Author's Note: Kudos to djkauf for betaing this for me.

For those of you that actually took the time to read the note I posted yesterday, thank you. For those of you that read it and decided I was and ungrateful, arrogant person that was holding my stories hostage because I'm a comment whore... (sigh) why bother? You'll never get it. And please note that I'm not just saying all of this for me; there are still a large number of authors out there on the front page that would dearly love ten comments and would think heaven came to them today because of that simple task that can take no longer than a few seconds out of your day. It doesn't have to be an in depth analysis of the story or chapter. A simple "I enjoyed this story," or a variant would probably suffice. It took me three seconds to write, "I enjoyed this story." Can you spare that for the entertainment that you received from them? Thanks for at least thinking about what I've said. A number of you responded yesterday that I've never heard from before. It was a treat and appreciated, and a number of us had some delightful interaction trying to figure out a mystery.

Chapter 4

The official search started the next morning. I would have thought that they would have done a small portion of the area the previous afternoon, but Terry was eighteen and considered an adult even though he went to high school. I guess that something to do with it, well that and he was flighty to begin with. Having a reputation for taking off and not telling anyone where you were going was a bad thing when something actually went wrong.

But here we were four days after he went missing, combing the woods by the house. The administration of the school asked for volunteers and virtually all of the students said yes. I had a feeling it wasn’t because Terry was beloved or anything. Students will do almost anything if it means that they don’t have to be stuck behind a desk for the day.

We gathered in our field since it bordered the forest closest to where his truck was found. There, we were briefed on what to look for which consisted of the obvious — a body — and the not so obvious, meaning fresh overturned dirt, piles of leaves, fresh footprints, and so forth.

“Did anyone search that house?” someone asked in the crown.

I raised my hand. “That’s my house, and yes it’s been searched, by Susan, his sister.” I may have said that with a touch of annoyance in my voice.

The Sheriff held up his hands. “Just to make this official for everyone that thinks otherwise. It was reported that Terry entered the storm cellar of the Chylde house and never left. The person responsible for that report is now sitting in the county lockup for filing a false report. In other words he lied. The Chylde family has been cooperative in the search of said cellar and nothing was found that would lead me to believe they had anything to do with Terry’s disappearance. So, let’s concentrate on where he might be instead of where we know he’s not.”

I felt a little smug afterward, but kept it off my face since Susan was right there. With a couple hundred people spread apart by five feet, we covered a lot of the area woods. There was some excitement when a girl screamed and the Sheriff found a half buried deer carcass, but that was all there was.

By mid-afternoon we’d covered all the area that was possible to canvass, and it looked like Susan was taking her brother’s disappearance more seriously.

“Where do you think he’s at?”

I tried to not put on too many airs sounding sympathetic or overly pessimistic. “Honestly I don’t have a clue.”

“What I wonder is why he was here.” I watched as she looked back at the house from the general area Terry’s truck was found. “He parked here and it’s obvious he was coming to confront you.”

I nodded. “He wasn’t trying too hard to hide, but he wasn’t being obvious about it either.”

“Yeah. Maybe he was just watching the house waiting for you to go outside or something.”

Taking the most obvious train of thought I moved the speculation along. “Like when I went out to the cellar.”

“Exactly.” She tapped her lips with her index finger. “So he sees you go back there and gets out of his truck.”

“Except, he never made it to the back yard,” I said.

She shook her head and looked frustrated. “It all comes back to Perry, again.”

“No sign of struggle, because he knew his attacker.”

She spun around. “You think he was attacked?”

I closed my eyes and cringed. “Sorry. I’ve been trying to be optimistic for you.”

Her lips pressed together and I could see her eyes well up. “No, you’re right. It’s the only possibility.”

“Not the only one, but the most likely.”

“What else could it have been?” she asked.

I saw her reaching for anything. “I don’t know. I wish I did.”

Another minute spent in silence and Susan got herself together. “I’m gonna go. I’m sure my parents are edging on hysteria by now.”

We walked across the lot and I opened her door for her. She stuck her key in the ignition, turning the engine over and putting the air conditioner on maximum to cool the cab off. Then she turned around and gave me a big hug.

“Thanks, Ariel. You’ve been a big help.”

“Call me later if you want to talk,” I said.

She nodded and hopped in.

When her truck disappeared behind the tree line down the street, I turned back to the house.

“What would poor Susan say if she knew the truth?”

My head snapped up to see a blonde girl leaning against the ancient oak. She was wearing a nice pair of white slacks and a crop top with shoulder length blonde hair and a decidedly knowing look on her face.

I narrowed my eyes. “Search is over. You’re not supposed to be here.”

She half-chuckled. “I’m not here to search. We both know Terry Coomes was slaughtered by a demon and all the evidence was licked up and magiked away.”

I looked from left to right to make sure nobody was around to hear. “Who the hell are you?”

She stood away from the tree and nodded toward the cellar. “Jennifer Kale. You want to do this here or down in the cellar. Oh, and you might want to go change, it’ll make this whole experience a lot easier on the both of us.”

A lead weight dropped into my stomach. This girl knew way too much about what had been going on. “Change?”

“Back into your natural form.” She sighed. “Female, about your height, long legs, not really any breasts to speak of.”

My lips pursed. “This is my natural form.”

She rolled her eyes and snapped out her right hand toward me with her fingers making an okay sign only with her middle finger and thumb instead of her index finger.

I groaned at the swift pain that shot through me as whatever she did forced me into Darcy’s body in no more than a handful of seconds.

“There, that’s better. Now go change clothes; you look ridiculous. I’ll be in the cellar, waiting.”

Thinking I was severely over my head magic-wise I did what she said, stumbling in my now overly large shoes and shorts.

