Thank you all for 1k reads! It means a lot. We're in the last arc of my story, enjoy! :)
"Are we really going to do this?" Mr. Mask said, his voice sounded far away.
I was groggy, the last thing I remembered was being stabbed in the leg with a needle by Mr. Mask.
It had been a few days since Lola switched bodies with me. I spent most of my time locked in the dingy concrete room.
Lola had been bringing me my homework assignments for every class which I appreciated. It gave me something to do and gave me hope that I wasn't dead just yet.
In the afternoons Lola would have Mr. Mask blindfold me and bring me to the same room we had been in before.
She would interrogate me with Dog standing by her side, Mr. Mask would stand by mine.
Lola was very interested in all the switches I had made with people who had no powers. She made me repeat every detail I could remember.
Bebe, Kyle, Heidi, Cartman, and the random employee. I was forced to recount everything from when the switch was conceptualized in my head to what I did after I was back in my own body.
She recorded all of our conversations and took notes.
I tried my best not to think too much about her creeping me out. Lola would laugh if a thought like that did make it into my head. She didn't seem offended, just entertained by it all.
"Yes, we are. It's necessary." Lola said shortly. Her voice sounded closer than Mr. Mask's had. I was regaining consciousness.
"She never had an ideas like this before, this isn't a realistic situation." Mr. Mask continued to argue with Lola.
"That doesn't mean she might one day. We need to understand all of it, Jake." Lola insisted. Now I could put a proper name to Mr. Mask. The name Jake suited him.
"Oh, she's awake!" Lola exclaimed.
"Oh shit." I heard Mr-, I meant Jake, swear while something clattered, I assumed he was grabbing his mask and shoving it back on.
I opened my eyes, seeing a white ceiling above my head. Of course my thoughts would immediately give my awakened state away.
"And she knows your name now." Lola's voice sounded like she was smiling, mostly likely at Jake.
"Great." Jake said, clearly annoyed at this entire situation.
"Did you really have to drug me?" I said slowly, sitting up. My movements and voice felt slow, delayed by the drug still coursing through my system.
"Yes, we had to bring you to a different location for our talk today." Lola said.
I looked around the room. We appeared to be in someone's bedroom.
The walls were a golden color and the floor was covered with a brown carpet. There was a dark wooden desk across from the bed, Lola sat in the black desk chair while Jake stood, leaning against the desk.
"Man, it's weird to see you in casual clothes." I addressed Jake, who was wearing dark blue jeans and a solid black t-shirt.
I had never even seen his skin or hair color before due to his all black attire and hood that he kept up.
I learned he had light brown skin and midnight black hair.
"Is there really harm in showing your face? That mask has to be annoying as all hell." I said to Jake.
I had gotten more casual with Jake these past few days. I felt like he was loosening up a tiny bit, but I wasn't sure.
"I'd rather you not see me." Jake said shortly.
I shrugged. I guess that was the end of that.
"So why are we here?" I asked Lola, swinging my legs over the end of the bed.
I noticed this was the first time she was only relying on Jake for man power if anything went wrong. I took this as a good sign.
"I want to see you switch with a few normal people myself." She said evenly.
"A few?" I said, alarmed.
"Yes, they're going to come in one by one and stare at you under the pretense of you being able to tell them what 3 cards they picked out from a random deck. It's a fake magic trick, though maybe it's not fake since you will get the answer from their memories." Lola smiled, interlacing her fingers together on her lap.
"And this is okay to you?" I asked, standing up and looking at her.
"Yes, of course it is. They will be completely supervised while you're in them, no harm will befall them. And there are rules, you can only look at the memory of what cards they picked, nothing else." Lola warned, voice stern.
I hung my head, knowing I had no choice but to obey.
"Well alright, let's begin then!" Lola jumped up happily, leaving the room to retrieve her first test subject.
I sighed, standing up and leaning against the wall.
"Will I get my life back if I do this?" I asked Jake, my voice tired and sad. I missed everyone so much. I wanted to be back in school, laughing and talking with Red and the others.
I wanted to sleep in my own bed, waking up to my parents making breakfast for me.
Most of all, I wanted Kenny. I missed him more than anyone, and I feared for his well being. He knew I was missing, it must be killing him.
Everytime I thought about it I became physically sick. Hold on, Ken, I'll come back to you I swear. Just don't do anything reckless in the meantime.
"I hope you do." Jake said quietly. I wasn't wrong, he had been warming up to me.
I smiled the first sincere smile I had since coming here. Knowing at least one of these people were on my side was a big relief.
"Thanks Jake." I said sincerely, staring at the black dots on his mask.
The door reopened and Lola walked in, followed by a girl no more than 8 years old. I had to resist protesting out loud.
A kid? I did not want to take over a kid. That felt really messed up.
