The Tiger Lady
by Leslie Josette Gill
and Edited by Sapphire
Chapter One
The Beginning
Some of the following is true.
You figure it out.
As long as I can remember, everyone thought I was strange. At a very young age, I could tell when people were sad and happy and what they were thinking.
I was a good boy. I tried to help raise my younger sisters and help my Mom. Dad worked all the time and kept us fed and a roof over our head. I had a hard time relating to the people around me. No one would have much to do with me. So, I surrounded myself with books and technical things and played with Old TV sets and radios.
I even had trouble in high school and College. All the other students thought I was weird and ostracized me. I, socially, was unable to function except where something technical was involved. I was one of the highest scoring students ever through the college. But that meant nothing as I didn't even want to graduate with the class as they abused me so much.
Girls. They were something I thought I would never ever be involved with. So, I just gave up. I was called Gay or Queer or just stupid. Of course, they knew I wasn't stupid. Just a nerd.
After college, I got a job in a repair shop. I worked on radios and communications equipment. I did OK and even joined the local fire department. I was beginning to learn to react with people and enjoy my life.
Then, I was hit by lightening. Up until now, It was the most terrifying thing I have ever had happen to me. I was working on a radio tower, trying to fix a previous lightening hit when another storm came up. This one was a strange one. There were strange colors in the sky. When the lightening hit me, I saw colors and felt tingling like I have never seen before. I didn't hurt. But I did pass out. I woke up about 2 hours later with everything around me burned and damaged beyond repair. I got up and went to the hospital. It was all I could do. I then called my boss and told him. Of course, there was nothing wrong with me physically. But mentally, I was different.
Up until this point, the voices in my head could be controlled. When I came into the hospital, I looked into the eyes of the doctor looking at me and in my mind, heard every thing he thought. It was just like he spoke to me and I reacted just like he had spoken to me. His wife was screwing another man and he was mad at her. I asked him if he thought he could win his wife back. HE dropped his tablet and looked at me like I was the devil.
"What did you say?"
"You said that you were mad at your wife because she was screwing another man. Do you think you can get her back? "
The poor man just freaked out. He shook and mumbled and left me.
I was held for observation and the next day, a strange man came to visit. They wanted to talk to me and see if I could read minds. I just knew this. I couldn't explain it. This guy was just interested in weather I could or not. Two minutes with the guy and I told him everything he ever did in his life including all the CIA stuff. Boy that was a mistake. The next thing I knew, I was being drugged and then transferred to a special hospital under sedation.
I knew what was happening. While they could make my body sleep, my mind was somehow tuned to the world around me and I knew where I was and what was happening. They did not know that though. I was 21 years old and being kidnapped by the government. I could not do anything about it, or so I thought. Then I made another discovery. While I could not move my body, I accidentally discovered that I could move objects around me.
You cannot believe the reaction the CIA guy had when I started throwing things at him while He thought I was out.
I was still reading his mind. He was panicking. I read everything in his mind and discovered the program I was heading to. The Village project. I heard him talk to the radio. He was calling in a special protocol. I was getting the special treatment. Then I made another discovery. I could lift him. I could drop him. I could throw him around. Then, He just stopped and turned and talked to me.
"You know what is happening, don't you?"
He could not hear me, but I picked up a bottle and bounced it around at him.
"You can, can't you."
I bounced the bottle. Then, he began to apologize to me.
"I had no idea. I am really sorry. You have to understand, we couldn't take any chances. You are dangerous to the public. We couldn't take any chances and leave you where you could hurt the public. We need to know how this happened to you so we can protect the public from mental intrusion. You have to understand.....Please don't hurt me. We are taking you to a place where you can discover how to control these gifts you now have."
I didn't want to go anywhere. I stopped the ambulance. It just would not go anywhere. The man begged.
"Please, let me do my job. I promise you will not be hurt. And you will be allowed to work and be yourself. We will even go and get your things from your apartment. There are other people where we are going like you."
