The man walks into the family living room. The T.V. is on, but the sound is turned off. The screen displays static from a channel that has no signal from a station. The man rubs his eyes. It has been a long day and he has to make his report. He sits down in the recliner. On the table next to him are the objects he needs. The case with the drugs and the strong syringes….the remote control for the V.C.R…..and the end of the long, golden chain…which will be more than sufficient to hold him in place and silence him when his task is done. He loosens and takes off his tie..crimson in color..and tosses it to the grouind. It will have to be soon, he thinks. He whistles and the family dog appears. A little retriever. It stays at his feet, trained to wait until its time. The man smiles, and grasps the remote. The tape is already in place…the one with the trump at a certain part. He pressses play…and the film shows an old gypsy woman placing cards on a table before Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf man. The man smiles at the irony of where the trump is placed. She flips the card and for a moment, the black and white screen is bathed in color. Thats when the pause button is enacted. Instead of the death card, there is another there. The face of a man whose skin is blue…white hair billowing behind him..and a green energy grid floating in a multi colored sky above him. The man concentrates on the blue face, and after a few moments, that face comes to life. The hair is tied back and he's wearing a silver shirt..otherwise everything else is the same. He looks intently at the caller and begins to speak.
"Report, Acantha. I need to know your progress."
The man shuiffles in his seat before he speaks. He opens the syringe box and begins preparing his dosage as he talks.
"I have succeeded in convincing him of the importance of his studies in our areas. He is still highly independent..but…his need to escape his present condition has fueled the insistency of some form of escape..any escape. It should be very soon now. "
"That is sufficent for now. But our sources show that his mother is due for a visit soon. It must be done within the next 3 days. If he has not shown the ability by then..we must take our own steps to convince him. "
The man called Acantha places the tip of the syringe in the bottle..turns it upside down and begins to flick the sides, sending the air bubbles back up and out. When its sufficently cleared, he pulls it back out and rolls up his sleeve…plunging the needle into the large vein on his arm. The drug will take affect in a few moments. He places the shackle from the golden chain on his arm.
"And if he can't be convinced?"
"Then he must be killed. He is too intelligent to be allowed to continue breathing if he can't come to the conclusions we want him to have. He will either be our puppet..or no one's puppet."
The man feels slightly woozy..the drug is already kicking in. He whistles and the small dog jumps on his lap and begins licking his hands.
"I will convince him..or he will die. Understood."
"Very good. I will expect your call in 4 days. Now get going..you look exhausted . Until then."
The blue man fades, and the black and white woman reappears on the screen. The man looks down at the dog..gently petting its head and looking into its eyes. As he finally drifts away, he stiffens for a moment…and then collapses back in the chair. The dog looks at him intently…tilts its head slightly to the right… then gingerly steps down from the chair and slowly waks to the nearby stairs. Giving one last look to the now comatose man….it then hops up the stairs to the nearest bedroom…
*
"Why would you want to be anyone else but you?" the boy with the wild red hair is sitting by the tree, looking at the young girl with pale skin, dark hair and the reddest shoes he's ever seen.
"Cause. It would be fun. I mean..haven't you wondered..what it would be like..to be different? You know… taller or smaller..faster or slower…younger or older?"
The boy shakes his head. He has wondered..but he's not sure he should let her know that.
"Not younger..never younger. I mean..why would you want to change yourself? You are perfect."
The girl smiles at the compliment.
"Maybe not forever…I mean..just for a little while. To fly like a bird…or run like a cheetah. To walk into a movie and not show Id…just for a little while would be fun."
"So you're not talking about just pretending..like for Halloween or some kind of game. You really want to …be something else? Rose..that sounds crazy."
"Xander….some of the best things in life started out as crazy ideas. People flying..going to the moon..or underwater. All those sounded crazy til someone did it."
"You are right about that. But what you are suggesting..its like wishing or magic. It doesn't make sense."
Xander was hoping that he sounded convincing enough. What she as suggesting did make sense to him. He just wasn't sure how to go about it. He had learned a while back how to dominate certain life forms…and how magic works and that a lot depends on what shadow you are in. And he had spent almost the entire year wishing to be able to be anyone else but himself..so he could know what its like to have a regular family and no cares. He just didnt want Rose to know that. He didnt want to show any imperfections to his friend.
