The Venator (The Mindbender series Book 2)

by C. S Luis

“That’s all it takes and that’s enough,” Joseph continued. “You’ll break up with her and we’re off to the next mission. Just pretend. That’s all this is. It’s not like you haven’t done it before.”

  I nodded, he was right. I had done this all before. I wasn’t going to give up, though.

  “Then, why can’t I choose Claudia Belle?” I boldly asked. “If I’m just pretending, anyway?”

  He smiled and shook his head, wagging a finger at me.

  “Because Claudia Belle is too simple of a girl for you. You’re John Slater, well, John Müller- the rich kid, whose father would not want you dating such a simple girl. Got it?” He smiled. “You don’t want dear old dad getting upset...”

  I thought about his words as I looked at him, was he speaking about something real? What would happen if dear old dad got mad? I wanted to ask, but decided not to.

  “No, I guess not,” I managed.

  He ruffled my hair before I could avoid it; then, he moved back around his desk.

  “Now, get out of here I have a budget to get back to,” he whispered. “Go get acquainted with Rachel.”

  I rolled my eyes and cringed.

  “I have pending teacher evaluations...” It seemed he had his hands full with school matters, no wonder he was my cover. I hated to think I would one day have to perform a more adult role. What if it entailed being a school official?

  I walked over to the door and stopped, turning slightly to him.

  “By the way, Joseph,” I said, “you’re wrong.”

  He gazed at me, perplexed.

  “Claudia Belle is not simple or ordinary. She’s extraordinary. I genuinely like her.”

  He wrinkled his brow over at me and was about to say something, but there was a knock at his door. He dropped his pen.

  “Come in,” Joseph said.

  Slowly the door opened. I was praying for Claudia Belle’s face, but instead a scrawny kid entered the office with a slender blonde in tow. She caught sight of me long before she saw Joseph.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She looked around the office, finding Joseph with his face turned downwards at the paperwork on his desk. He looked up. Their eyes met. I swear, it was like a tractor beam had zoomed over her and completely gone passed me.

  “No, no you’re not interrupting.” Joseph rose from his seat to greet the newcomers.

  He liked blondes, and well, this woman was very much his type. She was dressed in a tight tan dress. The top of the dress looked like a jacket with a wide collar spread apart, revealing from within a bit of her white, milky breasts. I think she had me blushing, too. A tight black belt and black pumps finished off the outfit. Her hair was a bleached blond, matching her ghostly skin. She wore very glossy red lipstick. She didn’t strike me as the teacher type; she was more like a naughty pin-up model.

  “Excuse me, Dr. Müller?”

  Joseph was already making his way over to her. I wanted to stay and watch this, so I didn’t move. I think the only thing that could make Joseph weak in the knees were blondes. I laughed a bit.

  Beside her was a teenage boy looking not-so-happy about standing at the entrance of the principal’s office. I suspected he was a troublemaker. He was dressed in a pair of jeans that seemed not to fit properly and a Texan’s t-shirt two sizes too big for him. What was it with kids and oversized clothing? Couldn’t they ever find anything that fit properly? Joseph had often complained about the modern sense of fashion, or lack thereof; I tended to agree with him. It was just sloppy.

  “I’m sorry, am I interrupting? Your secretary isn’t at her desk,” the pretty blonde said.

  “No,” Joseph said trying to focus. “You’re not.”

  She looked over at me again, I tried to wave politely. She hardly gave me a smile, for Joseph it seemed to be a different story.

  “That’s my nephew. He was just leaving, weren’t you, John?”

  Since he had messed with my girl, I wasn’t going to let him off that easy. Not a chance.

  “But Uncle Joseph, weren’t you just lecturing me about not socializing during school hours?”

  He flashed me a look that said, if you fuck this up for me you are so dead. I eased up, but wanted to laugh so badly.

  The teacher looked back at me. The boy laughed, voicing his opinions at me. I told him to shut up. Joseph was trying to signal me to leave. He obviously wanted to work his magic with her.

