Senses
__________________________________
Alec was still rubbing his lips minutes after Max had left his side.
"Hey, you okay?"
He looked up and frowned at the petite girl staring down at him.
"Dak, you shouldn't be on your feet."
She shrugged and tossed her long hair back. "I had to, I need to set things up for the cheerleader tryouts which we all know are totally pointless but still need to be done."
Alec smiled "Hey, who knows? You might find someone better than MJ!"
Dak rolled her eyes "You know we won't. I've seen what she can do in gym. She has perfect aim, previous martial arts training and an incredible coordination, just like you."
Alec laughed "My coordination sucks, just the other day I fell off the couch."
"That's just because you got tangled in the sheets." Dakareth laughed. "Anyways, I have to go now. I'll see you soon."
She was about to walk away when Alec stopped her.
"Hey Dak?"
"Hum?"
"Has anyone ever given you an innocent kiss?"
The dark haired beauty frowned "What do you mean?"
"I mean... A kiss that comes out of nowhere given to you by someone that you know is nothing more than your friend?"
Dak smiled softly "We call them angel kisses Alec."
"Oh... so it's normal?"
"Perfectly normal. Just try not to kiss MJ at school, we know it's innocent but other people might not see it that way and they could split you guys up."
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks"
Dak turned to leave again and then stopped once more. "Oh and just in case I don't get to see your tryouts, remember there's a meeting tonight at the old house. Be there at eight."
"Will do." Alec smiled and watched Dak leave before rubbing his lips softly again.
***************************
Max made her way to the girl's locker room and changed into sweats for her cheerleader tryouts. She sat down on a bench and groaned, her headache had been getting steadily worse.
"MJ? Are you in here? We're starting in a few minutes!" Nikki rushed into the locker room and looked around for Max.
"I'm here! I'll be out in a sec!" Max yelled back and massaged her temples.
"Ok, we'll get your music started!"
"My what?" Max whispered. Then she groaned when she realized she was expected to do a dance routine.
"Could this day get any worse?" She asked herself, then she whacked her forehead with her hand.
Sir Mix a Lot, Baby got back
It just had
***************************
Her dance routine had consisted of many amazing moves and nothing else. She bedazzled the elite with her skills and flexibility when, in truth, her headache greatly prevented her from doing her best.
She decided to check out Alec's tryouts and sat down on the bleachers by herself while the rest of the female part of the elite changed into their street clothes in the locker room.
Alec was proving his strength by smashing his shoulder against a dummy again and again. There were several guys next to him doing the same thing but there was no doubt in anyone's minds as to who was the best male on the field.
To everyone else he was magnificent, a human representation of strength and power but Max could see something that no one else could. His head was hanging unnecessarily low, something that wasn't common for him. Alec was an expert at displaying his strength with his head up high.
Max wondered if maybe, just maybe his headache was as bad as hers.
The sun seemed to be worsening Max's condition so she left the field and went back to the locker room planning on taking a shower before leaving. She was halfway across the gym when her sensitive ears picked up a conversation going on inside the locker room and she stopped to listen.
"... And that back flip was flawless! She just seemed to be flying through the air!"
"I know! It was as if her feet never touched the ground! I wonder where she learned all that!"
Max decided to interrupt the little conversation and walked into the stuffy room saying "Gymnastics! I've taken lessons since..."
She frowned, the room was empty but she could still hear the girl's voices. She walked all the way through and opened the door that led to the hall. There, just about to walk around the corner, were Amanda and Ashley, still talking about her.
Max found this really strange but decided not to dwell on it, her head felt as if it were about to split in half.
She half stumbled, half walked over to the showers, undressing as she went. She sat down on the tiled floor, still wearing her underwear and turned on the shower. Hot water hit her full blast and she felt better right away, just a little bit better.
*******************
Alec had been standing outside the girl's locker room for fifteen minutes. He was pretty sure Max wouldn't have left without him, since he had the car keys. He just hoped she hadn't asked for a lift because he had a hideous headache and didn't feel like driving... or waiting around for that matter.
"MJ?" He pushed the door open slowly and frowned at the trail of clothes that seemed to lead to the showers.
"Max? Are you in here?"
The room seemed deserted so Alec followed Max's workout clothes to the showers and gasped. She was sitting on the floor, her head against the tiles, her eyes closed.
"Max! Are you ok? Max!" Alec rushed to her and shook her gently.
Max moaned "Alec, go away."
He sighed in relief "Max! For god's sake, I thought something had happened to you!"
"I just fell asleep, my monster headache got worse." Max's groggy voice and half open eyes gave her the appearance of being drugged.
"How are you feeling now?" Alec asked gently and tossed her a towel.
"Better, actually."
"Good. Come on, get dressed. I'll drive us home."
He turned around while she dressed and concentrated hard on pushing his own discomfort aside.
*******************
The moment the two transgenics walked though the basement door they winced and groaned.
"What the fuck is Logan cooking up there? Feet?" Alec covered his nose with his hands.
Max closed her eyes and moaned "It smells like your socks after gym class!"
Alec glared at her though his covered face and Max shrugged.
The walked up the stairs and opened the door, the smell seemed even more intense and disgusting from there.
"Oh hi guys, I didn't hear you come in." Logan smiled at them from behind the kitchen counter.
"Logan, my man, what the hell do you have in that pot of yours? A chopped up cadaver?"
Logan frowned "It's just Mac and Cheese, I didn't have time to make anything else..."
"Mac and cheese are not supposed to be done with Blue Cheese! Logan, how can you stand the smell?" Max sat down on a chair and covered her nose just as Alec had done.
