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Author's Note: So I broke my streak of posting new chapters one day after one another...but I was busy most of Friday. I'd like to thank djkauf for the fantastic editing job. I really like this chapter because its a little light after all that darkness. And before anyone complains, the other characters that appear in this chapter were used with the author's permission :) I'd like to thank DC Comics for their characters and hope you enjoy this much lighter chapter.

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Chapter Five:

I groaned as I opened my eyes.

The first thing I noticed was all the brown around me. The next thing I noticed was the heat, it was really hot. Too hot for a police station. I blinked a few times, wondering if they might have switched me to another cell when I was asleep. The last thing I noticed was the lack of walls around me. Why weren’t there any walls? I sat up and groaned, there was a weight on my chest and a throbbing pain in my neck. I rubbed the back of it, trying to get my bearings. As soon as I looked around, I realized that there was no way this was a new cell. Holy shit, what happened to the police station? I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Clearly, I’m still dreaming. I counted to thirty and opened my eyes but the station didn’t come back. Instead, I saw the same thing I saw when I opened them the first time. I was now sitting on my butt in the middle of the desert.

I scratched my head, trying to figure out what had happened. The last thing I remembered was going to sleep in the holding cell. OK, so that was the last conscious thing I remembered. The last thing I could actually remember was that dream. Or least I thought it had been a dream. It just felt so real, especially that four-eyed Thing behind the door. There have only been certain moments in my life where I have been truly terrified. The first being my first ever day or school---very frightening for a five year old. The second was a few years ago when my grandfather had a mild heart attack. I was never so scared in my life as that day. I thought that that was the scariest moment I’d ever face. But it paled in comparison to meeting that Thing behind that door. Even thinking about it now sent shivers up my spine.

But it was a dream, right? It had to be a dream. Things like that didn’t exist in real life. I sighed heavily, yes they did. Maybe not quite like that but there were some pretty freaky things. This was after all the age of the Meta. Just last year, the Green Lantern Jade announced herself to the world and then told everyone that there would be Metas cropping up shortly. She wasn’t wrong either. First, it was that Terra girl and then they seemed to pop up like weeds after that. On the west coast it was Green Arrow and Blue Beetle, in the south it was the Flash---a local favorite–and several others. In Chicago, they seemed to have an infestation from Giganta and Booster Gold right down to a black suited phantom stalking the night. So OK, the Thing in my dream was nothing compared to the horrors the world was facing. Not that the Metas were horrors---they were really cool but there were other things out there that made my dream Thing look like a teddy bear.

I shuddered to think about it. I wiped my brow after that. I wasn’t exactly dressed for the desert. It was clearly morning now, the sun beating down on me. It had to be at least a hundred. I looked up, shielding my eyes as I did so. The sun wasn’t directly overhead so it was before noon. I groaned. This hot and still morning. I loved living in this area but there were some things I couldn’t stand about it. The heat being the biggest. I pushed myself to my feet. When I did so, I felt that weight again. When I felt it a few minutes ago, I didn’t think much about it but now it was really annoying. I looked down at my shirt and my eyes bulged from my head. What in the fuck!?!

Sticking out of my chest like two interlopers were two small mounds. I blinked but they didn’t go away. I reached up and poked one with my finger, half expecting it to be an odd fold of my shirt. It wasn’t. Poking it sent a shiver through my body. Then I reached up and cupped them. There was no doubt about it, I had breasts. They were small ones but they were breasts nonetheless. I let go of them quickly for fear that touching them might make them grow bigger or something. This isn’t happening, this isn’t possible? Guys just don’t grow breasts overnight, how crazy is that? I shook my head and started to pace. I didn’t care that the craggy cracked ground was doing murder to my bare feet. I had breasts, my hair was down my back, and I was in the middle of nowhere. I could deal with the last two things but the breasts; those were freaking me out big time.

Did that make me a girl?