As bad as it sounds, I didn’t know what to wear. What was one supposed to wear to their possible death? That was probably stretching things a little. It was obvious whoever Jennifer Kale was, she was powerful. She didn’t need the Incantation of Making to rip the girl out of me at a moment’s notice, and she knew about Terry. That made her a danger to me.

I wound up choosing denim stretch shorts and a top that basically amounted to a sports-bra. If I had to move quickly then I didn’t want anything hampering me. Once I slipped into a pair of running shoes I performed the Protection spell that DC taught to me the day before.

“There,” I said as I looked into the mirror. “That should help some… I hope.”

As an afterthought I stopped at the door to the bedroom. “DC do you need to take over? Am I in danger?”

I opened myself to her but there was no answer and she didn’t take control, meaning she either thought I could handle it, or she thought I was safe.

“Great… well, stand by. I don’t particularly want my ass kicked today.”

Stopping at the back door, I adjusted the stretch shorts; they kept trying to wedge up my butt, and wearing them made me feel even more naked than I was that morning. Looking down at my breasts, I adjusted them too. Don’t think I wasn’t somewhat annoyed about her crack about lacking in that region. I was a B-cup for crying out loud. Just because I wasn’t all D-cup droopy like her… Nevermind.

At the top of the stairs, I incanted the Warding spell and felt it take effect, which should have sent Jennifer Kale flying out of the door. I was kind of annoyed when it didn’t

“That spell only works against people trying to do you harm, dumbass.”

I grumbled to myself at her barb and stalked down the stairs. She was eyeing my hideaway with disgust.

“When’s the last time this has been cleaned? It’s disgusting. I think the only thing holding it together is dirt… eww, and your various bodily fluids.”

Showing her that she wasn’t going to get under my skin, I crossed the floor and dropped down on the hideaway making sure to rub as much bare skin across the threadbare fabric as was possible. Considering how much was showing, that’s saying something. Jennifer wrinkled her nose and backed up, her eyes tracking around the room until they stopped on at a significant place.

“This is where Terry Coomes was shredded by the demon like a wedge of cheese through a grater, wasn’t it?”

I didn’t acknowledge her comment. If there was one thing about being the son of a lawyer taught me it was never admit to anything in front of someone you don’t know. It was best to redirect them.

“Is there a point to all this?”

She sniffed and looked at the rest of my belongings as if they were beneath her. “The point, Ariel Chylde, is that you have stumbled upon something that is beyond your comprehension.”

“I go by Darcy Dahl.”

“What you go by is of no consequence. Your true name is Ariel Chylde. It is the name that holds power over you and you cannot deny its existence on a whim. Thinking so will only cause problems in the future.”

My tongue ran over my teeth as I considered her. “And your name is Jennifer Kale, who are you exactly and why should I care?”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “I’m the most powerful user of magic on this planet and that book your mother discovered is rightfully mine by blood.”

She caught me off guard with both revelations, so I came back with the only defense I could think of at the moment. “Well, if you can find the book, you can have it.”

Jennifer huffed. “You’ve already bonded with the damn thing and you know it. The only way to retrieve it is your death. Now, do you really want me to take it by force?”

I suddenly felt about three inches tall. “Uh… no.”

Her eyes lifted to the ceiling and she paused to rub them like she was tired. “Look, I know all of this isn’t your fault, for the most part, that’s the only reason I haven’t bound you. Dormammu has his claws so deep in you I’m actually surprised you haven’t fully turned.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “Turned?”

She did the okay thing with the middle finger again and waved it at me. “Look at your skin, Ariel.”

Something was shimmering over every inch of my arms and legs, not to mention my midsection. It was orange in color and there was a slight movement involved as well. I tried brushing it off, but it didn’t help at all.

“What is that?”

“The Flames of Faltine, or a taste of it at any rate. I assume Dormammu tried to make a bargain with you and gave you a piece of his power to show you how trustworthy he was?”

I nodded without even thinking. “Can I get rid of it?”

She shrugged. “Sure, just grab the closest cheese cutter and peel back a few layers of skin. That should clear it right up.”

“What is it with you and cheese?” I snapped.

Jennifer touched her lower abdomen. “Lactose intolerant. Gives me the worst gas.”

“TMI,” I sang while covering my face at the thought of what she just told me.

“You should know these things, Ariel, being my apprentice means you’ll be doing the grocery shopping… among other things.”

I pulled my hand away and looked at her in disbelief. “Your what?”

“My apprentice; and this is no reference to that idiot on the television with the hair.”

Snapping to my feet, I looked down at her. She couldn’t have been more than five-eight at the most. “No offense, but I can’t really stand you for the five minutes I’ve been down here. What makes you think I want to study under you?”

Jennifer’s eyes sparkled for a moment and she turned, throwing up both hands. “In the name of the All-Seeing, the All-Knowing, the All-Freeing, -- appear before me now! Rise from the Amulet of Agamotto — Jennifer Kale commands it!”

A portion of the cinderblock wall disappeared and in its place was an aerial scene point of view, swooping down over a town set aflame. People were running and burning, falling to ash before they’d moved more than a few yards. It was then that I’d recognized a star-shaped building nearby.

“That’s my school… sorta.”

“It’s the future Ariel Chylde, your future if you choose to stay. You will play the focal role in the rise of Dormammu in this dimension, and there is his gateway.”

The center of the school exploded outward and a great flame-covered talon-fingered red hand followed right after. The ground around the building started spraying up rock and flame as more of the gargantuan horror rose from the Earth.

“How can I… I wouldn’t…”

Jennifer chuckled. “Who do you think is burning the town and offering the sacrifices to him, making all of this possible?”

