"This
is fan fiction for the Whateley Academy series. It may or may not match the
timeline, characters, and continuity, but since it's fan fiction, who cares? To
see the canon Whateley Stories, check out either Sapphire's Place (http://www.sapphireplace.com/stories/whateley.html) or the Big Closet (http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/taxonomy/term/117)."
The
following story may contain adult themes and mature language. It broaches
controversial topics like suicide, religion, sex, homosexuality and
transsexuality. These topics are sometimes handled in a humorous fashion that
may seem inappropriate to some. If any of the above is unacceptable to you or
against the current laws in your geographical location I ask you not to read
the story.
If you
liked this story, or for constructive criticism please feel free to contact me
at c.o.l@gmx.net.
I want to
thank the folks at the Whateley boards for giving me some pointers so I could
identify the most glaring problems with my writing and hopefully fix them. Any
remaining faults are to be blamed on me.
Chancing Changes
by Rhodes
Part 3
“I am Alexander Jenkins, your friend, I was transformed by
unknown means into this“- she gestured at herself - “last Friday night.“
--------------------------
Still having troubles suppressing another bout of laughter
David steadied himself on the wall next to the door with one hand, wiping the
tears from his eyes with the other. Looking at the source of his mirth he had
to snort again as she just sat there glaring at him.
“Sorry, but this must be the most elaborate prank he ever
tried to pull on me.“ He snickered again. “I really wonder how he got the LT to
play along though.“ David shook his head at his friend's audacity.
“Dave, this is no joke. It's really me, Lex!“ She insisted
while giving him a scornful look.
“Prove it!“ he challenged her with a smirk.
<Lets see how good he taught her.> He moved over to
one of the armchairs, suspecting this might take a while.
“Trout Lake, September 19th,1992.“she uttered
with a defiant expression.
David was startled so bad he almost missed the chair on
sitting down. He went white as a sheet. <He wouldn't have told her!>
Seeing that she had achieved the desired effect she
continued. “Ok then. Listen up Davie. Only three people knew of what happened
there and the only one not in this room is dead....“
<Shit, she knows!> Dave was too terrified to say
anything and just slumped into the armchair. The girl claiming to be his best
friend just went on relentlessly.
--------------------------
“...she died in a car crash sixteen months ago and to my
knowledge she never told anyone about this.“ She glared at him waiting for his
reaction.
David was torn between fainting, fleeing from the building
and trying to kill her. In the end all he did was stare at her defeatedly. “I
can't believe he told you about this....“
“Then don't believe it!“ she pleaded. But he just
lowered his gaze studying the slightly dusty living room table in silence.
Her groan made him look up at her again. She had bowed
forward, elbows resting on her knees, both hands clutching her head, looking
down at the grayish fleece carpet.
“Please...“ - she mumbled barely audible - “Don't make me
tell you about the knife again....“
David was baffled. It had taken him almost two years and two
bottles of vodka to get that story out of Lex. Up to now he had believed his
friend did not remember telling him and he had not brought it up since that
night. As far as Dave knew Lex still had nightmares about it which was
completely reasonable. He had had some himself after hearing it and he hadn't
even been there. If he had troubles believing Lex would share the first story
with a stranger just to prank him he was absolutely sure his friend wouldn't
have told the second one to anyone. But that meant....
“Lex?!?“ he could not help but stare at her... him.
The young woman sitting across the table from him just let
herself fall back into the sofa. “Oh God, thank you!“
“Lex!?!“
His friend managed a weak smile, still laid back on the
sofa. “If you think this is hard to stomach, try it from my side.“
Subconsciously David still hoped the old Lex would pop out
of the broom closet laughing himself silly over his friend's gullibility, but
nothing like that happened. A million questions assaulted his mind, but all he
got out was: “How?“
Lex gazed at the ceiling collecting his thoughts. “Well, I
remember being on duty last Friday evening....“
--------------------------
“Tibet!? And you honestly believed that?“ Lex blurted out.
“But you used to do stuff like that all the time. Just
remember that week in junior high.“ David defended himself.
“That was just a trip down towards Florida and I only did it
to get back at my old man.“ Besides, they had caught him only three days after
he had run off.
A polite cough kept them from further discussing the subject
when they both looked up to find Kathie standing in the doorway.
“Not to interrupt your reunion, but I think we like missed
our ride back and at least I might get into some trouble if I don't show up at
all tonight.“ She looked somewhat worried.
“Oh crap, sorry Kathie, I completely forgot about you.“ Lex
was thinking for a moment. “Would you mind if I just call you a cab? Dave and I
still have a lot to talk about. I will just sleep here and he can drive me up
to Whateley tomorrow morning.“
Kathie just shrugged. “Sure, no problem. Just remember to
come by my room when you arrive. I should be there for most of the day.“
After he had repayed Kathie for the clothes from his
emergency money box, put the girl into the cab and payed the driver, Lex pulled
a sixpack of beer from the fridge and returned to the living room.