I panicked and stuck my hand down my pants, into my boxers. I sighed in relief when I felt that everything was still where it was supposed to be. Ok so I’m only half a girl---was that even possible? I ran my hands through my hair, pausing half way when I felt how silky smooth it was. I cursed. It felt different than before. Something severely messed up was going on here. First seeing colors on people then being able to tell people to do things like Katie…I choked up just thinking about her, tears rolling down my cheeks. My current situation made me totally forget for a second why I was out here. OK, why I was in the police station. I had no idea how I’d gotten out here. Oh God, I missed her so much. Every time I tried to not think about seeing her like that, I cried. Even now as I wiped the tears, they just wouldn’t seem to stop.

I did it. The Thing in my dream it said I was responsible. I shook my head. It also said she deserved to die, that she was slowing me down. I didn’t believe that last bit in the least. There was no way that anyone deserved to die, especially her. Not my Katie, not the love of my life. I started to walk, heading in the direction that I thought school might be in. There was nothing but flat arid land for as far as the eye could see. The Arizona desert was not the best place to be stranded in the middle of it. Without water, I was as good as dead. I had no idea how far I was from civilization either. I could be miles from the nearest anything. I occupied my time by thinking about Katie and how I was going to get out of this mess.

The only problem being that I didn’t really know what kind of mess I was in. It was clearly something to do with the dream but I couldn’t remember what. The farther I walked the less of it I remembered. I still vividly remembered the thing talking to me but there was something else I should be remembering…something at the end of it. I was running but to where I can’t remember. I know I was running from it and then there was nothing. I think I was tingling and then there was some kind of light. I stopped dead in my tracks. The light!!! That had to be it but I still didn’t understand how it was involved in all of this. It was clear that whatever that light was it had something to do with me being here. I started walking again, trying to fight back the urge to scream. I was also trying not to think about my poor feet.

I started walking again, my mind racing all over the place. It was hard to concentrate on one thing without another interfering. If it wasn’t Katie, it was the dream and if it wasn’t the dream, it was the heat. The heat connected to the pain in my feet and now I’m apparently rhyming. I stopped again, looking down. I’m not sure when I realized my feet were throbbing so damn much. Now I could see why. There was blood seeping up between my toes. I cursed and looked around. I needed to get off the ground and fast. I shielded my eyes again and found some solace. I found a bit of salvation in the form of a rocky outcropping just ahead. It wasn’t much but at least it would get me off the ground for the time being. I stumbled toward it, not realizing how sore my feet were until I really thought about them.

The rocks were burning hot but at least they were better than the craggy, cracked ground. I pulled myself completely up on one then got a good look at my feet. They were cracked, blistered and bleeding. I was a damn fool not to bring my shoes into the shower. Then I remembered they were still in Katie’s car where I left the rest of my guy clothes---the first pair I was wearing that is. I sighed heavily. I had to do something about my feet before I continued walking. I grabbed the end of my shirt and started ripping. It was a good thing I liked my shirts baggy because there was a lot of material. As I ripped, I got a good look at my stomach underneath. I cursed. My skin was so pale it was almost white. My stomach was flat as a board too with a tiny feminine looking six-pack. I had one of those cute little belly buttons too.

I tried not to think about it as I tore two nice strips of cloth from my shirt. When I was done, my shirt was practically a belly shirt now. I would have felt embarrassed if not for the fact that my feet were killing me. I put modesty aside and started wrapping my poor appendages. When I was done, I looked like John McClain from Die Hard except I hadn’t been walking across a room of glass. But I suppose the rough desert floor was probably just the same. After wrapping my feet, I slowly stood up on the rock and tried to get my bearings. I was pretty certain I was walking in the right direction but I still had no idea how long it was going to take.

I looked up and the sun was far overhead now, almost dipping behind me now. I couldn’t believe I’d been walking that long. I stopped looking at the sun and tried to see if I could see anything else. I’m not sure how long I looked but I finally figured out it was pointless. There was nothing around but the bunch of rocks I was standing on. So I took a deep breath and stepped off them. I winced. The wrappings on my feet helped but they still hurt like a bitch. But I tried not to think about it as I started walking again. While not thinking about my feet, my mind drifted back to Katie again. But this time it wasn’t to mourn her. This time I couldn’t help but think what she would say about all this. She’d been teasing me for years about how I looked, trying to force me into stupid girly things. I think she’d laugh if she could see me now. Thinking about her laugh and her smile just made things hurt even more. As far as I knew, she hadn’t even been dead for twenty-four hours. I was already a wreck. There was no way I could go through the rest of my life without her.

