Subj: Charade: Chapter 11
Date: 11/9/01 2:39:08 PM Central Standard Time
From: Nicole

December 7, 2008, Collinwood, 1:15 PM-Normal Time

“Children,” muttered Gwynneth beneath her breath. She sat by the fireplace watching them play. Gwynneth was more than welcome to join but she was not in the mood. Jason seemed to be the ringleader and as the oldest, deserved the right to be. She liked Jason and he respected her. It was a good relationship. Next to him stood Meredith, Angelique’s daughter. Gwynneth knew that the girl would be a knock out by fifteen. She was already a darling girl, all bright honey blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a lovely smile. She already had one adherent in Gwynneth’s twin. William sat off to the side staring at her, his mouth set in an awkward smile and his posture fixed in an obscenely stiff position so that he could see her better. The poor child looked as if he had never seen a lovely girl before. It was the perfect mixture of pathetic and cute. William Collins, the child pragmatist and believer in all things tangible, had fallen for Meredith. Gwynneth knew he wanted to walk up to her but she knew that he would not because he afraid that he would louse up his first impression. She did not think he could not fail too badly–he was Quentin’s son. Some of that smoothness had to have been passed on to one of his spawn.

Gwynneth slyly stalked over to William and whispered, “Talk to her.”

“Talk to who?”

“Um . . . how about Meredith?”

William looked up at her slowly, careful so that his glasses would not slip too far up his nose. He looked angry. He obviously did not like Gwynneth peaking into his life. He probably did not realize that he had made himself such an easy target. “I don’t think I have anything to talk to her about,” he murmured angrily.

“Well, what do you feel when you’re around her?”

“Nothing special. She feels like everyone else.”

“Please! Now I know that you’re lying. Her mother is a very powerful witch. You always comment on how weird Angelique’s power feels to you. And now you’re going to sit here and tell me that her daughter doesn’t even have a trace of that glimmer?”

“Okay!” he growled quietly. “I can feel something from her. It’s interesting. I kinda like it.”

Gwynneth smiled. She always liked being able to cull information from others without prowling through their minds first. “That can’t be all,” she cooed. “You can’t tell me that you don’t find Miss Meredith just the teensy bit attractive.”

“I think she’s cute. That’s all. Can’t I think a girl cute?”

“Well, what if she thinks you’re cute?”

“She doesn’t,” sighed William as he laid his chin on his up turned palms. “Why would she think something as stupid as that?”

“Since when have you decided to dwell in self-loathing?”

“I live in self-loathing. Get over it. I’ll always be LITTLE kid and I’ll always be the weak one. No one will ever think twice about me. I’ll be the one who does their Calculus homework while . . . I don’t know . . . Griffin drives them around in some big car.”

Gwynneth could only nod. William was right about Griffin. He would end up being one of those buff, masculine men with the world on his shoulders and nary a clue in his head. She did not like him and yet he posed an interesting question in existing: how can someone be the spawn of a powerful witch and not have inherited any of that power? Anyone who had the ability to feel such things always commented on how psychically weak Griffin felt. It freaked Gwynneth out. Any time he would stumble into a room, she would hide behind the nearest parent, godparent, or inanimate object in the hopes that he would not notice her. She was always disappointed by how many times he did. “Well, Griffin can’t hit on his sister...that’s just sick. What would be the harm in you flirting a LITTLE...you know, greasing the wheels for a time when it’ll actually matter?”

“What if she slaps me and tells her mom?”

“Then our mom will get you out of trouble,” insisted Gwynneth. “Come on, what would mom tell you to do?”

“Flirt,” whispered William.

“And what would dad tell you to do?”

“Flirt with feeling.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“Flirt and be rejected.”

“Okay...that’s a start.”

William scowled as he rose to his feet. He emitted a half hearted sigh and let his face relax, erasing every trace of the frown that had marred his features moments before. “How do I look?”

“Like a five year old on a mission.”

“That doesn’t help! Is there something wrong with me to think her cute now? I am five.”

“We all have crushes, Will. It’s just a phase,” explained Gwynneth.

“Then who do you like?”

“None of your business. Now go up to her before you lose your nerve.”

William sighed and walked toward Meredith. The girl looked up hopefully, her bright eyes glazed over with something that Gwynneth did not understand. “Yes,” she whispered.

William seemed taken aback. He obviously did not expect Meredith show any sort of interest. “Um...hi,” he muttered sheepishly. “I...um...I’d like to...um...well...”

“Yes?”

William glanced back over his shoulder to Gwynneth. She smiled and silently urged him to go on. “Well, I...um...I’d like to talk. Yeah, I’d like to talk with you for awhile.”

“Talk about what?” Everyone looked up to see Griffin standing in the drawing room doorway. He looked angry, looked as if someone was in trouble. He walked up to William and asked, “What do you want to talk to Meredith about?”