"Blue... What the hell are you two talking about? It's regular old Mac n' Cheese! See? Little blue box and everything." Logan pointed at the box resting on the counter.
"Did you check the expiration date on that cuz... Damn!" Alec shook his head and wrinkled his nose "I'm going downstairs to take a bath. You should get changed Max, we have to be at that elite's meeting in an hour."
"Oh yeah! I'd forgotten about that!"
"How could you? We'll be picking new dares tonight remember?"
Max groaned and was about to leave the kitchen when her eye caught Logan's. He looked as if he wanted to tell her something.
"I'll go down in a minute." Max said and Alec left in a hurry, closing the basement door behind him.
Max held her breath and smiled at Logan. She felt as if she hardly ever spent time with him anymore but the smell was so gross she truthfully couldn't wait to be downstairs with Alec.
"So..." She choked out.
"...So"
Logan wanted to tell her what he'd seen in the surveillance camera, he wanted to ask her what had been going on at the house with Alec but he didn't want her to feel as if he didn't trust her. While this inner conflict was taking place he noticed how Max's head rested on her hand and how she seemed to be in some sort of pain.
"Is the cheese smell really that bad? Because I can't smell a thing... maybe there's something wrong with me..."
"Oh no no, I just have a headache." Max rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes.
"Have you taken any aspirin?"
"No, I don't know if I should. It might screw me up worse than I already am."
Logan was concerned, Max could see it on his face "It's probably because of the brainwash thingie they are trying to pull with the stupid music they just won't stop playing..."
"Yeah, that's probably it. I'm still waiting to hear from Sebastian on that flu vaccine too."
Max wanted to stay and chat with Logan, she really did, but the smell and the pain were driving her insane.
"I'm just gonna... go downstairs and take a quick nap before the meeting." She said softly.
"Yeah, you should probably do that."
Logan watched her back until she closed the basement door softly behind her, then he leaned over his pot of mac and cheese and sniffed. It smelled perfectly normal to him.
********************
Alec drove them to the woods fast and recklessly... or at least that's how it would look like for any normal person. Max, for one, was relaxed and glad to feel the cool air on her face.
Alec noticed she had her eyes closed "Hey, how's your headache?" He asked.
"Not as bad as it was a few hours ago, I think that nap did me some good."
"I'm glad." Alec parked the car and got out. The two transgenics had to walk a couple of miles to the old mansion.
Everyone else was already there when they arrived.
"Glad you could join us!" Dak winked at them.
"Alec my man! Come with us to the shed! Luke has a new computer program and it's so rad!" Dave guided Alec away and left Max with the girls.
"Boys and their toys. Let's go warm up by the fire." Ashley hooked arms with Max and the girls marched over to the inviting flames. Steph handed out marshmallows and sticks and they sat down on some logs to talk.
"So MJ, what bathing suit are you going to use for the car wash this saturday?"
"Car wash?" Max frowned.
"Yeah, we have to raise founds for the party! It's just like... two weeks away MJ!" Amanda was playing with her long, blonde hair and acting as if Max not knowing about the party was some kind of sin.
"Oh yeah! The party!" Max smiled at them "How could I forget?"
"Girls! You should come see this! Something's happening at the strip club!" Iker yelled at them from the shed.
The girls scrambled to HQ's and Max followed suit but not before noticing the black top hat resting next to the fire. They would be taking their dares from it in a while but she couldn't help but notice that it was empty.
Max had never been inside the shed before. She had to contain a gasp of surprise when she entered. The place looked hideous from outside but inside it was full of electronic devices, some of them looked quite expensive. Several chairs surrounded the various monitors, a bed in the corner forced her to believe the elite must take turns to do surveillance.
She snapped out of her shock induced trance when Iker pointed to a particularly large screen. There seemed to be a fight at the strip club where Max had done her initiation.
"Excuse my ignorance but why is a fight between a bunch of drunk idiots important to us?" Max asked.
"The drunk idiot who started the fight goes to our school, only he's not drunk and he's really not an idiot either. He just walked in and picked a fight with that other guy." Sean pointed the guy out.
"Do we know why?" Dakareth leaned closer to the screen as if trying to analyze every single detail.
"Nope, like I said, the guy just walked in."
Max took her eyes off the fistfight for a moment to notice what was going on behind the fighters. Girls cladded in leather thongs and skimpy bras were running around the place, some covering their naked breasts, other not even bothering. She closed her eyes and remembered the unpleasant evening of her initiation. Her headache was back and it seemed worse than ever.
"I think I need some air." Max backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.
The elite just stared first at the closed door, then at Alec.
"I thought she wasn't squeamish." Nikki said.
"She's not... she just hasn't been feeling very well lately." Alec turned her attention back to the screen, longing to go after Max but not wanting to rise suspicion.
**********************
Max walked back to the fire, deep in thought. It was only until she was mere feet away that she noticed the small figure sitting on a log.
"Ashley?"
The blonde jumped and turned around, hiding something behind her back.
"MJ! I didn't hear you!"
"Soft walker. What are you doing?"
Ashley straightened her tight baby blue shirt and tucked her curly hair behind her ear "Nothing."
Max raised an eyebrow
"Oh fine, you've probably figured it out already." Ashley showed Max the hat which now contained 14 little pieces of paper.
"You're the one who comes up with the dares?"
"Gosh no! I can't take credit for that! I do have a source who... gives me ideas so to speak"
Max frowned.
"Hum... I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this. The dares are supposed to be anonymous you know..."