“What's your plan now?“ Dave asked after taking a sip from
the can his friend had handed him.
Lex, pressing his can to his brow, savoring the coolness,
sighed. “I honestly don't know. Basically I'm still at square one. I don't know
who did this to me just that he's probably way to powerful to mess with. All I
have is a ton of useless information that only seems to prove that no two
people think magic works the same.“
After a while David spoke up again. “You know? Maybe we
don't need to know who it is. Maybe we can lure him out.“
“Huh?“Lex retorted sagely.
“I mean, if magic is such an uncertain subject like you say,
he or she probably isn't completely sure everything worked as intended. I bet
he is watching you to some extend. I would. Now, if he sees you interacting
with others, like your girlfriend there and me, he would see it as a proof that
something went wrong and maybe that would get him to reveal himself.“
Lex scowled at the 'girlfriend' jibe but still started
thinking. “Might be worth a shot. Do you think you could get your hands on the
files of the more powerful mage types among the students?“
“I guess so, might take a few days though. Lets call that
plan B, ok?“
“Alright....” Lex paused noticing his friends expression.
“What is it?“
“Oh... I just wondered.“ Dave was grinning at him. He did
not like that.
“Wondered what exactly?“ Lex asked cautiously.
“What is it like?“
The new girl just groaned.
--------------------------
“Not even once?!“
“No. As you know I had more important stuff on my mind than
doing that.“
“You know, I'm pretty sure that's unhealthy.“ Dave pondered
just before he had to dodge a cushion.
--------------------------
“I'm getting really tired. How about I take the sofa, you
get your bed?“
“Mmmh... sounds good.“ After extracting his hair from
between the sofa cushions Lex got up. “Just one favor Dave.“
“Sure, what do you want?“ he had to suppress a yawn at that.
“One second, let me get some scissors....“
--------------------------
Lex looked at himself in the small bathroom mirror. David
was definitely no hairdresser but at least it was short now. After some
discussion they had agreed on cutting it to shoulder length, and shoulder
length it was... mostly. Some tiny part of him felt bad at having marred that girls
beauty, but that part was soon silenced by the vocal majority of Lex' psyche
and was sent to a dusty mental corner to sulk. He bowed down to pick up the
last remains of his former hairstyle and stuffed them into the wastebin.
Giving the girl in the mirror that was wearing one of his
oversized sleep shirts one last look Lex trudged off towards his bedroom.
--------------------------
Kathie put down the soldering gun, looking critically at the
circuit board she had been working on.
<This will have to do, time to get some rest.>
She started stowing the various pieces of electronics into
the wire mesh cage with well practiced motions while she pondered what she had
overheard from Lex and her friend.
<I wonder if I should ask her about ... no probably
not.> The way both of them had reacted on the mere mention of this made
pretty much clear that she would not talk about it. Lex had come close to a
heart attack just mentioning it. No. Definitely nothing one brought up over
dinner.
She finished and shut the cage. Checking her calendar, more
from habit than anything, she noticed that there was an appointment with Dr.
Polland marked down for tomorrow morning.
<Forgot about that. Well, there goes that Sunday.>
Wondering what hoops the Doc would have her jump through
this time, Kathie got ready to bed.
--------------------------
October 15th , Sunday
In horror he watched, as the bizarre ritual went on in front
of him once again, unable to do anything to intercept this vile procedure or
help its victim, restrained as he was. Gagged and tightly bound to a sturdy
pipe in the large basement, he was unable to avert his eyes from the scene
replaying itself in front of him, as it had so many times before. Time seemed to
leap forward and suddenly the well known hooded figure was striding towards him
holding the wicked looking knife in its gloved hand. His innards were churning,
already dreading what he knew would come.
Lex struggled awake and would have screamed if not for the
gag. Fighting whatever bound him he almost fell off the bed. It was not before
he noticed the familiar surroundings of his bedroom that he managed to calm
down again. Untangling himself from his sheets he spat out the thick strand of
hair that had almost choked him.
<Should have gone for the crew cut.>
Squinting at the half closed blinds he saw plenty of light
outside already when the urgent feeling in his abdomen reminded him why he had
woken from his nightmare in the first place. As he sat up to get out of the bed
something ripped at his scalp so fiercely, he had to stifle a scream and an
unkind remark about the dubious ancestry of the perpetrator. After carefully
extracting his hair from below himself he stared at the long tresses with a
puzzled expression. They had cut them off, hadn't they? Any attempts at
solving this riddle had to be postponed though, since his bladder made it clear
that he either had to go now or get a new set of bedsheets. So he hurried off
towards the small bathroom across the hall.
When he emerged again he had several things to think about.
Foremost that his hair had obviously regrown about a foot during the night.
