Author:
Author: Kerianne
Email: mpike@froggernet.com
Title:
Whatever Tomorrow Brings
Spoilers: A
bit of spoilage for the drama tracks, I suppose. Warnings: Shounen-ai, possible yaoi later
on... violence... probably angst...
Warnings:
Shounen-ai (possibility of yaoi later), language, violence.
Author's Notes: This is my attempt at improving upon the
storyline of the Schwarz drama tracks, which were, in my opinion,
horrendous. If you haven't read them, look around a little and
I'm sure you'll find them, but it's not necessary to have read
them to understand the story. This is going to be AU, because I
had to make the Schwarz members a bit closer in age so the story
would make sense. Also, this is both the prologue and Chapter 1
lumped together, because it's just easier that way. *glares at
chaptering for not providing a prologue option* Hope you enjoy
the fic, and please leave a review! ^_^
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
With open arms and open eyes, yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there
I'll be there - "Drive", Incubus
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prologue:
"Wake up, boy."
The harsh voice startled Bradley
Crawford out of a peaceful slumber, and he sat up abruptly,
chocolate brown eyes wide in the darkness. It took him a moment
to realize the voice was familiar.
"Get up and get dressed." A
hand reached out and violently tugged the covers away from the
dark-haired teenager's body. Brad blinked, frowning and
trying to make sense out of the situation. He couldn't see a
thing without his glasses....
"Didn't you hear me, boy? I
said get up!" The man's voice deepened to a low growl--
a tone that Brad recognized well. Quickly, he scrambled out of
bed and rifled through his drawers, pulling out the first outfit
he found. There was a knot of cold fear in his stomach, although
he didn't know why.
"What's going on?" he
managed to ask, pulling a blue polo shirt over his head and
fumbling for his glasses on the nightstand.
"You're leaving."
There was unrestrained glee in the man's voice. He had
stopped pretending to care about Brad a long time ago. "I
finally found a place that will take in a freak like you. There's
no reason to have you hanging around my house anymore, eating my
food, spending my money, getting in the way."
The knot in Brad's stomach
intensified. It had finally happened. He had always known in the
back of his mind that his father would desert him the first
chance he got, but he had always managed to make himself believe
that it wouldn't happen until he was older, until he had a
chance to get away and make a life for himself on his own. And
now? He would rot away for the rest of his life in a mental
institution. Cold anger flared within him, and he clenched his
fists instinctively.
"Let's go." A rough
hand on his arm, pulling him out of the room he'd called
home for all of the sixteen years of his life.
"What about my stuff?"
His father laughed derisively.
"You don't own anything, boy. Everything you had, you
had out of the kindness of my heart. Who bought those clothes for
you? Who gave you everything you ever had? I've supported
you all your life because you've been too worthless to
work." He gave Brad's arm a hard jerk. "I'm
taking it all back now. Why should I give you your things when I
could sell them instead? Don't worry, I'm sure they'll
take good care of you in the place you'll be staying. They'll
give you clothes." He gave another sarcastic laugh.
Brad had a sudden flash of himself
padding around through antibacterial-white hallways, dressed in a
hospital robe and those soft paper slippers they gave to crazy
people so they couldn't hurt themselves with anything more
substantial. Cursing softly, he prayed that it wasn't a
vision of his true future.
"It's time to leave. Don't
make me tell you again, boy." The words were laced with
malice, and Brad flinched involuntarily. He never really got used
to his father's cruelty, no matter how many times it showed
itself.
This time, the dark-haired teenager
allowed himself to be pulled along and out the door. He felt
numb, dreamlike, and the fact that it was four in the morning and
he'd just been dragged out of a perfectly good dream to be
sent off to God only knew where wasn't helping the
surreality of the situation.
The car trip was silent, as Brad's
father drove smirking all the while about his good fortune in
getting rid of his burden, and Brad watched the minutes tick by
on the little green display on the dashboard. Watching the last
minutes of the only way of life he'd ever known slipping
away.