I forced those thoughts out of my head. In fact, I tried to clear every thought out of my head except getting back home. That thought stayed on my mind as I trudged along. I’m not sure how long I’d been walking but it felt like hours after that. I could feel the sun on my back. It was burning my shoulders. I couldn’t imagine what it was doing to my skin. I finally took a look at my arms, having been afraid too for a while now. I half expected to see them as blistered and as red as the bottom of my feet. But they weren’t. They were as pale as my stomach. But they definitely weren’t my arms anymore. They were thin and hairless. I groaned. Was nothing on me like it was before? I’d already started to notice strange things over the past few weeks: my hips, my butt, my hair. Now I had breasts and my arms were dainty too. I looked at my hands. They were still small and I realized very girl-like. Was my “thing” the only thing I had that still identified me as a man?

I wanted to cry but no tears came out. I was so thirsty.

I shook my head and started walking some more. The sun on my back was unbearable after another hour or so. My feet were back to aching too. I looked down at them. I was practically dragging them now, my wrapping soaked with sweat and blood. Another ten minutes later and my legs felt like they weighed a ton. I was so tired. I tried to press on but with the pain in my feet and my groaning muscles, I just couldn’t do it. Another ten minutes later, I collapsed. I landed on my knees. I groaned lightly in pain. Then I collapsed to my side but I didn’t have the strength to push myself up. I tried but I just couldn’t do it. I closed my eyes. So this is how it ends, dying of exhaustion in the middle of the desert. I closed my eyes and saw Katie’s smiling face. At least she and I haven’t been parted for that long.

I opened my eyes just a slit to get one last look at the world. I smiled so much for a beautiful sight at my death. I laughed and darkness slowly crept in. God What I wouldn’t give for a nice slice of pizza and an ice cold coke right about now. I felt a tingle course through my body as the rest of the darkness crept in and I blacked out.

A bright light shone in my eyes. I opened them halfway, shielding them with a hand. Why the hell was the sun so bright? I groaned. I should be dead, why wasn’t I dead. I wanted to be dead so that I could be with Katie again. I closed my eyes and turned my head. Maybe if I ignored it the light would go away and let me die in peace. But it didn’t go away. I could feel it on the back of my neck. The strange thing was that it wasn’t hot like before. There was something else that I could feel too. It wasn’t the light or the heat---though it was hot. This new thing was hard to describe at first. It wasn’t something tangible. It was more like something in my head, almost like a thought but definitely not my own. It was unsettling at first and grew increasingly more so.

Then I heard a voice: “Miss, this is no place for you to be taking a nap?”

A voice? That startled me. What the hell was someone else doing in the middle of the desert?

I opened my eyes and snapped up, looking around groggily. What I saw floored the hell out of me. I wasn’t in the desert anymore. I was on a bench, a city bench. It was dark out but there were streetlights all over the place. I blinked a few times just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. But I wasn’t. I was in the city. How the hell I got here I don’t know. I wonder if it was the same way I got into the desert in the first place. I tried to think about it more but my head started to hurt. Then I started to get that “feeling” again, the annoyed one from before. I looked around and realized I wasn’t alone. That’s when I remembered the voice and the light. Both of which belonged to the portly police office standing in front of the bench with a stern look on his face.

He frowned. “Miss, are you all right? Do you need me to call someone?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine and I’m not a miss,” I said but as soon as I did so, I put a hand to my throat.

My voice was all wrong. It didn’t sound like me, it sounded like a girl’s.

The police officer raised an eyebrow. Then he turned away, pulling out his radio. He spoke quickly into it. “I have a young woman here I think she might be on something. I’m on the corner of Smith and Weston, right in front of Mario’s Pizza.”

Pizza? I snapped around and looked at the building behind me. Sure enough, it was Mario’s. Holy shit, no way. Katie and I used to come here from time to time whenever we got into the city. But lately we’d been too busy. It’s funny because right before passing out in the desert I was not just thinking about a slice of pizza I was thinking about a slice of Mario’s pizza. They did this really good New York style thin crust. It was by far the best pizza in the city. Staring at the place now with it large front windows and neon sign I couldn’t help but smile. I was salivating a bit, too.