Additionally his scalp itched like mad. Then there was the fact that he just
'went' for the first time since the change. As disturbing as this confrontation
with some of his new parts had been, he could not help but wonder why it had
happened only just now. He still pondered this, while following some clattering
sounds into the kitchen where Dave busied himself brewing a pot of coffee.
“Morning Dave.“ He mumbled as he plodded in.
Surprisingly his friend whirled around at the sound of his
voice, staring at him in a very confused way.
“Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?“ he blurted
out.
Lex froze mid stride gaping at the man wearing his bathrobe.
Every trace of color left his face. He had to steady himself on the kitchen
table, just when he noticed a minuscule quirk in the corner of Dave's mouth.
Obviously recognizing the sudden frown on his friend's face for what it was
David knew he was busted and burst out laughing.
“You goddamned asshole!“ Lex shrieked as he lunged at him.
The fact that David easily avoided his attack, while
shouting „Olé!“ between bouts of laughter, infuriated Lex even more. Especially
when he smashed head first into the oven himself.
--------------------------
“This should teach you not to use the Lord's name in vain.“
Dave pontificated trying his best to sound like his old minister. He kind of
ruined it by grinning too much though.
Lex pondered trowing the ice pack at the smug bastard, but
nimble as the fiend was he would probably just dodge it, depriving him of his righteous
revenge and the soothing coolness on his face at the same time. Carefully
probing with one finger under the pack he winced when he found the spot where
he had hit one of the dials.
“If I get a black eye you will suffer, you realize this?“
“Sorry, didn't mean to mar your pretty face.“ Dave countered
casually. He evaded the incoming ice pack with ease.
“Could you stop it? I'm feeling bad enough as it is!“
Dave just picked up the pack and handed it back to him.
“Nothing like a good razzing to get your rage up. And then when you get your
hands on whoever did this may the Lord be merciful on his poor soul, because
you won't be.“ - getting a closer look at the damaged part of the face he
continued - “Besides, I think the red spot is fading already. I swear you are
squeamish like a little girl sometimes.“
Lex pondered killing him here and now but the idiot would
probably make a bloody mess all over the floor just to be a nuisance, so he
only sighed.
“Let's get dressed and head up to the school, it's almost
noon. Kat will wonder where we are.“ He got up at that and trudged towards the
bedroom where he faintly remembered dumping his clothes last night.
“Hey didn't we cut your hair yesterday?“
Lex just shrugged and left the kitchen.
--------------------------
Richard was nervous. He had had to organize a sheet of
asbestos to put the Chimera on since it had started to melt through the brazier
last night. The ward would drop anytime now, but despite having attained the
necessary materials for what he had in mind he had not been able to make his
move yet.
For one Simmons had been loitering near him almost
constantly since yesterday morning. He was not worried about the fool seeing
anything he did, but he had enough problems as it was. He did not need to complicate
matters by being careless. Besides his roommates inane questions were too much
to endure in his current mood. So he had opted to go on a walk to avoid
Simmons' feeble attempts at meaningful conversation.
What he saw did nothing to lighten his mood. While the
weather was still holding, dark clouds on the horizon hinted towards rain. On
the one hand this would empty the campus and allow him to set up his circle
unnoticed, but on the other hand rain was hard on the materials not even
mentioning his own health. Anyway, preparing his ritual place would have to
wait until the area was less crowded, either due to time or atmospheric
conditions.
Forced to bide his time, Richard decided on an early lunch
and started heading towards Crystal Hall.
--------------------------
Lex climbed off the pillion seat of Dave's idling bike and
pulled off the helmet. While the sun still pierced the cloud cover in some
places the wind brought the smell of rain. While straightening the now too big
leather jacket he hat gotten from his wardrobe at home, he wondered why his
friend hadn't parked the bike yet and turned around to see what was the
problem.
Dave was still sitting on the bike, but looking around the
parking lot as if he was unsure of where he was. Concerned Lex stepped closer
again.
“Are you alright Dave?“
But his friend did not react at all. He just looked past Lex
frowning at nothing in particular. Then he just shook his head, turned around
the bike and accelerated towards the gate.
Recognizing the reaction for what it was, Lex sighed
dejectedly.
<Well, fuck. So much for the spell being broken.
Hopefully he will remember when he gets home. I don't want to repeat that
talk.>
He decided to go and see Kathie to fill her in on the latest
developments. So he wandered towards Hawthorne somewhat lost in thought, when
he ran into someone. Looking down he started to apologize automatically, just
when he saw the boy's face.
“Sor....“
--------------------------
He was tired and had a mild headache, but being confined in
an enclosed space for a few hours did this to people. At least he had most of
his paperwork finished now, not that it would stay like this sadly. He had
decided to at least try to walk the headache off before he drove home, so he
had gone on a short walk following the pathways randomly.
