Miss Johnson was angry and worried.

She was the chairwoman of the Y. F. F. H, which was a foster home for teenage girls. The Y. F. F. H's purpose was to take orphaned kids and give them a new home with a new family in their dormmates. But what only Miss Johnson knew was that she was a witch who despised boys. She viewed them as a disgrace to humanity and wanted women to take over. So whenever Miss Johnson found an orphaned boy, she would turn him into a girl before letting him move in to a dorm in her foster home. But the rule was that the new girl had to keep her previous male identity secret. Miss Johnson wanted every boy-turned-girl to think that they were the only one of their kind at the Y. F. F. H. She knew that if all the girls knew that all their dormmates and friends used to be boys, then there would be a rebellion that ended with Miss Johnson getting sued and possibly executed.

For the past few years, Miss Johnson's system had worked great. It had helped that a fair number of the kids she took in were already girls to begin with, so that made it easier. She established a rule that anyone who spilled their secret would be terminated-that is, they'd be locked up in Miss Johnson's lab to be used as a source for X chromosomes. X chromosomes were an ingredient in the potion Miss Johnson used to turn boys into girls. It needed heavy X chromosomes so as to overload the Y chromosome in a boy, making him female.

But it had all changed two and a half weeks ago. Miss Johnson had found a boy named Oliver, whose parents had died in a fire. She had turned Oliver into Olivia and had her move into a dorm with three other girls. For a week or two, things had worked out great. Olivia had bonded with her dormmates Bailey, Valeria, and Piper, as well as some of the other girls. But one evening, when Stephanie let it slip that she used to be a boy, Miss Johnson had been forced to terminate her. The very next day, Olivia had snuck into Miss Johnson's lab, bringing Bailey with her. Miss Johnson had locked all three of them up in her lab's pods, which would harvest X chromosomes from the girls until the girls lost their life force.

The day after that, Miss Johnson had gone down into her lab to find Olivia, Bailey, and Stephanie gone. She went berserk once again. How had the girls escaped? Did they get magic powers of their own and break out themselves? Did someone rescue them? Miss Johnson regretted not having security cameras in her lab a long time ago.

But if Olivia and her friends had escaped, then where were they now? Were they homeless, living on the streets? But Miss Johnson had drove all through the town and not seen any sign of Olivia, Bailey, or Stephanie. She was really worried that they might have gone and told the authorities about what Miss Johnson really did to the boys she took in. If they did, then Miss Johnson would be screwed big-time.

For two weeks, nothing happened. Miss Johnson continued to bring in new girls to join her foster home, with no police asking questions. She stopped worrying that she would be called on it. Olivia, Bailey, and Stephanie were either dead or in a new home, not telling anyone about what they had gone through.

But one day, Miss Johnson's fears came back to bite her. An inspector came to visit the Y. F. F. H, to check and make sure it was being run properly. The inspector was a man in a black suit and red tie. He came to meet Miss Johnson at the front desk, and Miss Johnson took him on a tour of the foster home. The inspector checked off all the boxes on his clipboard, meaning that the Y. F. F. H. met the government's standards for a proper foster home. After the tour, the inspector asked Miss Johnson to have a private conversation in the hotel next to the main building. Miss Johnson reluctantly agreed.

"Well, Miss Johnson," the inspector said when they were all alone. "Just recently, we put it on record that Oliver Walker had been adopted by your foster home. We also saw that many other young teenage boys were on file as living here. And yet I see no boys here. Only girls."

Miss Johnson's heart dropped like a stone. "What are you talking about? There are boys here. Just...just not on the floor I showed you around."

"Maybe so," the inspector grumbled. "Can you bring Oliver down here, so I can talk to him about how he likes it here?"

"I can't," said Miss Johnson. "He's off with his friends."

"What time will he be back?"

Miss Johnson bit her lip. In a situation like this, the best thing a witch could do was turn the inspector into a mouse or a lizard, so he wouldn't be of any more worry to her. But that would lead to a missing person case, and the cops would be all over Miss Johnson. So there was only one other course of action.

"You don't need to talk to Oliver," Miss Johnson said, placing her hand on the inspector's head. She focused all her magic into his brain, altering his memory. "He is living a great life here."

