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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 8 folks. Things are about to get very interesting, very quick. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Eight:

When I woke up the next morning, I felt particularly relaxed. Most of the events of the night before were long gone from my head. I guess it helped that Uncle Jim and I had a nice long talk. He wanted to know everything---starting with the real reason why I was at the warehouse. I thought about lying, but like I said before, he’d know. So I found myself telling the truth and it was strangely invigorating. I don’t think he was too happy with it but he did say that he was glad I didn’t make something up. He scolded me a bit about it though, which only got worse when I told him about last night. He said all he could do was ground me for the day, telling me to stay in the house. I was kinda excited about that actually; I’d never been grounded before. It made me feel like I was finally in a real relationship with someone---the kind where the kid does something wrong and the adult punishes them the proper way.

I smiled about it as I stripped out of my shirt and got into the shower. While the warm water washed over my newer, sensitive body my thoughts drifted to the Manor of all places. Leslie had told me not to go into work for a few days to help me adjust to things. She also said she’d square things away with Bruce to at least get me a few days off there as well. Though it kinda annoyed me, it was a lot of help. As much as I love going there, I was kinda glad I had a day or two for myself. My thoughts drifted to school after that and of course to Arnold. Last night I had accepted his anger toward me but now it kinda pissed me off. It seemed to me that Arnold wanted to go through his whole life with people shoving him around and I guess I couldn’t stop him. But there’s no way I could stand by and watch others do it. It pissed me off to see the big prey on the little.

When I got out of the shower, the phone was ringing. I just managed to wrap a towel around my wet self and run into my room to answer. “Hello” I said, a bit out of breath.

“Is this Miss Stephanie Brown?” asked a female voice on the other end.

“This is her,” I said, wondering how many people actually knew that name.

“Miss Brown my name is Special Agent Cameron Chase, I work for the Department of Metahuman Affairs, I believe Dr. Klyburn told you I might be contacting you.”

I wanted to sigh. Instead, I confirmed it. We talked for a few minutes, she asked me some questions and I answered them to the best of my ability. Then she told me the reason why she called, she was moving our meeting up to today. A car would be by to pick me up in an hour. I’m not sure I was too happy with it but who was I to argue with the government. So I told her that was fine and ended the conversation. An hour didn’t give me much time to get ready but I tried. I rushed about my room, drying off and getting dressed as quick as possible. I dressed as sensible as possible, raiding Bab’s closet again. I was just lucky she left a lot of clothes behind. I found a sensible blouse and skirt. The shoes would have to do as well though I wasn’t so sure about the heel. I’ve walked in heels before but not very far and nothing more than an inch. The two-inch ones were a bit tricky but I got the hang of them really fast---too fast in fact.

My hair was still a bit damp and my makeup was rushed but I got down the stairs with time to spare. It was a good thing too, because while I was in the kitchen fixing some toast, the doorbell rang. I groaned, taking my buttered bread with me as I went and answered the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to see a tall, stern looking man standing there. He was dressed in black from head to toe which contrasted with his well-coifed blonde hair. His casual look surprised me though; I didn’t think a government agent would wear a turtleneck.

“Miss Brown?” he asked, I nodded. “I’m Agent Tresser, DMA.”

He flipped a badge up then back down. It was too fast for me to really see but I believed him. I looked from him to his shoulder holster, I thought these guys were supposed to conceal their weapons, not leave them out in the open like that.

“I thought I was meeting with an Agent Chase?” I asked as I walked over to the closet and got out a coat. It was another item of Babs’. As soon as I got some time I was definitely going shopping. Agent Stern Face stood in the doorway the whole time, watching me as I put on the garment. He kinda freaked me out a bit.

“Agent Chase is the acting Operating Supervisor of this region; I will be handler for the duration of the DMA’s involvement in your case.”

My case? “How long will that be?”

“That is not for me to decide.”

I frowned, his face was expressionless. I wrote Uncle Jim a note---today he had no choice to go into work. I told him where I went just in case he got back before me. Then I followed Mr. Stiff Agent out to his car. It kinda surprised me too. It was one of those new Acuras, only on the market for a few months now. It was sleek and black with government plates. I was able to sit in the front seat which I think annoyed him some. When he got into the car and turned on the engine, I half expected him to speed. He looked like the kind of guy who would do something like that. But when he pulled down the drive and onto the road, he went the speed limit.

Kinda boring after all. I frowned at that.