"Oh sure! I won't tell!" Max gave Ashley a fake smile and the blonde smiled back.
"We should get back to the shed before anyone misses us." Ashley put down the hat.
"Yeah, we probably should."
Max followed her back to the shed, trying hard to figure out who Amanda's source might be.
***********************
Half an hour later the group was gathered around the fire again, ready to take their dares out of the hat.
Dak smiled when she got hers "Bungee jumping." She announced with delight.
"Me too." Max tried hard not to smile, bungee she could handle.
Alec laughed when he read his "Drink a whole bottle of tequila? Sure, why the hell not."
Max shook her head, she knew he could take far more than that. He did it almost every weekend!
They chose dates for their dares, friday for Max, Dak, Sean and Ashley, Saturday for Alec, Luke, Nikki and Melissa. Iker, Leo, Dave, Dade, Amanda and Steph had a different dare to do on wednesday. Then the teenagers said their goodbyes and left.
As soon as Alec had driven away from the woods Max told him what Ashley had said.
"So, who do you think her source might be?" Alec asked her.
"Well it's either a teacher or a geek, I don't think she could get those ideas from anywhere else."
Alec frowned "Well, I don't think a teacher could be telling her anything. After all, Logan's right. The teachers are just normal people, otherwise he wouldn't have been hired."
"Yeah but still, why would a geek tell her which dares to give us?"
Alec was silent for a few moments, then he shrugged "I don't know Max, and my head is still killing me so if you don't mind I think I'll save the thinking until tomorrow."
"Fine." Max snapped but deep down she was glad he'd given her a reason to stop thinking about the whole thing herself.
When they got home they heard Logan talking on the phone, apparently to Sebastian.
Both transgenics ran up the stairs and Max threw the basement door open. She'd heard Logan so clearly she expected him to be right on the other side of the door but they found him in the living room, talking on his cell.
"Ok, so that could affect anything? Yes, I understand. I'll tell them and let you know. Thanks Sebastian."
Logan hung up and took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and then glanced up at the transgenics.
"Well?" Max asked impatiently.
"Gene therapy, that thing that they are injecting into your system is some kind of gene therapy, it's not like anything Sebastian has ever seen so he's not sure of what exactly they are trying to improve."
"So it could be anything?" Alec sat down on the couch.
Logan nodded "He thinks we'll find out soon enough, the effects should start to show sometime soon. In fact, he thinks that's why you guys have such strong headaches."
Max sat down next to Alec "Give us some good news?" She pleaded.
"Well... we don't know if this is good or bad but there IS something..."
"What?" Alec leaned forward
"We're not sure what will happen, the first dose, the one you already took, will have little effect on you. After all it was only the first, but we think your system might react differently than everyone elses."
"Different how?"
"Well the changes might not stick, or your organs might overload and shut down, or... they could mutate."
Max stared at him in horror "What do you mean shut down or mutate?!"
"There's nothing we can do now but wait Max, that thing is already in your body. If your organs shut down they'll start back up after they've had a chance to eliminate the toxins. Let's just hope they're not trying to enhance your heart and lungs, otherwise we'd have to hook you guys up to machines. If they mutate..."
Alec shook his head and stood up "This is bizarre! It's dangerous and insane! We can't put our lives at risk like that! Who's gonna save this kids if we turn into useless broccolis?"
"You won't turn into broccoli! The effects of the first injection were not enough to cause permanent damage! We'll just have to ride this one out and keep you from taking another dosage."
Max sighed and closed her eyes and stood up "I'm going to bed, this is too much."
Alec stood up too "Wait! Logan, tonight we found out who's been writing the dares. It's Ashley, only she says she has a source."
"A source? You think it's someone from school?"
"Probably. We were thinking either a teacher or a geek."
Logan rubbed his temples "Well it can't be a teacher, we know for a fact that they are not involved. It's probably a geek."
"That's what Alec said. We'll keep a close look on her, see who she talks to."
Logan nodded and Max headed downstairs, followed by Alec.
She changed into her pajamas and Alec stripped down to his boxers. Max got into bed and he did the same.
She glanced at him from her bed, he tossed around restlessly for a few minutes.
"Your head still hurts doesn't it?" She whispered.
"Yeah well, at least now we know why." He tossed the covers aside and pressed a pillow against his face.
Max closed her own eyes and tried to think of anything but the pain.
******************
Max knew she'd had a rough night even before she opened her eyes. She could feel a warm body next to hers. She blinked a few times and moaned, her headache was back and worse than ever.
"It's ok Max, just a nightmare. Go back to sleep." Alec mumbled and held her a little closer.
"A nightmare? I wish. Get up Alec, and get off me! It's too hot for spooning." Max sat up and rolled Alec away from her. He groaned and sat up as well.
"It really is hotter than usual in here." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and stood up. "Morning old man." He waved at Logan on his way to the bathroom.
Max rested her head on the headboard and smiled weakly at Logan, who was standing at the top of the stairs. "Do we have any aspirin?"
"I thought you didn't want anything."
"I'm done playing martyr, my head is killing me. Hand over the meds."
Logan smiled, walked down the stairs and handed her a full bottle. Max swallowed a couple of pills dry and closed her eyes.
"How did Alec end up in my bed anyway? I didn't even realize he was there until I woke up."
"Your moans woke him up, he couldn't go back to sleep until you quieted down."
"Oh, that makes sense. Hey, how the hell did you know that?" Max frowned.
"I heard you and came down to check on you."
"You heard me moaning?"
"I was awake in the living room. I can't seem to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time these days."