Her hand twisted and the viewpoint changed, pulling away. There, the dragon I’d seen the last few times in my dream state flew through the air and someone was at its neck with green-scaled arms and impossibly long claws on equally long fingers rode the beast. Her eyes were shining a sickly yellow and anger was on her face. But there was one thing that I noticed more than the rest. That face was mine.

“No,” I whispered. The dragon made another strafing run and I watched as more of the town turned to ash before my eyes. “Why?”

“You revealed your power and were found complicit in Terry Coomes murder, and Perry Stodghill’s execution.” My look brought a grim smile from her face. “Yes, the boy dies in your place, unfairly.”

She swiped at the image against the wall and it vanished. “They came for you and the dragon was much stronger. It defended you and itself against the townspeople, unknowingly sacrificing them for Dormammu. Not to worry; I eventually defeat him, no thanks to that upstart Rasputin who didn’t even bother to lift a finger. Hmph.”

My butt connected with the hideaway and I didn’t even realize I sat down. “I should have just left.”

“Don’t worry, you will be leaving. I just need to go make a few adjustments and we can move on.”

Looking up at her, my vision swam. I had to wipe at my eyes for it to clear up. “What are you talking about?”

“You can’t stay here, obviously. You hold too much knowledge and not enough control. Your alter-ego isn’t a very good teacher even if she is more practical.”

The thought of running away sounded good and bad all at the same time. Dad wouldn’t stand for it that was for sure.

“I can’t leave my dad. It would kill him.”

Jennifer looked down at me with sympathy that I didn’t know she possessed. “If you don’t leave, you will wind up killing him, but don’t worry, I already have this figured out. You’ll be leaving, but you won’t. Go pack your clothes, Ariel while I work this out. When you’re ready then come back down.”

Bordering on a severe depression I dragged myself up and started up the stairs.

“Oh, and Ariel? Just your girl things; you won’t need anything else. Leave anything that you moved here with.”

~O~

The bags were packed. I used green trash bags since I was told to not bring anything I’d arrived with; three of them sat by the back door. I really hadn’t built much of a wardrobe because I wasn’t going to spend more than the necessary amount of time as Darcy as needed.

I thought of leaving Dad a note, but what would I have said? Failing after the third attempt, I crumbled up the piece of paper and tossed it in the trash.

Wiping at my cheek again I took one last look around and picked up the bags.

Jennifer was busy on the floor where the demon took Terry. There was a circle of red light and a whole bunch of funky symbols around the inner ring.

“What are you doing?”

“Fixing a mistake. You were never meant to possess the Book of Zhered-Na, and without its presence, you would have never activated your metagene. There’s nothing I can really do about that now, because if I took the dragon out of you… let’s just say it would be messy and leave it at that.”

She stood and backed away from the circle. “What I can do is take you out of your old self.”

“You mean DC?”

She shook her head. “No, she’s not really real, Ariel. She’s the book, the dragon, and your sub-conscience all mixed together. I’m taking a portion of you out of yourself, sort of. At the end of this, there will be two Ariel Chylde’s. One that was before and one that was after. The one that was before will be staying here with your father.”

“What?” I’m sure she could hear the hurt feelings in my voice.

“It’s still you. In every way that is important and real. I’m not making a copy. This Ariel will be injured by Terry Coomes, but the difference this time around is that Terry will not die. Instead he will be arrested and jailed and you will go about your life as you should have before.”

I sighed. “And I get to be your slave in return? How is that fair?”

“You’ll hardly be a slave. You may come and as go as you wish and you will learn to control your magical knowledge. During this time you will live with me. Your needs will be cared for by me, as your teacher. You will receive a stipend or an allowance if you will, for your work, and you will attend school.”

Turning around, I went and slammed myself down on the stairs. “And all I have to do is give up my father. Why can’t you just stop the demon from killing Terry?”

She shrugged. “I could, but it’ll just happen again and that time I might not be around to fix everything. Besides it’s not like you won’t be around family or anything. I’m your cousin. We’re family.”

I rolled my eyes. “Joy.”

Watching the spell work was now the weirdest thing I’d ever seen. It was like everything in the cellar went into super-fast rewind mode, right up until the point where Terry had me pinned, with his knee in my back. Then everything stopped.

Jennifer performed some cheesy line like before, calling on some amulet thing to split me in twine, I’m guessing that meant two, or it had something to do with string. A female ghost lifted up out of my pinned body and floated over to me. I felt a tingling sensation and then the action resumed for all of five seconds while I heard a wet pop sound coming from me lying on the floor.

Ouch. I was so glad I didn’t remember that happening because it looked really painful.

Then Jennifer zapped the crap out of Terry with some magic Taser or something.

“Time to go.”

I looked back and forth. “What we’re just going to leave me there?”

“Trust me. It’ll be painful, but the other you will be able to get up in a minute and make it upstairs to tell your dad. He’s just got a dislocated shoulder. It’ll heal.”

Another piece of the wall disappeared and I saw what looked like a room surrounded by windows. “Get your bags and move, Ariel, come on.

Picking up the three bags I looked at the frozen scene one last time.

~O~

Houston. Guh.

I was staring out of a floor to ceiling double-paned, half inch thick glass window over the city. Who in their right mind lives in an office building on the fifty-fifth floor? Jennifer Kale, that’s who.

And what kind of name was Kale? I didn’t remember any family members in the vegetable group. It wasn’t unusual. Like I’d said before, my mother’s side of the family was enormous. Even I didn’t know who I was related to. She very well could be some fifth cousin three times removed and I’d never know it without a family tree to examine.

My new room consisted of what was once executive office space. She supposedly had one just like it at the other end of the hall. There was a very small bedroom with its own bathroom and the bigger room out front was an office, or in my case, a living area/work area/studying area/ whatever else area.