We drove into the city. I’m not sure what I was expecting but an hour after leaving the house we pulled into a parking garage next to a gray building with a glass front. We probably passed through several different security doors---Tresser swiped his card so many times I lost count. Every hall we looked through looked the same and every door we passed had no names. It was kinda boring but it was definitely freaky. We finally came upon a room that looked semi-normal. Inside I went through what Tresser called processing. A woman handed me a gown and told me to take off all my clothes. I did so a bit reluctantly.

“Dr. Klyburn already gave me a physical,” I said when I was finished putting on the gown.

The woman nodded. “This is for our records sweetie.”

“Where am I exactly?”

The room rolled her eyes. “That man has no people skills whatsoever.”

But she didn’t answer my question, at least not right away. Instead, she went through the paces of a physical. She made me sit on an exam table while she took my temperature then blood pressure. She did some other stuff too. But just like Dr. Klyburn, she couldn’t take blood either. I was still trying to figure that out actually. According to Leslie, she took some of my blood while I was unconscious. So maybe that was the trick, not that I wanted to find out. It did freak me out a bit that they couldn’t stick a needle in my skin. I hadn’t really given what happened the other day much thought but sitting here now---in a similar situation---I couldn’t help but wonder. Was this part of my metagene? Was I now indestructible girl?

When she couldn’t take blood, she ended up swabbing my cheek too. After that, things went a little smoother. She took my weight---102---and my height. I frowned at that. I’d read somewhere that some people got taller when the Meta change happened to them but apparently I wasn’t one of them. I didn’t have to look over her shoulder when she wrote that down. When she was down with that, she did some measuring. Why the government needed to know my bust, hip and waist measurements were beyond me.

“You can get dressed now, sweetie, you’ll need your normal clothes for this next part.”

She finished writing on her clipboard and then left the room.

I pulled off the gown---happy to be rid of it---and dressed as quickly as possible. I sat in the room by myself for a few minutes then the woman came in to retrieve me. She led me down the hall to another room. This one looked like the photo room at the DMV. She made me stand in front of a large digital camera and took several pictures of me. I had my license, not that it meant much in the city. There were a lot of people who could drive but didn’t have cars. I was one of them. Dad said there was no reason for me to drive. I think he didn’t like the idea of me being able to bail from him if need be. Jen had her license too but her grandparents thought she was too young to drive by herself. We both laughed at that one, what with her being almost eighteen and all.

“What’s all this for anyway?” I asked after picture number five or six.

“Your new identification of course.”

After pictures, I was taken to another room. This one was small with a table and two chairs. The woman handed me a lot of papers and a pen. She didn’t even tell me what to do. I sat at the table and browsed through them. They were some pretty standard stuff---change of address form, change of name form. It surprised me that Uncle Jim’s signature was already at the bottom in the spot marked Guardian. They must have had him sign them earlier or something. I read over the official documents thoroughly before signing them myself---I smiled when I put Stephanie Brown down. It felt kinda good to be official like that. The next bunch of papers had to do with school. A lot of that info was already filled out; I recognized my uncle’s handwriting. All I had to do was sign but I read them just to make sure. But it was all there. I was still going to Jefferson High in the city. How I was getting there, I didn’t know. That is until I got to the last few documents in the pile. One of them was for some kind of government incentive---I guess they gave a stipend to all new recent transformees. I frowned because it didn’t say the amount but knowing our government it probably wasn’t much. The last page was a lease. When I saw it my eyes bugged out of my head: it was for a car. I couldn’t believe that the government was actually giving me a car. But when I read, further I realized it wasn’t the government at all but Uncle Jim. He’d apparently bought me a brand new 2012 Ford Focus. I couldn’t sign that one fast enough.

Ten minutes after I signed the last sheet, there was a knock on the door. Whoever was on the other side didn’t wait for me to say come in. The door opened and in walked a sharply dressed blonde woman, her hair pulled tight on the top of her head. She sat in the chair across from me, placing a folder on the table in front of her. Agent Tresser slipped into the room behind her, grimacing. Apparently, whoever she was, he didn’t look too happy about her stepping into his jurisdiction.

“Miss Brown” she asked, I nodded. “I’m Special Agent in Charge Cameron Chase.”

Ah, so that’s why Tresser was pissed. This was the boss that called me earlier then blew me off, sticking me with Agent Personality over there.

I smiled. “It’s nice to meet you at last.”

