Chapter #62The Kimquisition by: rugal b.   "You want to know what's happening with me?" you ask as you shift nervously. You try to deflect. "Nothing's happening, just what I told you before." You begin to contemplate the mask in the bag. All you need to do is take it out and everything is fixed. Nothing to worry about.
"Please don't talk to me like I'm dumb," she says with more force than you'd have expected as she releases you.
"Sorry," you apologize, "it's just..."
"It's just what?" she asks with concern showing on her face. "If there's something going on I want you to tell me, you know I'm here to help. You just have to tell me the truth. What's going on?"
You reach into the bag and feel around. Your fingers find the cold, smooth surface. Just take the mask out and shove it onto her face before she can do anything. Then everything will be done, just like you said it would. Just like you told Caleb. Just like you told yourself. Your fingers grasp the mask tightly. You take one last look at Kim...
And your grip loosens. You can't do it. You look at her and the concern she's showing and your resolve melts away. You're actually touched by it even though you're sure she'd show the same concern for any other student. But that just makes what you were about to do even worse doesn't it? Because Kim is far too nice, far too sweet, for you to just shove under a mask so you can steal her life. So you walk over to the bed, set the bag on the floor and sit down.
"First, can you promise that everything I tell you stays between us?" you ask.
"Of course," she answers.
"Okay, and I want you to keep an open mind too because everything I'm going to tell you is one hundred percent true."
"I've heard a lot of wild things about what some students get up to," she says, "so I don't really know what you could say that I wouldn't believe." She takes a seat next you, turned just a bit to face you and places her hands in her lap. It's like she's going to play the part of the little girl waiting patiently, though with some undisguised eagerness.
So you launch into the whole long, sordid and complicated tale. A story so winding, twisting this way and that, that even you get confused and have to backtrack on more than one occasion. But you've still got the basic framework though: finding the book and using it, swapping with Caleb for fun and the trouble he got you into with Chelsea and Gordon. There's your identity being forced on Gordon -- and you emphasize that it's been him the whole time because you haven't been yourself really for a good week or two as you've lost track of time -- and the myriad of body jumping that left you getting tangled up with the sophomores and having to help them get their friend back thanks to your mistake and the drug dealers and...
You're exhausted by the end of it. Kim just watches you intently the entire time, nodding and making noises to let you know she's paying attention.
"So that's where everything stands," you finish up as you take the mask out of the bag and set it down between the both of you. "This is what's gotten me into so much trouble." You then launch into an explanation of just how the masks work as well as the different spells you've found in the book.
Kim picks the mask up and examines it carefully. You fight down the urge to smush it onto her face. "It's definitely hard to believe any of that's real. It sounds like something out of some old pulp novel; Will Prescott and Book of Masks," she says as she looks up at you with a smile. "But you're not really someone who tells tall tales either," she adds.
"I always sucked at the creative writing assignments," you say.
Kim laughs a little bit at that. "You were never any good at them from what I remember," she states. "And when I look at the way that, quote-unquote, you've been acting or what's happened to Gordon it becomes more believable. Gordon's actions make a lot more sense if it's really Dane impersonating him."
She takes another look at the mask and then sets it back down on the bed. "You were going to use this on me, weren't you?" she asks.
"I came this close to doing it, Kim. I'm really sorry," you say with contrition.
"Don't be," she states and you're struck by the warmness of her tone. "I mean it is partly your fault you're in this situation in the first place but not wholly. And you need to be someone. I guess I should feel flattered that you thought my life was good enough to steal," she laughs. "So where's the book now?"
"I don't have it," you tell her. "Bhodi, uh one of the sophomore guys that I helped, he's holding onto it right now. Lindsay's demanding it though, probably so she can burn it or something."
"I can understand why she'd want to get rid of it although it does seem like a waste to just destroy something like that."
"Well, the knowledge wouldn't be lost. Not all of it anyway," you explain. "I was able to copy out the spells that we'd made it up to. We'd still be able to use them."
"Mhm," Kim replies absentmindedly as she looks once more at the mask. "More importantly we need to get you out of here and back into school."
"School? I'm not really concerned about my education right now."
"Well, that's important too but I mean for your own sake," she says as she looks back at you, her eyes filled once more with sympathy and concern. "You can't really stay cooped up in here, you'll go crazy. The fact you were going to use this on me is proof enough. It means that you realize it as well."
"That's true, but," you say as you yourself look down at the mask, "I don't think you're going to want me using that to just... replace someone else. You know, steal their life."
"I'd rather note if I can help it," she replies as she makes a face. "But if there's no other way I'll find someone at school for you to be for a little bit until we can figure out something better. Not like you can copy someone who doesn't exist."
Copy someone who doesn't exist? Of course! There's a way around it that might be much more palatable to her. "Well we can't do that exactly but there might be something we can try," you tell her. "Because the way these things work, you have to use that sealant that I mentioned from one of the spells. If you put it on someone without sealing it then it's just going to copy them too."
"So it would just make some kind of composite person based on everyone it copied before it was sealed?" she asks.
"That's the idea I think."
"I see, that's definitely way better morally," Kim states as she looks to be focusing. "But then if someone doesn't exist how are we going to get them into school? They won't have any records. You can help out around here and we can pay you under the table so you'd have money but everything else would be hard."
Suddenly her eyes go wide and she stands up. "Jeez, I didn't mean to step away for this long!" she exclaims. "I'm sorry Will but I have to get back to work. But can we meet back in here around noon tomorrow?"
"Us?"
"And Caleb and any of those sophomores too if they can make it," she tells you. "It'd probably be good if everyone was on the same page."
With that she starts to leave but having forgotten something you suddenly remember it and call out to her, stopping her. "Hey, um, so what did 'we' do on Saturday?" you ask. "You said we had fun."
Kim thinks about it for a moment before giving you a sly smile. "That'll be my secret," she says coyly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Will."
* * * * *
"I can't believe she's on board," Caleb says with enthusiasm. "I mean it's lame that you pussed out and had second thoughts again but at least this time it was a boon."
You'd had him take you over to Starbucks but put off mentioning anything about how it had gone to him until, as you're now going back to the Donna, you were finally able to work up the nerve to tell him. All he'd known is that the switch hadn't happened given that you were still you.
"Can't believe she's going to help you like that too."
"So you're coming tomorrow right?" you ask.
"Sure," he answers, "and I'll tell the guys too. That probably means Paulina's coming out as well. I'll tell them not to tell Lindsay."
"She should probably know what's going on," you say.
"She thinks the book's evil, she wouldn't be down for it," he counters. "Jesus himself could tell her he needed the book and she'd spit in his face I think. For an annoying little hobgoblin I'm kind of impressed by how willful she is."
"Maybe I should just take her on as my identity."
"Don't even joke about that," he states.
"Who said I was joking?" you respond. "I need a new place and it gets her out of the way. Two birds with one stone." You let out a long, tired sigh though. "But it's not going to be her. Ideally I'd like to stay in the senior class, maybe junior."
You don't say much more from that point until you get back to the Donna. You lock the door to your room behind you and flop onto the bed. Tomorrow's going to be a big day and you're going to have to make a big decision. One that you can't flip-flop on this time.  | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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