Chapter #19A Dark Star is Born by: rugal b.   Five minutes feels more like five hours as you wait impatiently. You feel anxious and want to pace as you anticipate what's going to happen. It's uncharacteristic of you or at least the "you" that you've been for the last ten years. No, this feels more like the "you" from back home in Saratoga Falls when you were just a rabbity teenager, easily preyed on by the predators that inhabited Westside High School.
"The fuck are so antsy for, Knotts?"
It's Anthony -- Cox -- that asks. You're still surprised he thinks of you as "Knotts" since, after all, in order to pull this plan off you'd had to tell both him and Liu who you really are and just why you used masks.
"Who the fuck is Will Prescott? You ever heard of this fucker, Liu?" Cox had asked in response, however. "I never knew any dickhead named Prescott, you know, but I do know Paige Knotts. 'Sides, in our line of work, it's not like your physical appearance means shit aside from whatever you're borrowing for a job. So you can say you're whoever but far as I'm concerned, you're name's Knotts, got it?"
Thinking about that does help to calm your nerves just a little.
"Fuck, I dunno, it's just... this is big, I guess. We'll be making history if this goes off." You look at your compatriots with dead seriousness. "I mean, if this works then I won't just look like one of the Stellae, I'll be them down to the core."
"I'm still trying to make sense of that part," says Cox. "You having their mutie powers or whatever."
"The Moustache'll fill you in on the nitty gritties," you tell him before turning to Ashley, really Liu. "Goddamn, you got any smokes?"
"Back in the condo," comes the reply.
"Well go grab 'em, then!" you snap. "Fuck, I need something to calm my nerves."
You hadn't actually smoked in a good long time, outside of maintaining a cover identity, but the anxiety you'd been feeling since first coming to Los Angeles made you pick it up again.
All of you know that Plante will likely be done by the time Liu gets back but nobody says anything and instead Liu simply nods and heads off. Maybe they're both just weirded out at seeing their head acting so uncharacteristically nervous. "They're probably starting to second guess the whole Knotts thing," you can't help but to think.
It's not long afterwards that the doors of the van open and Plante appears. He motions and Cox grabs Vidya's unconscious body, then hands him a large plate or disc. "Is that--" you start.
"Yes, yes, the P3," Plante cuts you off impatiently. "Now get up here and strap in. I promise that you won't feel a thing."
* * * * *
You find yourself floating though not freely. Instead you're tethered; but to what? You grasp the tether bound around your waist and look in its direction where you see the Moon. Its surface shines though barely, like a light that seems to be going out. You reach out for it and when you do, you almost want to gasp.
Your arm is weird, thin and pale and decidedly feminine and... no, it's not weird at all. You recognize it as an arm you've seen plenty, the arm belonging to Paige Knotts. Your whole body, you can now tell, is Paige's. Yet you don't want to think of it as Paige Knotts' body but your own. It makes sense, right? You've been Paige for most of the last ten years. At some point, the separation between "Will Prescott" and "Paige Knotts" became meaningless.
As you realize this you begin to see the moon moving away from you. You become worried as it moves and frantically you wish for it to come back. Instead, however, as you float through the void of space or whatever this is you catch sight of something else.
Two objects steadily come into view, growing larger in size as they do. They simultaneously feel as if they're opposites and yet inextricably linked. One seems to blaze and as you look at it you find yourself filled with a fiery, exuberant spirit that sends your mind racing. Something ignites deep within your very core but you don't quite know what it is. The other, meanwhile, cold and dark. A chill seems to come over you, slowing you down and reining you in. It serves to temper that fieriness.
As you see both of them you feel bursting to the brim with inspiration yet also feel that you should take the time to examine things carefully. You have ideas, great big ones and you want to excitedly tell them to everyone and yet what good is an idea without a plan? How would you put it into action without thought? You could change so many things, convince so many people, but not if its done carelessly. No, if you just rushed into things the consequences would be disastrous for not just you but everyone.
