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Author's Note: Ch. One of my brand new story. Things seem to be light and fluffy for now but I assure you that like the title, that won't last for long.I'm trying something new with one, its going to get a little dark so be forewarned. I use a nasty, hateful word a few times in this chapter---one I would never use myself but hateful people use from time to time so be warned. This will probably be the only time I'd like to thank djkauf for the wonderful editing job...and I'm glad you didn't vanish for good :). I have to also thank DC Comics for their wonderful characters once again.

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Chapter One:

It was dark and I had no idea where I was. I waved my hand in front of my face but I couldn’t see a thing. I was floating in midair like a feather, daintily drifting along. It felt wonderful at first, floating like this. I often dreamed of flying, coasting gently through the clouds without a care in the world. But I wasn’t in the clouds right now. I was in a pitch pure darkness that didn’t seem to have any light in sight. It was beautiful at first but then it seemed to suffocate me. The darkness moved closer, pressing against me, choking me. When I opened my mouth to gasp it seemed to go inside me. I tried to scream but nothing came out. I flailed my arms about but what was once weightless now seemed to be like syrup. It tugged and pulled on me, making me feel like I was drowning. I tried my hardest to fight it but it kept pulling and my body was useless against its powers.
Then it stopped.

The suffocating black let me go and I fell. But it wasn’t the floating, feather light feeling before. I fell like a boulder, plummeting faster and faster toward the ground. I reached out but there was nothing to hold onto. I kept falling, faster and faster. I screamed but I was going too fast to hear myself. My fantasies of flying were quickly replaced by nightmares of smashing into the ground. I kicked and pushed, trying to make myself airborne. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I looked down in a panic and saw the ground. It was rushing up on me very rapidly. At first, it was distant, so very far away. But it got closer and closer. It started to take shape. First as the color gray then it got more vibrant as I got closer. Soon it was green and it was only inches away. I closed my eyes and put out my hands to brace myself, waiting for the impact.
But it never came.

The next thing I knew I was lying on my back, the crisp rustle of something around me as I groaned and moved. I opened my eyes and saw the black again. But it wasn’t like before. This black was dotted with tiny specks of white. I blinked a few times and realized they were stars. There were thousands of them overhead. I stared at them for a few moments, remembering my stargazing as a child. My grandfather used to have this telescope on his back porch and we used to look at the stars together. My grandparents lived near the northern part of the Tonto National Forest where a vast expanse of pine trees grew. I used to love walking those trails with grandpa every summer when we visited. Grandpa’s back porch though was the best place for stargazing.

I sat up and rubbed the back of my neck. I looked around and shivered. September nights were cold while the days were hot in Arizona. I took a closer look around and noticed I was surrounded by towering trees. I rubbed my eyes; I was in “Grandpa’s forest”. I used one of the trees to help me up then brushed the pine needles off my pajamas. I took a step and winced, looking down it was clear that however I got here I wasn’t wearing shoes. The wince came from the sting in my foot because I stepped on a pinecone. I cursed and tried to get my bearings. I didn’t know this particular part of the forest because it was so hard to tell in the dark but as long as I found the right star I’d be able to follow it back to civilization. I looked up at the sky, trying to find the brightest star. It was an old tribal trick he learned from his grandfather who learned it from his grandfather before him. At least that’s what he told me anyway. He always used to say that “even if you get lost finding your way home is in your blood.” Maybe in his but not mine.

But that didn’t stop me from trying. I found grandpa’s bright star. Then I started to follow it. I found the walking to be a bitch on my feet but I tried to step in the right places. Walking bare foot out here wasn’t the brightest idea but it was the only thing I could do. As I walked, I tried to think of how I’d gotten here. I remembered going to sleep in my dorm back at Arizona State. My roommate Bart and I were out late the night before, which didn’t make our girlfriends really happy. But we were celebrating. Bart just made the track team and he wanted to get wasted. Who was I to argue with him? We’d only been at school for a few days but Bart and I had been friends since high school. Anyway we got back to the dorm late and I crashed as soon as I hit the bunk. Remembering that I looked down at my pajamas one more time. There was something off about them, something wrong. I couldn’t remember ever wearing pajamas, let alone black silk ones.

My head hurt thinking about it.

I continued to walk. After what felt like forever, I thought I heard someone. I stopped for a second, resting against a tree to get my second wind. If there was a person out here maybe they could tell me where I was and help me get back to civilization. Then I could figure out how the hell I got way out here. That part was still a bit fuzzy. The first thing I could remember after passing out was falling. It made me wonder what the hell was going on. But the more I thought about it the more my head hurt so I just decided to stop thinking altogether. I could worry about specifics later. Right now, I needed to find whoever it was and get the hell out of here.

That’s when I heard it. It sounded like someone running. I pushed away from the tree and looked around. I couldn’t see anyone but I could hear them. They were getting closer. I squinted in the dark and noticed a shape coming toward me. I panicked for a second because all I saw was white. At first, I thought it was a ghost. My heart started to beat real fast and my mind told me to run but my feet didn’t want to move. I was frozen in fear as the phantom got closer. But as soon as it did, I realized it wasn’t a ghost at all. It was a girl---not much older than me. She was wearing a long flowing white dress and had long black hair. She was running like her life depended on it. When she got closer, I realized two things: the dress was see-through and she was wearing nothing underneath and she was running faster than I’d ever seen anyone run before.

She was almost on top of me before I got a look at her face. It was as pale as a sheet. There were tears streaming down her cheeks and she was scared to death. I held up my hands. She looked right at me but didn’t seem to stop. She slowed when she reached me though. She looked at me and I smiled, lowering my arms. Then she seemed to stumble back as if she were afraid of me. I raised my hands again, waving the in the air.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, showing her I meant her no harm. “I’m a friend, I’m lost too.”

“Get the fuck away from me,” she said.

At first, I thought she was talking about me but then I realized she was looking past me. I turned my head and saw a figure standing there. I jumped because they were so close. Whoever they were, they were dressed in a long brown robe looking for the world like a Jedi. They walked right past me and moved to her. I went to reach for them but my foot snagged on the tree root and I missed. I cursed as I went to my knees. The robed person moved toward the girl. She backed up but it was clumsy and she tripped, falling awkwardly. She winced and cried. I could tell just by her posture it was a bad fall. I untangled myself from the root and got to my feet. I rushed forward ready to tackle the robed dude and help the girl. But I was completely outnumbered. More robed figures appeared out of the forest, seeming to appear from the shadows. There were at least six of them, circling around her. Her head darted as she took them all in, it was clear that these were the people she was running from.

“Now my dear” said the voice of the closest robed figure, the one that came from behind me. It was a woman’s voice. “You shouldn’t have run away from us, he’s not going to like that.”

“Screw you bitch” snapped the girl, now rubbing her ankle.

I made another step toward the robed woman but my pajama top got snagged in a bush. I tugged and twisted but it only made things worse. I cursed but no one seemed to notice me.

“Mother” said one of the other figures, I couldn’t tell which one. “He told us to do it here.”

The robed woman sighed and nodded. “Very well.”

Two robed figures moved forward and approached the girl. She screamed at the top of her lungs. I screamed too, telling them to get the fuck away from her. I wasn’t a very big guy but I knew some fighting. There were six of them but if I could take at least two it would give the two of us a fighting chance to get away. I struggled with the bush, trying to pull myself free but it was no use. Instead, I watched as the two of them got on top of her and held her down. She was screaming and kicking. Another pair came forward; one was carrying a coil of rope, the other what looked like wooden tent pegs and a hammer. I could only watch in stunned amazement as they hammered the pegs in the ground then tied her to them spread eagle.

“Do you have the Goblet?” asked the woman.

Another figure stepped forward, pulling it from inside their robe. It was made of gold and looked like one of the props from the Theater.

The woman took a step forward and met the person with the Goblet. The girl seemed to know what was going on because she was kicking and squirming, trying desperately to break free from the ropes. I continued to tug at the bush, wondering why I couldn’t break free to help her. As hard as I tugged though the harder, it seemed to hold on. I cursed and spit but it was no use. The robed woman knelt in front of the girl. She was mumbling something under her breath, something I was too far away to hear. But I saw what happened next. From her sleeve, she pulled a wicked looking dagger. She held it high about her head, allowing the moonlight to dance along its blade. I looked from the blade to the girl and back again. I realized now what was going on. I tugged and pulled at the bush until finally I tore away half my pajama top. I fell to the ground but got to my feet quickly. I ran toward the scene, screaming at the top of my lungs.

They didn’t hear me, they didn’t even notice me.

But the girl did. It seemed like the whole scene froze and she looked at me, directly at me as if seeing me for the very first time. I saw the sorrow and the pain in her eyes. Then she spoke, cold, chilling words: “Beware the Rapture for when it comes it will bring nothing but death and destruction with it.”

Then the scene unfroze and she screamed.

I screamed too.

I woke screaming, flailing my arms about like an idiot. I nearly fell out of bed, which would have been disastrous seeing as I was on the top bunk. I did almost hit my head on the ceiling, which was just as bad. I blinked and looked around, trying to get my bearings. It took me a second to realize I wasn’t in the woods but In my dorm room. It took me another second to realize that all of that---the crap in the woods, the crazy robed people, the girl, the silk pajamas---was all a dream. I sighed in relief especially when I looked down and saw I was wearing the t-shirt and jeans I wore yesterday. I rubbed the back of my neck then pulled my sweat drenched shirt over my head. I dropped it to the floor as I turned and dropped to it myself.

As soon as I landed, a hand lashed out from the bottom bunk, smacking me in the back of the leg. I jumped and turned. My roommate Bart was lying on his stomach grumbling. He turned to me and looked like hell. Clearly the two of us weren’t cut out for all the partying we did last night.

“Dude” he grumbled. “I already have a massive hangover but with your screaming things aren’t any better.”

“Sorry I had a fucked up dream.”

He sat up and rubbed his eyes then winced because he sat up too quickly. Bart Allen and I had been best friends since grade school. He was loudmouth prankster who lived next door and I was his dweeby neighbor. It used to confuse the hell out of people that we were even friends. He was the track star in school and I was the drama geek. But our friendship transcended all of that. Even though he got decent grades, Bart wasn’t a fan of school. He hated the fact that people always put labels on things. It pissed him off whenever someone would comment about the two of us being friends. “What’s the Jock doing with the Fag?” Yeah I was a Fag because I was in Drama.

Bart used to kick anyone’s ass whoever called me a fag when he was around. I suppose it didn’t help that I wasn’t the manliest man around. Whereas Bart looked like a runner---lean and muscular, I looked like a geek. I wasn’t short by any means but I wasn’t tall either. I was thin, wore my jet-black hair to my shoulders and always seemed to dress like I’d just rolled out of bed. Bart was more put together than I was but not by much. He was just as much as a slob.
When he got a scholarship to Arizona State, it didn’t take long for me to follow. After all, they have a fairly decent theater program. Besides it didn’t take much for me to get in. With my grades---I’m kinda a brain---and my mad theater skills, they snatched me right up. It was a no brainer that the two of us were going to be roommates. We only talked about it every day for the last three years of high school. Bart wanted out of our little town and I wasn’t that far behind. Besides his uncle, Bart was the only one in his family to go to college. I was the same. My mother and I lived with my grandparents, I never knew my father. He left mom before I was born or at least that’s how she told it. There was a lot of bitterness about it so I didn’t really press the matter much. Dad was a non-entity as far as I was concerned and I liked it that way.

Besides Grandpa was all the Dad I needed.

I sat on the edge of Bart’s bed as he threw off the covers. Unlike me, he managed to get his pants off last night. He was clad in boxers and only boxers. He ran his fingers through his mop of brown hair and sighed. Then he started looking around for his pants. Thankfully, it was Saturday or else the two of us would be majorly fucked. We both had morning classes and hangovers do not work well on Monday mornings.

“So, bad dream?” he asked as he found his pants.

“Fucked up is more like it” I said and quickly gave him the Cliff Notes as he pulled his pants on.

When I was finished, he laughed. “Goth chicks and Jedis, huh?”

I laughed. “More like pale skinned Emo chick.”

“Don’t tell Katie, she might get jealous.”

Katie was my girlfriend. Like Bart and I, she came from the same town as us---a small blip on the radar called Azarath. Yeah that’s really its name. It was a tiny thing, barely a thousand people. It was so small that it hardly appeared on maps. It didn’t help that it wedged between two bigger towns on either side. We used to joke that it was its own dimension. Anyway, Katie lived a few houses down from my grandparents. Unlike me, she retained most of her Native American heritage, including skin color. I loved that she looked perpetually tan all the time. She was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. It always amazed me that she chose me over all the other dicks who tried to get her. We started dating when we were high school freshmen and we haven’t stopped since. She was an Anthropology major; she wanted to learn all about our people’s culture. Though I didn’t look it, I was actually part Apache. Well technically, it was Yavapai-Apache but you never tell that by looking at me. A lot of people thought I was Mom’s adopted son.

Whereas she looked like an Apache, me I looked like the pale faced English boy who got switched at birth. But Mom was adamant that I was in fact her son–OK, so I had some doubts in Middle School but she showed me my birth certificate and everything. I guess I just took after my father a lot more than I realized.

“Katie and I have a good relationship” I said to answer his quip. “If she gets jealous a dream girl who by the way is killed in my dream, then she’s more twisted than either of us are letting on.”

Which is saying a lot. Katie Black Crow was an All American type of girl. She was Class President, a cheerleader and every girl’s best friend all through high school. She was another one of those conundrums that no one could quite figure out. What was a hot girl like her doing with a guy like me? They still called me fag even though they knew the two of us were dating. I think a lot of guys were convinced that Katie was protecting me and that she was my “fake” girlfriend. So that didn’t stop them from asking her out constantly. Which was never good for my self-esteem, especially when they did it right in front of me.
If there was anything twisted about her, she was hiding it very well from me.

That didn’t stop us from playing a few jokes about it though. It made the two of us laugh, as we both slowly got ready for the day. When we were kids Katie was so straight laced that if either Bart or I put one toe out of line she used to berate us until we apologized over and over again. Even though we were all the same age Katie was like a Babysitter, older sister and Mom all rolled up into one---most of the time when she was like ten years old. It came from her rigid background. Her father was a military man and instilled his military discipline into his three daughters as if they were his sons---unfortunately for him he never had any sons.

Fortunately for me Katie didn’t have any brothers because they would have surely kicked my ass if they knew what I did with their little sister last Friday night.

While Bart still recovered from his hangover, I ran to the shower.

I got it all to myself. Half the guys in our dorm were at the party last night and were all probably in the same state that Bart was in. I’m not much of a drinker---though I did knock back one or two. Bart and the others got smashed. I had to practically carry him back to the dorm. When we got in last night, I was so exhausted that I dropped asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I couldn’t help but think about the drunken idiots while I stood under the hot water. I closed my eyes and sighed. No, it’s not that I like to think about guys in the shower but they were acting like such asses. Half of them had painted themselves maroon and were bouncing about like baboons. That’s a laugh worthy analogy if there ever was one.

I got out of the shower, wrapping my towel around my waist as I did so. I walked up to the mirror and wiped away the condensation. I sighed at what I saw. I had no muscle mass to speak off and my voice only worked when I was on stage. Three times in the past, I’d been asked to play girl parts when there weren’t enough girls in the cast. So you can imagine how my voice sounded. I would have been appalled but I’m an actor and a damn good one. Yep, arrogance goes along with it. I’ve been told all my life that I had a real talent for it. My acting career started when I was in the second grade. I played a Pilgrim in our Thanksgiving play. Katie was in it too, you can never guess what she played. Her parents, like my grandparents, didn’t live on the Reservation. Unfortunately for her, that meant Katie was one of the very few Native Americans in our school. It didn’t seem to bother her but when we were younger some kids picked on her a bit about it. Kids are little bastards like that.

It was me that actually talked her into the play. I told her that the part was made for her. In actuality, it wasn’t even a speaking role. She was Indian Woman #2; she gave Bart’s Pilgrim #5 a basket of corn. It was the only real thing either of them did during the play. Me, I was Captain Miles Standish, the star of the play. I got two standing ovations because of it. From there I was bitten by the acting bug. I went on to star in every single one of our school plays, right up through my senior year of high school. I could have gotten a scholarship to any school in the country but I chose to stay close to home and go to Arizona State. They didn’t offer a scholarship but Grandpa paid my way.

It was only the first week of classes but already there was buzz about the new theater season. The first big play of the year was direct from the Bard himself. I’ve always been a huge fan of Shakespeare. We did Romeo and Juliet in tenth grade. It was another one of those unfortunate ones where there weren’t enough girls. So the director decided we’d go old school Shakespeare when we could. She cast me in the lead as Juliet. I stole the show. I mean how could I not. I was after all the best one out there. In Eleventh grade, I was fortunate enough to slip into Iago’s shoes. He’s by far one of my all time favorites. I loved playing him more than any other role I’d ever taken on. You could almost say playing him was my crowning glory.

Well this year I aimed to top that.

They’re doing Macbeth. There are a lot of good parts in there but I already know which one I want. I want the lead. I want Macbeth himself. I already knew all the lines. For the past few days, Katie and I have been doing them back and forth---she as various characters, me always as Macbeth. I knew most of the lines in the play actually, having what one might call a photographic memory. That’s what helps me learn my lines so well. It also makes me such a fantastic student. Regardless of all that, the role of Macbeth was definitely mine, even if I was a lowly freshman.

I left the bathroom after staring in the mirror for God knows how long. When I got back to the room, Bart was fully dressed for the day. In fact, he was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. He looked me up and down. From the looks of things, he was on his way to work out, probably run some laps.

“I’m going running,” he said. Figures. “Then me and a few guys are going to toss around a football a bit, you want to come?”

He already knew my answer of course.

“When have you ever known me to want to play football?”

He laughed at that. He didn’t bother to even stick around to say anything more. He grabbed his gym bag and left.

Back in high school Gym class was the bane of my existence. Every guy there went out of their way to make my life a living hell. We had a small class so there was no separation in Gym based on grades. All of the grades took the same Gym class, separated throughout the day in two different periods. The Gym group you were a part of as a freshman were the same guys you were with throughout your school career. Luckily, I had Bart there to watch my back. Unfortunately, I had some of the biggest jocks in the school there too. Suffice to say they didn’t make things easy. They had fun picking on the little “gay” kid. OK, I say little but I’m actually five seven it’s just that most of them were over six foot so I was little to them. Bart was the only thing that kept them from pounding the snot out of me every day.

