by Rocco Ryg
Gen curled his lip. He knew he would regret that the moment he said it. Renka felt his guilt combined with embarrassment, both for himself and for her. Gen sighed and admitted, “Yes. She mind-controlled me into taking her to dinner, and she started asking about our date. I had to get her to stop, or she would have made me admit everything that happened Saturday. She would’ve known that you feel people’s emotions, I control darkness, Chikara-san’s ring did this to us, and worst of all, I destroyed that jet. It was all I could think of. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t risk it.”
Renka didn’t feel the sting in her brain, indicating his honesty. Even so, her anger peeked to heights she had never felt before. Gen could feel her raw rage pouring into his mind. “Is that... your anger?”
“Yes, Gen-kun, I’m angry. Not at you… at her. She’s been screwing with me for ten years and now she’s taking my boyfriend on a date, asking you all about me and telling the whole school I’m a slut. I am sick of it! I’m going to face her right now.”
“But wait, she’s going to... boyfriend?”
Renka froze just as she reached the door. She cursed her anger for making her reveal the ultimate Freudian slip. “Yes, Gen-kun, I like you. I know you like me too. I feel it whenever you’re around me. You want to say it, but you’re nervous.”
The two teens took a moment to look at each other and contemplate this revelation. Gen felt Renka’s feelings invading his mind against her wishes. He sent one back to her against his own.
“You’re glad... you’re glad it’s out in the open.” Renka lit up as her anger turned to relieved happiness.
“Not just that,” replied Gen. “I’m glad you’re ready to stick up for yourself and not be a pushover.” He walked up to her and smiled. She smiled back, still a bit nervous but happy to be acknowledged. Gen’s feelings flowed into Renka and her feelings flowed into him, forcing them to embrace and stare deep into each others’ eyes. Gen moved his lips toward hers.
Renka pushed him away. “No. Not now.”
“Why not?”
“I want to stay angry.”
Gen laughed, letting Renka know that he was proud of her. “Go get her.” Renka headed to the cafeteria and prepared to settle the score.
***
Michiko couldn’t stop thinking about the upcoming prom. She wondered what kind of dress she would wear and how she would look with the crown on her head. She told her friends, “I can’t decide. Should we get a limo? Reserve a table all to ourselves? Oh, it’s going to be so much fun.”
Chisato also looked forward to the event. “We should do everything. Maybe you can use that extra money you got from...” She stopped midsentence, not wanting to remind Michiko about her father again.
Yukiko looked away before saying, “You know, I’ve been thinking about something. Do you have a passport?” Michiko shook her head. “Because I always wanted to visit New York City. If you get a passport, maybe we can all go together. We can see a Broadway show... visit the zoo... you know, before we all go to college.”
Chisato noticed Yukiko’s hands twitching and saw the uncertain look in her eyes. She asked, “Yukiko, doesn’t your family have money problems? How can you afford to go all the way to New York?”
The nervous Yukiko stuttered out her answer. “I’ve been saving my money from work, so... I think I have enough.” Chisato could tell her friend felt tense about something... probably just senioritis.
Michiko, too full of herself to notice such things, took to the idea. “That sounds great. I’d love to see New York. I’ll get that passport tomorrow after school.” The relieved Yukiko sighed.
The arrival of an angry presence interrupted Michiko’s thoughts of her bright, shining future. She turned around to see Kusaka Renka standing over her casting a bitter, accusing stare. Michiko tried to keep a straight face to appear in control, unaware that Renka could feel her discomfort. Renka spoke to her for the first time in years. “Mi-chan...”
“Ren-chan... how’s Gen-kun?”
“Fine. What the hell are you doing spreading rumors about me?”
The confrontation attracted the eyes of the other students, who wondered why they felt so mad. Michiko stood up and asked, “What are you talking about?”
Renka felt the sting of deception in her mind. “You’re lying. You told everyone about me and Gen-kun, except it’s not true. He lied to you to see how gullible you are.” Renka felt her opponent’s annoyance and promised to turn it into guilt.