She cut right to the chase---no pun intended. She opened the folder. “You have a lot of powerful friends Miss Brown. So powerful in fact that I’m afraid they’ve completely undermined my authority here. Usually new Metas like yourself are put through an intense screening process but in your case that doesn’t seem to be necessary.”

“I don’t understand.”

She smirked. “You’re no longer our problem.” When she said it, there was ice in her voice. She was clearly a woman who did not like being told what to do. “I think we should all be so lucky as to be friends with influential billionaires.”

Billionaires? Oh God Bruce. I still hadn’t figured out what I was going to say to him or Tim. I suppose that didn’t matter anymore, the cat’s out of the bag as they say. I suppose it was no surprise, him knowing about me so quickly. The man seemed to know a lot of things and prided himself on it. All I could do was smile, hoping my happiness would wipe the sneer off this woman’s face.

So no DMA---whatever that was. No Sneering Woman, no Cold Tresser. I could definitely live with that.

___________________________________

When Agent Tresser dropped me off, I didn’t bother to say good-bye. I rushed into the house, a stack of papers under my arm. They were mine after all, the government had their copies. I carried them into the kitchen and started making phone calls. The first number I dialed was the car dealership. Apparently, my car was being shipped from an overseas factory; it would arrive in a few days. I should have been disappointed about that but I was still too damn happy I was getting one. After that, I moved onto the more official calls. First was the bank. The government set up a temporary account for me. I called the automated service, spent way too long punching buttons. When I finally to the actual account I nearly dropped the phone. Fifteen thousand dollars was not a small stipend in the least.

I had a lot of things I wanted to buy with it but college was nagging in the back of my mind. I wanted to go to Northwestern like Babs and Myka Carter. All my life I’d only had one dream: I wanted to go into law enforcement. I’d already started filling out the application too, signing myself up for the criminal justice program. From there I’d try to get into a criminal psychology program I think. As much as I dreamed about being a police officer like Uncle Jim, what I really wanted to do was get into the heads of some of these bad guys. My guidance counselor at Jefferson was already helping me get one step closer to that dream.

Speaking of Jefferson, they were my next call. I spent the longest time on the phone with them. First, I had to convince the secretary who I was then I had to convince her that I wasn’t a girl already. After that, I was put through to the Vice Principal and had to do everything all over again. In the end when I finally got the principal, he already knew about it. Apparently, Special Agent Chase gave him a call. He set up a meeting to meet with Uncle Jim and me before school tomorrow morning. After that, I would officially be a student again at Jefferson.

After the hour or so I spent on the phone with the school, I wanted to call Jen. But she was still in class. I bit my lip and realized there were at least two more calls I needed to make. The first was to Leslie. I think she was pretty happy to hear that everything was all right. When I told her I was free to come into work right now she told me to take another day off, make it official tomorrow. I was more than happy to oblige. We talked for a few minutes but she was busy teaching my temporary replacement the ropes so she had to let me go. After getting off the phone, I made my last scheduled call.

“Hey Al” I said, when the butler picked up on the third ring.

“Miss Stephanie is that you?”

“In the flesh, well sorta.”

Not even a chuckle from him. Instead, he responded with: “I didn’t recognize your voice, it sounds very lovely.”

“It sounds lovely to me too.”

We talked for a few minutes. After he asked me if I was “feeling” better, we got right down to business. I told him that I’d be starting school again tomorrow and that I was willing to start up again if Bruce still needed me. To which he replied:
“Master Bruce would be lost without you my dear.”

I’m not sure about that but it was nice of him to say. When I got off the phone, boredom set in. I made myself some lunch, then went into the living room to watch TV. But the only thing on was crummy soap operas. I found myself getting absorbed in one of them though. It was some insipid plot about identical twins. The doorbell saved me. I practically ran to the door and yanked it open. I think I surprised the mailman. He blinked a few times, looking me up and down.

“This is the Gordon residence is it not?” he asked, looking at the house number.

I nodded. “I’m Commissioner Gordon’s niece, Stephanie; I’m living here from now.”

The mailman smiled. “That would explain this envelope then. I rang the bell because I thought was a mistake.”

I looked at a brown envelope on the top my name and this address hastily scrawled on it. I smiled and thanked him as he handed me the mail. I waited until he walked off before I shut the door and carried the pile to the kitchen table. Everything else was for Uncle Jim so I just left it there. I carried the envelope back into the main room with me, muting the TV in the process. I flopped on the couch and tore it open, emptying the contents into my hand. Only one thing slid out, the bus terminal key. At first, I was a bit confused then it suddenly dawned on me. I’d completely forgotten about the laptop and mailing the key to myself.