She told me the windows were treated with reflective film and she’d also had some spell-work on them that prevented anyone from seeing inside. That’s why I was standing there sipping at a mug of green tea in a pink silk robe and nothing else.

That wouldn’t normally be a big deal, but soon after she left me alone, I switched back to guy mode to make sure it worked and I haven’t been back since. That was yesterday.

I think I slept all of about two hours during the night. It was an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room and I didn’t have any of my stuff around to comfort me. No computer, no games, no music, nothing. And during all of that I couldn’t get it out of my head that my other self was living the life I should be living.

He got to kiss Susan and be with Dad.

The mug went to the oversized desk and I sat down on the floor to begin yet another round of crying. I swear I’d never cried so much over the previous twelve hours than I had in my entire life with the exception of mom’s funeral.

The door to the office opened unexpectedly and I heard Jennifer’s voice. “Knock Knock.”

I grabbed the robe and pulled it together so I could minimize my embarrassment at having to wear girls clothes as a guy, but it was a wasted effort.

“What are you doing on the floor and why are you a guy again?” She sounded mystified at both possibilities.

I wiped at my cheeks and stared out the window, ignoring her.

“Ariel, what are you doing.”

“Is this my punishment?” I asked.

“Punishment? What are you talking about?”

She stood somewhere to the left of me I saw out of the corner of my eye. “You know, when you do something bad and you get all your important things taken away from you… punishment.”

“Oh.” She sighed like I was a burden that she had to deal with. “No, if anyone’s being punished it’s me. Now go change back into your proper body and get dressed. You have duties to attend to before we sign you up for school. And pick something nice; don’t wear anything slutty like you did yesterday.”

When she spun around and left the room I rubbed my eyes and whispered. “I hate you.”

One thing I noticed, ever since Jennifer abducted me, was that the change between boy and girl mode was a lot faster. I don’t know what she did to me with that spell where she forced me into my girl body, but it made changing genders almost like walking from one room to another.

Grabbing one of the bags, I upended it on the queen-sized bed and frowned at the clothes. Then I grabbed the other and did the same and again for the third. Everything was wrinkled since I didn’t bother to unpack.

I chose a pair of distressed jeans that Susan picked out for me on our shopping trip and a cami. Underwear consisted of just regular bikini panties and a plain bra that matched the color of the top. That was about as nice as I felt at the moment.

Once I was dressed, I tied my hair back and ran a brush over it once before slipping on some sandals. When I was done, I went back out and sat down again on the floor to stare out the window at the worker bees in other buildings moving from office to office.

Thirty minutes later she came back dressed in something that might be considered motherly. It was a joke; it had to be.

Jennifer was in her late twenties with a nice body and huge breasts which she liked to show off at any given moment; at least it seemed that way to me. But to see her in some poofy dress with her hair made up like she was ten years older, and a single string of pearls around her neck brought visions of some of those old black and white reruns of TV shows I’d occasionally pass on the way to better television.

One look at me and she sighed rather roughly. “I said something nice, not whatever is passing for bohemian chic these days.”

In a huff she turned to go into the bedroom. I heard her intake of breath then she came back out. “Why haven’t you hung up your clothes? They’ll have to ironed or washed again. If you want to live here you’ll follow my rules and do as I say…”

I didn’t even let her finish before I scrambled to my feet. “I don’t want to live here! I want to live with my dad! You can’t just kidnap kids and expect them to be perfect little robots! I hate you!”

And with that I rant to the bedroom and slammed the door, locking it and threw myself on the bed to continue my cry-fest.

~O~

The day moved on. I missed lunch and resumed my position on the floor, but this time I move to the corner and leaned against the wall to stare at the little cars on the little streets and the little people that got into them and drove away.

My stomach growled and I knew I was hungry since it was near dinner time, but the thought of food made my insides twist. The only thing that came to mind was that it was Thursday and that meant it was spaghetti night back home. I would make the pasta and Dad would toast the garlic bread. We’d sit at the table and tell me a little about whatever case he was working on and I’d tell him about school or a new game that I got.

Then we’d separate and he’d go to sift through his law books and I’d do whatever.

It was bland, but it was my life, and I never realized how much I missed it until it was gone.

A knock sounded at the office door, but I ignored it and wished Jennifer would just leave me alone. Eventually she knocked one more time and then just gave up.

The next morning found me struggling out of bed since I still hadn’t bothered to put the clothes away. I took a shower because I was beginning to stink, then dressed similar to the way I was before: jeans, cami, and sandals. I gave up trying to be a guy again, mainly because I didn’t have any clothes and felt weird about wearing girl’s stuff as a guy.

It didn’t really make any difference either way, just more hair and boobs.

My butt hurt from sitting on the floor for so long so I dropped down onto the leather executive chair and slumped over the blotter on the desk with my head cradled on my crossed arms.

I wondered what Susan was doing. Probably in the middle of class or thinking about what she and the other Ariel were going to do that night. Friday night was date night and that meant they’d be together at the stupid field where it all started. She’d kiss him and have sex with him and I’d be here with the wicked witch of Houston.

Jennifer didn’t bother knocking this time. She just strode on in like she owned the place, which apparently she did and sat herself across from me in one of the two chairs that were available. I didn’t even bother twitching at her presence.

“I didn’t kidnap you. I gave you a choice. Now you can sit here and waste away or you can do something about what started this whole thing to begin with. That means you need to learn. That’s why I offered you the apprenticeship.”

Looking out the window from my place at the desk, I snorted. “You didn’t offer me anything. You declared I was your apprentice and started barking orders. And I’m pretty convinced that you’re just waiting for me to die so you can get your precious book. I wish I’d never seen the damn thing.”

All that came out in a rather hoarse voice because I hadn’t had anything to drink since the green tea the morning before.