The phone rang, bringing me out of my bad memories. I walked over to the bed where it was currently lying---Bart never knew how to put it back on the receiver. I picked it up and clicked the button. “Roth” I said with a sigh, sitting on Bart’s bunk.

“Good afternoon to you too” said Katie’s annoyed voice.

I groaning, looking at my watch seeing it was after one. “Sorry, Kate, rough night.”

“Seriously? You?”

I laughed. “I had a drink or two.”

“Wow, Ryan Roth, experiencing all that college has to offer,” she said with a great deal of amusement in her voice.

“Laugh it up, Miss Black Crow”

She sighed. We talked for a few minutes and it was decided the two of us would meet in a few minutes for lunch. After saying goodbye, I went and got dressed.

Katie, Bart and I all went to the Tempe Campus college of Arizona State. While most of my classes were in the Herberger Institute, Katie and Bart were spread throughout. When I got down the stairs, I sat on a concrete bench and waited for her to pick me up. The oddly shaped form of Best Hall loomed behind me. I say oddly shaped because it had these funky little stone “protrusions” above each window. I’m not sure what to call them actually. I’m sure there was some technical architecture term for them but I wasn’t into that kinda stuff. I once asked Bart but all he did was shrug. He might have been there for track but his parents also talked him into Engineering, just in case something bad happened. Now normally an Engineering student wouldn’t be housed in Best but Bart’s Dad was friends with the Dean and pulled some strings. I’m not sure what he said but like I said, the two of us have been wanting to be roommates for a long time.

I pulled out my battered copy of Macbeth while I waited. I didn’t go anywhere without it these last few days. It was an old Folger’s edition, one of those covered ones that they didn’t sell anymore. This particular copy was failing apart, held together by a combination of duct tape and rubber bands. Inside almost every page was scrawled with handwritten notes, most of them not mine. I found it for a buck in the school store. I think they were happy to get rid of it. Most of the notes were written by plebeians who had no idea what they were talking about but there were some good ones too. I tried to ignore all of them and just concentrate on the text. I’d only been in school for about a week now but I was bound to make a good impression on my Drama peers.

I was engrossed in the book that I didn’t hear the car pull up until the horn beeped. I looked up and smiled. Katie drove a little Focus; it was a gift from her parents when she graduated high school. It was a nice little car, got good mileage and all that. At least that’s what her Dad told her. Me, I didn’t really know much about cars. As long as it had four wheels and could seat more than two people, it was fine by me. I stuffed the book in my back pocket and walked to the car, opening the passenger door. When I got inside, I pecked Katie on the cheek.

“Such a gentleman” she teased as I buckled my seatbelt and we drove off.

If you saw the two of us together, we didn’t really look like boyfriend and girlfriend. For one thing she was much too gorgeous for me---I accepted that a long time ago. Though I didn’t dress like it, I really did come off as the gay friend. We were affectionate enough, holding hands and kissing but we weren’t all over one another. What made matters worse was the fact that Katie was the same height as me and when she wore heels, she was taller. I always felt inferior when she wore them on dates. I looked at her feet as she was driving, she was wearing three inch ones now. She wore them because she liked to tease me more than anything.

“Three inch today huh?” I said and she laughed.

“You know if you would only wear a pair of four inch ones then you wouldn’t complain all that much.”

I frowned at that. Though I didn’t mind dressing up as a girl during plays, I was completely against it any other time. But she seemed bound and determined to get in a dress. It was all in good fun of course but sometimes she scared me. The last time I complained about her heels was the other day. I was in her dorm room while she was getting ready for our date. She was dressed in this tiny little sheath dress and I made a comment about her shoes. She pulled out another pair and tried desperately to talk me into them. She seemed to think that with the right dress, shoes and padding I’d be able to make a passable attempt at a girl. She knew how much of a sore subject it was with me. Because with a dress, wig and makeup I made far more than a passable girl---I was downright gorgeous. When I was playing Juliet, some guy who didn’t know who I really was asked me out after the play, offering me a rose in the process. I was so embarrassed. But not as much as he was when one of my tormentors walked by and asked him if he was gay---pointing out who I really was. The next day my would be suitor and two of his friends jumped me on the way home; I got a fat lip and a black eye out of it.

Katie turned her head slightly and saw my frown now. She leaned over and squeezed my hand. “I was kidding, babe,” she said.

I nodded. “Sometimes I wonder.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked defensively.

“Nothing” I said quickly.

We drove in awkward silence after that. When we got to the café, Katie huffed as she got out of the car. I cursed and ran to catch up with her. I apologized three or four times by the time, we got in. If I didn’t like the teasing about dressing then she definitely didn’t like the teasing about her supposed lesbianism. Suffice to say there was an incident at cheer camp two summers ago. One of the girls from another state got some mixed signals and threw herself at Katie, going as far as kissing her. Katie was pretty shaken up over the whole thing. She only told me because we agreed to be honest with one another. When she got back from camp and told me about it, she cried in my arms for a few hours. So even though she did a little light teasing about my stage cross-dressing, picking on her “lesbian” experience was off limits.

By the time we got to our seat, my comment in the car was all but forgotten. We were laughing and holding hands when we got to our seat. Things were going good until the waitress came over.

“What do you ladies want?”

Ok so I’m baby faced. But in my defense I’m half Native American and Native American men don’t have facial hair. But when she called us ladies both of us frowned. We didn’t bother to correct her but the conversation during lunch was a bit strained to say the least. We finally did get talking about a topic that seemed to interest the both of us and things picked up from there. Though she wasn’t a big drama person herself, Katie loved talking about the plays. She was a big fan of Macbeth partially because it had such a kick ass female character in there. I can honestly admit that if I wasn’t going for Macbeth then I definitely would go for the role of Lady Macbeth---gender be damned. She was in fact very awesome.

‘Hey you know what would be really cool for the audition?” she said as she munched on one of my fries.

I sighed. “I’m not letting you put makeup on me again.”

“It was one time,” she said with a laugh. “And even you have to admit you were pretty cute.”

I frowned. She made me wear makeup for my Romeo and Juliet audition. It was actually to cover the huge zit I had on my cheek but she went a little overboard. Not only did she use foundation but she put in a little blush and eye shadow without me knowing. With my high voice and feminine features---coupled with my shiny black hair---the teacher in charge thought I was a girl. Even the name Ryan could be used for a girl. When he found out, I was a boy he was a bit upset but I did have the role of Romeo for about a day. That is until he came up with a crazy idea and made me Juliet. I think he secretly wanted to see me in that tight dress and bodice---damn perv.

I groaned. “Does this idea of yours involve anything feminine?”

She laughed and shook her head. “No, I was thinking of a really cool prop or something. There’s this store around the corner that sells stuff like that.”

After we paid our check and grimacing at the waitress saying “goodbye ladies”, she led me to the store in question. We left her car parked in front of the café because it was right around the corner. It was one of the places that looked like it should stand out but I never really noticed it before. It was rather creepy looking. Whereas most the places around it had sparkling displays in the window and a welcoming atmosphere, this place looked downright frightening. I gulped as Katie took my hand and the two of us stepped inside, the dinging of a little bell above the door announcing our presence. The first thing I noticed was the smell---it was old and musty. The second thing I notice was the lack of moving space. It was cluttered with junk and I do mean junk.

There were a lot of shelves, some on the wall, some in the middle of the stuff. All of the shelves were packed with crap. What wasn’t on the shelves was crammed on the floor, making it really hard to move. It was a lot of cool stuff but there didn’t seem to be anything that might interest me. It was clear that the place was some kind of prop shop though. There were a lot of swords and shields, racks of costumes near the cash register. There was this really cool wooden trunk in one corner that looked like a pirate’s chest. On the wall behind the counter was a mounted Bison’s head---clearly fake---on its head was a cowboy’s hat.

Katie and I held hands as we wove our way through the racks. But when she caught sight of something that interested her, I felt her fingers slip from mine. I was looking at a really cool suit of armor and only noticed she was gone when I turned my head and saw she wasn’t there. I shrugged it off, hearing the click of her heels as she disappeared into the mess. I left the armor and started wandering myself. I found myself in an aisle with some really old books, stuff that a prop master might stuff shelves with on stage for a realistic look. As I was browsing the books, my butt bumped the shelf behind me. There was a rattle and a clang. I snapped around and cursed. Some weird metal urn thingy fell off the shelf, the top popping open.

I looked around, hoping I didn’t break anything. I quickly scooped it off the floor. As I was setting it back on the shelf, there was something behind where the urn came from. I could tell the urn hadn’t been moved in a while because there was a clear circle in all the dust. I held onto the urn and reached into the space it left, going for whatever was behind it. My hand felt something thin and metal. I wrapped my fingers around it and pulled it out. It was a funky looking crucifix on a chain. I say funky because it was unlike any crucifix I’d ever seen before. I wasn’t very religious but I knew enough about crucifixes to know this one was wrong. For one there was no Jesus on it and for another it had two crosspieces instead of one. I was about to set it back on the shelf and put the urn back but something about it interested me. It was definitely different and it would definitely be noticed.

I smiled big. This was exactly what I needed to set myself apart from the others. I put the urn back on the shelf and took my funky find to the counter. There was an older gentleman at the register, Katie was talking to him. She was holding up a Renaissance style dress and haggling a price with him. She had him down to a hundred bucks when I walked up. I dangled the crucifix from the chain. “How much for this?”

He squinted his eyes and adjusted the glassed on the end of his nose. “Where ever did you find that?”

I told him. He frowned. Katie smiled big. “That is awesome, I love it.”

The man didn’t seem so enthusiastic about it. He rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure where that came from but I guess I’d be willing to part with it for about two hundred bucks.”

Katie didn’t like that one bit and started to argue with him. I listened with a smile. If there was one thing, I liked about Katie it was how to negotiate. She managed to talk him into giving us both the crucifix and the dress for under a hundred. The man wasn’t too happy but seeing as he made a sale, I think it evened things out. I thought about slipping the thing around my neck but I decided to carry it out in the bag. It was chance that I found it and I didn’t want to jinx things by putting it on now. So I’d wear it tomorrow for my audition and hope for the best.

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

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Author's Note: Chapter 2 and things are moving along quite nicely. To me this is still a set up chapter, at least in the beginning but the story is building. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Two:

“Do you have a monologue for your audition yet?” asked Katie as I followed her to English class.

“I’m thinking about something from Poe, maybe The Raven.”

“I really like that one.”

She really liked it because of the bird. She had a thing for black birds. Well partially because of her last name but it was more than that. Last year---right before graduation---Katie shocked everyone by getting a raven tattoo on her back, just above her panty line. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world but her parents weren’t thrilled about it. It shocked everyone at school, too. Katie was the sweet, clean cut cheerleader and here she was getting a wicked tattoo. It was wicked looking too. It was this nasty looking thing---fierce beak, wings spread wide. I thought it was the sexiest thing in the world but her father wasn’t a fan of it. She got grounded for a few weeks for it.

“I think you might be a little biased,” I said, she playfully punched me in the arm.

We had a good laugh as we went to English Lit. 101. I hated that I had to take general classes but it was a requirement. Freshmen and Sophomores took General classes first. I still had Theater classes but only two---Theater 101 and Acting 101---but the rest of my schedule was filled with crap. I thought I was done with all this crap stuff in high school but apparently, you were never done with any of it. Besides English, I had Bio, Math and some course called College Life. I did manage to squeeze in a Computer Lab but that class only met once a week. Katie’s schedule was pretty much the same but she at least got some cool classes too. One in particular that she seemed to love; a class on the Occult. Her professor was visiting from another college for the semester---he taught like this all over the country. I’m not sure how we got so lucky but it was kinda cool.

When we walked into the lecture hall, Bart was already there. He was sitting next to a busty blonde girl, trying to woo her with his charm. But she wasn’t falling for his tricks. Bart was a bit of a ladies’ man back home but that was a small town in the middle of nowhere. Here was the big city and apparently big city girls weren’t fans of the Great Bart Allen Charm. I smiled as Katie and I slipped into the row behind him. We caught the tail end of Bart’s humiliation.

“It’s just a cup of coffee,” he was saying, leaning awfully close to her.

“I don’t drink coffee,” she said, clearly annoyed.

I knew this routine of his. His charm relied fully on annoying the girls to death. It had a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding. Some girls really liked it---I’ve heard them call him “sweet” even---while others were disgusted by it. Miss Busty Blonde was one of the latter apparently.

“It doesn’t have to be coffee; I’ll get you any drink you want.”

She smiled and turned to him, picking up her Styrofoam cup.

“Really, how about another Coke.”

He looked at the cup. “Don’t you have one there?”

“Not anymore” she said as she took off the plastic lid and dumped her drink on his head.

Everyone around him erupted into laughter, including Katie and me. Bart frowned for a second and shrugged as the blonde grabbed her stuff and moved to the other side of the room. Bart shook himself like a dog, spraying coke all over the place. Everyone gasped and groaned, including me. I smacked him in the back of the head. He turned around and smiled at us.

“Her loss” he said as if it was the most common thing in the world.

Class started shortly after that and it was one of the longest, most boring hour and ten minutes of my life. The rest of the classes of the day were like that. Katie and I only had English together which was a shame but we both had breaks at one so we could get lunch together. Bart and I had no more classes together and didn’t see one another again until he crawled into the dorm at six. Besides classes, he had a couple hours of track practice, too. He was one tired Sun Devil by the end of the day that’s for sure. Most of my classes were just like English---boring as hell. Except the ones I was interested in. Theater 101 was all right but I really loved Acting. The teacher was an old eccentric that loved spouting out Shakespeare and wore flamboyant clothes.

I had Acting at noon. When I made my way into the Institute, I slipped quietly down the halls. I was almost to my classroom when I made a beeline for the bathroom. It wasn’t that I had to go but my stomach had been bothering me all day. I woke up with a nasty pain this morning. I thought maybe it was something I ate the night before and took some Pepto but it was still bothering me. I rushed over to the mirror, dropping my bag on the floor. I turned on the faucet and splashed some water in my face. There were bags under my eyes and I looked a bit paler than usual. I slept well last night but I tossed a bit before finally falling asleep. For some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about that damn necklace. It was kinda weird actually.

After leaving the shop yesterday, Katie dragged me off to do more shopping. There were a few more places she wanted to go to. Our first stop was the bookstore---she still needed to grab a book or two. After that, she took me clothes shopping. I didn’t mind going because she didn’t make a big deal out of it---spending all day trying things on. She did have some fun teasing me here and there, asking me if she thought this looked good then holding it up to my chest to see. I was fine until we got to a boutique. While she was looking at skirts, I wandered over to the jewelry counter. There was a section here that had a display of New Age stuff---things like pentagrams and ankhs. I had been looking at a really cool Irish Cross when I got the first pang.

I kept thinking about the necklace. I had left it in the car but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. It was like the damn thing was calling to me---as creepy as that sounds. When we left the boutique, I ended up opening the bag and pulling it out. Holding it in my hand made me feel better. I felt like Frodo Baggins with that damn ring---I made a promise to myself then and there that it I called it my “precious” I was tossing the fucker out the window.

Even now as I thought about, I got that feeling. My audition wasn’t until two. The necklace was in my bag but I couldn’t help but think about it. I stopped splashing water in my face and looked down at my bag. My backpack was resting against the wall, looking like a slumped bag of potatoes. But at the same time, it looked like the greatest thing in the world because the necklace was in there. I stared at it for the longest time before biting my lip and picking it up. I put it on the sink and opened up the outside pocket where I kept the necklace. I reached inside and pulled it out. It still looked really cool. It was made of silver, just fitting in my hand. I looked it up online last night---or tried too. I couldn’t find a damn thing about it though.

Holding it in my hand, everything just felt right. I stared down at it and smiled. As soon as I did, I felt like a freak. Who the hell smiles at a necklace? I groaned and stuffed it back in my bag. But as soon as I did so I felt a longing for it. I cursed. This was ridiculous---it was a stupid necklace. Guys aren’t supposed to be this attached to jewelry. I reached for the bag, ready to pull it out again but stopped myself. I shook my head. Then looked at my watch---I needed to get to class. I finished washing my hands, grabbed my bag and ran off to class.

I got there in the nick of time. I slipped into the empty seat near the door. I loved this class---Professor Ross was the greatest. But no matter how much I tried to concentrate, I couldn’t. My mind kept drifting back to the necklace. It kinda sucked too because Ross seemed particularly animated today going over something about technique which I’m sure I would have enjoyed. When class ended, Ross stopped me from leaving. He was dressed in purple today, which would have looked ridiculous on anyone else---but on him, it worked real well.

“You looked lost today, Ryan.”

Most teachers didn’t go out of their way to learn their students’ names but Ross did. It helped that he was my academic advisor too. He was really cool because he let me call him by his first name---though I was real weary about doing so.

“Sorry Profes…I mean Brian” He smiled. “Just a bit distracted today.”

“Thinking about the audition?”

I nodded, lying. I hated doing so but how do you tell someone you’re thinking about jewelry---they’d think you were nuts. “I’m worried I won’t get the part.”

He smiled. “You’re a brilliant actor, Ryan but you’re still young. Macbeth is a tough role for anyone. And I won’t lie to you and say you’re a shoo-in because there are a lot of guys in the program who are a lot more ambitious than you. I wish I could say I’ll be rooting for you but I have to be unbiased.”

I nodded then looked at my watch, cursing. “I’m late for lunch. My girlfriend is going to kill me. Thanks for the pep talk sir.”

He smiled. “That’s what I’m here for. Good luck today Ryan.”

“My name is Craig Nelson and I’m reading for Macbeth”

I sat in the audience with the rest of the kids auditioning. I groaned when I saw Nelson. I only knew him from reputation only. He was a Senior and the king of the Theater Department. I’d never actually met the guy but looking at him it was easy to see how he got so many parts. I’m not attracted to guys in the least but Craig was gorgeous. I looked about at some of the girls sitting around me and I could see they thought so too. He looked like Heath Ledger except he had a little more stubble and dark hair. He was tall and he had this presence. I hated him already. When he spoke, his voice filled the room and exuded a great deal of confidence. He sounded like a man, hell he sounded like Macbeth.