"What does make sense, Xander? Our lives don't. We are far smarter than any one teacher in this school..yet our behavior and actions..even how we dress..is dictated by them. Is that fair? No way!! Look..lets try it..lets see if we can get past that fence somehow."
She points to the high chainlink fence surrounding the schoolyard. Shining in the afternoon light..with sharp barbed wire crowning it. Trees flayed their arms over its height..but the branches were far too thin to hold either of their weight.
"Good luck on that one, Rose."
"No, Xander. I know I can do this. And…if it works..I want you to try it too. What do you say?"
Xander smiles as he thinks of her propositon. Its not going to work, but he knows that Rose is serious about this. He nods his head in acceptance.
"Great!! Now lets see..oh,.theres one!!"
She looks over by the tree..and out pops a chipmunk. It titters slightly at Rose..and looks at Xander for a moment. Xander notices the cold blankness of the animals eyes. This is not a cartoon.
"Okay, Mr. Chipmunk..come here. Look at me. This won't hurt a bit. That's right. "
Xander notices that Rose is concentrating. He's seen her concentrate before..while she's reading or working on a problem. Now she's focusing her intellect on the animal. And in the animal.
"I'm using my mind, Xander. I'm focusing my intellect on its intellect. I'm willing myself to be in its mind..and I'm willing what I am to be what it is. Finely tuning..focusing…getting smaller..keep thinking..keep.."
Something happens then, There is no outward discharge that Xander can see..but he does almost feel the exchange in the air. He senses some form of energy..and Rose stiffens and collapses in a heap. Xander rushes to her, taking her wrist to feel a pulse, checking her eyes to see what has happened. Her life signs are stable..but she s not there. What makes Rose herself..is gone.
"Rose!! Wake up!! Please wake up!!"
Its then that Xander notices the chipmunk. Its no longer sitting on its haunches. Its standing on its two tiny feet, its arms crossed and almost looking like its smiling. He hears a chittering laugh….and then an impossibly squeaky voice says..
"Wow, Xander..I didn't know you cared!! Isn't this great!! It worked!!"
The chipmink starts darting around…moving so fast that Xander has trouble keeping up with its movements. After a minute or so…it stops and goes over to him.
"Rose!! Stop this! Go back..to what you are!! You don't know..this is crazy..this could be permanent for all you know. Come back here to me, please."
"Oh, alright. But this is such a rush. You should try it. Xander. Really."
Xander was not expecting her to be successful. After all, she's just a shadow dweller and the mana level on Earth isn't that high. But the evidence is right here. So..he watches her closely this time..and when the chipmunk positions itself, he casts magesight on himself so that he can see exactly what occurs.
He can see her mind focusing, sees how she builds the energy and how she enables the "possession"..and then he sees a lithe form step out from the chipmink. Its Rose..but not the Rose he knows. She is an adult..and beautiful…long flowing hair and the body of a full grown woman. He seems mesmerized by her brief appearance…or maybe just surprised. Why doesn't her mind appear like her body does? Why is she an adult, mentally?
"Xander!! Whats happened?/ Rose!! What happened, Xander?"
Leave it to Miss Willows to interrupt. The instructor is running up to Xander and Rose's prone body. Xander quickly shuts off the magesight as she approaches and puts on his act.
"We were playing and she fell. I'm not sure what's wrong. Is she sick?"
Miss Willows does the same thing that Xander did, checking her pulse and eyes. She reaches for her cel phone and calls the school nurse to come outside. She places her hand on Rose's forehead, and when she removes it..Xander can see Rose's eyes flutter open. He breathes an inward sigh of relief.
"Rose, are you alright?" Miss Willows asks.
"I'm…I felt dizzy, Miss willows. Can I go inside? "
"We're going to take you to the infirmarry. We'll have Miss Lake check on you more thoroughly before we call your parents. Xander…you come inside too. Recess is over."
Miss Willows picks up Rose and begins walking inside. Rose peaks over Miss Willow's shoulder at Xander following them and looks into his eyes. He can almost hear her say that it worked, and that he should try it now. Then she gives him a wink and closes her eyes again. Xander still follows, silently..but his mind is racing now with possibilities.
And behind the three…unnoticed by them..a chipmink lies twitching and then falls silent. Dead from some kind of fright.