Once they'd all gotten out of the Genetics Engineering compound, the companions all piled into their separate cars. Lanie, Conner, and Rachel got into Conner's car while Saige, Olivia, Zack, and Miles all got into Saige's car. Conner followed Saige as she drove off into the night.

Inside Saige's car, Olivia had broken down crying again. Seeing Bailey die right before her eyes had broken something inside of her. She hadn't felt this way since Christina dumped her. "She died," Olivia sobbed. "We came all this way...for nothing."

"Well, we did save Rachel," said Miles. "And we stopped that witch from getting your blood."

"But at what cost?" said Olivia.

"Well...we still don't know what the witches are planning," said Zack.

Saige shot him a dirty look. "Not helping!" she snapped.

"Why? Just...just why?" Olivia asked. "Ever since Christina dumped me-"

"For fuck's sake, are you still blaming everything on Christina?" Saige snapped.

"This isn't about Christina!" Olivia shouted. Her tone was so sharp, everyone else in the car-even Saige-jumped in alarm. "This is about me! Ever since I got dumped, I've been neglecting you guys and walking around naked in my apartment! If I hadn't cut you and Bailey off, then you wouldn't have dragged me down to Kentucky, and we wouldn't have gotten involved in this whole mess!"

"I don't think that's true," said Zack. "That witch who attacked us at McDonald's said she'd been looking for you guys, not me and Miles. If you hadn't come, she would probably still have found you."

"I didn't even..." Olivia trailed off.

For a minute, it was silent, since nobody knew what to say. But the silence was broken when Zack checked his phone and saw a Twitter notification. He'd gotten a new DM from someone. At first he thought it was just another random fan, but then he saw it was from someone named Lanie Evans. "Is that Lanie?" he asked.

Miles craned forward and looked at Zack's phone. "I think so," he said.

Zack opened the DM and saw that Lanie had sent him her cell phone number, saying to please call it. "It looks like she wants to talk to us," he said.

"Then do it," said Miles.

Zack dialed the phone number Lanie had sent. Almost at once, Lanie picked up on the other end. "Hello?" she asked. "Is this Zack?"

"Yes," Zack answered. "And this is the same Lanie who just helped us escape from Genetics Engineering?"

"Yep," said Lanie. "Are you guys okay?"

"Not really," Zack admitted. "Olivia, well..."

On the other end, Lanie nodded understanding. "It sounds like she and Bailey were really close."

"We were," Olivia said through her tears.

"Is that why you wanted to talk?" Zack asked.

"Well...not really," Lanie admitted. "I'm calling to ask you what we're gonna do next."

"Oh yeah..."

"You guys didn't have a plan, did you?"

"Not really. We just came down to rescue Bailey and whoever else the witches from Genetics Engineering captured."

"And we failed," said Olivia.

"Well, me and Conner didn't really have a plan, either," said Lanie. "We were hoping we could stop somewhere and figure it out."

"I mean, we're pretty far from home," said Zack. "I don't know where you came from-"

"Atlanta, Georgia."

"Oh."

"And I'm guessing you don't have any friends or relatives who live in Mississippi?"

"Nope."

"How about we find a hotel?" Zack suggested. "Maybe we can properly introduce each other-and figure out our next move-there."

"Sure thing," said Lanie. "Assuming there are any hotels still open this late."

***

As it turned out, there was a hotel that was still open at 11:00 PM. It was called All-Nighter Motel, and it had one open room that had a capacity of four people. Even though Zack, Lanie, and their friends greatly exceeded that quota, they took the room anyway. Everyone unloaded their stuff (which wasn't much) from the cars and brought it up into the hotel room. When they were all settled, Olivia and Saige explained their history with the Y. F. F. H. to Lanie, Rachel, and Conner, who then recounted their story of bringing down Pretty And Pink Foster Care.

"And so that's what happened," Lanie said when she'd finished her story. "I had my magic powers awakened, and we all went back to Atlanta."

"You're lucky," said Olivia. "Me and my friends didn't get any magic powers at all."

"Do you still talk to anyone from the Y. F. F. H?" Rachel asked.

"I've tried to," Olivia answered. "Mostly Stephanie and Piper."

"Nice," said Rachel. "I've talked to Taylor and Alexis-well, Tyler and Alex now, because they got the gender change reversal serum."

"And there's another thing we didn't get," said Olivia.

"What, do you wish you were male again?" said Lanie.

"No, not really," said Olivia. "I mean, I might've, when I was still at the Y. F. F. H, but I've been living my life as a woman for so long now, I don't know if I could go back to being a man."

