Unmedicated
Chapter 2
Debbie had hoped to make some progress with her dissertation this evening, but she couldn’t concentrate on it. Not now she’d set her plan in motion and, provided it worked out one way or another, Melanie’s stupid ‘friends’ weren’t going to be around to spoil things any more.
Back when she’d first noticed the pills among Lynn’s stuff and made a note of what the label said they were, she hadn’t had any clear goal in mind. But it was always good to know about other people’s weaknesses in case there was some way to take advantage of them.
And then she’d googled the name of the drug, and discovered a whole rabbit warren of strangeness. Admittedly, some of the people making the more interesting claims were clearly tinfoil hat-wearing ‘alien lizards killed JFK’—type loonies, but enough of the others who also talked about mind powers and cover-ups came across as being quite rational that she couldn’t dismiss what they were saying out of hand.
The more official websites turned up by her search merely stated that the drug was used for ‘curbing certain antisocial tendencies’, which was so vague, the governments had to be hiding something. And maybe that something was indeed the kind of X-Men stuff the conspiracy theorists went on about.
Still, if Lynn did have any special abilities, they couldn’t include much in the way of intelligence or good taste, given that she fancied Ian. It didn’t require any super powers to see that. Well, he was obviously clueless about it, but then he was a man, and couldn’t be expected to understand anything beyond his own wants.
That could be changed, though, if the ‘Higher Evolutionaries’ website was right about the capabilities that the drug was used to suppress. So Debbie had decided to take a chance on swapping out Lynn’s pills for painkillers and then pointing Ian in her direction. If she really did have the sort of abilities listed, they should force him to reciprocate her infatuation, and then he and Lynn would be too busy getting off with each other to interfere with her plans for Mel.
And if the drug was actually an anti-psychotic designed to allow homicidal maniacs to function normally in society, and Lynn went berserk, killed him, and got locked away, no big deal; that would do the trick just as well. There were far too many men around as it was, and they only ever caused harm. They were even to blame for the break-up of her last relationship, Raquel having left her because Debbie’s ‘pathological’ attitude to the stinking brutes ‘scared’ her.
She wouldn’t be without a lover for much longer, though. Especially if there was any truth to the rumours about the effect the drug had on normal people—and it did kind of make sense that it might make anyone who couldn’t broadcast their emotions more receptive to others’ feelings. That would balance things out, right? So she’d just have to slip one of the tablets into a mug of that revolting fancy tea that Mel was always drinking and focus on how much she wanted Mel, and before long her pretty neighbour would finally see the error of her heterosexual ways.
A female moan (the good kind) broke into Debbie’s reverie. The sound of someone (more to the point, some two) getting hot and heavy in the corridor outside her room. The moaning woman made more appreciative noises, and Debbie felt a mixture of desire and jealousy. But then the other half of the couple joined in with the vocal expressions, contributing some distinctly masculine grunts which ruined the mood. Once it became apparent that the noisy couple were in no hurry to move on, Debbie thumped on the wall and yelled, “Piss off!”
The passionate sounds broke off, and she heard lowered voices, still loud enough to carry through the inadequately soundproofed wall, but too quiet for her to be able to make out what was being said. Were they going to leave her in peace, or was she going to have to go out and throw a beakerful of water over them?
Somebody knocked at her door. The couple? A visitor? It couldn’t be Mel: tonight she was safely out of the way.
Another knock. With a sigh Debbie got up from her desk, took the few steps required to cross the room, and yanked the door open. “What?”
It was Lynn. That was disappointing. Looking a bit more dishevelled than usual, but obviously not in a good mood, which was another unpromising sign.
“What have you done with my blockers?”
Crap! How did she find out so soon? “What? I don’t know what you’re going on about.”
Lynn leaned forwards, and Debbie automatically took a step back. “You can’t lie to me. Not now there’s nothing suppressing my capabilities. Besides, which, you’re the only person who could have taken them. You must have switched them for those dummies when I popped out to the loo last night.”
Debbie stepped back again, intending to slam the door in Lynn’s face, but Lynn advanced, putting a foot down right next to the door, blocking it. Maybe she really could read her mind.
Then again, the most plausible-seeming of the web pages she’d checked out only mentioned emotions, not thoughts, so Lynn could just be bluffing. And maybe on the verge of a homicidal frenzy, so pointing her at some other target would be a very smart thing to do.
“Be reasonable, Lynn. If something’s gone from your room since I visited you, it could have been taken by a cleaner. Or someone might have tricked the porter into lending them the master key and got in that way. Sure, it’s a pain when stuff goes missing and you can’t find it, but you shouldn’t just go around accusing your friends like this.”
Lynn’s demeanour changed. Definitely not right in the head. With a creepy smile, she said, “You got part of what you wanted.”
Debbie wondered what she meant by that, but self-preservation overrode curiosity. “What I want is for you to stop bothering me with false accusations and go away.”
“No need for you to be so coy about your small victory. Ian loves me now. He’s not going to be spending so much time with Melanie, getting in the way of your attempts to seduce her. That is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Despite the threatening situation, Debbie felt a thrill of triumph. So she had managed to deflect stalker-boy onto weirdo-girl, and things might work out after all. Just as long as she could get rid of Lynn before things got violent.