* * * * *
The view out the window of the plan
was not a very interesting one, but it was different enough to
hold Brad's attention. He'd never been on a plane
before, and watching the vaporous clouds and vaguely white blobs
of land floating past and underneath the aircraft was as good a
way as any to pass the time, he supposed.
"Hello."
The voice startled him, making him
turn around and really look at his seatmate for the first time. A
petite girl with short black hair cut in a bob was leaning back
in the seat, eyes closed. A moment later, her eyelids rose
leisurely, revealing large, dark grey eyes.
Brad nodded politely at the girl.
"So, what are you in for?"
she murmured. Her voice was soft and slight, like the rest of
her. She had a strange air of fragility about her, but
intelligence shone in her eyes.
He frowned slightly, unsure of how
much this mysterious girl knew. "My father sent me."
One dark, sculptured eyebrow rose.
"Pretty cold."
"I'm used to it." Brad
paused, debating whether or not revealing his life story to this
total stranger was a good idea. What can it hurt? he
finally thought. I've left that life behind now. Besides,
talking will pass the time. "He never loved me, from the
moment I was born. I think, in a strange sort of way, he blamed
me for taking my mother's affections away from him. Then,
when she died..." He shrugged. "He kept me around for a
few years, but I always knew he'd get rid of me the first
chance he found. I guess this was it."
The girl's brow furrowed
slightly, but the expression in her eyes didn't change.
"That's rough. By the way, I'm Dana."
"Brad Crawford." He smiled
faintly. "What about you-- what are you doing
here?"
Dana smiled wryly. "For as long
as I can remember, I've lived in an orphanage. I have no
idea who my parents were or where I came from. I was never too
popular around there, and it was even worse when they found out I
was a telekinetic." Her smile turned suddenly bitter.
"They pretty much sold me to Rosenkreuz. So.... here I
am."
Brad nodded. "It was the same
way when my father found out about my clairvoyance.... He was
never smart enough to figure out exactly what it was, but he knew
I was different-- more powerful than him-- and he hated it."
"The head of the orphanage knew
all about paranormal powers... she was one of those nuts who
wants to rid the world of abnormal freaks' like us. I
hid it for a long time, but in secret I still used my powers... I
guess that was a mistake, because I got caught by my roommate.
Word spread around the place, and next thing I knew I was being
bundled onto the plane on my way to the mysterious
Rosenkreuz." Her tone was tinged with sarcasm on the last
few words.
"Rosenkreuz...." Brad said
softly, not sure if he liked the feel of the word on his tongue.
"Is that where we're going?"
"He didn't tell you
anything, did he?"
The dark-haired boy shook his head.
"Yeah, Rosenkreuz is the place.
I guess it's in the Bavarian Alps somewhere. What it is, I'm
not sure. I've heard it's a school... but then, I've
also heard it's a mental institution."
Brad felt something twist within him,
and the image of spending his life in paper slippers padding
through antiseptic hallways flashed into his mind again.
"I guess we'll see, won't
we?" Dana gave a small half-smile that didn't quite
reach the dark gray eyes.
"Yeah," Brad agreed
quietly, returning his attention once again to the window of the
plane and the land blurring faster and faster away beneath him...
taking him farther and farther from home. "I guess we'll
see."
* * * * *
Chapter 1:
~Go home.... Turn back, before it's
too late.... The future is still yours to change. Get away! Go
home, turn back...~
Brad's eyes flew open abruptly.
For a moment he was frozen in fear, as the voices of his dream
dwindled into silence. Then he took a deep breath and looked
around. Still on the plane... they were landing now.
Dana glanced at him, frowning
slightly. "You all right? You look a little shaken
up...."
Brad managed a faint smile, standing
up from the cramped seat and stretching his legs. "Just
fine. I guess I'm just a little nervous."
"Understandable, considering we're
about to get our first glance of the place we'll be calling
home for quite a while."