“Then what’s he doing dating me in the first place? He must not like you as well as you think.”
She felt her head sting again. “I don’t need to control a guy to get him to like me. I actually care about others, not just myself... unlike you, you mean little bitch.”
“Excuse me?”
Renka felt the anger radiating from Michiko, as well as the interest of the onlookers. You don’t want to control me. You can handle this yourself. She sent the thought into her enemy’s mind along with feelings of pride and arrogance, ensuring her safety from her opponent’s unwanted commands.
Michiko felt a surge of pride. “I don’t need to control you. You’re so nice and cuddly with everyone… you can’t hurt a damn fly.”
“I think you’re jealous of me. I have everything you want and you can’t stand it.”
Her anger at its peak, Michiko shouted, “I don’t need what you have, Kusaka. When I become Prom Queen, I’ll have everything I want, and I won’t need you!”
“You want to be Prom Queen? Nobody’s going to vote for you because the whole school hates you! Just like your father did!”
The fight died. The speechless girl looked back at Renka, whose anger changed to pain. She suddenly felt alone, exposed and humiliated worse than she ever had before. Before she could go any further, Michiko grabbed her purse and calmly walked out of the cafeteria, the entire room staring in disbelief. Michiko’s friends ran after her as the students chatted amongst themselves, offering their own commentary. Renka made a hasty exit.
***
When she reached the locker room shower stall, Michiko curled into a ball and burst into tears. Chisato and Yukiko held onto her in a futile attempt at comfort. “Screw her. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” said Yukiko. “All the guys like you, not her.”
Chisato said, “You didn’t deserve that. Don’t worry about it.”
Michiko knew better. She spread that rumor around the school out of petty spite, and now it had returned to bite her back. She didn’t expect mild-mannered Renka to explode like that, and she definitely didn’t expect her to know about her father.
“How did she know? Did you tell her?” She had only told her two cohorts about Chillingworth, making them the prime suspects. They denied saying a word about it. “She’s spying on me. She must have found some way. She’s a stalker.”
Yukiko hugged her. “It’s okay. She’s nothing. You’re going to run for Prom Queen, and you’re going to win. Then you’ll show her. Then we’ll go to New York together, all three of us, and laugh about it.”
Michiko could only laugh at the thought. Her inevitable victory would be the ultimate revenge against Kusaka Renka. She let go of Yukiko and covered her frown with a smile. “You’re right. I will win, and she’ll regret this. Let’s get back to class.” The three girls got up and left the locker room, eager to work towards their new mission.
With ten minutes left until class, Renka returned to the roof in a depressed state. Only Chikara remained, the others already back in their classrooms. “So, how did it go?”
“I yelled at her, so she walked away.”
“That’s it? That’s all it took?”
“I... told her some other things too.”
“Like what?”
“I kind of said her father hated her.”
“What? You said that out loud?”
“Yeah...”
Chikara saw the guilt on her friend’s face. “How do you feel?”
“Terrible. Whe
n I felt it, she just... suffered. It felt like agony. I didn’t want to hurt her that much.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m actually kind of impressed you pulled it off.”
The girls headed back to class. Renka clenched her fists with renewed anger. “I just hate her so much. She wants to be the Prom Queen, and with her gift she can control everyone into voting for her. It’s not fair. I hope… I hope a demon flies down and takes her away.”
Chikara scoffed. “Who cares? Prom’s just some American invention for spoiled teenagers anyway.”
“She doesn’t deserve that crown. It’s injustice. Somebody should... I can do it!”
“What?”
“That’s right! With my powers, I can compete against her and take the crown myself. It will be the ultimate payback. Chi, do you support me?”
Chikara could only stare in bewilderment. “You want to use the supernatural gift my mother gave you to manipulate people’s emotions so they’ll vote for you to be Prom Queen?”
