ENTER CHESHIRE

By David Brashear

Connor found himself in a living nightmare.  He was lying in bed with his arms pinned by his roommate, who was currently trying to slice his throat.  “Off!” he yelled as something exploded out of him, sending Billy and his blankets flying.  Billy flew across the room and thudded into the far wall.

Connor’s hand flew to his throat, which felt oddly dry.  He looked at his palm to discover no trace of blood.  He smiled as he realized he was fine.  “Looks like I’m back in this game,” he said as he looked across the room.  A shaking Billy stood there with terror on his face.

Billy swallowed hard and wrapped his fingers around his knife.  “He will not be denied!” he yelled.  The two jumped across the room and crashed into each other.  Billy fought to keep free of Connor’s arms while slashing at him with the knife.  The physically-stronger Connor soon found himself on the defensive against Billy’s crazed attack.  Finally Connor was able to get his hands against Billy’s chest and sent him flying across the room.

“Enough of this,” Connor said as he climbed to his feet and started across the room.  He kicked the knife under a bed.  “Time for you to go to bed, wacko.”

Billy glared in defiance and the door to the room swung open.  Merlyn walked in with two security guards.  “Well, well, well,” Merlyn said.  “Are we having problems, boys?”

“He tried to kill me!” Connor said.

“Those are serious charges,” Merlyn said.  “Come with me, Billy.  We’ll sort this out in the morning.  Go back to sleep, Mr. Ellis.”  Merlyn ushered Billy out, leaving Connor standing in the mess of the room.

“Just like that?” Roy Harper’s tone was skeptical as he and Connor talked in the quad after classes.

“Just exactly like that,” Connor said.  He kept his voice low and his head down as he and Roy wandered around the quad, trying to look inconspicuous.  “He didn’t say anything else.  Just that we’d talk about it.”  Connor looked over at Roy.  “Don’t you think that attempted murder maybe moves past sitting down and talking?”

“Merlyn’s got to be up to something,” Roy said.  “We all need to watch our backs.”  He looked up as they neared a building.  “Here’s your next class.  I’ll pass the word to Donna and the others.”  He and Connor clasped hands a moment before Connor started up the stairs into the building.

Connor’s steps hurried as he saw Bart in the hallway.  He walked up and grabbed Bart by the arm and started pulling him down the hall.  “What’s going on?” Bart asked.  “Our physics class is back there.”

“We need to talk,” Connor said as he pulled Bart into the men’s room.  After making sure the room was empty, he outlined everything that had occurred the night before.

“That’s crazy,” Bart said.  He started pacing as Connor leaned against the sinks.  “What are we going to do?”

“Same thing we always do,” Connor said.  “We’re watching each other’s backs.  And if Merl wants to try and take one of us out, he’s got to deal with all of us.”

Bart nodded.  “You got it,” he said with an unusual firmness to his tone.  “Just don’t go getting into trouble before I can get there and pull you out of it.”

Connor smiled.  “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for you, Speedy.”  The two hurried out and just made their class before the bell rang.

Jade Nguyen sprawled over a chair in Merlyn’s office.  “So what do you want?” she asked, seductively slipping one shoulder out of her standard Academy white button-up shirt.  She’d already unbuttoned the shirt much farther than the dress code permitted.

“Sit up, Miss Nguyen,” Merlyn ordered as he paced behind her with a file folder in his hand.

Jade’s face twisted with rage.  “My name is Cheshire,” she snarled.  “No one calls me by that name.”

Merlyn grabbed Jade by the hair and ignored her cries as he pulled her upright.  “I will call you whatever I wish, Miss Nguyen,” Merlyn said calmly.  “Remember who’s in charge here.”  He let her go and she jerked back into the chair.

Merlyn turned and started to walk back toward his desk.  Jade hissed and held out her hand, ready to scratch him.  “I also know about your affectation for poison, Miss Nguyen,” Merlyn said as he rounded the desk and stood in front of his own chair.  “Remember that I am the only one who decides how you leave this office – on your own feet, on a stretcher, or under a sheet.”  Merlyn leaned over the desk and looked directly into Jade’s eyes, issuing an unspoken challenge.

Jade thought a moment and lowered her hand.  Merlyn smiled a smile of triumph and sat down in his chair.  “Excellent,” he said.  “Now, Miss Nguyen, I have a little task for you…”

Later, Cissie was walking across campus when Donna approached her.  “How are you doing?” she asked.

“Not good,” Cissie said.  “I can barely sleep.  What is going on around here?  Why does he hate us so much?”

