelling us to die until I put a bullet into him then three more."

I wanted Fournier dead. He was just too strong of an enemy to leave behind. "Brandon, Tatum! Go look for Fournier. Herb, Ellen, fly the girls out."

They just looked at me for a moment then they started to move. I found that I would have difficulty flying myself out of the house never mind carrying a passenger.

Kim went for the two survivors. We were all in their minds as they came. One of the many reasons I was angry at Fournier, was for what he had done to the girls and to a lesser extent his own guards.

The younger one simply did not have a personality. It was gone. She followed orders but would not go to the bathroom unless told to do so. This made me physically sick at what had happened.

Margot Dumont was slightly better. She was older and had a stronger ego. She was also beaten and drugged less, simply because Fournier was supposed to be training her.

Herb, Ellen and Kim had to fly Dumont out. I used my mind to try to find Fournier but he was gone. There was a good chance that he was dead and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I staggered through the house until I came to the small safe. I knew the combination from Fournier's memories. It had amphetamines and some other drugs. It also had some papers relating to Fournier. I took these and thought of scattering the drugs over the floor until I remembered they could be snorted to get high.

Fournier had sat in a drugged stupor in a nearby room while reading the minds of people Louis Tessier wanted the truth about. Tessier wore a device so he could hear Fournier's reports. There was too much to handle at one time so audio recordings were also made. The cassettes were stored here.

The police were a distance off but security for the community was not. I shot at them so they kept their distance as I drew attention to all the hiding spots Fournier had in the house.

I found the girl sitting as if a living doll in a corner, the exact way she had been placed when they came up the steps. Fournier liked them pretty and this one was.

The dungeon in the basement was more theatrical than anything but it was used on the girls. Also in the basement was a hidden hatch that led to the storm sewer. Tessier had put this in so he could escape if necessary. Kim and I opened the hatch so it would look like a plausible way for us to escape.

I finally found what I was after and took the photos and movies of the slaves. I didn't want a picture left of Dumont. There may be many of them but I had to try to keep her a secret from the police at least.

The group came back and both Herb and Ellen took the girl out. I found Fournier's laptop and then the desk computer. The hard drive came out of this. Kim helped me gather everything and we fired more bullets until the police arrived. Their front tires were shot and then we left. I was glad Kim was with me because it was difficult to make the trip even with the small burden we had.

Laverne Gagne was the name of the thirteen-year-old girl we rescued. She and Margot Dumont were hustled into our rooms at the hotel. Their minds were interrogated while they stared at us uncomprehendingly. Laverne had been simply kidnapped and told she was a happy slave of Fournier. She believed it implicitly after it had been pounded into her brain.

We started our own form of reprogramming. Both of them were used to doing everything told of her which helped somewhat at the start. We did another form of help by destroying the growth in her womb. She did not even think she was pregnant because she was not told to use her mind on a subject like this.

Laverne and Margot had been given amphetamines as had the other slaves. Fournier did not know about the Abicore but knew that the amphetamines gave him his mental powers. All the girls got the drugs to see if their powers emerged. Margot's did but she was kept tightly under control.

The pack at one time took Abicore and an amphetamine substitute to keep their powers. The last version of Abicore was heavily modified by the accidental addition of ether. This version actually was reproduced by our own bodies. Fournier had one of the earliest versions in him. As hard as it was to believe, I had to think that this version of Abicore was produced in his own body. His own heavy ingestion of amphetamines simply carried the small amount produced through the barrier and into his brain.

The heavy use of amphetamines on the slaves, further suppressed their egos to where they were gone or nearly so. This drug use also caused problems with the developing fetus in each girl. They were deformed and it was much better for both girls, if the fetuses were aborted as soon as possible.

The television news came on showing the dead in Fournier's home. All the information lead back to the occupant and not the real owner.

Jack called many times but I did not answer until the next day.

He brusquely said, "We need a meeting."

"The phone will have to do for a while, Jack. We are still busy."

"What did you do at that house?"

There was no sense denying this. What we did was very illegal and Jack's job was to make sure people followed the law. I said, "This was Fournier's home. He was armed with a weapon the police could not deal with. You saw what it did to the police that chased him and to the people in the house. Our own team was overcome and would have died there too if it were not for one of our group."

"What was that weapon? Why did many people in the neighbourhood experience extreme pain?"

"Those are highly restricted topics. You are far down the line and I am telling you only because you need an explanation if you are going to work with us."

"Partners talk things out and meet."

"We are not quite partners, Jack. We dig and find the secrets and you are the person that coordinates the gathering of evidence and the apprehension of the criminals. My group has to remain anonymous at all times."

"What about Laverne Gagne and the other female?"

It was logical that fingerprints had been found in the house. Laverne had been kidnapped so those prints would be picked up at the girl's home. "Both girls were forced to take drugs. Fournier saw nothing wrong with this. He had an almost inexhaustible supply provided by Tessier. They are both heavy addicts at the moment."

"I want them back so they can be treated."

"Normally I would agree with you but we have two serious problems. Fournier wanted slaves not humans. Part of it was being a male with a high testosterone level but most was his defective personality. Think of the greatest atrocities done to people and you will get a small understanding of what the girls went through. Laverne simply has no personality. It is either destroyed or in hiding. Our own people have access to techniques and drugs that the world has not seen. They are a very deep secret. If you get her now, you will get a robot until the girl dies. You simply do not have the facilities to handle this. We have a much better chance."

