Off the Pedestal:

Chapter Four:

Full Summary: AU. Paul POV. First in the 'Disturbed' trilogy. His grandfather had always warned him about his powers, shifting especially. He'd ended up a cripple, and didn't want to see Paul end up like that. But it eventually got to Paul too, and though he's fine physically, he's now insane… Look out, Carmel, Paul Slater's coming to town.

A/N: And now, the entrance of my OC… bwahaha… I'm sure you'll love/hate her. Personally, I hate her. :P

Paul IS really insane, yes. He doesn't think he is, though. They think he's insane for some things when he's not – as explained in this chapter – but he's still insane.

Writers block is evil.

Strolling into the classroom the day afterwards, I meet a sight I hadn't expected to see.

Sitting at the other spare desk is Lola. I narrow my eyes at her, and then she looks at me, stands up, runs towards me and hugs me. "Paul! I didn't know you were going here too! That's great!"

The rest of the sentence hangs unspoken in the air.

You're in a school again; you're obviously no longer a psycho!

I never was a psycho dear, you, on the other hand were a little piece of shit worthy of nothing except being spat on. I consider saying it, but decide that if she wants to do some acting, I'll do some acting. Calmly.

Because, of course, after the calm comes the storm.

"Hello," I say in such a sickeningly sweet voice that some of the class backs off, and others just stare at me. "I'm glad to see you again." That's not even a lie: I AM glad to see her; she can be punished for what she's done, and she can fall to my superiority. She doesn't know this. Totally oblivious, she grins in relief.

It's too early to be relieved, my friend. No, wait; you're not my friend. You're my enemy. Can you even say 'my enemy' like that? It sounds bloody weird. 'It's too early to be relieved, my enemy.' Maybe some odd, homicidal comment would have been better? No, that DOES make me sound like a psycho… Oh well, what's done is done and what's thought is thought. Now, where was I…?

"I'm glad to be here!"

Great, let's get this over with, I decide. "Come on, we have a bit of catching up to do."

"Okay!" she chirps, and comes after me with a massive grin plastered all over her face, and, once again, she's totally oblivious. She could give Catherine a run for her money, with all the intellectual value of a particularly stupid sheep. She'll be going 'baa' next, and then they'll slaughter and kill her and turn her into lamb chops. Or, if they don't, I will.

I take hold of her arm and gently drag her down the breezeway, up until we're out of earshot of the class. I smirk and shove her into the wall, holding her there, fairly sure my eyes are twinkling with malice.

"Hi, Lola," I say in a singsong voice. She's shaking. Good. Let her fear me! Let her see what she's done! This is all her fault, after all. "So glad you're here. We have a little score to settle, don't you reckon?"

"Whatever do you mean?" she asks, the perfect little picture of innocence. But damn if I knew that she was anything BUT innocent: she was the one responsible for this whole mess in the first place! "Oh, that," she suddenly says, smiling, closes her eyes and leans forward with puckered lips.

I stare for a moment, then see red and pull her forwards slightly, before literally slamming her into the wall. She cries out in pain, and her eyes shoot open. I'm glad to see tears forming around her eyes, and her complete and utter lack of control. Don't get me wrong, I love a good snog as much as the next guy, but with someone unworthy of being even Caitlyn's lapdog, I do not go for it. Unless it's purely for my own pleasure, but I am not in the mood for that right now. I have a bone to pick with her, and won't leave until I have a feeling of satisfaction.

In other words, I knew it could take a while.

"Paul," she says, her voice quivering, trying to back herself further into the wall and away from me, "what's wrong? What's the matter with you? Are you-"

I explode.

People say that when you're angry, you see red. I think it depends on how angry you get. You know, it can go from that weird red-orange colour to… well, what it is currently, actually. A deep crimson. The colour of blood. How ironic. Right now, I want nothing more than to pound her head in and leave her lying there in a pile of blood, then hide round the corner to see the reaction of whoever finds her, and laugh madly at the whole scene.

I restrain myself, but only just.

My voice, as I speak, seems to burn her like acid. I can almost picture her screaming, her skin sizzling and steaming and holes all around the place. I am the personification of a PH1 acid, apparently. Well, you learn something new every day.

Enjoying the effect my words seem to have on her, I continue talking.

"What's the matter?" I hiss venomously, "What kind of stupid question is that? This is entirely your fault, and you know it!"

