- 2-
"Sorry, Keller," Logan said to the boy, who had gone pale.
"You can't!" Julian exclaimed, distressed. "This—I can't stay on the squad if I don't pass. You—I—"
Logan held up his hand. "Don't wanna hear it. Laura, you got a week to teach yer man here to protect himself, or he's failed. You can show me on Monday. Come ten minutes early. Good?"
"Hai," Laura said, apprehensively. She glanced at Julian, wondering if it was possible. The boy still hadn't mastered the moves, after two months of Logan's patient instruction. What chance did she have of teaching him?
"Dismissed. Don't disappoint me."
They exited the dojo, and Julian promptly began to rant.
"This is bullshit! Why did you do that?"
"I did not do anything different. It was a simple attack. You did not step back as you were supposed to."
"I totally did my part! It's you and your…" Julian struggled to find a word that would encompass Laura's viper-like combat techniques. "…experience," he said finally, annoyed.
"You know that that is not true," Laura said.
Julian scowled at her. "This is all your fault. Thanks a lot." He shouldered his backpack and sped up, intending to leave her behind; then he stopped in his tracks. "I was…" his said, his voice much lighter.
Laura waited, halting as well. There was silence for a few moments, except for the sound of the students in the hallway around them, who were talking and laughing with each other.
"…I kind of blanked out," he said. "I saw…I—" he looked down, his brow wrinkled. "Nevermind."
"What did you see?" Laura asked.
He paused.
"I remembered you. Fighting. And…I was there again. Kinda." He hesitated.
"Kimura," he said.
Silence. Laura reached out and put her hand on his shoulder in comfort, and was about to speak, to express her understanding; then they were interrupted by a throat clearing. A girl's.
They turned; it was Sofia Mantega, her arms folded around a pile of books. Her eyes were burning, full of anger and hurt.
"So," she said.
Julian stopped. "Oh—"
The girl held up her hand. "I only addressed you…to inform you that you are not to approach me. Please. I am…I cannot forgive you so easily. Any pleasure expressed towards your presence would be false."
Laura was silent.
"Sof, you never heard us out," Julian said, angrily.
"I do not need to," the girl said. "In time, I may forgive you, Julian…" she left her sentence unfinished, but her eyes found Laura's, and then she turned away.
Laura looked down.
"Don't," Julian said. "She's just being unreasonable. Why do you women have to be so difficult and bitchy to each other?" he asked, exasperated.
"I am not being difficult," Laura said.
"I know you're not. I meant her." He sighed. "So, you think you can get me to pass the test on Monday?"
"Yes. But it will require discipline."
"I trust you'll take care of that," he mumbled.
…
In the morgue, Dr. McCoy pulled the sheet back a little, exposing the woman's square-featured face to Logan, whose hands were in his pockets, his expression surly. "Figured out what she had goin' on for her yet, Hank?" he asked.
"No." Dr. McCoy let the sheet drop again. "It's very curious, isn't it? Four months…and no decomposition whatever. And I cannot even access her internal organs to examine them. Most abilities shut down when the subject is dead."
Logan grunted. "Think we got a waker?"
"Possible, but highly unlikely. I cannot make heads or tails of the situation. At least, I can say with the utmost confidence that she has not regenerated at all."
Logan grunted again. "Wonder if we should be keepin' her in such a low-security room." He followed the doctor out, and caught the light with his finger as he went.
The body lay in the dark, on the tray, silent and still.
…
"!"
Julian sat up, his heart pounding and sweat running in rivers down his forehead. He stared ahead into the darkness, every hair on the back of his neck standing up. His hand scrambled for his bedside lamp; it illuminated the room—and his roommate's equally disturbed expression.
"…" Brian blinked at him. "Man, that musta been—"
Julian pushed the covers away, then headed across the room to the door. He tore it open as Brian stared after him. He didn't care what he thought—he needed to find the person that understood.
A few moments later, in the girl's dorm, his mind had cleared enough for him not to just barge in, like he was going to. He hesitated, then tapped on the door with the back of his finger.
Nothing at first. Then it opened; Laura peered out, in a long night t-shirt with something printed on it. She didn't seem surprised; of course not, she could smell him coming a mile away.
"I…" he mumbled, uncertainly.
Laura examined him.
"I was asleep," she said, seeming displeased.
"Sorry," he grunted.
"You are perspiring," she murmured. "Your heart is also beating at an increased rate."
"I had a nightmare," he whispered, feeling stupider by the moment. "Can I—I want to sleep with you, please."
Laura stiffened. "It is a school night. Cessily is here."
"I know." He reached into the crack in the door and put his hand on the side of her neck, his eyes pleading.
A few minutes later he was in the dark, wiggling into her bed and trying to press himself against the wall. It was a little tight for both of them on the twin mattress, but he didn't mind, and he didn't think Laura did, either. After a few moments she'd settled in as well, and laid her head under his chin, over his still-racing heart.