  “Please, how can I help you Mrs.—” he politely asked. His big smile returned. His body seemed to quiver, and he looked like a different person in front of a pretty face. I don’t think I had seen this part of him before. Maybe once a long time ago.

  “Ms. Stephens, Karen Stephens. I have a troublemaker, as you can see. Eric Martinez. I caught him skipping again. And now he’s disturbing my class,” she said, frowning over at the youngster.

  When Joseph finally was but two or three steps away from her, the kid seemed overtaken by his height. With good right, Joseph was a menacing figure. He narrowed his eyes over at me still finding me standing at the side of the entrance.

  “Why are you still here? I said go to wo—class.” He corrected himself immediately. He was trying to impress pretty Ms. Stephens with his tone of voice and superiority.

  “I need a permit for class, Uncle Joseph.”

  He was trying to get me to stop saying that. The name sounded ridiculous. He smiled over at Ms. Stephens and spun back, pulling open his drawer taking out his permit pad, wrote a quick note. I wandered over to his desk and he handed it to me.

  He held it and when I came near he whispered, “Go to work.”

  I grinned and made my way back to the door. Shyly, I nudged my head at the teacher who seemed not the least interested in me as I exited.

  18

  The Girl Of My Dreams

  After math class, I headed to PE where I again met George, Eric and Jeff. I dressed in my best PE apparel, a sleeveless white top with gold edges and navy shorts- the school colors. We did a few exercises, which got a few glances from the other students as well as our coach. My coach at The Academy was a military drill sergeant who yelled in your face and made you do sit ups if you fucked up; high school PE was a cake walk in comparison.

  The fact that I was in shape hadn’t slipped their eyes. What can I say? This is the kind of thing I was trained for. I could do this in my sleep.

  We ran a couple of laps around the track. The coach was really pushing the other students, but when he looked over at me, I passed them up. The look on his face was utter amazement. I hadn’t realized what I was doing, until I saw his eyes widen. I had to slow down. Joseph would tell me not to overdo it. I wanted to stand out, but not in an awkward way that would show just how far from normal I was. I didn’t want to be the weird kid, I was the track star. I didn’t need to freak people out.

  It was Claudia Belle that was doing this to me. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Even when I thought she was no longer in my mind, she was in my veins. What cruel words had Joseph said to her? Frustrated and angry, I had failed to stop him. Why was it only betrayal shoved back at me from her end? It hurt too much. I wanted to talk to her, but I needed to be discreet, especially after my discussion with Joseph.

  I dialed the watch back. Maybe Joseph was right; maybe I shouldn’t do this to myself. What did I expect? I wouldn’t be able to be with her, anyway. I would leave, and that would be the last time I ever saw her. I’d break her heart and I didn’t want to hurt her. I really cared about her. Would what I said back in Joseph’s office get me a negative report, or worse, a visit from Dr. Nicolson on the laptop? Joseph was sometimes unpredictable, and it was his job to keep me in line. I didn’t want to bring any problems in Claudia’s direction. But what was the worst they could do? I cringed at the reality that they could take me off the mission and I would never see Claudia again.

  The current between us was tame for now, thanks to the watch. Still, I wanted that tenderness from her, to have it absorb me as it had just th
e night before, but I had a job to do.

  I wondered how Joseph made out with that teacher in his office. I was pretty sure he had done just fine. A grin spread over my lips. I was sure he had wowed her.

  After slowing down and letting a few students pass me, I moved to the sideline to show the coach I was nothing special. Pretending to be tired, I took a deep breath and grabbed some water from the nearby table where a gallon of fresh water and cups sat. The guys Eric, George and Jeff came to join me.

  George came first to stand alongside, while Eric and Jeff finished their run, “Shit, that was fast, dude. Ever consider joining the track team?”

  I smirked and shrugged my shoulders, pouring cold water on my face and head. It raced down my neck and drenched the blue top making it stick to the form of my body. On the other side, a few girls were looking over at us. They started to giggle, as most girls do when they like a guy. I wasn’t interested in them, even if they couldn’t stop looking toward me.

