Near Ghiradelli Square, there is a small beach that stretches from the outer edge of Fisherman's Wharf to Fort Mason. While the waters of San Francisco Bay are quite cold, & its not practical to go swimming in it unless you are wearing a wet suit, this beach is a fun spot to just sit & watch the bay. Off in the west, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge spanning over into Marin County. Ships & boats of all sorts are usually out on the water, as the San Francisco Bay is a popular place to boat.

Terry sat on this beach, looking out on the waters, wondering what had happened to change her life so fast. Just yesterday, she was just another high school honor student who had just gotten asked out on her first day. Bobby was probably upset at her, as he probably figured she stood him up. But wait, wouldn't her disappearance have been reported by now. Surely, everyone must know that they were kidnapped by now, & the police are probably looking for them. She probably could go to the police & they'll return her to her parents. Her hunger & fatigue must've blown a brain cell or two in her head.

Now here's a horrible thought, what if her Telepathic Abilities were slowly killing her brain cells. Everytime she read a thought, or push her mind into another mind, she could be killing her brain cells. Scary, she knew. There was so much she didn't know about biology & her abilities that she could not possibly fathom what side effects her abilities could have on her. Her specialties have always been in the physical & computer sciences. So many unknowns.

Terry rubbed her hands in her eyes, trying to rub away the headache she was getting. Or were that all the thoughts she was picking up giving her the headache. There were so many people around her, that there was always a background noise of thoughts. She would pick up the occasional coherent thought here & there, but she had learned to tune it out. Good thing too, or she would go mad from the noise. There was definitely a downside to her abilities.

She looked out onto the waters again, focusing on a sailboat cruising into her view. She can sense the joy & freedom of the couple on the boat. She can feel how happy they are & how much they love each other. And for one day, they were free of all the problems in their world. No concern about the many things he had to do at the office or worrying about the kids getting into trouble. She envied them. She longed for that normal life again.

"I've always enjoyed San Francisco on a day like this."

Terry turned around to look for the source of the voice, to find a handsome, well-dressed Asian man standing behind her. He had a pleasant smile on his face as he continued, "I've always envied these people & their ignorance of the real world around them."

Terry backed away from the man, as she reached out to his mind, probing it for information on who this man is. Her mind reached out, but his fought back & blocked her.

"Impressive," the man said as he sat down beside her.

Terry started to get up and run, but the man continued, "I could knock you out & have you back in PCU custody so fast that you wouldn't even have had a chance to blink."

His tone was steady & calm, as if he was stating a fact rather than threatening her. He looked at her and calmly stated, "Now, why don't you just sit right down here & we'll have a conversation."

Terry looked around at the surroundings. There were a bunch of kids building a sandcastle down the way with their parents looking on & there was a group of tourist passing on the road behind them. But, there were no individuals in black suits & shades. She reached out & probed her surroundings, but she could sense no hostile thoughts in the vicinity. She looked down at the Asian man, who was smiling up at her, but there was coldness in his eyes that gave her a chill. Slowly, Terry sat down next to the man.

"Who are you," she asked.

"Someone who has an interest in you & your sister remaining free."

She looked at him in shocked disbelief.

"You don't believe me. I'm not surprised."

"You read my mind or something," Terry stated sarcastically.

The man chuckled as he responded, "You would notice my eyes don't glow violet."

"Neither does mine," Terry shrugged.

The man smiled as he said, "I've noticed. That is something that perplexes some in the organization, as every telepathic individual has a glow, except for the really weak ones. But, you are a strong one. It makes you a valuable commodity."

Terry stood angrily as she shouted, "Is that all I am! A commodity!"

Sifu looked around & saw that some people were looking at them strangely after that outburst.

"If you are going to have an outburst like that, I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you what is happening to you."

Terry sat down again, looking around as the people who looked their way turned back to their own pursuits.

"What am I?"

Sifu smiled as he continued on, "You are a Paranormal, an individual with special enhanced abilities. While your numbers are relatively small, your abilities make you quite impressive…and quite dangerous."

"Is that why you captured us?"

"I'm part of a secret government agency that regulates Paranormals & makes sure they are not a threat to society as a whole."

Terry looked at him in shocked disbelief.

"Are you saying you captured us, took away our rights, so we wouldn't be a danger to anyone else."

"Partially. Your sister was starting to get bold in her use of her abilities, which is what drew our attention to her. We are charged to keep Paranormals existence a secret from the public."

"Why?" Terry asked dryly.

"How would you react if you were normal and knew that your neighbor could possibly be reading your every thought, or that a co-worker could throw you through several walls without breaking a sweat if he got pissed off at you?"

Terry thought about that for a moment, and she could see that there was a certain sense to it. She and her sister were quite dangerous and could potentially harm innocent people.

"What do you do with us?"

