Part 5
“What’s going on over there?” Travis nodded to where a group of people had surrounded a girl who appeared to be preaching to them.
“Don’t know,” William squinted at them. Mikey looked over from his perch on the ground, surveying the group carefully. They looked like one of those creepy cult churches, where all the women had to wear long skirts and the men khaki slacks. Mikey shrugged and spoke up, “Probably just one of those sects on a nice outing.”
Maja looked at him sharply. He knew he’d been quiet for the last week or so, since Victoria…and this was one of the first times he’d spoken up willingly. Maja had quite obviously been worried. He tried not to think about it too much, or his stomach threatened to empty its contents.
“You’d know all about that, eh pervert?” Gabe grinned at him and Mikey just gave him an even look. The one he knew would unsettle him eventually. Sure enough, Gabe looked away after about ten seconds. Mikey smirked to himself. Too easy.
“No way,” William suddenly said, “It can’t be. That girl over with them…I went to school with her. She was the nastiest whore around,” William looked at them all, making sure he had an audience, Mikey could tell, “No, get this. I heard about this one time where she took the quarterback down to the shore for a little fun. I mean first of all, how cliché? But apparently once he was done she just slid right onto the gear stick and went at it.”
William pantomimed for them, panting heavily and rolling his hips smoothly. Mikey most definitely looked on with an objective eye. Travis sure as hell didn’t, watching appreciatively. William stopped and stretched his hands up. Mikey watched his shirt lift slowly up off of his hips, revealing a thin strip of pale skin, before the movement ended, as did Mikey’s show.
“Try that on your driving test,” Gabe commented, “You will most definitely fail…or pass with a severe internal injury.”
“Yeah,” William finished up his story lazily, “There’s no way that girl joined a religious anything.”
“Weirder things have happened,” Mikey murmured, more to himself than anything. But he kept his eye on the group warily, watching as the blond girl who seemed to be running things addressed them all. Despite every rational explanation, they freaked him out. There was no way to explain it, but they had a bad vibe. He could tell.
;;;
Greta was having a pretty good day. Then she walked past that utterly vile loudmouthed boy, smoking. Smoking marijuana. That simply would not do. She turned on her heel and faced his back.
“You don’t have to do this,” Her voice resounded in her own head, a double-timbre of power and command to it, “You’re so much better than this. You can be a better person.”
He ignored her. What? What? No. That would not do.
“Excuse me,” She called in her normal voice, “Excuse me!”
He ignored her. Greta was almost of right mind to march round in front of him and make him pay attention, fix his insolence, when he turned, joint smoking and dangling from his lips. He smirked at her and drew a deep lungful before blowing it in her direction.
“Nice cardigan,” He said, too loud, and Greta noticed the ear phones he had in then. Well, that was just a whole other kind of rude. He walked off, grinning maniacally.
Greta bristled. Something simply must be done.
;;;
William looked in the mirror, brushing his sweaty hair away from his face Ick. He wrinkled his nose, sticking his tongue out at his reflection. He figured he was allowed some moments of immaturity. Travis’s low chuckle reached his ears and he shifted the childish expression from himself to his boyfriend.
“See you later,” Travis smiled, and William had to smile back. He watched him walk out the door before bringing his gaze back to his own face. He scrutinized his reflection. How had things come to this? Mutual wanking in a bathroom stall, an actually monogamous relationship? This was just not him…but it was…nice. It was nice.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” William whipped around at the deceivingly sweet voice, facing the pretty blond girl who was in the men’s room.
“Um, what the fuck?” William cocked his hip and stared at her, unmoved. He wasn’t ashamed of anything. Ashamed was not an emotion he did.
“Engaging in sexual acts before marriage in a public restroom? Swearing? Wearing your hair that long as a boy?” She listed off, looking more and more appalled at each one. William just snorted and gave her a level stare. His Mom couldn’t guilt trip him, where did this girl get off thinking she could?
“You don’t have to act like this,” Her voice was suddenly powerful, resounding, invading his brain until it was all he could hear, “You can be so much more. You can be good.”
;;;
“Where’s William?” Maja looked around with a puzzled expression. Travis shrugged. Their probation officer wasn’t even there yet, it wasn’t like William was late or anything.
“Sleeping in?” Gabe guessed, then winked at Travis, “Must’ve tired him out.”
Maja scoffed and shoved at Gabe. He grinned. Mikey watched impassively. Travis was beginning to wonder when they developed a group dynamic, when he had actually started to like and care about this group of freaks. He should look into correctional therapy. He smiled to himself and glanced up at the sound of the door opening. That would be William. And it was…and wasn’t.
William walked right past them, not even sparing a glance. But, it didn’t look like their William. He wasn’t dressed in his normal tight jeans and too thin t-shirt, rather a button down and slacks, like he was going to church or something. Travis felt a sick sort of fear through his midriff when he finally allowed himself to address the big thing. William’s hair…was gone. Shorn short and slicked back. He still looked good, hell, Travis was beginning to wonder if he ever looked bad, but it wasn’t him. It wasn’t…right.
“What the hell?” Maja voiced all their thoughts, “William!”
The doppelganger turned around and smiled kindly at them. Whoa. It was weird seeing unfamiliar expressions on an familiar face. Freaky weird.
“William?” Mikey questioned uncertainly, “What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing,” He laughed, and it was wrong, just wrong. Travis had learned to recognize multitudes of his laughter and this just wasn’t right, “Nothing at all, why do you ask?”
“Um,” Mikey dropped his eyes to the floor and didn’t continue.
“What happened to your hair?” Maja asked, sounding a little horrified.
William reached up and touched the shorn sides, before smiling at them, “This is just so much more respectable, you know?”
“You don’t care about respect,” And oh, there was his voice. Travis swallowed thickly when the unfamiliar gaze shifted to him. When William smiled again, it was frosty and most definitely unkind.
“Maybe you don’t,” He said, each word dripped in acid and stinging, but it was still a little bit of the real William, so Travis couldn’t help the flare of hope that traveled through the fear still settled thick in his stomach, “Getting off with other boys in a bathroom stall and being a criminal. But I’m better than that.”
“What?!” Maja bristled. Shit, Travis knew a nerve had been struck, “You’re in no way better than us, got that? You’re a criminal too.”
“But I’m trying to change,” William’s voice couldn’t be described as anything but condescending, “And you should too. Come to the meeting tonight. Greta can fix anything.”
“Meeting for what?” Mikey spoke up again.
“Virtue,” And with that, William turned on his heel and flounced away.
“That was weird,” Maja said.
“That wasn’t him,” Travis was convinced. There was no way anyone could change William. Not willingly at least.
“Seems like it had something to do with that lot we saw yesterday,” Gabe reasoned, “We should complain. Where is a probation worker when you need one? Hey,” He looked at Mikey, “You were shacking up to her last week, where’d she go?”