Her voice took on a different tone than before, softer I suppose. “I was ten when my mother died. I don’t know who my father is. I went from foster home to foster home until I graduated high school and began my studies in magic.”

I blinked and continued to stare out the window.

“So I know what it’s like to be ripped away from everything that gave you comfort. That’s why I’m trying to set things in motion to stabilize your life, Ariel. I’m trying to give you purpose so you can put the past behind you. That means keeping you busy and not sitting here moping.”

Picking my head up, I looked at her. “Then quit being a bitch. We may be cousins but we’re not family, not by a long shot.”

Jennifer looked like she was holding herself back from snapping at me. Her voice took on a tense tone, but she kept it civil. “Then what do you suggest? How do we make this work? You can’t go back to your old home; you know the reasons why. So where do you go from here?”

I slumped, knowing that she was right, even though she was the world’s foremost expert on how not to be tactful.

With a frown firmly placed on my face. “School.”

She nodded. “That’s a good place to start.”

That’s when I noticed that Jennifer was holding something in her hand. She leaned forward and put them on the desk. “I had a friend of mine enter you into public record.”

I picked up the stack of cards and words left my mouth before I was thinking. “You actually have friends?”

As soon as I’d said it I’d regretted being as bitchy as she was. “Sorry, that was rude.”

Her lips pursed at me, but she let it go. “Yes, as amazing at it may seem. You’ll find your address updated to here on your identification, a bank card that is connected to the account I will deposit your stipend into, library card, and various shopping cards.”

I looked at the ID. It was just a state issued card and not a driver’s license. I guessed with the ability to open a door to anywhere, Jennifer didn’t feel the need to drive.

“Now, I can give you a choice. Would you like me to take you shopping for some proper clothes that would be expected of someone of your new status or would you like to go by yourself?”

Considering that I didn’t have a clue as to where I was in relation to anything since I’d never even visited Texas before much less Houston, I deferred to her. “With you I guess.”

She nodded. “Good. Now, let’s get you registered at school and then we’ll go shopping.”

~O~

We stepped out of the portal Jennifer made into the school itself. The area we emerged was empty of people and as I scanned the place I spotted what had to be the main office.

“Where are we at?” I asked.

“Jersey Village Senior High School. It’s located in the northwest portion of suburban Houston. I thought it best to choose a school that was known for its curriculum and for the type of people that attend. They’re more like you and not inner city. You’ll be less likely to have to use your powers here to defend yourself.”

I almost laughed at the thought. It made me wonder where she grew up if she thought suburbia was any better than inner city. The only difference I’d ever seen was that the students were better dressed.

She looked around confused until I pointed to the place where we should be.

When we entered the office she took point and I meandered around a couple of bulletin boards where activity postings were at. From the looks of things they had a club for every conceivable type of activity there was.

“Ariel.”

I turned around to see Jennifer taking a seat and holding about fifteen pounds of paper work. It wasn’t really that much, but it seemed like it. I sat beside her and watched as she slid her hand over the entire stack. All of my information appeared, filling in all the blanks with pertinent information.

“Whoa.”

Jennifer smirked. “You too can do this if you want to learn. Now, take a look at everything. There are some choices that you have to make for extracurricular activities and so forth. I’ve filled in the basic information, insurance, emergency contact list and so forth.”

The first thing I noticed was my name. Ariel Rae Chylde-Kale. The Rae portion wasn’t so jarring since my male middle name was Raymond. I’d figured it would be feminized at some point, but the last name?

“Why am I Chylde-Kale?”

“Because in the eyes of the law, I’m your guardian, and the Kale name holds sway in this city.”

I frowned. “I thought you were an orphan.”

“I am, but that doesn’t mean I’m not rich and influential.”

“I’m not calling you Mom.”

She just smirked and pointed at the paperwork, for me to get busy.

Most of it I didn’t care about. Being a junior in high school only left me a few options for electives, so I chose Russian I as a foreign language, Photography I as an extra since I had always like taking pictures, and I perused the list of Gym alternates. There was no way I was going to be stripping down daily in the girl’s locker room if I could avoid it. That much angst I could do without.

“Why don’t you choose Dance?” Jennifer suggested.

I looked at her like she was insane. “No thanks. I don’t have any deep seated desires to wear a tutu.”

She giggled and it was the oddest sound coming from her mouth, like it didn’t belong there — ever. “That’s Classical Dance; regular Dance is for the school drill team. You go out and dance for the boys on the football team… nevermind. That was probably a bad idea.”

“No kidding.”

Jennifer pointed out something else. “How about Yoga and Pilates? That would help you with your spell work.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded. “Pilates is always a good activity. It keeps the body in shape and Yoga will help with meditation which is a large part of getting in touch with your magic and controlling it. I spend at least two hours a day meditating.”

I shrugged. “I guess.”

“Good, we’re finished.”

Jennifer gathered up all the papers and left behind various pamphlets, and a bound student handbook. She spent a few minutes talking to someone and then shook her head, gesturing to toward me. A sense of claustrophobia started niggling at me so I got up and stepped out into the open hallway. Lucky me, the bell just rang.

The halls started filling with people moving from class to class. I was immediately singled out for most of the male population’s viewing pleasure, which made me turn right back around and reenter the office.

My faux-mother waved me to her. “Ariel, this is Mrs. Bottoms. She needs to take your picture for your student ID.”

Used to the procedure, I assumed the position and heard the click. A few minutes later and the machine spit out a card, and thus I was reborn into my new hell.

~O~

“Try this one,” Jennifer called out as she set yet another outfit over the door to the changing room.

“I haven’t even gotten the last one on yet, and I am not wearing yellow, you can forget that.”