“You’re not making any sense. Look, if you’ve got a boyfriend now, why don’t you spend this evening with him instead of hassling me?”
“I’ll be spending some quality time with him soon enough. By which I mean shagging.”
Debbie grimaced at the mental image. “I don’t care what you get up to in private, but I don’t want to hear about it.”
Lynn paid her words no attention. “I was snogging with him outside just before I came to see you, and I could feel that he’s already nice and hard for me.”
Eww! “Shut up and leave me alone.”
“You know, fingers, tongues, dildos, vibrators… they’re all nice enough, in their own way, but there’s nothing quite like having a good, hard cock inside you. All warm and throbbing, and ready to spurt…”
Debbie shuddered, but at the same time she felt a tell-tale tingling in her nipples and a twinge between her legs. She was getting turned on. By talk of a disgusting man and his repulsive genitals. What was wrong with her?
Lynn leaned forwards again. “What’s the matter?” she whispered. “Feeling horny? In need of a good rogering? I know I am. And since you stole my blockers, I just can’t help but broadcast it.”
Debbie’s blood ran cold. So the stuff about paranormal abilities was true. But she hadn’t intended for the creepy bitch to use them on her. She fled into her room, yanked open the drawer on her bedside cabinet, and took out a small box that had once held earrings.
Lynn advanced on her and held out her hand. Debbie dropped the box into her open palm, afraid to even touch her, since some of the websites said physical contact enhanced the effect of the freaks’ powers. “All right, take your fucking pills. And then get out of my room. Get out of my head.”
Cautiously Lynn opened the box and took out one of the pills contained within. “Yeah, that’s them. The pills you ‘knew nothing about’. I guess I should be grateful you didn’t just throw them away.”
She stepped closer. There was no more room for Debbie to retreat.
“But that does raise the question of what you were planning on doing with them. Hoping to slip them back in the bottle once you’d finished using me? Thinking of trying them yourself in case you could get high on them? Or trying to find someone willing to buy them? There’s all sorts of crazy bollocks talked about what effect they can have on ordinaries.”
Debbie said nothing out loud, but something, some unconscious reaction to Lynn’s words, must have betrayed her.
“No, not planning on taking them or selling them, but something to do with what they’re said to do to…” Lynn broke off, her eyes widening in alarm. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those idiots who think they must be like the ultimate date rape drug for neurotypicals, making them actually want it.”
Idf Debbie’s mouth hadn’t been too dry from fear, she would have spat in Lynn’s face. How dare she use that word? Rape was what men did to women, and to suggest that what she’d been planning was in any way comparable was just obscene.
Lynn’s upper lip curled with contempt. “You disgust me.”
“Well, weirdoes like you should be locked up. Not allowed to mess with normal people.”
“Bigoted and hypocritical too. Are you sure you want to be giving me more reasons to hate you? Considering the state you’ve put me in by nicking these?” She rattled the box of pills. “We get taught techniques for suppressing how we feel in case something goes wrong and we can’t take our blockers, but it takes a conscious effort to use them, and I could easily…”
She closed her eyes, and Debbie felt a nauseating wave of self-loathing well up within her, so intense that for a moment she thought she was going to throw up.
“Lucky for you I prefer positive emotions to negative ones.”
The horrific sensation subsided, but a residue of guilt and shame remained. Debbie tried to focus on what a monster Lynn was, but couldn’t entirely blot out the induced feeling that she was a bad person herself.
“Or maybe not so lucky.” Lynn chuckled and raised her voice. “Come in, Ian.”
The creep stepped into the room. “Did you get your pills?”
Lynn shook the box again. “Almost ready to go. But first…”
She stepped away from Debbie and embraced Ian, kissing him hard on the mouth and grinding her pelvis against his. The sight should have been stomach-turning, but Debbie felt her body responding to it with arousal. Stronger, though, was the spike of fear that lanced through her at the thought of what Lynn might intend to achieve with this lewd behaviour.
“Don’t make me want to fuck him. Anything but that.”
Lynn broke off the kiss and turned her head to look at Debbie. “Why would I ever want Ian to defile his sexy body with yours?”
The sensation of relief failed to completely mask the unnatural hint of disappointment, and Debbie also felt insulted at how pleased Ian looked when Lynn said that. He was the ugly beast, not her.
“I just want you desperately horny,” Lynn continued. She wiggled her hips against Ian’s, causing his eyes to bulge so hard they almost popped out of their sockets. “And craving cock, for once in your life. And knowing, deep down, that you’re a horrible, thieving, manipulative bitch who deserves to be punished.”
Debbie didn’t want to feel like that, but Lynn must have stopped stifling her emotions again, and they engulfed her in a wave too powerful to resist.
Lynn disengaged herself from Ian and took his hand. “Let’s get back to my room. Even after I take one of these, the effects won’t kick in straight away. Should make it a lot easier for you to learn how to please me.”
They headed for the door. Just before they went out, Lynn glanced back at Debbie.
“By the way, the rugby club’s having a social in the common room tonight. I feel a bit curious about the sort of things they’ll be getting up to.” She grinned maliciously. “Don’t you?”