Alkalians (26 page)

***

Some minutes later, the
front door of the cabin clicks unlocked, opens, and Matt enters the
main room, letting the door close behind him. Sighing, he thinks
back to his latest encounter with Amelia. They had another private
session and she showed him her whole body naked. When he told her
that he had happened to already see a woman nude, not disclosing it
was Rose, she shrugged and asked how much he had gotten to do with
her. When he said he had simply seen and touched her, Amelia
insisted on the next step, and he got to see, touch, and
taste
all of
her.

As the scene and sensations echo in
his thoughts, Matt is on his way to the kitchen for a drink when he
overhears strange sounds coming from Sean’s room. Curiosity pulling
him out of his thoughts and to the door, he was about to knock when
he detects the sounds as exhausted panting, and then finds himself
staying quiet as he eavesdrops on Sean and a female voice. Sean is
the first to speak, saying through his breaths, “Wow, that, was
amazing! What, did you, think, Cynthia?”

“
Hmm. It was wonderful,
Sean. You did well.”

“
Really? Because, you
know, this was my first time ever. The farthest I’ve ever gotten
was second base. Until now, that is!”

“
Haha, oh, you did fine,
Sean. You kept pace with me excellently.”

“
You sure? There were a
few moments I could have sworn you were crying out in
pain.”

“
Oh, no, don’t worry about
it. Yes, I did feel some pain, but it also felt
so
good.” A moment goes by as Matt
hears what could be kissing noises, his face twisted between
intrigue and surprise, before Cynthia asks, “So, do you think we
could go another round, you and I?”

“
Uh, another round? Sure,
I guess we could try. But first, I need some water. You need
anything?”

“
No, I’m fine. All I need
is you, Sean.” There’s another kissing noise, followed by her
gasping breath, before she teases, “Do be quick about it. I’ll be
here, waiting.”

“
Hah, but of course. I’ll
be right back!” Then well aware he was about to come out, Matt
thinks fast and ducks behind the corner to the stairs as Sean opens
the door and steps out. When the door closes, Matt dares a peek
around the corner to observe Sean in the kitchen. He has nothing on
but a pair of brown boxers, his body is streaked with sweat, and
his black hair is a mangled mess as he fills a glass with water and
gulps it down.

Turning to lean against the sink, his
eyes wander about the room until they spot Matt’s eyes, and he
jumps with surprise, spilling the last bit of water in his glass
and letting out a little squeak before snarling, “Ma-Matt!? When
did you…” Remembering to keep his voice down with Cynthia in the
bedroom nearby, he hustles over to Matt and whispers, “When the
hell did you get here, man?”

Matt replies in a whisper, “Only a
minute ago. Sean, did you do what I think you did, with who I think
you may have done it with, in the bedroom there?”

“
Gah, spirits, is it too
much to ask for a guy to get some privacy around here? Didn’t your
mother ever teach you to not go snooping on people in their
bedrooms!?”

“
Well, uh, yeah. Sorry, I
didn’t know what I was listening to until it was too late, and I
couldn’t pull myself away.”

“
Yeah, yeah. I don’t blame
you, I would have done the same. And, as to your question, yes, I
did do it, with none other than Cynthia Volvaron.” A crazy grin
crosses his face as he grabs Matt and shakes him, hardly containing
his glee. “Isn’t that great? I, the freshman failure, did it with
the hottest woman on campus!”

“
Uh, hehe, yeah, I guess.
So, I suppose I’ll just get going and…” Matt’s statement halts when
he stares at something behind Sean, his eyes widening. “Um, um,
Sean?”

“
Yeah, what’s the matter?
You look like you just seen a ghost.”

Matt points over his shoulder, and
Sean turns to look, gawking himself as they see Cynthia emerge from
the bedroom. With a blanket wrapped around her figure, her long red
hair mangled and clinging to her slick skin, she has a strained
look on her sweaty face as she says in a daze, “Sean, I don’t, feel
so good…” Her legs buckling beneath her, she is about to fall over
before Sean lunges over and catches her, gently setting her
down.

