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Sorry about the absence. I hope to be back by September 15 October 6, with a full explanation. Or, at least, a decent excuse.
Victoria tried so hard to be patient. She didn't want to lose this opportunity. Plus, she was a little afraid of Elizabeth. Okay, very afraid. The woman could kill you with a flick of her hand, if she wanted. And she so frequently wanted.
The power and the willingness to kill! And nothing could hurt you, except other gonners and the Worthy Ones. And now the Worthy Ones no longer mattered.
Elizabeth herself had said that the most important thing was the connections, the other gonners. You did things for them, and they did things for you. Victoria had connections, of course. She came from a rich family. The Alcott family first made its fortune stealing land from the natives. A fortune they increased manyfold by investing in the slave trade, then in factories using child labor, then in factories using child labor overseas. There was always money to be made in human suffering. But now Victoria herself would have all that wealth. The first thing she'll do is cause a few well-selected "accidents" that will give her the family fortune. Then...
"What powers am I going to get?" Victoria asked.
Elizabeth said, "don't worry, girl. I got some good ones picked out. Are you ready?"
Too excited to speak, Victoria just nodded. Elizabeth walked over to one of the boxes, reached in, and pulled out a Thermos. She said, "some gonners like ritual and ceremony. Me, I just like to do this straightaway. It doesn't need flowery words or anything to dress it up. This is the most important moment of your life, Vicky. Either you know that, or you don't. Now, yeah, I got mind-control powers, but I can't use them here or the acid won't take. Which is too bad, 'cause having the Worthy Ones in my power would've been great, not to mention he's O'Herlihy's son as well. But this has to be your choice." She opened the Thermos.
Lissa tried to hold her breath. It didn't help. The slime was every bad, horrid smell she'd ever smelled, human or cat. Banny looked like he was about to vomit. She said, "just be glad that isn't a big barrel of that-"
Elizibeth continued. "If you want this, you must take this and drink it, freely. I've used no magics or powers to influence you, offered no threats, though I can reward you if you do choose to drink. You must want to be a gonner. If you d-"
Victoria grabbed the Thermos. "Don't do it!" shouted Lissa. "Stay human!" And Banny said, "No! She's using you! Besides, that stuff stinks!" Grimacing, Victoria drank the noxious substance, and dropped the Thermos, breaking the glass inside.
Her face twisted like Dr. Jeckyll transforming into Mr. Hyde. She fell to her knees in agony. Elizabeth stepped back, smiling, almost laughing. Victoria was on the ground now, her eyes pleading, her pain obviously beyond anything she could handle. Abruptly, she vomited the greenish substance she had drank. It smelled no better this time.
Except, she continued to vomit it, far more than the thermos possibly could have held. And, as it flowed from her, her body shriveled up. And the puddle of slime was no puddle. It formed two narrow pillars, which met... it was forming a human being. A short thin adult woman. The color changed from sickly snot green to pale caucasion human, long brown hair... Victoria Alcott.
With a difference. This new Victoria had fuller, thicker hair, a smaller nose, and her teeth no longer jutted out like they were too big for her mouth. Her breasts were slightly bigger and firmer, and the cellulite on her legs was gone. She looked like the Hollywood version of Victoria Alcott.
The vomiting stopped. The new woman looked down at the mummy that was all that was left of the first Victoria Alcott. She said, "You didn't tell me I'd die!" She stormed angrily to Elizabeth. "You didn't tell me... her... that she'd just be a dead pile of dried crap while something else took her place! I was supposed to... she was supposed to... she was supposed get all the power, not some pile of vomit that looked like her. I'll get to do everything you'd promised she would do, while she rots in Hell..." The naked woman started laughing. "It's funny, if you think about it." She padded over to the body, kicked it. "Stupid bitch! Well, I'll make better use of your life than you ever did, you stupid little dead whore! Ms. Panderson, I apologize for..."
"That's all right. Birth pangs. I actually slapped Duncan. He made me pay for that. Now that you've... come into yourself... you can't hurt me. A gonner can't harm its Progenitor. Or its Progenitor's Progenitor. All the way back to the Virago, which is our line. Others come from the Carnifex or the Animus, but you don't gotta worry about them. I think there may be others also. And you gotta obey a direct order from anyone up your line. And you're weaker than your Progenitor. Now the Tricryptogon is on your forehead. Touch it, and move it where you want, whatever size you want. Keep in mind that you may wish to show it occasionally, but you'll usually want it hidden. Oh, and wherever it is hair won't grow. So don't put it on your scalp unless you want a bald spot. Then get dressed."
The new gonner placed it between her breasts. Then pulled the clothes off the real Victoria. She stared at her new self in her compact mirror, and Elizabeth assured her once they'd finished she could use the full-length upstairs. She dressed, fixed her hair, and applied her make-up.
Lissa realized... I can't save you. I can't save you, Lizzie. Chuckie lied. I can't save you, because you're already dead!
Go to Chapter 61: Chained To A Brick Wall
Go to Chapter 63: Power And The Powerless
Bring your friends into the Gonspiracy! Tell them about
Banny
And
Lissa
and get their eternal gratitude, and a chance to win $10,000 and a Sony DVD Player, because using your friends for your own personal enrichment, and having them owe you for it, is the gonner way!
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Copyright © 2003
Dave Lerner Stories (note that to use the mailto you'll need to edit it in your 'send to' window. I apologize, but I've already lost one address to spam, and if I get inundated again, I won't have time to read your letters.) - All Rights Reserved. Note that this includes images of the Tricryptogon, and the name "Tricryptogon".