“Why not? It’s just some American invention for spoiled teenagers anyway. Besides, my competition won’t be playing fair.”
Chikara smiled and surrendered. She put her hand on Renka’s shoulder and said, “No one’s more qualified than you. Come on, let’s get back to class.” Renka strolled down the halls with a newfound confidence. Chikara, however, couldn’t help but feel that this was a bad idea.
Before the next class started, Renka was opening her notebook when the familiar sensation of hate entered the room. She didn’t even look at Michiko or her friends as they walked to their desks in the back. She concentrated on their minds and felt their projected contempt. Michiko still felt humiliated and angry, not just at Renka, but at herself for causing the object of her hatred to lash back. Chisato worried about her friend, and thought about ways to cheer her up.
Yukiko, however, seemed to show signs of fear and guilt. Focusing only on her, Renka felt a shiver of fright at the thought of being exposed and her loved ones hating her if they ever found out. Renka wondered what the henchman was hiding that frightened her so much.
The day ended without further incident. Renka talked to her friends and announced her candidacy for Prom Queen. They promised to tell all of their friends and help in any way they could. Likewise, Michiko kept an eye out for any popular students she passed in the hall. With a simple suggestion, the students pledged their votes.
***
That evening, with no club meeting to attend, Gen took a trip to the library in hopes of learning more about Maxwell Chillingworth. In the International Relations section, he found a few books from diplomats and ambassadors who mentioned the charismatic American. They said he made an excellent impression with everyone he met and could convince any diplomat that his ideas were also in their best interests. He served under Democrats and Republicans alike as ambassador to both Japan and the United Nations, and used his genius to sway the UN Security Council his way.
Gen knew that such a feat required true talent. The UN is not a democracy. The only countries that matter are the winners of World War II... The United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia, the permanent members of the Security Council. If any one of these five countries objects to a binding decision, it dies. It would take a skilled negotiator to convince these clashing nations to support a controversial action, and Chillingworth looked to be that man. He was patient, calculating, brilliant and persuasive... a politician born. If cancer didn’t cut his life short, he could’ve been president.
After reading what the UN ambassador from China had to say about Chillingworth, Gen opened the autobiography of the UN ambassador from Russia. He made the same claims about the man, but also mentioned his amazing talent at Chess. Chillingworth would often challenge potential allies to the game, and he would beat them in moments with little effort. The Russian ambassador wrote of their game, where the American sacrificed his queen on his third move for no reason, but won the game anyway. The Russian later realized it to be a show of fearlessness. When he asked how his opponent learned to play so well, Chillingworth simply replied, “Just a special gift, I guess.”
Finding little of value in the books, Gen focused his attention on the missing link between Chillingworth and Chikara’s mother. He reserved a computer and hit every search engine he could find, entering words such as “Chillingworth”, “Maxwell”, “Akasha”, “Kaminari”, “Mika” and “ring”. Nothing clicked. He closed his eyes and thought of everything he knew about the two subjects. They both passed power-granting rings on to their children. One could see the future, the other seemed to have great talent in calculation. They were both successful, one in diplomacy, the other in investments...
With that thought, he remembered something Chikara told him the day she presented the ring. “My mother was very wise. She was the best investor in town, and she even went to Africa to help starving children.” Apparently, Mika and Maxwell both had an interest in international relations. He entered “Akasha” and “Africa” into the search engine, but once again found nothing important. He then entered “Chillingworth” and “Africa”. Twelve searches in, something of interest caught his eye. An American website that documented supernatural occurrences had an article called “Attack on Sierra Leone UN camp: Guerillas or Aliens?” Gen clicked the link and read the bizarre story.
“On the morning of February 3th, 1985, a group of United Nations volunteers were extracted from their village in Sierra Leone. The team, part of an international program directed towards hunger relief in third-world nations, had called in for help the night before, warning of an attack by a band of militants from the Sierra Leone United Militia. When the rescue team arrived, the strange, chaotic scene left doubts of a mere raid.
