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Please do not read if you are under 18! The following contains mature content not suited for general audiences. You have been warned.

Sylvia confronts her own emotions--and her ex--in the campus coffee shop.

TRIGGER WARNING! Contains: Rape (mentioned), abuse (mentioned), manipulation, impostor syndrome, anxiety, dissociation, slurs, violence, threats, therapy (mentioned), homophobia, transphobia

Sylvia, Val, etc. are characters made by me, based off of characters in the Pokémon universe owned by GameFreak and Nintendo. I do not claim rights to characters such as Sylveon, Vaporeon, etc.

By PseudonymousUmbreon. If you wish to use or reference my work and/or my characters, please contact me first.

*****

The Blame Game

Coevolution Ch.10

It was a quiet evening at Alcremie's. The barista, an obnoxiously flamboyant Gallade, sat behind the bar and swiped through his phone, having nothing better to do. Not that the coffee shop was empty; a Lucario sat in the corner with a laptop and a notebook, frantically scribbling something down, while a Machoke and a Primarina chatted at a nearby table. Occasionally, the Machoke said something that was apparently meant to be funny, and Primarina would laugh shrilly.

It was like nails on a chalkboard to Sylvia.

Suffice to say, Sylvia was pissed. It had been a month since the breakup and not once had Jonah even looked in her direction to indicate he was sorry. They had passed each other on campus several times, Jonah pointedly ignoring her every step of the way. She was the laughingstock of her sorority; Jonah's loud and public denunciation of their relationship had made the rounds in their social circles and now her membership was in jeopardy.

The situation looked very bad for her. The campus cameras didn't record any sound, but the footage, though grainy, was enough to prove the Glaceon from the library right: public indecency. Either she or Jonah could effortlessly destroy Sylvia's reputation if the situation was brought to the campus police.

So why hadn't they?

Sylvia wanted to believe they were scared of her. She could effortlessly exert her control over the cops, pull some strings, or get her father involved. William Clements, the namesake of the new Clements Science Center on campus, could shut down any political action made against his daughter. Did the Glaceon from the library know that? Of course, everyone knew her--Sylvia Clements, star cheerleader of the Central Unovan cheer team--but had the Glaceon put two and two together?

Regardless, no one had come to her yet. No threatening emails from the campus police, no random knocks on the door in the middle of the night. It left Sylvia endlessly wondering what Jonah was planning. She couldn't relax or let down her guard, always having to keep one ribbon on the trigger. No one and nowhere was safe. Not now.

Of course, the sorority wanted her out for a whole different reason. Apparently, her connection through Jonah to the football team was the only thing they kept her around for: her ability to get free tickets to see sweaty hot guys fight over a glorified balloon. It disgusted her sometimes, the lengths the girls would go to to get a look at a guy. There were so many more direct ways to go about it.

Sure, it hadn't been smart to screw with Jonah in the library. But who could blame her? Jonah was hot, she was hot, and everyone deserves to have some fun once in a while. Still, if she hadn't, maybe Jonah would still be hers. Her slave.

Jonah had said yes. She said she would hypnotize him, put him under, and make him perfectly obedient to her, able to play with him and touch him whenever she wished. He had said that it sounded hot, but he wasn't sure. Of course that meant he wanted it, which Sylvia pointed out. And Jonah had agreed.

How did Jonah break free?

That was the most troubling, to Sylvia. Maybe her control wasn't as absolute as she'd initially thought, or maybe Jonah had some kind of natural resistance to hypnosis. Either way, he'd broken free of her control, and ran away. He'd said yes, and then suddenly it became a problem. Why were boys so fucking complicated?

None of this was her fault. Maybe she'd done a couple things wrong here and there, but really, wasn't it Jonah's responsibility to break up with her in a more respectful--and less public--manner? He could have just told her that he wasn't okay with it. She would have stopped.

And yet.

Deep down, some part of her insisted that what she had done to Jonah was inherently wrong. She had taken advantage of him, and as a result, lost him, and she knew that. But a much louder part of her constantly drowned it out, another part that she preferred to ignore.

It was a little shoulder devil inside of her who desperately needed her to take control of Jonah. To go back to him and work her magic at full force, take Jonah as her own, and abuse the fuck out of him. Sylvia wanted to shut that demon out, knowing full well that it kept asking her to do things that were illegal, but every now and then she let the devil take over and drive her actions--and she absolutely loved it.

She knew there was something so, very, very wrong with the thoughts inside of her head. When she and Jonah had been alone, that's when the demon of lust was in full force, begging for her to use Jonah and treat him like the toy he is--no, was, to her. She'd listened to the devil one too many times, and as a result, Jonah had broken free.

She couldn't let Jonah tell anyone about what happened. Because if he did, the story would get out, and everyone would see her for the fraud she was. She had to keep those thoughts locked up, and keep her secrets safe. If nothing else, for her reputation, and for her father's reputation.

And so, she manipulated. She enacted cold, calculative actions on the people closest to her, Jonah included, to keep herself in control of the situation. But she promised herself she would never use her hypnosis on anyone. Now she had to keep that under wraps too.

Sylvia didn't want to be a bad person. In large part, she believed she wasn't, that she deserved to live a good life, and a good life she should have. But that voice tugged at her brain, reminding her that everything she had done was so, very, very wrong. So she locked that up too, and let herself believe that she wasn't really in the wrong. She was just doing what she had to to survive in a Unovan economy.

I want to be very, very clear with you Jojo.

If you even THINK about going to the cops about this

I will ruin your life before you even walk in the door of the police station. «

Sylvia hovered her thumb over the send button. She shouldn't. She really shouldn't. These were the acts of manipulation that had gotten her into this situation to begin with, and she would certainly face fallout of nuclear proportions for threatening Jonah. But she felt she had to. It was the only way to keep her reputation safe. Jonah would go to the cops any day now, and she would be ruined.