The dark-haired boy felt a slight
chill as the voices of his dream came to mind once again. ~Go
home, turn back...~
He shook it off. It was just a dream,
after all. It hadn't felt like a true vision, so he had
nothing to worry about. He probably was just nervous....
The next half an hour passed in a
blur of confusion and collecting luggage and seas of unfamiliar
faces as all of the Rosenkreuz newcomers disembarked. The place
had its own landing strip, Brad realized. He had expected to land
at an airport and be transported to the institution from there.
For the first time, he began to wonder if maybe this wouldn't
be so bad-- at least they had to be pretty rich.
The next thing he knew, he was being
crowded into a group of twenty or so new arrivals and led towards
one of the large white buildings that seemed to compose
Rosenkreuz. Dana was not among the group. Brad turned around and
caught a glimpse of a dark bob-cut head of hair moving in the
opposite direction, in a different group. Wonderful, he
thought, thrusting his hands sullenly into the pockets of his
baggy khakis and trudging along with the rest of the group. He
was tired, the flight had left him somewhat dizzy, he really
wanted to take a nice long shower, and he was completely alone.
Not a single even vaguely familiar face in sight.
"I hope we're being shown
to our rooms now," he announced in an irritated tone. He was
tired of being herded around like so many cattle. These people
didn't even have the decency to tell them where they were
going, or anything about the place.
The woman leading the group turned
around, turning her piercing blue eyes onto Brad. Her graying
dark hair was pulled back into a severe bun at the nape of her
neck, and her features were pinched. She reminded Brad somewhat
of an old, nasty schoolmistress. "I apologize for any
inconvience it may cause you," she snapped, in a tone that
was about as far from apologetic as one could get, "but all
new arrivals must first meet in the general auditorium to hear a
speech by the headmaster."
Rolling his eyes, Brad fell silent.
~Real friendly around here so far,
ain't they?~ The thought popped into his head unbidden.
He was confused for a moment before realizing that he was among
paranormals now, and there were bound to be some telepaths in the
crowd.
~A top-class greeting, it really
is,~ he thought sarcastically. ~"Welcome to
Rosenkreuz."~
A hearty laugh burst into his mind.
Brad rubbed his head a little. He wasn't used to
communicating telepathically, and it felt a bit like mental
fireworks exploding in his head. ~Eh, don't worry too
much. You seem like a tough kid, I'm sure you'll stick
it out.~
~Thanks.~
Abruptly the mental connection was
gone. Brad frowned a little. He hadn't even gotten the guy's
name-- the thought-voice had sounded male, but he couldn't
tell who was speaking. Nevertheless, it made him feel a little
better. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen to all
of them. Maybe he wasn't as alone as he had thought
at first.
* * * * *
"Welcome to Rosenkreuz."
Brad had uttered those same words
less than twenty minutes before, sarcastically. This greeting was
not quite as ironically stated, but it still far from welcoming.
Every eye in the auditorium was fixed
on the man standing on the stage. Not a particularly tall man, or
one with very striking features. In fact, his very strangeness
lay in the fact that nothing stood out on his face or
body. He was the very definition of the word pale-- gray
hair, almost white, sprinkled finely atop his head; a washed out
complexion; and the palest gray eyes Brad had ever seen. Even in
his spot, far from the front of the aud, he could see that there
was no life in those eyes.
"My name is Mr. Farblos, and I
am the founder, director and head chairperson of Rosenkreuz.
Simply put... I'm in charge." He gave a colorless
smile, then continued in his monotone voice. "I'm sure
many of you are wondering why you've been brought here... or
exactly what here' is. I'm sure you're also
tired, so I will try not to keep you too long. However, there are
a few things about this place that I think it would serve you
well to know.
"First of all.... Rosenkreuz is
an institution." A small alarmed murmur swept through the
crowd, and Brad found that his stomach was twisting up in knots
again. The unpleasant image of himself locked up in a hospital
for the rest of his life returned yet again to his mind, and yet
again he forced it down and forced himself to continue listening.
"As you know, the word institution'
can have two meanings. An institution can be a place of learning.