I saw Jake's fists tighten until his knuckles were pure white. Based on that and their previous conversation Jake thought this was just as messed up as I did.
"This is my little sister, Hannah. Say hi to Iza." Lola smiled gently at her sister, pushing her forwards.
"H-hi Iza! Nice to meet you." Hannah said in a high pitched voice.
"It's nice to meet you too." I said, forcing a smile onto my face.
"Jake, why are you wearing the mask again?" Hannah asked curiously, looking at Jake. Looks like people who knew Jake were no stranger to the mask he wore.
"I just like it." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Wow, your eyes are so pretty!" Hannah exclaimed, running up to me to get a closer look.
"Thanks." I said quietly. I didn't want to do this. This couldn't be right, not even for research purposes.
"Alright Iza, I already explained the trick to Hannah. All she has to do is look into your eyes for 10 seconds, and you'll know what her cards are." Lola said happily, walking over to the both of us.
"I had to bring my cards with me, just in case I forgot." Hannah said shyly, fiddling with the 3 cards she had in her small hands.
"That's okay Hannah." I smiled gently at her. She seemed to perk up at my approval.
I lifted my head, looking at Lola.
"Lola, I can't-"
"Okay girls! Let's get this trick on the road." Lola's overly sweet and joyful voice overpowered mine. She was making it clear, I had no choice here.
"Lola-" Jake tried, but she raised her hand and glared at him, cutting him off. He made a frustrated noise, turning his body away from the scene that was about to unfold.
Lola looked at me and nodded.
I took a deep breath, kneeling down so I was at eye level with Hannah.
"Alright Hannah, just pick your favorite eye and keep looking at it okay?" I tried to keep the sadness from my voice.
"Okay." She said determinedly, looking at my ice blue eye just like I thought she would.
I'm sorry Hannah, I'm sorry.
I kept repeating the apologies in my head until our time was up.
I opened my eyes, seeing my body lying on the floor.
I closed my eyes again, searching for the memory of Hannah's 3 cards.
2 of diamonds, 6 of spades, and 3 of clubs. I memorized them quickly, reopening my eyes and turning to Lola.
"I know her cards, I'm going back into my body now." I said shortly, Hannah's voice sounding as serious as it probably had ever been.
"Now hold on for a minute." Lola said, walking over to the desk and taking a few papers off of it.
"Can you explain the theory behind these math and chemistry problems?" She asked, handing the papers to me.
I reached out with my small hand, placing Hannah's cards on the bed while I analyzed what Lola had given me.
"These are junior level math and chem problems. I could do these no problem." I said, holding the papers out for her to take.
"Walk me through one of them." Lola insisted.
I sighed, complying with her demand. I verbally said how I would do one of each of the problems.
"Very interesting. Despite Hannah's brain being much less developed than yours you can still use hers to work out problems like this, meaning none of your intelligence is lost in the transition. Hannah's thoughts also changed significantly, they are no longer those of a child." Lola smiled excitedly, taking a notebook out of her back pocket and writing things down.
"Alright you can go back in your own body now, my question has been answered." Lola said happily, nodding at me.
Thank God.
I tapped out foreheads together, immediately kneeling back down in the same position I had been before we switched.
"Alright, it's been 10 seconds Iza! What are the cards Hannah picked?" Lola asked, her voice like an announcers.
"She picked the 2 of diamonds, 6 of spades, and 3 of clubs." I tried not to sound too dejected.
"Wow, you're right! What a cool trick Iza." Hannah's eyes shone with wonder and I had to resist the urge to cry.
I hated every second that Lola was in my life. I didn't want to do any of this, Hannah didn't deserve to be treated like a research project and neither did I.
"Okay Hannah, out you go! Go see grandma, I'll be there in a second okay?" Lola grabbed Hannah's hand, forcing her out of the room.
"It seems like Hannah retains no memories that would reveal you being in her body, her mind just erases any trace of it. What a convenient power!" Lola exclaimed giddily, turning around.
"But why are you feeling so guilty, Iza?" Lola tilted her head slightly to the side, sounding legitimately curious.
"Hannah isn't your damn science project, and I don't like treating her like she is." I glowered at Lola, my voice dripping with rage.
"But Iza, don't you remember all the people before? They were your own personal science projects. Worse than that, they were your entertainment and leg up in situations unfavorable for you." Lola said slowly, speaking to me like I was incapable of understanding what I had done.
"I see that now! I'd never use my power like I did before, hell I don't want to use it at all anymore." I shook my head, rubbing my temples.
"That's good that you realize your mistakes." Lola smiled brightly at me.
"If she realizes her mistakes then-"
"Shut it Jake." Lola's sunny demeanor disappeared in an instant. Her eyes were cold and her expression blank. She was fed up with his protesting.
"Hang tight Iza, just one more switch okay?" Lola said, her happiness back once again.