That just made me hate him more. I sat with the others and watched him. A lot of people were smiling. I looked over at the three teachers running the audition. Mr. Ross---Brian---was there just to judge. The other two were the director and Casting Director. I didn’t know either of them but I knew their names. The Director was Miss White and the Casting Director Miss Fields. I’m not sure which one was which though. All I saw was a middle-aged blonde woman with glasses and a short red headed woman. Both of them looked important to me. I tried not to think too much about it though. Even though they were the two most important people in the room, I needed to get my nerves under control.

When Craig finished, the room broke into applause. That made me hate him more. He was good, hell he was fantastic. Which meant he was also my biggest competition.

“Excellent Mr. Nelson” said the blonde as Craig strode from the stage.

“Thank you Professor White” he said with a big toothy grin.

If she was White then the red head was Fields. Good to know.

I listened and waited my turn as one by one people were called on stage. We were given numbers at the beginning and we were called up accordingly. I was #23; #22 was on stage right now. She was a small, mousy looking girl. She was reading for Lady Macbeth but I could tell by looking at her at she wouldn’t get the part. When she spoke, she surprised me. She was good---she had great projection but she didn’t look the part. To me Lady Macbeth was a tall elegant woman, sinister and yet beautiful. This girl was definitely not that. People clapped politely when she was done. Then I was called. I slowly made my way onto the stage, smiling as I did so. I caught the eye of Brian, he smiled and nodded.

“What’s your name, young lady?” asked Miss Fields.

I groaned. Figures. “My name is Ryan Roth,” I said, emphasizing Ryan. “And I’m reading for Macbeth.”

There were some murmurs. Apparently, everyone else thought I was a girl too.

“I’m terribly sorry young man,” she said with an apologetic smile. “What piece have you prepared for us?”

We had a choice to read directly from the play or bring something of our own. Most of those before me had read from the play but I wanted to be different. So I chose The Raven. I was glad I did, it made me look unique.

“The Raven” I said, knowing I didn’t have to tell them who wrote it.

Brian smiled, the two women nodded.

I took a deep breath and reached into my pocket, pulling out the necklace. I delicately put it around my neck. As soon as I did so, I felt a hundred times better. There was this surge of confidence that went through my whole body. For a second there I thought I felt a slight tingle. This was the first time I’d worn it but it felt like it belonged around my neck. It wasn’t heavy at all; in fact, it was the lightest thing in the world. I smiled big, happy that it was there.

“Is everything all right, Ryan?” asked Brian, looking a bit concerned.

I nodded. “Sorry just catching my breath.”

He smiled and I started. I read as loud as I could with my girly voice. Though it wasn’t much I had good projection. I tried to tune out their faces, that always seemed to help me in the past. As I read, I got to my favorite passage. I’m not sure why I loved this part so much but it really spoke to me. I could see the opening line in my head: Deep into that darkness peering. It made me smile. I closed my eyes as I spoke and it was almost as if I could feel my own smile. I’m not really sure how to describe it. I felt this overwhelming sense of warmth. It was happiness, wonderful happiness. I took a deep breath and felt happiness all around me. I opened my eyes and looked out at the audience. What I saw looked a bit strange. For a moment, it looked like everyone had this pink aura around them. I’m not sure how I knew but it was like their happiness was seeping out of them.

It made me even happier. I looked at all the faces and stopped at Craig’s. There was no pink around him. It was a dull color, almost black. I frowned at that. He wasn’t smiling. He looked annoyed, pissed even. Was I showing him up? Yes, show him up. I shook my head, wondering where that came from. Show him up, make him look bad. I shook my head again. I paused in my speaking. The pink slowly started to diminish. I stuttered a bit over my words and the pink evaporated. I cursed in my head. What the hell was I doing? I looked at the table. Brian was smiling still but I couldn’t read the expressions on the two women’s faces. But looking at Craig I could tell his: he was pinkish now. Stupid ass. I fought back this overwhelming urge to tell him to fuck off. Instead, I narrowed my eyes at him. I’m not sure if he realized I was shooting him daggers but suddenly his smug smile disappeared. He looked away quickly and I smiled.

I managed to recover and finished my poem. There was clapping but not as much as Craig got. That kinda pissed me off. He was good but there’s no way what he did was better than mine.

“Thank you Ryan” said Miss White. “You may return to your seat.”

I smiled and nodded, walking off stage. As I walked back to my seat I passed Craig and he looked at me with that smug look again.

I heard him mumble “Nice try pipsqueak” under his breath but I ignored it. I wasn’t about to jeopardize my chances by telling him off. Instead, I shot him a confident smile as I sat down. He glared at me but didn’t say anything else. I sat there looking smug as other people went up to read. I felt good about my performance, it wasn’t my best but it was better than most of the people up there. When #27 got up there someone tapped on my shoulder from behind. I turned around and saw the mousy girl.

“You’re Ryan right?” she asked, I nodded. “I’m Becky. Nice to meet you.”

She had a nice smile. “The same” I said, being polite.

“Screw Craig, I thought you were fantastic.”

“Thanks” I said, smiling big. It was always good to be appreciated.

Becky slipped around the row and sat next to me. She went on to tell me how nervous she was the whole time she was up there. After that, she started telling me her whole history. I smiled and nodded a lot. She was a nice girl, kinda cute. But she talked a lot. It’s not that I didn’t like her but I couldn’t remember ever meeting someone who talked so much. I tried to contribute as much as possible. After talking about ourselves a bit, we started to comment on the performers. Becky may have looked mousy and sweet but she was downright wicked. She had a great sense of humor and together we quietly roasted the hell out of both our competition. It was kinda fun actually.

When the last person finally walked off stage, the audition ended. I looked at my watch, it was nearly four. I couldn’t believe it took that long. I grabbed the double cross hanging from my neck. I wanted to take it off and put it somewhere safe. It really felt like a good luck charm. But as I started to take it off I couldn’t bring myself to do it. When I tried to pull it over my head, my hand hesitated. I took a deep breath and sighed. Well it was kinda cool looking so I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to wear it for a bit. Becky gave me a strange look but I smiled at her so she knew everything was all right.

“That’s a cool necklace,” she said. “Where did you get it?”

I smiled. “A little shop in town. It was one of those finds that sorta finds you, you know. I went in there looking for something that might give me a bit of an edge. We found this,” I said, lifting the cross a bit and smiling.

“We?” she asked.

I nodded. “My girlfriend Katie and me.”

Becky looked a crestfallen. I felt bad about it but it’s not like I was going to run off with her at this very minute. She was cute and sweet but I just met her. I could see us being good friends though. Yeah, definitely someone I could really hang out with.

The two of us walked out the theater together regardless of the awkwardness. Outside we parted ways. I looked around and saw Katie sitting on a bench. She smiled as I approached. She looked behind me to Becky. I looked and waved. She smiled and walked off. When I turned back to Katie, she was frowning. I never would have taken her for the jealous type but it was clear from her expression she didn’t like the way Becky looked at me. I quickly wrapped Katie in a hug and gave her a big kiss. When she pulled away, she didn’t look as pissed.

“New friend?” she asked, referring to Becky.

I laughed. “Are you jealous?”

“No’ she said, elbowing me the sighed with a laugh. “A little maybe.”

This time I laughed. “Becky has nothing on you, babe, I swear.”

She smiled. “Good answer.”

We hooked arms and slowly made our way out of the building. When we got to her car, she turned to me before starting. “So how did your good luck charm go?” she asked, pointing to the necklace.

“Real good I think.”

“Did you get the lead?”

I laughed. “I won’t know that for another few days. The only real competition I have is from some ass of a senior. He’s good but he’s not right for the role.”

In truth, he was perfect for it but I didn’t want to put myself down. I needed the role. OK so I didn’t need it but I sure as hell wanted it.
Katie still seemed to want to talk about the necklace. “So are you making a fashion statement now?”

I didn’t know what she was talking about until I realized she was referring to the fact that I was still wearing it. I laughed. “I kinda like it actually.”

She smiled evilly. “You know I have this great pair of earrings that would go really well with that.”

I smacked her playfully on the arm. She laughed. She stuck her tongue out at me then she started the car and we drove off.

We went out to dinner after that. Katie thought we should celebrate a bit so we did. I’m not saying we went overboard but we did go somewhere after we ate that didn’t card us at the door. We had a lot of fun. I’m not usually into the nightclub scene but I had an awesome time with her. It didn’t even bother me when a pair of guys thought we were two chicks and wanted to dance with us. I declined the dance but took the drinks they offered. When they left, Katie and I laughed our asses off. I hate to admit that we might have had just a tad bit too much to drink---me more than her. She was driving after all. She was a bit tipsy when she dropped me off in front of my dorm but that didn’t stop her from getting me there.

I surprised myself then. AS soon as the car stopped, I buckled my seat belt, crawled across the console in the middle of our seats and straddled her. I think I might have mentioned I’m not a big guy. So sliding on top of her was nothing. It surprised her though and she had a giggle fit over it. I muffled her laughing when I started kissing her on the neck. I felt like I was on fire as I tore my shirt over my head and two of us went wild. I’m not sure what had come over me but I wanted to ravage her. As I started unbuttoning, my pants she pulled away and laughed.

“You’re exceptionally horny tonight lover,” she said with a tipsy laugh.

“I don’t know what’s come over me but I feel more alive than I have in months.”

She reached up and rubbed my nipples. For some reason that felt so good. I’m not sure why she was doing it. In fact I’m not sure she knew she was doing it either. We laughed then started kissing again. I found myself unclasping her bra underneath her shirt. But I didn’t make any attempt to undress her. I just wanted to cup her naked breasts. I pulled her bra free and tossed it onto my shirt. Neither of us noticed. I massaged her breasts, feeling her nipples going hard under my fingers. Mine went hard too which was something new. Our kissing got real intense after that and I started to nibble on her lip. I got a little rough and tasted blood in my mouth.

That seemed to break whatever spell that seemed to over us. It was like there was a fog and suddenly me biting her lifted it. I pulled back and felt embarrassed, dirty almost.

“I’m sorry,” I said, sliding off her.

She looked embarrassed too. It’s not like we hadn’t had sex before. But never like that. It was like we had no control. The scariest part was how much I liked it. If I hadn’t bit her lip like that, I’m not sure if we could have stopped. I might have screwed her right then and there. I shuddered at the thought. Making love in the bedroom was one thing but neither one of us was crazy enough to do it out in the open like that. I rubbed the back of my neck and turned away. Then I looked around on the floor, looking for my shirt. I picked it up along with the bra then buttoned my pants. Katie didn’t say a thing. I slipped my shirt on, pecked her on the cheek and left the car.

It wasn’t until I was in the elevator going up to my dorm that I realized I was still holding her bra. I looked down at it and groaned. I stuffed it into my pocket, making a mental note to give it back tomorrow. When I stepped out of the elevator and headed to my room, I opened the door to darkness. Well not complete darkness. The TV was still on and Bart was sitting in front of it, watching some bad reality show. He turned around, clicking on a light as he did so. We both winced from the brightness. After he recovered from his temporary blindness, he looked me up and down.

“Some one looks like he had a fun time,” said Bart, referring to my disheveled appearance.

I nodded numbly. “I almost fucked Katie in the car downstairs.”

Bart’s eyes got real big. “Way to go dude”.

He held his hand up in the air, waiting for me to give him a high five. I didn’t.

“You left me hanging” he said and frowned. “So almost fucking her is not a good thing then?”

I sighed. “It wasn’t us. It was like we were wild animals, like passion and sex were taking over. It felt wrong.”

Bart laughed. “Welcome to my life, dude.”

I sighed and didn’t say anything after that. Instead, I sat down and watched his stupid show with him until the end. The news came on afterward. We were about to shut the TV off when the top story came on: YOUNG WOMAN FOUND DEAD IN WOODS. Something about it sent a shiver up my spine. Especially when the story started and the camera showed very familiar scene. What shocked me the most was when they said the girl’s name and showed a picture? I totally freaked at that. It was the girl in the white dress, the one from my dream.

“Holy shit” I said softly, Bart looked at me oddly.

“Know her?” he asked.

I didn’t answer. Instead, I felt sick and rushed into the bathroom. I threw up a couple of times. I kept seeing the girl’s face in my head. What the hell was going on? How did I dream something and then it comes true? I looked at my quivering hands and threw up again.

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

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Author's Note: Ch. 3 a day after Ch. 2.This is a rare thing for me so don't expect it all the time :) I have to warn people a bit because there is a scene in here that might be a little on the squeamish side.

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Chapter Three:

The auditions results came back two days later. I wasn’t very surprised. That arrogant prick Craig got Macbeth, I ended up as his understudy. I suppose it was better than some nameless soldier. Becky didn’t fare much better, she ended up as one of the Witches. Which I guess is better than nothing. Though she only had a couple of lines. Some girl named Holly got Lady Macbeth, she was another Senior. Her audition was good and she looked the part: tall and pretty with long dark hair, pale complexion. It was like she was born to play the role. None of the freshmen got any big parts---there were only a handful of us that tried out and Becky got the best part. It kinda pissed me off in a way. Whereas the others were at least doing something, nothing save an act of God would make me Macbeth.
Brian talked Professor White into making me a Script supervisor. I was going to turn it down to I overheard the bitter professor bitch about it. At first I thought it was me but it turns out she didn’t like men in general. She sneered at all of us, Craig more than others. Me, I think I confused her. I was a guy but I didn’t look and sound like one. Baby faced and soft voiced, I was like a girl to her. She treated me a little better than the others too. Not much better but a little. Somehow to her Script Supervisor also meant slave and the bitter bitch started running me ragged. The first day I was to meet with her I spent more time running errands than actually working with her.

Two weeks after auditions, I was getting sick and tired of it. Yes, I knew everyone’s part---hell, I knew them beforehand. But if she asked me to get her one more cup of coffee, I was going to accidentally spill some of it on her head. To make matters worse I spent more time with her than anywhere else. My academic and social life was starting to suffer from it. My grades had taken a dip and I barely saw Katie anymore. The only time we had for one another was in class and when she picked me up from rehearsal to take me home. Even though our conversations were dull. I think neither one of us truly recovered after that almost incident in the car. We definitely weren’t as affectionate as we were. I could hold her hand but she wouldn’t let me kiss her anymore. I think she was afraid we’d go wild and crazy again. It didn’t matter the two of us were drunk then.

If that didn’t make things bad, my lack of sleep did. Ever since that night---the night they aired that news story---I’d been getting maybe an hour sleep tops. The murder was all they seemed to talk about. They were already calling it the Vampire Murders. Yeah, Murders as in plural. A week after the first girl, another one was found. She was wearing a white dress too. Her throat and wrists were slit and word was there wasn’t a single drop of blood in her entire body. The police were completely baffled. The second girl was found just like the first, tied spread eagle in the woods. The scariest part about it was that I had a dream about her a day or so before hand. It wasn’t quite like the first but it was similar. In the second dream, there were no robed figures because the girl was already dead. But there was something new: a big nasty black bird. It was sitting on a tree branch above her body. I half expected it to say “ Nevermore”.
Bart thought I was sleep deprived. But I knew I wasn’t. He suggested I should see a counselor, maybe get some meds. I didn’t even share my dreams with Katie. That disturbed me a lot. I used to share everything with her. But the idea of telling her about these murders---about dreaming them before hand---it unsettled me. I didn’t want to drag her in and upset her more. So Bart was my only confidant, which suited me fine. I’d played his in the past, so it was only fair he return the favor. Back in seventh grade, he and some friends were out screwing around at the edge of town. There was this old woman who lived there and everyone thought she was a witch. So Bart and his stupid companions took some rocks and started throwing them at her house. Bart was the lucky bastard to actually break one of her windows. They bolted and swore never to tell anymore. It took Bart two days to tell me, the guilt had eaten him up. It took me a day to convince him to confess.

He took the full blame. He got a paper route that summer to help pay for the old woman’s window. He never went anywhere near her house again.

The only good thing going for me was the necklace. Though it didn’t get me the role I wanted, it was like a good luck charm. Ever since I started wearing it, I was feeling a lot better about myself. So my life was shit right now but that happens a lot. I read somewhere that the freshman year of college was one of the hardest years. And it did bring me good luck. The other day I was walking by a construction site in the city when some jackass dropped his hammer. It would have beamed me right in the head. Somehow a bird flew right over me at that exact moment. The hammer hit the bird and saved my life. It was too bad for the bird but good luck for me. Just yesterday, I got some good luck from it too. I was walking down the hall and some jerk decided to grab my ass from behind---I guess I was a girl to him. When he realized what he did and that I was a guy, he was about to pound me. We were right near a classroom. He took one step toward me and the door opened at that exact moment, smashing him right in the face.

So lots of bad luck but some good, too.

But mainly bad. Like right now. I was sitting in Professor White’s office, listening or half listening as she went off again on one of her man hating tangents. I’m pretty sure she forgot I was a man too. For one thing, she kept calling me sweetheart and more than once referred to “us” when speaking about women and “them” when speaking about men. At first, it drove me nuts but now I just went with it. So I was girly looking but at least I knew I was a guy.
Today’s tangent was about the Stage Director. Apparently, he misunderstood her directions. She wanted an eerie gothic look for the castle backdrop and a more subdued lot for the witch’s hovel. Instead, he reversed things, making their place gothic and the castle very sleek and modern. She was fuming about it, calling him all sorts of names. I tried my hardest not to flinch when she talked about the size of his “you know what” and the horrible things she wanted to do with it.

“Rhianne, sweetie” she said, referring to me.

That was another thing. She was convinced my name was Rhianne no matter how many times I told her it was Ryan. It was like she couldn’t accept me as a guy. It didn’t matter that Ryan was a girl’s name too.

So I played along as usual. “Yes, Margaret”. Like Brian, she wanted me to call her by her first name too.

“I need you to go and talk to that good for nothing bastard and try to take some sense into that thick Neanderthal brain of his.”

I rolled my eyes but she couldn’t see me because her back was to me. Instead, I told her I’d be happy to and left her office. The only thing I was happy about was getting out of there. I hightailed it out of there real quick. Her office was a down the hall from the Theater. She told me that it made her feel closer to her art. But the truth of matter was that it was the farthest away from everyone else. It was the only office near the theater. All the other professors in the department were in a shiny wing of the building a long ways away from her. It was clear she drove them all nuts. She reminded me of that teacher from the Highschool Musical movies, except a lot more annoying. I mean I know for a fact she didn’t say anything to the Stage Manager about the sets. I know because I was there when she was talking to him. She handed him some poorly labeled sketches and left.
But she’d never admit it.