While Cynthia is panting
from whatever afflicts her, her body and limbs shivering beneath
the blanket, Sean puts a hand to her forehead, but recoils from the
touch, exclaiming, “Whoa, she’s hot. I mean,
literally
hot! I think she’s got a
fever, Matt!”

Coming up beside Sean, Matt kneels
down to see for himself, grateful he is no longer nervous around a
near-nude woman, and asks, “Sean, was she okay, before
this?”

“
Oh sure, she was fine,
healthy as a horse! Why do you ask?”

Matt frowns as a reason comes to mind
to explain Cynthia’s sudden fever. “Was there any time when you two
were out of sight of each other, before you two, er, got
busy?”

Thinking back, Sean tells him, “Well,
when we got here earlier, I went to the bathroom, and she explored
the cabin while waiting for me.”

Matt's frown cringes. “Uh oh. This
could be bad.”

“
What? What’s the
matter?”

Matt brings his grim-lit eyes back
down to Cynthia. “She must have taken some of my drugs.”

A derailed Sean asks, “You’ve got
drugs!?”

Matt explains, “I have a prescribed
medicine that’s supposed to knock me unconscious and keep me asleep
all night. But it’s designed for my body only, so there’s no
telling what would happen if someone else took it.”

Sean blinks and exclaims, “Holy
stones! We’ve got a medical emergency here! We need to get her to
the infirmary for professional help, ASAP!!” He morphs, picks up
Cynthia in his arms, and commands, “Come on, Matt, let’s get
going!”

Raising an eye brow, Matt asks, “Wait,
we can enter our battle morphs in the cabins?”

“
Yeah, duh, but just
because we can doesn’t mean we’d be stupid enough to start fights
in our small, cramped living quarters! Now come on, let’s get her
to the infirmary. I’ll hand her off to you at the college entrance,
and you get her the rest of the way inside, out of morph. Got
it?”

“
Uh, yeah, got it!”
Entering his morph, the two hurry out of the cabin, only to run
into Rose. She, surprised to encounter them hauling an unconscious
woman, in nothing but a blanket, out of their cabin, in battle
morphs, asks, “Wha-what are you two doing? What’s going
on?”

“
Rose! You’re not going to
believe this. Well, actually, I hope you do believe it!” Sean tells
her all that happened as briefly as he can, finishing with, “So
now, we’re off to the college to drop her off in the infirmary.
Would you like to come with us?”

A bit overwhelmed by all that
happened, Rose stays calm as she says, “Yeah, I’d better. It will
look less suspicious of any foul play with a female roommate
helping you.” She morphs before the three head off toward the
campus buildings with haste on air balance, trying to be as subtle
as possible.

Unknown to them as they hurried off,
someone had been hidden on the roof of their cabin, and she heard
every word of Sean’s story. Knowing she got what she needed, the
concealed figure takes a moment to aim her left arm, a rifle in her
battle morph, at the four off in the distance, mouthing out “bang”
as she pretends to shoot a single shot at them.

***

The case with Cynthia is resolved as
Matt, Sean, and Rose hand her off to the nurses at the infirmary,
who will watch her until she recovers and keep the incident secret.
On the next day, the first part of the weekend break, the three
have stopped worrying about Cynthia, as well as not bothering to
talk about what Sean did with her, and indulge themselves at the
college casino.

Matt and Sean are in the gambling
room, playing a no-stakes game of poker with six other schoolmates
who know Sean well. Around the table, the players are finishing
their bets, throwing in their fake money chips. The last man to bet
is Matt. With little experience ever playing poker, he’s not sure
how to meet the other bets with a nine and knight of diamonds, plus
a five, seven, and queen of diamonds with a king of bolts and a
seven of hearts on the table. Deciding to be safe rather than
sorry, he matches the low bet made before him.