A place where you are shaped, molded, shown down the right paths,
taught to use your skills and powers to your best
advantage." Farblos paused for a moment. "'Institution'
can also represent a place of detention... of punishment. A place
where people are kept apart from the world so they do not cause
damage to themselves or others. Ladies and gentlemen, Rosenkreuz
is both of those things, and it is neither. More importantly,
what it is depends on what you do. The decisions you
choose to make. Make good decisions, and the first definition
will hold true. You will hone your powers, master them, perfect
them, and learn how to use them in the outside world." He
took another pause, then began speaking in a more ominous tone.
"Make bad decisions.... and you will understand firsthand
the meaning of the second definition."
Brad felt a slight chill running down
his spine. The room was silent now, as everyone processed this
new information. He was relieved, in a way; at least Rosenkreuz did
seem to be at least some kind of school, rather than a mental
home. However, he wasn't at all sure that he liked that last
line of Farblos' speech....
Abruptly he realized that the man was
speaking again. ".... rooms will be locked at 10pm every
night. All lights will be out by 11pm. After that time, if any
student is found to be out of his or her room, he or she will be
taken to the offices and evaluated." The last word was
delivered in a slightly lower tone than the rest, making it sound
dark and forbidding. Brad shivered despite himself.
"The other rules can be found
posted in each student's room. You will learn them quickly,
and you will abide by them, because I trust that you will find
the repercussions of breaking them.... rather inconvenient."
Farblos smiled coldly. "You may go now. Speak to the head of
your group for your room assignments. Many of you will find that
you have been assigned roommates. Learn to get along with each
other-- there will be no room switching."
With that, the man left the stage. No
"goodbye", no "have a good night", no
"glad to have you with us". Brad shook his head
slightly and went off in search of the pinched-face lady to get
his room assignment. Lovely place, this was.
* * * * *
"A real shame."
The girl's eyes fluttered open
at these words. It took her a moment to awaken fully, but when
she did she began to thrash, struggling against the bonds that
held her, a wild look in her eyes.
"A real shame that we must begin
the evaluations so early..." The voice continued, the
apologetic words not matching the sardonic, almost amused tone.
"But discipline is discipline, and if needed, well, what
else can we do but provide it?"
She tried to scream, but found
herself unable to make even the slightest movement of her mouth.
There was no tangible gag wrapped around her lips, no visible
bonds holding her down to the chair in which she was trapped, but
that didn't make the restraint any less real.
"You're not going to
escape." The words were delivered in a conversational tone,
almost as if the speaker was just offering a little friendly
advice. "Not from that chair, and not from Rosenkreuz. Tell
me something, little girl... Cathy, is that your name? Such a
pretty name.... well, tell me, Cathy...." Suddenly a face
loomed before her-- what could have been a handsome face, if not
for the expression of sadistic joy that was twisting it into
something terrible. He cupped her face gently in his hands, deep
brown eyes gazing steadily into wide, terrified blue ones.
"Did you really think you could pull it off?"
The others in the room laughed. She
couldn't see them, but she knew they were there. One of them
had to be using his powers to hold her here. If she could find
him... take him out... then run.... A thousand plans raced
through her mind.
The man whose face was inches away
from hers chuckled. "Useless, my dear. Useless. No matter
how many clever plans you formulate, we will always be one step
ahead. How can you fight against a foe who can hear your every
thought... anticipate your every move.... match any attack you
might throw at them?" He paused, listening to her panicked
thoughts, then smiled unpleasantly. "That's right,
sweetheart, you can't."
With that, he backhanded her, forming
an angry red mark on her cheek. It didn't hurt so much as it
surprised her, but tears began sliding slowly down her cheeks. He
was right. It was useless to think or fight or resist. Useless...
and hopeless.
"Glad to see you've finally
realized it." He had wandered out of her line of vision, but
his voice still rang out clear, even more terrifying now that she
couldn't see him, couldn't monitor what he was doing.
The very thought that this repulsive creature was inside her head
disgusted her.