As I walked into the theater, the sounds of hard work filled my ears. There were several people on stage hammering away. There was so much to do that there was work going on in the seats too. A row or two could be removed if needed. I looked at all the guys and girls hard at work. Then I scanned the faces looking for the Stage Manager---Bud Cross. Since working with Margaret, I’d gotten to know Bud pretty well too. He was also a professor but I didn’t need to take any classes from him. He said he dealt with the “grunts” and not the “superstars”. I kinda liked him. He told you how it was and didn’t sugar coat anything. Already he and Margaret had butted heads more than once. In fact, in the last two weeks I think I counted no more than ten arguments between the two of them. This thing with the castle/hovel was only the latest.

I found Bud on stage, overseeing the work there. I took a deep breath and slowly walked over. He turned when I was halfway there and frowned. I didn’t need to come to the theater so he knew I was there to file another complaint. He shook his head and walked down the steps, meeting me at the bottom of them.

“What does the Almighty want now?” he asked, referring to his name for her.

I sighed. “She seems to think you screwed up the sets.”

He sighed heavily; pulling Margaret’s rolled up sketches out of his pocket. He unrolled them and looked at them for a minute or two. Then he sighed again and scratched his head. I took a peek. It was clear which one was which but the writing on it labeling them was horrible. I knew it was Margaret’s handwriting because I’d been staring at it for the last two weeks. So as much as it was his fault it was her’s as well. Though she’d never admit it. Bud continued to scratch his head until he finally tossed the papers up in the air.

“That woman is the most impossible person on the face of the planet.”

I nodded. “She seems to think the error is of your doing.”

He laughed. “This from a woman who can’t even tell the sexes apart.”

We both laughed. Unlike Margaret, Bud could see I was a guy. I think Margaret could too but she was fooling herself into thinking I was a girl because she didn’t like to be proven wrong. She and Miss White both thought I was a girl---even if she didn’t mistakenly call me one at the audition. I could tell by the way she looked when I said my name was Ryan. It registered with her but I don’t think she wanted to admit it. I think the idea of a guy working with her and mostly for her appalled the hell out of her so she made me a girl in her eyes. Not that it really mattered to me but she was starting to get on my nerves about it.

“She’s on the war path about it,” I said, bending down and picking up the sheets he tossed. I straightened them out and handed them back to him.

Then I had to explain to him where he supposedly went wrong. It took me about twenty minutes. In the end, Bud threw his hands up in the air and stomped back on stage. He shouted at his workers, telling them to halt work immediately. Then he grabbed a nearby sledge and laid into the castle already being constructed. There were looks of horror on several faces as wood splinters flew. I winced and turned away, disappearing down the aisle as Bud barked orders behind me. When I got into the hall I sighed, glad I wasn’t one of his grunts at the moment.

I took a few moment to collect myself then started down the hall back toward Margaret’s office. I got halfway there before going into the bathroom instead. I went to the urinal, did my business and went to the sink to wash my hands. As I turned on the water, the door opened and in strode Craig. I groaned. He was all I needed right now. Ever since he got the lead over me, he’d been rubbing it in day after day. It gets kinda annoying after so long. When he saw me, he smirked and I just knew more ridicule was coming. You’d think being a senior in college would stem off the name calling but apparently, Craig was a rare case of asshole.

“If it isn’t pretty Rhianne,” he said, giving my ponytail a tug.

My hair was becoming a problem. Before it was shoulder length and manageable. But in the last couple of weeks since the audition, it was starting to get a mind of its own. It was down my back now and silky smooth. I thought about cutting it but I haven’t found the time to get an appointment to do so. So I’ve been tying it into a ponytail to keep it out of the way. But Craig seemed to think it was an attempt to look even more like a girl. Like I would ever try to do that.

“Name calling is for middle school jackasses,” I said, turning off the faucet. “I think you’re a decade or so too old for that.”

He didn’t move from the doorway. I saw anger flash across his face. I saw the blackness too again. Ever since the audition, I was seeing colors around everyone. It wasn’t just the pink or the black either. It was all sorts of colors. At first, it freaked the hell out of me but now I was starting to get used to it. I’m still not sure where it was coming from but it was so common now that I normally just waved it off. Maybe I was losing my sight or maybe I was suffering from lack of sleep. Regardless of the reason, it didn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. In fact, if anything it seemed to be getting worse.

Craig gave me a shove. “Fucking punk. You think you’re better than me.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think, I know.”

That pissed him off more. The strange thing was that I felt pissed too. I’m not sure why but I got this overwhelming urge to pound something. There was a fire in my chest and a tingling throughout my body. Craig looked smug for a second but suddenly that smugness disappeared and was replaced by something else: fear. The blackness surrounding him started to vanish too, slowly molding into another color, a much brighter one: yellow. He took a step back, pressing his back against the door. My stomach burned as I took a step toward him.

“What the hell are you?” he stammered but I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Get out of my way” I said in a cold, commanding voice.

He nodded but didn’t move. I took a step toward him and the crotch of his pants grew wet. This time I smirked. He covered his pants and quickly got out of my way. I felt ten feet tall when I pulled open the door and walked out of the room. As soon as I got into the bathroom, the burning went away. The tingling was still there for a few seconds but it vanished too. I leaned against the wall, panting heavily. What the hell was that? I went from being annoyed to wanting to pound the snot out of Craig. He was a dick but he didn’t deserve to get his ass kicked. I looked down at my hands and could swear that my nails had gotten a bit longer. I shook it off and started on my way back toward Margaret’s office.

Katie was waiting for me outside the theater when I got done. She was sitting outside the car on a bench, reading a magazine. She didn’t see me until I was almost on top of her. She looked up and smiled. She was looking particularly gorgeous today. Looking at her, I got this overwhelming feeling of lust. It wasn’t overpowering but I wanted to do some wild things with her. I bit my lip, forcing that feeling back into me. When she saw me biting my lip, Katie blushed. Her color today was red but it got a little brighter when she saw me. I couldn’t help but think that she might be feeling the same thing I was. After all, even though our relationship was lukewarm at the moment there was still moments of stirring passion. Today apparently was going to be one of those moments.

She stood up, setting her magazine on the bench. Then she wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder. It helped that we were the same size today. Katie was dressed casually in jean shorts and a t-shirt, no heels just sandals. We stood there a few minutes just hugging. When we finally pulled away, she was crying a bit. I sighed. I wiped some of tears off her face.

“What’s this about?”

She smiled weakly. “I’ve been an ass. Ever since that night in the car I’ve been distant but I’ve been wanting to make it up to you but just didn’t know how”

I shook my head. “That was all me. I’m not sure where it came from but it was definitely me.”

She laughed. “It was both of us. We were drunk, it happens.”

She reached down and grabbed my hand. Then she frowned. “You need to cut your nails.”

I laughed. “I just noticed them today actually.”

“I can do it for you if you want?”

I was about to say yes before my stomach grumbled. We had a good laugh about that. Still holding my hand, she led me to the car. We got in and sought out the nearest restaurant. We never ate on campus. The food was all right but we didn’t like the atmosphere. Most of the dining halls and eating places were loud and noisy; the two of us could barely have a conversation. So she always wanted to eat off campus, which was fine by me. We drove for about ten minutes before we found a little diner. Katie and I walked in hand-in-hand. We got a couple of strange looks as we took a booth in the back. When the waitress called us ladies, I shot her a cold stare and the color seemed to drain from her face. She disappeared with our orders pretty quickly after that.

Katie burst into laughter. “Well you can’t blame her. What with that hair and those nails, you do look a little feminine.”

I glowered at her then smiled wickedly. “Well if I’m a girl then that makes you a lesbian.”

She stopped laughing. “Not funny.”

I smirked. “You started it.”

She quickly changed the subject. “How’s the Crazed Man Hater?”

She of course was referring to Margaret.

I quickly relayed today’s incident to her. She rolled her eyes when I was done. I hesitated before telling her about the rest of the day though. Finally, I got up the courage and told her about what happened in the bathroom---minus a few details. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to the whole anger and making Craig piss his pants thing. I wasn’t sure how I was even reacting to it. I knew what I did but I’m not sure how it happened exactly. One minute I was afraid he might kick my ass---he is much bigger than me---then the next minute I felt like I wanted to kick his. It was almost as if we switched roles with me becoming the aggressor. Not that I would have pissed, my pants but I sure as hell would have pounded him into the linoleum. I’m not sure what stopped me from doing so actually. I was so angry and so pissed off. Then it was like a switch and it was all gone.

Katie leaned forward and touched my hand. “You OK?”

I blinked. “I’m fine, why?”

She frowned. “You’re crying sweetie.”

I reached up and touched my cheek. Sure enough, there were tears running down it. I hadn’t even noticed. I smiled at her and wiped the tears away. She smiled back weakly but held my hand. A few minutes later, the waitress came with our drinks. She kept away from me as far as she could as she placed mine on the table in front of me. Then she made a quick retreat. Weirdo. I picked up my drink and took a sip; the cold beverage was exactly what I needed. While we waited for our food, Katie started telling me about her classes. It had been so long since the two of us had actually talked like this. I actually kinda missed it. She was really excited about the project the class was going to undertake during the Break. Apparently, her professor was arranging an expedition into the Amazon to study a certain tribe down there. He didn’t usual take undergrads but a few of his grads dropped out so there were spots open. Katie was going to try to get one.

The food came twenty minutes later. The waitress still seemed a bit scared of me.

Katie laughed again. “I think she thinks you’re going to hex her.”

“Hex her?” I asked, confused.

She pointed to my chest. I looked down and realized the necklace was on the outside of my shirt. I frowned. I hadn’t even noticed. Usually I wore it under my shirt so as not to draw attention to it. The last time I wore it outside my shirt someone from the school’s Christian Alliance handed me a pamphlet and told me it wasn’t too late to find the light. Bart and I had a good laugh about it. So after that I wore it in hiding. As I stared at the thing now I couldn’t help but feel that it was better to have it out then hide it away. Yeah it drew a lot of attention but it seemed wrong to hide it.

“Do you think me capable of hexing someone?” I asked in a mocking tone.

She gave me a face. Then she seemed to think about it. “Not dressed like that.”

I threw a french fry at her.

We had a couple of laughs over dinner and it felt like good times again. It was hard to believe that either of us were in a rut. After eating Katie wanted to do something fun. When the words nightclub came out of her mouth I groaned and reminded her what happened last time. But she was adamant that as long as I didn’t drink then we wouldn’t get carried away. I couldn’t see the logic in her claim but I decided to go along with it. But of course she got to the crazy part. After leaving the diner, she drove the two us to a nearby boutique. When she stopped the car, I frowned at it.

“What are we doing here?” I asked, looking at some of the crazy outfits in the display window.

“Getting club clothes.”

I groaned. “I’ll wait in the car,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

“No you’re not,” she said forcefully and I reluctantly got out of car.

As soon as I got into the store, I knew what she was up to. There wasn’t a single shred of male clothing in the place. I tried to turn around and back out the door but she had a vice like grip on my arm. She was laughing the whole time as she pulled clothing off the rack. Soon I had an armful of crap and she was pushing me into one of the dressing rooms. I knew what a colossal bad idea this was. But that didn’t seem to stop her. She was a girl on a mission and apparently, tonight I was going to be one right along with her. I frowned at the clothes in my hands, none of which had a hemline that went anywhere close to my knees.

So I slowly undressed, knowing there was no way I was going to get her to relent. When I got my pants and shirt off, I frowned at my body. It was as scrawny as usual but there was something else wrong about it. For one thing, I didn’t seem to have any body hair---not that I had much to begin with. Now it was all gone. I even checked under my arms but there was no hair there. What the hell is going on with me? I started to check my body to make sure there was no other surprises and got another shock: my butt was bigger. It wasn’t huge or anything but it was definitely bigger and my hips were a bit wider too. I cursed. Something totally fucked up was going on here.

Katie pounded on the door. “Hurry up in there, Rachel, the night isn’t getting any younger.”

Rachel? She’s gotta be kidding. I tried not to think about my new name or my new bodily changes. Instead, I grabbed the dress sitting on the little bench and pulled it over my head. What I saw in the mirror shocked me. I looked like a girl and not some guy in a dress either. I looked like a pure blooded one hundred percent female girl. My mouth dropped open a bit. With the hair and the tight black dress hugging my new feminine curves, I was kinda hot. I stood and stared for the longest time. I didn’t even notice the door opening. I did hear the gasp from behind me. I turned and Katie was standing there with her mouth wide open.

“Where the hell did you get those hips?”

I shook my head, tearing up. She recovered and then quickly pulled me into her arms. I cried for a bit on her shoulder. I was scared to death. There was something going on with me, something bad. I cried for a while. Katie finally sat me down and handed me a tissue from her purse. She tried to talk me out of this night. She was just having some fun after all. But I shook my head. I told her I’d go to the club with her and I was going to go through with it. She smiled and then helped me put on my heels. When I stood, I was a little wobbly but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. When I stood next to Katie, I realized I was an inch taller than her. I looked her up and down. She was wearing a halter top and tight skirt but her heels weren’t nearly as high as mine. She was right. If I did wear heels, I was taller than her. She made a comment about my legs but I frowned at her. She seemed to get the picture.

“OK, Rach” she said, using her new name for me. “I’m going to do your makeup then we can leave.”

I nodded numbly as I sat down on the little bench. I’m not sure if the women in the store appreciated us taking up one of their dressing booths for so long but I didn’t really give a damn. After Katie was down with my face, I reluctantly stepped out into the store. It felt like the three of four women in the store were giving me daggers. I could a green glow around a few of them. I couldn’t help but smirk at that. Me I felt like I was on Cloud Nine. Katie took our tags to the register and paid for our things. When we got out to her car, she laid the biggest kiss on me ever. It was quite the thing, especially when we played a little tonsil hockey.

“What happened to your whole aversion to lesbianism?” I asked when she pulled away.

She patted my cheek. “Not tonight babe.”

We went to the same club as the other time. This time there was a line and a long wait apparently. When we got out of the car---Katie showing me the proper way to do it---a few guys stared. I thought maybe I slipped up and blew my secret but Katie just laughed. She whispered in my ear as we stepped on the curb. Apparently, they were staring because I was hot. I blushed at that. Then she slipped her arm around mine and the two of us walked toward the large gray building. We started toward the back when the guy at the rope called us over.

“You ladies can go right on in.,” he said, stepping aside.

My eyes widened. Last time it took us nearly an hour to get in. I smiled sweetly to him as Katie and I slipped on by. I couldn’t believe he let us through so quickly. Katie looked a little surprised too. She kept mumbling about a time she went here with a few of her female friends and it took them nearly two hours to get in. Did that mean…no it wasn’t me, was it? I shook that thought off as we walked down the narrow hallway to all the noise. The place was alive tonight. The room was cast in darkness as colorful strobe lights lit up the area one place at a time. The music was pounding. Katie shouted something to me that sounded like drinks. I nodded and she disappeared into the crowd. I was immediately squashed by all the people around me.

A few minutes later, Katie was back. She handed me a test tube filled with a pink liquid. “What the hell is this?” I asked in her ear, she shrugged downing hers.

I frowned. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to drink?”

“I changed my mind,” she shouted back as she delicately took my hand and pulled me into the crowd.

I felt ridiculous. But Katie seemed to be getting into it. She was thriving and moving to the music. She saw how stiff I was so she grabbed my arms and started moving them for me. I got a little looser after that. Then I really got into the swing of things. I found myself imitating her and the other girls around us. Soon the atmosphere seemed to take over. I saw a swirl of crazy colors all around me. It just wasn’t the strobes either. The color coming from the people was wild and crazy too, like a throbbing rainbow. I swayed and moved with it. I got lightheaded and tipsy one minute, very coherent the next. I felt hot and cold, sweaty and dry. Then I felt hungry but not for food. It was like something came over me, something feral and ravenous. Like in the car but multiplied by ten. Katie didn’t seem to be affected by it or if she did, she didn’t act as crazy as I did.

After a few minutes, I lost sight of her altogether. I should have been upset but I wasn’t. Soon I felt someone pressed against me, thriving and dry humping my backside. I got lost in the moment. It wasn’t until I felt something hard against my butt cheek that I realized it wasn’t her. I turned and found a guy behind me. I looked at the clear bulge in his pants. I should have been repulsed by it but I wasn’t. Instead, I smiled and licked one of my fingers. I had no idea what was coming over me but I kinda liked it. I started to dance with him; our bodies pressed close, my arms draped around his shoulders. I’m not sure how long I dance that way but I was having fun.

That fun was shattered when a strong hand grabbed my arm and pulled me from him. The grip on my arm was tight, sharp nails dug into my arm. It wasn’t until we were out of the squash of people that I realized it was Katie. She dragged me all the way to the hallway and then right out the front door. I was tipsy and groggy until we got out of club. As soon as I was away from all that, the witch flipped again. I felt sick. I’d just danced with a guy and liked it. I wanted to throw up. Instead, I didn’t even get a chance as Katie dragged me over to her car. She opened the door and practically shoved me inside. I could tell she was pissed off.

“What the fuck, Kate” I said as she slammed her down when she got inside.

“What the fuck, Kate” she said angrily. “How about what the fuck were you doing, Ryan?”

I bit my lip and shook my head. “I don’t know.”

She looked like she was going to blow her top. “Famous last words.”

She started the car, squealed the wheels and we tore out of there. I barely got my seatbelt on as we peeled off. We went right back to the college. Instead of taking me to my dorm, she took me to hers. I didn’t say a thing until we were out of the car. When I asked her what we were doing here, she glared at me. I kept my mouth shut and followed her inside. Luckily, there was no one at the desk waiting. Katie checked in and I followed her into the elevator. We rode in silence to her floor. When we got out, she grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall to her room. Katie had one roommate---Sarah---but she was never around. Sarah was a big partier; she usually didn’t get home until way after two. Katie slammed the door when we got into her room. I looked around, amazed at how different our two rooms were. Katie was a neat freak whereas Bart and I didn’t really give a damn. We weren’t slobs but we hardly cleaned up after ourselves.

I sat on the edge of Sarah’s bed and Katie laid into me.