The police officer was still talking to whoever on the radio when he addressed me again. “Miss, what’s your name?”

It took me second to make up a lie. He thought I was a girl so be it. “Rachel” I said quickly. “Rachel Roth.”

So I half lied. He was a police officer after all. I felt bad about lying completely to him.

He told my name to the person on the other end of the radio. Then he asked me what I was doing out here. I looked quickly down at myself, noticing that my bumps were a bit bigger, pushing out my shirt some. Just great that’s all I needed. Scrutinizing myself further, I realized that I looked quite the sight. He probably thought…well I was pretty sure I knew what he was thinking. I shot him a dirty look and he averted his eyes for a second. Fucking perv.

“I’m not what you think I am,” I said quickly. “I was out with some friends from school. I got a little drunk and it looks like they bailed on me…the stupid bitches.” I sighed, blowing a strand of hair from my face.

The cop nodded but I’m not sure he believed me. “Do you have any ID?”

I waved my hands up and down my body. I probably looked like hell, especially with my feet bandaged up the way they were. “Do I look like I have any idea?” He narrowed his eyes. “Look we were out celebrating because I just got into a sorority. They ambushed me on my way to bed. First, they made me walk around the desert like an idiot then they took me clubbing. They didn’t even let me change. They think this is their idea of a good time” I crossed my arms underneath my new assets. “See if I ever talk to them again.”

I couldn’t believe how well I was lying and how believable it seemed. I had no idea what I was talking about and yet it came natural. I would have been freaked out if not for being so hungry. The cop had been nodding throughout my whole explanation as if he was believing it too. How cool was that?

“Do you have anyone that can come and pick you up?”

I started to shake my head but stopped. I sighed. “My boyfriend. I can give him a call or else I would if I had my phone.” Then I got an idea as I felt my stomach grumble. “You wouldn’t be willing to spare a couple of bucks, I’m starving.”

He frowned. “I can’t; I’m sorry.”

I glanced back at the pizza place again. I’m starving. Just a couple of dollars, maybe even a twenty. How hard was that?
The cop got a glassy look to his eye. I froze when I saw it. It was the same one, the same look that Katie got. The look she had when she…when she…when she killed herself. The cop lowered his radio, reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet. My eyes widened as he opened it up and pulled out a twenty. He held it out to me, his arm like a stiff rod. I reached forward quickly and snatched it away. I was in awe of what just happened. I stared at him as I folded the twenty and stuck it in my pocket. He stood there for a few seconds more until the glassiness disappeared and he blinked. He looked confused for a second then shook his head.

“I’m sorry” he said, confused. “What was I saying again?”

I smiled. “You were saying that you’re sorry to leave me alone but you have to get back to your patrol.”

He looked at me strangely and nodded. He wished me good evening and then walked over. As soon as he was gone, I pulled out the twenty and slipped off the bench. My legs and feet were killing me as I walked slowly into Mario’s. I got a lot of strange looks. There were only a few people inside so it wasn’t so bad. I ordered two slices of cheese and pepperoni and a large coke. I paid, got my change and took my stuff to a booth. When I tore into the pizza, it was like a ravenous dog. I got a few more stares. There was a pair of preppy blondes sitting across the aisle from me. They wrinkled their noses at my behavior. I was feeling particularly annoyed for some reason so I gave them the finger and narrowed my eyes at them. They had this bright vibrant pink color but that quickly disappeared and turned a putrid yellow. I smiled at that. They turned away and stopped staring too, which was fine by me. I ate and drank in a hurry. Then I looked at my change. I had enough left to get myself a pair of cheap shoes. I left the pizza parlor and walked down the street.

There was this little shop that Katie sometimes dragged me in to. It was a few doors down from Mario’s. It sold second hand clothing, mostly women’s. But seeing as I appeared to be more girl then guy at the moment I guess that’s where I needed to go. When I walked into the shop, I was glad to see there was only one person. It was a middle-aged woman in a gray dress. She took one look at me and sighed. I think she thought I was a basket case. She came over and started helping me browse. I was annoyed at first but glad for the help. When I told her that I didn’t have a lot---showing her my money---she said it was enough.

