Bait and Switch Ch. 09

I knew where I was as soon as the blue light penetrated my eyelids. My eyes flew open, but I was disappointed to see I was the only person in the room. The white light doused me then, and I could feel the energy leaking from me, as it built up my body.

“Lela?” I called out, but there was no answer. In silence I waited for the light to finish its work, and then I was back in my own bed. Worried that she was still upset with me, I didn’t get much sleep. I was too guilt ridden.

Robin was in the bathroom when I got up, so I went ahead and ate, while I waited. She took a little longer than Shanna had yesterday, but I didn’t mind too much. Dennis came out of the bathroom with her, and I understood what had taken them so long.

I quickly showered and shaved, and then decided to walk to campus. The sun was up, but the air was crisp, my breath misting thickly from me as I walked.

My phone rang, and I saw it was Gina, from the Caller ID.

“Nick?” Her voice sounded quiet on the other end. “I think that person is back. Can you come over and check?”

I was already most of the way to campus, and really didn’t want to turn back around to get my car. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Just jump in your car, and drive here. I’m sure you’ll be fine,” I tried to reassure her.

“Okay. See you in class?” She still sounded unsure, but I was glad I wouldn’t need to walk all the way back, and get my car. My first class had a final today, and I didn’t want to be late for it.

“I can’t wait,” I told her. But I could wait. After what had happened with Prof. Frankens last night, and then having both Gina and Shanna in the same class… Well, let’s just say that if I didn’t have a final, I would be ditching it again.

The morning veritably flew by, my finals were easy, and I was usually one of the first ones done. I saw Robbie talking with Nicole, and knew I didn’t need to tell him about her. He actually went so far as to give me a smile and a nod when he saw me, though Nicole only gave me a disgusted look before saying something that made Robbie laugh.

I didn’t have a class after lunch, having taken the final on Tuesday, so closeted myself in the library, and tried to come up with ideas on how to defeat the demons. From experience, I knew I could affect groups, but it was harder on me than making switches one at a time. And the thought of trying to affect an entire fleet of the red beasts… That would kill me, and I would never get the opportunity to even move the switch, once I made it. Was there something I could do to a few that would affect the rest?

Maybe if they mated like Lela’s race did, I could put all of the females in heat. The males would go wild with lust, and the females would have to mate, lest they die, meanwhile the human race could fall upon them, and defeat them…

There were too many problems with that, though. While affecting only the females would reduce the strain on me, it would still be too much. I would also need to notify the government about the aliens, and I didn’t feel like being locked up in a loony bin. And then, I am only going off of a guess that they MIGHT be like Lela, which wasn’t a good start. Lela’s entire species was herbivores, while the demons were pure carnivores. Their food preference didn’t really mean anything, though. It wasn’t likely to work, but for now it was something.

No further plan occurred to me by the time I had to get to Prof. Frankens class, and I reluctantly turned my feet in that direction.

Shanna greeted me just outside the door, with a smile on her face, and her long lashes batting at me.

“Are you ready for this? I stayed up half the night studying, but I know there will be something I forgot to look up on this final.” She seemed fidgety as she spoke all in a rush.

“Relax. I have no doubt you’ll do fine,” I tried to reassure her, but she wasn’t having it.

“Well, we can’t all be as smart as you, Nick. I’ll bet you played games all night, instead of studying.”

“I studied,” I told her defensively. I had listened to Robin’s loud cries, and Dennis’s grunts more, but I HAD tried to study.

Shanna sat right next to me, and I looked around for Gina, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Prof. Frankens had us separate some, putting at least one empty seat between each student, before handing out the tests, one by one. She informed us that there were four different test versions, but when she handed me the question booklet from the bottom of her stack, I saw that the answers had already been marked, and then poorly erased. Donna smiled at me, before walking on, handing out other tests. I noticed a few of the other men in class giving me jealous glares, but luckily Shanna was already going over her test, and hadn’t noticed.

I still didn’t see Gina.

I started answering the questions, at first verifying the circled answer was the correct one, but after the first twenty were accurate, I just started copying the book. Every now and then I answered one intentionally wrong; there was no reason to make my cheating obvious, even if Donna had handed me this book on purpose.

About halfway through, Gina still hadn’t shown up. She had said she would see me in class, didn’t she? Was there really someone there this morning, and did they do something to her?

I started to rush through the test, worried about the blonde woman. I could call her as soon as I got out of this test.

Sweat was actually beading on my brow, as I walked up and handed the test to Prof. Frankens. She smiled at me again, and I thought she was about to say more, but looked at the class behind me, and just said, “Thank you.”

I tried to walk calmly out of class, though I knew my steps were still fast. As soon as the door closed behind me, I pulled out my phone, and called Gina.

One ring… Two rings… After the fourth ring, it went to voicemail. I hung up and tried again, but with the same result. I decided to leave a message this time. “Gina. Just worried about you. Gimma a call when you get this. Bye.”

That had been my last class, but I would have skipped any others as I started to walk briskly home. My heart was thudding in my chest as I walked, and despite the cold, I was sweating as I rushed to get to my car.

I only had the faintest warning, before pain exploded in the back of my head, and blackness swallowed the snow-white world around me.

* * *

Pain was the first thing I became aware of. The back of my head hurt almost as bad as the second day with my ability.

A soft sobbing was the second thing to penetrate the haze that seemed to fill my mind.

Looking up to find the source of the crying, informed me that I was tied up, and naked.

Gina lay hunched on the floor about ten feet in front of me, her hands tied to another post, and just as naked as I was. Bruises and cuts covered her body, all of them fresh.

“So, you finally wake up,” a cold voice said from a shadow. I looked in the direction of the voice, groaning at the pain it caused in my skull. The voice laughed, and only then did I recognize it.

“Derek,” I said, the name hissing through my teeth. I fought feebly against my bonds, but they were rope, and I knew my ability couldn’t affect them.

Gina moaned piteously in her corner, and I felt my rage increase, some of it directed inward. I had assumed that Derek’s attack would come at me. I didn’t think he would attack someone else to hurt me.

“What do you want from us?”

“Us? I don’t want anything from her, it’s you I want to make pay. She is just an innocent, caught in your evil ways.”

For a second I debated on flipping his ‘sleep’ switch, but that would still leave us both tied up. Somehow I had to convince him to untie us. And in order to do that, I had to keep him talking.