MIND CONTROL 148964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡYll1ycQYCZ 維尼
A short story by Alvin Atwater8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡLH0QvCfLHp 維尼
Continued a few weeks after story 13…8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUSGsFAM24 維尼
Demand, Love, Kindness, and Hate. These are the four legal Iyan gemstones that Gemini barged into my life some time ago. Hero, Seduction, Evil, and Colorless are the illegal gems that were created way back when in secret, supposedly with a purpose to combat the main four. Or evil Iyan dictators. The creator of the gems is supposedly someone or something named Gonto…The World’s Eraser. This is all utter nonsense, so let’s just ignore all of that. It was some dude hundreds or thousands of years ago, end of story. In other words, I’ll cross the bridge when I get there. It took some hard convincing to get the Black Star group to just let me be—I needed time to think. They vanished for the time being with a silent promise to return.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYGXwounrz 維尼
Gemini attempted to embarrass me. She held a chocolate cherry to my lips in hopes of feeding me in front of the entire club. Never mind the project Kate assigned us while she put the most difficult case on hold. Everyone’s eyes were on us, some grins, awes, marriage jokes, and somewhere among the crowd, I heard, “Gemini and Matt sitting in a tree.” I wanted to find that guy and just drag his face through some mud.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡwE7IpClAus 維尼
“For the last time, Gemini, I—” the whisper didn’t finish because my mouth was wide enough for her to shove the candy in. It actually wasn’t that bad, a little sugary for my tastes—hey! The club cheered, Gemini grinned, and I finished chewing the chocolate before glaring. PDA is embarrassing to me and Gemini knew it. That’s why she couldn’t stop.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0UtjLcK3p 維尼
“Your blush is so adorable,” she said, her voice squealing at the end. I wanted to look at the sky and scream, “what has science doneeee? Or kill me nowww.” Instead, I endured the abuse. This was better than being controlled by Iyan gemstones.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5kfWQN1g3 維尼
Brandon looked happy, chatting up a storm with Rachael. They’ve got into some kind of weird trading card game lately, based off a famous show, and wouldn’t shut up about it.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VomofnjPI 維尼
“Can we just focus on the assignment,” I said to my group. Gemini kissed me, igniting the cheers and the tree guy again. Before things could escalate any further, Kate finally returned. I’ve never been so happy to see our sadistic twat of a president. The cheers vanished as others twirled back to their work, unwilling to invoke the wrath of Kate. She came over to our table.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWLxu21fdm 維尼
“So, what can you tell me about it?” she said. “Any fancy magic tricks?”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOSGWFY3Nz 維尼
I glanced at the plastic elephant statue resting on the center of the table. It was about six inches tall, standing on two legs, wearing a gold fedora, ripped with muscle, and painted in a way that looked as if it was made of stars.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡLi91Cn2vi1 維尼
“We really didn’t get much done,” I said. “You leaving is like a teacher stepping out. The class or in this case, club, start acting like monkeys.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡjawQI5waqU 維尼
Kate sighed. “Well, don’t just sit there, get to work, research it. It was found in the latest Iyan burial site.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6wEV2Z66SR 維尼
“We really should stop disturbing their tombs,” I said in an even tone, while shooting a blank glare at her. Kate poked my cheek.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡRenm1ejn6O 維尼
“You let the archaeology club do their jobs, lover boy,” she said. “Club funding doesn’t come cheap.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0k5BZ0H5ta 維尼
Of course club funding is the goal... I didn’t bother arguing any further, reaching for the stupid elephant thing. Gemini swiped it just a millisecond before I got my hands on it. Perfect. I knew she’d fall into my trap—there’s no one better…that thought froze. Oh god. Gemini with an Iyan object is bad for me. She was getting antsy again, despite how much fun our dates surprisingly were… Okay, maybe not surprising since we’ve known each other since childhood. But details aside, she showed signs of wanting to use Iyan magic on me again like the “good” ole days. I had other ideas in mind—and that didn’t involve getting tortured by the monstrosities.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgeq3tRA0U 維尼
I held my breath in anticipation but nothing happened.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNWgLYWmfZ 維尼
“Anything special about it?” Rachael asked her.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTaDn7Zy4a 維尼
Gemini shook the statue. “Nope, nothing.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡtT5wHwB5kd 維尼
My phone buzzed. I checked the notification, while silently commending myself for not forgetting my phone today. “Oh nice, the next episode of Dragon Ball...” I paused at my group’s blank glares. “Never mind.” I fake-coughed and then cleared my throat. A knock on the door grabbed everyone’s attention. Kate walked over to answer.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8mcNFNMrp 維尼
“We’re not allowed to lock the doors,” she muttered. “Idiots.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqkrIhr9NO 維尼
When she opened the door, Kate nearly leapt out of her skin, yelping at the sight of a clown.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡUic2XJQf2t 維尼