“Entire huts were thrown all over the village as if a hurricane had passed through. While many villagers and guerillas had been shot, some of the militants died of what appeared to be blunt force trauma to their bodies. Several corpses were found with their limbs and heads severed. A bloody mess of human remains lay in one of the huts as if someone just shattered, while outside another body looked like it had exploded.
“Only six survivors were reported, all with no injuries. They claimed that the militants had fired into the village in search of diamonds, and then followed the villagers into the forest. Further investigation cast doubt on their story, but the survivors claimed ignorance.
“Of the six survivors, two are well-known to the public. Maxwell Chillingworth, heir to the Chillingworth jewelry company, became a successful diplomat and ambassador to the UN, while Rev. Jeremiah Neuhaus founded Focus on the Christian Nation, a powerful and influential religious organization. When questioned about the incident, both men continue to decline comment.
“The case remains unsolved to this day.”
Gen couldn’t believe his luck. Chillingworth involved in a massacre of an African village where strange deaths occurred? He knew he had struck oil. He searched the Internet for any more information on the incident, hoping to find photographs, details and the names of the other survivors. At last, another paranormal website provided a photo of the team. Staring at the picture, he found a familiar face huddled in the crowd. “Jackpot!” The other patrons around him went, “Shhhh,” so the embarrassed teen sat back down and printed the document. When he left the library, he called Chikara and Renka and told them to meet at the Kaminari shrine as soon as possible.
***
“Okay, what did you find?” Chikara figured it had to be important, given Gen’s excited tone on the phone.
“The missing link.” Gen handed her a series of printouts describing the strange incident in Sierra Leone.
“I can’t read English.”
“Oh, I forgot. I found out that a village in the West African country of Sierra Leone was massacred in 1985 by a pre-civil war rebel group.” After conveying the eerie details of the case, he continued, “One article names Maxwell Chillingworth and some right-wing Christian activist named Jeremi
ah Neuhaus as survivors.”
Renka listened to the tragic tale in wide-eyed fascination. “That’s awful. Those poor people... but what was Chillingworth doing there?”
“The articles say he was part of the volunteer group, but I doubt that. Sierra Leone is rich in minerals, especially diamonds and gold. I don’t think the heir to a massive jewelry company would be there just to save the children.”
Chikara could tell that Gen had uncovered something important. The odd circumstances detailed in the story hinted at supernatural events. “This is pretty strange, Gen-san... but what does it have to do with us?”
Having waited for this big reveal all evening, Gen pulled another paper from his backpack. “Didn’t you tell me your mother went to Africa?” Gen handed her the print-out. “Here’s a photograph taken of the group. See anyone familiar?”
Chikara studied the picture and the diverse group of people it portrayed. A few Caucasians stood out from the crowd of gaunt, malnourished Africans who made her feel even worse for the plight of the third-world. Chillingworth stood in front, looking well-groomed and polished. It reminded her of an old Imperial British illustration that made whites look almost angelic and blacks look dirty.
Then she saw what Gen had alluded to. Amidst the crowd, only one Asian could be seen... a young, beautiful woman who looked as morose as the starving people around her. A small tear crawled down her left eye as she finally saw the connection.
“Akasha Mika, in plain view,” said Gen, still proud of his discovery. “She and Chillingworth were in the same place, same time when a whole village died in unnatural ways. They never told a soul, and now their kids get super rings. It all fits.”
Wiping away her tear, Chikara asked, “What do you know about Neuhaus?”
Gen logged on to the internet and brought up a video of a middle-aged man standing on a large church stage. “Rev. Jeremiah Neuhaus, head of the Allied Baptist Megachurch in South Carolina and founder of Focus on the Christian Nation, a think-tank that organizes religious voters and supports Republican candidates. It’s extremely influential. Neuhaus rose to prominence with a massive faith healing operation in his church. People would go on his stage and let him cast out demons or whatever, and he supposedly cured them of their ailments.”