I heard her displeasure from behind the door and it made me smile a little. “What colors do you want to wear?”

“I like black, and red, blue is okay, and green sometimes, but the fruity colors suck.”

“You have a pink robe. That’s not fruity?”

“Susan picked that out for me and thanks again for reminding me about what I left behind.”

She growled and pulled two of the outfits down.

~O~

“I don’t need all this underwear.”

She was going insane filling up the shopping tote with virtually every conceivable thing in the store.

“It’s called lingerie, Ariel, and a girl can never have too much.”

I sighed and tried to use logic. “I won’t have anywhere to put it. My dresser will already be full from the last place we stopped.”

She waved the problem away. “I’ll expand your room and add another. Not to worry.”

Trying to make sense of that made my brain hurt. How would expanding a bedroom and adding a second dresser solely for the storage of lingerie be logical?

~O~

We didn’t spend any length of time in the shoe store, not more than it took her to talk to the manager on duty, swipe her card and leave.

“What did you just do?”

Jennifer threw me a look. “This is where I do all of my shoe shopping. They have the best and they’re willing to deliver all the newest styles every season.”

“Deliver? How many shoes are we talking about here?”

It was her turn to look at me like I was going crazy. “Well… all of them.”

I blinked. “You just bought the entire store?”

She giggled that mangled laugh of hers. “Don’t be stupid. Just the size six for me and size nine for you, and even then, only one pair of each.”

~O~

It was night before we retreated home. Jennifer stopped off at an Italian restaurant and ordered take out. I was famished. Having worked though the worst of my depression with activity had reawakened my appetite. As much as I’d hated to admit it, Jennifer was right about that. Not much else, mind you.

We ate and I ate some more. She was amused by that, so I grabbed a couple extra breadsticks and went to my room. There were bags everywhere in the office. It was then that I’d realized exactly how much we’d bought. I’d never be able to pay her back.

Yes, I had an issue with taking money from other people. At home, I’d earned it doing special projects for Dad. Here, I hadn’t done anything but cry and sulk.

When I gathered up two handfuls of bags I went into the bedroom and nearly fell down at how it had changed.

Gone was the tiny room from before. It looked like a wall had been knocked out into the office space next door. Everything was already nicely decorated, and I had two dressers and an armoire.

“When did she have the time to do this?”

“I made a copy of my rooms,” she said from behind making me nearly leap out of my shoes. “Sorry, I thought you heard me knock. Here, let me help with that.”

Both her hands came out, her fingers bent in specific directions as she pointed them at the bags. All the clothes shot out, were divested of their tags, then they were shook. The folding wrinkles that are always on new clothes came out and everything looked freshly washed.

Dozens of hangers emerged from the closet and before I knew it everything was hung up and stored. Several drawers opened and they were filled with lingerie, shorts, socks, incidentals. My makeup found its way to its table and mirror then all of the bags folded up neatly and disappeared.

“Always recycle.”

Okay, I was supremely impressed. “That was…” I was about to say awesome, but I realized that I was a little too enthusiastic when I was supposed to be hating her. “I mean that was pretty cool,” I said nonchalantly.

She smiled knowingly which I hated. “It’s okay to like magic, Ariel. It’s not just for doing harm and interfering with your life. Sometimes it can be very useful.”

We stood looking at each other for a few moments before she broke the silence. “I’ll let you settle in. If you need anything, I’m right down the hall.”

Before she’d made it to the outer office door I stopped her. “Jennifer?”

She stopped and looked back.

“Why here? Why an office building? Why not a house?”

She nodded in understanding at my question. “You’ll learn some of this during your first actual lesson in magic. The world is a spider’s web of magical power. Picture that web surrounding the Earth. There are certain places where several strands of magic intersect where magic is at its most concentrated. One floor above us at 777 feet in the sky above Houston is the strongest focal point on the planet. From here we can accomplish anything we set our minds to.”

I swallowed at the thought.

“Good, you have a healthy respect for what that means. It’s an awesome responsibility to be the strongest witch in existence and almost as much to be her apprentice. By awesome I don’t mean Wow, like totally awesome! I mean it as a heavy burden to bear. You will be required to make decisions that will weigh heavily on other people’s lives for the greater good of all the people on Earth. You may have an idea about what I mean.”

She opened the door and stood at its edge. “Sleep well, Ariel. Tomorrow we will begin.”

I ate one of my breadsticks as I ran a bath, sprinkling salts and a few beads in the water. No, I didn’t normally take baths, but I needed to relax after a particularly trying two days. Plus, girls took baths, right? They were supposed to be some gateway to nirvana or so the commercials on TV said.

After tying up my hair, I stepped in and sank below the suds. It felt particularly nice, but it wasn’t orgasmic or anything. I gave myself a quick scrub noticing that I still didn’t need to shave. That made me wonder if whatever burned me totally torched my hair follicles. In some ways that would be convenient. I’d never have to worry about razor blades, but I also knew I’d look like this forever, all bare prepubescent skin without even a patch between my legs.

Yeah, it looked sexy on some of the girls in magazines, but it felt incomplete to me in a way.

I closed my eyes and leaned back, trying again to get in touch with DC. I hadn’t heard from her in two days and it was starting to worry me. She was my last contact from my previous life and I was greedy of anything I could hold on to in that respect.

Nothing.

~O~

This morning it was me that sought out Jennifer for once. She was in the kitchen, another office that was retrofitted with a pretty nice set up. She was lounging with her laptop doing something while breakfast was cooking itself on the stove.

“How do you like your eggs?”

I decided to screw with her a little. “Um, poached with country gravy.”

In response she raised an eyebrow then waggled her fingers at the kitchen. “You look nice today.”