The campus was silent and the clean air did help already
when he noticed that he had drifted towards one of the cottages.
<Emmerson.> he thought. Some movement nearby caught his eye and he
stopped, curious about what it had been. Now that he had stopped walking he
could make out soft chanting nearby. Remembering those weirdos who had stalked
that cute Poe girl a few weeks ago he decided to check it out.
Trying his best to sneak up to the source of the weird
sounds he finally came up to a small clearing between the shrubbery. It was
pretty dark the only light coming from the few stars glinting through the leafy
roof and some remaining embers in some kind of firepot on the ground. In front
of the pot sat a slight boy, maybe fifteen years at most, singing softly in
some language he didn't recognize.
Since having a coal fire in the middle of dry branches and
leaves had to be against fire regulations he decided to tell the kid off before
he headed for the parking lot. After all he was not on duty anymore. Since the
boy had not reacted to his not so silent approach through the bushes Lex
stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder, shaking softly.
“Hey what are you doing out here so late, kid?“
The boy's eyes snapped open at that, but Lex was shocked
that they glowed in a bright yellow light. He then spouted something in some
foreign language, his voice sounding weird.
Suddenly the clearing flared alight almost blinding Lex as
ribbons of multicolored light twirled about him. He was now standing in a ball
of radiant energy that seemed to encompass him completely. Due to the luminance
of the phenomenon surging about him, he could now make out details around
himself. Had he still been in command of his body he would have gasped when he
realized he was standing in the center of some kind of circular drawing on the
ground. He had seen something like it before and remembering this made his
primal flight instinct surge up, but he found himself suspended immobile above
an ugly black statue sitting dead center in the circle.
Time itself seemed to stretch out when reality collapsed
into a needle point which burned itself into Lex form with excruciating pain.
He felt as if part of his soul was ripped out of him and sucked into the ugly
maw of the bony lizard thing that was now looming over him. Then everything
went black.
--------------------------
“...ry.“ He could only stare at the kid in front of him.
The boy took a step back eying him up with a smirk. “So you
have done some shopping it seems, it looks cute on you, very feminine. I liked
you better in a skirt though.“
“You! You did this to me!“
The kid frowned then his expression brightened. “Now, now
congratulations! It seems you managed to retain some of your personality. Not
many people accomplish that. We will have to rectify this. I am sure you will
not mind much though, at least afterwards.“ His smile got very mean.
“What the hell are you talking about? You will turn
me back this instant!“ Lex was now working up some serious rage.
“Oh, I am afraid this would be a tremendously stupid idea.
Aside from the fact that you interfered in an important project of mine,
turning you back into your old self could only result in further complications
for my work.“
Lex was just about ready to jump him, when he noticed that
he could not. Just thinking about harming the pretentious little dweeb made his
muscles lock up.
Obviously amused by the look on Lex' face the young wizard
chuckled. „As you, without doubt, have noticed just now, there is no way you
can do me any harm I made sure of that. You may not have rationalized it, but I
own you, body and soul. You are only alive because it was after my fancy back
then. I could wipe out the pitiful remains of your self awareness within mere
moments, leaving nothing more than a pretty tool eager to be used. And a lot of
use you would see, looking like this. You would be quite popular I'm sure of
that. You have no allies left, you stand all alone facing 'The Warlock.“ His
laugh was positively evil now.
All Lex did see was a curved dagger in his own bloody hand.
<Never again... Never again... Never again... Never again... Never again...
> He did not even notice sinking down on his knees crying.
“Pathetic!“ The boy spat as he stepped past him.
--------------------------
Richard managed to keep up his forceful stride until he was
out of sight of the crying girl. Then he almost collapsed. How could this
possibly have happened. Removing his pants was all this fanny should have been
up to as soon as she set an eye on him, or any other male at that. Questioning
and accusing him, even making demands! That should have been impossible for
her.
He was once again grateful for Grandfathers lessons on
handling subordinates. 'Never show weakness.' 'As soon as they fear you, you
have won.' were some of the guidelines his mentor had considered paramount.
Contrary to what he had make her believe he had no quick
method for disposing of her or her remaining personality. But an uneducated
security goon would not know that. This should have bought him some time until
the spell either finished with her or he could make some arrangements for more
drastic measures to be taken. He felt uneasy at the idea, but if it turned out
to be unavoidable, he would take the necessary steps.
Maybe it was a moot point. There was a good chance that
tonights activities would solve the problem one way or another. Hopeful that
Simmons had finally vacated the room allowing Richard to do at least some
preliminary work he hurried towards Emmerson Cottage.
--------------------------
Lex did not remember how he had managed to get to Hawthorne
with his nightmares replaying themselves in his head over and over. Regardless,
there he was standing in front of Kathie's room.
The hallway was empty and the door was ajar. He knocked
softly but then went in without waiting for an answer in desperate need of a
friend to talk to. Kathie was not there, instead the room looked ravaged.