I knew this. I had read his mind. I knew exactly where we were going and what the place was. I just couldn't tell him that I knew. I also knew that they could not hold me if I didn't want to be held. I was beginning to understand what had been going on. I knew that I could read minds and move things around. I did not know how far or my limits. This required some experiments. So, I just let them go again. The ambulance started to move. Then I heard him think, "God this one is powerful. If we can only control him." I hit him with the bottle really hard this time. He looked at me and was truly afraid. He forced himself to not think, Just act.
The trip seemed forever. I knew the place was hidden and secret. He could not keep me out of his mind. Even though he thought about movies and even girl friends he had been with, I had his subconscious mind in my thoughts. I tried to project my thoughts to him. I just ended up hurting him by accident. I gave him a migraine headache like he would never forget. Then he understood what I was trying to do.
"Look, I know you are trying to communicate with me. Just relax. We can help you. But, you can't burst into my mind like that. You can hurt people. We can't let you. You have to understand."
He was telling the truth. I understood the power I had now and how it would hurt everyone around me. I had no Idea just what I could do.
Then I turned into my self and tried to find the reason why I could do these things. I just found a locked door. I had this feeling that that door was off limits. I just couldn't get through it.
The ride took 6 hours. The ambulance stopped once for a fuel stop and the driver had to pee. The man, who really was named Waldo, had to go too. But he didn't want to leave me alone. I think he kinda liked me. I wasn't going to hurt him. But what if someone came up to the side of the ambulance. Waldo knew I could feel any mind around. So it was his job to keep people away. I let him.
We finally went into a base where nothing was above ground except a lonely guard shack. The drive said the password. "Land line". They knew I sensed the password. They just thought it. Could they keep me in? They didn't want to kill me. I hit him with the bottle again. He stared at me and just thought "OH SHIT".
When we went down the secret ramp, Waldo was so happy to get away from me. He walked to a door and tapped his private code. The person who came to the door asked about me.
"Look, this is the most powerful empath / telepath / psycoknetic person I have ever dealt with. He is even now sedated and is still locked onto my thoughts. He is even now reading you and your thoughts and so it will do no good to hide them. We just have to get him in here and help him. If He doesn't want to go, we cannot make him. He also knows that if we cannot get him in here, we will have to kill him, but, we might have to die in the process."
I knew this. I think it was said to shock me and make me realize they were serious. I was not letting just everyone die. I bumped him and opened the doors of the ambulance. This was their signal that I would allow it. I let them unhook me and roll me in the door. The door shut and the new world of the secret lab was revealed to me. I suddenly sensed 20 or 30 minds. Some could talk to me. Some couldn't. I instantly communicated to 1 of them at once. This surprised me. I didn't know I could hold a conversation like that. It was hard at first, then, suddenly, it was easy. I knew the story of everyone there and how they were treated. Seems the person telling me all this was Bill...
This was a good place. This was not the paranoia filled place that I feared it would be. I instantly relaxed.
Then I found out the lab needed a computer and electronics person to fix a bunch of stuff. I was needed. I would like this place. Lots of new toys. But I wasn't telling them all this.
My body would be out for several more hours. The doctors came and looked in on me and were briefed. I wasn't going to play their game. They wanted me to do tricks. I wasn't playing with them. All in good time. But just as they gave up, I threw a cup at Waldo. Just to toy with him. Everyone came back in the room and asked me to do it again. I just ignored them again. Then they just said, OK we understand. We will leave you alone. We will let you sleep.
I did. I dreamed. The next morning, the room was a wreck. I nearly destroyed the room. I didn't even know I did it. The staff was mad. They had sensors and television but all they saw was a body in the bed and a blurred image destroying the room. They knew to stay out of the room. I think they knew it was my subconscious mind striking out. I think they had gone through this before. But didn't directly say that to me. I knew. They knew I knew. I was going to go crazy. This was not going to be fun. I found they had a special room which I was to be moved to until I could control my gifts. It was a steel plate room with a bed and some minor touches to make it livable. Everything in the room was disposable. They were scared of me.