“Jesus Christ, Ryan, you were ready to hump that guy.”

“I was not,” I snapped back.

“Pretty damn close.”

I could tell she was getting angry. Katie was usually a calm blue color but she was getting darker and darker. I could feel myself getting darker too. She was the one who dressed me like this and she was the one who dragged me there. I didn’t even want to go. I kinda lost my temper a bit after that.

“This is your fucking fault you God damn hypocrite, I didn’t even want to fucking do this.”

She flared at that one. “Me, you’re the one who was getting butt fucked by that perv.”

“What, jealous?”

It wasn’t the right words. I regretted saying them. Katie lashed out and slapped me across the face, hard. The sound of her hand on my flesh resounded in my ears. I felt a burning in my chest and a tingle. I knew I was about to lose it, whatever it was. But I forced it down, fought back at it. I was still angry at her but I managed to control it.

Katie was seething, tears streaming down her face. “You can be the sweetest guy sometimes Ryan but other times you do stupid things. Sometimes when I’m with you I feel like I’m on top of the world but other times I just want to kill myself.”

I rubbed my cheek. I was pissed. In my mind, I thought maybe that was a good idea. It was only for a second and I felt bad thinking it but I was angry. Katie was still crying and dropped onto her bed. I approached her, putting my hand on her shoulder but she shrugged me off. That pissed me off even more. I bit my lip, holding back the urge to scream at her. Instead, I took a deep breath.

“I’m going to shower off, maybe cool down.”

She didn’t say a thing. So I stormed off toward her in suite and slammed the door. Katie was an RA so she had her own private bathroom. It even had a little closet. I opened the closet where she usually kept her linens, towels and things. At the bottom of it was a duffel hidden under a pile of towels. Inside was a spare change of clothes for me. We stashed it there for when I spent the night. I hadn’t yet but it was a big possibility at some point. I grabbed it and stripped out of my dress. I kicked off the fucking heels and turned on the water. I stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down my body. I was still pissed off at her. She was jumping to conclusions, making things up in her alcohol-addled brain. But at the same time, I knew I was partially guilty. I’m not sure what came over me tonight. It was like my body was on autopilot and I was getting lost in the moment. Just like that time in the car. I closed my eyes and thinking about that guy grinding against me made me feel sick. I dry heaved a few times but nothing came up. Instead, I stood there and let the water wash over me.

I showered for about fifteen minutes. I got my head straight while I was doing it too. As much as I thought, it was her fault I needed to be the better person and apologize. I took a deep breath as I shut the water off. I stepped out and dried off as good as I could. Then I opened my duffel taking out the clothes inside. I pulled on the boxers, sweat pants and t-shirt. There were no shoes because we both assumed I’d have those if I spent the night. I turned to look at myself in the mirror and frowned. There were still traces of makeup on my face, especially around my eyes. I sighed. Katie really did do a good job. I took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry babe, it was my fault,” I shouted.

She didn’t respond. I splashed water in my face, trying to get rid of the makeup traces.

I called to her again. “Katie, you win. That has to count for something.”

Still no response.

I got annoyed. She was pulling the silent treatment on me. I swallowed my pride and pulled open the bathroom door. I was about to berate her for childishness when I stopped dead in my tracks. Katie was sitting on her bed, a glassy look to her eyes. In her left hand was a kitchen knife and she was repeatedly cutting her right wrist over and over again. Her clothes were already crimson with her blood. Her right hand was almost severed clean from her arm. For the longest time I just stood there, shocked at what I was seeing. Then my common sense took over.

I raced into the room, grabbing the knife. I yanked it from her hand. As soon as I did so, she flopped forward onto the floor. I screamed in panic. I grabbed the handset and clumsily started dialing 911. I was frantic as I dialed. But my hand was slick with her blood and the phone fell from it. I didn’t pick it up. Instead, I pressed my wet towel against her wrist, trying to stem the blood that was flowing from it. The towel was soaked in seconds. I screamed for help at the top of my lungs. Then something happened, something overtook me. There was a sharp, searing pain in my stomach. I doubled over from it, letting go of the towel. The pain hit a second time and I dropped on the floor.

I cried out, tears streaming down my face. The pain hit a third time and I blacked out.

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

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Author's Note: Ok another rarity, three days in a row...new chapters. No one tar and feather me please, the outcome in this one might not be to some people's liking. I'd liked to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Four:

The only sound in the small room I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. Coupled with the overwhelming pain I was feeling and it was like a death march. I tried gripping the Styrofoam coffee cup but my hands were trembling too much to get a good grip on it. I was terrified but I was also sick to my stomach. I tried not to think about what just happened but it was hard to when I could still smell her blood all over me. I closed my eyes and all I could see was Katie’s face. Not the smiling, happy face either. I saw the cold, glassy eyed face of a numb girl as she repeatedly cut her wrist over and over again. No matter how much I tried not to think about it, I kept seeing her. It would be a vision that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I tried not to think about the words associated with it but it was not to.

Katie was dead. She was dead and the cops think I had something to do with it. OK, so I didn’t really know that for sure but why else would I be here. I sighed heavily, running my hands through my hair. At least they didn’t cuff me; I guess that’s a good sign. And I suppose they were half right about my involvement. I was responsible; at least I was pretty certain I was. We were arguing and she made that crack about killing herself and I…I shook my head, I couldn’t have done this. I picked up the cup and took my last sip, draining the coffee inside. Then I started drumming my fingers on the metal table. I’d seen this tactic used on cop shows. They brought the person of interest to an interrogation room and left him to stew for a bit. I think they were trying to see if I was going to crack under pressure or something. Because as far things looked, I did look as guilty as hell.

When I came to in the room, I was lying in her blood. It was the scream that woke me up initially. It was like a gun shot in the dark. When I snapped, covered in Katie’s blood, the screaming rang in my ears. I groggily looked around and realized it was Sarah, Katie’s roommate. I’m not sure how long I was unconscious for but not long enough for Katie’s blood to dry. It was still wet and sticky, all over me. When I got to my feet, I took a step toward Sarah but the color drained from her face. It took me a second to realize I was still holding the knife. I had a pretty could idea what she thought. I dropped the knife then and tried to explain things but Sarah wouldn’t listen. Instead, she grabbed the phone and ran into the bathroom, locking the door.

That’s when I saw Katie and broke down. I fell to my knees and stared at the lifeless body of the only woman I ever loved. I think I knew she was dead before I passed out but it just didn’t connect then. I never cried more in my entire life when I saw her lying there like that. Most people say dead people look peaceful but Katie had looked tortured. She didn’t look peaceful at all; she looked like someone had stolen something from her. I grabbed her hand and continued to hold it until the cops arrived. They didn’t arrest me; they didn’t read me my rights. Instead, one of them went to the bathroom to try to get Sarah out while another slowly helped me to my feet. The paramedics followed them in but there was nothing they could do for her. I heard one of them say she’d been dead for about thirty minutes. Had I only been unconscious for fifteen, it felt like hours?

I’m not sure if the cops thought I was guilty or not. I mean, what guilty person stays around for the police. Regardless they still asked me if I’d go to the station with them. I could only numbly nod my head. When I was escorted out of the building there was a crowd gathering. A lot of them were fellow students dressed in their pajamas. I knew a lot of them, went to class with some of them. I didn’t look at faces though as they led me to the police car. They put me in the back and I watched in horror as they wheeled Katie out of there covered in a sheet and put her in the back of the ambulance. I was taken straight to the police and put in this room. That was an hour and half ago and I was still waiting for answers.

My somber thoughts were interrupted by the click of the door. I looked up my empty cup as a man entered the room. He was dressed in a rumpled button down shirt; his tie looked to have been loosened a few times. He had a five o’clock shadow and looked like he’d seen better days. In one hand, he carried a cup of coffee and in the other was a manila folder. He set both on the table as he sat down across from me.

“Good morning, Miss Roth.”

I groaned. “Mister” I said annoyed. “It’s Mister Ryan Roth.”

The man smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, you look…”

I cut him off. “Like a girl, I know. I get it all the time.” He nodded and I launched into a question. “How’s Sarah?”

I was worried about her. She looked like she’d seen a ghost when I saw them escort her out of there. Her face was still very pale and her eyes were red and puffy. She refused to look at me as an office led her over to one of the benches. She was draped in a blanket, shaking horribly. I didn’t really get along with her much; she was kind of a bitch. But at that moment, I felt horrible for her. I could only partially imagine what she was going through.

The cop didn’t answer my question. Instead, he introduced himself. “My name is Detective Jim Corrigan, Homicide.”

That scared me a bit. “Homicide?”

He nodded. “Don’t be startled. I’m called in on cases like this when the case of a suspicious death hasn’t been discovered.”

“Suspicious death? Katie cut her wrist, she…she…killed herself.”

Corrigan sighed. “I’d like to ask you some questions about that if you don’t mind.”

I nodded numbly. “You think I did this. You think I killed her but you’re wrong. I loved her.”

He didn’t respond to my explanation. “I’m trying to help you Ryan. But I need to know exactly what happened.”

I told him everything from the moment she picked me up at the theater to the moment I woke up to Sarah screaming. I assumed the police knew the rest. I didn’t leave anything out, including the part where Katie made me dress as a girl. I had nothing to hide. I wanted to prove to them that I didn’t physically kill her. OK, so there was one little thing I kept to myself and that was the thought I had before going into the bathroom. The one where I actually wished she did kill herself. That stupid thought was torturing the hell out of me. I didn’t mean it and yet when I said it a small part of me wanted it. I couldn’t explain it; it was like someone else was making me do it.

When Corrigan spoke again I’m glad it wasn’t to ask about my cross-dressing. “So you fought and you took a shower to cool off?” I nodded. “And while you were in the shower. How long do you think that was?”

I shrugged. “About fifteen minutes.”

He jotted that down on a pad of paper. “After the shower, you tried calling to her and she didn’t answer?” I nodded. “So when you walked out of the bathroom, you found her sitting on the bed cutting her own wrist?”

I started crying. “I ran to her and pulled the knife out of her hand. As soon as I did so, she fell forward. I grabbed the phone and dialed 911 and that’s when I passed out. I can’t explain that part. I got this horrible feeling in my stomach and collapsed, blacking out. When I came too Sarah was there and she was screaming.”

Corrigan wrote that down. “Tell me about your relationship these last few days?”

I sighed, wiping the tears from my eyes. “You think I killed her?”

He shook his head. “I’m just trying to be thorough.”

“We’d been having problems,” I said with a long sigh. “The play consumed a lot of time over the last two weeks?”

“The play?”

I nodded. “Macbeth” He wrote that down. “I’m the understudy for the lead. But the director made me the script supervisor too. She also made me her official errand boy. It put a strain on our relationship because I didn’t have much time for Katie. I think she felt like I was ignoring her.”

He nodded as he wrote. I could see his vibrant color even now. It was a pale blue as if he were calm but I could feel something from him. It was the first time I’d ever felt something in someone’s presence. I’m not sure what it was exactly but it was almost as if I could feel his doubt. There was a mixture of confusion too. He wanted to trust me but the evidence was against me. Don’t ask me how I knew that but I could tell Detective Corrigan was trying his hardest to make sense of what was going on. This newfound realization of mine scared me a bit. If I wasn’t a freak already and this stuff was happening.

Corrigan changed tactics. “When did you and Katie first meet?”

I’m not sure how it was relevant but I told him anyway. I told him about how she lived next door and how we grew up together. I talked about our life as friends through grade school and middle school and then about that wonderful summer. There was this little pond behind our houses. It was the summer before ninth grade and the two of us were sitting on the end of the peer. We’d just finished swimming and were dripping wet. We were laughing and having a good time. I’d been friends with her forever and then one day I started to feel something for her. I couldn’t really describe it but it was like she was glowing. Well not really but whenever I saw her my heart thumped a bit faster. That’s when I took the plunge and leaned over and kissed her. She was so shocked she pushed me in the water. I was heartbroken until she jumped in after me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back. It was the happiest moment of my life.

The two of us were inseparable. That is until now. I felt it in the pit of my stomach. She was gone. The one woman I cared more about than anything and she was never going to smile at me again. She was never going to laugh at my stupid jokes or tease me about my girlish looks. She was never going to drive real fast and annoy me or complain at how messy my dorm room was. She was gone. No more late night talks until all hours, no more cuddling in front of the TV, no more….no more anything. My soul mate was gone and I was left. I’m not sure how I was going to live with myself without her being in my life.

“Ryan” said the detective for I guess was the third or fourth time.

I shook my head. “Sorry”

He smiled weakly. “You don’t have to apologize” he said and then looked down at his folder.

I looked down at the folder too. I’d seen folders like that on TV. The detective would spread things out---like pictures and try to get the suspect to confess. I had a good idea what was in that folder. I just wished that he’d stop yanking my chain and tell it to me straight. I just went through the worse day of my entire life and I was tired of all this crap. I want the truth for once.

Corrigan’s face changed. I’m not really sure how to describe it actually. One minute he looked pretty calm and the next it was like someone shot his cat.

He sighed. “Usually in these situations I get my suspect and spread out the pics to scare him a bit. I was about to do the same with you until I saw you. Though things look pretty bad I don’t think you’re a murderer. I’m not really sure I know what’s going on here but I think you’re a victim of circumstance. I’d like to say that I’m going to let you go but unfortunately I’m going to put you in a holding cell for the night.”

I was surprised to say the least. “Should you be telling me this?”

He blinked. There was a dull look to his eyes for a second but it was gone as soon as I spoke. Then he rubbed his temples a bit. “Should I be telling you what?”

This time I blinked. What the hell just happened? It was like for a moment, he wasn’t in control. He told me exactly what I wanted to know as if I willed him to do so. Just like Katie. I felt sick to my stomach. I felt the bile rise up my throat but I forced it back down. Then I looked down at my hands. They were still trembling. They looked slightly different too. I know my nails were longer before but now my hands looked softer. I always had rough hands. My grandfather had a lot of land and when I wasn’t in school, I used to help him tend it. There was a lot of work to be done and you could tell all the hard work I did by looking at my hands. They were rough and scarred. But the hands I looked at now were dainty looking, smooth, like a girl’s.

I took a deep breath, closing my hands. “Detective I didn’t kill Katie.”

He didn’t respond to that. Instead, he said. “I’m not here to judge. But regardless of your guilt or innocence, I’d like to keep you here overnight just to be safe.”

“Safe?”

“It’s Miss Rollins,” he said. “Sarah is a wreck. She’s confused and scared. The only way I could calm her down was to tell her I’d keep you overnight. She’s in the hospital right now. I could release you but I think she might feel safer if I kept you a night.”

I didn’t like it but I understood. I didn’t want to do anything to hurt Sarah. I didn’t like her but I understood. She lost as much as I did. She and Katie were real close. Like Bart and I, Sarah and Katie were good friends. Sarah went to school with us, too. She never did approve of me but we tolerated one another. I could only imagine what she thought about me now. She walked into her room and found her roommate dead and me covered in blood, holding the knife that did. She probably thought I was the most horrible monster in the world. If staying a night in the police station helped her then I was willing to do it.

I nodded to Corrigan, he smiled. I had only one request. “Can I call my Mom, I’m sure she’s worried sick about me.”

He led me out of the interrogation room and down the hall to a payphone. I called home. I looked at the clock on the wall and groaned. It was close to five in the morning, there was no way she would be up. But she answered on two rings. Apparently, I was wrong. “Ryan” she said in a worried voice. Apparently, she was waiting for my call.

“I’m OK, Mom,” I said, forcing back tears.

She sighed in relief. “When the police called, I thought the worst.”

I swallowed hard, tearing up. “Mom, Katie’s dead. She…she…killed herself.”

There was a momentary pause. Katie was like a daughter to Mom. She spent about as much time over at our house as she did at her own. As much as Katie loved her parents, she had a hard time getting along with them. Her father wasn’t the most easygoing person and her mother was smothering. They never cared much for me either. I can’t imagine what they thought about me now.

Mom finally spoke. “I’m so sorry honey. Do you want me to come and get you? I can leave right now and be there in about an hour?”

I sighed. “I’m at the police station.”

“Wait, what. Why?”

Typical Mom. I sighed. “They don’t think I did it but they want to keep me overnight. It’s something to reassure Sarah. She came in the room and freaked out. It looked bad from her point of view, Mom.”

Mom took another pause. This one longer. “Do you need a lawyer?” she asked finally.

I loved Mom to death but she had this way about her. I knew she knew that I didn’t do anything wrong. But at the same time, Mom liked to be prepared. The two of us were real close, closer than most mothers and sons. I guess it was because of our ages. Mom was young when she had me, barely sixteen in fact. The way she tells it my father was some scumbag passing through. She thought she was in love. They spent one wild night together in a seedy motel and then she woke up and he was gone. It wasn’t the happiest story---I mean who wants to know that much about their birth---but I respected Mom for being so open about it. She told me the only thing she regretted was not cutting off my father’s penis when he was done. Suffice to say she was bitter for a bit but happy that she got me out of the deal.

Mom and I talked for a minute or two more. Detective Corrigan was standing close by the whole time so I didn’t really want to talk specifics. I did a rush job on events. Then I bit my lip and told her there was something else. I said this in a whisper. “There’s something wrong with me Mom. I don’t know to explain it but I’m different.”

Mom took a few seconds to respond. “Honey I…”

I was cut off by the phone clicking. Then there was a dial tone. I turned to Corrigan, confused. “What the hell just happened?”

“That phone is on the timer. It’s meant to give you about ten minutes or so then it cuts you off” He looked around. “I can give you more time if you want?”

I shook my head. “That’s all right, I’ll call her tomorrow.”

I hung up the handset and Corrigan led me down the hall. We went through a door or two then to a cell. It was a holding cell so there were no bars. It was more like a mesh or something. I stepped inside and he closed the door. I thought it was cool that he was doing all this for me. Usually on TV, some bored police officer did it. Then I remembered I wasn’t really under arrest. He was just putting me here to help Sarah have some peace of mind. In the morning they’d let me go and then hopefully I could get back to my life. I asked Corrigan to shut off the light and he did so with a smile. I think he knew how tired I was. I found the little cot they had in there quite comfortable. I curled up facing the wall and fell quickly asleep.