I looked down at the soft pleated shorts I was wearing that looked more like a really short skirt than anything else and a smocked flutter-sleeve shirt that hung just off my shoulders. Yes, I’m learning the correct description of clothes now. It’s disgusting. The top was orange and the shorts were pinkish. Jennifer called the colors something else, but to me they were orange and pink. The strangest part about the whole outfit was the shoes.

I was wearing heels. Gray suede slingback wedge sandals. They weren’t all that tall, only two inches which evened me out to six feet tall. I think I was wanting to make Jennifer feel really short or something. Looking at myself in the mirror that morning all I could see were impossibly long sculpted legs that I’d love to be wrapped around me as a guy. Instead, I’d be doing the wrapping. Yeesh, there was a thought.

“Thanks.”

When I sat down, Jennifer gestured to my legs. “You might want to cross them or you’re going to kill some poor guy when he tries to scam a look and falls flat on his face.”

I blinked. “They’re shorts.”

She smiled knowingly. I was really beginning to hate that smile. “Yeah, but they’re very loose, and it looks like a skirt at first glance. I can still tell you’re wearing your pink bikini panties underneath.”

My thighs slammed shut and I pulled my right leg over my left. I was annoyed at how comfortable it felt rubbing my smooth calves together like that.

“So have you come up with a line to keep the boys away?”

I shook my head in confusion. “Sorry?”

“Boys. Face it, Ariel. You’re like supermodel tall, and not too badly built. Boys are going to be crawling all over each other at school to get a date with you, that is if you don’t scare them away first.”

“I’m not gay...” I stopped and thought about how that sounded considering the body I was wearing. “Or whatever. I’ll just tell them I’m a lesbian.”

She giggled before sipping at her coffee. “You’d better purchase something rainbow colored before Monday then.”

A plate with my eggs floated to the table along with some another with toast.

“Just eggs and toast?”

“Hmm, yes. You don’t want to be full for your first lesson. It’s harder on the stomach.”

I considered that she was a witch. “Oh… we’re not going to be mixing in a caldron or something. Eye of newt, wing of bat…”

I got the crazy look again. “Wrong kind of witch. We manipulate energy to serve our needs. Leave the potion mixing to the commoners.”

~O~

The morning and better part of the afternoon saw me sitting on my butt inside the upper floor’s circle. Jennifer had a magic circle painted with the blood of a thousand virgins, or it could have just been red paint, one of the two.

We worked on my connection to magic and by the end of the lesson I could almost feel the otherworldliness tingling up and down my legs. I thought poor circulation was the more likely cause, but whatever satisfied Jennifer and got her off my back.

Since I did such a spectacular job with sitting, I thought I’d hit her up for school supplies, sort of.

“Well I suppose you do need a camera for photography class.” She seemed reluctant. It was almost like she thought it would be a waste of money or something.

“You just bought one of everything in a high-end shoe store that you might wear once before buying the next season’s selections. I think a professional camera that I can use for a few years, every day, would be a good investment.”

I got the raised eyebrow for that. “I’ll transfer ten-thousand dollars into your account. Anything more than that you’ll have to earn.”

My throat seized up and I nearly choked. I was thinking about six or seven hundred dollars tops. “Sure, no problem.”

“And pick up a cell phone while you’re out, one of the newer ones… make it two. I’m due for an upgrade.”

“Uh-huh. Any particular options?”

She stopped what she was doing and turned to me. “Ariel, I’ll explain something that should clear up any questions like this in the future. If they have it, I want it. That means I want you to go out and buy the best camera so by the time summer rolls around it won’t be so old that just anyone on the street has something similar. The same goes for the phone and its options, or pretty much anything.”

“Got it.”

Remember when I told you about Dad not showing off his wealth so much? Jennifer was the exact opposite.

When I turned around to go grab my purse I paused. “Um… how I’m supposed to get there?”

She shook her head. “Oh, right. I’ll have to work with you on that spell. It’s handy in situations like this. Go get your purse, and put some makeup on, Ariel. You’re not in Mayberry anymore.”

“Mayberry?”

“Nevermind, just put some makeup on. I’ll have your account transfer complete by the time you get back.”

That task was easier said than done without DC’s help. Yeah, I followed everything she did the first time she really showed me how to put it on, but that was days ago and it was only the one lesson.

“DC,” I said as I sat down in front of the mirror. “If you’re there, I really could use soom help with this stuff.”

I didn’t feel her presence but I picked up an eyebrow pencil and tried to do my best.

Twenty minutes went by. I really wasn’t going for a complete transformation, just enough to get Jennifer off my back. So that meant eyebrows, liner, mascara, lipstick, and a touch of powder.

“Not the best in the world…”

I stuck the lipstick in the purse and hung it on my shoulder.

She frowned at me when I made it back. “Remind me to go over proper makeup application tomorrow.”

I spread my hands out. “What? I’ve been a guy for the last sixteen years.”

Jennifer handed me a tissue. “Wipe that lipstick off. It’s completely the wrong shade.”

She left and then returned a minute later. “Purse your lips.”

With a brush applicator she dabbed and then slid it across each of my lips until she was satisfied. “There, that’s better. You did well on your eyes, but that’s more of a daytime application. At night you’ll need to be more dramatic, definitely some eye shadow is needed, but it’s still daylight. Just make sure you’re back by night.”

“Eight-twenty-nine, got it.”

Jennifer paused as she recapped the lipstick and handed it to me. “You know when full dark is?”

I blinked and looked to the window. “Sunset is at seven-fifty-nine and full dark is usually thirty minutes after.”

She smiled. “You’re right. Did you look that up?”

I shook my head. “Uh, no. Ever since I started changing between a boy and a girl I just know.”

“Good to know.”

Why did I just feel like I shouldn’t have told her that?