  “You have a place you hang during lunch?” George asked.

  “Nah,” I uttered.

  “Want to join us?”

  I saw no harm in doing so, until I saw a few girls in the distance, one being Rachel. She waved. She was among the girls giggling.

  “Hey, watch out, man. I think she likes you. Lucky.” He slugged my shoulder, but he wasn’t expecting the firm muscle of my bare arm to hurt his knuckles in doing so. He cringed.

  “I guess so,” I muttered.

  Eric and Jeff came to join us.

  “What’re you assholes talking about?” Did all teenagers talk like that? I had heard worse, I supposed in different locations. So, it was amazing on how it always surprised me to hear it.

  They caught George nudging his head over. “Ah,” they both grinned elbowing one another looking at the girls. Guys and girls, gees. It amazed me how teens always acted around the opposite sex, even some of the soldiers reacted in the same manner.

  “Nah, I have my eyes on someone else,” I said. I didn’t care what Joseph said, or what would happen. Things had a way of falling into place. And I wanted Claudia beside me. I had made my mind up and she was going to be mine.

  “Oh, who’s the lucky girl?” Eric smirked.

  Jeff frowned. He seemed to already know.

  “Her,” he whispered to Eric.

  “There she is,” Jeff said.

  It seemed like right on cue, Claudia Belle had emerged with her gym teacher and her classmates. She looked lovely dressed in her PE attire. She filled those blue shorts nicely, her bronze legs flexed as the PE teacher made the girls stretch. The dark locks of her hair fell in disarray as she bent down to touch her toes. My heart ached. I wanted the connection between us again. In fact, I longed for it.

  “Claudia Belle?” Eric asked surprised. “Ok, but it’s your funeral dude.”

  “You guys exaggerate. I know her guardian. He’s a friend of my uncle’s.”

  “So maybe you have a man on the inside because of your uncle, but it’s not Michael I would worry about.” Jeff said.

  I wrinkled my nose at them. What were they talking about.

  I dialed the watch back when they weren’t looking.

  “Hey, neat watch. You know you’re supposed to leave things like that in the locker room.” George said.

  “Since when are you a good boy?” I joked.

  Eric laughed.

  “Besides, I never take this watch off. It was a gift from my mother. She gave it to me before she died of cancer. I promised her I’d never take it off.”

  It got quiet, no one was gonna argue with that statement. Joseph would applaud me for being so quick on my toes.

  “Hey, sorry, man,” they all said.

  “It’s alright. No big deal, man. Just my way of honoring her.”

  They nodded. They seemed apologetic.

  “Even in the shower?” Rachel said and winked, as she came over to our little group. Others had gathered to catch up after a long run around the track. Eric wrinkled his nose and dashed away, hoping to avoid her.

  The coach’s whistle was going off as he instructed the other students back onto the track. It was the second team of students to head out. Eric joined them.

  I got a vibe from them almost immediately that it seemed they tolerated Rachel because she was popular. Jeff was the only one who laughed when she made the shower comment.

  “Yeah, even then,” I said. “It’s water resistant...”

  She was very close as she whispered, “So, I got the little note you left in my locker this morning. Of course, I’ll go out with you.”

  I bit my lip.

  “Wait, what?” My confusion was evident from my tone, but I was sure the shocked look on my face made it even more clear that I wasn’t following.

  “Come on, John. You know you don’t have to be shy.”

  “Sorry, Rachel, whatever you think I did. I didn’t.”

  She held the note up and I snatched it. It read in part: I didn’t know how to approach you after the other day, or what to say, but I can’t stop thinking about you. And I wanted to ask you if you would like to go out this weekend with me. I want to see you. Please take a chance. I promise, I’ll make it fun. John.

  It was in my handwriting, but it was not meant for her.

  “Don’t tell me you didn’t write this?”

  Someone had torn Claudia’s name off the top portion of the note. It was meant for her, I had put it in her locker just before I headed to class. Joseph had caught me in the hall after. He’d asked me what I was up to? Shit! He didn’t… He wouldn’t… Would he?