Mikey looked suddenly even more uncomfortable than he always did, and shifty on top of that, “I don’t know. I think she said something about a vacation.”
“Wow, so helpful,” Gabe rolled his eyes and walked away, yelling, “I demand supervision!”
Travis scoffed. Gabe was such a dick. He looked at Maja and Mikey, “Let’s just get to work, yeah?”
;;;
Travis stuck his hands deeper in his pockets as he rounded the corner of the center towards home. This was just all fucking weird. Their second probation officer disappearing, William going innocent and repentant, this Virtue thing. Fucking. Weird. He had just reached the gate out of the park when he heard a voice behind him.
“Travis!” It called again, and Travis stopped, closing his eyes. William. He pleaded with no one that it be his William when he turned around.
It wasn’t.
“Willi-” Travis started, but the next second was swathed in darkness, as the scratchy confining insides of the bag over his head attempted to suffocate him. Travis yelled, “What the fuck!? William!”
Then hands were grabbing him from all side, forcing him to some unknown destination.
;;;
Maja watched with amusement, and a little fondness if she wasn’t lying to herself, as Gabe attempted to make his “bed”. She was laughing before she could help it. Gabe looked down from the balcony, affronted, but Maja held up her peace maker, “I have pizza.”
“Then come up,” Gabe grinned, “By all means!”
“This thing is disgusting,” Maja peered at the array of blankets on the ground, “Have you heard of washing?”
“Overrated,” Gabe dismissed easily, “Now were you going to share a meal with me or just stand there?”
Maja rolled her eyes, but settle down, offering him the box. But, “What am I sitting on?”
She rooted underneath her, pulling out a sock, and, “Oh that’s disgusting. Why is there a sock in your bed..?”
Gabe leered at her. Oh my god, “You pig! Use some tissues or something!”
“But that would indicate a certain amount of planning, don’t you think?” Gabe smirked at her, “I mean just imagine. You’re lying there, having just wacked out a good one, feeling dirty and spent, with a pool of rapidly drying come on your stomach, and ta da! A sock is right at your handy disposal.”
“You’re disgusting,” Maja said, but she could feel herself grinning despite it, “How did you ever managed to get laid?”
“Well,” Gabe sat back, “I just got girls very, very drunk.”
“S’that so?” She questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Gabe nodded solemnly, “So…you wanna go steal some booze from the kitchens?”
“Yeah,” Maja grinned and hopped up.
;;;
“I should really just have my own keys cut,” Gabe said as he rifled through a drawer in the probation officer’s desk. Suddenly, the lights in the main room outside went on.
“Shit,” Gabe muttered, “Get down!”
They ducked behind the desk, peering up to watch the proceedings. Maja looked at all the respectably dressed people parading by, “It’s that Virtue meeting!”
“What are they doing, this late?” Gabe wondered. Maja just watched as they brought in two struggling forms with sacks over their heads. Gabe hissed, “They’re kidnapping now?”
Maja shushed him and watched the strugglers closely. That one looked familiar. They settled them on their knees before whipping the bags off and Maja was right. She started to get up, “They’ve got Travis!”
But Gabe held her back, “No! There’s too many of them, and I was never very good at fighting.”
Maja rolled her eyes, but stayed, watched as William walked in with a blond girl, who stopped in front of their…well, they were hostages weren’t they?
“What’s she saying to them?” Maja hissed at Gabe, who shrugged.
“I don’t know, but it’s probably better we didn’t hear, look,” Gabe motioned back to them, where Travis was hugging the blond, was that Greta? She pulled away and pinned something to his shirt and Travis smiled.
“Did they just convert him?” Gabe asked wonderingly. Maja nodded slowly.
“Yeah, I think they did,” She said.
;;;
They accosted Mikey before he could enter the Virtue swarmed center the next morning. Maja watched out for the blond while Gabe explained to him what had happened.
“We have to do something,” Mikey said, “Tell someone!”
“What are we going to do, call the police?” Gabe questioned nastily, “Oh no, everyone’s stopped doing drugs and pissing in the streets! They’re every parent’s wet dream!”
“We have to save them,” Maja said, when Gabe had finally finished and Mikey nodded.
“We’re going to have to wear head phones,” Gabe said, “In case we run into that Greta girl.”
“What about William? We can‘t exactly touch him, can we?” Mikey queried, looking worried and thoughtful. Maja was glad she wasn’t the only one taking this seriously. As for Gabe, well…he was Gabe.
“There’s rubber gloves in the kitchen,” Gabe surprised her by being helpful, “But we might want the head phones now if we’re heading in.”
Mikey nodded and fished his own out his pocket. Maja, hers already in hand, just pushed them in her ears and blasted the music, some loud techno song that wouldn’t distract her. She looked up to see Gabe just standing there, scrolling through his iPod library.
“What’re you doing?” Maja asked, exasperated.
“One has to go into things like this with the right music,” Gabe defended, grinning at her blindingly, “Something that says, I’m here to kick ass.”
“I’ll kick your ass,” Maja grumbled, “Come one, we’ve got to go.”
“Wait!” Gabe said, and grinned triumphantly, “Got it. Let’s go.
;;;
Gabe was pretty sure they all looked like idiots. They couldn’t hear a damn thing, and were wearing yellow industrial rubber gloves. Well. Gabe was pretty sure he’d done worse. Maybe. They rounded a corner and saw William disappear into one of the storage rooms, one that opened up to the outside. Perfect.
Maja motioned for them to take a head phone out. Gabe did, looking at her expectantly.
“I’ll go in this way,” She said, “You guys go around the outside. Be careful.”
“Yes Mom,” Gabe rolled his eyes and turned around, shoving the head phone back in. He made his way to one of the multiple sets of doors outside (He was actually starting to wonder how many there were. And why.) when Travis pushed through. He smiled and moved his mouth, saying…something.
Gabe looked at Mikey, who looked just as confused. Mikey shrugged at him, and Gabe yelled at Travis, “Sorry mate, got to go!”
Travis may have looked confused, but at the moment, his intelligence was not Gabe’s problem. They found the door to the closet and yanked. It was locked. Gabe pounded on the door and yelled for Maja. Mikey tapped him and Gabe took out a head phone.
“How can she hear us?” Mikey asked, waving his hand at the head phones.
“Shit,” Gabe said, then resumed pounding, “Maja! Come on, open the door.”
Mikey took up right next to him, but he could still hear her and William inside.
“What are you doing? Maja?” William asked, sounding scared.
“You have to come with us!” Maja yelled at him.
“No! Help!” William yelled.
Then even more far away, Travis’s voice, “William?! What’s the matter?”
“It’s Maja!” He yelped, “Help!”
