Chapter #14Pull away. by: Seuzz   You twist and push him away. "Stop it, Chad!" you yell. "Or I start screaming till the cops come."
There's a mad light in his eyes. "You don't want me telling them what I know about you."
"You tell them what you told me, and you'll be doped up and in a straightjacket before sunset."
He balls his hand into a fist and raises it. "Let me back in," he snarls. "Let me back in, or by God—"
"Let you back in where? For the love of Christ, I don't know what you're talking about!"
He stares at you, and you stare back. You are both breathing heavily. Then he drops his fist. "I don't want to hurt you, Sandra," he whispers. "If you are Sandra. But I know what I felt and what I did, and I know you were part of it, at least for a little while. If that ... thing has left you, then I'm really, really sorry. But I'm not crazy." He backs away, out of the kitchen, still staring. But now tears are welling up in his eyes. "I'm not crazy," he says again, and he begins weeping openly. With sudden violence, he rips the front door open and runs out.
You collapse against the counter, shaking hard at the narrowness of your escape. A few blocks away, Josh, who you'd desperately summoned, turns around and sprints back the way he came: given what Chad has said, it would never do for him to see one of his former housemates heading over to Sandra's.
When you're feeling calmer, you leave Sandra's, making sure to lock the door behind you, and go off to a nice, public place: The Duckworth Deli, near campus. And just to be safe, you walk Allison over to join her. You hold each girl's hands in the other's in silent sympathy while you think.
You are very far from where you started. Who knew things could so wrong just by putting that pipe to Kevin's lips? Mostly you just want to run away: to pull out of Josh and Cindy and Sandra and retreat into Allison, then move back into Mary. Go hide in the high school. Let Chad spread his crazy story. No one would believe him. And even if they did, they'd have a hell of a time tracing you ...
But is Chad likely to be disbelieved? If he's remembering, what about your other ex-hosts? If they remember stuff, and start comparing notes with him, and with each other? You shudder.
But maybe it's not irretrievable. Chad's probably already half-worried that he's crazy. Maybe you could find a way of reinforcing that fear—if you played it smart (but dangerous). It doesn't appear likely that you could make him permanently forget if you tried taking him over again. But perhaps if you moved back into all those other ex-hosts and kept an eye on him. Made sure they were safe, and then, if Chad started talking to them, bluff your way by pretending ignorance. Told him he had some bad beer. Or bad ... acid? Yeah, surely there are ways of convincing him that everything he experienced was just something in his head. | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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