"Her parents want her back. What you are doing is illegal and immoral."

"We do not always get what we want. Tell me Jack, is it more immoral to let Laverne rot in an institution all her life or give her a chance to regain a semblance of her old personality?"

"That is not the question, Laverne belongs with her parents."

I wanted Jack on my side so we could make the world a better place. I figured he would understand if he knew how the girl really was. "You do not understand the severity of her problem yet. I do not want a meeting but we can have a video conference."

"That's not good enough."

"It is going to have to be. Since you are not a psychiatrist, find one and clue him in as to what happened. Pick one that will keep his mouth closed about us. He can have some time to assess the girl. You cannot do your duty and seize her so your conscience will be clear. You will learn that what I said was true."

Jack was not a happy camper. He threatened and quoted laws. I showed him a rational approach that a judge may have thought about but would never rule on. In the end I broke the connection.

That afternoon the real ownership of the Fournier house was traced back to Tessier with our help. Two dead girls that were presumed kidnapped would dog Tessier's chance for freedom. He decided to stay hid for a while yet.

We went after Tessier directly because we knew where he would be. Fournier was still alive but dying of his wounds. When we found Tessier, he was busy putting contracts out on people that knew about Fournier and his powers. The esper himself was just too valuable to kill no matter how unstable the man was.

When we got enough info, I phoned Lostraco.

"Who's this?"

"You don't need to know but I know where Louis Tessier is right now."

"Why do you think I want to know?"

"Cut the bullshit." I told him where Tessier was and even gave the number of armed men in the house.

"Why did you tell me this?"

"I hate Tessier for what he has done or allowed to happen. I'd like you to kill him and need a way. You probably figure it's a trap. All I can do is suggest you get somebody to hire some men and have them take out Tessier. All you risk is some money."

Lostraco was hurting bad but he did send somebody out to find Tessier. Seven days later, the car Tessier used blew up with the man in it.

Jack was bothering me for more information but I gave him little. Later, I didn't even tell him that Lostraco did the killing. He already knew it and I would feel bad in this situation to confirm what had happened. Some of it might be my own guilt over Tessier's death but that did not bother me very much.

The video conferencing was set up with Nicolas providing additional security. We used skype for this so the call could be routed through the skype servers we wanted to use.

I stayed out of the view of the camera but my voice went through. I talked to the psychiatrist as an equal and much of the conversation would bypass Jack. Laverne answered every question she could but many memories were buried deep in her mind.

The doctor came to his conclusions quickly and spent more of his time talking to me. He wanted to help Laverne directly. I had to explain how this could only happen through the computer or through a clandestine meeting so the doctor could not see us or be followed. In any case, it would take time for this to happen and we did not want to stay in a hotel all this time.

The pack followed leads to other criminals and the reports were sent to Jack and now Marcel. We were going to stay long enough to recover seventeen million dollars in Tessier's account. There was lots more property but these accounts were hid from everybody but Tessier.

The students, teachers and pack went house shopping until we found something that came close to being suitable. It was not as big as our home in Toronto but we would make do. There was a lot of remodelling to be done but it would have to wait until we left. This would be the home of the team that would stay here. They would go to the university, protect the city, find recruits and run part of our schools.

The rest of Tessier's empire was disassembled as quick as we could do it. The precedes this time went to the government. Some was done legitimately where the lawyers ate a large portion and some came to us to go into an account that would be seemingly used to pay us.

Tessier's partners and contacts were hit too. Marcel was happy that Jack had come and even accepted help from this group. The RCMP was getting a lot of bad publicity when some of their dirty laundry was hung out. They put a lot of effort out now to make sure they looked very good.

Lostraco and his people were hit too. We concentrated on the small fry as well because these would be the people that would move up and take over when the bosses were removed.

Jack was the one in a bind because he had to mention us as a source of information to his superiors. If he didn't then Marcel would.

Nicolas had added to our computer profiles. Some information was buried very deep and some was heavily encrypted. Flags were set up so we knew just at what stage the people looking for us were at. The computer and the route it used to access the information was also stored. So far they had only found the outer edge with the mostly public information.

The majority of the students left to return to Toronto. They had their vacation. Some of those boys and girls would have to temporarily move to Montreal in rotation to learn more. Cathy Keep wanted another 'restaurant' but we were not ready for it yet.

Kim said verbally, "Piper, Fournier made some great illusions. All we do is tell people to not see us. Let's try to imitate public figures?"

Since her block was up, I knew something was brewing. "What did you come up with, sister of mine?"

Kim's form shimmered and I could see the outline of Herb. He was naked and sporting a larger than life erection. I was surprised that she was able to send this image, it was because we could not push out our compulsions to others of the pack. We could not be invisible to them. Somehow Kim had found the power to overcome this.

"Kim! That's great. How did you do it?"

"It was that husband of ours. He sorted through your report of what was in Fournier's mind and tried it. Laverne and Margot are frightened of men and of women that looked like that dominatrix. He tried to come across as a girl like Joy. Joy, William, Bobby and Missy had to be near to reinforce his illusion but he pulled it off."