Suddenly, Sylvia was brought back to the café as the jingling bell signaled a newcomer. A Vaporeon stepped in and smiled at the Gallade behind the counter. "I got it from here, Jess. You're free."

Fuck. Was it Thursday? Sylvia had forgotten that their ex worked the night shift on Thursdays.

Despite her attempts to hide, Valora noticed Sylvia right away and strode over to them. She was wearing a white button-down and black dress pants underneath her work apron, which only served to accentuate the flatness of her chest. She wore a pin that proudly proclaimed, "he/him."

"Hey Sylvia," Valora said with an obnoxious smirk. "Fancy meeting you here."

Sylvia sighed and crossed her arms. "Valora."

The Vaporeon raised an eyebrow. "That's Valentino to you. Not that I'd expect you to use it, Syl."

Sylvia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Good to know you're still a self-centered bitch."

Valora snorted. "If anyone's self-centered, it's you. I heard about your little break-up from my partner. Public sex in a library? That's low, even for you. Not that I'm surprised you're an exhibitionist."

Sylvia stood up so fast she nearly knocked the chair over. The other patrons glanced at her, only vaguely interested in what was going on. "You take that back, you dyke."

"E-excuse me?" Valora took a step back with feigned shock on her face, then dropped the act and grinned. "That the best you can come up with? No one's used that as a slur for ages. Whatever--I'm not here to argue. I'm here to work." She turned and gave the Gallade at the bar a fist bump. "Sorry to keep you, Jess. My ex is such a drama queen."

The Gallade grinned and made to leave. "No prob, Val! Have a good night!"

Sylvia was fuming. She stormed over to the counter and glared daggers at Valora, who was setting a new pot of coffee to brew instead of paying any amount of attention to her. "Listen, Valora. I'm not interested in playing your games or dealing with any of your faggoty shit. If you wanna gloat, go ahead. It's only a matter of time until Jonah comes crawling back to me."

"Are you serious dude?" Valora said, turning to look at her. "You raped him, Syl. Honestly, I'm glad you broke up with me before I became another one of your victims."

A chill ran down Sylvia's spine. She knew that the other patrons were definitely looking right at her now, including the Gallade, who had, frustratingly, still not left. "You catfished me! Tried to trick me into being some dyke like you! Don't pretend you're the victim here Valora."

Valora's face turned cold. "My name. Is Valentino."

Sylvia suddenly became acutely aware of a presence directly behind her. She turned and met the face of a very pissed-off Vaporeon who towered over her with crossed arms. Had the bell not rung?

"Don't worry, Sylvia. Vicente isn't gonna hurt you--not physically, at least. He will, however, should things get ugly, be your personal chauffeur to the police station where you can turn yourself in for threatening conduct and sexual assault on your, dear little Jojo." Sylvia could hear the sick smile in Valora's voice as her tone turned dangerously saccharine. Vicente glowered down at Sylvia and huffed.

Sylvia felt the color retreat from her already pale face. "Y-you can't make me do anything. My father will--"

"Oh no. Not your daddy. I'm sure he'll be very disappointed to find out his daughter is a convicted felon."

It took all Sylvia's courage to turn from Vicente's bulging muscles and face Valora. "What do you want, Valora?"

The Vaporeon shook her head. "I don't want anything. But Jonah? We've finally convinced him to go to therapy. You're a horrible person, Syl, and you messed him up big-time. You wanna keep being a manipulative bitch, that's fine. But be prepared for the consequences."

Sylvia blinked. "You're not turning me in?"

"To be honest? I really want to. But Jo ain't ready for that yet. Can't even think about you without having a panic attack. Just get the fuck out of my café and stop throwing slurs around like you own them." Valora looked at Vicente. "Ella necesita irse de aquí. Ahora."

Sylvia opened her mouth to respond, but just then, Vicente stepped forward and into Sylvia's view. He pointed at the door, brandishing a heavily toned bicep, and said, "Vete."

Sylvia flashed another glare at Valora. "Fuck you, Valora." With that, she turned and left with a huff, stepping out into the cold night air.

Who did Valora think she was? That asshole knew nothing about her relationship with Jonah. Like she had any right to be meddling in other people's business.

You're a horrible person, Syl.

Valora's words hung in her head, as if that voice in the back of her conscience had taken on the Vaporeon's voice. No. She wasn't a bad person. Valora had catfished her.

The door opened behind her and the Gallade and Lucario from inside stepped out, holding paws. Sylvia groaned. She'd had enough of these fags for one night. She was about to head back toward her sorority house when she overheard the two talking.

"Honestly I hope Jo ends up calling the cops, that bitch deserves it," the Gallade said.

"Yeah, but, y'know. They probably aren't gonna do anything."

"Fair point. I'm just glad Jo's free from her now. I'd hate to be dating her."

"Oh shit--she's right there."

They stopped talking, and Sylvia turned to face them. "What was that?"

The Lucario tried to pull the Gallade away. "Jess, let's go, it's not worth it."

"No, stay. I wanna hear what he has to say," Sylvia said, walking up to them and crossing her arms.

The Gallade glared at her. "I'm just saying that I'd rather not date a rapist."

The world went red. There was a yelp and a gasp, though Sylvia wasn't really sure from who. A body crumpled to the ground, and a pair of heavy footsteps came toward them from the café. Sylvia felt her fist bloody with effort as it hit something several times over, and then she was lifted into the air and pushed aside.

A flash of blue shocked Sylvia back to the present as she realized someone had hit the emergency button that signaled the campus police to their location. Everyone was gathered around the Gallade, now on the ground and struggling to breathe. Sylvia stepped back, and then, without a second thought, she ran.