An unknown voice enter the fray, and Gabe pounded even harder, covering up her next words, but William’s cry of, “She can’t hear you!” Did not bode well with him.
“Maja!” He yelled again.
She screamed, “Gabe!”
“MAJA!” Gabe worked at the door again, but Mikey suddenly yanked him sideways. He just barely kept a grip on the door, looking back at Mikey, “No! We have to help her!”
“Look around you idiot!” Mikey sounded frantic, “We can’t help her if they get us first!”
They had been making quite a bit of noise. Gabe had to acknowledge that as he noticed the crowd of Virtue followers started to close in on them, but, “I’m not leaving without her!”
Mikey just yanked hard enough that Gabe let go and, okay, yeah, maybe running was a good idea. They ran through the park, dodging the followers as they came to them. But there were too many. Suddenly they were on all sides, no where to go. Gabe turned every which way, but there they were, shuffling like Romero’s zombies towards them. He turned to Mikey frantically, “Use your power! Save us!”
Mikey just stared at him, for once looking totally blindsided, “After everything you did to me? You want me to save you?”
“Well yeah!” Gabe yelled, and looked around at the crowd again, and when he looked back, Mikey was gone. Gabe yelled at the air in front of him, “Oh that’s just real nice! Save yourself, huh!? Bastard!”
Shit. Shit. What exactly was he supposed to do know. He turned every which direction, looking for a gap in the crowd, a way out, but found none. Just as he was resigning himself to goody-two-shoes-death, there was the tearing sound of bicycle tires braking on pavement, and a boy in hood appeared on said bicycle.
“Get on!” He said, and Gabe wasted no time, hopping on the pegs that protruded from the back wheel as the boy pedaled off madly.
“Ha ha!” Gabe yelled behind him, as the crowd looked on, baffled, “Try and catch me now fuckers!”
The boy pedaled to an area where there weren’t anymore people and turned sharply, dumping Gabe off on his ass. Then he sped off.
“Thanks for saving me then!” Gabe yelled after him, “But you could have just stopped and let me off instead.”
Right. Gabe stood. Now to find Maja.
;;;
Gabe knocked on her apartment door furiously, “Maja? Maja! Come on girl, you have to be here.”
On a whim, he turned the knob. It was unlocked. No. No no no. She was fine. She had to be. This was Maja he was talking about. She could kick anyone’s ass this day to Sunday. He stepped over the threshold into the apartment. It was neater than last time he was here. But that could just mean she decided to clean a bit ago. He could not afford to be jumping to conclusions right now. No way.
“Maja?” He called more softly, continuing down the hallway to her bedroom. There were trash bags on the bed. He nearly ran to them. Inside was all of her clothing. All of that damn weird, cheap clothing that he’d come to love stuffed inside. There was no denying it now. But…maybe…
“ Gabe? What do you think you’re doing?” Gabe nearly sobbed with relief. He closed his eyes and savored that weird, indignant accent that was telling him off like always, destroying every defense he ever bothered with. He turned.
“No!” Gabe shouted, his eyes raking over Maja. But, not Maja as well. This thing in front of him looked and sounded like Maja in the most basic sense, but she was dressed sensibly in a long skirt and blouse with her hair pushed out of her face with a pretty headband. This was not his Maja.
“Please tell me this is a joke, please. They can’t have you, they can’t,” Gabe begged, and this charade frowned at him disapprovingly.
“Just what are you doing in my bed room?” It scolded him, “That is so improper.”
“Maja, Maja?” Gabe crooned, taking a step toward the girl. She stepped back, “No c’mon. This isn’t you!”
“What are you talking about?” She frowned.
“You’re abrasive and annoying as hell,” Gabe held up his hands towards her uselessly; she just flinched, “If you had found me in your room yesterday? There wouldn’t even be a conversation. It would be my ass over your balcony without anytime for me to think. You’re the only person in the world who can’t take offense to what I say, who can give it back just as good. You swear better than any sailor I’ve ever meant, and you kind of dress like a slut, and your hair is always in your eyes and bothering you, but it’s perfect, it’s you, and that’s what I want!”
Silence met the statement. The Maja creature stared at Gabe with big eyes and he pleaded in his head, c’mon. C’mon. I know you’ve got it in you. That there’s still you in there! But she just blinked and deepened her frown, “That was so rude.”
Gabe sighed and walked forward, defeated. Maja stayed where she was. He stopped in front of her, tracing the features that were still, and probably always would be, fierce.
“Alright then,” He sighed softly, and bent considerably to kiss her softly on the cheek.
Her outraged cry of “that was so inappropriate!” chased him out of the apartment as Gabe formulated his plan on how to take that goody-two-shoes bitch down.
;;;
It started with a suit. Gabe was totally with Men In Black. Er, well, so it was a gray suit, but still. A suit, neat slicked back hair, manners his grandmother used to beat into him every Sunday, and the biggest shit-eating grin he could manage.
Stage one complete, Gabe widened his grin a little and set off at a cheery pace toward the community center, or, as he had labeled it in his head, both home and Command Headquarters.
Greeting everyone he met in the cheeriest manner he could, Gabe reached his goal. Holding the door open for the people behind him , he entered the center, watching this way and that for that Greta girl. He traced the hallways that were suddenly too clean, too bright, not the place he had made his home. It was fucking weird. Approaching the doorway to the main room carefully, he checked the room for her, iPod at the ready. It was safe.
Gabe threw open the door and walked in with a smile. Travis, er mind control Travis, approached him, “Gabe! I’m so glad you decided to join us.”
Yeah, join, Gabe snorted in his head and fought the urge to do so out loud. Instead he smiled even wider, feeling like it was going to split his face, and answered with a cheerful lie, “Of course! I’m so glad I finally saw the error of my ways! All the drinking and partying. I was a right mess, wasn’t I?”
“You were quite an ass,” Travis smiled easily. Gabe most definitely wanted to punch him. He continued to smile. Travis handed him a clipboard with a pen, “Can you sign this?”
“What is it?” Gabe frowned at the page of signatures.
“It’s a petition to get them to stop giving out contraceptives in schools,” Travis explained, and looked on at Gabe expectantly until he signed it.
“The only thing young ladies should be inserting in themselves is knowledge,” Gabe fixed the smile back on his face, thinking he would crack from it and looked around Travis, “I need to speak with Greta though. Is she around?”
“She’s right through there,” Travis pointed over his shoulder to a small utility room, “She’ll be glad to see you. And again, I’m so glad you saw they way.”
Gabe laughed, but the action felt forced and untrue. He was starting to get sick of this manufactured cheer. He had a plan to execute (fast approaching Stage Four) and a Maja to save. He waved Travis off and strode to the room, pulling his ear phones out of his pocket and turning the volume up to unbearable. Greta wouldn’t know what hit her.
