Having scouted the entire school in the hours before the doors unlocked Monday morning, Doctor Mercurial had determined this to be the indoor space she’d be least likely to be seen. The lingering traces of weed and paper ash confirmed that she wasn’t the only one to have had this idea.
There’d been one minor hiccup when she’d encountered a teacher late in the process, but a quick bit of hypnotism convinced him he’d seen nothing strange and should go on about his day.
Now she laid there and passed the time chatting with the voice in her head. Jezebel had become comfortable with being possessed in little time and with basically no effort, which was itself a great sign. She’d been almost completely won over by the experience of consuming a full, satisfying meal, alongside guilty thoughts that Satan was taking better care of her than she ever had.
The sound of footsteps and chatter came from the hall, and as it rose to the constant buzz of a crowd, Merc closed her eyes and rolled to her feet, opening them again to see the backstage door, and stepped out to head to the student parking lot.
Arriving at the parking lot, she was annoyed to not see Stephanie’s car. She’d sent Faline a text telling her to be there early. She sat on a wall and waited.
“Where is she?” Jez worried, having been witness to the text. “Why isn’t she here? Did something happen? Is Satan getting mad?”
It wasn’t directed at Merc: She could hear all of Jez’s thoughts. It wasn’t worth answering, either.
“Did Jesus just- tried to peek up our skirt!” Jez spluttered. “I want to hit him. I don’t want to hit him!”
Merc snickered, uncrossed her legs, and recrossed them the other way. This caught a couple more eyes, and the guy who must have been Jesus gaped, then hurried inside clearly trying to convince himself he hadn’t been caught. Jez tried for the next few minutes to use songs to prevent any other thought.
When Jenny, then Ashley arrived, Jez confirmed their identities. Merc’s lips tightened when the first bell rang. There wouldn’t be enough time before class, now. She hopped down from the wall, and swivelled her hand to summon her phone, sending new instructions to meet her by the theater’s backstage entrance during lunch. “We’ve got a few hours to kill, now,” she thought to her passenger.
“Movie?”
Merc considered the thought as Jezebel’s mind mulled over whether Satan goes to movies. “I wasn’t planning on seeing Jurassic World 2, but we might as well.”
* * *
After a late-night showing of Jurassic World 2 in Sydney, Merc closed her eyes as she stepped into a restroom stall. The fact that the stall was still there when she opened them told her her hiding place at the school was occupied, or at least being directly viewed. An exit and re-entry gave the same result for the far end of the catwalk.
Concerns started to rise in Jez’s mind. “What’s going on? Why are we being weird? Could something be blocking his power?” Not for the first time, Merc regretted keeping her aware. This was whole day was supposed to be much simpler. A third attempt was met by the brush of heavy curtains around her, and she stepped backstage. There was a panicked attempt at silence from the catwalk by a few students alarmed by the sound of boots on the floor.
She checked the green room. At least that was vacant. She didn’t want any witnesses. “Was it just because of them? Humans? Might have been on purpose.”
As she reached for the doorknob, a thought from Jez tripped her up. “Doesn’t feel like he’s in control. He grimaced. I’m right. No. Forgive me, Lord! I don’t know what your powers are. Or aren’t. Sorry! Loooong loooost woooords whisper slowly...” Well, there was nothing for it now but to keep rolling.
He opened the door to find long, blonde hair facing him, crowned by a black cat ear headband. Faline wore a cute, ruffled, white blouse and simple black skirt. “Probably doesn’t own any black tops,” Jez remarked. Her arms were folded, and everyone in front of her was avoiding her gaze uncomfortably.
Merc grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in, closing the door behind them.
Faline also had thick blue eyeliner extending from her lashes to her brows, and about an inch past the ends. At first she looked stunned, looking Merc up and down. “Gossamer?”
“Call me ‘Sam’,” she replied with a level glare.
Faline’s eyes flared up with fury. “What is wrong with you?!” she demanded in a tone that couldn’t decide if she wanted to whisper or shout. “You haven’t been helping nearly as much as you need to! Do you know how long it took to get Stephanie’s parents to let me out of the house?! To say nothing of what it’s like having to deal with her bimbo minions!”
“Are you trying to sabotage yourself?” crossed Jez’s mind.
“That’s your problem.” Faline’s jaw dropped and she started to interrupt but Merc bowled her over. “I gave you what you need, now it’s up to you to follow through, but first!” she raised a hand to cut off a second attempt, swishing it into Faline’s field of view, then holding one finger up. Even to Jezebel, it would look like a simple call for a moment of attention, but that finger and Merc’s words filled her world, pushing everything else aside. “...but first, we need to give Gossamer her chance, and you’re going to help with that.”
Half-dazed, Faline nodded.
Merc made two more swipes as she turned away, and beckoned her to follow.
“That was amazing!” squealed her passenger.
Strolling around the tattered, old couch, she found her vanishing cabinet lying on its back, and coaxed it upright. She gave it a tap to prompt its contents to reappear, then flung it open, revealing the wax circles and even the lamps just how she’d left them.
“Get in,” she instructed, and Faline obeyed. When she turned to face her, the magician raised her hand before the blue-lined eyes, making no attempt to disguise it as she swished it around, ending with a downward stroking motion. “Sleep.” Faline closed her eyes, and bowed her head.
“No need to have her active in here, too,” she remarked mentally as she closed the door and tapped it again.
“Thank you, I think. Is this how you possessed me?”
To answer, Merc opened the door, stepped in, and closed it again. She snapped her fingers, and abruptly found her body relaxed, with head bowed and eyes closed.
She took a deep breath to gather herself, then strode out boldly into the halls. No one who entered the green room would find a vanishing cabinet there.