The garish curtain surrounding Kat's sleeping spot was
ripped down partly, revealing some kind of bathtub filled with a yellowish
fluid. Some of that stuff was forming a puddle next to the tub, one of her
slippers stuck in the thick goo. The small bookcase had been ripped halfway off
the wall, spilling its contents on the floor. Her desk was strewn with
electronics parts and measuring equipment, as if she had just gotten up from
work. Even the soldering gun was still plugged in. Her wardrobe stood open, some
pieces of clothing littering the floor in front of it.
It looked to Lex as if there had been a struggle before
someone had searched the room. He tried to figure out what had happened here
when he remembered a remark that snide little bastard had made. That he had 'no
allies left'.
Lex felt faint, that creep had found out about Kat and had
done something to the poor girl. He should never have involved her.
Friendless.
Helpless.
At the mercy of this insane kid.
<Not ever again!>
--------------------------
Lex lowered himself into the big metal tub this time
concentrating on the strangeness of the sensations to strengthen his resolve.
After soaking for a while he bowed over the rim of the tub, picking up the
hairdryer he had placed there before, methodically making sure that it was
plugged in.
<Not ever again!>
--------------------------
“Stop!“ Doctor Polland called.
Kathie looked up from the plexiglas box that had contained
fine iron dust a few moments earlier, desperately trying to stop whatever she
had been doing just now. All of the dust had coalesced in one corner of the
box, which was beginning to melt where the iron touched it. After she was sure
the iron did not heat up any more Kathie smiled weakly at the man in the white
lab coat.
“Sorry, I really tried.“
“I know Kathie. I just don't understand that you seem to
have no control at all.“ he soothed her. He was holding the box up to the
ceiling light with some kind of mitten, trying to shake loose the now solid
lump of iron from where it had melted into the casing. Realizing there was no
point he dumped the box back on the table and pulled the padded glove off.
“We have one more test for today, if you would come over
here?“ He led her over to a weird looking apparatus set against the wall. It
seemed to be connected to several measuring devices.
“Sit down here, please.“ He pointed at a chair in front of
the contraption. “Please grab that bar tightly with both hands and just relax.
We are only trying to get a few measurements.“
Kathie did as she was told. The Doctor flipped a few
switches and the machinery in front of her began to hum softly. After a few
seconds she could hear some clanking sounds in the distance and everything went
dark.
“Uh... was that me?“ She asked into the sudden silence.
--------------------------
Katsuo just managed to bring up his quarterstaff in time to
block the swing of the scythe like blade. His arms were trembling with the
effort when the undead abomination suddenly pulled back its weapon, ripping
splinters out of the oak wood with the notches in the rusty blade. Panting he
readied himself for the next attack, anxiously looking around for his
companions.
Cohan, their brutish warrior just split another of the
insane priest's creatures in half, using that impossibly huge ax of his,
oblivious to the young sage's plight. Onyx, the young wastrel they had picked
up in the last town hoping she would be able to do at least some of the things
she had claimed, vaulted over another one of the unholy constructs, avoiding
its blade narrowly. At least she seemed to make an effort to reach him in time.
Cyadne, their arcane spell caster, was nowhere to be seen, as usual.
Steeling himself for the next and probably last attack of
the animated pile of bones, Katsuo gripped his battered weapon tightly. The
undead warrior raised his sword for the finishing strike, when suddenly the
screen went black.
Katsuo would have blinked in confusion if he had still had
eyelids. He carefully moved the dented block of stainless steel that served as
his mouse over its locator plate, but nothing happened.
<Hmm looks like power went out. Figures.>
The others would probably make it through the battle without
him, Cohan alone most likely could. That guy's idea of roleplaying revolved
around quoting B-movies and bashing in heads. He was good at the second one
though, which was why he still traveled with them.
Standing up he went over to the door and tried the ceiling
light, but nothing happened. He was already getting bored. What wouldn't he
give to read a good book, but handling the pages had been out of the question
for a long time. He frowned down at the two sets of five-fingered claws that
could easily crumble a bowling ball each.
<There might be some warm water in the boiler if someone
left it on.> He exhaled heavily and went scavenging for a clean towel in the
pile of laundry gracing the corner of his room.
--------------------------
Lt. Forsyth was working on a report, savoring the Sunday
afternoon quiet, when the power went out banishing two hours worth of typing
into digital Nirvana. Cursing he got out of his chair just when the red
emergency lighting came on in the hallway outside his office. Ripping open the
office door and stepping into the hall he almost ran into an officer who had
been looking for him.
“Situation, Erickson?“
“Looks like main power went offline just now, Sir. Primary
security grid is down, but secondary took over. High threat areas went into
lockdown, but according to fire regulations all security doors in the staffed
areas unlocked automatically.“
The Lieutenant acknowledged the report with a curt nod.