Of course, the only downfall to this plan: he was absolutely shit at lip reading.
Greta turned around when he opened the door, smiling until she finally caught sight of him. He watched her open her mouth, but cut her off with his own, “You can’t do this to them! It isn’t right!”
Her mouth moved some more, but all Gabe could hear was the loud music pounding through his ears. Perfect. There would be no mind control today Miss Greta, oh no. Speaking of oh no, said Miss Greta was starting to get pissed. After her first aborted move to swipe at his head phones, Gabe figured this was a good a time as any to pull the gun.
Greta was appropriately shocked.
“Change them back!” Gabe reiterated, and watch her lips move in a way even he understood: I can’t. Her eyes suddenly flew over his shoulder and Gabe turned, seeing Maja’s shocked form in the doorway. Shit, he thought, but went with it, grabbing Greta and shoving the gun at her head, yelling, “Don’t do anything, or she gets it!”
He grabbed her and dragged her out into the main room, where everyone stood, shocked. Pointing the gun at large he shouted, “Everybody stay back!”
Gabe made his way through the room while everyone ran in varying states of panic, mouths open for screams he couldn’t hear. Making sure the struggling girl couldn’t get away, Gabe stormed up the stairs that led out to the roof, intent on…Well, this is actually where the plan ended. But the happy horde of goody freaks didn’t look too happy. In fact, they looked positively murderous. The stairs just so happened to be the closest exit. He was pretty sure no one could blame him for thinking on the fly. Planning can only take you so far.
Gabe shoved Greta out on the roof first, where a steady drizzle had taken up. Despite it all, she continued to mouth at him. Fucking hell that was annoying. Gabe turned around and shoved some of the furniture in front of the door.
Gabe grabbed her and dragged her over to the edge, where everyone else was starting to flood, watching them with horrified expressions. He caught sight of Maja, and something inside him broke.
“She’s got you thinking this is how you’re supposed to be!” He yelled, “But it’s not! We’re young! We fuck up! We’re supposed to fuck up! We’re supposed to have bad attitudes and drink too much and fuck each others brains out! We are designed to party! This is it! And sure, that won’t always go so great. Some of us may overdose or go completely insane. But Charles Darwin said “You can’t make an omelets without breaking a few eggs.” And isn’t that what this is all about?! Breaking eggs! You should see yourselves! It breaks my heart! You’re wearing cardigans! We had it all! We fucked up bigger and better than any generation that came before us! We were so beautiful!”
Gabe stopped to breathe for a moment, and continued, “We’re screw ups. I’m a screw up. And I plan to be a screw up until my late twenties, maybe early thirties! And I will shag my own mother before I let her, or anyone else take that away from me!”
Greta shoved at his arm, grabbing at his gun, which was leaking. Alright, so it was a water pistol. At least no one was getting hurt. He watched her mouth move and her face settle into righteous indignation before interrupting her, “I still can’t hear you love!”
She shoved him again, but this time, her foot lost it’s traction and she slipped, tumbling off the roof. The shove managed to set him off balance, and Gabe waved his arms. No way in hell was he dying today, no. Someone grabbed his hand, and Gabe looked up to see Mikey trying to help him. But the rain had made his hand too slippery. Mikey was trying, but Gabe just tumbled off.
;;;
Maja blinked. What had just happened? She looked down at herself and, okay what was she wearing?
Her memories came back quickly, they had been trying to get William and…oh god, William, she looked up and he was there, so was Travis. Travis looked at her, “What the hell?”
“What am I wearing?” William asked shakily, then looked up at Maja, “What are you wearing?”
Maja just blinked. Okay, there was Travis and William, where was Mikey and, “Where’s Gabe?”
A scream rang out and Maja turned to find it, instead finding, “Gabe!”
She almost screamed herself, but ran up instead to where Gabe was hanging on the fence, the post gone straight through his chest. She touched his forehead lightly, “Gabe!? Gabe! No!” She could feel herself crying, but ignored it and turned to Travis, who looked shocked, “Fix it! Turn back time! He can’t die!”
“I don’t know,” Travis stammered, looking queasy, “I can’t.”
“No, no, no,” Maja cried, and turned back to Gabe’s body, “No.”
;;;
The funeral sucked. William didn’t even like Gabe, and he knew that. Maja looked like she had been hit by a bus. William watched her out of the corner of his eye where they all sat, in this stupid club. The music was pounding, obnoxious, and completely inappropriate for the moment. Pretty much everything Gabe was. Maja finally stood.
“I’m going home,” She said, and worked her way out. She was barely out of sight when Mikey stood and chased after her.
William looked over at Travis, who picked up his drink. He did the same. Travis touched there glasses, “To Gabe,” and downed his.
William just set it back down. He didn’t think he had ever wished to be able to touch someone more than he did in that moment. He wanted comfort and love, everything. Instead, he placed his hand palm up under the glass table. Travis put his own hand down on top of his, the glass separating them.
If that wasn’t a motherfucking metaphor, William thought angrily, nothing was.
;;;
“Maja! Maja!” Maja stopped and turned around, watched Mikey jog up to her awkwardly.
“What?” She said when he finally reached her, voice to thick for her liking.
“Just,” Mikey reached in his pocket and placed a jeweled case in her hand, closing her fingers over it, “Watch it, okay?”
Maja looked at it dumbly. When she finally had her powers of speech back to thank him, she looked up and Mikey was gone.
;;;
She slid the disk into her laptop, closing the drive, pressing play. Soft music started over a black screen and Maja tried to puzzle through it when Gabe’s voice cut through, yelling, “Pervert! Filthy, dirty pervert!”
The tears she had been holding back fell thickly as the video progressed, more often than not footage of him yelling at Mikey, but a many of him trying out powers, and a few candid moments, when Gabe was being the most absolute Gabe he could be.
It was filthy, disgusting, annoying, and dumb. Maja pretty much loved it.
;;;
Gabe gasped awake, into total darkness. He fumbled for a moment, but his finger hit on something in his hand, and the iPod screen lit the space he was in. He breathed for a couple minutes, trying to assess what the hell was going on.
“Okay,” He thought out loud, “I’m alive. I fell off a roof and didn’t die. I’m alive.”
Which was really fucking impossible, he was well aware. Which meant…
“I’m immortal,” He realized, his eyes widening, “I’m immortal. I’ve got a power. I fucking knew it! Ha ha! Who’s laughing now! I’m immortal, I’m…”
Gabe suddenly realized. He was in a coffin. That meant…Fuck.
“Help!” He pounded on the top, the soft thuds muted, “Help! I’m alive! You buried me alive you assholes!”
He stopped pounding, “I’m immortal. I’m immortal. Well, that’s just great, thanks a lot!”
Gabe looked down at the iPod that had been lighting the place. He huffed, grabbing the ear phones and sticking them in.