Lanie nodded. "I get it," she said. "I feel the same way. Not just because I'm used to being a girl, but because I formed a lot more good relationships after I transitioned. Like, you've met Conner, and Rachel here. They've been really good to me."

Olivia nodded at Rachel in admiration. "I'll bet," she said. "It sounds like Rachel's your Bailey."

"Yeah," said Lanie. "I'm sorry about...you know."

"It wasn't your fault," said Olivia. "It was mine. I shouldn't have neglected her for several weeks."

"Well...you said you were feeling depressed after your breakup, so-"

"I was, but that's not what friends do. Friends don't lock each other out of their lives. They're always there for each other, no matter what. And Bailey-she was more than just a friend. She was like..."

"A sister," Lanie offered.

"Yes," said Olivia. "I like it when you put it that way. We lived together when we were younger, and we went to school together, and..."

"It's a special kind of bond," said Rachel. "And trust us, we know how hard it is to lose someone like that. When we saw Melody get killed, and Jenny jump off that building..."

"Yeesh," said Saige. "And I thought I'd seen some horrible things."

"Well, we're not gonna let Bailey's death be in vain," said Olivia. "We've got to bring down Genetics Engineering."

"How?" Miles asked. "We don't even know what they're planning to do?"

"Actually, I know," said Rachel. "They spilled it to me when they took my blood."

"What are they planning?"

"They want to create a virus that'll infect men and turn them into women," Rachel explained. "They need our blood because apparently our DNA still has some traces of 'male' in it. Since our male DNA has been turned into female DNA, the witches can use it to create a virus. They're gonna send out swarms of fleas to carry the virus everywhere and infect everyone."

"They're sending out swarms of bugs?" said Conner. "That's their plan?"

"I guess so."

"Sounds like that new Jurassic World movie that just came out last summer," said Conner.

"What?"

"You know, Dominion. The one where they brought back the old cast, and they had the bad guys unleashing swarms of locusts-"

"Oh yeah," Zack said with disgust. "That movie sucked."

"I know," said Saige. "Even if I was still a guy, I don't think I would've liked it."

"I'm actually a guy," said Miles, "And I still thought it was awful."

"Well, I, for one, liked it," said Conner.

"What?" Zack said accusingly.

"Guys, let's not get off track here," said Lanie. "So the witches at Genetics Engineering want to send out swarms of fleas with a virus, right?"

"Right, but they can't just yet," said Rachel. "They needed two of us to donate our blood. That's why they kidnapped both me and Bailey and took our blood. But since Bailey was never male, her blood was useless to them."

"So, in other words, they don't have all the special DNA they need," said Zack.

"Exactly."

"But if they still need one of us to give them our blood, then that means they'll still come after us," said Saige. "Or possibly someone else from the Y. F. F. H."

"Should we get in touch with Stephanie, or Piper?" Olivia asked. "Warn them about this?"

"That might be a good idea," said Zack, "But if we can shut down Genetics Engineering right now, then they won't have to worry."

"But that brings us right back to our main problem," said Lanie. "We have to figure out how to do that."

"Well, since Circe's the witch who's controlling all of this-" Rachel started.

"Circe? Like that witch from Percy Jackson?" said Saige.

"She's not from Percy Jackson," said Conner, "She's from Greek mythology."

"Which Percy Jackson is based off of," said Saige.

"Well, apparently that's the head witch's name," said Rachel. "Plus, there's Lauren."

"And Josie," Zack added.

"Right. So if they're the ones running this whole operation, then we should probably find a way to assassinate them," said Rachel.

"I think you're right," said Lanie.

"So, to sneak back into Genetics Engineering and kill Circe..." Olivia started.

"Wait," said Zack. "I think I know someone who can help us."

"Who?"

"The other day, I was at Starbucks with Skylar, and a guy came up to us," Zack explained. "He said his name was Carter Halbrook, and he needed my help to deal with some kind of plot."

"Carter Halbrook," Rachel repeated. "He was there at Genetics Engineering!"

"What?"

"He was the scientists Circe was working with," said Rachel. "He took our blood samples and brought them back to his lab."

"So...he's with them?" Zack asked.

"Apparently, yeah."

"Oh." Zack wilted with disappointment. Moments before, he'd been hopeful that they might have an ally in their battle against Genetics Engineering, but now that hope was diminishing.

"But you said he was really on edge," said Miles. "According to you, he panicked and ran when he thought he saw someone watching him."

"He did?" said Lanie.

"Yeah," Zack replied.

"Then maybe he's, like, a mole," said Lanie. "He's employed by Genetics Engineering, but secretly he's plotting against them."

"I hope you're right," said Zack. "Because I don't think there's any other hope for us."

To be continued...