“Good. I want squads two and three on guard duty in the most sensitive areas in
two man teams until we get this sorted out. Squad one on hold in case this is
some kind of diversion.“ Erickson hurried off.
<So much for 'Sunday afternoon quiet'....> The
Lieutenant smirked and went to get someone from the plant on the phone. He
needed answers.
--------------------------
Katsuo scratched his head, more from habit than that he
could actually feel it. Someone had used the tub again without cleaning it
afterwards. In itself this was not uncommon, sadly, but this person had left
their clothes behind. He carefully shoved the pile with his foot. It looked
like a white sweater, a pair of jeans and... girl's underwear. Reflexively
Katsuo jerked his foot back, shattering several floor tiles in the process.
<Aww, crap. Not good. Miss Cantrel will have a cow when
she sees this.> His attention was diverted from the damage though when he
noticed a black cord going over the tub's rim. Carefully pulling the thing out
of the tub, trying to avoid ripping the cord, he discovered that it belonged to
a very wet hairdryer.
<Why would someone drop a plugged in hairdryer into a
filled tub... oh.> Since he could not see any corpses floating in the water
it seemed nothing had really happened. At least it explained the power outage.
He would have to tell Miss Cantrel about it.
--------------------------
The lights in his office flickered on again as Lt. Forsyth
was about to leave the room. He had not been able to reach anyone since about
half the people on campus had obviously had the same idea.
<Very good, that was quick.> But when he looked over
towards sensor station most of the screens were dark. Erickson was sitting in
front of one of them typing frantically. Getting a bad feeling he went over to
see what was up.
“Situation?“
The electronics expert looked up from the computer screen,
appearing worried.
“Power is back on, sir. The backup grid went down as
intended, but the primary did not boot up again. I'm trying to figure out why.
The emergency system is up, but as you know this still leaves us mostly blind
and wide open.“
“Carry on and inform me as soon as you find something.“ The
Lieutenant returned to is office cursing his bad luck. The best thing he could
do now was letting the techs do their jobs.
<Better it happens now than in a real emergency
situation.> He sat down at his desk and started looking for the remains of
his report. He did not notice the very much naked and dripping wet girl
purposefully striding past his office.
--------------------------
Lex fumed. It was getting obvious that everyone was
conspiring against him. Whatever heavenly or hellish forces were guiding his
fate right now were obviously having a ball messing with him. He was angry at
that little shit for getting him into this, he was angry at his old man for
pushing him far enough to take this stupid job just to get away, he was angry
at God for creating things like magic and angry at engineers for creating
things like fuses. Most of all he was angry at himself for almost doing exactly
what this self appointed 'Warlock' wanted. He had crawled away into a corner to
die, letting that creep get away with it.
No longer. He would make that asshole face what it meant to
destroy a life. He needed something to do that though. This was the reason why
he was stomping through security headquarters right now. Strangely all doors
had been unlocked so far: The guards posted next to them instead didn't see him
so he had made good progress. Opening another unlocked door he went down the
stairs security staff used to get to the shooting range.
Entering the large room he headed straight for the weapons
locker, which unfortunately was still sealed.
<Now hopefully my access code still works.>
--------------------------
Lt. Forsyth had been able to recover most of his report, but
there was still a lot of work lost. He was just trying to remember what he had
written before, when Erickson knocked on his door. He just waved the man in.
“How is it?“
“Well, Sir, it seems there is some bug in the software that
locked up the primary security grid, when the secondary grid powered down. I
fear we will have to initialize the system in default configuration.“ The tech
obviously didn't like that idea.
“Meaning?“
“During the process the system will go into a neutral state,
meaning every single lock that belongs to the system will be released unless it
has special safeguards like the class X containment for example.“
“How long will this take?“ He glanced at his watch, but it
was still at least two hours until the Chief would show up. No way to get out
of the responsibility.
“About thirty seconds, Sir.“
Lt. Forsyth closed his eyes for a moment. A lot could happen
in thirty seconds, but he really had no choice.
Focusing on his subordinate again, he nodded. “Do it.“
--------------------------
Naturally those paranoid bastards had changed the codes
after he had 'resigned'. Lex stood in front of the locker frowning at the
keypad and wondered if a crowbar might do the trick when the LED on the pad
changed its color to green. He heard the safety bolts slide back and when he
turned the handle, the door came open easily.
“You have a twisted sense of humor. Anyone ever told you
this?“ he mumbled towards the reinforced concrete ceiling.
Looking through the locker's limited contents he choose a
Cobra 400 linear-induction projector. It was officially a non lethal weapon but
the ammunition capsules Lex picked from the locker had nothing to do with this
classification.
After loading the gun, Lex strode towards the exit. He was
determined to end this once and for all, but he had to make one more stop.