"Oh no, now you're not
playing nice. I didn't like that." His voice lowered to
a dangerous snarl. "David... silence her. I'm tired of
playing."
Who's David? What's
"silencing"? Is this all some sort of game-- Her
thoughts were abruptly cut off, because at that moment a nuclear
bomb went off in her head, and all of her mental facilities were
occupied with screaming. Pain-- pain at least a hundred times
more intense than any that could be caused naturally-- was
literally consuming every inch of her body. She was burning
alive, and she was freezing to death. She was being electrocuted,
blown up, shot, stabbed, torn apart by wild animals and slowly
crushed to death, all at once. Somewhere in the back of her
tortured mind, she realized that she should have been dead a long
time ago from the onslaught of agony, but something was keeping
her alive, and the torment went on.
Finally-- mercifully-- it was over,
and there was nothing but sweet silence inside her head. Slowly
she opened her eyes, and found that she could move again.
Examining herself, she realized that her physical state had not
been affected whatsoever by the attack. And mentally?
She felt normal... but things looked
different somehow....
A handsome man stepped forward and
took her hand. "How are you feeling?" he asked kindly.
"Confused..." she murmured.
His voice sounded familiar, but whenever she tried to remember
how, her head began to ache again. Terrified that the agony would
suddenly return, she stopped thinking about it.
"It's all right, you'll
understand everything soon." He bent down and looked into
her eyes-- deep brown meeting blue once again. "I think you'll
find that we can be better friends after this, no?"
She nodded numbly. She wanted to
remember... but the pain was the last thing she recalled. Before
that... before that was a muddled mess, and the more she thought
about it, the more the sharp ache in her head intensified.
"Don't hurt yourself,"
the man said gently. "You tried to do something bad, and now
you have seen the error of your ways and you will be working with
us from now on. That's all. Don't worry yourself
thinking about it any more, understand?" It was not so much
a request as it was an order, but she nodded again nevertheless.
"Good," he continued. A
smile flashed across his face, and again a flicker of memory
threatened to break through within her mind, but she quickly
pushed it down. He had told her not to think of it anymore;
therefore, she could not. She had to do as he said. Had to be
good, or the pain would come back.
"Very good." His smile
widened. "Wonderful. Now, come with me, I have a few things
to show you...."
* * * * *
Brad sighed, checked the room number
yet again-- yes, room number 269, this was the room he had
been assigned-- and continued rapping loudly on the door. He
supposed he could just unlock the door and walk right in, but he
felt a little uncomfortable doing that. He had been told that his
roommate had been at Rosenkreuz for several years now, and it
seemed somehow disrespectful for Brad, the newcomer, to just come
barging in like he owned the place.
He had just raised his fist to knock
again when the door flew open, and he found himself looking
straight into a pair of intense slate blue eyes. The owner of
these eyes looked Brad over lazily and smirked a little.
"You must be my new roommate."
Brad blinked. This was his
roomie? He didn't look quite as the young clairvoyant had
expected him to. Rather than the clean-cut, brainwashed prep
school boy Brad had assumed his roommate would be after a few
years at this place, the boy looked... wild. That was the only
word for it. He had smooth, clean features, but they were framed
by an untameable shock of hair in the most unusual sunset-orange
shade. He was tall, lanky, with long legs, and the smug
expression on his face looked as if it never left.
"Are you planning to stand there
staring at me all day, or would you like to come in?" The
redhead's voice was nasal, accented, and currently held an
amused tone.
Brad shook himself and stepped
inside, looking around the room. It wasn't too much worse
than his room at home, or any typical hotel room. Two beds, a
dresser, a nightstand with a lamp, and a table with two chairs in
the corner of the room. The only difference was that it looked
completely bare of any personal effects-- no posters or calendars
or clothes strewn all over the floor, things one would expect a
teenage boy's room to contain.
"No bags?" His new roommate's
voice interrupted his train of thought.
"No," Brad said simply. The
redhead waited for an explanation; when none came, he shrugged
and flopped down on one of the beds.