I was standing in a long hallway and everything was black around me. I’m not sure how I got here but a small part of me knew I shouldn’t be here. I should be back at the police station, sound asleep. Sleep. I groaned as I waved my hand in front of my face. I could see it move slowly in front of me as if I was underwater. I took a step forward, looking down at my leg as I did so. That was moving slowly too. It didn’t take a genius to figure things out. I was asleep and this was a dream. What did they call it? Oh yeah, lucid dreaming. I saw something about it on the Discovery Channel I think. It was when someone knew they were dreaming. According to the special, the aware dreamer could change things, too.

I thought about that for a second. It was so dark in here. I closed my eyes and tried to think up a flashlight. When I opened them again, there was nothing in my hands. Maybe I’m not good at the dream manipulation stuff yet. I sighed heavily and took another step forward. Or maybe I was supposed to be in darkness. Darkness? If it was darkness then how could I tell I was standing in a hallway? I scratched my head in confusion. I took another few steps forward. Then I started to walk normally. I followed the hall, wondering what the hell the meaning of all this was. The last two strange dreams I had led me to a horrible and grisly murder scene. I’m not sure I was up too something like that. Not tonight anyway. After seeing all that first hand you definitely don’t want to dream about it.

The hallway seemed to go on forever. No matter how far or even how fast I walked down it, it just went on and on. Time seemed to have no meaning either. I’m not sure how long I’d been walking but it felt like forever. At one point, I even started running but I got tired of that so I started walking again. It wasn’t even a normal hallway either. There were no doors and when I looked down there didn’t seem to be a floor either. There were walls though, but I couldn’t really tell what they were made out of. It looked like stone but it was black. At one point, I reached out and touched one but it didn’t feel like anything.

I tried to count my steps to see how far I walked. I got up to two hundred and something when I just couldn’t count anymore. I tried looking at my watch too but the hands of it were spinning around like crazy. It was the freakiest thing. I shouted a lot, too. My voice echoed and bounced off the walls, flying about the space with me. The echoes seemed to last forever. Finally, I just gave up trying to figure the place out and kept walking. You would think that after all this walking my feet would hurt but they didn’t. Neither did my legs. Actually, there wasn’t even a bit of strain. I felt fine, better than fine. But I was still tired of walking and going absolutely nowhere.

When will all this end?

Then it did. Well it didn’t end but the hallway stopped. I nearly walked into it. The it I was speaking of was a door. It was large and had a circular top to it. There was a little barred opening cut into it as well. I took a step backwards, scared of it. Something moved on the other side of the door then I heard a scraping like metal on stone. I took another step back, my heart pounding in my chest. I looked the door over, noticing a giant padlock on it. I bit back my fear and took a step toward the door. I took another cautious step and looked through the opening. I know it was pretty stupid, but this was a dream after all and people didn’t get hurt in their own dreams. Did they?

Peering through the opening sent a terrifying shudder through my body. Made more so when I heard whatever it was behind the door move again. My heart was hammering loudly now, so loud I could hear it echoing about around me. Then I saw it: four red slits. They appeared right in front of me. I jumped back, nearly falling over my feet as I did so. A second or two later there was a sinister sound, at first I had no idea what it was. But as I listened, I realized it was laughter. It was sinister, blood curdling laughter.

“There you are” said a voice, it sounded like a woman.

I gulped. “You know me?”

The sinister laugh came again. “Know you? I’ve been waiting here for you for so long. I thought you’d never come.”

“Waiting for me?”

The glowering red slits bopped up and down as if they were nodding. I gasped. The slits must have been eyes and the bobbing was a head. “Are you going to let me out finally?”

“Let you out?”

It nodded again. “I’ve been locked up in here for so very long. Won’t you let me out?”

I took a cautious step backwards. “I don’t understand.”

“Of course you do. You and I are so very much alike. I’ve been trying for so long to get your attention but you’ve never heard me until now. Not until you put on that wonderful little trinket of yours.”

“Trinket?” I asked and then realized I knew what she was talking about. “The necklace you mean?”

She nodded, her eyes bobbing again. “Do you want to know what it is?”

“You know?”

She nodded again. “Let me out and I’ll tell you all about it.”

I bit my lip. I looked at the padlock. “I don’t have a key.”

“Of course you do,” said the voice on the other side of the door.

I felt something in my pocket, something that wasn’t there before. I reached inside and pulled out the key. I was shocked to say the least. Where the hell did this come from? I stared at it for the longest time. It was strange thing. The head of it was just like the necklace, a cross with double bars. I smiled at it. It looked just like the necklace, my wonderful necklace. I took a deep breath and slowly raised it, moving toward the door. I grabbed the padlock, ready to insert the key inside.

“That’s it. Put it in there and then we can punish all those bastards who locked you up.”

I hesitated. “What are you talking about?”

“The ones who put you in the cell. They were lying. They think you did it. How can they not. You did do it. That poor girl was a hindrance to you and you got rid of her. It was brilliant actually, making her kill herself like that.”

I shook my head. “There was nothing brilliant about Katie dying.”

The voice laughed. “Girls are a dime a dozen. Let me out and you and I can have hundreds of them. We can build a harem, hell we can even make them look like her if you want.”

I shook my head, tears rolling down my cheeks. “I don’t want another girl. I want her, I want my Katie.”

I took a step away from the door and dropped the key. The door shook violently, metal rattling on the other side. No not metal, a chain. I realized it now. The door wasn’t the only thing holding whatever it was back. There was a chain too. Who chains something up when they’re already locked behind a door?

“You stupid little son of a bitch” snapped the voice angrily. “You’re nothing without me. You think you’re in control but you’re not. I’m getting stronger thanks to you. It’s only a matter of time before this chain breaks. As soon as it does I’ll smash this door to pieces. As soon as I do, I’m coming for you first. Now be a good boy and pick up the fucking key. Let me out of here and lets you and I make everyone pay for the way they’ve treated us.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what the fuck you are but I want nothing to do with you.”

The Thing laughed. “You have no choice. You are too late to stop it. Pretty soon you won’t even be yourself anymore and then it’s only one step closer to me.”

“You’re wrong.”

The Thing laughed even louder. “I’m wrong? Who do you think you are fooling? Have you looked in the mirror lately? Don’t you see it yet; you don’t even look like yourself anymore. You think that’s normal, you think you’re still in control. Didn’t you feel it, didn’t you feel me. In the bathroom when that bastard was going to pound you, didn’t you like the power? You took his anger and you gave him your fear. That’s only a small fraction of what you can do. Together with me, you and I can become unstoppable. I’m offering you the world; don’t turn your back on it.”

I shook my head, taking another step away. “I want nothing to do with you.”

“You will. Very soon, they will find you and when they do, you’re going to beg me to help you. They’re getting closer you know. You know who I’m talking about and when they get you, you’re going to need me to stop them.”

I shook my head and ran. She screamed. Her shrill voice echoed down the hall. I ran as hard and as fast as I could. Tears streamed down my face as she ran. Who was she? What was she? How did she get there? I tried hard not to think about that thing but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get it out of my head. It was dangerous and dark and it scared the hell out of me. But it was right too. There was something wrong with me, something horribly wrong with me. I was avoiding it but she was right. When I look in the mirror, I have a hard time seeing myself. It’s subtle but over the last two weeks, my face was changing. It was getting softer, rounded even. My hair was down my back and silky smooth. My hips were flaring and my butt was swollen. Even my skin was getting softer. My chest was puffy too, my nipples huge. I was finding it hard to wear normal shirts without itching like crazy.

I had a pretty good idea what all that meant but I just couldn’t accept it. Even now as I ran as hard as I could I couldn’t accept it. There was just no way that it was even possible. Then I looked like a girl in that dress, so much so that I fooled people at the nightclub. As scary as it was, a small part of me liked that. I was repulsed and lost in the moment but it was invigorating too. And Katie? My Katie, the love of my life. The thing had been right about that. I killed her. I didn’t mean to do it but I killed her. She was dead because I got angry and she died because I couldn’t control what I was becoming. I wanted to run away from it, I had to run away from it. I have to get out, run as hard and as fast as I can.

I felt a tingling course through my body. I looked at my hands as I ran, watching in awe as a black light formed around them. It still tingled until it burned. It burned so bad that I thought my entire body was on fire. I screamed at the top of my lungs and the hallway exploded around me in a bright brilliant light.

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

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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

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Author's Note: Sorry for the massive delay but I've had a real busy week. Ch. 6 is a transition chapter so don't expect much from it. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and Freya for the continued use of the Allens. I'd also like to thank DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Six:

I found myself walking in that dark hall again. This time I was one hundred percent certain it was a dream. Not only that, but the dream from before came back to me in full detail. It was like I had much more clarity here than in the waking world. How messed up was that? As I walked, I wasn’t as freaked out as I was before. I knew where this hall led and I knew what was at the end of it. The only question was why. It had been pretty clear last time that I wanted nothing to do with that Thing behind the door. It was dark and twisted and had admitted to killing Katie. There was nothing it had that could convince me to let it out. As I walked, I was flooded with memories of our earlier encounter. The closer I got to the door, the more I wanted to turn around and run the other way.

But no matter how much I tried, I just kept walking. It’s not that I had much of a choice in the matter actually. It was like my feet had a mind of their own. I tried to stop them but I just kept going. So Finally, I just stopped resisting. It didn’t take long to get to my destination. The door looked exactly like it did before. I sighed when I saw it. The last time I was here, the Thing behind it had tried to sweet talk me into letting it out. I almost did but when I hesitated, it showed its true colors. There was something evil about that Thing and I completely missed that before. Now I wasn’t going to let it lull me into anything.

I stopped in front of the door. There was a slight movement and the scraping of metal. Then those four red slits---its eyes---appeared in the opening.

“So nice of you to join me again” it said in its sinister voice.

“Like I had a choice.”

“We all have choices. You and I especially. Our life is all about choices.”

Our life? What the hell did that mean?

“What do you want?”

It chuckled. “You and I have unfinished business”

“I’m not letting you out.”

It laughed. “You say that and yet you’re still holding the key.”

The key? What the hell was It talking about? But as soon as I thought about it, I looked down. Sure enough, the key was in my hand. I’m not sure how it got there but its appearance totally freaked me out. As if it was red hot and poisonous, I dropped it. The Thing let out a sigh that sounded like a giant hiss. I took a step back, afraid that it might burst through the door at any minute.

“That wasn’t a very wise thing to do you know.”

“Wise or not, I feel better about it.”

“You may think you have all the answers right now, little girl, but you have no idea what’s going on.”

I gritted my teeth at the “little girl” comment. I didn’t have to look down to know that her statement was more than true now. I was wearing a very familiar pair of black silk pajamas---just like the ones from that first dream. Except they were cut to fit this body, my new body. I hadn’t really thought about it until now actually. It scared me a bit. In the waking world, I never would have been caught dead in anything like this and yet here and now, they felt right. I heard the Thing chuckle as if It was reading my mind. That scared me too. Before I thought that, the two of us were so far apart from one another. Now I could sense something familiar about her. It might have been the fact that I was now mostly a girl but it was more than that.

I bit my lip before I responded. “And I suppose you have all the answers?”

She scoffed. “Not all of them but more than you.” I heard a scrap of more metal and then her eyes disappeared. Then something else appeared in front of the slot, something shiny and dangling. “For instance, I have this.”

My heart skipped a beat. It was the necklace, my necklace.

“How did you get that?” I asked, my hand twitching.

“What you misplace, I find,” she said with a chuckle.

“Its not yours, give it to me.”

She laughed. “Are you now dependent on this little thing?” She waved it slowly in front of the opening.

My heart beat faster in my chest. Was I dependent on it? I don’t think so but I sure as hell wanted it. I reached for the door but stopped. Then I looked down at the key. I stared at it for the longest time. If I unlocked the door then she’d give me the necklace. I took a deep breath. But unlocking the door was wrong. She was evil; there was no doubt about it. She was also after something. I’m not sure what it was but I could sense it somehow. I bent down anyway, picking up the key. When I stood back up, I heard her sigh. I stared at the large padlock, my hand trembling. My eyes shifted to the necklace. I moistened my lips and reached the key gently forward.

I grabbed the padlock and slowly moved the key toward it. But I stopped. At the last moment, something held me back.

“They’re getting closer,” she said, her voice almost in my ear. “Look.”

The hallway seemed to dissolve around me. It happened so quickly that I stumbled and fell forward. Where I should have fallen into the door I instead fell face first into a bush. I coughed and sputtered, the prickly branches scratching my face, tugging on my hair. I quickly pushed myself to my feet and had a look around. I was in the desert. There was darkness all around me and it was cold. I should have been shivering in my thin pajamas but I wasn’t. I hugged my arms round my body and looked around. Why was I in the desert now? I took a step forward but stopped. I couldn’t help remember the last time I’d found myself here. I looked down at my feet. They were still swollen and blistered from before.

“We’re not really here,” said a voice, her voice.

“I don’t understand”

“This event” she said as I started walking. “Will actually happen in a couple of hours. And before you say anything, there is nothing we can do to prevent it.”

As soon as the words came out her mouth, figures started to appear. At first they were hazy and in the distance but as I got closer they started taking shape. There was a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach as I saw them. There were four or five hooded figures, gathered in a circle around someone on the ground. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on. I screamed at the top of my lungs and charged the scene. It didn’t matter that there was nothing I could do; I was determined to stop it this time. I charged right into the center of the group. There was another black haired girl in a white dress on the ground, already tied in place. But unlike the first girl, she wasn’t struggling. Apparently, they learned their lesson and drugged her. She had a glassy eyed look.

“Is she the one, Mother?” asked one of the figures.

Another of the figures stepped forward. “No but it doesn’t matter. He will be pleased with her sacrifice as well.”

That voice. It was the same woman from the first dream. In my second dream, I was too late to watch the scene unfold but I wasn’t going to be too late for this one. I stood and watched in horror as they took out the knife and cup again. There was no struggling or screaming from this girl. I watched as they cut her wrists and held the cup underneath them as she bled out into it. The girl started to moan and squirm a bit, the ropes cutting into her hands and ankles. One of the men took out another knife and cup. Then he proceeded to cut her throat. The girl stopped squirming after that. I wanted to look away but I was transfixed by the scene.

“They bled them dry,” said the voice of the Thing.

Tears streamed down my face as I finally looked away. “This is madness.”

“They’re getting closer. This one only a few miles from the city now. The next one will be even closer than that. Do you see know what they’re doing?”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to see. I didn’t want anything to do with it. I turned away and started to run. The desert dissolved around me. I ran until I couldn’t run anymore then I collapsed. I fell on my side from exhaustion and cried. I closed my eyes and willed myself to wake up.

When I woke up, I half expected to be in the desert for real. I was genuinely surprised to open my eyes and find myself in a nice comfortable bed. It took me a few seconds to figure out where I was though. I’m used to waking up every morning and nearly hitting my head on the ceiling. It was a very nice surprise to not have the ceiling a foot or so away. It was also nice to sleep on a mattress that didn’t feel like a damn rock. When I sat up and the blanket gently slid off my body, I looked down and saw my new friends waiting for me. I sighed, almost forgetting the pair of interlopers on my chest. I say almost because it was made painfully clear last night when I woke up and had to sleep on my back. I hated sleeping on my back and was never going to get used to that.

I sat in bed for the longest time, trying to think things through. This time I seemed to remember everything about my dream. I had one of those awful tastes in my mouth because I almost slipped up again. I knew that Thing behind the door was evil and yet once again I almost let it go. This time it was even harder to resist her. I don’t really know how to describe the feeling. It was like she was inside my head, trying to force my hand to unlock that door. What’s worse, now she had leverage? She had the necklace and I wanted that more than anything. How she got it, I don’t know but I just knew she was going to keep on trying to use it to get what she wanted. I just had to figure out a way to outsmart and outlast her. Easier said than done I suppose.

A knock on the door broke me from my thoughts. It was followed a few seconds later by Iris’ voice: “Rachel, honey, are you awake yet?”

“Yeah” I said, not really sure, of the statement but at least I was sitting up.

“I have a fresh set of clothes for you here and a towel in case you want to use the shower.”

I smiled. A shower sounded good right about now. I thanked her and then slipped out of bed. By the time I got to the door and opened it, she was gone. The clothes and the towel were sitting on a little end table near the door. I grabbed the bundle and made my way down the hall. The bathroom was the next door over, wide open. I slipped inside and shut the door. I dropped the bundle in the corner and went to the mirror to splash water in my face. I froze at my reflection. I got a good look at myself last night in the second hand shop but I looked different somehow. I was still the same pale girl with long black hair as before but I looked more girly if that was possible. I also bore a striking resemblance to the little girl from the ring---plus a couple of years. I’m glad I at least looked eighteen like before. I couldn’t imagine changing into a girl and looking like a twelve-year or something.

After staring in the mirror, I used the toilet. That was definitely different and something I was never going to get used too.

I stripped off after that and went in the shower. I tried my hardest not to pay attention to my new body as I soaped myself up. Instead, I closed my eyes and let the soothing water caress me. It felt nice actually. I always liked showers because they were a good place to think. Unfortunately, for me I could only think about one thing: Katie. Her face kept popping into my head and no matter how much I tried; I couldn’t stop myself from crying. It wasn’t until I opened my eyes that I released I was no longer standing. I was in the back of the shower with my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them. The water pounded off my head and shoulders, streaming down my face to mix with my tears. It was more painful now than it was yesterday. It was a hole that was never going to be filled and right then and there, I vowed never to do so. No one was ever going to be able to fill the void that Katie left in my life. Not that I could even think about that now but I made a promise that I wasn’t even going to try. Katie was my life---my soul mate---and no one would replace her.

I finally managed to get myself together. I wiped away the tears and finished up. When I climbed out of the shower, I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my waist. I started for the door when I realized that some things were showing. I cursed and redid the towel, this time wrapping it around my chest. I was never going to get used to this. After securing the towel, I grabbed the clothes and opened the door. As soon as I did, I nearly walked right into a tall, brown haired man. I looked up and blushed. I couldn’t help it. I bit my lip and looked away. Then looked back at him. It was clear that it was Uncle Barry. I’d only met him once and only briefly. It’s kinda funny because the first time I never noticed how cute he was or how much he looked like Bart. I groaned. I did not just think a guy was cute?

“I’m sorry Miss,” he said quickly, adverting his gaze. “I didn’t realize there was anyone in here.”

I shook my head. “My fault” I said, hugging the clothes to my body and slipping by.