"We keep you locked away in your own communities. I personally find it distasteful, but I'm not in a position to change it, but you are. That is why my boss, Mr. Rockwell, put me in charge of freeing you & your sister."

Terry looked at him in stunned silence.

"You freed us? I thought I freed us from those men."

The Asian man smiled a wicked smile.

"You did, but I was the one who pointed those incompetent individuals your way in the first place. Gave them the knowledge they needed as well as the incentive to free you. They thought they were going after a shipment of advanced weaponry."

Terry mulled this information over in her head. It seemed logical, the sequence of events. It was obvious they wouldn't have been able to escape if they were still under their original captors' control. From what she had been told, they were trained to handle individuals such as herself. Quite frankly, she felt they were lucky to still be free. But, there was one question in her head that remained.

"Why free us if we are a threat?"

The man nodded his head as he responded, "An excellent question. My boss has secretly resented the way Paranormals have been treated, & that something ought to be done. If there were some Paranormals free who can organize a movement against the PCU, light can be shone & the public would have to be informed. Then, the issue can become a public debate. When we saw your Academic Record, we knew you had the intelligence to be able to pull off such a feat. Your sister being close to you, as well as her charismatic personality, made her also a logical choice to help you get started. Between the both of you, you can make a difference."

Terry stood up, shocked at what she was hearing.

"You want me to start some kind of Resistance. I just want to go home & live a normal life."

The man shook his head in dismay.

"I'm afraid that is not possible."

Terry, her voice starting to shake, responded, "How come?"

He looked up at her, and in a deadpan tone, he said, "You're dead."

"What!" Terry exclaimed, causing some of those stares to come back their way.

The man sighed as he stood up beside her and put his hands on her shoulders, causing Terry to flinched a little.

"Not literally obviously. But, the PCU arranged to have it look like you and your sister died in a gas explosion in your home. The explosion covered up traces that you were abducted. As far as the world is concerned, Sherry & Terry Stonewall died in their home."

Tears started to streak down Terry's face, her body started to shake from the shock of this revelation.

"Even if you do go home, the PCU will find you there & take you back. And I can't pull off freeing you a second time. That would draw too much attention to myself, & I'm afraid I've drawn too much attention as it is. Getting your sister free again is going to be problematic as it is."

Terry's face shot up to the Asian man's, fear & concern in her eyes. And something more he noticed. A fire & a determination had filled her. Mentioning her sister was indeed a smart move.

"What about my sister!"

The man sighed, as he looked down on her.

"She was recaptured a couple of hours ago. She seems to be vulnerable to mental powers. I've been able to cover up the capture, but that won't last long, & once Lancaster finds out, he'll have her shipped to a secret location immediately, & you'll never find her then."

Anger boiled in Terry. She had to get her sister out of there. She had to get in there & free her somehow. She looked over at the mysterious man who had provided her all this information. She could not reach into his head, but she figured if he was here, he must be normal, as Paranormals are kept locked up. Of course, he could be lying. Still, he was the key to getting her inside undetected at the moment. She reached out with her telekinetic fingers, & wrapped them around his throat. She had no time to be subtle.

The man grasped his throat, as he started to choke.

"What are you doing," he said, obviously surprised by this turn of events.

"Can you get me inside!"

"It will…be tricky…" he barely was able to get out.

"Can you get me inside!"

"Yes…"

Terry let go of his throat, pulling her invisible tendrils of psionic energy back into herself. The man was trying to shake off the effects her choke, shaking his head to work out the kinks.

"Ready to go when you are, "she said in a cheery tone, as she walked past him towards the Hyde Street Cable Car Turnaround.

As Te Dee turned to follow her, a smile formed on his face. Hook, Line, & Sinker.

The door opened, casting a sliver of light into the pitch-black room. Jarred Jacoby was shoved, hands bound behind in his back, onto the ground of the dark, foreboding room. The door shut, leaving only the darkness of the room, lit only by the eerie reddish glow of Jarred's eyes. Not that the dark bothered Jarred, as Jarred often embraced the dark, as it sheltered him, was his friend. Besides, the infrared sensors in his cybernetic eyes gave him a pretty good picture of the room. The darkness was no stranger to him.

But, no sooner had the door closed, a new bright light shone down on him, which would blind normal eyesight. This light was modified, & was emitting on the infrared wavelength as well, blinding his cybernetic eyes. All around him, Jarred could only see red. He shut off the IR sensors, the red glow of his eyes fading into cold soulless eyes, his real eyes having been lost to him long ago. A shaft of white light surrounded him, blinding him to whatever else laid in the room. And someone else was in the room, he knew. His years of training told him that.

"What am I doing here!"