“I don’t know,” Donna replied.  “But we’re not going down without a fight.”  Donna paused a second.  “Have you been having any more dreams lately?”

“Nothing with Danny,” Cissie said.  They kept talking as they crossed campus.

Connor Ellis and Bart Allen were leaving their class when Connor suddenly found himself being pulled around.  Bart’s jaw dropped as Jade planted a lustful kiss on Connor.  “Sorry,” she said as she broke the kiss and played with his tie.  “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.”

Connor was starting to sweat as she reached up and tousled his hair.  “Um?” he finally got out.

She smiled a seductive smile.  “Why don’t we go somewhere private so we can talk?” she asked, snaking her hand between the buttons on his shirt to touch his bare chest.

“Connor, don’t you need to–“ Bart began, only to be interrupted by Cheshire.  “Beat it, loser,” she ordered as she led Connor away, leaving Bart standing alone on the steps of the building.

Far above, Merlyn was watching the scene from a window across the campus.  He smiled as he saw Cheshire leading Connor away.  Soon he’d know exactly what was going on inside this group.

“Bart?”  Bart turned as he nearly stumbled into Cissie and Donna.  “Are you all right?” Donna asked.

“Yeah,” Bart said.  “Something weird just happened.”  He quickly outlined Connor’s encounter with Cheshire.

“Excuse me,” Cissie said.  She turned and hurried away across the quad, hoping to make it back to her room before the tears started.

“Cheshire?” Donna asked.  “She’s trouble.  Come on.”  She grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him across campus.  “We need to talk to Roy.  He knows her better than just about anybody around here.  Maybe he can shine some light on what she’s up to.”

Later that evening, Duela Dent slipped out of a door onto the roof of the administration building.  She set down her backpack, which clinked as the cola bottles inside it jostled against each other.  She looked around and saw that Charlie hadn’t arrived yet.  She smiled.  This was one of her favorite places.

The roof was flat and deserted, making it a favorite place for couples at the Academy.  For a reason that no one knew, as long as nothing happened up there or there was no evidence of it, the school’s security was willing to overlook this mild infraction of the rules.

She turned as she heard a rustling behind her to discover Charlie walking toward her.  She ran toward him and the two embraced before kissing.  “How was the kitchen?” Charlie asked.

“Busy,” Duela admitted.  She took Charlie’s hand and led him over to a good spot where they could see the horizon.  They sat down.  “How was the yard work?”

“Not too bad,” Charlie said.  “There was just a lot of it.  I was afraid that I wouldn’t make it up here in time.”

“You were just in time,” Duela said.  She pointed toward the red glowing ball of the sun.  “It’s just starting to set.”

Charlie put his arm around her and she snuggled closer to him.  “It’s beautiful,” she said as she watched the sky painted with various hues of reds, oranges, and purples.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Charlie said, which resulted in a kiss.

“You always know what to say,” a smiling Duela said.  Their attention was suddenly distracted as they heard a strange sound.  They turned and discovered Billy coming out of the door.  He was wild-eyed and wearing only a pair of dirty pajama pants.  His chest was covered with occult symbols.

“What’s going on?” Charlie asked.

“Need the power,” Billy gasped.  “Your little pal wouldn’t cooperate.”

Duela found herself stepping behind Charlie.  “Be careful,” she whispered.  “I think he’s nuts.”

“Just need a little more,” Billy was saying.  “More life for more power!”

With no warning, Billy jumped forward and knocked Charlie aside as he grabbed Duela’s arm.  Duela let out a cry as she fell to the ground.  Billy pinned her down and smiled as he lifted his knife.  “Accept this sacrifice and give me power!” he shouted.

The knife was on the way down when Charlie slammed into Billy and knocked him off Duela.  Duela skittered away from the fight as the two rolled around on the roof, throwing punches at each other.  The knife was free of Billy’s grip and slid across the roof.

Charlie was gaining the advantage when a lucky punch from Billy caught him on the temple.  Charlie grunted and fell off.  Billy retrieved the knife and climbed to his feet.   He smiled as Charlie shakily stood.

“More power!” Billy yelled as he charged and started slashing at Charlie.  Charlie dodged each strike, but each step drove him back closer to the edge of the roof.

Charlie looked back and gasped as he realized he stood at the very edge.  Billy’s smile grew more sinister as he slashed outward again.  Charlie backed up and discovered nothing beneath his feet but air.

“Charlie!” Duela screamed as he vanished from sight.  She stretched, trying desperately to reach him and pull him back to safety.  But it was too late.