Max drew her knees to her chest and sighed "Logan, why am I the only one who has nightmares?"
He sat down on the bed next to her and answered in a soft voice "I don't think you're the only one, Max. Alec just doesn't talk on his sleep."
"How can you be sure?"
"I've seen him, tossing and turning. He wakes up on his own eventually."
Alec came out of the bathroom wearing only his boxers and dripping wet. He pulled on his pants and transferred something that looked like a golden chain from the pocket of the muddy pants he'd been wearing the night before to the one he was wearing then and looked around his closet for a clean shirt.
Max stood up, careful not to touch Logan, and went to take a quick cold shower. The icy water helped her headache a little and she relaxed for a few minutes before getting dressed and ready for school.
**********************
Max went up for breakfast a few minutes later. Her hair was up in a loose pony tail, her makeup and clothes were flawless, no one would be able to tell her head was about to split in two just by looking at her. Alec was wolfing down some cereal while Logan made milkshakes for the three of them.
"Is there something different about this Lucky Charms? They taste great! Max, taste this." He shoved a spoonful down Max's throat.
She was about to protest but stopped suddenly. "Hey, they do taste kinda different, hell they taste like something! This things are usually tasteless. Are they sweeter?"
"I don't know but they taste so much better! Logan, my man, you MUST tell me where you got this."
Logan frowned "Same place I've been getting them from since we got here. They taste the same to me."
"Hell no! They taste way better! I always thought they needed to put some more sugar in them." Max sat down and poured some into a bowl.
Logan handed them each a chocolate milkshake and sat down on a stool to drink his own.
Alec took a gulp and made a face "Logan! What did you put in this thing?"
"Same disgusting chocolate I use every day. I'm sorry if it's not up to your prepulse adjusted taste." Logan was scowling now.
Max took a sip of her own and grimaced "Logan, Alec's right. This is kinda bitter don't you think?"
Logan frowned and drank some of his "It seems fine to me. Look guys, don't drink it if you don't want to. Just hurry up or you're going to be late for school again."
The transgenics finished their cereals quickly and dashed downstairs to wash their teeth before leaving for school.
"You think the old man is losing his touch for cooking?" Alec asked with a mouth full of toothpaste.
"Maybe he's just having a bad cook day." Max shrugged
"Let's just hope he gets back into the zone soon, otherwise we'll be living off Lucky Charms for the rest of the mission."
"Oh like that's gonna be a change for you."
Max threw a hand towel at Alec's face and walked out of the bathroom before he could come up with a decent comeback.
************************
"So everything is going as planned?"
"Everything, sir."
"Our new ones adjusting ok?"
"Better than ok, the scientists are quite pleased. They'll prove to be valuable assets. The martial arts teacher is impressed."
"Have you talked to your inside source?"
"Yesterday sir. I delivered this week's instructions."
"Have we had any more incidents?"
"Just one... yesterday, a 16 year old male."
"... Did you take care of it?"
"Of course"
"We'd been expecting loses... Recon?"
"Strategy"
"Figures. We have been working them hard."
"They can take it. Most of them anyway."
"How's the new teacher?"
"Doesn't suspect anything as far as we can tell."
"Good, keep it that way."
"Yes sir."
"Well, you seem to have everything under control. Call me if you have any trouble. I hate handling this over the phone but I can't be seen at the school."
"Yes sir. I understand sir."
"Fenos'tol."
"Fenos'tol."
__________________________________________
MUAHAHA!
Guys I SWEAR the next chapter will be up in a week or two so check back ;)
I'm going to try something new, you might want to get a hold of the following songs, I'll be using them at some point in future chapters. They are pretty much in order (except for the last 10, those are backups.) so get the ones at the top of the list first. It might be a whole new. experience for everyone. If everything goes as planned it'll intensify the emotions on the story. Now I know there are a LOT of songs but you don't have to get them all at once ;) I'll explain everything better when I post the next chapter.
Papa Roach - Last Resort
Crazy Town - Butterfly
Sugar Ray - Fly
Aimee Allen - Revolution
Lenny Kravitz - American Woman
Joan Jet - Bad Reputation
Bush - Chemicals Between Us
Our Lady Peace - 4 am
No Secrets - That's what Girls Do
Punjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke
Offspring - Original Prankster
Tweet - Oops Oh My
Verve Pipe - Bittersweet Symphony
The Donnas - Take it Off
Robert Miles - Fable
Mushroomhead - Sun doesn't shine
Evanescence - Imaginary
Linkin Park - Crawling
P.O.D - Youth of the Nation
Coolio - Gangster Paradise
Truth Hurts ft Rakim - Addictive LP version
Safari Duo - Played-A-Live
Fatboy Slim - Yo Mama
Goo Goo Dolls - Here is Gone
Sugarcult - Pretty Girl (The Way)
Alex Syntek - Sexo Pudor y Lagrimas (yes, it's in spanish. Expand your musical taste ;))
Blu Cantrell Ft Sean Paul - Breathe
Nina Gordon - Tonight and the Rest of my Life
Lamb - Lullabye
Gus Gus - Is Jesus Your Pal
Chantal Kraviazuk - Feels Like Home
Hardknox - Attitude
Lifehouse - Hanging by a Moment
Enigma - Modern Crusaders
Vertical Horizon - Everything you Want
Black Lab - Learn to Crawl
Drowning Pool - Bodies
Godsmack - Whatever
Guana Apes - Open your Eyes
Nada Surf - Ice Box
Rammstein - Helleluja
Seether - Out of my Way
Sepultura with Mike Patton - The Waste
__________________________________
Alec was still rubbing his lips minutes after Max had left his side.
