This choice: "Yeah, we did say Chelea was perfect for Eldibria and Glundandra.” • Go Back...Chapter #71A Sneak Preview by: imaj   “Chelsea.”
The voice is quiet, but firm. Familiar somehow.
“Chelsea.”
Again. Insistent. The voice is talking to you.
Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be? A minute ago you were in the ballroom at the Straussler’s. Then Joe had put the idea of being Chelsea into your head. You’d only wanted to talk to her, but as soon as Joe mentioned it… It just somehow seemed right. You’d brought your hand to your face and summoned the constellations that marked the remote masks you have placed.
You’d dived into the fiery star that marked Chelsea.
And now you are here. Awareness comes slowly to you. The honey blonde locks that frame your field of vision. The open locker in front of you, with a set of clothes piled into it. You glace downward and see Chelsea ample boobs, flattened in place by the tight confines of a sports bra.
You’re in the locker room, you decide.
Well of course you are. It’s time for cheerleading practice after all. Chelsea’s thoughts snake inside your head. They wind around you, and without thinking your stance subtly shifts to match Chelsea’s own: The flaring nostrils, the imperious tilt of the head, the assurance that you are in charge and you own this place.
“Chels,” that voice again, this time accompanied by a hand resting lightly on your shoulder and giving you the most gentle of shakes. Almost as if they are scared to do so. They should be.
You know the voice now, and you spin round and pull your lips into Chelsea’s most winning smile. “Kendra,” you say in warm voice to the delicate African American girl in front of you.
“You ok girl,” she replies, her face radiating concern. There’s no mistaking the hunger in her eyes though, Chelsea’s instincts pick up on it instantly. She’s a snake, a memory that is not your own tells you. Keep her at arms length. “You spaced out there.”
“Oh I was just thinking about something,” you tell her airily. Your gaze sweeps the room, taking in the rest of the team as they change into their uniforms: The Garners tie their hair into high ponytails – Eva’s short and Jessica’s long. Yumi and Lin Pol sharing whispered confidences, Chelsea’s feelings cause you to narrow your eyes in suspicion as you see that. Cara Fuhrman – one of the new girls – pulling on her jersey with workmanlike efficiency. She’s practically terrified of doing something wrong. Just the way I like it.
“Say Kendra,” you add, reaching down for your own uniform sweater. You pull it on, fluffing out your hair afterwards. The jersey hugs your stolen body tightly, accentuating your curves. “How about you run the practice?”
“Really,” grins Kendra. The hunger in her eyes eclipses any mask of compassion she might have been attempting now.
“Yeah,” you reply. “I want to get a good look at everyone.” You glance round the locker room, looking at all the girls in various states of undress.
“Thank you” says Kendra insincerely, throwing her arms round you.
“You’ve earned it” you tell her with equal dishonesty.
As Kendra turns away from you to address the team, you give yourself one last look over. The red and gold Westside uniform fits your body perfectly, and the matching sneakers are adorable. You can’t wait to get away and make Chelsea’s body your own permanently.
But first the practice.
You follow the rest of the team out into the gymnasium, climbing to the very top of the seating area and planting yourself down in the middle of the last row. You actually do want to take a look at the rest of the team, but not to judge their cheerleading ability. No, you are far more interested in finding candidates for the essentia you have collected. If you are going to be Chelsea, then the logical place for your allies is on the cheerleading team. You nod to yourself as you watch Eva and Jessica Garner practice backflips. It might even be a way to extend Chelsea’s – your – influence over the rest of the team.
*****
Jon Straussler – Joe really, under a mask – is waiting in the ballroom when you finally arrive there, after all your classes. “You took your time getting here,” he tells you, gesturing vaguely to a nearby seat where your real body has been propped up.
“I wanted to spend the day as her,” your explain. “See what I was getting myself into.”
“And did you like what you saw,” leers Joe.
You smile at him coyly. “Maybe I’ll show you later,” you reply, letting the words hang languidly in the air. Joe’s body stiffens awkwardly for a moment, letting you know you are having the desired effect on him “And I had to spend time taking care of Gordon too,” you add as an afterthought.