I was halfway down the hall when I felt something. I stopped and turned around. He was still standing in the bathroom door, looking at me. When I looked at him, I felt something familiar. I’m not sure how to place it but it was just like the feeling I got off Barbara last night. He didn’t have any color though. Instead, his body had this green glow about it, like an outline. I stared intently, wondering it could be. I stood there and stared at him for the longest time. He stood and stared, too. I didn’t stop staring until he disappeared into the bath, closing the door slowly behind him.

I walked back to my room, confused. Why was he green like that? I thought about it as I closed the door behind me and walked to the bed. I dropped the towel. Then I sat on the edge of the bed for a while, thinking about what just happened. There was something about him, something that didn’t quite add up. I couldn’t quite place it but I knew it was there. I thought about it for a couple of minutes before I dried the rest of myself off and got dressed. They weren’t my clothes: it was a new shirt and shorts. They were my bra and panties though or rather the others I got yesterday. The other clothes must have belonged to Barbara. After dressing I wrapped my hair in the towel like Katie used to do and left the room.

I was halfway down the hall when I smelled the bacon. My mouth watered as I tried to remember the last time I’d actually had a home cooked meal. The food in the dorm’s private dining area was OK but one could only eat so many breakfast burritos. When I got into the kitchen, Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were sitting at the table. Absent were Bart and Barbara. But there was a setting at the table for me, which made me smile. I walked to it slowly, not taking my eyes off Barry and his green glow. I sat down and Iris put some pancakes and bacon on my plate. She was watching me stare at her husband. I assume he told her about our encounter outside the bathroom.

“Rachel” said Iris as she sat back down. “This is my husband Barry, Bart’s uncle.”

I smiled. Then he spoke. “Sorry about earlier. Iris told me you two were staying but I expected you to sleep in like my good for nothing nephew.”

I smirked. “I’m not lazy like him. Bart sleeps in when he’s not practicing or going to class.”

Their eyebrows went up. I cursed. Now it sounded like I spent my mornings with him. Which was true but I was seeing it as no big deal because we were roommates. But I was sure they were seeing it as a guy and a girl spending the night together. I cursed my stupidity. I’m definitely never going to get used to this girl thing.

I quickly recovered. “Bart’s roommate likes to blabber a lot. We have a couple of classes together.”

They gave each other a nod but a knowing smile. I gritted my teeth. It was clear they didn’t believe me. So I decided to change the topic. “So where’s Barbara this morning?”

This time the two of them looked really awkward. I stared at Barry and though the green color didn’t change, I got this strange feeling from him. He was worried and nervous like he had something to hide. This time I raised an eyebrow.

Iris shot her husband a glance before quickly answering. “She had to get back to the dorm. She has an early class.”

That kinda took me by surprise. “She’s in college?”

Iris nodded. “She’s in her first year of Graduate school actually.”

“At ASU?”

Barry nodded. “My old alma mater of course, she wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I turned to Iris. “Is that where you went to school too?”

She shook her head. “I went to the University of Arizona.”

“Then why would she be going to Barry’s old school. Wouldn’t she want to follow her aunt and not her aunt’s husband?”

The two of them quickly looked at each other. I still felt nervousness from Barry but he was still green. Iris on the other hand was both nervous and changing color rapidly. There were too many colors to keep track actually. I looked from one to the other. There was definitely something strange going on here. They knew it too. While Iris looked a bit frantic, Barry kept staring at me. This time I got nervous. Why was he looking at me like that? We stared at one another for the longest time, neither of us saying a word. A few minutes later, he picked up his fork and started into his pancakes. I did the same just so I didn’t look so out of place. As the two of us ate, it was like we were competing to see who could eat the most normally. I think I was succeeding because he was eating pretty fast. Iris got more nervous, sending him glances. I studied her face. It was clear that she was afraid something was going to happen. For a moment, she was a bit yellow but then it quickly changed to an orange color. Barry was still outlined in green but I could get a nervous vibe off him.

Finally, we finished eating. Iris got up quickly, too quickly, though. She jostled the table. As soon as she did so, her coffee mug fell. One second it was falling and the next it wasn’t. It happened so fast that I nearly missed it. I’m not sure how I saw it. But Barry moved quick, too quick for a human. It was less than a blink. The cup was falling and a second later was back on the table. I stared at the cup and then looked up at him. Iris didn’t seem to notice a thing. I’m not sure how I noticed. But I looked from the cup to him and back to the cup again. He looked at the cup and then at me. His eyes opened wide for a second as if my seeing what he did was a shock.

“Nothing happened,” he said as if to deflate the situation.

I nodded as if to agree with him but said. “Yes it did.”

Barry and Iris shared a nervous look.

He cleared his throat. “What did you see exactly?”

“I’m not sure really. It was only like a second but I could swear the cup fell off the table and then it was back up. Like a blink and you miss it moment.”

Iris’ eyes opened wide as she stared at her husband. Barry stared at me for a few seconds then sighed heavily.”If I show you something will you promise me not to tell Bart?”

I nodded.

He sighed and raised his hand. There was a ring there I didn’t notice before, it had a strange green glow to it. He reached down and pulled it off his finger. As soon as he did, he disappeared. Ok so he didn’t really disappear but it was like he shimmered then faded away. The green outline was gone in a second and Barry was no more. In his place was Barbara, sitting in his chair with a big frown. I stared wide-eyed and speechless. Iris dropped numbly back into her chair. It was clear she knew what was going on. The look on Barbara’s face was a mixture of fear and relief. Me, I was dumbstruck. Somehow, Barry and Barbara were one in the same.

“So” I finally said after several minutes of staring.”Which one of you isn’t real?”

Barbara sighed. Iris reached over and took his hand. Then she spoke. “They’re both real honey except Barbara isn’t Barry anymore. You see there was an accident and well Barry turned into her. She’s what you might call a…”

“A Meta” I said and the two of them nodded.

I was completely floored. But something clicked in my head. I remembered reading about that girl from Houston, the one called Terra. She was a guy before she transformed. Then there was Booster Gold. She had been a big college football star before she transformed into the beautiful Myka Carter. I remember because Bart still had a hard time believing that one. In fact, he had a huge poster of her in a blue and yellow bikini on our dorm wall. Both of them had been guys before. It just never occurred to me that that seemed to be the norm. Another something clicked in my head. I guess it was always in the back of my mind but it never really came to the forefront until now. But it explained a lot, hell it explained almost everything.

I gasped. “Oh crap.”

Iris looked at Barbara who smiled. Barbara cleared her throat. “You’re Bart’s roommate aren’t you? The actor we met a few months ago?”

I nodded. Iris leaned forward took my hand gently. “It’s OK sweetheart, you’re not the first one we’ve met.”

That kinda floored me. How many others were there out there?

Barbara frowned at me. Something else clicked in my mind and I pulled my hand out from underneath Iris. I jumped to my feet, nearly knocking the table over. I just remembered what Bart’s uncle did for a living. Oh shit he works for the cops. I didn’t even take a breath as I turned and bolted out of the room. As much as I liked these people there was no way that, he could overlook the fact that I might be a murderer and that I escaped from police custody. I thought I got a pretty good head start as I bolted through the kitchen and made my way to the front door. But in a blink of an eye, Barbara was standing in front of it, shaking her head.

I skidded to a halt and cursed. How in the hell? Then it occurred to me how she was able to catch that cup. She wasn’t just any Meta, she was Phoenix’s Meta, she was the Flash. There was definitely no way I was going to outrun her. I felt a feeling of dread overwhelm me and I stumbled backwards. My emotions overwhelmed me, making me dizzy and lightheaded. I dropped to the ground, burying my head in my hands. I broke down; I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I felt arms wrap around me and pull me close. I thought maybe it was Barbara but I realized the embrace was much more warm and comforting. It had to Iris. She held me a long time and I cried on her shoulder. It was like being held by my mother and it made me feel safe.

She held me a long time. I cried for even longer. I’m not sure what made me stop but when I did, I turned my head back toward the front door. Barbara was still standing there as if she was expecting me to run again. I suppose I could but I knew there was no way I’d outrun her. I suppose if I wanted to I could have used my Mind Trick power on them but I didn’t. I liked these people. They helped me. They took Bart and me in and didn’t ask any questions. Now looking at Barbara standing there, giving me a stern look I knew there was no way I could avoid the questions.

I wiped my eyes and my cheeks. I took a deep breath and stared her down. “I didn’t kill Katie.”

For the longest time she just stared at me. She gave me this narrow-eyed look. Her color was red and I could read the distrust off her. Even if she had me cornered, she still couldn’t trust me. But not Iris. When she spoke, it was with a reassuring tone.

“Of course you didn’t kill anyone sweetheart,” she said, shooting her “husband” a look. She helped me to my feet and led me over to the couch. “Why don’t you sit here and tell us all about it.”

I sighed as I sat with my head on her lap. I took a deep breath and let it all out. I told the two of them everything, not leaving out a thing. OK, maybe one thing. I left out the dreams. I didn’t know what to make of them. I knew that they were somehow telling the future but I was afraid Barbara would think I was somehow involved. It was clear that she didn’t trust me and I didn’t want to give her any more fuel for the fire. So leaving out that little tidbit, I told them everything that happened, everything since finding that horrible necklace. Iris cried a little with me when I told her about Katie and finding her like that.

When I was done, she wrapped me in the tightest hug possible.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest before” I said, “I was scared.” I cast a glance at Barbara who was still standing like a sentry by the door.
“I was scared she’d try to arrest me.”

Iris frowned. “She’s not going to arrest you sweetheart” She stroked my hair. “Though I think it might be best if the two of you go down to the station together and explain things.”

I shook my head. “I’m not going back there.”

Barbara sighed, finally walking over to us. “It wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway.” She sat in the chair across from us, sitting with her legs apart like a guy. Iris cast her an evil glance and she quickly pressed them shut.

“What happened?” I asked, tearing up again.

She sighed. “Nothing bad. In fact it’s something very good” She smiled weakly. “The coroner came back with the results last night. Your girlfriend’s death was ruled a suicide. There were some doubts of course but in the end all her wounds were self inflicted.”

I nodded numbly. But that still didn’t get over the fact that I killed her. Not intentionally of course but I still made her do it.

Iris seemed to be a mind reader. “You did no such thing.”

She hugged me again. I looked over at Barbara over her shoulder. It was clear that she didn’t think so. She kept giving me this look like I was made of something truly evil. I knew that look all too well. It was the same one that I was sure I gave to the Thing behind the door.

Iris spoke to her husband. “Barbara, is there any way we can convince the police to stop looking for Ryan?”

She nodded. “If we can convince the authorities that she’s a new Meta and that she didn’t know about her powers then maybe it will get her off the hook.”

“My powers?”

She rolled her eyes. “Clearly you’re some kind of teleporter. How else do you explain disappearing from the holding cell and ending up in the middle of the desert?”

I hadn’t really thought about it. But it made perfect sense. Not only did I “teleport” there. But I also did the same thing when I went from the desert to the pizza place. But there was something else too. It wasn’t just the teleporting; it was this other thing too. The mind tricks and the way I was able to tell what other people were feeling. Was it possible for Metas to have more than one power? I wanted to ask her but I was afraid of what they might think. So I kept my mouth shut and let the two of them keep on thinking I was a teleporter.

Barbara stood up after that. She reached into her pocket and slipped on the ring. As soon as she did so, there was a shimmer and Barry was back again. “His” body was surrounded by that funky green outline again. He sat back down and quickly explained what he wanted to do. Iris held my hand then he got up to go retrieve his kit. While he was off into the other room, there was a noise from the hallway. We all turned as Bart came stumbling down. We’d completely forgotten about him actually. I looked at the couch and realized there was no pillow or blanket.

“I let him sleep in the other spare room, explaining that Barbara wasn’t spending the night,” Iris whispered quickly.

Bart walked into the living dressed in a t-shirt and boxers. He scratched his butt and dropped into the chair Barbara vacated a few minutes before. I couldn’t help but smirk at him when I thought about his hitting on his own uncle last night. Now I knew why Barbara had felt so uncomfortable.

“So I miss anything ladies?” he asked with a yawn.

Iris and I looked at each and couldn’t help but break out into laughter.

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

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Author's Note: I now return you to your regularly scheduled Retcon already in progress :) Here's Ch. 7, things are picking up pace I think.Kudos to anyone who can tell me who the new character I introduce is, and no cheating for those who I've already told :) I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Seven:

I stared at the pale girl in the mirror and frowned. It was still hard to fathom that this girl was now in fact me. That was all made worse by staring at her naked body. The body that was one hundred percent all girl now. It happened yesterday morning or rather the beginning of day two with the Allens. After the revelation the day before I thought things were going to go more smoothly.

Barbara/Barry came around a bit and took some blood even but when I woke up that next morning I screamed bloody murder. Iris and Bart came rushing into the room. Bart turned about three different shades of red, which only caused me to freak out even more. Iris quickly pushed him out of the room and held me while I cried for about half an hour.

That was yesterday. Today I was a very scared and confused girl staring at herself in the mirror. I was trying to find a part of me that was still myself but it was nearly impossible. The girl in the mirror looked a bit like me but she could just as easily be a distant cousin. She still had some of my features but her skin was much paler, her hair jet black and almost to her butt and her eyes were a piercing sapphire blue whereas mine had been green. Then there was the two foreign bodies on my chest, definitely bigger than when they first appeared there. If I had to guess, I’d say at least a C by now. They were currently crammed into a sports bra. I still refused to acknowledge that I needed more clothes. I was still wearing the same ones I bought from the second hand store. The black hoodie was my new best friend, regardless of how damn hot it appeared outside.

The hoodie and my shirt were on the bed behind me. I glanced at them, frowning. The shirt was getting a bit tight now, having been bought when my boobs were a little less pronounced. Which meant I’d have to go shopping soon, something I was dreading more than anything? Katie used to drag me all over the city and when the sales lady wasn’t trying to get me to try on stuff because I was such a pretty girl, I’d tried desperately to find something manly to do. My manly excursions always lead me to places like the electronics store and the hardware store. But no matter what, everyone always used to think I was a girl and tried hitting on me.

I frowned at the image in the mirror again. I guess they can hit on me all they want now. There was a gentle knock on the door. Before I got a chance to say anything, the door opened and Iris poked her head in. She frowned. “Rachel honey, you’re not dressed, the Agent from the government will be here any minute.”

I sighed and thanked her. When she closed the door, I went and got my shirt, pulled it quickly over my head and left the room. I slumped down the hall dragging my feet. I wasn’t really looking forward to this meeting at all. Though my name was cleared with the police for Katie’s death, ---her suicide as they ruled it---I was still wary of talking to this person.

After “Barry” took my blood sample, he took it to the lab to test it. He said since finding out he was a Meta, he discovered a way to test his blood and screen it for the genes. He got the results back yesterday but they were inconclusive. Though it was clear I wasn’t normal, I wasn’t really Meta either. But he sent his findings to the government anyway. They contacted us last night and informed us that an agent would be by to ask me some questions.

When I got to the kitchen, there were only two place settings. I looked at the clock on the wall, realizing that my late night had led to an early afternoon wakeup. It was lunchtime. I sat down and Iris put a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches in the middle of the table. I grabbed one even though I wasn’t really hungry. I couldn’t get to sleep once again. I was never going to get used to sleeping on my back and with the wild dreams, I’d been having, I was afraid to close my eyes. Not that I dreamed last night when I finally did drift off but I dreaded the long hallway or another incident where I watched some girl get brutally murdered.

“Where’s Bart and Barry?”

Iris sat down. “Bart went to the cemetery today.”

I bit my lip as a tear slowly trickled down my cheek. Iris reached forward and gently patted my hand. Katie’s memorial service was yesterday. I guess it was a little rushed but her family wanted to get it over with fast. I thought about going but in the end, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was just too painful. The thought of seeing her in a casket made me feel sick to my stomach. I put her there and there was nothing I could do to change that. Today she was being laid to rest. Bart went to the service yesterday; he said one of us needed to be there for her. Apparently, he felt like he needed to represent both of us as they laid her to rest today. Once again, I just couldn’t think about her no longer being here with me. I wanted to go but every time I tried to get up the courage, I broke down. Iris said she’d drive me over later if I wanted---after everyone was gone. I was still trying to drive up the courage for that trip too.

“Is Barry working?”

She nodded solemnly. “He got called in earlier this morning. A ranger found another body. The poor girl was dead for at least a day or so they figure, displayed just like the others. Whoever is cold enough to do that to someone should rot in hell for a million years.”
I nodded quietly. The third victim---the one killed in the desert. How could I forget about her? Every time I closed my eyes, she was one of the faces looking back at me. Her and the two others. At first, all I saw was Katie but somehow those three were there too now. They were so like me that it was scary. Three girls between 18 and 20 years old, all pale skin and black hair. The second girl’s hair was cut real short unlike the other two but that didn’t help escape the fact that all three of them looked so much like me it was scary. I tried not to think about that little fact but it was hard not to. I had no idea what it meant either. Were they after me? Was that why all these girls were dying? Or was it just coincidence. One thing was for sure though, I was certain that I was on their list. I’m not sure how I knew it but I just knew that they might come for me next. I should have been scared by this little detail but I was pretty calm about it.

Iris and I ate lunch together in silence. She was a nice enough person but we didn’t really have much in common. She tried to be civil but I was certain Bart and I had outstayed our welcome. Though she didn’t say as much, it was clear that she thought the two of us should try to get back to school. Not that Bart wasn’t going. With it being the weekend and all, there really wasn’t much of a need to go. But we both had every intention of returning. Well he did anyway. I’m not sure how I was going to explain things to my teachers. One minute Ryan was in the class and the next it’s me. Bart tried to tell me that freshmen classes were too big for anyone to notice anyway but it still bugged me. I hated the idea of trying to pretend to be something I wasn’t anymore. I wasn’t a guy at all now and going to class---pretending to be one felt wrong.

The knock on the front door interrupted my thoughts.

