This choice: Copy Alyssa for yourself • Go Back...Chapter #30Last Days at Westside by: Seuzz   "You just keep Alyssa's place warm for me," you say. "She's worth taking, isn't she?"
She gets a sly look. "I'm not sure how to answer that. I kind of like her."
"So, is it my imagination, or does she have a thing for me?"
"Not the way you're hoping," she giggles. "Scuttlebutt says Steve Patterson need taming." She draws a finger down your chest. "And she thinks she's just the one to tame him."
"Not likely. Is there a fuck room at Westside? You know, where guys like me can score on campus?"
She makes a face, then catches herself. "That's Alyssa talking," she mutters. "Yeah, kind of, but it's for losers. Just a janitor's closet where guys can sneak in for a quick blow job."
You grunt. "We'll have to fix that after I've got a full crew in place. Who would you recommend?"
"I'll think through the possibilities," she says. "Come on, we should go back before anyone comes looking for us." As she passes, you cup her buttocks with an appreciative hand.
The rest of the party is kind of boring, but it passes well enough. It ends with you and Ian and Alyssa alone back in the bedroom, where you raise a trio of glasses. "Here's to new situations," you say, and settle a glinting eye on Ian. "We're gonna make great partners." Alyssa laughs, which elicits a puzzled glance from Ian. Well, let him wonder what you mean ...
* * * * *
"There you are!" Keith glares at you sourly as you saunter into Blackwell's library on Sunday afternoon. "Fuck, man, you gotta help me with Gordon."
"I told you, we're not speaking." You hook the leg of a chair with your foot and pull it out before dropping into it heavily. You lean back with your hands clasped behind your head. "Get him yourself."
"He won't hang out with me. He totally ignored me at the party last night. You know what he's like. It's just the two of you in your own private club."
"And Lynch." You snort: Lynch is a loser, and it baffles you that Gordon has the time of day for him. "Use one of those anima bands to capture him. Or, I dunno, use it on Kendra like you were talking about, and use her to get to Chelsea. You've got options."
Keith starts to argue again, but Caleb interrupts him. "We have other business we have to discuss." He sits down heavily and folds his hands. "We had visitors at the villa last night."
"Why are you all done up like that fat old fucker," Keith asks.
"To preserve the illusion that the owner is still in residence," Caleb patiently replies. "To better preserve the illusion, I should have you strapping young men doing some yard work for me, but I know it would be pointless to ask."
"Who were these visitors?" you ask.
"I wish I knew. It was last night, before I retired. The gwacharweid caught trespassers outside. I heard shouts. They must have excited the beast, for it became quite violent. This morning I found that several outside windows had been destroyed."
"Jesus." You glance over at the vampire cyclops-monkey, grinning in its alcove. You shift uneasily. "That thing is trouble."
"I don't sleep well in this house, but I do sleep better for knowing it is watching over things," Caleb replies. "But a move might behoove us. I have already recruited a student to help me scout out alternative abodes."
"Speak English, can't you," Keith says.
"I'll wait for the young lady in question to explain things. She will be along shortly."
"A girl, huh?" Keith waggles his eyebrows. "Hot?"
"Quite cool and damp, actually," Caleb replies. "You will be even less pleased when I tell you that it is your anima band sitting inside her.
You talk a little more about plans--Caleb has three new masks made up, which the golems should have finished polishing by Tuesday--until the girl shows up. Her name is Melody Weiss, and true to Caleb's description, she is very plain and pinched in the face. She is rather sulky, too--the Keith-personality sitting inside her doesn't like its situation--and Keith himself watches her with evident distaste. Caleb has asked her to scout out possible faculty acquisitions, and she rattles off a list, but none of the names mean anything to you.
"If you're not going to use that blank mask you're hoarding," you say to Caleb when a moment offers itself, "how about letting me have it? I got a use for it."
"Why can't I have it?" Keith asks.
You start to argue with him, and your voices rise as you try to shout over each other, until Caleb raises a hand. "The smart thing would be for me to keep it, to keep you two from fighting over it. But I'll give it to you, Will." You smirk as Keith frowns fiercely. "In the meantime," he continues as he hands the three new blank masks to Keith, "you can take these to school and give them to the golems. When they're done, you can take one and I'll take two."
"But why does Will get that one of yours now?" Keith insists.
"Because I assume he's trying to get into Eastman, and he needs a mask for that," Caleb says. "And since you're still at Westside, you'll be getting the new blanks from the golems as soon as they're done."
Keith still grumbles, and is in such a bad mood that he grabs up the new batch of masks and exits early. "Guy's stepping on my last nerve," you say after he's gone.
"Have you used his anima band on anyone?"
"No, I'm going to try not to. I've got your band on someone, though."
"May I ask who?"
"An Eastman cheerleader. Hot. And black."
"Mmm. Transgressive." He smiles faintly. "Still, however much Keith annoys you, we should all try to remain friendly. After all, he has our placeholders in his care."
You don't ask what that means, and it's not until you after you've left that the insinuated meaning sinks in: The golems of Will Prescott, Caleb Johansson, and Keith Tilley are at Westside with him, and the golem of yourself is actually under his control. He has already complained about not having enough masks. If he wanted to get rid of your placeholders, he could.
* * * * *
Still, the problem is only theoretical, and you doubt Keith will actually do anything so stupid as to arrange for "accidents" to befall the fake Will Prescott, Caleb Johansson, and Keith Tilley. And right now you've got a blank mask burning a hole in your pocket.
After toying with the idea of using it on Ian, you decide to use it on Alyssa instead, calling her up and arranging a meeting; and for old times' sake you choose the Westside fuck room as the rendezvous point. To your dismay, though, you find the door unlocked when you arrive. Gordon glares up at you as you enter, and Lynch grins smugly. "You've got your fucking nerve," Gordon growls.
"I still have a week here," you retort. "We should try to get along."
"You're not coming to practice anymore," he declares. "And give back your key to this place." His eye falls upon Alyssa, who has peeked around the corner into the room. "Jesus."
"Give us a moment alone, will you, Lynch?" you say.
"Nah, I wanna watch," he chortles.
"I'll wait down in the gym," Alyssa says. "It'll be lonely," she adds, and you note that she's giving Lynch a come-hither look. Good girl, you think. After she ducks out, Lynch glances between you and the door, and then springs to his feet and follows her out.
"Okay, Gordon," you shrug after he's gone. "You don't want me at practice, I get it. That's fine. I'll just head over to Eastman after classes, practice with them." He curses. "I guess we're gonna be rivals now, but it doesn't have to be ugly."
"It can be as ugly as you want it to be, you fucker."
You unsling the workout bag from your shoulder, dropping it to the floor. He leaps to his feet--apparently either expecting or wanting a fight--and you raise your palms. "No, it'll be as ugly as you want it. We'll be at separate schools, but we don't have to be on different teams."
That catches his attention. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I can give a hundred percent when playing against other schools. Against Westside? Maybe less?"
He stares. "That's the most fucked up thing I've ever heard."
"I'm just trying to make it easy." You suddenly feel very weary of his company. Even though you plan on completing your move into Eastman this evening, through Alyssa--and even though you know that Gordon will not be himself much longer--you spitefully feel the desire to take Gordon out yourself. Now.
You can get another mask pretty soon. It might also stand you in good stead with Keith if you used this opportunity to snag Gordon for him.
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