Joe splutters for a moment, unable to reply.
You drop the catlike façade of being Chelsea and break into laughter. “Dude, you should see the look on your face.”
“Yeah, yeah,” mutters Joe. “I’m not the one that spent some quality time with another guy.”
You shrug. “It’s easy to fall into being her,” you explain, gesturing at yourself. “It’s like Chelsea is all around me, and it’s harder not to let her feelings guide me. You want to know the truth though? It feels good, having what she does and using it the way she does. I had Cara jumping through hoops after practice today. She’s terrified of me. I can’t wait to make all this permanent.”
“It’s all set up for you then,” states Frank baldly as he emerges from the bookshelves. “Based on what you told Joe.”
You look over the arrangements on the metal sheets. Everything is as you need it and you nod your head in thanks before lying down on the correct spot. With a wave of your hand, you find yourself on the opposite side of the room and back in your own body. Pulling yourself uncertainly to your feet, you look back at the dissection table.
Chelsea sits bolt upright immediately. “You… You were inside me,” she whimpers, her voice robbed of any sense of assurance.
“I was,” you say soothingly as you walk back over. “But it isn’t going to happen again. You won’t have to worry about that. You trust me, remember.” The nerves evaporate from Chelsea’s face, leaving her looking vacant. “Just lie back down and stay quiet for me,” you instruct the golem. “It will all be over soon.”
“You’re going through with this,” asks Frank as the golem settles back onto the metal sheets of the dissection table with a mechanical motion. “Joe told me about you having four ousiarchs, and now you want to be someone else too?”
“We can’t exactly keep running around as ourselves anymore,” you explain. “Especially you and Joe – You’re supposed to be dead in Cuthbert. And this is so much better than masks: It can’t be pulled off and there’s no way to detect it. When this is done, I’ll still be me inside, but as far as the rest of the world knows I’ll be Chelsea Cooper.” The golem squirms unhappily, but says nothing just as you told it to. “Just as you are going to end up being her friends and teammates.”
“We get to be Cheerleaders,” interrupts Joe, a huge smile stretching right across his face. “Oh man, sweet. Can I be Maria?”
“Seriously,” grimaces Frank. “You’ve got all this power and you’re using it to replace a high school cheerleading team? What a waste.”
“Boobs are never a waste Frank,” states Joe with a mock seriousness. “You’d know that if you’d ever been close to any.” He laughs quickly. “You’re right though, it’s a dumb idea. Can you imagine a Cheerleader scowling like that,” he adds pointing to Frank’s dark expression.
You say nothing, because the aura of unhappy pent up aggression hanging around Frank like a low cloud has suddenly put you in mind of Eva Garner. That would be an excellent identity for Frank, even if telling him that right now might only spur him to violence. “It’s what we’re going to do,” you say, surprising even yourself at the firmness in your voice. “Now I need to borrow your body to do this Frank,” you add. “If that’s alright.”
Frank stares at you with hard eyes for an uncomfortable few seconds. He swallows then looks away. “Ok.”
You lay down beside Chelsea. With another swipe of your hand across your face you find yourself looking down at both your real body and Chelsea. “Let’s get this over with,” you say to Joe.
For the second time you take Chelsea apart. A mask to hold her imago, bottles for her essentia and anima. You fancy you hear a brief whimper before you reduce Chelsea to her component parts, but if there is one, it is over quickly. All that remains is the golem like substantia, with the remote sigil that you painted on it the first time you disassembled Chelsea.
“That could be useful,” you tell Joe. Though you are going to be Chelsea, you could still wrap someone else’s imago around her substantia and control them just as you did her. “Find somewhere safe to put it.”
“Yessir bossman,” answers Joe, flipping you a cheeky salute. You feel Frank’s sense of annoyance rising within you. It’s like this all the time, Frank’s thoughts tell you.
You turn away and ignore him, focussing instead on where your true body lies on the dissection table.
“I hope this works,” you say beneath your breath.
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