I looked at the clock as I picked up the handset. Jen was still in class, besides I still had her cell. Or what was left of it anyway, fire tends to ruin those kinds of things. So I quickly punched in the number of Babs’ cell. She picked up on the second ring.

“This is Stephanie I assume,” she said cheerfully.

“Uncle Jim is at work.”

“How are things then?”

“Good. I had a governmental visit today. They took me into the city, gave me a physical and some new ID.”

“I hope Dad knew about all this?”

I could hear the annoyance in her voice. Barbara wasn’t a fan of Big Brother.

“Uncle Jim already signed the papers.”

Babs was quiet for a second. “Was it the DEO?”

“The who?”

She sighed. “Department of Extranormal Operations.”

“Agent Tresser said he worked for something called the DMA.”

“Department of Metahuman Affairs, they’ve a division of the DEO.”

She surprised me. “How do you know that?”

Babs laughed. “They’ve been on the news once or twice. They’re the guys who deal with the Meta problems now. Any new Meta that seems to crop up these days the government tries to stick their nose into their business.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. I didn’t want to discuss her crazy theories so I quickly changed the subject. “Do you remember the laptop?” She said she did. I mean how could she forget. “Well, I put it someplace safe like you said and I mailed the key to myself. Do you think when you get a chance; you and I can go and get it?”

“You’re giving it straight to my Dad right?”

“I don’t want anything to do with the damn thing. I nearly got killed for it. Trust me when I say this Babs, my vigilante days are over.”
We talked a little bit more after that. We mainly discussed going shopping after she got out of class. I asked if I could bring Jen along and she seemed to like the idea. After that, I hung up and went back to TV. I turned the soap operas and ended up watching the news. The top story was about Thrill. Apparently, it had produced its first casualty. I wasn’t really paying much attention until I saw the face of the victim flashed across the screen. It was one of the guys from the park last night, the one that chased Arnold and me nearly to my front door. According to the reporter on scene at the hospital, the victim---Danny Wilkes---was found two blocks from the park, dead of an apparent overdose. The news switched to another story and I muted the TV again.

So now Thrill killed, that was going to make Uncle Jim’s job a lot harder. I didn’t envy him one bit. It was still kinda shocking though that it was someone I kinda knew, even if he was a scumbag who tried to pound the snot out of me last night. It made me wonder if the other three guys were at risk too. They didn’t seem to be nearly as far gone as he was but they were all pretty close. I guess the only good thing I could take out of this was that I managed to stop Arnold from going down that road too. Even though he swore never to talk to me again, I still helped him.

It made me feel good that I made at least one difference.

_______________________________________

“You’re wearing that to school?” asked Uncle Jim when I came down stairs.

The "that" in question was actually one of the airy summer dresses that Babs and I bought last night. I didn’t answer; instead, I gave him a twirl. He smiled and shook his head. After watching some more TV, I finally got a hold of Jen. I told her all about going to school and how I wanted her to come shopping with me. What girl doesn’t like shopping? Suffice to say she jumped at the opportunity. Babs picked her up first because the two of them were in the city together. I thought it was so cool that even though she was disabled she could still drive a car. Of course, it wasn’t the greatest of vehicles but it was still a car.

After she and Jen picked me up, we went to Woodfield. I’m not sure how long we spent there clothes shopping. We were there long enough to eat dinner. Then we went back to the house and put everything away in my room. Babs drove Jen home and I spent the night trying to decide what was best to wear to school tomorrow. When Uncle Jim got home, I told him about the DMA. I don’t think he was too happy that they chose to bring me in without him being present but there was nothing he could do about it after the fact. He did say he signed the papers for them yesterday at work but was under the impression they would wait a few days before they contacted me. But clearly they wanted to do it as quickly as possible.

“You don’t like what I’m wearing?” I asked as I sat at the kitchen table.

Uncle Jim placed a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me. It was nice to have someone else cook breakfast for me.

“Its very girly” he said, sitting down with his own plate.

“Well I am a girl.”