~I could just take it out of your
mind, you know.~ Suddenly Brad heard the same nasal tenor
voice within his head, rather than with his ears. Inwardly he
sighed. Great. Rooming with a telepath. He wasn't going to
be able to get away with anything around here.
"I should hope that if you'll
be "getting away with anything", you'll include me
in it," the boy said, a mischevious smile breaking over his
face. "This place is boring. But I'll warn you, it's
not real easy to get away with stuff around here. If it was, I
would've been gone a long time ago." Propping his feet
up on the opposite bed, he dug around in his pocket, pulled out a
cigarette, lit it and took a long drag. "Oh, by the way, I'm
Schu." He caught the frown on Brad's face and rolled
his eyes, interrupting before the other boy could even begin
speaking. "No, it has nothing to do with footwear. It's
short for Schuldig, which means guilty' in German, and
yes that is my real name. Had a couple of sadists for parents,
what can I say."
Brad raised an eyebrow. "Is it
always this hard to have a conversation with a telepath?"
Schu tossed back his head and
laughed. "And I wasn't even using my powers there.
Everyone asks me that when they first meet me, though. Let's
see, what else.... oh yes, my hair IS this color naturally.... I'm
telepathic, I hail originally from Germany, and I'm 14 years
old." At the shocked expression on Brad's face, he
began to laugh again. "Yes, only 14. I just look-- and
probably act-- older than my age."
Slightly unnerved by the fact that
Schu kept anticipating his questions before he asked them, Brad
offered a hand to the younger boy. "Bradley Crawford. Umm...
I'm American..." He ignored the derisive snicker from
the foreign boy. "I'm a clairvoyant, which is why I'm
here."
Schu chuckled. "And you think
YOU won't be able to get away with anything! What with you
seeing the future and all, I'll never be able to surprise
you...." A sly smile touched his lips, and he raised his
eyebrows at the older boy.
Brad was a little startled. Was
Schu... flirting with him? Nah, couldn't be. Brad himself
had known that he was attracted to males as well as females since
middle school-- his father had not known, but he had suspected,
which had just served as yet more ammunition against Brad-- but
the odds that his male roommate was interested in guys as well
were not overwhelmingly high.
"Er... how long have you been
here?" Brad asked, once again glancing around at the bare
walls and pristine floors. Maybe Schu had just moved into this
room, that could explain it.
"Three years," the
redheaded boy sighed, taking another drag on the cigarette.
"Three very.... long.... years."
"In this same room?"
"Yep."
"So why's it so...."
Brad turned around, taking in the whole room at once.
"Bare?"
Schu gave a wry grin. "Because
it has to be. You haven't read the rules yet, have
you?"
Brad shook his head.
"I'll save you the trouble.
Basically, if it makes any noise, causes any messes, or brings
you any tiny amount of pleasure whatsoever, you're not
allowed to do it under penalty of death." Schu shook his
head, an expression of contempt clear on his face. "There's
no stereos or music allowed, no food besides what's allotted
to you at mealtimes... We're not allowed to put anything up
on the walls or leave any personal effects out in plain
sight...." Schu began reciting in a sarcastic tone. It was
clear that he'd heard these rules rattled off millions of
times. "Rooms must be kept perfectly clean. Random room
cleanliness checks will be conducted during both day and night.
If any student's room is found to be unacceptable during one
of these checks, he will be assigned to cleanup duty elsewhere in
the facilities. If multiple infractions are recorded, the student
in question may be brought in for evaluation."
"What is
evaluation?" Brad interrupted. "That was in the speech
that we newcomers all had to sit through, but he never explained
what it meant."
Schu paused for a moment, and for the
first time Brad saw the smirk disappear from his face. It was
momentarily replaced by a troubled, almost haunted look. Then he
blinked and shook his head and it was gone, replaced by a
hesitant smile. "It's... nothing. I don't know. I've
never had to worry about it. As much as I hate this place and all
the rules, I try to fly under the radar. So they don't
notice me."