Jarred's voice reverberated in the room, indicating a high ceiling with lots of echoing. Very unnerving, & was probably intentional in the design of the room. The room was unfamiliar to Jarred, so it must belong to a part of the PCU operation he was unfamiliar with, or else he would know about it. It couldn't be Covert Ops, as they prefer small rooms, where their mind rippers can tear into your brain with ease, pulling whatever they wanted from your head. And the Science Branch didn't engaged in activities such as these, as they were content researching new technologies. As for Military Operations, he was the San Francisco chief of Military Operations, and knew everything and everyone involved there. That left the unspoken & mysterious fourth branch. The ones who answered to the politicians & oversaw the PCU Operation.

"You are here because I wished you to be here," a voice rang out throughout the room. And not just any voice. The voice that haunted his nightmares for these past eight years. The voice that caused his muscles to tense, ready to spring into action against his foe. His wrist strained against his bonds, trying to free themselves from their restraints. His face tensed in anger, as his eyes narrowed, trying to find his target beyond the light.

"You recognize my voice," the voice continued. "Good, I don't have to continue the pretense of not knowing who you are."

A figure stepped into the light with him, a figure that was familiar to Jared's nightmare, though his appearance had changed slightly. The red goggles, metallic wristbands that Jarred knew housed deadly & cursed knives & a metallic belt were all too familiar to Jarred. But where the figure had worn a black nightsuit before now wore a black PCU armor suit with a mask to cover a face Jarred had never seen though a face Jarred wanted to maim very badly. His outfit was completed with metallic PCU shoulder pads that bore no insignia, which was an oddity, as the shoulder pad insignia usually identified the unit the agent was apart of.

"All these years…" Jarred started, before the figure struck him, knocking him to the floor.

"You are here to answer questions, not to gab about your own personal issues," the figure stated calmly.

"Answer questions? To you of all…"

The figure kicked Jarred in the stomach, eliciting a groan from Jarred's lips.

"I told them it was a bad idea to recruit you, but the were determined to. I'm just glad I can show them the folly of their mistake."

"You…" Jarred started to utter from his lips, before the figure issued another quick kick to the stomach.

"You don't learn do you," the figure commented. Jarred just laid on the floor, trying very hard to catch his breath. The figure stood there looking at him, motionless.

"How is your wife, Mr. Jacoby?"

Jarred's head snapped up & he lunged at the figure with his shoulders, letting out a primal scream that reverberated throughout the cavernous room. The figure easily blocked the primal lunge, & knocked Jarred back to the ground with a quick strike to the back. Jarred laid on the floor, his breathing now being heard through the silence that filled the room.

"Oh yes, she passed on. Frankly, I think I did her a service, as how could she possibly ever be satisfied by you after me?"

Jarred brought his head up, focusing his eyes on the man who had robbed him of his life. The man who had taken the most precious thing in the world from him. The man he had vowed to kill one day. The man he had joined the PCU so they could help Jarred find him. And he was here all along. Laughing at him.

"But enough reminiscing on the past. I am here on business."

Jarred shook his head.

"I haven't done anything wrong. The only one of us here who has anything to answer for is you."

This elicited a chuckle out of the figure.

"Those who have the power don't have to answer for anything. It is you, the helpless, who have to answer for displeasing those who have power over you."

Jarred spit in the figure's direction.

"I'll never allow you to have power over me, you sick fuck!"

The figure once again chuckled.

"Oh, I have had power over you for a good long while. You just didn't know it. And that is the best kind of power of all. The power over the ignorant puppet."

Jarred lunged at the figure again, and once again, the figure easily set Jarred back on the floor, gasping for air.

"You are a tenacious one, Mr. Jacoby, or Silent Death as you like to call yourself. Silly name in my opinion."

Jarred spit some blood out of his mouth, as he asked, "And what do they call you? Shithead."

"Baiting me to reveal information on myself is not going to work. I have been doing this kind of work for longer than you would think."

Jarred laid there silent. He was not going to play this asshole's game any longer. He wasn't going to let this murderer have power over him any longer.

"Now, how did the Stonewall sisters escape?"

Jarred remained silent. Nothing mattered anymore but putting this sick & twisted fuck in his place. He wasn't going to give him anything.

The figure gave him another swift kick to the stomach, causing Jarred to spit out more blood onto the floor.

"How did you help the Stonewall sisters escape?"

He helped the Stonewall sisters escape? Now he was telling him lies to try & provoke him. Or to get Jarred terminated. Jarred pulled himself up onto his knees, so he was in a meditative position.

"I had nothing to do with their escape, except trying to bring them in, which I failed at."

The figure kicked him again, this time in the head. Jarred began to lose consciousness, but before he entered unconsciousness, he heard his tormenter speak once last thing.

"I know you were responsible for freeing them, and once I prove it, I will send you to see your wife once more."

Jarred fell into unconsciousness, where his tormentor waited in his nightmares, but this time, his tormentor had a new ally, the PCU.