As you begin to realize this you notice yourself undergoing yet another metamorphosis, your body becoming one that is both alien and familiar. But it's not the physical changes that really make you notice. It's the change deep inside. A place that you can't see. A place not even your mind is yet able to fully grasp.
But though you can't explain it, you can certainly recognize it and as that feeling solidifies and becomes more intense you finally realize just who you are.
Who you really are.
* * * * *
Your eyes practically shoot open. You're in the van, strapped to the gurney. The drill bit hovers ominously above you. You don't scream but you do struggle. "Get it off! Let me out of here!" you bark. Plante, you can see, is taken aback. "Now!" you demand when he doesn't move fast enough for your liking.
That seems to spur Plante to action and he quickly moves to undo the the straps binding you to the machine. "It worked?" he asks, still unsure. "How do you feel?"
"Cranky, irritated," you say in a soft and high pitched voice with only the slightest hints of an accent. "Like I could kick you in your stupid fucking shin or something." After a few seconds though you seem to regain your composure. "Sorry, I just feel... I dunno. There's this rush of emotions going through me."
"I can imagine," he replies. "After all, given that you're now inside the body of a girl going through--"
"I know what I'm going through," you huff. "So is there anything else you need to do?"
"Just one quick thing," he says as he shines a small light into your eyes. "Yes, perfect. The P3 is perfectly in place. I had been worried that the P2, special as it is, may have affected things."
"And it didn't, right? So can I go?" you ask impatiently.
You don't even wait for him to give the all clear before you push the doors open and hop out of the back. You see your compatriots standing there and motion towards the now-returned Ashley. "You got 'em?" you ask.
"Well yeah, but--"
You don't wait and snatch the pack and lighter from her hands before she can finish. You take a cigarette out, light it and inhale. "Fuck," you say with a sigh after exhaling.
"Do you really think you should be doing that, young lady?" asks Anthony.
You flip him off. "My body, my choice," you say with a self-satisfied smirk at the comeback.
"What's Valentine going to think?" he asks.
"Pfft! Like I'm gonna tell her," you say while rolling your eyes. "Gooood she's just, like, sooooo strict some times! It kinda makes me want to just do things some times, you know?"
"Do you?" Anthony asks. "Or, I guess, does she?"
"No way!" you exclaim. "Vidya doesn't want to, like, get in trouble but, you know..." You trail off as you look at your old body laying on the ground, likely to be transported back to London soon. You crouch down and extend a small, brown arm to touch what used to be your face. "She wonders things some times." You stand back up and look at the both of them. "What if I got some tattoos?" you ask. "You know, the special kind. The ones that'll really change you."
"You'd really do that!?" asks Ashley in shock. You only laugh, however.
"No! Well, not right now anyway," you say and take another drag. "I'll have to settle in for a little bit. You guys are going to have to hang tight for a bit while I plan the next move; decide what I really want to do."
"Well you'll probably have to get back soon. I'm guessing Valentine is gonna get real worried soon," Anthony states. "That and the professor's gonna wanna talk to you about... all this."
"You're getting the details about it from Doc, right?"
"He'll tell us once you're back," says Ashley.
You nod. "Right. I'll handle the professor.tomorrow," you say. "I'll get in touch with him before I get back to Kali's," you continue as you grab your phone from your old meatsack's stuff. "Send him a message telling him to get over here ASAP."
"You think you're going to be able to tell a guy like that to jump?" Ashley asks.
"He'll sure as shit do it for this," you say while gesturing towards yourself. "But no, you're probably right. Fuck, I'll just have to call him." You take another drag and then snuff the cigarette out. You're feeling calm now and especially in this body you won't need them anymore. "Yeah, I'll do that," you say. "Just give me a day or two to figure out my next move with you guys."
"With us?" she asks.
"And Kali and Punthali. Because now that we know it works, the three of us, maybe Diana as a whole? We're going to be stars." You look at them with a grin. "How's that sound?"
"Like a plan," Anthony says with a small, if somewhat confused and unsure, laugh.
"Yeah it is, and this little brain," you say as you use you tap your forehead, "is practically buzzing." You have the following choice:  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author