She then proceeded to get me some clothes. I tried to talk her out of it but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. “A pretty girl like you walking around like that” she said, shaking her head.

So I reluctantly took the clothes she offered and went into the back room to change. There was a tall mirror there and when I looked it, I nearly fainted. It wasn’t me anymore. It still looked vaguely like me but there was a pretty girl staring back at me. Long black hair framing a beautiful face. She had all the right curves too. I touched my face then ran my hand down the rest of my body. She was dirty---I mean I was dirty---and a little worn out looking but it was me. I sighed. Under any other circumstances, I might have been totally freaked---I was a bit---but I was too damn tired. So I stared at myself a little more than sighed again.

After that, I stripped quickly, trying not to look. It might have been me but I didn’t want to see another girl naked. The only girl I wanted to see naked was Katie. I felt a pang thinking about her. The tears started flowing again but I wiped them away. Not now, there’s time for that later. So I tried to force it out of my mind as I started dressing. I was reluctant to put on the underwear---it was a second hand store after all and they were panties---but I did so anyway. When I pulled them up around my hips, I groaned at how easily they fit. My little buddy was still there but he was much smaller than before. That scared the hell out of me. I had to wonder how long it was going to be before he was gone altogether and this nightmare that was the new me was complete.

I tried not to think anymore about that as I continued getting dressed. The bra was easy enough because I’d taken one off Katie more than once. I was scared how well my new breasts fit into it. They had to be a large A Cup at least, maybe even a small B. I was scared that they might get bigger as my “you know what” got smaller. I tried to force that out of my head, too. The rest of the clothes were simple enough: cut off jean shorts and a light baby blue tank top. I pulled them both on quickly. Finally, it was the shoes. I slowly unwrapped my feet, wincing as I did so. They looked like hell. They were probably in need of medical attention but right now, I just wanted to get out of here. So I painfully slipped my new shoes on.

When I walked out of the back room, the woman smiled. “Much better sweetheart.”

I smiled weakly. “You sure I have enough for all this?”

She nodded. “Don’t you worry about that? You have plenty.”

I smiled and reluctantly handed over the rest of my cash. She took it and put it in the cash register. She didn’t bother to give me a receipt and I didn’t get any change back. For a split second, I thought about using the trick I used on the police officer seeing if I could get a little more out of all this. But I realized how crooked that was. I shook my head, wondering where the hell such a thought came from. It was bad enough that I robbed from a police officer, there was no way I was going to rob from someone who genuinely went out of their way to help me. But I did have another favor to ask of her.

“Do you think I could borrow your phone?” I asked. “I’d like to call a friend to give me a ride back to campus.”

She smiled and pulled out her cell, handing it to me. I smiled back and quickly dialed my dorm room. I know it was crazy but Bart was the only one I had left to turn too. He answered after a few rings.

“Love Hospital” he said in a voice he probably thought was sexy. “The Doctor is in.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Bart” I said, trying and failing to make myself sound like the old me.

There was a momentary pause. “Whatever it is babe, I swear I was tested.”

Eww gross. “I’m not one of your conquests you ass.”

There was another pause. “Then completely forget what I said babe. My name is Bart and I’ll rock your world.”

I wanted to gag. “I don’t need you to rock my world; I need you to pick me up.”

“I’m trying to pick you up but you’re playing hard to get.”

I groaned. This was getting nowhere. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

“I don’t know, you haven’t given me your name yet babe.”

“It’s Ryan you ass” I said angrily.

There was another pause. “Dude, you know you sound like a chick,k right.”

I sighed. “Yeah, it’s a long story. Are you going to listen and stop hitting on me now?”

He laughed. “I wasn’t hitting on you. I was messing with you. I knew it was you all along.”

I rolled my eyes. “Just come and get me,” I said, quickly giving him the address.

“I’ll try but the cops are all over this place. There’s even a car outside” I cursed and he sighed. “They say you might have killed Katie. I told them they were full of shit.” There was a moment of silence. Finally, he asked what I thought he might ask. “You didn’t…you know.”

