"Conner, I need you to drive me to Mississippi."

"What?"

"Jackson, Mississippi," Lanie repeated. She was standing on Conner's front porch, having gone straight to him after leaving Genetics Engineering. "That's where they took Rachel."

"How do you know?" Conner asked.

"I just went to Genetics Engineering and asked a few questions," Lanie answered. "It looks like they might've taken Rachel to their lab in Jackson, Mississippi."

Conner's eyebrows knit together. "You didn't find out why they took her, did you?" he asked.

"No," Lanie admitted. "But I encountered a witch there."

"A witch!" Conner exclaimed. "Okay, this is definitely serious."

"Yes, it is. And we've got to get to the bottom of Rachel's kidnapping."

"Do you think Genetics Engineering is somehow connected to Pretty And Pink Foster Care?"

"I highly doubt it, but the witch I saw recognized me as Angelina's daughter."

"Maybe Angelina was affiliated with Genetics Engineering at some point," Conner suggested.

"Well, hopefully we'll find out," said Lanie. "Look, can you drive me, or not?"

"Of course I can," said Conner. He'd just gotten his driver's license a few weeks ago, and he was always down to drive Lanie places. "But we should probably have Bryce or Diana come with us again, because it's a long way and-"

"No," said Lanie. "Something tells me this is much bigger than Pretty And Pink. I don't want to ask our friends to risk their lives for us again."

Conner sighed. "Alright," he said. "I guess it'll be just you and I."

"Great," said Lanie. "I'll get my stuff and meet you back here."

***

After dropping off Skylar at home, Zoe asked her mom to drive her over to the foster home where her best friend Miles lived. It was also owned by the witch hunter Mr. Al, who'd commissioned Zoe and Miles to try and figure out who the witch causing trouble in their neighborhood was. Now, after her unexpected visit from Carter Halbrook, Zoe had a suspicion there might be witch activity once again. And who better to go to than Mr. Al?

When Zoe's mom dropped her off, Zoe went inside the foster home and ran right into her friend Avery. "Avery!" said Zoe. "Where's Mr. Al?"

"He's not here," Avery answered.

"What?"

"He's on vacation in the Caribbean," said Avery. "He's not gonna come back until next week."

"Oh man, we need him!" said Zoe.

"What's going on?" said a new voice. Zoe and Avery turned to see Miles approaching them.

"Miles!" said Zoe. "We've got a problem."

"A problem?"

"I just took Skylar out to Starbucks," Zoe explained, "But then this guy came in and told me he needed my help. Apparently there's some kind of plot being devised for..."

"For what?"

"I don't know, he was really vague. But I think someone was watching him, because he ran off after just a couple minutes."

Miles chewed on this for a moment, then said "It sounds like the guy was pretty frantic."

"Yes, he was."

"But why did he need you?"

"I think I know," said Zoe. "You and I are famous for uprooting Brittany Meier as a witch, right? And the guy said there was a plot that he needed me to help undo? Me, of all people? I think there's more witchcraft going on here."

"Ah," said Miles. "Well, I have Mr. Al's cell phone number. I can call him and let him know what's going on."

"Yes, please do."

While Miles got out his phone and called Mr. Al's number, Zoe sat down in a nearby chair and pulled out her own phone. She opened up Twitter and saw that there was a new message. The message was from someone named Saige Johnson. "Saige Johnson," Zoe muttered. "Who's this?"

However, when Zoe read the message, she was surprised. It said "Hi Zack/Zoe, my name is Saige Johnson. I saw your recent Tweet that you'd like to meet another person who'd had a witch change their gender, and, well...that's what happened to me! About four years ago, I got in the exact same situation you did-wrong bathroom at school, then turned into a girl. I have a friend named Olivia who also used to be a boy, but she's feeling pretty depressed as of late. My other friend Bailey and I thought we could cheer her up by coming to visit you and exchanging stories. What would you think of that?"

"Oh wow," said Zoe. The message threw her for a loop, but she groaned when she realized the message was a day old. She quickly texted back saying that yes, she would like to meet this Saige person-and Olivia and Bailey, too, she supposed.

Within seconds, Saige messaged back with "Great! We're actually on our way to Frankfort right now, and we'll probably get there at around dinnertime. Where should we meet?"

Zoe messaged back suggested McDonald's, to which Saige agreed. So that meant they were on.

"Okay," Miles said, hanging up his phone. "Mr. Al said he's gonna fly home tomorrow to try and figure out what's going on with the guy you just encountered."

"Good," said Zoe. "In the meantime, I think we've got a meeting of our own."

"What?"

"Remember that Tweet I sent out about how I'd like to meet another guy-turned-girl? Someone just took me up on my offer."

***

Later that evening, Zoe shifted back to Zack and made sure to be at her local McDonald's at 5:30 PM. Coincidentally, Miles had gotten a job there a month prior, and he happened to be scheduled for the evening shift that day. So Zack knew he'd be seeing his friend while he met these new changed boys.

Zack waited outside McDonald's for about ten minutes before he saw three college-aged girls coming his way. One had jet-black hair, one was blonde, and the third was a redhead like him. It took a minute for Zack to recognize the blonde-haired girl as Saige-the chick who'd Tweeted him to instigate this meetup.

"Zack!" Saige exclaimed when she saw him.

"Hey there," said Zack. "So you're the one who claims to have been a boy before."

"Yes, I have," said Saige.

"And you said your friends had, too?"