The clown sighed. “Well look at Ms. Sun revolves around her. We knocked because we didn’t want to interrupt a club meeting. It’s called being polite.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIPIh6by85 維尼
Kate flushed with a mix of anger and embarrassment. “Come right in. How can we help...you?” I could tell she held back the words she wanted to say to that guy. Following the clown, a group of…normal people walked in.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡDf6NUFCENy 維尼
“We’re the comedy club,” the clown said. “You can call me Marley. We’re inviting all clubs to watch our show tomorrow—but hearing all the awesome things you guys did, came to personally invite you to the front row VIP seats. And free refreshments. Normally the teachers charge but—” One of his club members interrupted him.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9vDPcgkTf 維尼
“Yo homie, I forgot to give this back to you,” he said to Brandon, giving knuckle-taps, a handshake and then a folder. “My girl appreciates your study guide.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0peMzTScp 維尼
“It’s not a problem,” Brandon replied. “Tell Melissa I said thanks for trading shifts with me Wednesday.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡN79EsxnXcl 維尼
Marley cleared his throat.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡsh7YZo5OL8 維尼
“Sorry,” both Brandon and the club member said.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEi1gAQYl4 維尼
“Since you’re already talking, introduce yourself.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡsASd6RkiQ4 維尼
“I’m Jamal,” he said. “I’ll be the third act tomorrow.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡhovB9VO0nh 維尼
“Anyway,” Marley said. “Hope to see you tomorrow. This will be my last show, since I’m graduating this year.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJhOuvxf6r 維尼
My breath caught a little as the realization of this guy being a senior struck. Seniors are evil. I know I said it before, but let it be clear: seniors are spawns of pure evil. Did I have the right to be suspicious of this random clown? Yes. Oh well, it’s just a comedy show. What’s the worst that could happen?8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42uUnT8CZG 維尼
When the comedy club left, Kate barked at us. “Get back to work. I expect doubled efforts and investigations.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRhRYOcktp 維尼
Nothing productive happened afterwards. Gemini gave up on tinkering with the dumb elephant statue and resumed teasing me. Rachael and Brandon went back into their little world of geeky card games and Michael Bay movies. All seemed right…yeah. After an hour, Kate ended the meeting.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡBom2a0x4GB 維尼
“Let’s get out of here,” I told my in-heat girlfriend. She grabbed the elephant statue and we were off. “Are you really going to keep that?” I asked Gemini halfway through the walk.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbn2kJHxFz 維尼
“It’s cute,” she said. She snuggled it against my cheek, triggering my blank glare defense. She laughed. “Come on, you know it’s adorable.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmpaN1JApi 維尼
“That thing is what Dumbo would look like on roids,” I said. Gemini laughed again.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqb1oPYaVp 維尼
After dropping her off, I dragged feet home. Uncle wasn’t there as usual, but surprisingly he cooked, according to the note left on the fridge. I peeked inside and smiled. Yes! Uncle’s spaghetti was like a gift from God. I checked for other notes to make sure this wasn’t a trap for chores late down the line. Nothing. I reheated the pot of gold, turned on Unsolved Mysterious, and sat, relaxed. Not even a minute passed by when I heard knocking on the door. Could Uncle be back? Nah, he has key, he can get in. I placed the TV on mute and ate my food in silence. The second round of knocking sounded. Ignoring it, I returned a text to Gemini.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyJNpIAxiU 維尼
“Matt, I know you’re home. Come on, open up.” That voice. What was she doing here? I looked at the time. Seven. The sun dipped below the horizon, allowing the hue of night to take over. I opened the door. “You know the rules. No student interactions on my off time, besides my girlfriend.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ozXM1dpiy 維尼
“Whatever, stud,” Chelsea said then barged in.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1YdFiPYO1 維尼
“Whoa-whoa-whoa, I didn’t say you come in,” I said.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpTGjuKoua 維尼
“Is that your uncle’s awesome spaghetti—you—”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2LtVWvSvA 維尼
I blocked it. “What do you want?”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡjclvhdUwDo 維尼
She sighed. “Fine. I came over because I found this.” The blonde pulled a red ring from her purse. “Will you break up with Gemini and marry me.” I snapped out of my relaxed state to submit her a glare. She laughed in response. “Lighten up. Someone has his panties in a bunch.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡOngjuNFIaE 維尼
“Probably because I’m being driven crazy by everything going on around me,” I said. “Now what’s so important about this ring that couldn’t wait until the morning.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfzbCauzuI 維尼
“I’m leaving it with you,” she said. “I think it goes with the elephant we gave you guys.” She put the ring on her finger and aimed it at me. “As far as I know, it does nothing.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9Rlb40rXV 維尼
“Same with the elephant,” I said. Chelsea took of the ring and handed it over.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFQuTbJfTp 維尼
“My cousin lives just a few houses ahead, so I stopped by while on the way,” she said.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIBjIkfXYY 維尼
“I guess I’ll put the ring on the elephant and hope that it doesn’t explode or something,” I said. She turned to leave but I stopped her. “Are you and her still having that stupid fight?”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uwSJLBzVO 維尼
“No,” she said. “I was just being silly.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7wMWcve0Q 維尼
I still couldn’t believe Chelsea liked me. I let the thought ponder for just a half-second as she left. Yeah right as if I’m going to read into that any more than I should. I made a mental note to secretly set her up with a nerd from the science club. Pssh...That’s a terrible thing to do to the science club guy.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1QaLBDceO 維尼
That night, I had strange dreams. And I mean dreams that couldn’t possible ever, ever, ever, ever, be a part of my unconsciousness. In one of them, I was married to Chelsea with three kids. We…did many things in the night—that stretched out of this genre if mentioned. Another one, I was her personal slave in medieval times. The dream ended in yet another sexual way that I can’t explain. The worst one however is one that depicted Chelsea as a giant demon, chasing me throughout a steampunk-style city. That one ended with her falling onto me in a pool of vanilla ice cream.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPywXublGT 維尼
I woke up very, very tired. Note to self: don’t let Gemini ever find out about this. A plup sound made me look at the floor. The red ring. I wasn’t sure if it was responsible or my unconsciousness simply responded to Chelsea’s joke last night. Oh well.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIdP12QbKl 維尼
After classes, we all met at the mystery club first then departed for the show. The auditorium was surprisingly packed with every club—I’m not going to name them all, but Marley did keep his word at giving us front row VIP spots. After a short introduction, the act got started. It was then they started “roasting” everyone.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡGexgcOa6eb 維尼
“Science club do even interact with the opposite sex in your own club?” Jamal said. “I get it, you don’t want coodies, but come on, the sun is shining, the shower is a real place.” Laughter. Even I somehow couldn’t suppress it. The science club wasn’t amused.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oDCOuCw35 維尼
“And mystery club, have actually solved anything?” comedy club guy, Padron said. “Your club is like the Scooby doo shows nowadays. Failing.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQMMr7NPsg 維尼
That stung. So much, that the rise of anger within surprised me. I knew they were only joking—but this guy had no freaking idea what he was talking about. There were roars of laughter at each roast, so I did my best to hide my indignance. 8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkDaRx7qCc 維尼
“At least you’re not the theatre club though. You do interesting things and don’t put us to sleep.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIvuYcZK0F 維尼
“Let’s not forget the good ole, math club. So useful, so adventurous. Why anyone would want to spend their afternoons doing math problems is beyond me. I think we should check in there and make sure they’re not actually using it as a nap room. They are the only club that’s allowed to run during the day.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpaCc5EAHE 維尼
Jamal grinned as he briefly glanced at none other than Amy. “In a teenage girl’s fantasy world of vampires and werewolves, Edward Collins sparkles to youuuuu, the Goth Club.” Everyone around roared in laughter. “I mean makeup is nice and all, but when they’re smothered around a man’s face in a poor attempt to imitate our boss, Marley the clown here, well… that’s just depressing. I like goth girls though.” He chuckled. “But, man do they hate me. Every time I make a Twilight joke and then glance into the mirror, one of them would appear.” He made a face, which triggered laughter.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡaN23JyEbux 維尼
And so, the roasts of the clubs went on for another fifteen minutes until Marley finally appeared back on stage, concluding everything.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡZz1Sr8KXpv 維尼
“One more thing,” he said then pulled a remote from his pocket and pressed a red button. A loud airhorn sounded on the massive speakers planted everywhere, scaring the souls out of us. Following that was an annoying cringe-worthy, comedy-anime theme song that finished off our eardrums. He pressed the button and took off earplugs that I hadn’t seen before. “The prank war has started, worms. Every club for itself. Whoever impresses me the most gets this.” He held up a bright orange gem that was the size of the lemon. “Trust me, it’s worth a lot and we’re simply giving it away for my last show, but you’ll have to take us on. Welcome to the club wars.”8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgl0cH2Mky 維尼
Gemini and I made eye contact. She was full of glee. I…well, I wanted to die.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYVBpkB9kP 維尼
And so, a new arc of my life starts. The comedy club jerks declared war on every club in the school. Knowing Kate, she was going to force us to participate. There were things I needed to figure out such as that weird red ring and the elephant. More mysteries. Great.8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWwOJSewh5 維尼
Sheesh, can I have at least one day of peace, please?8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡGP8gKHGxNM 維尼
END. 8964 copyright protection467ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDMoTsWr8D 維尼
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