"What?" she whispers almost inaudibly, but I still pick it up. I feel my frustration growing and resist the temptation to throw her into the wall a third time for good measure. Nonetheless, I pin her there with my arms to make up for it.

"It's your fault that I'm stuck here. It's your fault that the priest has some kind of secret plan to stop me from murdering any of his precious blessed students by keeping me locked up and trying to be all humane when really he thinks I'm the scum of the highest order!" I'm yelling now, and I know it, but she totally deserves it. "He didn't need to worry about that though, did he? Killing them, I mean. The only person I'm the remotest bit interested in killing is you." I smirk as the realization dawns, and her face contorts into an expression of total horror.

"Let go of me, Paul, let go!" she screams, struggling but to no avail. She's flopping around like a fish or something. Well, she always was the perfect little weakling. Usually I'd never dream of 'exploiting' her like this, but things change, don't they? She changes tactics and looks at me with a tear stained face and puppy dog eyes…

Oh, please. Spare me.

"What happened, Paul?" she asks quietly. "What happened to you? We used to be such good friends…"

"Used being the operative word," I say airily, and she looks confused for a moment before she gets it. For the first time, she looks genuinely confused – her confusion before had obviously been faked.

"What's changed, then?"

I laugh hollowly, and it goes on up to the point of sounding slightly hysterical. I choke on my words. "What's changed? What's changed? Are you really that dumb, or is this all an act?" By the look on her face though, it sure looks like she really is this dumb. "Fine, I'll enlighten you." I lean in towards her, ignoring the way she recoils backwards and seems to want to melt through the wall. "You told them I was insane. You told them I heard voices that weren't there. You screwed up everything because you told them that I was a bloody mentally unstable prick who was completely off his rocker!"

"I'm sorry, Paul," she says timidly, "but it's true, isn't it? You do hear voices that aren't there…"

"I do not! They are there!"

"You think they are, Paul, but they're just a figment of your imagination, honestly…" I snarl in frustration. She doesn't understand. None of them understand. I hate ghosts. She caught me talking to one, and the next minute, I'm spirited away as Mr. Insane when it's not even my fault the damn thing came to talk to me! I didn't ASK it to! Always bloody ruining my life, they are…

I I must have looked pretty scary as she opens her mouth to scream, so I cover it with a large hand. "Shut up. This wouldn't have happened if you'd have kept your big gob shut about things you don't understand."

She gives me a pleading look and pries my hand off to say, "but I do understand," so I force it back on and nearly end up punching her. I laugh crazily.

"Oh, you don't. You really don't. Now, let me have my say. I daresay I've heard enough of your voice to last a lifetime." She gulps and quiets down, so I carry on. "Schools can't keep people with psychosis. So it was bye-bye, Paul. And you know what the funny thing is? I'm not even bloody psychotic in the first place!"

She pushes me backwards sharply and I start in surprise. She moves forwards again, though, almost backing me up against the other wall, this time. "Paul… I know it's hard to accept, but you are…"

I shove her hard against the wall, and this time she does scream. "How dare you judge me when you know nothing… You haven't got a fucking clue about anything…" She slips down to the floor in shock, staring up at me with wide eyes, cloaked in raw fear…

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

I contemplate what to do with her. I could take her up to Shadowland… no, wait, that one's getting old after last night's ghostie. Besides, why should I even bother doing that? Why stoop to her level? For now, I wish to remain right up here and never fall off my pedestal onto her level… it's either up here, or lower. Hey, I never said I played fair. You declare war on me, and you get your ass kicked, and that's the end of it.

Besides, I have better stuff to do with my time. For instance, to solve that puzzle; to find out how to get through IT, and then finding out how to get rid of that godforsaken gatekeeper up there. Yeah, that's a matter of the utmost importance. Revenge can wait. She'll always be there until she's needed, and she'll fall at the crack of a whip. There's nothing she can do about it.

I turn around, and can't resist taking a look backwards (something that I'm fairly used to), and am pleased to watch her crumple into tears.

Good riddance.

Have remorse, me? I have no reason to feel remorse. She messed with me and she paid for it, and she won't do so again, or she definitely won't live to tell such a tale.

A/N: Sorry this took so long; I had writer's block. Please tell me what you think…

EDIT (20/05/05): I'm knocking the rating down to T, because it contains no explicit content. I reviewed my plan and it shouldn't really contain anything over a T, though I will change it if necessary. Thanks to my lovely reviewers, the next chapter is in progress.