Why? What did I do to deserve this crap? IF these people could help me be normal again, then I would go alone with them. And they knew I would know everything. This was a problem.
I had no memory of what I was dreaming when I destroyed the room I was in. They decided that I did not know how to control my gifts and set out to train me how to control them. I was willing as I didn't want to hurt anyone. But, I wanted my privacy and was going to enforce it. They tried to connect cameras in my room and I promptly burned them out.
I was finally up and around. I could move freely. There were no guards. But the electronic eyes were everywhere. I meet several strange individuals. They just looked at me and continued what they were doing. There was audio silence but the room was noisy. Mentally, I heard every thought in the room. I was the NEW GUY. They wanted to know all about me. Only a few could read my thoughts although it was difficult. I was blocking them and was winning. They realized it and broke the silence in the room.
"Damn, You are good. I am Bill."
"I'm Joe. "
"We heard you arrive. How does it feel to be in the Village." (someone watched too much television.)
"You are the one that talked to me when I came in. Good to meet you finally. So that is what you call this place. I am afraid that I must have scared the shit out of poor Waldo."
"Waldo is the unofficial gatherer and escort for the newbies. He is mostly harmless. What they didn't tell you is that they will kill us all if we try to take over."
"We screw up and we all die?"
"Something like that. But we don't worry about that. We could not function normally in the general public. Most of us are happy here. They give us something to do. We feel useful. Plus, If I want something, they get it for me. They will do the same for you if you want. No conditions. We can have the most powerful computer we want and all the time in the world to play with it. We occasionally do little jobs for them. They bring people in for us to scan. We tell them what they want to know and then we go play some more."
Sounds like fun. Do you like scanning people?
"We do it because we just cannot help it. We just do it automatically. We just tell the handlers what they need to know and then we go back to our toys."
"OK, I will play along. Maybe they can help me control the things in my head."
"At least, you will learn to control the basic stuff and not go in peoples heads unless you want to. Its very hard to take all the noise in this room unless you know how to turn it off. Oh by the way, You will not be able to turn off the gift if someone thinks about you. That is the worst part of the gift. Its not fun."
"I have allot to learn. Thanks Bill."
"Don't worry about it. I was a mess when I first got here. Telekinetic? You can move things?"
"Yes, I can control that gift."
"That is not what I heard. Your hospital room was destroyed. I don't like my work being destroyed. So be careful."
"I promise to be good."
"OK."
My first friend. I would like this place. Then, I finally meet the boss. The person who ran the Village. He didn't like the name the residents gave the place. The significance of the name was not lost on him.
"You must be number 2......."
"Give me a break, I'm George. I'm not a bad guy. I am here to help you folks and keep the general public safe from your abilities. You got to understand that."
"OK, George. I understand. But a prisoner.......I ain't number 6 here..... "
"Yea Yea, I understand. But, until you can control yourself, You are a number 6. But No rovers....I promise."
"Yea, just a big bomb under this place."
"How did.........OOPS, sorry, I should have known you would find out about the fail-safe. Its automatic. No reset. If it is started, It cannot be stopped by any of us. It has to be done remotely by someone who cannot be controlled by any of you special people."
"Man, this place is run by a bunch of paranoid people. I am not a murderer."
"But, you can read people's thoughts. That is just as bad."
"Is it?"
"O yes it is. The death of privacy. How would you feel if someone knew even the most private thing about you? Remember that doctor you were talking to? He didn't like someone knowing about an affair that his wife was having and his secret embarrassment. This is what I mean. I know you can read my life like a book. I don't mind it. I know it will happen. That is why I am here. But you must understand, I will kill everyone here including myself to make sure you stay."
