Winters Family Psi Chronicles 1: Transformation by John O'Riley Page B

intruders. Julie relaxed a bit but Emily sensed she was straining. She devoted more of her energy to the struggle when one of the remote-viewers began to lock onto their position. A surge of panic rushed through Emily as she realized what a close call that had been. Of course, it was doubtful they would pinpoint her location with just one glimpse but she wasn’t sure how much the intruder would have learned. Emily’s head pounded with a building pressure and the pain slowly intensified. She wondered how long this would take and if she would be able to hold out. She gripped the edge of the table in a vise-like grip as she forced the block to remain in place. Finally, the intruders retreated. Emily took a deep, steadying breath and clutched her head with both hands as pain beat at her skull. Julie squeezed her eyes shut and held herself rigidly.
    “Are you all right?” Ryan asked with concern.
    “I need Excedrin!” Julie finally said. “Give me the bottle.”
    Ryan swiftly left the room and returned with the bottle of pain killer. Julie shook a handful of pills out and popped them in her mouth. She immediately swallowed them down with some water. Emily did the same thing. Julie waited several moments before speaking.
    “How long were they trying to see us?” she asked.
    “Almost an hour,” Ryan said.
    “That’s amazing,” Emily said shakily. “They must have taken all three remote-viewers and put them together so they could all work at the same time in a concerted effort. An expert must have guided them into a trance so they could maintain their efforts for as long as possible.”
    “How soon will they be able to do this again?” Julie asked.
    “If they burned themselves out, it’ll be at least six hours before they can try again,” Emily said. “But it’s possible they could do a much weaker attack at any time before that.”
    “This isn’t good. If they continue every assault like that one, we won’t be able to keep them away. I don’t know if you realize but there were several times I almost let one of them in.”
    “We won’t be able to recover as quickly as the three of them,” Emily said. “It’s likely that they will get some information the next time they remote-view us.”
    She weakly rose to her feet when she realized what she needed to do. She had found a temporary safe shelter but it was time to go.
    “I can’t stay here any longer and continue to jeopardize your life,” Emily said.
    “I’m willing to take the risk,” Julie said stridently.
    Ryan gazed at her with trepidation and he looked ready to argue.
    “This isn’t your decision to make. I’m afraid I have to go now,” Emily said.
    She didn’t realize just how weak she was until she began walking toward the door.
    “Wait!” Julie said. “It’s unlikely they’ll try again for at least six hours. We can try the linking process one more time. If we succeed, it will strengthen both our psychic abilities and we’ll be better equipped to defend ourselves. If we fail, you’ll have plenty of time to go.”
    Emily hesitated at the front door as she deliberated over this offer. If she left now, there was no chance at all to help either Jeremy or Skylar. The risk to Julie would be minimal so there wasn’t too much of a reason not to try this one more time. Emily slowly turned to face her.
    “Okay. One more time and if we don’t make it, I’m gone,” Emily said firmly.
    “Agreed,” Julie said.
    Ryan frowned with disapproval but didn’t try to argue with them. Emily and Julie positioned themselves comfortably in the living room and centered themselves. In spite of the threat of their time constraint and not knowing for sure that the remote-reviewers would leave them alone for several hours, they took their time in the linking process. Ryan left the room so he wouldn’t distract them and was careful to be extremely quiet. In her current meditative state, Emily couldn’t track the time but in the back of her mind, she