A prisoner in my own mind

Sydney Moya

© 2016

All rights reserved

Synopsis

Ashley touches an alien artifact one day and an alien invades his body with incredible results.

Chapter 7

An uneasy truce existed between Jav and Ashley. Ashley wanted his body back but knew it was impossible at the moment. So he watched what Jav was doing instead. Jav wouldn’t put him under anymore so long as he kept the peace.

Ashley realised what an impossible situation he was in. He had no way of dislodging the usurper from his body and he figured getting mad wasn’t going to help things. He decided that he would watch and wait and maybe he’d be able to wrest control back. Of course Jav knew exactly what he was thinking but felt so secure in his abilities that he didn’t bother worrying about Ashley ever regaining control.

Instead Jav focused on settling into human society, primarily at her new school and further developing the human brain that she’d stolen. She started working on her powers of telekinesis that same evening after getting home from Marco’s.

Ashley was flabbergasted when he saw Jav’s clothes float towards them as she prepared for bed.

He couldn’t help asking.

“How are you doing that?”

Jav showed him a series of symbols that were gibberish to Ashley.

“I don’t get it,” said Ashley.

“I suppose you wouldn’t,” Jav answered, “I have accelerated your neuron activity. By doing this your mind’s magnetic resonance is amplified and as a result I can pull objects towards or away from me.”

Ashley was suitably cowed by this and didn’t know what to say. He went to sleep quite disturbed.

Jav had earmarked Lesley as a friend and after discovering they were in the same classes she glued herself to him. This didn’t go unnoticed by some of the others students.

The next day at school a couple of girls approached her as she left her Further Maths lesson.

“Hi,” the taller of the two girls, a slinky blond began, “who is your new friend Lesley?”

“Hi Marie, Rachel,” replied Leslie, “this is Ashley,” he said.

“Hi,” Jav remarked smiling.

Jav scanned both girls, all she could see was curiosity about the new girl. Both of them wondered why she was hanging out with Leslie.

“So you’re new,” said the slinky blond known as Rachel.

“Yeah,” replied Jav.

"Where are you from?" Marie asked.

Marie was much darker and shorter but quite pretty too.

"I'm from Stepney," said Jav confidently.

"What are you taking?" Rachel queried.

"Further Maths, Physics, Biology and Chemistry," Jav answered.

The girls looked a bit impressed.

"Really why?" Rachel wondered.

"I want to be a scientist," said Jav slowly.

"But you're so pretty," Marie blurted out before covering her mouth with her hand.

Jav shrugged, "Thanks but are you saying being beautiful isn't compatible with being a scientist?"

Rachel took over, "No its just unusual, that's all. Welcome to Rydings," she said offering her hand.

"Thank you," said Jav warmly before turning to go for her next lesson.

"See you at lunch then," Marie offered.

"Sure,'' said Jav eyeing Lesley who nodded.

The two of them headed to their next class.

"Why are you hanging out with me anyway, that’s what they really want to know, you know," Lesley offered.

"I don't know, do you give your friends interviews for the job?" Jav responded.

Lesley looked wondering if she was taking the piss but her smiling eyes indicated otherwise.

He chuckled, "No it’s just that I'm a bit of a nerd and well you heard them, you don't look like one," he pointed out.

"Well don't judge a book by its cover, I'm a nerd too, and you're alright," Jav replied.

Hockey practice was interesting to say the least.

The girls trying out for the first time were asked to dribble a ball about some cones. Jav started off gingerly and there was a fair bit of giggling at her lacklustre efforts.

'One less hopeful then,' she heard the coach think, 'no basic skills.'

Jav had a bit of an ego however. The thought of being written off so easily wasn't particularly appealing. So she used Ashley's memories and fair bit of telekinesis to keep the ball glued to her stick as she navigated the cones, dramatically increasing her speed before she reached the middle of the cone forest.

Her return journey was quite impressive and the giggling had stopped replaced by low murmurs.

'It's like the balls glued to her stick,' one girl thought.

A five on five game followed. During the 5v5 game no one could get the ball off her. Whether it was Ashley's skills or Jav's telekinesis that made this possible was not easily discovered. Only the end result mattered, a three nil victory for Jav’s goal with her scoring a brace and setting up the other after a crucial interception.

A scan of the coaches mind revealed that she’d revised her team list with Jav’s name now featuring near the top.

Weeks passed by, Jav had made the 1st team in hockey. She was doing very well in school, averaging A*'s in all her classes. On the sports fields she was wreaking havoc with her insane hockey skills. Jav had mastered the use her powers and Ashley's skills in order not to look too extraordinary. However her team was unbeaten in its league thanks to those mad skills. She'd made a bunch of friends too; Leslie, Rachel and Marie were always by her side on most days. With the last two she learnt all the intricacies of girlhood she hadn't already picked up from the internet.

They were quite fascinating specimens of young humanity, just being around them gave Jav immense pleasure. They had the most absurd ideas about how to carry oneself in their little society but more often than not they turned out right. It made Jav think of his own youth eons ago.

Ashley found it all too boring, he couldn't stand it most of the time and he diverted himself by trying to figure out where he stood in his mind. It was nigh on impossible because Jav completely controlled everything. All he could do in essence was wait for a moment of weakness. He had no intention of giving up but he knew he couldn’t fight Jav and win. All he could do was watch and wait.

However even he could see that Lesley was troubled, it was patently clear to them that he wasn't happy being male, as they could hear his thoughts. Being around the girls was pushing him over the edge and he felt bad for him.

Just the other day he had wondered about ending everything.

"You have to help him," Ashley remarked.

"I thought you didn’t want me interfering or reading people's minds."

"I don't but when have you ever listened to me," Ashley pointed out.

Jav said nothing.

"Look we can't let him kill himself,"

"Survival of the fittest," Jav remarked.

"That's bull and you know it. You like Lesley once he dies that’s that. It would also look bad that he killed himself after you came into the picture. People will think you jilted him or something," said Ashley desperately.

"I suppose you have a point," Jav remarked.

Jav certainly didn’t want to have that following her around and though he wasn’t prepared to admit it Lesley had made quite an impression on him. He was a special somebody and she didn’t want to lose him over something that could be easily fixed.

Later that evening Jav went to the school lab and mixed up a complicated concoction that would essentially reprogram Leslie's chromosomes. When it was ready Jav poured it into a thermos and went home.

She placed it in her drawer and fell asleep.

Later that night Reagan tiptoed into her siblings room and after making sure Jav was asleep she started going through her things. It was now a regular habit of hers to trawl her sister's room. She didn’t know what drove her to do it but or some reason she was suspicious of Ashley and this instinct had to be obeyed.

When she was done with the school bag she turned to the drawers. After rummaging through the first two she struck pay dirt on the third. There was a thermos shoved amongst some socks.

Her curiosity immediately piqued. She wondered what Ashley was hiding. Was she a drinker, her school was notorious for the way its students partied, maybe this was a chance to get Miss Goody Goody into trouble.

She opened the thermos, sniffed it. It didn’t smell like alcohol. Maybe it was a science project but why would it be hidden in a sock drawer. She lifted the container to take a sip.

To be continued