Mind Control

Mind Control 4

MIND CONTROL 4

A short story by Alvin Atwater

Continued directly after story 3...

The gems in my hand didn't blow up yet. We're not devising an excuse to our club president, Kate. Kindness' effects will probably wear off in an hour. They'd come for me. I'll be ready.

I swear, the sky darkened with thunderclouds the moment I got off the bus and dashed into my house. In my hands were both Demand and Kindness, my newest blue and yellow gem "best" buddies. Sigh. I honestly wanted to take these headaches to an abandoned warehouse, collide them, and run as they explode, killing every dust mite in sight.

But... Kate, my evil Satan-of-a-senior and mystery club president practically begged us not to "lose" the gems. All I could think of at that moment was "now what?" My answer to such a silly question is to prepare. Prepare for a showdown. Two pissed off girls were on their way to my house and I needed to increase my chances of survival.

And well...a pissed off Gemini is no laughing matter. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that she'd arrive with another stolen Iyan object from the mystery or archaeology club. The question is what?

I shrugged off the thoughts and glanced around my house. Nothing I could really do here but use the gems to my advantage. Great tactic right? Nope. If my hunch is correct, the object she'd bring will have the same gem-immunity effect as the wand. I'm so screwed.

My only plan, which I wanted to be a last resort, was to hold the gems hostage. Threaten to collide them if my demands weren't met, that sort of thing. I heard a vehicle pull into driveway.

Them? No way. Gemini didn't have a car nor did Chelsea. Did they catch a ride from their parents? Crap –it appeared my time was done. I peeked out the window and to my surprise, Uncle strolled in early from work. I should've listened to the sound of his beat-up truck. He's got perfect credit but too cheap to get himself a new vehicle. It's a good thing he inherited this house or we'd probably be in a shack. Uncle walked in dressed in his usual black suit and tie.

"I forgot some files," he said without closing the door. "Annndd since when did you become such a player." He opened the door wider. They walked in. I froze, cheeks clenched then I grinned.

"You're here earlier than expected," I said.

"Gemini, make sure he doesn't do anything he'd regret," Uncle says, flailing his eyebrows before leaving out the door, files in hand. As soon as the pickup left, Gemini's smirk retracted into a frown that matched Chelsea's mug all the way.

"We still have a project to complete," Gemini said.

I blinked. "You're not mad?"

"Surprised that you had it in you but your punishment will come later."

I sighed, not buying this whole charade one bit. They were up to something.

"Let's do this project outside," I said opening the door. Pouring rain –like the biggest downpour I've ever seen in my life –holy crap! I know I said the sky darkened with thunderclouds after I stepped off the bus but there weren't that many. Blue still shined in the sky. I closed the door and gazed at the girls. Gemini's smirk returned as she reached into her pocket and revealed a wooden dial, some hand-clock thing with ruby-like stones embedded on each corner.