"Hey, you okay?"
He looked up and frowned at the petite girl staring down at him.
"Dak, you shouldn't be on your feet."
She shrugged and tossed her long hair back. "I had to, I need to set things up for the cheerleader tryouts which we all know are totally pointless but still need to be done."
Alec smiled "Hey, who knows? You might find someone better than MJ!"
Dak rolled her eyes "You know we won't. I've seen what she can do in gym. She has perfect aim, previous martial arts training and an incredible coordination, just like you."
Alec laughed "My coordination sucks, just the other day I fell off the couch."
"That's just because you got tangled in the sheets." Dakareth laughed. "Anyways, I have to go now. I'll see you soon."
She was about to walk away when Alec stopped her.
"Hey Dak?"
"Hum?"
"Has anyone ever given you an innocent kiss?"
The dark haired beauty frowned "What do you mean?"
"I mean... A kiss that comes out of nowhere given to you by someone that you know is nothing more than your friend?"
Dak smiled softly "We call them angel kisses Alec."
"Oh... so it's normal?"
"Perfectly normal. Just try not to kiss MJ at school, we know it's innocent but other people might not see it that way and they could split you guys up."
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks"
Dak turned to leave again and then stopped once more. "Oh and just in case I don't get to see your tryouts, remember there's a meeting tonight at the old house. Be there at eight."
"Will do." Alec smiled and watched Dak leave before rubbing his lips softly again.
***************************
Max made her way to the girl's locker room and changed into sweats for her cheerleader tryouts. She sat down on a bench and groaned, her headache had been getting steadily worse.
"MJ? Are you in here? We're starting in a few minutes!" Nikki rushed into the locker room and looked around for Max.
"I'm here! I'll be out in a sec!" Max yelled back and massaged her temples.
"Ok, we'll get your music started!"
"My what?" Max whispered. Then she groaned when she realized she was expected to do a dance routine.
"Could this day get any worse?" She asked herself, then she whacked her forehead with her hand.
Sir Mix a Lot, Baby got back
It just had
***************************
Her dance routine had consisted of many amazing moves and nothing else. She bedazzled the elite with her skills and flexibility when, in truth, her headache greatly prevented her from doing her best.
She decided to check out Alec's tryouts and sat down on the bleachers by herself while the rest of the female part of the elite changed into their street clothes in the locker room.
Alec was proving his strength by smashing his shoulder against a dummy again and again. There were several guys next to him doing the same thing but there was no doubt in anyone's minds as to who was the best male on the field.
To everyone else he was magnificent, a human representation of strength and power but Max could see something that no one else could. His head was hanging unnecessarily low, something that wasn't common for him. Alec was an expert at displaying his strength with his head up high.
Max wondered if maybe, just maybe his headache was as bad as hers.
The sun seemed to be worsening Max's condition so she left the field and went back to the locker room planning on taking a shower before leaving. She was halfway across the gym when her sensitive ears picked up a conversation going on inside the locker room and she stopped to listen.
"... And that back flip was flawless! She just seemed to be flying through the air!"
"I know! It was as if her feet never touched the ground! I wonder where she learned all that!"
Max decided to interrupt the little conversation and walked into the stuffy room saying "Gymnastics! I've taken lessons since..."
She frowned, the room was empty but she could still hear the girl's voices. She walked all the way through and opened the door that led to the hall. There, just about to walk around the corner, were Amanda and Ashley, still talking about her.
Max found this really strange but decided not to dwell on it, her head felt as if it were about to split in half.
She half stumbled, half walked over to the showers, undressing as she went. She sat down on the tiled floor, still wearing her underwear and turned on the shower. Hot water hit her full blast and she felt better right away, just a little bit better.
*******************
Alec had been standing outside the girl's locker room for fifteen minutes. He was pretty sure Max wouldn't have left without him, since he had the car keys. He just hoped she hadn't asked for a lift because he had a hideous headache and didn't feel like driving... or waiting around for that matter.
"MJ?" He pushed the door open slowly and frowned at the trail of clothes that seemed to lead to the showers.
"Max? Are you in here?"
The room seemed deserted so Alec followed Max's workout clothes to the showers and gasped. She was sitting on the floor, her head against the tiles, her eyes closed.
"Max! Are you ok? Max!" Alec rushed to her and shook her gently.
Max moaned "Alec, go away."
He sighed in relief "Max! For god's sake, I thought something had happened to you!"
"I just fell asleep, my monster headache got worse." Max's groggy voice and half open eyes gave her the appearance of being drugged.
"How are you feeling now?" Alec asked gently and tossed her a towel.
"Better, actually."
"Good. Come on, get dressed. I'll drive us home."
He turned around while she dressed and concentrated hard on pushing his own discomfort aside.
*******************
The moment the two transgenics walked though the basement door they winced and groaned.
"What the fuck is Logan cooking up there? Feet?" Alec covered his nose with his hands.
Max closed her eyes and moaned "It smells like your socks after gym class!"
Alec glared at her though his covered face and Max shrugged.
The walked up the stairs and opened the door, the smell seemed even more intense and disgusting from there.
"Oh hi guys, I didn't hear you come in." Logan smiled at them from behind the kitchen counter.
"Logan, my man, what the hell do you have in that pot of yours? A chopped up cadaver?"
Logan frowned "It's just Mac and Cheese, I didn't have time to make anything else..."
"Mac and cheese are not supposed to be done with Blue Cheese! Logan, how can you stand the smell?" Max sat down on a chair and covered her nose just as Alec had done.