“Um...I just wanted to talk,” said William, his voice losing confidence by the second. “Is there any crime in talking?”

“Well, when it comes to you guys, it can be. I know what your family is like. I know what you come from. Talk never leads to anything good with your kind of people.”

“And I don’t mean any harm,” whispered William.

Griffin sneered and shoved William. The boy swayed a bit but remained on his feet. Griffin attempted to shove him again, but William moved to the side. “Afraid I’ll hurt you, sissy boy.”

Gwynneth felt helpless as she watched from the side. Who was Griffin to judge? He was just as sullied by his origins as she and her brother were by theirs. What right did he have to take the “high” road? But his motivations did not matter. Gwynneth could see that his ravings were bothering her brother. William never remained motivated for long periods of time. That brat was ruining the progress she had made on her twin. She could only watch for so long. Gwynneth casually moved from her post and began to approach the disgruntle trio. Jason jumped in her way and pulled her to the side. “Don’t mess with him,” he whispered.

“He’s messing with Will and that’s really bothering me,” insisted Gwynneth. “Why shouldn’t I mess with him?”

“What will happen to all of us if you hurt him? I don’t want to be in trouble with Angelique.”

“I doubt she’d take anything out on you. Besides, if she wanted to, I’d make sure to defend you and say that you did all you could to stop me but that I overpowered you.”

“Oh yeah, like being overpowered by a five year old girl will sound any better?”

“But I’m a five year old girl who can discover your deepest fears by peaking inside your head. I’m not fun to mess with.”

“True.” Jason glanced around the room and then whispered, “You know he has to get the snot beat out of him out school. He’s a strong kid but he’s hiding something.”

“That’s what I intend to find out. Do you support me?”

“He’s a bully. He’d hurt Will if you let him. Hmm...have some fun, Gwyn. Angelique has money. She can pay for the boy’s rehab later.”

Gwynneth smiled as Jason let go her arm. She kissed his cheek and trod off toward the trio. She knew that Jason was still afraid of getting into trouble. His fear had leapt off of his skin when she kissed him. She would start off slow for his sake, but if Griffin started to fight back, she would drill into his mind without any care of the consequences. He would hurt her twin–the other side of her soul–if he had the chance. He had to learn that by messing with one, he had picked a fight with the other one.

Gwynneth walked up the trio and stood silently to access the damage. William obviously had been bothered. She could feel that he had retracted his aura, that he had gone into spiritual hibernation. William often hid inside himself when things refused to move his way. Gwynneth had worked hard to help him kick this habit. Now a baying bully stood in the way between her brother’s mental health and total isolation. Meredith tried her best to peel her brother off of William, but she failed at each juncture. Meredith was an innocent; it would take someone a bit more ambitious to do the job. Gwynneth tapped the yelling Griffin on the shoulder and calmly said, “Chill out. He was only talking to her. He can’t hurt her.”

“A likely story. I know the way you people work. You’re all liars and manipulators. I won’t have my sister be a party to that.”

“Hold up, Griffin. You’re not from the best of worlds either. How dare you jump down Will’s throat for talking to your sister! He did nothing wrong.”

“Then why doesn’t he defend himself?” asked Griffin evilly.

“I was trying!” screamed William. “You’re a loud idiot and you don’t listen to a word anyone says. You need to back away and let us be. We were all fine before you came in. Go back to where you came from.”

Griffin reared back as if he would hit William. To Gwynneth surprise, William did not move. He just stared at the older boy until he back down. Gwynneth took this moment to act. She reached out and touched Griffin on the arm. He pulled away from her as if she had burned him. He had acted too slowly, however; she had already peaked inside. She had seen his frustration, his inability to get along with others, and she had seen the way they older boys teased him. For a moment, she felt sorry for Griffin, but that moment passed like lightning. She had seen his weakness and she was ready to pick at it until he left. “Too bad there’s not a trash can around,” she whispered.

“Wh...what are you ta...talking about,” stammered Griffin, his eyes growing wide with a fear of recognition.

“Well, isn’t that what they do to you? They’d sure get you all ruined for the day.”

“And who are they?” asked William.

“The older boys at school: the ones whose mothers don’t care if they get in trouble or not and whose fathers encourage it. There are a few at every school. I know I’ve scared the girls at my school and I think Will has the boys scared after the little incident at the parent-teacher conference. We don’t fear them. But our friend Griffin, he’s scared to death. Take a peak, Will. See for yourself.”

William seemed to hesitate but he eventually stepped forward. Griffin tried to move away, but William was able to brush his fingers against his arm. William was much more powerful than Gwynneth; all he needed was that one touch to see inside his head. From the look on William’s face, she knew that he had seen what she had. At that moment, she felt him begin to open up again. He wanted to find out more. “Tsk, tsk,” he murmured sweetly. “It’s a shame that you turned you in face first. I take it that wasn’t the first time it happened?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” insisted Griffin. The boy backed away, his face showing his emerging fear as he moved into a corner.

