Chapter Thirty-three - Blood is thicker than water…
Schuldig stared around his new room. Third Year. One year to
go. One Year before the damned essay and the stupid little war game and the
psychic scanning. Actually, he’d have to ask Hertz about that. Schuldig had a
suspicion that rather than call Greg up from the Sahara, Schuldig himself might
be called in to name and blame his fellow students. He didn’t really care.
Within an hour of meeting his roommates they were gone, one dead and the other
two preferring to volunteer to watch the lower years’ dormitories.
A room to himself. He hadn’t had that since his first weeks
in the Laboratories, during his first brief stay here. Even thinking about it in
that detached context made him shudder and he had to sit on one of the bottom
bunks in a hurry. Memories kept hitting him and he groaned, clutching his head.
After spending so much time in Crawford’s memory it was hard to get out of the
receptive mindset, and he was defenceless against himself.
This was what was going to kill him one day. This was who. No
matter how many enemies he made, he would always be in the greatest danger when
simply left to himself.
*
* *
Soft hands ran themselves through his hair. It took Schuldig
a moment to register they weren’t his own hands, which were still pressing
into his temples. He didn’t open his eyes, letting this new person stroke and
caress and pet him. The second mind in the room helped him find the present in
his maelstrom of a mind. It was a feminine mind, coy and sly, foreign too, full
of martial arts and fighting drills, pain and anger boiling below the surface.
It was a mind Schuldig could relate to, and a mind that attracted him.
Large Chinese eyes met his just-opened eyes and almost made
him gasp. Mascara and some kind of sparkly eye shadow made them seem even
larger, but it was the mere presence of the makeup that made Schuldig realise
the power this girl wielded. No student wore make up. In fact, most of the
‘teachers’ in the institute didn’t, with Madame Dubois being the obvious
exception. This was someone from outside.
“Guten Tag,” the girl smiled.
“…Guh,” Schuldig managed. He blinked, blushed,
swallowed, and tried again. “Guten Tag,” he murmured. She laughed, but not
unkindly. Perhaps she was used to having this kind of affect on men? He didn’t
like that idea.
“My name is Silvia Lin,” she introduced herself, pulling
back a little. “I was passing, and you seemed to be in some distress. I do
hope everything is alright now.”
Schuldig found his eyes drawn to her cleavage. It was at his
eyelevel, after all, and rather prominently on display. A little contempt
trickled through him. He had been a prostitute, and these clothes, this make up,
stank of slut. She was trying too hard. He wondered if she really had just been
passing, or whether she had come to seduce him. Without checking, he dismissed
the second option out of hand. What purpose could she have in seducing him?
She stared at him for a moment. “What?” she asked, voice
a little harsher.
“Could you be any more obvious?” Schuldig shook his head.
“Tits out, short skirt, bitch heels and make-up in a place where no one but
the Slut Seer wears it. I mean, you’re a damn pretty girl, but this is too
much. You don’t need this shit to be pretty.”
She stared at him through lowered lashes. “I… no one’s
ever said that to me before,” she murmured demurely. Schuldig’s natural
scepticism took this lightening fast mood swing with a pinch of salt. “I mean,
not that I was just pretty. People have always tried to convince me that I
needed to try just a bit harder.”
“And who are you trying for?” Schuldig said, leaning back
on his elbows and looking her up and down.
She gave him an odd look. “Why should I be trying for
anyone in particular?” she demanded.
“Fuck off,” Schuldig said tiredly. “You’re fake,
you’re faux, you’re fraudulent…”
Silvia smiled then, and for the first time Schuldig felt her
respond honestly to him. “They told me you were sharp, but it never occurred
to me to believe them.”
“Oh?” Schuldig raised an eyebrow.
“Just another teenager. I’ve dealt with your type before.
All sex, drugs and rock and roll. One boiling mass of hormones.”
“I’m a telepath,” Schuldig said, a little defensively.
“So?” she scoffed. “I’ll bet you watch the girls in
the shower block through their own eyes. Maybe even play with their minds to
make ‘em play with each other.” Schuldig laughed and nodded. Silvia looked a
little taken aback at his honesty, but laughed too.
“Look, lady,” Schuldig pushed her away and stood up.
“I’m flattered you dropped in and all, and don’t get me wrong, I’m
grateful for your help, but we both have places we want to be.”
“I don’t,” Silvia said earnestly.
Schuldig paused then, and looked at her hard. “It is
all for my benefit, isn’t it?” he frowned. “Why? Who sent you?”
“What, I couldn’t have dropped in of my own accord?”
she asked sharply.
“Not dressed like that,” Schuldig said. “And you knew
who I was. I haven’t seen you around before, which implies you left before I
even arrived. Only those with an ulterior motive, and a damn strong one, come
back. No one wants to be here if they’ve got the opportunity to be somewhere
else.”
“So I have an ulterior motive,” Silvia shrugged.