"Blue... What the hell are you two talking about? It's regular old Mac n' Cheese! See? Little blue box and everything." Logan pointed at the box resting on the counter.
"Did you check the expiration date on that cuz... Damn!" Alec shook his head and wrinkled his nose "I'm going downstairs to take a bath. You should get changed Max, we have to be at that elite's meeting in an hour."
"Oh yeah! I'd forgotten about that!"
"How could you? We'll be picking new dares tonight remember?"
Max groaned and was about to leave the kitchen when her eye caught Logan's. He looked as if he wanted to tell her something.
"I'll go down in a minute." Max said and Alec left in a hurry, closing the basement door behind him.
Max held her breath and smiled at Logan. She felt as if she hardly ever spent time with him anymore but the smell was so gross she truthfully couldn't wait to be downstairs with Alec.
"So..." She choked out.
"...So"
Logan wanted to tell her what he'd seen in the surveillance camera, he wanted to ask her what had been going on at the house with Alec but he didn't want her to feel as if he didn't trust her. While this inner conflict was taking place he noticed how Max's head rested on her hand and how she seemed to be in some sort of pain.
"Is the cheese smell really that bad? Because I can't smell a thing... maybe there's something wrong with me..."
"Oh no no, I just have a headache." Max rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes.
"Have you taken any aspirin?"
"No, I don't know if I should. It might screw me up worse than I already am."
Logan was concerned, Max could see it on his face "It's probably because of the brainwash thingie they are trying to pull with the stupid music they just won't stop playing..."
"Yeah, that's probably it. I'm still waiting to hear from Sebastian on that flu vaccine too."
Max wanted to stay and chat with Logan, she really did, but the smell and the pain were driving her insane.
"I'm just gonna... go downstairs and take a quick nap before the meeting." She said softly.
"Yeah, you should probably do that."
Logan watched her back until she closed the basement door softly behind her, then he leaned over his pot of mac and cheese and sniffed. It smelled perfectly normal to him.
********************
Alec drove them to the woods fast and recklessly... or at least that's how it would look like for any normal person. Max, for one, was relaxed and glad to feel the cool air on her face.
Alec noticed she had her eyes closed "Hey, how's your headache?" He asked.
"Not as bad as it was a few hours ago, I think that nap did me some good."
"I'm glad." Alec parked the car and got out. The two transgenics had to walk a couple of miles to the old mansion.
Everyone else was already there when they arrived.
"Glad you could join us!" Dak winked at them.
"Alec my man! Come with us to the shed! Luke has a new computer program and it's so rad!" Dave guided Alec away and left Max with the girls.
"Boys and their toys. Let's go warm up by the fire." Ashley hooked arms with Max and the girls marched over to the inviting flames. Steph handed out marshmallows and sticks and they sat down on some logs to talk.
"So MJ, what bathing suit are you going to use for the car wash this saturday?"
"Car wash?" Max frowned.
"Yeah, we have to raise founds for the party! It's just like... two weeks away MJ!" Amanda was playing with her long, blonde hair and acting as if Max not knowing about the party was some kind of sin.
"Oh yeah! The party!" Max smiled at them "How could I forget?"
"Girls! You should come see this! Something's happening at the strip club!" Iker yelled at them from the shed.
The girls scrambled to HQ's and Max followed suit but not before noticing the black top hat resting next to the fire. They would be taking their dares from it in a while but she couldn't help but notice that it was empty.
Max had never been inside the shed before. She had to contain a gasp of surprise when she entered. The place looked hideous from outside but inside it was full of electronic devices, some of them looked quite expensive. Several chairs surrounded the various monitors, a bed in the corner forced her to believe the elite must take turns to do surveillance.
She snapped out of her shock induced trance when Iker pointed to a particularly large screen. There seemed to be a fight at the strip club where Max had done her initiation.
"Excuse my ignorance but why is a fight between a bunch of drunk idiots important to us?" Max asked.
"The drunk idiot who started the fight goes to our school, only he's not drunk and he's really not an idiot either. He just walked in and picked a fight with that other guy." Sean pointed the guy out.
"Do we know why?" Dakareth leaned closer to the screen as if trying to analyze every single detail.
"Nope, like I said, the guy just walked in."
Max took her eyes off the fistfight for a moment to notice what was going on behind the fighters. Girls cladded in leather thongs and skimpy bras were running around the place, some covering their naked breasts, other not even bothering. She closed her eyes and remembered the unpleasant evening of her initiation. Her headache was back and it seemed worse than ever.
"I think I need some air." Max backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.
The elite just stared first at the closed door, then at Alec.
"I thought she wasn't squeamish." Nikki said.
"She's not... she just hasn't been feeling very well lately." Alec turned her attention back to the screen, longing to go after Max but not wanting to rise suspicion.
**********************
Max walked back to the fire, deep in thought. It was only until she was mere feet away that she noticed the small figure sitting on a log.
"Ashley?"
The blonde jumped and turned around, hiding something behind her back.
"MJ! I didn't hear you!"
"Soft walker. What are you doing?"
Ashley straightened her tight baby blue shirt and tucked her curly hair behind her ear "Nothing."
Max raised an eyebrow
"Oh fine, you've probably figured it out already." Ashley showed Max the hat which now contained 14 little pieces of paper.
"You're the one who comes up with the dares?"
"Gosh no! I can't take credit for that! I do have a source who... gives me ideas so to speak"
Max frowned.
"Hum... I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this. The dares are supposed to be anonymous you know..."