"Just Olivia," Saige corrected, indicating the black-haired girl. "Bailey was always a girl."

"How about we go inside?" Zack suggested. "We can talk more there."

"Yes, please," said Bailey. "I'm starving."

So the four of them got in line inside the restaurant. When they got to the front of the line, Zack noticed Miles working at the burger grill behind the cashier. Miles waved at Zack, who returned the wave. Zack ordered four orders of burgers and fries, plus a chocolate milkshake for Bailey, before sitting down at a table with his...friends? Fans? He wasn't sure what to call them.

"So, Olivia, Saige, and Bailey," said Zack. "What's your guys' story?"

"Well, we're from Illinois," said Bailey. "It started with this foster home called the Young Forever Foster Home, or Y. F. F. H. for short. There was this lady named Miss Johnson who ran the foster home and took in homeless kids to give a new home. She took me in when I lost my family. But Olivia..."

"I was originally Oliver," said Olivia. Up till now, she'd been rather glum, so it was nice to hear her actually talking. "But then Miss Johnson had me turned into a girl before I got admitted to the Y. F. F. H. The employee told me it was a rule that they couldn't have boys there, but then I later met someone who let it slip that she'd been a boy before, too. And then it got me wondering."

"She came to me about it first," said Bailey. "So we went poking around in Miss Johnson's basement and found out what she was really doing."

"She was taking in lots of homeless boys and turning them into girls against their will," said Olivia. "Miss Johnson found me and Bailey snooping around and decided to 'terminate' us. She put us inside chromosome-sucking machines, and-"

"Chromosome-sucking machines?" Zack asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know, it's weird," Olivia admitted. "But apparently that was how she made her gender-changing potions. She needed a lot of X chromosomes to turn boys into girls."

"We thought we were going to die down there," said Bailey, "But then our roommates came in and busted us out."

"We ran away to Chicago," said Olivia, "And that was where we met Saige."

"I'd wandered into the girls' bathroom at school by accident, then turned into a girl," said Saige. "Olivia let it slip to me that she was a changed boy too, so we started to hang out and talk more."

"Until Miss Johnson came looking for me and brought me back to the Y. F. F. H," said Olivia. "So Saige, Bailey, Tony, and Stephanie had to come save me."

"Wait-who are Tony and Stephanie?" Zack asked.

"Stephanie's another girl from the Y. F. F. H. who ran away with us," Bailey answered. "She ended up getting adopted by a wealthy married couple and moving to Canada."

"Tony was my friend when I was a boy," said Saige.

"Like Miles," said Zack.

"Exactly."

Right then, the cashier called Zack's name to let him know his order was ready. "Hang on, guys," said Zack. "I've gotta get our food." He got up and went over to grab the tray of food. He distributed the burgers and fries-along with Bailey's milkshake-among everyone before sitting back down.

"So where were we?" Saige asked.

"You were talking about how you saved Olivia and defeated Miss Johnson," Zack answered.

"Yep. Then we went back to Chicago, and everything went back to normal," said Saige. "Well, mostly normal."

Zack looked between Olivia, Saige, and Bailey with amazement. "Wow," he said. "And I thought my adventure was dangerous."

"I know, it was scary," Olivia said with a shudder. "Especially when Miss Johnson put me naked on display for everyone at the Y. F. F. H. to see."

"Ouch."

"What about you?" Saige asked. "When you went into that bathroom...were you shocked when you saw yourself changing?"

"Oh yeah."

"Me too. And when I suddenly started peeing while I was still sitting down..."

"I know, it was so weird," said Zack. "I mean, I got used to it after a while, but still."

"Same," said Saige. "Now I can barely remember peeing with a penis."

"Me either," said Olivia.

"What about dating people?" Saige asked. "You did still have a crush on the witch you were looking for, right?"

"Yes, but I didn't know she was a witch yet," Zack answered. "It felt weird that I was a girl who still liked girls. I mean, I did feel some attraction to guys, but my feelings for Brittany hadn't changed at all."

"Maybe you're bi?" Olivia suggested. "A while after I became a girl, I realized I was bi."

"Oh, really?"

Olivia's face fell. "Yes..." she said, but from her expression and tone of voice, Zack could tell she was thinking of something really painful.

In an effort to change the subject, Bailey said "Who are you dating again?"

"Skylar Gregson," Zack answered. "She and I actually went out to Starbucks earlier today."

"Nice," said Bailey.

"So what are you doing now?" Zack asked.

"We're in college," said Bailey. "Well, me and Saige are, anyway."

"I'm just working," said Olivia. "But I'll probably go back to school someday."

"You haven't met any other witches since you defeated Miss Johnson, have you?" Zack asked.

"Nope," Saige answered. "In fact, we didn't even know there were other witches besides Miss Johnson until your story went public."

"Interesting," Zack mused.

"What's interesting?"

"Well..." Zack struggled to think how to word what he was thinking. "Sometimes I worry that there might be...more witches we have to worry about."

"You think?"

"Yeah. Besides this Miss Johnson, and Brittany Meier...there might be more out there."

Right then, the restaurant's front doors banged open, and a platinum-blonde woman marched in. She rounded on the table where Zack, Olivia, Saige, and Bailey were sitting at and immediately started approaching them. "There you are," the woman said.

The shock hit Olivia so hard, it felt like she was having a heart attack. "What the-who the fuck are you?" she asked.

"My name's Josie," the woman said, "And my boss has been looking for you a long time."

To be continued...