“I’m opening a portal to the electronics shop that I use. They know me, just mention my name and let them know what you want in general terms. They’ll set you up. Call me when you’re ready to return.”

She gave me her card. Jennifer Kale

I had to stare at it for a few moments before the number showed up -- cute.

The place she let me out was across the street from the mall we’d shopped at in a place called the Galleria. That made me smile for the first time in two days. I was really yearning for a banana smoothie from a shop that I saw there the day before. However, business came first.

The store was fairly upscale and the service was pretty good considering two guys behind the counter bounced off of each other in a race to see who got to me first. There were some advantages to being leggy.

A guy with a black t-shirt with the store logo on it and a nametag that read Luke beat his competitor.

“Hi, I’m Luke.”

I grinned lightly at his enthusiasm. “Hi Luke. I’m Ariel. Jennifer Kale sent me.”

His eyes lit up even more. It was weird seeing him face to face like that. I was so used to people being shorter than I was especially in the heels I was wearing.

“Of course. You must be her youngerrr…”

“Cousin.”

“Right. How can I help you today, Ariel?”

“Jennifer said she wanted to get an upgrade for her cell and wanted me to get one like it.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s been almost two months since she moved up. I was beginning to think she’d gone somewhere else.”

Two months? I’d be lucky if I could upgrade every two years.

He turned around and looked at his partner. “Kale account upgrade times two.”

His eyes widened and he snapped to. “On it.”

Luke turned around. “He’ll have that ready in five minutes, Ariel. Is there anything else I can show you today?”

I giggled at the scene. Jennifer had these boys whipped into knowing exactly what to do. I don’t know why I even asked. “Yeah, I’m taking a photography class and she said I should get the best. Can you help me out?”

He gave me a single nod. “Right this way. You’re looking for professional grade I assume, for those sometimes hard to get shots?”

“I guess. I’m normally used to taking pictures around the house, but I just moved in with Jennifer and well…”

Luke held up his hand. “Say no more. If Ms. Kale has taken you under her wing then I already know the requirements.”

He stepped behind the counter and unlocked a display case to pull out this monster camera with an equally monster lens.

“Whoa. That’s big.”

“This is the Nikon D3s. Twelve megapixel, standard in the industry. They have a twenty-four meg, but it’s still new and kind of buggy at the moment. I’m not a big fan. This should take care of all your needs.”

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it.” I bit my lip and saw the price tag on the display seat. $6500. “Do I need anything else with it?”

He stood there, with a glint on seriousness in his eye. “Do you trust me Ariel?”

“This is for school. I’m not opening a studio or anything.”

He grinned. “I’ll set you up with a flash, an alternate lens in addition to this for everyday shots, a decent storage card, carrying bag, and cleaning equipment.”

I nodded and hoped it wouldn’t be more than ten thousand.

It wasn’t -- barely. The phones ramped up the price, but I still got away under $8000. The smoothie wasn’t nearly as expensive.

Sitting at one of the fancy tiny-tables, in front of the purveyor of fine smoothie goodness, I sipped on my drink and was paging through the operation manual for the monster camera I’d just bought. Apparently if you press the correct series of buttons under the proper menus and clicked the right switch, it would bear your children. I’m exaggerating, but not by much.

After I finished, I looked around. I’d had more than enough shopping experience the day before to last me a lifetime, so I bid the mall goodbye and found a secluded alcove before calling Jennifer.

~O~

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, except I actually did something with only the power of my mind and a wiggy hand gesture. Granted making a pencil roll across the desk after three hours of concentrating on it wasn’t a major accomplishment for Jennifer, but it was wicked for me.

Monday morning found me stepping out of a portal and listening to my heels click on the tile the school had installed near their commons area. I didn’t really want to wear heels for my first day of class, but Jennifer insisted that I make a good impression and not tarnish the name of Kale.

If anything happened, I decided, it would be her own fault for tagging it on the end of mine.

I found my locker and stored some of the load I was carrying with me. The camera bag would have to go to the photography lab, with all its extras. I’d wind up having a back problem carrying it around all day otherwise. The camera, of course stayed with me. It was insured, but there was no way I was letting that thing out of my sight. Luckily I had a decent-sized backpack.

I’d arrive at the lab a little early and had to wait five minutes for the teacher to show up.

“Can I help you?”

I nodded. “I’m Ariel Chylde. It’s my first day and the information pack said I could leave some of my equipment here?”

She smiled at me. “A shutterbug are we?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, come on in,” she said as she turned the lights on. “Find yourself an empty locker and tell me what the number is.”

She walked over behind her desk and used a key to open one of the drawers.

“Twenty-three,” I called out. She nodded and made a note before writing something on a strip of paper.

“Here you go. That’s the combination for that locker. Don’t lose it or share that with anyone else.”

When I stored my bag in there, I thought I’d lost about ten pounds instantly. Unzipping the main portion I took out the camera and set it inside my backpack.

“Was that a D3?” I heard her say.

I looked up and the teacher was staring at me, looking kind of excited. “Uh, yeah.”

She nodded approvingly. “Well I expect to see some nice shots from you, Ariel. I’m Miss Connors by the way.”

We shook hands and I closed my locker. “Anything in particular that you’re looking for?”

Miss Connors shrugged. “Anything that promotes school spirit goes without saying, but if you see anything that speaks to you don’t hesitate to capture it. Oh, we have one more position open on the school paper and I have three others in competition would you like me to include your name?”

“Yeah, I guess.” I’d only just bought the thing and hadn’t had any formal training, or informal for that matter, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

I’d spent half the night shooting anything and everything around my room to get used to how the thing worked. Jennifer was completely annoyed with me by day’s end.

See, there’s a silver lining in every cloud.

TBC...