“Uh-huh,” murmured Gwynneth as she walked to William’s side. At this point, they had Griffin surrounded. “A likely story.”

“I swear.”

“You lie.” William walked closer and grabbed Griffin’s wrist. He maintained a tight grip as he looked up into the boy’s frightened blue eyes. “I can feel your fear on your flesh. I can almost taste it; it’s kinda of sour/sweet, like a piece of rotten fruit. But that doesn’t tell you anything. I see what happened to you like it’s on a screen. It’s no secret to me. I know that they’ve done this to you since first grade. The first time was in the spring.”

“How did you know that?”

“Because that’s what happened. You can’t stop thinking about it and that only makes it clearer for me to see.” William seemed to be repressing laughter as he walked up even closer to Griffin, gripping the other wrist as he moved in. “You can’t stop thinking about how easily those boys had been able to lift you up and put you inside. It had been just after lunch so you were covered in the days mess. Must’ve been bad...I suppose.”

Griffin seemed to melt in Williams hands. He slid to the floor, but his eyes remained set on William’s. Gwynneth peaked around to see that William’s eyes had changed from their normal brown/black to a solid pupil-less void. She had never seen him take any situation this far. After the first touch, he did not have to lay another finger on Griffin to see the boys thoughts because the initial touch created the bond. Why was he bothering too now? She touched William’s arm and said, “I think you better let him go.”

“Why?” he asked. “We’re just having a little fun, aren’t we? I mean, you get to push me around and talk like you’re the big bad boy just because I’m not your size, right? Why can’t I let my strength show through. I think it’s perfectly fair, don’t you Griffin?”

Griffin nodded. His face looked worn, tired. Gwynneth thought he was going to cry. “Just let me go.”

William seemed to think about for a moment before leaning into Griffin’s face. “Remember, I know that you wet your pants every time you smell violets. Wasn’t it violets they tossed on top of you?” Griffin closed his eyes and nodded. “And now we all know.” William released his wrists and said, “You can go but I don’t want to see you for the rest of the day. Understood?”

Griffin did not bother to answer. He jumped to his feet and ran from the room. William waited until he left to slip to the floor. He sat with his head in hands, whimper words that Gwynneth could not understand. When he looked back up, his usually pallid face had turned red with heat and his eyes had reverted back to their usual color. Gwynneth knelt beside him and hugged him. “You okay?”

“I’m as well as to be expected.”

“Good.” Gwynneth looked at him, scanning his features for any sign of distress. The red had nearly vanished from his face. He seemed to be grinning. William usually hated showing any sign of force. What had changed? “Are you sure that you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.” William laid his head on her shoulder and said, “I’ve never done that before. You know, your ability to see is much stronger if you just hold onto them. I think I was able to focus better, too.”

“You were angry,” sighed Gwynneth. “That’s why you focused so well.” She looked up to see Jason and Meredith staring at them. “The show’s over, folks.”

“That was wicked,” whispered Jason. “I didn’t think you could do that. I always thought that Gwyn was the strong one.”

“She is. I just had a burst of...I don’t know...inspiration? It’s not something I want to repeat.” William shyly looked over to Meredith and whispered, “I’m sorry. I guess I just get carried away sometimes.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said. “He wasn’t being nice to you. You protected yourself...in a way. He won’t mess with you again.”

Gwynneth watched the way she answered. If she did not know better, she would say Meredith had been impressed by the display. He had mildly tortured her brother and she was impressed! That was either a good sign or a bad one; Gwynneth could not analyze the girl and she knew that only time would tell what effect this had on her. ‘So much for first impressions, Will!’ she thought.

They all turned towards the doors to see Kelene standing in the doorway. Behind her denim clad legs hid Griffin. “Um...can you guys tell me what happened?” she asked.

“Nothing, Keelie,” sang Gwynneth. “Griffin just couldn’t play with us.”

Kelene frowned and focused her attention on William. “I know you won’t lie to me. Tell me, is that true?”

“Honest, Keelie.” William turned to face Griffin as he said, “Don’t you love violets, Keelie? I kinda thought they were your favorites but I just wasn’t sure.”

Griffin whimpered and ran away. Kelene looked back at him and sighed. “Oh God,” she murmured, “Angelique will be so pissed.”

Gwynneth glanced at William. For the first time, she noticed a bit of her father’s smile creeping into William’s. For some reason, it made William seem more devious, less the innocent that everyone thought he was. She wondered if he had enjoyed his show of power, but, for one of the first times in her life, she did not care to find out. This was one mystery she would gladly live with.

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.