Linx

I groan as I hear a faint, muffled giggle.

"I thought the computers at the library blocked out p-"

I duck behind a bookcase. Sitting at one of the computers is the source of the giggling: A girl in black with pink hair, pigtails shaped like horns.

It couldn't possibly be her...

She puts a cellphone to her ear.

"Hello?"

That voice. It's her, no doubt about it. But...this doesn't seem right...

"Just running errands. The kind that demand running."

I notice a bag next to her, graphic novels poking out. Sandman, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Nightmares and Fairy Tales...

"What? I do have a life, you know. Maybe, but that doesn't mean I want to be a workaholic. I wanna have fun sometimes. Uh...errands can be fun. I'm whispering because...no! What I do in my freetime is none of your...what?! Forbidden...what? What in...well, if I was a lesbian, it's because of boys like you!"

She puts her cellphone away and turns her attention back to the computer.

She's too focused on something amusing for her to notice me sit in the station next to her. I peak over the partition just long enough to get a good look at the URL. I type it in and...

"Words of a Madman"?

I quickly browse over the site. At the very bottom, I see a member online: "CCP".

Otherwise know as Jinx.

I scroll up to take a better look at the forums, and...

Does that say..."Lesbionics"?

Jinx...

I shake the thought off and continue browsing. It looks like someone's trying to start an entertainment company here. The "Darkness Illustrated" section catches my eye, but I put off that for the moment. I see that I can check where members have clicked last, and...

Lesbionics?

I look over at her. Just what is she doing at a place like this?

I browse over the section and...

And...

I'm at a loss of words.

Someone named "Neko Yogurt" has devoted an entire thread to foddling breasts.

And Neko Yogurt is apparently female.

I'm at such a loss of words.

I click on the thread labelled..."I'd Hit That"...and any notions of this place being a gathering place of villiany quickly evaporates.

Maybe it's because of the girl who's obsessed with Keira Knightly. Maybe it's because no self respecting evil doer would name themselves "Yum Yum Bunny". But most likely, it's because of Jinx and her giggling fit.

I scroll down and see that Jinx herself has a list of people she would...

I scroll back up. Yes, it's exactly what I think it is.

Wow.

I scroll back down. I see Jinx has listed Neil Gaiman's Death, Evanescence's Amy Lee, a female character from a "Darkness Illustrated" project, and...

I blush.

She...comments on my hair...being cute...

Ever so slowly, I look over the partition. She's now browsing over...

"'Elf Porn'?"

I cover my mouth all too late.

And then...the whole world becomes quieter, grayer. Everything quietly fades, leaving just me and her.

I see her shaking. She's quietly praying under her breath. Praying she didn't just her me whisper that. Praying that when she turns around, she isn't going to see wide eyed, red cheeked me.

But the gods don't listen.

"Um...what..."

"It's not what it looks like!" Jinx says in one quick breath.

"Um..."

"It's a mature drama!"

"What..."

"I was curious. It had 'Mature Audiences' in the topic header, so..."

I slowly sink back behind the comfort of the partition.

"So...Jinx..."

A pause.

"Raven..."

"Do you..."

"Did...did you check Darkness Illustrated?"

"No, no. I'll...do that now..."

"Yeah. Pretty cool stuff there. Dead Girl Blues and this one project inspired by you guys, with serial killers for villians."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just a couple scripts up, but the notes have details on future issues."

"Issues?"

"It's planned to be an online comic, when the administrator can find an artist."

"Hmm."

"Check out Acid Dreamer, too. In M-E Originals. Oh! And Old Kid in F.U.S.! It's sounds like it's going to be totally messed up!"

Somehow, Jinx morbid giggling makes me want to smile. Ever so slightly.

"Anything like Oldboy?"

"The administrator says that's one of the inspirations. Has a lot more in common with a Takashi Miike film or The Guinea Pig series, though."

"You've seen a Guinea Pig movie?" I say, a slight bit of morbidness sneaking into my growing smile.

"Got the box set." Jinx states proudly, "You?"

"Just 'Mermaid in a Manhole' and 'Flowers of Flesh and Blood'. That one made me loose a few nights worth of sleep."

Jinx laughs, most likely for the most unwholesome of reasons.

"Wasn't Flowers of Flesh and Blood the one Charlie Sheen turned into the FBI because he thought is was a real snuff film?"

"I think so. Can't say I blame him."

I blink.

She blinks.

"I...should really get going..." I mutter.

"Yeah," says Jinx, grabbing her bag, "Me, too. Gotta...y'know, further the cause of evil and stuff...hehe..."

We get up and...

She looks back for a moment. Back at me.

After I'm sure she's gone, I get back on the computer.

"Mature drama, huh..."