I sighed. “What do you think?”

“I didn’t think so, dude.”

He hung up after that. I bit my lip. The cops were looking for me and why wouldn’t they. First, they thought I was guilty then Detective Corrigan told me he thought I was innocent. Which was great until I somehow disappeared from their holding cell? That one was really bad. If they didn’t think, I was guilty before they sure as hell did now. I started pacing, trying to figure out what to do. Then I looked over at the women’s coat rack. There was a black hoodie hanging there. It was really hot outside but maybe if I hid some of features I wouldn’t look so much like me. I bit my lip and walked over, pulling it off the rack.

“Is it possible I can toss this in with the lot too?”

The woman sighed. “I don’t know, that’s not exactly…”

I closed my eyes. Let me have it now. I hated doing it to her but I needed it. When I opened my eyes, she had that glassy look. She nodded her head so I slipped the hoodie on. I felt real guilty afterwards but I couldn’t help it. I was scared as all hell though. It was clear that I wasn’t normal anymore. I’m not sure exactly what I was but definitely wasn’t normal. I started pacing again. I tried to rack my brain but the only thing I could come up with was the necklace. It dawned on me then that the necklace, my necklace, it was gone. It never even occurred to me until now. I reached up and touched my neck but it wasn’t there. I panicked for a second. What the hell happened to my necklace? I tried to remember the last time I was wearing it. It was before the club at least, before all this shit started. I cursed. Did I take it off without releasing it?

The loud beeping of a car horn shattered my thoughts. I cursed. I pushed the thoughts of my necklace to the back of my mind as I ran out the door. Bart’s beat up red corvette was waiting. The engine was idling. I ran over to the car, opened the passenger side door and slipped inside. I slammed the door and turned to him. “Go” I said but he didn’t move.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked, surprised.

“Ryan” I said, my face obscured by my hood.

He looked at me oddly. “No you’re not.”

“Yes I am.”

He shook his head. “Ryan is a dude and unless he spontaneously turned into a chick over night, you are definitely not him.”

I groaned. I didn’t have time for this. I thought about mind fucking him too but I didn’t want to do that to my best friend. So instead, I sighed heavily. “In the eighth grade, you got caught looking into the girl’s locker room. You got suspended for a week. But the thing you didn’t tell anyone was that at the time that you got caught you were jacking off into a pair of Mary Grant’s pink panties.”

His eyes widened. “I never told anyone that except…” His eyes got really big. “Holy shit.”

I nodded. “Drive and I’ll explain on the way back to the dorm.”

He shook his head. “We’re not going to the dorm…ummm we can’t go back there right now.”

I sighed. “Why not?”

“Well the cops were kinda waiting for me when I left the dorm room. I might have elbowed them and took off running. They gave chase but I gave them the slip. I’m not sure if they followed me or not but they’re definitely going to be back at the dorm.”

I cursed. “Damn it, Bart.”

He gunned the engine. “Don’t worry, Buddy, I know the perfect place to lie low.”

I frowned, crossing my arms in front of me. This had better be good.

We pulled up in front of the hacienda style house. Bart didn’t pull into the driveway because it was late and the light wasn’t on above the garage. It took us nearly an hour to get here and that was without traffic. Bart’s car may have been cool once but now it was a piece of shit. He got it from his Dad who gave it to him back in August. It was only meant to drive him around the city and in-between classes. The car was once the greatest thing in the world. I remember the two of us slipping into the garage when we were kids and staring at it. But his Dad kinda let it go to rot. It wasn’t very well maintained and as a result, it was in need of a lot of work. He gave it to Bart thinking maybe his son could get more use out of it. Bart didn’t care that it was a piece of shit though, he loved that car.

Me, I was just glad we finally stopped.

I looked out the window at the house and frowned. I didn’t like barging in on people that I barely knew. Bart didn’t seem to mind though and they were his relatives. But whereas I was a complete strange, he was family. “Are you sure about this?”

He nodded. “My Uncle B is cool. He and my aunt let me crash here last week end.”