"Oh sure! I won't tell!" Max gave Ashley a fake smile and the blonde smiled back.
"We should get back to the shed before anyone misses us." Ashley put down the hat.
"Yeah, we probably should."
Max followed her back to the shed, trying hard to figure out who Amanda's source might be.
***********************
Half an hour later the group was gathered around the fire again, ready to take their dares out of the hat.
Dak smiled when she got hers "Bungee jumping." She announced with delight.
"Me too." Max tried hard not to smile, bungee she could handle.
Alec laughed when he read his "Drink a whole bottle of tequila? Sure, why the hell not."
Max shook her head, she knew he could take far more than that. He did it almost every weekend!
They chose dates for their dares, friday for Max, Dak, Sean and Ashley, Saturday for Alec, Luke, Nikki and Melissa. Iker, Leo, Dave, Dade, Amanda and Steph had a different dare to do on wednesday. Then the teenagers said their goodbyes and left.
As soon as Alec had driven away from the woods Max told him what Ashley had said.
"So, who do you think her source might be?" Alec asked her.
"Well it's either a teacher or a geek, I don't think she could get those ideas from anywhere else."
Alec frowned "Well, I don't think a teacher could be telling her anything. After all, Logan's right. The teachers are just normal people, otherwise he wouldn't have been hired."
"Yeah but still, why would a geek tell her which dares to give us?"
Alec was silent for a few moments, then he shrugged "I don't know Max, and my head is still killing me so if you don't mind I think I'll save the thinking until tomorrow."
"Fine." Max snapped but deep down she was glad he'd given her a reason to stop thinking about the whole thing herself.
When they got home they heard Logan talking on the phone, apparently to Sebastian.
Both transgenics ran up the stairs and Max threw the basement door open. She'd heard Logan so clearly she expected him to be right on the other side of the door but they found him in the living room, talking on his cell.
"Ok, so that could affect anything? Yes, I understand. I'll tell them and let you know. Thanks Sebastian."
Logan hung up and took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and then glanced up at the transgenics.
"Well?" Max asked impatiently.
"Gene therapy, that thing that they are injecting into your system is some kind of gene therapy, it's not like anything Sebastian has ever seen so he's not sure of what exactly they are trying to improve."
"So it could be anything?" Alec sat down on the couch.
Logan nodded "He thinks we'll find out soon enough, the effects should start to show sometime soon. In fact, he thinks that's why you guys have such strong headaches."
Max sat down next to Alec "Give us some good news?" She pleaded.
"Well... we don't know if this is good or bad but there IS something..."
"What?" Alec leaned forward
"We're not sure what will happen, the first dose, the one you already took, will have little effect on you. After all it was only the first, but we think your system might react differently than everyone elses."
"Different how?"
"Well the changes might not stick, or your organs might overload and shut down, or... they could mutate."
Max stared at him in horror "What do you mean shut down or mutate?!"
"There's nothing we can do now but wait Max, that thing is already in your body. If your organs shut down they'll start back up after they've had a chance to eliminate the toxins. Let's just hope they're not trying to enhance your heart and lungs, otherwise we'd have to hook you guys up to machines. If they mutate..."
Alec shook his head and stood up "This is bizarre! It's dangerous and insane! We can't put our lives at risk like that! Who's gonna save this kids if we turn into useless broccolis?"
"You won't turn into broccoli! The effects of the first injection were not enough to cause permanent damage! We'll just have to ride this one out and keep you from taking another dosage."
Max sighed and closed her eyes and stood up "I'm going to bed, this is too much."
Alec stood up too "Wait! Logan, tonight we found out who's been writing the dares. It's Ashley, only she says she has a source."
"A source? You think it's someone from school?"
"Probably. We were thinking either a teacher or a geek."
Logan rubbed his temples "Well it can't be a teacher, we know for a fact that they are not involved. It's probably a geek."
"That's what Alec said. We'll keep a close look on her, see who she talks to."
Logan nodded and Max headed downstairs, followed by Alec.
She changed into her pajamas and Alec stripped down to his boxers. Max got into bed and he did the same.
She glanced at him from her bed, he tossed around restlessly for a few minutes.
"Your head still hurts doesn't it?" She whispered.
"Yeah well, at least now we know why." He tossed the covers aside and pressed a pillow against his face.
Max closed her own eyes and tried to think of anything but the pain.
******************
Max knew she'd had a rough night even before she opened her eyes. She could feel a warm body next to hers. She blinked a few times and moaned, her headache was back and worse than ever.
"It's ok Max, just a nightmare. Go back to sleep." Alec mumbled and held her a little closer.
"A nightmare? I wish. Get up Alec, and get off me! It's too hot for spooning." Max sat up and rolled Alec away from her. He groaned and sat up as well.
"It really is hotter than usual in here." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and stood up. "Morning old man." He waved at Logan on his way to the bathroom.
Max rested her head on the headboard and smiled weakly at Logan, who was standing at the top of the stairs. "Do we have any aspirin?"
"I thought you didn't want anything."
"I'm done playing martyr, my head is killing me. Hand over the meds."
Logan smiled, walked down the stairs and handed her a full bottle. Max swallowed a couple of pills dry and closed her eyes.
"How did Alec end up in my bed anyway? I didn't even realize he was there until I woke up."
"Your moans woke him up, he couldn't go back to sleep until you quieted down."
"Oh, that makes sense. Hey, how the hell did you know that?" Max frowned.
"I heard you and came down to check on you."
"You heard me moaning?"
"I was awake in the living room. I can't seem to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time these days."
