Life Passed -08-

Life Passed

A Transgender Paranormal Fantasy

From the Paranormal Visitor Universe

Chapter Eight: Girl 102 Education

By Sasha Zarya Nexus

Can Laura and Minuet in the middle of Girl 102, face the challenge
of Elias and his followers and the revelation of Ruth?

Copyright 2008, 2025 by Sasha Zarya Nexus.
All Rights Reserved.

Author's Note:

This book, in it's entirety, is available on my Patreon. BCTS will get weekly postings on Tuesdays to complete it here. Patreon Free Members can read my new complete book by chapters, Things We Do for Love

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My meeting with Laura and the formation of our instant friendship had opened a door to possibilities I'd never imagined. But as we sat together in my bedroom that night, sharing secrets and marveling at how our Celtic Triquetra necklaces pulsed in harmony, I realized that Helen's warnings about the growing supernatural threat were about to become terrifyingly real.

"Minuet," Laura said, her voice taking on a serious tone as she examined the ancient journal her mother had brought, "there's something else I need to tell you. Something about why my family has been guarding these secrets for so long."

I looked up from where I'd been practicing the hair-braiding technique she'd taught me, sensing the shift in her mood. "What is it?"

"The altar where Tabitha's circle accidentally awakened the fire elemental—my ancestors built it. Not to worship the elemental, but to contain it." Laura's fingers traced the Celtic knotwork on the journal's cover. "According to our family records, the elemental wasn't always destructive. Originally, it was a force of transformation and passion—the sacred fire that burns away the false to reveal the true."

The implications sent a chill through me. "What changed it?"

"Centuries of imprisonment. The binding spell was meant to be temporary, just long enough to teach the elemental to control its power. But the circle that cast it was wiped out by plague before they could complete the ritual." Laura's eyes met mine. "The elemental has been trapped and growing more twisted with rage ever since."

Helen's spiritual form materialized beside my bed, her energy more agitated than I'd ever seen it. "And now it's found a host who interprets its power through a lens of religious extremism. Elias Vire believes his survival of the forest fire was divine intervention, and he's convinced that witches conjured the flames that marked him."

Girl 102 Begins
Despite the growing threat, Laura insisted that my education in authentic girlhood couldn't wait. "You've got twelve years of catching up to do," she declared the next morning, arriving at our house with an armload of magazines, makeup samples, and what she called her "emergency friendship kit."

"First lesson," Laura announced, settling cross-legged on my bedroom floor, "is understanding that being a girl isn't about the clothes or the makeup—though those can be fun. It's about the connections we make with each other."

She was right. As she taught me about different hairstyles, showed me how to apply lip gloss without looking like I'd been eating berries, and explained the unwritten rules of middle school social dynamics, I felt something I'd never experienced before: the easy camaraderie of female friendship.

"Now," Laura said, pulling out a small mirror, "let's talk about confidence. The most important thing about being a girl is knowing that you belong exactly where you are."

Looking at my reflection—really seeing myself as Minuet for the first time—I felt a profound sense of rightness. The twelve-year-old girl looking back at me had always existed; Helen had simply given her the chance to live.

"Laura," I said carefully, "can I tell you something? About what it was like before?"

"Of course. Best friends share everything."

"I remember being Marcus, but it feels like watching someone else's life through a window. The feelings were real, but the body never felt like mine. Now, for the first time, everything matches."

Laura nodded thoughtfully. "My grandmother used to say that some souls get born into the wrong circumstances, and it takes magic to set things right. She said the universe always finds a way to correct itself, usually through love."

The Shopping Expedition
Later that week, Michelle agreed to take Laura and me into town for what Laura called "essential supplies"—which apparently meant everything from proper hair accessories to age-appropriate clothing that would help me blend in with other twelve-year-olds.

"Remember," Laura whispered as we walked through the mall, "act natural. We're just two friends having fun."

But acting natural proved more challenging than expected. Everything felt simultaneously familiar and foreign—I had memories of shopping trips with Michelle and Helen, but I also retained Marcus's adult perspective on the world. The result was a strange double vision that left me feeling slightly off-balance.

"You're overthinking it," Laura observed as we browsed through a store filled with colorful clothes designed for our age group. "Just pick what makes you happy."

I selected a soft purple sweater that reminded me of my bedroom walls and a pair of jeans that felt comfortable and age-appropriate. Laura chose a green top that brought out her eyes, and for a moment, we were simply two girls enjoying a shopping trip together.

That's when I felt it—a sudden heat from the Celtic Triquetra necklace beneath my shirt, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of being watched.

"Laura," I whispered urgently, "something's wrong."

She felt it too. Her own necklace had begun to warm, and her eyes darted around the store with sudden alertness. "We need to find your mom. Now."

But as we made our way toward the store's entrance, a familiar figure blocked our path. Elias Vire stood near the mall's central fountain, his burn-scarred hands clearly visible as he gestured to a small crowd that had gathered around him.