Lola left the room.
"Holy fucking shit." I said. Lola was bat shit crazy. I didn't even care if she heard my thoughts anymore, I had a feeling she wouldn't give a shit anyways.
Jake said nothing. I said nothing more, there was nothing to say.
This time an old women entered the room first, hobbling in with a cane supporting her weight. She had to be in her 70s at the very least.
"Iza, this is my grandma. Grandma Iza is right over here, I'll lead you to her." Lola said tenderly, hand on her grandmother's back.
I knew as soon as I looked at her white glassy eyes. Her grandmother was blind.
"Nice to meet you, Iza. You have a very pretty name." Her grandmother croaked out in a hoarse voice.
"Thank you, it's very nice to meet you too." I said quietly.
"I'm very excited to see if this card trick works, Hannah was thrilled." Lola's grandma chuckled.
"I'll try my best." I said, gulping once the words left my mouth.
"Okay gran, just stare straight ahead. Iza will look into your eyes for 10 seconds and then tell you what your cards were." Lola said, patting her grandmother's shoulder.
She nodded at me. Start Iza, or suffer the consequences.
I looked into her milky pupils, heart pounding in my chest. I didn't want it to work. Please, don't make me do this.
I felt the shocks. It was going to work.
I cursed Lola in my head, earning a large smile from her.
I took a deep breath. Steady your feelings, Iza. You don't want to give this poor women a heart attack when you enter her body.
Darkness. That's all I could see. There was absolutely nothing in this women's field of vision. Not even a single speck of light.
Her body felt so heavy, there were countless spots that ached. Her back, her hips, her shoulders.
Each breath took effort to take. In, out, in, out, shakily and uneven.
God, if this is what getting old is like I'd really have to enjoy my youth while I had it.
I looked in her memories, which was a pretty difficult thing to do. They were all black holes of nothingness.
I decided to pick one of her most recent memories at random. It stood out the most, so this would probably be my best bet.
I guessed correctly. She couldn't see the cards, but Lola had read them out to her.
She had drawn the jack of hearts, 8 of diamonds, and 9 of clubs.
"I've got it." I croaked out.
"Perfect! Jake, if you'd do the honors?" I through my muffled hearing I heard Jake push off of the desk, I assumed he was going to pick up my body and touch our foreheads together.
I waited patiently, desperately wanting to be out of this body.
I felt a warm forehead press against mine.
I was in Jake's arms, he was holding me just like Kenny always would. The thought made my heart clench. God how I missed that boy.
Once he saw I was conscious he immediately set me down. The action was so fast that I almost fell over.
Damn, I knew it would be awkward for him but I didn't think contact with me would be pure poison for him.
I recovered, straightening up and speaking once I saw her grandmother was moving around again.
"I have the cards, they were the jack of hearts, 8 of diamonds, and 9 of clubs." I repeated evenly.
"Isn't that neat, you got them all right dear." Lola's grandmother said happily, her old wrinkled face slowly morphing into a smile.
"Isn't she great, gran?" Lola gushed, gently leading her grandmother back out of her room.
"Oh yes, she is. It was very nice meeting you Iza." Her grandmother bid me farewell before she left the room, I returned the favor, saying it was nice to meet her too.
Once they left I let out a shaky breath, sliding down on the wall until I was sitting on the floor.
"I don't think I can be a guinea pig like that again." I said quietly to no one in particular. I didn't expect to recieve any reply from Jake, but to my surprise I did.
"You won't." Those were the only words he spoke, but they sounded firm and true.
I desperately hoped there was some merit to those words. Lola seemed to be very in control, at least when it came to decisions made about me.
Lola came back into the room, gathering her things together in a rush.
I stood up, waiting to hear her next instructions.
"Hannah and Gran will only be out back for a few minutes, we have to leave right now. Knock her out, Jake." Lola demanded, shoving papers and pens into a blue backpack.
"There's no need to. We can just blindfold her." Jake protested.
"I'm not in the mood right now." Lola said in a deadly tone. Her face shut down the same way it did before, eyes dead and expression blank.
Jake made no move to inject me with anything, much to my relief.
Just as I thought Jake had a chance against her Lola dug in her desk drawer, pulling out a small metal needle that looked full of an unknown liquid.
She removed the plastic covering, walking over to me with that same blank expression.
"Lola, please, Jake's right. I can't discern anything about location from a drive. You don't have to knock me out again, blindfolding me is plenty." I tried my best to convince her knowing it would be futile.
She moved as fast as lightning, stabbing the needle through my jeans and right into my thigh muscle.
"Fuck!" I exclaimed, quickly throwing the needle across the room.
These needles injected instantly, I knew it was already too late.
I stumbled over to the bed, the room becoming dark and hazy.
Fuck you, Lola.
After that wonderful thought, I blacked out.