Brad frowned a little. There was
something Schu wasn't telling him, but it was clearly
something that his new roommate didn't want to talk about,
so he decided not to press the subject. "So... what exactly do
you do for fun around here?"
The corner of the redhead's
mouth turned up in a sly grin. "If it were up to them,
nothing. We gotta make our own fun. Luckily, there are ways to
get around the rules if you try hard enough, and get a little
creative." Schu held up his box of cigarettes. "I'm
not supposed to have these, of course. A friend of a friend has
some friends on the outside who slip in every now and then to
bring us stuff-- if we pay them, that is."
Brad arched an eyebrow. "You
know, I hate to say this, but the more I learn about this place,
the more it sounds like a prison."
"Oh, not so far from the truth,
my friend." Schu shrugged. "We're stuck here now,
though, may as well make the best of it."
Another question occurred to Brad.
"How do people manage to get in and out of the school, with
all these powerful telepaths around?"
"There are a few double agents
on the staff... I'll have to point them out to you later.
They help us out as much as possible when we're doing things
the higher-ups would frown upon, but we don't have enough
support to stage a big breakout yet." Schu flopped down on
the bed again, staring up at the ceiling, a faraway look coming
into his eyes. "Someday...."
Brad felt a familiar chill running
down his spine. There really is no escape, he realized,
panicking slightly. Anything I think, anything I say, they
could be listening... They could burst in any minute to accuse us
of plotting a conspiracy, then drag us off for
"evaluation", which is so bad that he won't even talk
about it! I'm trapped...
It took him a moment to realize Schu
was looking at him with concern. "Brad. Relax," the
German said in a gentler tone than usual. "You can't
think like that, or you'll drive yourself crazy in no time.
They're not listening as much as you think they are. If you
don't call too much attention to yourself, they pretty much
leave you alone. They try to keep the atmosphere kind of normal
around here, because if all the students were smart enough to
realize they were being treated like a bunch of lab rats in a
cage, they'd all revolt and the staff would have a big
problem on their hands. Bunch of pissed off telepaths and
telekinetics.... it wouldn't be a pretty sight. But half of
them don't even know what's going on, and the rest are
actually happy about supposedly honing their skills'."
Schu snorted.
Brad took a deep breath, the
momentary panic passing. "This place still reminds me of a
prison," he said, shaking his head.
The redhead gave what was probably as
close to a reassuring smile as he got. "Don't worry, it's
not that bad when you get used to it. It's almost time for
dinner, I'll introduce you to some of my friends when we get
there."
"Thanks." Brad smiled
warmly at the younger boy. They'd just barely met, but Schu
seemed like a good person, and in a place like this, Brad figured
he'd need as many friends as he could find. There was one
question nagging at the back of his mind, however. "Hey,
Schu..."
"Yeah?"
"Well.... wouldn't they
normally room new students with other new students? I mean...
after living here for three years, you've never had a
roommate?"
Schu smiled sheepishly. "Well...
er, yes, I have had roommates... but... let's just say we've
always had... incompatible personalities."
Brad rolled his eyes. "Alright,
what'd you do?"
"Wait a minute, why are you
automatically blaming me? Just cause my name means
Guilty..." Schu let out an exaggerated sigh, then grinned
mischeviously. "Well, let's see. One of them was
allergic to cigarette smoke.... one of them said I made him
nervous', never gave an explanation why..." The
German looked honestly confused, Brad noted with a hidden smile.
"A few said they were afraid I'd get them in trouble...
and the rest were a little irritated about all the noise at
night, I think."
".... Noise?" Brad almost
hated to ask.
"Umm. Well... remember how I
said there were ways to make our own fun?" The redhead
smiled evilly.
Great, the young clairvoyant
thought, blinking at Schu. Not only is my new roommate a
telepath, he's a pervert besides. Lovely.
The corners of Schu's eyes
crinkled up in a grin. ~I think we're going to be great
friends, Bradley Crawford.~
~*End Chapter 1*~