The players begin revealing their card
sums, awes and woes sounding off with each throw-down. When Matt
shows his cards, all of the guys before him moan because he has a
flush with diamonds that beat out their smaller pairs. But Sean,
the dealer, is the last to reveal his hand. Smirking, he shows a
king and seven of thorns, meaning he has two kings and three sevens
to make a full house. The whole table lights up with things like,
“How did he get that? I didn’t see that coming! Why does he always
win? Not fair!” Matt is the only one who doesn’t complain,
unconcerned by Sean winning most of the rounds.

Seeing he has left his mark, Sean
tells his fellow players, “Well, I believe you’ve had enough of me
at this table, so I shall leave for a drink and some flirting with
the ladies. While I’m gone, you all just enjoy yourselves. Adios,
amigos!” He exits his chair and walks away from the table, becoming
lost in the noise from the dance room.

Most of the guys cheer up with sighs
of relief, one of them saying, “At last, he left us. Now we can
actually play with a chance to win! But we do need one more player
to make it an even eight.”

“
I’ll play.” They turn
their heads to the source of the voice and find James standing by
them. All of them, including Matt, cringe at the thought of playing
cards with a boss student. Noting their discomforted faces, he
assures them, “Don’t worry, I won’t play for money. I’ll just go
along with your game.” He seats himself where Sean once was, and
the other guys slowly calm themselves to begin another
round.

Matt is trying not to mind James’
presence, wondering why he of all people would be playing cards
with them, when he somewhat answers him and begins talking to him
as the cards are dealt. “So, Matt, I’ve been hearing quite the news
about you and your roommates, who ironically have become three of
the most iconic freshmen on campus.” He looks at his face-down
cards.

Copying the same gesture to check his
cards, Matt says, “Oh, uh, thanks for the compliment, James. We’re
just doing what we can to pass the class, that’s all.”

“
Hah, of course. And how
has alchemy been treating you and Rose?”

“
Oh, well enough. Rose
just does great at whatever she puts her mind to, but I’ve been
getting help studying from Lyn and her group.”

“
Ah, I see. What do you
think of Lyn and her women?”

“
Well, they’re, uh,
friendly. They’ve been a real help with the homework, and have
always been nice to talk to. Especially Lyn herself, and
Amelia.”

Chuckling, James agrees, “Yes, they
can be very kind and courteous, as long as you haven’t given them a
reason to spite you. But aren’t all women like that? Anyway, what
about Rose? What do you think of her, how have you gotten along
with her?”

Matt thinks for a moment, placing a
bet when called on, and replies, “We’re getting along well. She’s
smart, honest, caring, and strong-hearted. Plus, she’s very good
with her battle morph.”

“
Ah, that’s good, then.”
James tosses his bet, and the first face-up card is shown, an eight
of bolts. “Take my word for it, it’s always better to be boarded up
with a woman of such good nature, rather than a, oh, pardon my
language,
bitch
,
you know?”

“
Uh, yeah, I guess.” Matt
sees a possible match with his seven and nine of bolts, so he
raises his bet.

“
Yes, believe me, I speak
from experience. Nothing is harder to reason with or endure than a
woman who always seems to be on her period.” James bets even higher
than Matt, causing all but two guys to stay in, and the second card
flopped out is a ten of hearts. The guys around them nod and grunt
in agreement at his words.

Matt, however, is confused by James’
reference, having never heard of the expression. He asks, “Uh,
period? What does that mean?” In a side thought, he wonders why
James put a higher bet than his the last turn, so he puts out an
even higher bet to try and bluff him.

While the other guys flash surprised
expressions at Matt’s lack of knowledge about the term, James
chuckles as he deposits even more betting chips, answering, “Let’s
just say it’s a biological thing for women that comes around
monthly. A condition that makes them even more moody and prone to
snapping than usual.” He pauses while the final three cards are
laid, a knight and ace of hearts, and a four of bolts. “But anyway,
speaking of Rose’s battle morph, I’ve noticed something about it,
the martial arts behind her techniques. I think she’s a
ninja.”

“
She’s a what?” asks Matt,
using the true response of curiosity to mask his pleasure of
getting a straight run.