Uncle Jim looked a little uncomfortable with that statement. I think he might have been a tad bit uneasy about all of this. After all a few days ago I was his nephew---all be it a slightly feminine one---but his nephew nonetheless. Leslie and Barbara both said they explained things to him, everything in fact. He said he was ok with it but Jim was kinda old fashioned in his ways. He’d accept me but I’m sure he was extremely awkward about it. Not that I could blame him, I guess. If I was in his shoes, I’m not sure how I’d react to me. I’m sure he could tell I was unhappy as a guy---it was hard not to. I’ve dreamed all my life to become a girl and now that it happened, I was going to cherish every minute of it. I could deal with the occasional uncomfortable stares.

“I have to work after school today,” I said, picking up my second piece of crispy bacon.

“Wayne Manor?” I nodded, he sighed. “He’s a good guy; it was a horrible thing that happened to him all those years ago. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel troubled by that scene in the alley.”

“You were there?”

He nodded. “I was one of the first on the scene” He shook his head and sighed heavily. “Let’s talk about something else please.”

We didn’t talk about much after that. Uncle Jim didn’t like to talk about work, especially his early days. Not that I could blame him. Chicago was like it was now, filled to the brim with crime. Except now, there was an escalation of it, especially because of the vacuum The Bat left when he disappeared. Not that the Roving Ravager wasn’t helping but he was one guy after all. He was no Bat, though. I’m not sure how the Bat pulled it off but he actually had people afraid to commit crimes in the city. People like my father and the bastard he worked for; there was no way they would have done any of their stuff when the Bat was patrolling the streets.

After breakfast, Uncle Jim drove me into the city. Our car ride was filled with silence too. It’s hard to talk when you shared very little in common. I thought about discussing my future plans with him but Uncle Jim wasn’t a fan of the professionals trying to pass themselves off as policemen. I think he liked the idea of a beat cop---like himself---moving up through the ranks the proper way. Now these guys showed up with PhD’s and made detective easy. Not that that’s where I wanted to be. I wanted to be the woman they called in when they needed someone to get into the mind of a killer. I wanted to be able to crack the psyche of the next Hannibal Lecter. The only problem was that the world didn’t have real homicidal nut jobs like that, at least not any dumb enough to get caught by the cops.

When we got to school, the halls were deserted. We were there before it started after all. The secretary was pleasant enough, telling me I looked very pretty. When I passed the Vice Principal he gave me a look like he’d seen me somewhere before. It didn’t take long for him to put two and two together.

“You’re the girl that helped that Arnold kid the other day?”

I nodded. “Except I wasn’t a girl then, I am now.”

“You’re kidding right?” I shook my head. He laughed. “You’re something else, Miss Brown. I’ve been teaching for twenty years and you’re the first one that was ever able to fool me.”

I smiled. I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.

When we went into the principal’s office, he greeted me like we were old friends. In truth, this was the first time either of us had actually met. I think he was just excited that he had a Meta in his school; after all, I was the first. We talked for a bit then I filled out more paperwork. After that, he gave me my new schedule and a new locker. It felt kinda weird---it was like I was a completely different person now. Officially, I was the same one I guess but just female now. I didn’t have any friends in school save Jen so it’s not like anyone would notice the difference. I didn’t take Gym class and I was practically silent in most of my previous classes. I don’t think any of my teachers knew if I was a boy or girl anyway even with the roster. I liked it that way. I liked things the way they were now but I was also tired of hiding. That’s why I decided on the dress. I was ready to announce to the world that I was a girl and I was proud of it. When we left the main office, the halls were already starting to fill. A few people stared and there were some whispers.

One girl came up to me and complimented me. “Its good to see you shed that tomboy image of yours, Stephanie.”

I smiled at that, Uncle Jim looked uncomfortable.

I followed him to the front entrance.

“If you need anything or have any trouble…”

“I’ll be fine Uncle Jim,” I said, cutting him off. Then I gave him a gentle hug, it felt kinda nice.

He left and I walked to Jen’s locker, waiting for her to show. It didn’t take long. When she saw me, her face lit up. She told me I needed to make myself known and I think I achieved that pretty well. When she got to her locker, she gave me a big hug. We shared a laugh then I quickly told her about the meeting. She frowned at the VP’s comment. Leave it to Jen to be insulted.

“I can hex him if you want,” she said and we both laughed.

Everyone thought Jen was an evil witch that cursed people. No one seemed to understand Wicca at all. It took me a while to understand it too, but now I thought it was kinda cool. It was kinda fitting, us being outcasts and friends. I wouldn’t change a thing in the world.