"I do understand. I will play along. Just give me a little time to learn about this place. Are there any restrictions? "
"No, You can go anywhere and look at everything. Just don't hurt any of the orderlies. They are good people who are here by choice and they care what happens to all of you. Don't mess with them. And by the way, you are our new prodigy, the most powerful one here. Telekinetic abilities with the mind reading. You are the only one who can actually hurt any of us. So, everyone here will give you wide berth. I might as well tell you this as you will know anyway. Remember, we are here to help you, Not hurt you. We want to know how you got to where you are now."
"I also want to know and also how to control this thing I now have. So, as long as that is your purpose, I will be good. Oh, by the way, I also know about your little spy game too. Its OK by me. I will help."
"Crap, can't keep anything from you. OK, just don't talk about this to the others."
"They told me......."
"Should have known. Must have been Bill. He was the most powerful here until you arrived. Looks like he will get a break."
"Bill likes me. Anyway, he wasn't jealous. I hope he isn't in trouble? "
"Don't worry, he is in no trouble. We are not a prison. We don't punish people here. Just don't spread it in idle talk, OK?"
"Sure."
"Go and get settled in and we will talk about what you will need in the morning. Make a list."
"OK. Thanks"
So much for orientation. I was to make a list of the things I would like to have so I could function here and have fun. I wanted my comic books from my apartment. They would just move my apartment to the Village. Including everything I owned. I also had things that belonged to me at the company shop. I wanted my service monitor and some of my tools. I know they would have given me new ones, but I wanted mine. I worked very hard and my stuff was my stuff.
Then I suddenly remembered. Mom and Dad. My three sisters. They all liked to talk to me on line. So, I needed to bring that up. One more thing on the list.
My old computer had been upgraded so many times, that it was like a Frankenstein's monster. It did a good job, but it looked like a mess. I never worried about how something looked, just that it worked.
In the next couple of days, my stuff was put in the IRON room. They knew that I wouldn't destroy my own stuff. So, I would live in the iron room. I found out later, that this room was one of the interrogation rooms. It had secret cameras all over the place. I burned out most of them. There were one or two that I couldn't find. My mind couldn't find an attachment. So, there was no human mind looking at the images. That was the secret. If there was a mind looking at the images, I could burn the camera. If it was being done by a machine, then I couldn't sense it. It didn't take long for them to figure that out too. So much for privacy. But you can bet that those people who were looking at those tapes couldn't hide that fact from me. I decided to put out the word. Let me have some privacy at night, or I would give them hell. The word got out.
After a week of learning the place, all the little rooms and all the labs, I was introduced to the doctors. They were very cautious of me. I was an egg to them. I could be broke if they did something wrong. I quickly assured all of them that I was mostly friendly and didn't want to hurt any of them. I was a nice guy. What was the big deal? Then we started.
Exercises. Lift this. Move this. Learn to clear your mind and not read the thoughts in the room. I could quickly learn this, but the minute I heard "Joe" in any of their minds, I locked onto it. It was like someone in a room calling your name in a conversation with you across the room. You instantly lock into the conversation. That was the way I was with mind talk. I would lock onto the thought. They all knew this fact. They had worked with it before.
The days counted onward. I had email contact with my folks and sisters. I couldn't tell them where I was, but that I was OK and working for the government. I talked to them frequently. Things were going well.
Then, Waldo showed up again. Waldo didn't ever come unless he was bringing someone new. This time, he was alone. He was troubled. He came to me.
"Joe, read my thoughts and keep it to your self."
"OK, Waldo,...........Oh my God, why?"
"The mere fact that you and these people exist creates an imbalance of power in the world. Someone knows this place exists and we can expect an attack. We cannot move this place. You are the most powerful. You must help us defend it."
"I don't know if I can control it that well. What if I hurt some of the people around me?"
"Joe, this is life and death. If you can't stop them, then, these people here will die anyway, or worse, be captured and put into slavery. What do you think they would want?"
"OK, help me train. How much time do we have?"
"Very little. We don't know how long it will take for them to launch an attack. We don't think they know we know about the breach of security yet. We are keeping it very quiet."
"Waldo, lets get started. What do I need to do?"
"We need to see just how much power you can turn lose at once. This is going to be a dangerous test. We could accidentally hurt or kill several people. You do understand that all of these people know what could happen? And that it's necessary? We have to know what your limits are."
"You want me to kill people? I just can't kill anyone for no reason."
"It's real simple. You will be provoked. We are going to send someone in the room to kill you. You will defend yourself. This will be a solder who understands only that he must kill you. You will have to defend yourself with what abilities you have. You will not know when or even how. Just that he is coming. This is real. No fail-safe. IF you cannot protect yourself, then, You can be hurt. We have no choice but to do it that way. Its the only way to tell if you can control your abilities."
"Then why are you telling me this?"
"We're are not monsters. With us, you get fair. This is the only way to fully know what you can do."
God, I am stupid. He had tapped into my ego and lead me down the primrose path to just where he wanted me to be. I was still annoyed about being tested. But the logic was flawless.
"OK, lets do it. But, Please, make sure no one else is close when this happens. I don't want to hurt any one else if possible."
"We will do our best."
So the next few days, I was on pins and needles. Then I figured that it would happen when it happened. I relaxed. I was in alert mode, but being myself and doing my normal routine.
Then on the third day, I sensed a strange mind. I locked onto it because it knew my name and picture. The test had begun. I quickly went to my room and closed the iron door. The guy was soon outside. Then I went completely blank. I remember nothing. I was mad with anguish when I realized I was back. I was in the hospital wing. The look in the eyes of everyone close to me was that of look at the murderer. What had I done? I didn't want to read the minds of those around me. I forced myself to go blank and not think. I was spared the thoughts for the moment. And I was glad.
George came to me later in the day.
"Joe, we have to talk."
"George, what did I do?"
Then I saw it in his mind. MY GOD, I had killed 4 people. They were torn apart, limb from limb. It was as if a huge cat had played with them as mice. But there was more. I had disappeared. The video tapes only saw a blur.
There was a woman in the room where I was supposed to be. And some of the dead was friendlies.
"Who? "
I knew them. One of the nurses who was helping me. One of the orderlies, and then there were two hostels. What Had I done? It seemed that the orderly and the Nurse had heard the screaming and came to help. They were killed in the backlash. Just like the first two. THERE WERE TWO! Why didn't I sense the other one? I wasn't as powerful of mind as maybe I thought. Pride. Ego. I had a lot to learn. And I wasn't the mental giant I was possibly lead to believe.
George knew that I had no intention to kill anyone but the hostels. He KNEW this.
"Now you understand why it is so necessary to control your gift. You reappeared after there was no one else to kill, left in the room. The mysterious woman just stood and watched while this blur killed all of them. The video tape is the most horrible thing I have ever watched. And NO, I cannot let you watch it yet. You might revert and kill all of us. Just, let us teach you to control it. Harness it. Accept it as part of you."
"How?"
"Trust us."
"I can never completely trust you. But to do this, I will allow you to do what you need to do. I don't want to be a monster."
"Joe, you are not a monster. You just don't know how to control this animal within you. You don't even know what it is or how it took that form. That is where we will start. Rest. Sleep. I am going to give you a very powerful sleeping pill. We need you to rest and relax so we can begin tomorrow."
I was visibly shook up. I didn't want to kill my friends. How could I have done this? Animal? He said animal. Where did he get that? Was that a clue? Before I could scan him and find out, he was gone. I was too tired and didn't want any more of this mental game. I wanted to sleep.
Were they going to turn me into a monster for hire? Or were they really serious about helping me? If I was this powerful, then they would try to use me for something. But what and how. And would I accept this role willingly? I didn't know. Time would tell.
(c)1999 By Leslie Josette Gill and Sapphire (all rights reserved)
TigerLady Continues with the Next Chapter!