--------------------------
The wind had picked up a lot and a light drizzle was falling
already. The campus was mostly deserted now as Richard lugged his duffel bag
through the underbrush. Ignoring the wetness he began to unpack everything in
haste. The asbestos sheet had begun smoking a few minutes ago and the Chimera
was already steaming from the rain where it sat in the middle of the clearing.
He was just about to light the brazier when the sound of
snapping twigs behind him made him whirl around. Unbelieving he could only
stare. Standing there in nothing but her skin was the girl he had reduced to
tears a few hours ago, long, blond hair billowing in the wind behind her like a
pale golden cloak. Richard licked his lips. His small build and his dominant
personality had left him somewhat unversed in the girlfriend department and he
could not help but appreciate what he saw.
Clearly she had come to her senses at last showing up here
like this. Or she had lost them, depending on perspective. Then he noticed the
gun.
--------------------------
Lex looked the kid over that was standing in front of him.
Slightly wet, surprised and leering at his handiwork he seemed less impressive
than before. He decided to focus the creeps attention on more important things
by aiming the gun at the boy's forehead.
The young wizard groaned. “Have you still not realized that
you cannot harm me? You are becoming a nuisance slowly but surely.“
Ignoring the spoiled brat's comments Lex glared at him. “You
made a mistake, kid.“ He saw the boy flinch at that. “You intended to control
me and I will never let this happen again. You will have to face the music, I
made sure of that.“
With that Lex gathered her resolve, pointed the gun and
pulled the trigger. Any sensations after that were obliterated in the searing
pain as a projectile pierced her skull. All that followed after was stygian
blackness.
--------------------------
David bolted up from his place on the couch where he had sat
for the last hours trying to sort through obviously conflicting memories. Everything
had become clear suddenly as if someone had removed his blindfold, memories
falling into the place they belonged.
“Lex! Oh God how could I forget that!“
He grabbed his helmet from its hook as he raced for the
door.
--------------------------
Kathie slowly walked towards Hawthorne still grumpy about
the attitude some of the techs had shown. It wasn't her fault that their dumb
gizmo had drawn too much power. They had told her to relax and she had relaxed.
Even if their stupid reactor had shut down because of it there was no reason to
shout at her. Dr. Polland had been nice enough, but those other
jerks....
She really hoped Lex would be there. She needed someone to
talk to and there were only so many topics outside his stupid game you could
talk about with Katsuo. Maybe she should have left Lex a note about where she
had gone to, but she had been in an awful hurry. Groaning she remembered the
chaos she had left behind in her room. That would take some time to clean up.
She had to be more careful in case she happened to spill some of her 'sleeping
gel' again.
--------------------------
Lt. Forsyth clicked the safe button and relaxed. The only
thing worse than writing reports was having to write them twice. At least the
Security grid had come up again without a hitch. He closed his word processor
and was about to get up to get a follow up report from Erickson about the
software fault that had caused all this, when he noticed a manila envelope on
his desk. He was sure it hadn't been there five minutes ago. Curiously it
seemed to be one of his own envelopes judging from the preprinted sender
address.
Judging from its thickness it held only a few pages and on
turning it around he noticed a short message written on the back.
Dear Lt. Forsyth
I hereby want to inform you that my resignation letter was a
fake. I was magically assaulted by one of the students, who is naming himself
'Warlock'. I would ask you to detain this student until this matter can be
cleared up. I strongly suspect that he is a resident of Emmerson Cottage. You
will find my full report on last week's events inside this envelope. If you are
reading this I have been successful in breaking the enchantment placed upon me
to some extent, but the cost was probably severe.
Sincerely
Alexander Jenkins
<I should have called in sick.> he realized when he
opened the envelope, pulled out the report and started to read.
--------------------------
October 21st , Saturday
David squirmed in his rented suit trying to wipe the sweat
off his brow without being too obvious. The sun had decided to give another
display of strength this late in October despite the somber occasion. A large
flock of birds rushed past due south, flying so low that they were barely
avoiding the multicolored treetops. One could have taken this scene for a
cheerful late summer day in the park, if not for the more disturbing details.
There was a surprisingly large crowd gathering between the headstones of the
Waltham Calvary Cemetery under the cloudless blue autumn sky. Stepping back
from the reddish brown casket he had just helped bearing he discreetly looked
around the gathered mourners. He felt strangely detached from the ongoings
around him while he moved over to his spot next to his own parents.
There was Lex' Mother naturally, sitting on a chair in the
front row next to his sister Alice. Beatrix Jenkins appeared to be composed,
but knowing her rather well David recognized the hidden grief in the blue eyes
behind her veil. The way she did not look at the empty chair at her other side
seemed almost purposeful and the short glances Alice shot at it while almost
managing to suppress a scowl told volumes. Most people here knew of the
strained relationship between Father and Son, their final clash two years ago
had been rather... public. The absence would be duly discussed afterwards
though, Dave was sure of that. There were a lot uniformed people present, some
of which he himself had worked with at one time or another, but he was
surprised to spot Chief Delarose standing right behind Mrs. Jenkins.