The inspector stared blankly into space for a few seconds before woozily saying, "I'm sorry, what was I saying?"

Miss Johnson smiled. "You were saying that I passed your test. My foster home meets your requirements."

The inspector nodded. "Yes, thank you," he said. "Sorry for the confusion."

"No worries," Miss Johnson said as the inspector left.

The moment he was gone, Miss Johnson started to panic. The authorities were on to them. From the way the inspector had been talking, Miss Johnson was sure he was suspicious about Oliver/Olivia. He had probably been tipped off by someone who knew the truth. Could that mean Olivia had told someone about Miss Johnson's true nature?

This was enough. Miss Johnson couldn't take anymore. She had to find Olivia, and Bailey and Stephanie, and get rid of them for good. The problem was, she had no leads on them. And she couldn't file a missing person report with the police, as they were under the impression that the girls were still at her foster home.

But wait a minute. What if the girls' dormmates had helped them escape?

Miss Johnson couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. The bond between girls at her foster home was a strong one. And, since Stephanie, Olivia, and Bailey were the first girls to be terminated, it made sense that the other girls would want to get to the bottom of things. Miss Johnson was furious with herself for not thinking of this before.

So, later that evening, after dinner, Miss Johnson had all the girls in the Y. F. F. H. gather in the cafeteria. Miss Johnson had them all line up in a straight line.

"Good evening," Miss Johnson said, pretending to be cheery and happy. "Now, you all remember Olivia, and Stephanie, and Bailey."

Some of the girls-especially Valeria, Piper, Sarah, and Andrea-shifted uncomfortably.

"In case you've forgotten, Stephanie was terminated a few weeks back, for telling a secret she was supposed to keep. And, shortly thereafter, Olivia and Bailey disappeared," Miss Johnson explained. She was the only one who knew that the latter two girls had found her lab. No one else knew that they had been terminated, then mysteriously vanished. "Now, today, an inspector came to visit our foster home. He was worried about our sisters' disappearance. I would ask anyone who knows anything to step forward."

No one stepped forward.

"Now, now," said Miss Johnson. "If you got anything, even a good-bye text, please tell me-"

"It was me!" Valeria blurted out, stepping forward. "I went into your lab. I broke them out!"

Miss Johnson's falsely happy smile melted. "You did what?"

"Yes," said Valeria. "I saw them go into the hotel. I went looking for them. I broke them out." Piper started to say something, but Valeria elbowed her. "I don't know where they are now, I swear."

Miss Johnson's eyes narrowed. "You've said enough," she said. "Now come with me." Miss Johnson took Valeria by the wrist and dragged her out of the cafeteria. "The rest of you are dismissed!" she told the other girls.

Miss Johnson led Valeria straight to her lab under the hotel. Once the two of them were inside, Miss Johnson faced Valeria. "Are you sure you don't know where your friends are?"

"I swear, on my life, and the creation of this world, I do not know!" said Valeria. "I haven't heard from Olivia, or Bailey, or Stephanie, since they left."

"Fair enough," said Miss Johnson. "But you're still terminated."

"But-"

"You heard me," said Miss Johnson. "Take all your clothes off. Now."

Valeria, having seen her friends terminated down here, knew what would become of her. She reluctantly took off her socks and shoes, then her shirt and bra. When she was sliding her shorts down, her cell phone fell out of her pocket.

Miss Johnson eyed the cell phone. Maybe...

"I'll take this," Miss Johnson said, picking up the cell phone.

"What-what are you going to do with it?" Valeria asked as she took off her panties.

"That's no concern of yours," Miss Johnson said, pocketing the cell phone. "Now, you know what happens down here. You've been here before."

Valeria didn't put up much of a fight as Miss Johnson locked her in a pod and inserted needles into her skin. She must have subjected herself to her fate and accepted her defeat.

After Valeria was shut in her pod, Miss Johnson took out Valeria's phone. It required a passcode to open, but that was no big deal. Miss Johnson simply waved her hand, and the passcode solved itself. Miss Johnson scrolled through the Contacts section on Valeria's phone, looking for Olivia. She struck gold almost at once, finding Olivia's phone number.

"I have you now," Miss Johnson said, smiling. She could only hope that Olivia still had her cell phone.

To be continued...