“Un-fucking-believable,” He sighed, before pressing play.
“Don’t know,” William squinted at them. Mikey looked over from his perch on the ground, surveying the group carefully. They looked like one of those creepy cult churches, where all the women had to wear long skirts and the men khaki slacks. Mikey shrugged and spoke up, “Probably just one of those sects on a nice outing.”
Maja looked at him sharply. He knew he’d been quiet for the last week or so, since Victoria…and this was one of the first times he’d spoken up willingly. Maja had quite obviously been worried. He tried not to think about it too much, or his stomach threatened to empty its contents.
“You’d know all about that, eh pervert?” Gabe grinned at him and Mikey just gave him an even look. The one he knew would unsettle him eventually. Sure enough, Gabe looked away after about ten seconds. Mikey smirked to himself. Too easy.
“No way,” William suddenly said, “It can’t be. That girl over with them…I went to school with her. She was the nastiest whore around,” William looked at them all, making sure he had an audience, Mikey could tell, “No, get this. I heard about this one time where she took the quarterback down to the shore for a little fun. I mean first of all, how cliché? But apparently once he was done she just slid right onto the gear stick and went at it.”
William pantomimed for them, panting heavily and rolling his hips smoothly. Mikey most definitely looked on with an objective eye. Travis sure as hell didn’t, watching appreciatively. William stopped and stretched his hands up. Mikey watched his shirt lift slowly up off of his hips, revealing a thin strip of pale skin, before the movement ended, as did Mikey’s show.
“Try that on your driving test,” Gabe commented, “You will most definitely fail…or pass with a severe internal injury.”
“Yeah,” William finished up his story lazily, “There’s no way that girl joined a religious anything.”
“Weirder things have happened,” Mikey murmured, more to himself than anything. But he kept his eye on the group warily, watching as the blond girl who seemed to be running things addressed them all. Despite every rational explanation, they freaked him out. There was no way to explain it, but they had a bad vibe. He could tell.
;;;
Greta was having a pretty good day. Then she walked past that utterly vile loudmouthed boy, smoking. Smoking marijuana. That simply would not do. She turned on her heel and faced his back.
“You don’t have to do this,” Her voice resounded in her own head, a double-timbre of power and command to it, “You’re so much better than this. You can be a better person.”
He ignored her. What? What? No. That would not do.
“Excuse me,” She called in her normal voice, “Excuse me!”
He ignored her. Greta was almost of right mind to march round in front of him and make him pay attention, fix his insolence, when he turned, joint smoking and dangling from his lips. He smirked at her and drew a deep lungful before blowing it in her direction.
“Nice cardigan,” He said, too loud, and Greta noticed the ear phones he had in then. Well, that was just a whole other kind of rude. He walked off, grinning maniacally.
Greta bristled. Something simply must be done.
;;;
William looked in the mirror, brushing his sweaty hair away from his face Ick. He wrinkled his nose, sticking his tongue out at his reflection. He figured he was allowed some moments of immaturity. Travis’s low chuckle reached his ears and he shifted the childish expression from himself to his boyfriend.
“See you later,” Travis smiled, and William had to smile back. He watched him walk out the door before bringing his gaze back to his own face. He scrutinized his reflection. How had things come to this? Mutual wanking in a bathroom stall, an actually monogamous relationship? This was just not him…but it was…nice. It was nice.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” William whipped around at the deceivingly sweet voice, facing the pretty blond girl who was in the men’s room.
“Um, what the fuck?” William cocked his hip and stared at her, unmoved. He wasn’t ashamed of anything. Ashamed was not an emotion he did.
“Engaging in sexual acts before marriage in a public restroom? Swearing? Wearing your hair that long as a boy?” She listed off, looking more and more appalled at each one. William just snorted and gave her a level stare. His Mom couldn’t guilt trip him, where did this girl get off thinking she could?
“You don’t have to act like this,” Her voice was suddenly powerful, resounding, invading his brain until it was all he could hear, “You can be so much more. You can be good.”
;;;
“Where’s William?” Maja looked around with a puzzled expression. Travis shrugged. Their probation officer wasn’t even there yet, it wasn’t like William was late or anything.
“Sleeping in?” Gabe guessed, then winked at Travis, “Must’ve tired him out.”
Maja scoffed and shoved at Gabe. He grinned. Mikey watched impassively. Travis was beginning to wonder when they developed a group dynamic, when he had actually started to like and care about this group of freaks. He should look into correctional therapy. He smiled to himself and glanced up at the sound of the door opening. That would be William. And it was…and wasn’t.
William walked right past them, not even sparing a glance. But, it didn’t look like their William. He wasn’t dressed in his normal tight jeans and too thin t-shirt, rather a button down and slacks, like he was going to church or something. Travis felt a sick sort of fear through his midriff when he finally allowed himself to address the big thing. William’s hair…was gone. Shorn short and slicked back. He still looked good, hell, Travis was beginning to wonder if he ever looked bad, but it wasn’t him. It wasn’t…right.
“What the hell?” Maja voiced all their thoughts, “William!”
The doppelganger turned around and smiled kindly at them. Whoa. It was weird seeing unfamiliar expressions on an familiar face. Freaky weird.
“William?” Mikey questioned uncertainly, “What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing,” He laughed, and it was wrong, just wrong. Travis had learned to recognize multitudes of his laughter and this just wasn’t right, “Nothing at all, why do you ask?”
“Um,” Mikey dropped his eyes to the floor and didn’t continue.
“What happened to your hair?” Maja asked, sounding a little horrified.
William reached up and touched the shorn sides, before smiling at them, “This is just so much more respectable, you know?”
“You don’t care about respect,” And oh, there was his voice. Travis swallowed thickly when the unfamiliar gaze shifted to him. When William smiled again, it was frosty and most definitely unkind.
“Maybe you don’t,” He said, each word dripped in acid and stinging, but it was still a little bit of the real William, so Travis couldn’t help the flare of hope that traveled through the fear still settled thick in his stomach, “Getting off with other boys in a bathroom stall and being a criminal. But I’m better than that.”
“What?!” Maja bristled. Shit, Travis knew a nerve had been struck, “You’re in no way better than us, got that? You’re a criminal too.”
“But I’m trying to change,” William’s voice couldn’t be described as anything but condescending, “And you should too. Come to the meeting tonight. Greta can fix anything.”
“Meeting for what?” Mikey spoke up again.
“Virtue,” And with that, William turned on his heel and flounced away.
“That was weird,” Maja said.
“That wasn’t him,” Travis was convinced. There was no way anyone could change William. Not willingly at least.
“Seems like it had something to do with that lot we saw yesterday,” Gabe reasoned, “We should complain. Where is a probation worker when you need one? Hey,” He looked at Mikey, “You were shacking up to her last week, where’d she go?”
Mikey looked suddenly even more uncomfortable than he always did, and shifty on top of that, “I don’t know. I think she said something about a vacation.”
“Wow, so helpful,” Gabe rolled his eyes and walked away, yelling, “I demand supervision!”
Travis scoffed. Gabe was such a dick. He looked at Maja and Mikey, “Let’s just get to work, yeah?”
;;;
Travis stuck his hands deeper in his pockets as he rounded the corner of the center towards home. This was just all fucking weird. Their second probation officer disappearing, William going innocent and repentant, this Virtue thing. Fucking. Weird. He had just reached the gate out of the park when he heard a voice behind him.
“Travis!” It called again, and Travis stopped, closing his eyes. William. He pleaded with no one that it be his William when he turned around.
It wasn’t.
“Willi-” Travis started, but the next second was swathed in darkness, as the scratchy confining insides of the bag over his head attempted to suffocate him. Travis yelled, “What the fuck!? William!”
Then hands were grabbing him from all side, forcing him to some unknown destination.
;;;
Maja watched with amusement, and a little fondness if she wasn’t lying to herself, as Gabe attempted to make his “bed”. She was laughing before she could help it. Gabe looked down from the balcony, affronted, but Maja held up her peace maker, “I have pizza.”
“Then come up,” Gabe grinned, “By all means!”
“This thing is disgusting,” Maja peered at the array of blankets on the ground, “Have you heard of washing?”
“Overrated,” Gabe dismissed easily, “Now were you going to share a meal with me or just stand there?”
Maja rolled her eyes, but settle down, offering him the box. But, “What am I sitting on?”
She rooted underneath her, pulling out a sock, and, “Oh that’s disgusting. Why is there a sock in your bed..?”
Gabe leered at her. Oh my god, “You pig! Use some tissues or something!”
“But that would indicate a certain amount of planning, don’t you think?” Gabe smirked at her, “I mean just imagine. You’re lying there, having just wacked out a good one, feeling dirty and spent, with a pool of rapidly drying come on your stomach, and ta da! A sock is right at your handy disposal.”
“You’re disgusting,” Maja said, but she could feel herself grinning despite it, “How did you ever managed to get laid?”
“Well,” Gabe sat back, “I just got girls very, very drunk.”
“S’that so?” She questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Gabe nodded solemnly, “So…you wanna go steal some booze from the kitchens?”
“Yeah,” Maja grinned and hopped up.
;;;
“I should really just have my own keys cut,” Gabe said as he rifled through a drawer in the probation officer’s desk. Suddenly, the lights in the main room outside went on.
“Shit,” Gabe muttered, “Get down!”
They ducked behind the desk, peering up to watch the proceedings. Maja looked at all the respectably dressed people parading by, “It’s that Virtue meeting!”
“What are they doing, this late?” Gabe wondered. Maja just watched as they brought in two struggling forms with sacks over their heads. Gabe hissed, “They’re kidnapping now?”
Maja shushed him and watched the strugglers closely. That one looked familiar. They settled them on their knees before whipping the bags off and Maja was right. She started to get up, “They’ve got Travis!”
But Gabe held her back, “No! There’s too many of them, and I was never very good at fighting.”
Maja rolled her eyes, but stayed, watched as William walked in with a blond girl, who stopped in front of their…well, they were hostages weren’t they?
“What’s she saying to them?” Maja hissed at Gabe, who shrugged.
“I don’t know, but it’s probably better we didn’t hear, look,” Gabe motioned back to them, where Travis was hugging the blond, was that Greta? She pulled away and pinned something to his shirt and Travis smiled.
“Did they just convert him?” Gabe asked wonderingly. Maja nodded slowly.
“Yeah, I think they did,” She said.
;;;
They accosted Mikey before he could enter the Virtue swarmed center the next morning. Maja watched out for the blond while Gabe explained to him what had happened.
“We have to do something,” Mikey said, “Tell someone!”
“What are we going to do, call the police?” Gabe questioned nastily, “Oh no, everyone’s stopped doing drugs and pissing in the streets! They’re every parent’s wet dream!”
“We have to save them,” Maja said, when Gabe had finally finished and Mikey nodded.
“We’re going to have to wear head phones,” Gabe said, “In case we run into that Greta girl.”
“What about William? We can‘t exactly touch him, can we?” Mikey queried, looking worried and thoughtful. Maja was glad she wasn’t the only one taking this seriously. As for Gabe, well…he was Gabe.
“There’s rubber gloves in the kitchen,” Gabe surprised her by being helpful, “But we might want the head phones now if we’re heading in.”
Mikey nodded and fished his own out his pocket. Maja, hers already in hand, just pushed them in her ears and blasted the music, some loud techno song that wouldn’t distract her. She looked up to see Gabe just standing there, scrolling through his iPod library.
“What’re you doing?” Maja asked, exasperated.
“One has to go into things like this with the right music,” Gabe defended, grinning at her blindingly, “Something that says, I’m here to kick ass.”
“I’ll kick your ass,” Maja grumbled, “Come one, we’ve got to go.”
“Wait!” Gabe said, and grinned triumphantly, “Got it. Let’s go.
;;;
Gabe was pretty sure they all looked like idiots. They couldn’t hear a damn thing, and were wearing yellow industrial rubber gloves. Well. Gabe was pretty sure he’d done worse. Maybe. They rounded a corner and saw William disappear into one of the storage rooms, one that opened up to the outside. Perfect.
Maja motioned for them to take a head phone out. Gabe did, looking at her expectantly.
“I’ll go in this way,” She said, “You guys go around the outside. Be careful.”
“Yes Mom,” Gabe rolled his eyes and turned around, shoving the head phone back in. He made his way to one of the multiple sets of doors outside (He was actually starting to wonder how many there were. And why.) when Travis pushed through. He smiled and moved his mouth, saying…something.
Gabe looked at Mikey, who looked just as confused. Mikey shrugged at him, and Gabe yelled at Travis, “Sorry mate, got to go!”
Travis may have looked confused, but at the moment, his intelligence was not Gabe’s problem. They found the door to the closet and yanked. It was locked. Gabe pounded on the door and yelled for Maja. Mikey tapped him and Gabe took out a head phone.
“How can she hear us?” Mikey asked, waving his hand at the head phones.
“Shit,” Gabe said, then resumed pounding, “Maja! Come on, open the door.”
Mikey took up right next to him, but he could still hear her and William inside.
“What are you doing? Maja?” William asked, sounding scared.
“You have to come with us!” Maja yelled at him.
“No! Help!” William yelled.
Then even more far away, Travis’s voice, “William?! What’s the matter?”
“It’s Maja!” He yelped, “Help!”
An unknown voice enter the fray, and Gabe pounded even harder, covering up her next words, but William’s cry of, “She can’t hear you!” Did not bode well with him.
“Maja!” He yelled again.
She screamed, “Gabe!”
“MAJA!” Gabe worked at the door again, but Mikey suddenly yanked him sideways. He just barely kept a grip on the door, looking back at Mikey, “No! We have to help her!”
“Look around you idiot!” Mikey sounded frantic, “We can’t help her if they get us first!”
They had been making quite a bit of noise. Gabe had to acknowledge that as he noticed the crowd of Virtue followers started to close in on them, but, “I’m not leaving without her!”
Mikey just yanked hard enough that Gabe let go and, okay, yeah, maybe running was a good idea. They ran through the park, dodging the followers as they came to them. But there were too many. Suddenly they were on all sides, no where to go. Gabe turned every which way, but there they were, shuffling like Romero’s zombies towards them. He turned to Mikey frantically, “Use your power! Save us!”
Mikey just stared at him, for once looking totally blindsided, “After everything you did to me? You want me to save you?”
“Well yeah!” Gabe yelled, and looked around at the crowd again, and when he looked back, Mikey was gone. Gabe yelled at the air in front of him, “Oh that’s just real nice! Save yourself, huh!? Bastard!”
Shit. Shit. What exactly was he supposed to do know. He turned every which direction, looking for a gap in the crowd, a way out, but found none. Just as he was resigning himself to goody-two-shoes-death, there was the tearing sound of bicycle tires braking on pavement, and a boy in hood appeared on said bicycle.
“Get on!” He said, and Gabe wasted no time, hopping on the pegs that protruded from the back wheel as the boy pedaled off madly.
“Ha ha!” Gabe yelled behind him, as the crowd looked on, baffled, “Try and catch me now fuckers!”
The boy pedaled to an area where there weren’t anymore people and turned sharply, dumping Gabe off on his ass. Then he sped off.
“Thanks for saving me then!” Gabe yelled after him, “But you could have just stopped and let me off instead.”
Right. Gabe stood. Now to find Maja.
;;;
Gabe knocked on her apartment door furiously, “Maja? Maja! Come on girl, you have to be here.”
On a whim, he turned the knob. It was unlocked. No. No no no. She was fine. She had to be. This was Maja he was talking about. She could kick anyone’s ass this day to Sunday. He stepped over the threshold into the apartment. It was neater than last time he was here. But that could just mean she decided to clean a bit ago. He could not afford to be jumping to conclusions right now. No way.
“Maja?” He called more softly, continuing down the hallway to her bedroom. There were trash bags on the bed. He nearly ran to them. Inside was all of her clothing. All of that damn weird, cheap clothing that he’d come to love stuffed inside. There was no denying it now. But…maybe…
“ Gabe? What do you think you’re doing?” Gabe nearly sobbed with relief. He closed his eyes and savored that weird, indignant accent that was telling him off like always, destroying every defense he ever bothered with. He turned.
“No!” Gabe shouted, his eyes raking over Maja. But, not Maja as well. This thing in front of him looked and sounded like Maja in the most basic sense, but she was dressed sensibly in a long skirt and blouse with her hair pushed out of her face with a pretty headband. This was not his Maja.
“Please tell me this is a joke, please. They can’t have you, they can’t,” Gabe begged, and this charade frowned at him disapprovingly.
“Just what are you doing in my bed room?” It scolded him, “That is so improper.”
“Maja, Maja?” Gabe crooned, taking a step toward the girl. She stepped back, “No c’mon. This isn’t you!”
“What are you talking about?” She frowned.
“You’re abrasive and annoying as hell,” Gabe held up his hands towards her uselessly; she just flinched, “If you had found me in your room yesterday? There wouldn’t even be a conversation. It would be my ass over your balcony without anytime for me to think. You’re the only person in the world who can’t take offense to what I say, who can give it back just as good. You swear better than any sailor I’ve ever meant, and you kind of dress like a slut, and your hair is always in your eyes and bothering you, but it’s perfect, it’s you, and that’s what I want!”
Silence met the statement. The Maja creature stared at Gabe with big eyes and he pleaded in his head, c’mon. C’mon. I know you’ve got it in you. That there’s still you in there! But she just blinked and deepened her frown, “That was so rude.”
Gabe sighed and walked forward, defeated. Maja stayed where she was. He stopped in front of her, tracing the features that were still, and probably always would be, fierce.
“Alright then,” He sighed softly, and bent considerably to kiss her softly on the cheek.
Her outraged cry of “that was so inappropriate!” chased him out of the apartment as Gabe formulated his plan on how to take that goody-two-shoes bitch down.
;;;
It started with a suit. Gabe was totally with Men In Black. Er, well, so it was a gray suit, but still. A suit, neat slicked back hair, manners his grandmother used to beat into him every Sunday, and the biggest shit-eating grin he could manage.
Stage one complete, Gabe widened his grin a little and set off at a cheery pace toward the community center, or, as he had labeled it in his head, both home and Command Headquarters.
Greeting everyone he met in the cheeriest manner he could, Gabe reached his goal. Holding the door open for the people behind him , he entered the center, watching this way and that for that Greta girl. He traced the hallways that were suddenly too clean, too bright, not the place he had made his home. It was fucking weird. Approaching the doorway to the main room carefully, he checked the room for her, iPod at the ready. It was safe.
Gabe threw open the door and walked in with a smile. Travis, er mind control Travis, approached him, “Gabe! I’m so glad you decided to join us.”
Yeah, join, Gabe snorted in his head and fought the urge to do so out loud. Instead he smiled even wider, feeling like it was going to split his face, and answered with a cheerful lie, “Of course! I’m so glad I finally saw the error of my ways! All the drinking and partying. I was a right mess, wasn’t I?”
“You were quite an ass,” Travis smiled easily. Gabe most definitely wanted to punch him. He continued to smile. Travis handed him a clipboard with a pen, “Can you sign this?”
“What is it?” Gabe frowned at the page of signatures.
“It’s a petition to get them to stop giving out contraceptives in schools,” Travis explained, and looked on at Gabe expectantly until he signed it.
“The only thing young ladies should be inserting in themselves is knowledge,” Gabe fixed the smile back on his face, thinking he would crack from it and looked around Travis, “I need to speak with Greta though. Is she around?”
“She’s right through there,” Travis pointed over his shoulder to a small utility room, “She’ll be glad to see you. And again, I’m so glad you saw they way.”
Gabe laughed, but the action felt forced and untrue. He was starting to get sick of this manufactured cheer. He had a plan to execute (fast approaching Stage Four) and a Maja to save. He waved Travis off and strode to the room, pulling his ear phones out of his pocket and turning the volume up to unbearable. Greta wouldn’t know what hit her.
Of course, the only downfall to this plan: he was absolutely shit at lip reading.
Greta turned around when he opened the door, smiling until she finally caught sight of him. He watched her open her mouth, but cut her off with his own, “You can’t do this to them! It isn’t right!”
Her mouth moved some more, but all Gabe could hear was the loud music pounding through his ears. Perfect. There would be no mind control today Miss Greta, oh no. Speaking of oh no, said Miss Greta was starting to get pissed. After her first aborted move to swipe at his head phones, Gabe figured this was a good a time as any to pull the gun.
Greta was appropriately shocked.
“Change them back!” Gabe reiterated, and watch her lips move in a way even he understood: I can’t. Her eyes suddenly flew over his shoulder and Gabe turned, seeing Maja’s shocked form in the doorway. Shit, he thought, but went with it, grabbing Greta and shoving the gun at her head, yelling, “Don’t do anything, or she gets it!”
He grabbed her and dragged her out into the main room, where everyone stood, shocked. Pointing the gun at large he shouted, “Everybody stay back!”
Gabe made his way through the room while everyone ran in varying states of panic, mouths open for screams he couldn’t hear. Making sure the struggling girl couldn’t get away, Gabe stormed up the stairs that led out to the roof, intent on…Well, this is actually where the plan ended. But the happy horde of goody freaks didn’t look too happy. In fact, they looked positively murderous. The stairs just so happened to be the closest exit. He was pretty sure no one could blame him for thinking on the fly. Planning can only take you so far.
Gabe shoved Greta out on the roof first, where a steady drizzle had taken up. Despite it all, she continued to mouth at him. Fucking hell that was annoying. Gabe turned around and shoved some of the furniture in front of the door.
Gabe grabbed her and dragged her over to the edge, where everyone else was starting to flood, watching them with horrified expressions. He caught sight of Maja, and something inside him broke.
“She’s got you thinking this is how you’re supposed to be!” He yelled, “But it’s not! We’re young! We fuck up! We’re supposed to fuck up! We’re supposed to have bad attitudes and drink too much and fuck each others brains out! We are designed to party! This is it! And sure, that won’t always go so great. Some of us may overdose or go completely insane. But Charles Darwin said “You can’t make an omelets without breaking a few eggs.” And isn’t that what this is all about?! Breaking eggs! You should see yourselves! It breaks my heart! You’re wearing cardigans! We had it all! We fucked up bigger and better than any generation that came before us! We were so beautiful!”
Gabe stopped to breathe for a moment, and continued, “We’re screw ups. I’m a screw up. And I plan to be a screw up until my late twenties, maybe early thirties! And I will shag my own mother before I let her, or anyone else take that away from me!”
Greta shoved at his arm, grabbing at his gun, which was leaking. Alright, so it was a water pistol. At least no one was getting hurt. He watched her mouth move and her face settle into righteous indignation before interrupting her, “I still can’t hear you love!”
She shoved him again, but this time, her foot lost it’s traction and she slipped, tumbling off the roof. The shove managed to set him off balance, and Gabe waved his arms. No way in hell was he dying today, no. Someone grabbed his hand, and Gabe looked up to see Mikey trying to help him. But the rain had made his hand too slippery. Mikey was trying, but Gabe just tumbled off.
;;;
Maja blinked. What had just happened? She looked down at herself and, okay what was she wearing?
Her memories came back quickly, they had been trying to get William and…oh god, William, she looked up and he was there, so was Travis. Travis looked at her, “What the hell?”
“What am I wearing?” William asked shakily, then looked up at Maja, “What are you wearing?”
Maja just blinked. Okay, there was Travis and William, where was Mikey and, “Where’s Gabe?”
A scream rang out and Maja turned to find it, instead finding, “Gabe!”
She almost screamed herself, but ran up instead to where Gabe was hanging on the fence, the post gone straight through his chest. She touched his forehead lightly, “Gabe!? Gabe! No!” She could feel herself crying, but ignored it and turned to Travis, who looked shocked, “Fix it! Turn back time! He can’t die!”
“I don’t know,” Travis stammered, looking queasy, “I can’t.”
“No, no, no,” Maja cried, and turned back to Gabe’s body, “No.”
;;;
The funeral sucked. William didn’t even like Gabe, and he knew that. Maja looked like she had been hit by a bus. William watched her out of the corner of his eye where they all sat, in this stupid club. The music was pounding, obnoxious, and completely inappropriate for the moment. Pretty much everything Gabe was. Maja finally stood.
“I’m going home,” She said, and worked her way out. She was barely out of sight when Mikey stood and chased after her.
William looked over at Travis, who picked up his drink. He did the same. Travis touched there glasses, “To Gabe,” and downed his.
William just set it back down. He didn’t think he had ever wished to be able to touch someone more than he did in that moment. He wanted comfort and love, everything. Instead, he placed his hand palm up under the glass table. Travis put his own hand down on top of his, the glass separating them.
If that wasn’t a motherfucking metaphor, William thought angrily, nothing was.
;;;
“Maja! Maja!” Maja stopped and turned around, watched Mikey jog up to her awkwardly.
“What?” She said when he finally reached her, voice to thick for her liking.
“Just,” Mikey reached in his pocket and placed a jeweled case in her hand, closing her fingers over it, “Watch it, okay?”
Maja looked at it dumbly. When she finally had her powers of speech back to thank him, she looked up and Mikey was gone.
;;;
She slid the disk into her laptop, closing the drive, pressing play. Soft music started over a black screen and Maja tried to puzzle through it when Gabe’s voice cut through, yelling, “Pervert! Filthy, dirty pervert!”
The tears she had been holding back fell thickly as the video progressed, more often than not footage of him yelling at Mikey, but a many of him trying out powers, and a few candid moments, when Gabe was being the most absolute Gabe he could be.
It was filthy, disgusting, annoying, and dumb. Maja pretty much loved it.
;;;
Gabe gasped awake, into total darkness. He fumbled for a moment, but his finger hit on something in his hand, and the iPod screen lit the space he was in. He breathed for a couple minutes, trying to assess what the hell was going on.
“Okay,” He thought out loud, “I’m alive. I fell off a roof and didn’t die. I’m alive.”
Which was really fucking impossible, he was well aware. Which meant…
“I’m immortal,” He realized, his eyes widening, “I’m immortal. I’ve got a power. I fucking knew it! Ha ha! Who’s laughing now! I’m immortal, I’m…”
Gabe suddenly realized. He was in a coffin. That meant…Fuck.
“Help!” He pounded on the top, the soft thuds muted, “Help! I’m alive! You buried me alive you assholes!”
He stopped pounding, “I’m immortal. I’m immortal. Well, that’s just great, thanks a lot!”
Gabe looked down at the iPod that had been lighting the place. He huffed, grabbing the ear phones and sticking them in.
“Un-fucking-believable,” He sighed, before pressing play.