His musings were interrupted when the Minister stepped in
front of the gathered crowd. The rather young priest adjusted his glasses in an
obviously unconscious gesture before he addressed the waiting friends and
relatives.
“We have gathered here today, to say goodbye to Alexander
Jenkins and lend support to his grieving family. He was a proud,
self-sufficient man, but he left us before his time...“
David stopped listening at this point. The young priest
meant well, but he had not known the man lying before them encased in boards of
cherrywood. Dave felt guilty that he could not seem to keep his mind on the
ceremony but those few fateful days kept replaying in his mind as they had done
during the last week. Still he was unable to find anything he could have done
to avert or undo what had happened to Lex. The whole situation had truly been
as fucked up as it could possibly be, and it still was.
The hand resting on his left arm suddenly clutched tighter
when the minister closed his rather short speech and turned around. He threw a
handful of soil on the casket while it was lowered into the grave.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we commend this body back to
the earth from which it came.“
David looked over at his companion. She stood rigid, her
right hand clasping his arm like a vise. The face behind the gauzy black veil
was a stony mask, but her composure was betrayed by the tears streaking down
her right cheek and the obvious dampness of the bandages covering her left eye.
Her good eye almost seemed to glow in the shadow cast by her wide brimmed hat.
The black suit she wore had a feminine cut and looked smart on her, but even
getting her into that had been difficult.
By now everyone was filing past the grave to pay respects to
the deceased and offer some hollow phrases to Mrs. Jenkins, who graciously
accepted them with a sad smile. Dave would probably have tried to avoid that
confrontation, but the flow of people drove them on inevitably. The young woman
on his arm did not quite manage to stifle a sob when they both looked down into
the grave. Then they stood face to face with Mrs. Jenkins.
“Hello David, I'm glad you could come.“ she smiled at him at
that. “And who is this gorgeous young Lady on your arm?“
If the death grip on his arm would get only slightly harder
he would have it in a cast before long.
“This is ... Susan, she is... a good friend of mine.“
Mrs. Jenkins shot a puzzled look at him, before turning on
her smile again and directing it towards 'Susan'. The young woman seemed
determined to memorize the position of every stone on the gravel walk they were
standing on.
“Did you know my husband? You seem rather touched by the
service. I'm sorry but I don't remember seeing you before.“
The young blonde brought up her head and looked at her
mother.
“No, I'm sorry I... ah... lost my father recently and...“
she trailed off.
“I understand and I am sure neither Alex nor your Father
would mind. Thank you for coming.“ Beatrix patted the distraught woman on the
shoulder her smile becoming compassionate, which curiously caused another bout
of tears from the girl. David quickly led his companion off towards the parking
lot. Looking back, he noticed Chief Delarose watching them from where he stood
talking to some of the higher ranking officials from the Boston PD. Dave just
hurried on.
His parents were waiting for them near their car. His Mom
was just done loading his Dad's wheelchair into the modified van. As soon as
she had them all inside, she climbed behind the wheel and drove off towards the
motel where he and 'Susan' had rented a room. All the while she gushed over the
fact how happy she was that her Davie had finally found someone special again,
as if they hadn't just been on the funeral of a close friend. It would have
been embarrassing if the young woman had really been his girlfriend but like
this it was easier to just let her prattle away. All his Dad contributed was a
knowing rueful smirk in his direction.
When they arrived at the motel David was glad they had to
check out soon, or they would have had to endure a lot more of this. He loved
his Mother dearly but her fixation on that special subject annoyed him to no
end, not even mentioning how guilty it made him feel. So they just said their
goodbyes and, after extorting the promise from them to call as soon as they got
safely back to Dunwich the two senior O'Brians left.
After the door to their room closed Lex collapsed on one of
the beds both hands covering her face, groaning softly. David sat down on the
bed next to her looking down on his friend.
“You OK?“
She took her hands down, now just staring at the ceiling.
“Yeah, I'll manage I guess. It was just a bit much, Dad....
and meeting Mom... you know, I never got to apologize. I swear if that creep
ever comes out of coma I'll put him right back in. Ah who am I kidding, it is
as much my own fault...“
“You know... you should tell her. Actually you already
should have told her. Not knowing causes her so much grief...“ The young woman
rolled over at that, facing away from him.
“Oh shut up! What is this? Psychology 101? As if one guilt
trip wasn't enough for one day. Did you really want me to walk up to her on the
fucking funeral of her husband and tell her 'Hi, it's me, Lex, I had an
involuntary sex change, hope you don't mind having two daughters now.'?“ She
was shaking softly after that, still not looking at Dave. He gripped her
shoulder talking silently.