I frowned, remembering. “But last time you were invited.”

He shrugged, pushing open his door. “Same thing.”

I groaned, pushing open my own door too. As soon as I stepped out of the car, Bart gave me the once over. His eyes got big. I gave him the finger. I told him the whole story on the way over, it helped by the time after his car stalled not once but three times. At first, he thought I was full of shit but when I told him about the cops thinking I killed Katie, he kinda went quiet. Katie and he were good friends even if they didn’t want to admit it. The three of us had been real close as kids. I can’t imagine how her death was on him. I know it was killing me inside. It was taking everything I could just to breathe right at the moment.

“So” he said as he came around to my side and slammed his door shut. “Are you a chick everywhere?”

He was looking down when he said it. I blushed. “No” I said and he looked back up, embarrassed.

The two of us were pretty quiet as we walked up the front walkway to the door. Bart got a big grin on his face as he rang the doorbell. For a second we didn’t think anyone was going to answer. When the door opened, Bart smiled. “Hey Aunt Iris…” he said and stopped dead when the door opened all the way and a blonde haired teenage girl was standing there. She was cute, wearing a pair of pink pajamas. She looked from Bart to me and then to Bart again. She looked scared for a second and definitely surprised to see us.

A voice called from inside. “Who is it, sweetie?”

The girl recovered quickly. “I think it’s your nephew, Aunt Iris.”

Bart smiled at the girl. “Hi, I’m Bart, what’s your name, sexy.”

She rolled her eyes and stepped aside as a woman came walking up. I had only met Bart’s aunt and uncle once and briefly. Iris had been real nice to me. She was a bit older now but she was same woman that I’d meet. She looked from Bart to me and then to the girl and finally back to Bart. For a second her eyes got real big and recovered quickly. I looked at both of them. I got a strange feeling again like with the cop. Except this one seemed to tell me that both of them were agitated, almost scared. I looked at their two colors, they were a dull yellow.

Iris smiled. “Hello Bartholomew, what a pleasant surprise.”

He smiled weakly. “Sorry to spring it on you, Iris, but do you think my friend and I can crash here for the night.”

She turned to me and looked me over. “I’m not really sure I should let you and your girlfriend spend the night, your mother might kill me.”

Bart laughed. “She’s not my girlfriend, she’s just a friend”

He sighed. “Where’s Uncle B, he’ll understand.”

Iris pursed her lips and looked at the girl. The girl turned her head as if avoiding the stare. Iris sighed. “Your uncle is working late tonight.”

Bart nodded. “So we can’t stay then?”

Iris sighed. “You can stay but you’re staying on the couch, your friend can stay in the guest room.”

“Rachel” I said smiling sweetly.

Iris smiled, stepping inside to allow us in. “It’s nice to meet you Rachel, this is my niece Barbara.”

I smiled at the blonde girl. She smiled back. I got another feeling from her. It was definitely fear. This girl was really scared about something. I looked at Bart. She shifted her gaze to him quickly then back at me. Was she afraid of him?

Iris turned to Barbara. “Babs would you get Rachel a spare pair of your pajamas, you two look about the same size.”

“Sure” said the girl quickly. “Come with me, I’ll get you something and show you where to change.”

I looked at Bart but he didn’t seem to be any help. I gulped and followed the cute blonde girl down the hall. She took me to a room and opened the door but didn’t let me inside. She came back a second later with a pair of pajamas, purple but like hers. She handed to me and led me down the hall to another room. She opened the door and turned on the light. It was a nice enough room. It had a bed and a dresser. I smiled and thanked her. She left me as I stepped inside and then I closed the door. I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment before stripping off my new clothes and getting into the pajamas.

Then I dropped on the bed. I sighed heavily, lying on my stomach. God that hurt. I rolled over onto my back, exhausted. I looked over at the light but it was too far. I groaned and rolled away, too tired to shut it off. I wish it would just…There was a small flash of black light that I barely noticed before I heard a pop and the room fell into darkness. Must be a bad bulb. I groaned and pulled the pillow close to my chest. This was the first moment of peace for me in a several hours.

I closed my eyes, saw Katie’s face and cried myself to sleep.

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