For the rest of the week, all anyone at school could talk about was Ralph being turned into Ruby. Everyone-the boys, the girls, and even the teachers-were scratching their heads over what had caused the transformation. The generally accepted theory was magic, though that raised more questions than answers. What kind of magic was it? Was it a curse? A forgotten wish? A potion that had been slipped into Ralph's food earlier that day?

Kitty huffed, a little impatiently, and explained, "Claus has this silly joke about a clone factory..."

"—in Omaha," Claus threw in.

"Why Omaha?" Dad asked.
 

Before Zoe knew it, the first day of school came. And when that day came, she knew that the time had come to carry out the mission Mr. Al had given her and Miles. She didn't know if she'd have any classes with Skylar, but she was going to keep an eye out.

"Okay, Zoe," Zoe's dad said when he dropped her off at the front of the school. "Be careful with that girl Skylar. Don't let her know you're on to her."

There is one huge problem with nightgowns.

I wasn’t going to start crying was I?

Avery led Zoe downstairs to Mr. Al's office. She knocked on the door, and Mr. Al said "Enter" from inside.

Zoe opened the door and entered the office to see Mr. Al sitting at his desk. "Hi Mr. Al," she said.

"Hey Zoe," said Mr. Al. "Did you need something?"

"You could say that," said Zoe. "I hear Geraldine and Roxy used to be boys, too. Just like me."

Mr. Al stared at Zoe. "You figured that out unusually quickly," he said.

Chapter 2

My head is throbbing and I can't focus on anything. It feels like I've been put through a wringer. My memory is fuzzy, I seem to have conflicting memories that I can't get straight. I don't know what's going on, I remember being in a fight using a sword but also being blown up in a HUMVVEE. The fog is starting to clear and I can and I can start to piece things together.

House sitting
 

I lost all my savings. I lost my job. I could survive anything but the loss of my best friend.
 

Keir leaned against the invisible body of Hanina, letting her hold his leaden body in place. His limbs were numb and nearly useless, the reins barely stayed in his hands. Without the leg straps and his servant, he wouldn't have been able to stay on the horse. That would have been embarrassing.

Summoned: An Accidental Adventure –
Chapter 08
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Malachai~
“If no get hand where need go I slapping you.” Malachai stated to the worker she had been assigned to work with.

Or at least that’s what she hoped she had said to him. Learning a new language was always tough. At least this manner of speech seemed easier to learn than Americanized English had been. She was also having a much easier time of it than Felix was, much to her companions consternation.

“What was that shit you were saying, calling me a bitch?” I demanded.

While the boys went to the opposite side of the cafeteria to get their food, I went with my friends to our usual counter and glared at the cat woman. “Let's try this. Give me anything you have.”

“I'm not a mind reader kid, give me something a bit more specific,” she replied.

“Oh for the love of!” I screamed. “Give me a piece of bread!”

“All out.”

The Imp ran at the strange human, it's mind filled with blood lust and glee at the impending kill. The human was sick and injured, barely able to hold its blade. Its claws would gut the prey, then it could find the unarmed humans, the weak and young. It would play with them for hours, listening to them scream, tasting their flesh, feeling their life leave their bodies.

Chapter 4

Sammy got his phone out and made his call.

“Inspector, we have a positive identification of James Norman as Jamie Murphy, brother of Jock Macready.” He listened for a few moments and then hung up.

“The Inspector says to thank you for that. We have James Norman on our radar as an associate of one of the Angels’ Chapters. I think that he may have a group of thieves who steal the goods and then the items are sent elsewhere for sale in pubs, or even on the internet.”

“That will be a good one, boss,” commented Arty.

Chapter 3

I walked back to the car and got in, pulling down the shade to check my teeth in the mirror. Frank looked at me and raised his eyebrow.

“I’m just checking that I’ve still got white teeth. That womans’ idea of a nice cup of tea would strip paint.”

He laughed as he pulled away from the kerb.

Von stepped into the room just as the sun was peeking out from the horizon. “Good morning, I hope you slept well.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Jayde~

Not long after I arrived at David’s house. It was almost as rundown as the place I lived in. However, where the condition of my apartment complex was the owner’s fault, Dave’s house was his own. He said he inhaled inherited it from his father, and it was paid before he only needed to take care of the maintenance utilities and taxes. Yeah, that would be nice. I always felt a touch envious towards his situation.

“Lucky Bastard.” Was my normal quiet comment on the state of his living arrangements whenever they came up.

Chapter 2

In the nurses’ office it was a little cramped so we took it in turn to get changed. One by one we took the uniform off for the last time and passed it to those outside to put with the other uniforms in the spare room. Ingrid was first, coming out in a shortish shift in the school blue, accentuated by a white belt and piping.

Keir pored over a paper that explained what little was known about the demons biology. Mostly it told how to kill the various types. A large pile of similar papers sat on the small desk of his room. He had sent his living maids to their small ensuite sleeping quarters, leaving only Hanina silently massaging his shoulders, as company.

Delphine waved her hand dismissively. "He went to look for that idiot Amber."
After a quick glance around, she leaned in. "Listen to me, Max!
Do you want to know who Oswald is? Do you want to know why he's Amber's plus one?"

A gong rang out declaring it was finally time for supper, which was a good thing, my stomach was about ready to start chomping on my kidneys and liver. Several doors opened up along the walls, and a stairway appeared in the floor, none of them gave any clue about which way led to food.