"The demons walk among us," his voice carried clearly across the space, "disguised as innocence itself. They wear the symbols of their dark masters openly, believing themselves protected by their unholy bonds."

His eyes—which flickered with an inner flame that had nothing to do with human genetics—locked onto mine with predatory precision. Even from a distance, I could feel the fire elemental's rage and hunger, recognizing me as something it needed to destroy.

The First Confrontation
"We need to get out of here," Laura breathed, but it was too late. Elias had begun walking toward us with deliberate steps, his small crowd of followers trailing behind him.

"You there," he called out, his voice carrying an authority that made other shoppers stop and stare. "Children wearing the marks of corruption. Do your parents know what symbols you bear?"

The Celtic Triquetra necklaces beneath our shirts had grown almost painfully hot, and I could see Laura struggling not to reach for hers. Several adults in the crowd looked uncertain, caught between concern for children and the magnetic pull of Elias's charismatic presence.

"We're just shopping," I said, surprised by how steady my young voice sounded. "We're not bothering anyone."

"Bothering?" Elias's laugh held no warmth. "Child, you carry the mark of those who would corrupt the natural order itself. That trinket around your neck—do you even know what it represents?"

Before I could answer, the air around us began to shimmer with heat. The fire elemental was responding to Elias's agitation, and I realized with growing horror that he might actually manifest flames in the middle of a crowded mall.

That's when Helen appeared.

Helen's Intervention
Helen's spiritual form materialized between Elias and us, visible to everyone present though they might not have understood what they were seeing. To most, she probably appeared as a trick of the light or a momentary distortion in the air. But to Elias, she was unmistakably real.

"Ruth," Helen said softly, her voice carrying across the space with supernatural clarity. "I see you, child. I see the pain that was done to you, and I see the fear that drives you now."

Elias stumbled backward as if he'd been struck. "You... you're one of them. The demons who—"

"I'm someone who understands what it means to be trapped in the wrong life," Helen continued, her spiritual energy creating a protective barrier around Laura and me. "Someone who knows that love, not hate, is the only force capable of true transformation."

The fire elemental within Elias raged against Helen's presence, but something deeper—some buried part of Ruth that still existed beneath layers of trauma and twisted theology—responded to her words with desperate longing.

"The children are under my protection," Helen declared, her form growing brighter. "And if you truly serve the divine, you'll recognize that love is always stronger than fear."

For a moment, the two forces—Helen's love and the elemental's rage—seemed perfectly balanced. Then Elias shook his head violently, as if trying to dislodge Helen's words from his mind.

"Lies," he snarled, but his voice lacked its earlier conviction. "Demonic deceptions designed to—"

He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening as he seemed to see something in Helen's spiritual form that the rest of us couldn't perceive. Without another word, he turned and strode away, his followers trailing behind him in confusion.

The Aftermath
Michelle found us moments later, having felt the disturbance through her own Celtic Triquetra necklace. "What happened? I felt the necklaces calling out."

"Elias," Laura said simply. "He found us."

"But Helen protected us," I added, looking around for any sign of her spiritual presence. She had faded after Elias's departure, leaving only the lingering warmth of her love.

As we drove home, the weight of what had just occurred settled over us. The supernatural threat Helen had warned about was no longer theoretical—it was active, hunting, and specifically targeting anyone who carried the ancient symbols of the Celtic sisterhood.

I said quietly as we pulled into our driveway. "Helen called him Ruth. What does that mean?"

Michelle and Laura exchanged glances. "It means," Michelle said carefully, "that Elias wasn't always Elias. And if Helen saw Ruth in him, then there might still be hope for redemption."

"But redemption for who?" Laura asked. "The man who just threatened us, or the person he used to be?"

As we entered the house, I realized that my education in being an authentic twelve-year-old girl would have to include lessons I'd never expected: how to face supernatural enemies, how to protect the people I loved, and how to believe in the possibility of redemption even when confronted by seemingly pure hatred.

The Celtic Triquetra necklace rested warm against my chest, a reminder that I was part of something larger than myself—a sisterhood bound by love, protected by ancient magic, and strong enough to face whatever darkness threatened our community.

But as I looked out my bedroom window that night, I could see a distant glow on the horizon where another suspicious fire had broken out. Elias was testing his powers, and each act of destruction made him stronger.

The real battle for our community's soul was just beginning, and I was no longer just Minuet, the girl who had been given a second chance at authentic life. I was one of the guardians, and the fate of everyone I loved depended on learning to use the magic that Helen had awakened within me.

The fire on the horizon pulsed like a heartbeat, and I felt the elemental's rage calling to something deep within me. But I also felt Laura's friendship, Helen's love, Michelle's protection, and the ancient wisdom flowing through the Celtic sisterhood.

Whatever came next, we would face it together—three girls bound by magic, friendship, and the unbreakable bonds of chosen family. The war for Cedar Hollow's soul had begun, and love would be our greatest weapon.