Both were silent for a while, and he thought that Laura was asleep, when she spoke: "What did you see?"
"Hm?" he asked, even though he knew what she meant. It was still burnt into the insides of his eyelids, there every time he closed his eyes; only a little less intense now that he was certain it wasn't true.
"Your 'nightmare'," Laura whispered.
He hesitated. "I think you know," he said.
Laura nodded, slightly.
Silence. He finally did fall asleep again.
…
Julian awoke the next morning to Laura bustling around the room, collecting her things for class as her roommate occupied the bathroom. He inched down the edge of the comforter and watched as she dug through her underwear drawer with a serious look, her hair still unbrushed.
"Morning," he whispered from the bed.
"Hello," Laura replied, not looking in his direction. She seemed to find what she was looking for; a moment later she straightened and added something to the small pile she was creating on the dresser.
He frowned, then made a fist, and the mound of clothes flew to him—just as she reached for them.
"Julian, I require those garments," she said, her hands closing on air.
"Come and get them," he said, giving her an innocent look.
Laura obeyed without comment; he frowned. He'd expected more of a challenge; he handed the armful back to her, using her proximity as a chance to give her a small kiss.
The bathroom door opened wide.
"It's all yours! God, I think I need to lose—AHHHHH!" Cessily screeched and scrambled to cover herself up with her towel, seeing the boy on the bed. "What the heck are you doing here?"
"He had a nightmare," Laura replied promptly, before he could speak.
Julian glared at her, but Cessily looked somber, not as though she were about to bash him. She fingered her towel as Laura scooped up her belongings and swept towards the washroom.
He looked after her, wishing he could follow but not having his closet at hand.
"D'you mind? I need to…" Cessily said pointedly. He sighed, then left, ignoring a few strange looks he received in the hallway.
…
They were running again, through the darkness. His heart was pounding in his chest. Displays that had been fun the last times he'd seen them were now terrifying, because they were in the dark, and the bodies strewn about might not be props. They might be his friends.
They were his friends. He didn't have time to stop, because if he did, he'd joined them. He ran through the graveyard after Laura, hearing the sounds behind them. VRRRMMM! VRRMMM!
THUNK!
He tripped on something, in the long grass. Scrambling around, he could see it was a limb. It was—it was—
Too late. He looked up as the woman caught up, holding the gleaming, blood-soaked edge of the saw beside her smiling face. Her smile was too wide, too exhilarated, like a child that had overexerted itself.
There were bits of—oh, god—he could only stare. Movement was beyond him.
"Knock, knock," Kimura said.
"No—" he said, feeling his heart thump in his chest. Knock, knock, knock…
"Yes," Kimura said, her fingers reaching for the ripcord. "Isn't that cute? You can really be together now…because I'll cut you up and mix the pieces!"
He stared. Knock, knock, knock…
Kimura brought the saw down.
BAM!
"WHATthefuck," he gasped, sitting upright in the dark, for real, his heart pounding in his chest, but not knocking. Wait, it wasn't entirely dark. He finally turned his head, and saw that Laura was standing at the door, dressed in…her gear?
He had to still be dreaming. He froze, wondering if he would now begin dreaming that Kimura was in the school.
"He did not respond," Laura said, as if explaining something. "I have been knocking for five minutes and thirty-two seconds. I could hear that his heart rate was accelerating…then he began to make noises of protest."
"…" Julian realized she was explaining to Brian why she had just broken their door in with her claws, which were still out. The boy had backed up against his headboard, obviously terrified. He struggled to focus on reality. "Is' okay," he mumbled, rubbing his face with the back of his hand. "I'm fine. Go back t' bed."
"I came to retrieve you for practice," Laura said, still from the doorway.
Julian looked at the small clock on his nightstand. After about a minute of examining it, he spoke again. "Is' four in the morning," he slurred.
"Retrieve your equipment," Laura said, as if she had not heard.
…
"…" Julian followed the girl down the stairs, stumbling down a few and gripping the banister tightly. Apparently, she would not take 'no' for an answer, as she had dragged him out of the bed when he'd fallen asleep again (he had woken upon his impact with the floor). He'd resisted at first, with a nasty argument; she had reminded him, in a few quiet words, of what he stood to lose.
He wondered how she thought he could practice skills that required balance right now.
"I need caffeine," he said, stopping as they reached the hallway that led to the kitchen.
"No, you do not," Laura said impatiently.
"Yes, I do," he snapped. "I don't know what crazy drug you're on…but I've never been up so early in my life!"
"I am not on a drug. The morning is the best time to begin training. Your body produces hormones that—"
"—help me sleep," Julian said. "So yes, I need the caffeine." He disappeared down the hallway.
After five minutes had passed Laura followed and found him asleep on the floor. She roused him rather rudely (with her boot) and suggested he not open the pop-can that had landed by his head when he'd toppled over.
Julian grumbled a nasty and colorful description of the girl as he struggled to his feet again, his head pounding with a headache.