________________________________________

I stood outside once again waiting for my ride. Bruce was sending Alfred with the car again; apparently, it would look bad if Tim picked me up on his motorcycle. Not that I cared much, I was never getting on the back of that damn thing again. While I waited for my ride, I thought back to my day at school. I was surprised at how much everything was the same. I got several more compliments, mainly about coming out of my shell. I got some sneers too, but mainly from Jordana and her brood. The only person who didn’t seem to care either way was Arnold. I passed by his locker on the way to lunch but he didn’t even look at me. I thought about stopping and trying to patch things up but knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference. He’d made his decision and he was going to stick with it. I suppose there was nothing more I could do about that.

After school, I went to the Clinic. With the new girl---Holly---things moved a lot faster. She was college age and was studying to be a nurse, so it was good to have her there. The two of us hit it off pretty quickly. We didn’t have much of a day though. There were a few scrapes and bruises. My friend Tony came in again, with another “injury”. But he wasn’t there to see me, he was all about Holly. I’m not sure how I felt about that but I guess it was better than him “hurting” himself to see me. I spent my hour or two at the Clinic then called the Manor for a pick up.

“Do you have a lighter?” asked a voice from behind me.

I turned and saw Holly, leaning against the wall of the building. There was a cigarette hanging limply from her lip. I hadn’t even heard her come out. I shook my head about her question. “No and I’d be careful about that, if Leslie sees you she’s going to skin you alive.”

Holly pulled the cigarette from her mouth and tossed it into the street. I smiled.

“So, you really work for Wayne?”

I grunted. “More like his slave.”

“That’s so cool though, is he really more handsome in person?”

I nodded. “The pictures in the paper do not do him justice.”

We talked a little more than Alfred pulled up. He wasn’t driving the usual today. I liked the Mercedes but I felt more regal in the Rolls. I got into the back, watching as Holly stared fish-eyed at the car. It was nice to impress people you just met. I waved and smiled as we drove off. Alfred was silent the whole way there, not that that bothered me in the least. It was nice to get some quiet. Holly was a nice person but she talked too much.

When I got to the Manor, I went straight to the Tower. Like every other day, I went straight to the boss first. He was sitting up in bed and still looked like he’d been hit by a truck. Not that he’d ever let on to the fact that he was in pain though. Today his pajama top was off and I could see the bandages wrapped around his torso. I could also see his finely toned muscles. He was clearly a guy who wasn’t afraid to exercise---hell he had at least three different exercise rooms. There was something else too. Staring at his naked torso, I was surprised to see a couple of old scars. It made me wonder what billionaires liked to do in their off hours.

He smiled at me. “You’re positively glowing,” he said with a laugh.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good about life these last few days actually.”

“I’ll bet,” he said.

I knew he knew and I think he knew that I knew. But both of us seemed to be playing a game of fooling the other. Does that make any sense?

“So what’s on the agenda today, boss?”

He smiled. “I’ve got some things I want you to straighten up in the parlor. Then I need your help in here. I’ve got some documents that need to be sorted.”

Documents? This was a first. So far, I’d been little more than a grunt. I couldn’t help but smile at that. I was glad that he was finally trusting me with some of the “heavy lifting” even though that’s technically all I’d been doing around here---literally. Does that make sense?

I didn’t waste any time. As soon as he dismissed me, I went into the parlor. I’m not sure what he wanted me to straighten up so I started with some cleaning. There were some magazines scattered across the little coffee table so I stacked them. Then someone---probably Tim---knocked one of the couch pillows on the floor. When I picked it up and put it back, I found a book wedged between the couch cushions. I sighed and pulled it out. Then turned and walked over to the bookshelf. It still amazed me that he had so many books and this was only a fraction of his collection. The Manor had a huge library though I had yet to explore it fully but I planned to.

I stuck the book on the shelf---sliding it into the only empty slot there. I was about to turn back to the room when I noticed that other book. I frowned at it. I was kinda anal when it came to things that looked out of place. Ever since I noticed it the first day here, it’d been kinda nagging me. I looked around just to make sure Tim wasn’t going to pop up behind me like before. Satisfied that he wasn’t there I reached and pulled the Dumas masterpiece off the shelf.

As soon as I did so, there was a clicking sound. The book only came out about halfway. I tugged it again, thinking it was stuck; then something else happened. The bookcase rumbled. I stepped back, scared I’d done something stupid. As soon as I got about a foot away, the rumbling turned into a creak and the bookcase swung open, revealing a space behind it and a staircase leading down.

I bit my lip. Holy crap.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF