This choice: Use another personality. • Go Back...Chapter #15The Fall Girl by: Seuzz   "No."
"But—"
"No."
"If we—"
"No."
Caleb sighs. "You really need to get over her."
"And I'm trying. How can I, though, if I've got her brain stuck in this new body we're making."
Caleb grumbles something that sounds like an acknowledgement. "Then who?"
You drum you fingers. The mask is ready—in fact, by forcing the golem to work nights too you've actually gotten a total of three polished blanks made by this point—so you suggest concentrating on getting the body images. "We'll worry about the personality after that."
* * * * *
A study date with Cassie Harper gets you her image inside one of your blanks; the next night Caleb is able to add Deanna Showalter. Eva is harder to get; she hasn't been to school in several days, and then even Jessica and Marc disappear for a stretch. When they return it's with shocking news: Eva has been put in a private hospital. Her siblings are close-mouthed, but the few people they share details with are not similarly shy about gossiping about what's going on:
Someone stole her credit card and driver's license and ran up huge bills on a shopping spree. That was bad enough, but one of the clerks at the department store remembered the shopper, and when Eva went in with her mother she asked Eva about the purchases and whether she was happy with them. One thing led to another; security footage was examined; and Eva's story of a "theft" exposed as a lie. After an awful series of confrontations with her parents, she broke down in hysterics and had to be taken to the emergency room. She is now in an institution that is something halfway between a treatment center for troubled youth and a lunatic asylum.
"We have to do something," you tell Caleb after third period. You've arranged to skip classes with him because you are so horrified by what has happened.
"What do you suggest," he says peevishly. "We can't confess to what we've done."
You fiddle with the metal band in your pocket; you'd brought it to school on the off chance that you could use it on someone. "We have to make it clear that Eva isn't crazy, that she's not responsible for what's going on."
"And how do we do that without confessing?"
You are thinking so hard and so quickly that you practically vibrate. You bounce on the balls of your feet and excitedly shake your finger in Caleb's face.
"Eva's locked away, right?" you say. He nods. "But what if she showed up at school. Nonchalantly. Came in for one period, emptied her locker, talked to a few people, and then left?"
"You mean bring the golem to school?" Caleb's eyes bulge.
"Just for one period. Dozens of eyewitnesses to spot a girl who looks and acts just like her. Hell, she can drop off the driver's license and credit card in the office before she leaves. The real Eva is locked away, so she has a total alibi. Everyone would have to know it was this weird-ass doppelganger who was doing all this shopping and stealing and shit."
Caleb licks his lips. "It's an awful risk."
"It's just a golem. We can make another. And before we send it in, we can order it not to say anything about us, in case it does get caught."
"It's still a horrible idea."
"We have to do something."
The familiar, odious voice speaks from behind you. "What you ladies have to do is get back to class."
You wheel. Lester the Molester smirks down at you.
You start to bolt, but he grabs you by the arm and twists it. You gasp. "Tch, tch," he says. "If you had muscles instead of Silly Putty in those biceps, Prescott, I couldn't do this, you know. Don't you try running off either, Johansson."
Something in you explodes, and you swing your free hand at him. You're vaguely aware that you're holding something in it, so you flub the attempt to make a fist. Lester doesn't even flinch. There is a weak but satisfying smack as your open palm connects with the side of his head ...
... and the smile still plays on his face as he sinks to the ground in a daze.
"Jesus, we're gonna have to get to Mexico before he comes to," Caleb gasps. "Come on."
"Hang on," you shout. "I hit him with the mind band. I didn't mean to, but—"
"The hell?!"
"I had it my hand when I swung. I didn't realize it, I was just trying to slug him. We gotta wait for it to come back."
Caleb bounces nervously on his feet—and so do you—until the band reappears on his face. He's still in a daze as you snatch it up and run off. It seems best to ditch the rest of the day, and you do.
* * * * *
It's the start of a chain of disasters. After more argumentation, Caleb gives in and you send the golem to the school to clean out Eva's locker. It doesn't return. Some discreet post-school phone calls tell you what happened: She was spotted by Marc and Jessica and then detained at the office (probably on a pretext) until the police arrived; cell phones, Twitter, and Facebook are in an uproar over the amazing resemblance between the real Eva and the strange girl who was carrying her stuff and talking just like her.
"We have to do something," you tell Caleb in the clubhouse.
"That's how we got into this mess!" he explodes. "Those are the exact same fucking words you used, too!"
"But it's not safe leaving her—it—in the hands of the cops!"
"You ordered her not to say anything, right? Not to tell anyone about us!"
"Yeah, but who knows what she—it—might let slip."
Caleb slaps his forehead. "You should have thought of that before sending it to the school. In fact, you moron, that's exactly what I thought and exactly what I said, and you still insisted on sending it!"
"Okay, you were right! So we have to undo my boneheaded plan!"
"With one that's even more boneheaded? Leave well enough alone. Besides, how are you going to get her out?"
You look around and start pacing. Gradually an idea starts nibbling at you, phantom memories from the mind bands you'd swiped off those administrators. You stop and stare at the old library catalog where you've stored them. "Lavelett," you say. Caleb looks puzzled. "Paul Lavelett. The Social Security administrator. He knows the police chief. He can call him, find out where the girl's being held."
"What are you babbling about?"
"I'll put on the mind band, call the chief—"
"You don't have his voice."
"I'll say I have a cold. I'll find out where she is. I can even say that I've got info on her."
"They're not just going to let her go because some asshole calls in—"
"No, here, I'll tell them that I think I know who she is, that I've got a ... a neighbor or a nephew who can ID her, that I'm sending the guy over to have a look and a talk with her."
"Shit, you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting."
"Then I go over, see her alone. Take the mask off her and leave. All that's left is a pile of clay and a really kooky mystery."
Caleb buries his face in his hands. A long argument ensues, at the end of which ...  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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