  Claudia was exercising with her class. The current was flowing from her so lovely. Her heart fluttered when she caught me in the distance looking in her direction. I smiled back at her. She turned her eyes away and pushed me back with her mind.

  Claudia, I whispered. She could hear me, her gaze assured me.

  The light push from her delighted me. It was something, a move, an acknowledgment.

  Talk to me please, I said again.

  I don’t talk to people who lie to me. Another push.

  I smiled, rewarded by her connection. Even though it hurt my ego a little.

  I didn’t lie to you. I should have mention everything, though. It just wasn’t my plan to... I like you, Claudia. A lot. Please talk to me. I’m not going away.

  Rachel came to block my view. She handed me a piece of paper.

  And I’m not buying any of it.

  “What’s this?” I asked her.

  “My address.”

  Come on, Claudia?

  “Girls!” The teacher called for the class from behind. Rachel’s classmates were heading back into the gym.

  Claudia’s class began running the track. Claudia moved with the rest of the girls onto the path. She barely glanced in my direction, even as I repeatedly called her name in my mind.

  Claudia!

  Jeff looked over at me, the coach was calling for us to head back in.

  “Don’t do it, John,” he warned.

  I flashed him a huge smiled. “I’ll be back.”

  George cheered me on.

  I took off like a hunter after his prey. I was on her heels just like I had been in the stairwell. Within seconds, I was coming behind her. Her classmates were passing her by. I jogged alongside her. She didn’t see me at first. When she caught sight of me, she moved faster.

  “You know you can’t outrun me, Miss Belle,” I joked with a chuckle.

  “How do you not realize I don’t want to talk to you?” she said.

  “Look,” I said jogging right alongside her, “I don’t know what my uncle said.”

  She glared over at me.

  “Joseph,” I corrected myself. “But it’s not how I feel…and it’s not who I am. I like you.” Ahead, the girls continued passing us.

  She stopped and faced me. “Joseph made it very clear what you are.”

  “Do you believe that? Look at me and tell me you believe it. You know me, Cla
udia. You can see that in me. I can’t hide that from you.”

  She glanced at the watch.

  I moved the dial. “Now you can see it. Whatever Joseph told you, you have to know that none of it’s real.”

  She did it. The current connected us. It sent chills up my neck; it was overwhelming. I missed this.

  “You know there’s something between us. Something we can’t deny.”

  She was trembling.

  “Why are you scared?” I asked.

  “I don’t know if we should do anything, you and me.” she whispered. I cupped her cheek. A sensation raced up my hand from her.

  “Why do you want me when you can have someone like Rachel?” she boldly asked. There was no doubt she had seen me with her.

  “I don’t want her…” I gazed at her. I wanted to kiss her, but I just couldn’t take such a dare so soon. The pupils of my eyes were dancing when her gaze flew upon me and those brown eyes sparkled so strangely that if I hadn’t been looking right at them I wouldn’t have noticed their beauty.

  “What about Joseph? I don’t want to come between you two or get you in trouble.”

  I grinned. She blushed. I felt her energy pulsing again; it was incredible.

  “Joseph does what I tell him.”

  “What?”

  “I’m his boss.”

  She looked confused. Yeah, it was strange, a man as big as Joseph being told what to do by a 17-year-old teenager.

  “He stepped completely out of line in saying anything to you.” I caressed her face, the current between us vibrated, and made me exhale slowly. “Claudia, give me a chance to prove how much I care about you. To prove that you can trust me.”

  The teacher called from behind; our time was up. She pulled away from me. I took a hold of her hand.

  “Think about it…Please.”

  “I have to go,” she simply said.

  I absorbed her one last time as her fingers slowly slipped away unlocking us from an electrifying embrace.

  19

  The Thing In The Darkness

  After watching lovely Miss Belle escape me yet again, I returned to the locker room, dressed, and joined the other students on their way to the cafeteria.