“Doesn’t everyone? Power, naturally. We’re all trying to climb that
ladder, aren’t we? Like your little precog, in fact. And I’ve heard all
about that.”
“So someone’s been telling you things. About me.”
Schuldig looked her up and down. “I’m not an idiot, you know.” He smiled
then, mouth curving in a cruel grin. “It’s Hertz, isn’t it? It’s all
about Crawford and that prophecy. Now, I know Hertz, and I know he’d rather
let Crawford die. But at the same time, if he wants to keep his cushy position,
he can’t afford to let that happen. One question remains. Why a
telekinetic?” He slid closer, pressing their bodies together.
“Why not?” she murmured. She slid one hand through his
wild hair. “I volunteered, sweetheart. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve
heard about you.”
“That’s… ‘nice’,” he grinned. “But wouldn’t a
‘mental’ be more appropriate?”
“Haven’t you ever asked what a ‘physical’ could do
for you?” she purred, slipping one arm around his waist and pressing their
bodies together, cupped his buttocks with her other hand and stroked his already
growing arousal with…
Schuldig laughed, but it was fractured and broken up by gasps
and moans. His eyes were hooded, blue slits glowing with pleasure. “The last
telekinetic I was got distracted too easily,” he breathed. “Not as much…
fun as I… heard it… could… be.”
But it was Schuldig who was too distracted now. He completely
missed the contempt in Silvia’s voice when she said, “Oh, I’m sure you
won’t be too
distracting.”
*
* *
“You were amazing,” Schuldig said candidly.
“I know,” Silvia said smugly.
“No one else here can even touch that kind of skill
level,” Schuldig went on. “And I say that on pretty good authority.”
“I heard you’ve been in a monogamous relationship with
the insane kid,” Silvia said.
“Jei? Hardly monogamous. I mean, that guy hardly feels
anything. I might as well be masturbating, for all he gets out of it.”
Schuldig snorted. “Besides, he doesn’t even know my real name. Hardly a
relationship.”
“What is your real name?” Silvia asked, genuinely
curious. Schuldig, still soaked in afterglow, was flattered by the interest. So
flattered that he told her. “Wow,” she murmured. “So, Chr-”
“No,” Schuldig cut her off, sitting up. “Don’t call
me that. Ever.”
“Why not?” Silvia asked, pressing the sheet to her chest
as she sat up as well. She could sense that her time with Schuldig was drawing
to a close, and she started looking around surreptitiously for her wonderbra.
“Name’s have power.” Schuldig stared at her. “I
shouldn’t have told you. I never even told Brad.”
“Brad?” Silvia looked at him. “Why should you have? He
was just using you to gain a bit of experience to keep himself alive.”
Schuldig stared at the rumpled sheets and sighed. “Yeah, I
guess he was,” he admitted.
“Poor thing,” Silvia leant over and slipped her arm
across his front, rubbing his chest. Schuldig grabbed her wrist.
“No.”
Silvia gave a sigh of defeat. “Fine.” She pulled away and
crawled across the bed, giving Schuldig a view of her naked body that cheered
him up again. He leered at her for a moment.
“Look,” Schuldig stretched out, showing off his body to
its maximum benefit, “I’m just worried about the people pulling your
strings. They want to pull mine. I really don’t like having my strings
pulled.”
Silvia gave him a level stare. “You’re sweet, you really
are,” she said in a mockingly sweet tone, “but you’re young. A hormone
crazed teenager. So easily manipulated.”
Schuldig’s head snapped up to stare at her.
“I’d heard such good things about you,” she went on.
“From so
many students and staff. I’d also heard that you and Jei were rather closer
than you make out. I hope you’re wrong, for my sake.”
“I knew you came into this because you want to find out
what’s going on with Brad,” Schuldig said guardedly. “And you haven’t
learnt a thing. You’re not a clairvoyant, or postcog, or even a telempath.”
“Who said I was going to question you?” Silvia smirked.
“Now, Jei’s a nutter, no questions there, but even nutters get jealous. You
say it’s not a monogamous relationship, but you told me your name. You’re
right, names do have power. You told me yours, but you haven’t told him or
anyone else. Who was the last person you told?”
Schuldig bit his lip. “Greg,” he said. “Last person was
Greg, and I didn’t tell him. He read my mind.”
“You know what makes me laugh? What makes this all so
hilarious?” Silvia said, putting on her shoes. With an outfit like hers, it
didn’t exactly take long to get dressed.
Schuldig stared at her. He was starting to feel almost
vulnerable. Later he would learn that beautiful women like Silvia Lin had this
effect on most men. “What?” he asked apprehensively.
“You’re not even good in bed!” she laughed, and left.
Schuldig stared at the door, which was swinging back and
forth, slowly oscillating to closed. His emotions were doing the same, swinging
from furious to despondent, but slowly settling towards apathetic.
“No one else ever complained,” he muttered petulantly to himself.
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