Max drew her knees to her chest and sighed "Logan, why am I the only one who has nightmares?"
He sat down on the bed next to her and answered in a soft voice "I don't think you're the only one, Max. Alec just doesn't talk on his sleep."
"How can you be sure?"
"I've seen him, tossing and turning. He wakes up on his own eventually."
Alec came out of the bathroom wearing only his boxers and dripping wet. He pulled on his pants and transferred something that looked like a golden chain from the pocket of the muddy pants he'd been wearing the night before to the one he was wearing then and looked around his closet for a clean shirt.
Max stood up, careful not to touch Logan, and went to take a quick cold shower. The icy water helped her headache a little and she relaxed for a few minutes before getting dressed and ready for school.
**********************
Max went up for breakfast a few minutes later. Her hair was up in a loose pony tail, her makeup and clothes were flawless, no one would be able to tell her head was about to split in two just by looking at her. Alec was wolfing down some cereal while Logan made milkshakes for the three of them.
"Is there something different about this Lucky Charms? They taste great! Max, taste this." He shoved a spoonful down Max's throat.
She was about to protest but stopped suddenly. "Hey, they do taste kinda different, hell they taste like something! This things are usually tasteless. Are they sweeter?"
"I don't know but they taste so much better! Logan, my man, you MUST tell me where you got this."
Logan frowned "Same place I've been getting them from since we got here. They taste the same to me."
"Hell no! They taste way better! I always thought they needed to put some more sugar in them." Max sat down and poured some into a bowl.
Logan handed them each a chocolate milkshake and sat down on a stool to drink his own.
Alec took a gulp and made a face "Logan! What did you put in this thing?"
"Same disgusting chocolate I use every day. I'm sorry if it's not up to your prepulse adjusted taste." Logan was scowling now.
Max took a sip of her own and grimaced "Logan, Alec's right. This is kinda bitter don't you think?"
Logan frowned and drank some of his "It seems fine to me. Look guys, don't drink it if you don't want to. Just hurry up or you're going to be late for school again."
The transgenics finished their cereals quickly and dashed downstairs to wash their teeth before leaving for school.
"You think the old man is losing his touch for cooking?" Alec asked with a mouth full of toothpaste.
"Maybe he's just having a bad cook day." Max shrugged
"Let's just hope he gets back into the zone soon, otherwise we'll be living off Lucky Charms for the rest of the mission."
"Oh like that's gonna be a change for you."
Max threw a hand towel at Alec's face and walked out of the bathroom before he could come up with a decent comeback.
************************
"So everything is going as planned?"
"Everything, sir."
"Our new ones adjusting ok?"
"Better than ok, the scientists are quite pleased. They'll prove to be valuable assets. The martial arts teacher is impressed."
"Have you talked to your inside source?"
"Yesterday sir. I delivered this week's instructions."
"Have we had any more incidents?"
"Just one... yesterday, a 16 year old male."
"... Did you take care of it?"
"Of course"
"We'd been expecting loses... Recon?"
"Strategy"
"Figures. We have been working them hard."
"They can take it. Most of them anyway."
"How's the new teacher?"
"Doesn't suspect anything as far as we can tell."
"Good, keep it that way."
"Yes sir."
"Well, you seem to have everything under control. Call me if you have any trouble. I hate handling this over the phone but I can't be seen at the school."
"Yes sir. I understand sir."
"Fenos'tol."
"Fenos'tol."
__________________________________________
MUAHAHA!
Guys I SWEAR the next chapter will be up in a week or two so check back ;)
I'm going to try something new, you might want to get a hold of the following songs, I'll be using them at some point in future chapters. They are pretty much in order (except for the last 10, those are backups.) so get the ones at the top of the list first. It might be a whole new. experience for everyone. If everything goes as planned it'll intensify the emotions on the story. Now I know there are a LOT of songs but you don't have to get them all at once ;) I'll explain everything better when I post the next chapter.
Papa Roach - Last Resort
Crazy Town - Butterfly
Sugar Ray - Fly
Aimee Allen - Revolution
Lenny Kravitz - American Woman
Joan Jet - Bad Reputation
Bush - Chemicals Between Us
Our Lady Peace - 4 am
No Secrets - That's what Girls Do
Punjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke
Offspring - Original Prankster
Tweet - Oops Oh My
Verve Pipe - Bittersweet Symphony
The Donnas - Take it Off
Robert Miles - Fable
Mushroomhead - Sun doesn't shine
Evanescence - Imaginary
Linkin Park - Crawling
P.O.D - Youth of the Nation
Coolio - Gangster Paradise
Truth Hurts ft Rakim - Addictive LP version
Safari Duo - Played-A-Live
Fatboy Slim - Yo Mama
Goo Goo Dolls - Here is Gone
Sugarcult - Pretty Girl (The Way)
Alex Syntek - Sexo Pudor y Lagrimas (yes, it's in spanish. Expand your musical taste ;))
Blu Cantrell Ft Sean Paul - Breathe
Nina Gordon - Tonight and the Rest of my Life
Lamb - Lullabye
Gus Gus - Is Jesus Your Pal
Chantal Kraviazuk - Feels Like Home
Hardknox - Attitude
Lifehouse - Hanging by a Moment
Enigma - Modern Crusaders
Vertical Horizon - Everything you Want
Black Lab - Learn to Crawl
Drowning Pool - Bodies
Godsmack - Whatever
Guana Apes - Open your Eyes
Nada Surf - Ice Box
Rammstein - Helleluja
Seether - Out of my Way
Sepultura with Mike Patton - The Waste