Iris got up and went into the main room. I listened to the voices as soon as the door was opened. I was surprised to hear a woman’s voice that wasn’t Iris’s. I was even more surprised to see the rather attractive woman who followed Iris back into the kitchen. I was expecting some stuffy guy in a black suit and tie, possibly even dark shades. What I wasn’t expecting was a Native American woman in a jeans and a nice shirt. I looked her up and down, from her cowboy boots up to the long crimson colored braid that trailed down her backside. This was definitely not what I thought of when someone said government agent.
When she saw me, she paused in the entryway. She was holding a file and opened it quickly. She scanned it then looked at me. The look on her face told me she wasn’t expecting someone who looked like me either. “Ryan Roth?” she asked with a hint of surprise.

I nodded, Iris laughed. “Is this your first Meta encounter?”

The woman nodded as the two of them sat at the table. She cleared her throat. “I was expecting…I mean…” she cleared her throat again, regaining some of her composure. “I apologize for the unprofessionalism; I’m Agent Dakota Jamison from the Department of Metahuman Affairs.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at the mouthful. But I liked the name. I had a cousin on my mother’s side named Dakota. She was a few years older than me and definitely did not look anything like the gorgeous woman sitting across from me. “That’s a cool name,” I said before stopping myself, she and Iris both smiled.

After the introductions, Dakota got right down to business. Though she came off as unprofessional and surprised before, she quickly recovered. She launched into her questions, all of which sounded like they were a set that they asked everyone. I was kinda typical. When did you change, have you exhibited any powers yet, that kind of thing. These ones went on for a while. Then she got into my personal life. She wanted to know about my family and friends, where I grew up, what were my future plans. I tried to be as candid as possible. I even found myself talking about Katie a bit and my grandfather. I never talked about him with strangers but there was something about her that made me want to open up. It made me wonder if she had a gift too. I couldn’t sense anything off about her---her emotions seemed to be in check. I think it was because she was so pretty and easygoing; after all, she was dressed real casual for a government agent.
The question session ended about an hour after she arrived. Then she got a bit technical. “We have had a chance to thoroughly review the tests that Mr. Allen sent us. Even though it’s clear that you’re not quite Meta, we’d like you to come in to have some tests run. My department has an office in Phoenix and there is a branch of STAR Labs here as well. We’d like you to come in at your earliest convenience so we can see where you fit in with everything.”

“Fit in?” I asked, somehow offended. “What the hell does that mean?”

She bit her lip. “Wrong choice of words. What I mean is, we want to see how you as an individual can help contribute to society.”

I shook my head. I’d given this some thought. As cool as it was to have powers---whatever they may be. I wanted nothing to do with this superhero stuff. My powers were dangerous and hurt people, I didn’t want to unleash them on the world. “I won’t be contributing to society at all.”

Dakota looked confused. “Did you not contact us for this reason?” I shook my head. “But you did contact Barbara Allen aka The Flash?”

“Not by choice” I said and then quickly explained. “My roommate is Barbara’s nephew. We came here to cool our heads after my girlfriend’s death. I didn’t even know Barry…I mean Barbara was a Meta until I caught her using her powers. She thought maybe I might be one as well after hearing my story so she took some of my blood and tested it. When she wasn’t one hundred percent sure, she sent it off to you guys.”

Dakota nodded. “My supervisors were under the impression that you wanted to join Miss Allen in the hero business?”

I shook my head. “My powers are dangerous. I’d love to forget about them but seeing as I can’t do that then I want to use them as little as possible.”

Dakota shuffled her papers. “I think maybe if you come in…”

I sighed and closed my eyes. The only way I was going to prove it was to show her. I concentrated on her. I smiled as a wicked thought came to mind. As soon as I opened my eyes, Dakota had that glassy eyed look. Then she reached up and slowly started unbuttoning her blouse. It was a cruel thing to do but I needed to prove a point. Iris stared as her wide eyed as she unbuttoned her blouse completely, exposing a pretty pink satin bra for both of us to see. A few seconds after her deed was done, she shook her head and blinked.

“Look down Agent Jamison” I said with amusement.

She looked down and squeaked, quickly throwing her hands up and pulled her blouse close. “I…ummm…”

“I’m sorry for that,” I said, holding my hands up apologetically. “But I needed to prove how dangerous I really was. I can do things to people; make them do things with just a simple suggestion or thought. And that’s only one of things I can do.”

Iris and Dakota frowned. Dakota then quickly buttoned up her shirt. “Miss Allen’s report said you were a teleporter?”

I nodded. “That’s one of the other things I can apparently do.”

Iris was still glaring at me. I felt bad for not telling her but I was really afraid of that power.

Dakota wasn’t glaring any more. She looked practically giddy. “You have more than one gift?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

She pulled out a pen and opened her folder, quickly writing things down. When she was finished, she looked up at me with a big smile. “What else can you do?”

I sighed. I told her about the emotion thing. She wasn’t as excited about that. She wanted to know more about the mind power or the “suggestion” power as she dubbed it. I told her there wasn’t much to tell. I left out the part about accidentally making Katie kill herself and the part where I got the cop to give me twenty bucks.

“I still need you to come into the office,” she said when I was done.

“Why?”

“We need to set up a new identity for you. You want to go by Rachel right?”

I hadn’t really thought about it. But as soon as she said it, I knew it was just right. After all, Katie had called me Rachel when we went to the club together. I know that shouldn’t have mattered but it felt like she actually named me. How could I call myself anything else but Rachel? So I told her I was happy with the name. After that Dakota left her card and said she’d set up an appointment for me tomorrow afternoon. Iris followed her out then came back about a minute later after saying good-bye.

She frowned at me from the kitchen entryway. “That shirt, was it always tight like that?”

I sighed and shook my head. “My boobs got bigger,” I said softly.

She smiled big. “I guess that settles it then. I’ll get my purse; you and I are going shopping.”

I groaned and buried my head in my hands.

Iris and I might have been becoming fast friends but there was just something about shopping with a thirty something that just didn’t fit. I was polite enough as she dragged me from one store to the next in the mall but in the end I just couldn’t help get over her taste. I think she was only trying to help but she kept dragging me from one high end boutique to the next. It felt like she was trying to turn me into her personal dress up doll. I did try on the clothes but I couldn’t help but feel like I was trying on costumes. It didn’t take her long to figure out that I wasn’t really having a good time.

While in our fifth store in a row, she stopped to look at her watch. Then sighed heavily and dramatically. “Rachel, honey” she said, causing me to turn and face her. “I just remembered that I’m going to have to leave you for a while. I have some errands that I have to run, you don’t mind if I leave you alone for a bit.”

I think my look of relief was matched only by her own. It was clear that she didn’t really know what was she doing. Dressing herself and possibly Barbara was one thing but I wasn’t like them. Iris was definitely way out of her league with me. And she knew it. I was happy that she tried to help but I could definitely pick out clothes that fit the new me on my own.

“Sure that’s ok,” I said with a fake smile. “You go, I’m just going to pop in and out of a few places, see what I can find.”

She smiled. “Do you need any money?”

I shook my head. Bart left his wallet back at the house and I swiped his bankcard. I felt a little bad about taking it but I’d pay him back once I got my wallet back. The best part, his pin was real easy to figure out. He always used his birthday for everything; it was real easy to figure out. I just had to make sure I didn’t spend more than a couple hundred bucks. I had a nice little chunk of change in my own account---grandpa deposited cash into it for me every week to help with living expenses. But I didn’t want to go overboard on poor Bart.

As soon as Iris left, I vacated the current shop I was in. The sales girl looked pretty darn happy when I did so. I knew they weren’t supposed to discriminate against customers but she’d been giving me the evil eye the whole time I was in there. So I’m not a GAP kinda girl, thank God for small miracles. But it did make me wonder. If I’m not going to be trendy then what kind of fashion sense was I going for? I definitely didn’t want perky and pink. There was something about wearing a cheerful color that made me want to hurl---so nothing with “baby” anything in the title. Yellow was out of the picture too. Even as a guy, I avoided that color. Red always worked well for me. But I knew if there was going to be anything red on the new me it was going to be blood.

I sighed heavily at the thought. No more blood, I’d had enough of that. I could still see it on my hands. I couldn’t help but feel the irony in that. More than once of the last few days I thought about Macbeth. It was as if the curse was visited on me tenfold. First the necklace---my necklace---then Katie and the police and now this wretched body. It was like someone was playing a cosmic joke. Now I was wandering around, looking at my hands, seeing blood that wasn’t really there anymore. When the police picked me up, they let me wash up in one of their bathrooms. They even gave me some fresh clothes that were “left” behind at the precinct. Back then, I still fit into male clothes pretty well and the ones I had been wearing were blood covered. I’m not sure where those were now, hopefully burned to a crisp in an incinerator.

I wandered about for a bit just staring into storefronts. Every clothing store I passed I tried to imagine myself wearing the clothes I could see on display. I suppose jeans and t-shirts were my best bet but a part of me wanted something dismal. I felt dismal. It’s really hard to describe because I didn’t feel like this before. It was only in the last day or so actually. I was still me but it was like a part of me was dead. I suppose it was. Katie was like my second half and without her; I found it hard to get out of bed in the morning. It wasn’t like I was depressed. It was more like I just wanted to go about the world and hope that no one noticed me. A dark cloud that definitely passed over my heart and it didn’t want to go away. It was affecting my whole outlook on things too. I was still me but I was something else too, something that felt incomplete.

I guess it was really hard to describe. As I was walking along, I think I finally found something that suited me. Katie preferred little boutiques, the corner shops near the college. She didn’t like to drive far to get her clothes and things like that. We rarely came to the mall unless there was some kind of sale she wanted to exploit. Most of the time she kept to the very same stores that Iris had been dragging me in to all afternoon. One of the stores we never even went near was Hot Topic. Even now as I stood before it and looked inside, I felt strange even thinking about it. But there was something about all the dark clothing hanging on the racks that seemed to call to me.

I groaned. Great so now I was a Goth chick.

I took a step toward the store but stopped, shaking my head. I couldn’t go in there; I didn’t want to be a freak. I took a step back and started walking again. I picked up the pace, trying to put as much distance between me and the place as I could. I found myself walking by the very same stores that Iris and I had been in a mere hour or so before. I walked the whole length of the mall---well this floor anyway---but somehow I ended up back in front of Hot Topic. I groaned a second time. There was no way I was going in there.

“Trust me, girl, you don’t want to go in there” said a voice.

I nodded. At first, I thought it was my own conscience. It wasn’t until a few seconds later that I realized that it actually came from outside my head. I turned and looked behind me. Sitting on the bench behind me was a girl who looked liked she’d been in this story more than once herself. She was sitting with her legs crossed, black boots up to her knees, fishnet stockings. She was as pale as I was but I think a good portion of it was from lack of sun. She wore a tiny ruffled black skirt, a corset over what looked like a mess shirt and black fingerless gloves. Her makeup was black which matched her hair---pulled up into two knobs on either side of her head.

She was definitely someone I didn’t want to be acquainted with and yet I wasn’t leaving.

I shook my head. “I didn’t want to go in there.”

The girl smiled, her black lips looked sinister when she did that. “See you’re not a tool. Good for you”

I forced a smile and nodded. Then I looked both ways, deciding to get away from the freaky girl as fast as possible. I went left, hoping she’d get the hint that I didn’t want to be seen with her. She didn’t. I was probably twenty feet away when she slid into step next to me. It surprised me to say the least and I jumped. As soon as I did, she looped her arm through mine. She was definitely bold but I already knew that just by looking at the way she was dressed.

“If you walk away like that you’ll never make any new friends,” she said with another one of those wicked smiles.

“What makes you think I want to be friends?”

She laughed. “You walked by that place twice. When you went by and stopped the first time, I could tell you were hesitant to go in. When you came back I knew were interested. You definitely have the look for it but not that place, trust me.”

I frowned. “I was just browsing.”

She laughed again. “Sure you were.”

She steered me down the mall and for some reason I let her. I didn’t think I wanted company and yet walking with this girl, it felt kinda nice. I’m been cooped up in the Allen’s house for too long. Bart, Iris and Barry/Barbara were great company but I definitely needed some space. This girl might not be someone who Ryan Roth would have associated with---in fact, I knew she wasn’t---but I wasn’t Ryan anymore. At least not physically anyway. Hell I hardly felt like myself in my head anymore either. I don’t think I’d ever feel like myself anymore. Without Katie, there was a hole and I don’t think anything would ever be able to fill it.

“You look lost,” said the girl as we walked.

Her arm was no longer looped through my own and yet I still found myself walking along beside her. I guess I needed company more than I thought. I guess she was as good as any. “I have a lot on my mind.”

“Boy trouble?” she asked, I shook my head. “Girl trouble?”

The way she said “girl trouble” made me wonder if she was trying to be sincere or if she was looking to hook up. I knew from my earlier once over of her that she wasn’t lacking in the looks department but I wasn’t ready for that. I’d never be ready for that. Katie was my girl and I wasn’t going to tarnish her. Maybe someday---five or six years from now---but not now and definitely not with a complete stranger.

She smiled. “So it is a girl.” She laughed at the look on my face. “Hey I’m not here to judge. I swing both ways myself, it helps keep the options open.

Sometimes my boyfriend pisses me off and other times my girlfriend can be a real bitch. If it’s not one it’s the other, either way at the end of the day I never sleep alone.”

She seemed proud of that fact. I couldn’t believe that someone could be that carefree. But then again looking at her, I guess I could.

She laughed aloud. “I know what you’re thinking. I need to get away from the crazy freak girl.” I shook my head, which made her laugh even louder.

“You’re different than my other friends,” I said quickly, trying to defuse the situation.

“Of course I am.”

She was a bit annoying but I kinda liked her too. Her carefree attitude was refreshing. It definitely brought my spirits back up.

We walked for a few more minutes. It was clear that the two of us were going nowhere. Then she steered me toward the girl’s restroom. I paused for a second. This was the first real time I’d been out in public as Rachel. In fact when Iris had suggested it back at the house I almost didn’t come. I was scared to walk around like this now. I’d been out before but I was still partially myself then. Now I was all girl and it frightened the hell out of me. Thankfully, no guys had made any passes at me but I caught a few of them staring earlier. It made me uncomfortable to have their eyes on me like that.

“Wait” I said quickly. “Why are we going in there?”

She stopped for a second, looking me up and down. “Do you trust me?”

I laughed. “I don’t even know you.”

She laughed a little too. Then she gently took my hand and led me over to a nearby bench. Her holding my hand did nothing for me. Usually whenever Katie and I used to hold hands, it sent a pleasant spark up my arm and all over my body. Holding this girl’s hand gave me no spark. I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

She sat first, pulling the skirt underneath her a bit and crossing her legs. She was still laughing but at least she let go of my hand. “I sometimes get a little carried away. I’m Lori,” she said, holding out her hand for me to shake.

I sat down and shook it. “Rachel” I said softly.

She smiled then gave me a confused look. “You know I think we have a class together?”

That floored the hell out of me. A class? I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

She was giving me the same look. Then smiled. “Bio 101 with Applegate.”

I cursed inwardly. I did have Bio with Applegate. I gave this girl---Lori---a once over. I tried to put her name with a face and vice versa. But it was really hard. Applegate’s class was in a lecture hall and there were over a hundred people in it. It amazed the hell out of me that she noticed I was in it. Then I shook my head. It suddenly occurred to me right there. She wasn’t recognizing me of course, she was recognizing Ryan. It felt funny to think of myself that way but it was almost like my former self was a different person now. I bit my lip. I wonder if she thought I was a transsexual or something because it was clear that Ryan and Rachel looked nothing alike.

She laughed at my confusion. “I sit in the back,” she said, realizing that I couldn’t place her face. “And I don’t dress like this in class. My Dad would kill me if he found out I dressed like this in school.”

I nodded numbly. “I didn’t think anyone could pick out a face in a big crowd like that.”

She smiled. “I’m good with faces,” she said then laughed. “But you know what; I thought you were a guy.”

She had a big laugh about that. My face turned about three shades of red. Then I kinda chuckled. She was probably the only one in class that thought that.

She continued, trying to save face. “Not that you’re manly on anything but you wear baggy clothes to class. You have a great body; you should not try to hide it. When I saw you walking around the mall, looking lost, I couldn’t help but wonder if you were trying to shed that tomboy nature of yours. When you stopped in front of Hot Topic I wondered if you were willing to go that far.”

All I could do was smile. She thought I was a tomboy. I was screaming inside my head. But I needed to save face and fast. “I’ve been through a lot these last couple of days. I took some time off to find myself. I’ve decided that I want to change some things about my life.”

Ok, so half-truth.

She smiled. “Change is good, I’m all about that.”

I laughed. “The only problem is I have no idea where to start.”

She wickedly. I didn’t like that smile. She jumped off the bench, full of energy. She grabbed my hands and pulled me up. “That’s why I was taking you to the bathroom girl. You’re pale and pasty. I have the perfect shade of lipstick.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

She laughed. “That’s why this will be real fun.”

She dragged me toward the bathroom. This time I didn’t protest as she pushed opened the door and pulled me inside.

“I think it looks hot”.

Lori’s words kept ringing in my head even hours after I got back from my shopping excursion with her. I was back in my room now at the Allen’s, staring at the object of “hotness” that her words had been referring too. I say staring because I was standing in front of the mirror, my body turned slightly sideways so I could get a good look at what was behind me. Or rather, what was currently on my back now? It was one of those spur of the moment, last thing before we left things. I’m not even sure why I did it but when I saw the shop, I knew I had too. I guess it was to honor Katie’s memory. She had one just like it and I knew when I saw the shop I had to get one. It wasn’t exactly like hers but it was close. She got hers done right before we left for school. When her father found out, he freaked. I didn’t have a father to freak about mine but I’m sure other people would have a thing or two to say.

I smiled at it. It was perfect. I dropped my shirt and turned around. I frowned a bit at its length. When Lori got going, she really got going. After dragging me into the bathroom, she insisted on accentuating my pale features. She only used a little bit of makeup but according to her, it was a “vast” improvement. Now I had a smoky eye look and black lips. I wasn’t sure about the eye shadow but I liked the black eyeliner and lipstick. It was so completely not me that it worked. The black nail polish was bit much but in for a penny as they say. After the impromptu makeover, Lori couldn’t be stopped. The first thing she did was take me from the mall.

“We can’t get good clothes here,” she said as I followed her out to the parking lot. I half expected her to drive a hearse. I was surprised at the little silver Prius. It did have a bat dangling from the rearview though, making it sorta feel like her. She took me into town to a place called The Coffin---apparently, it was the only place she shopped. It made Hot Topic look like the Gap. With Lori’s assistance, I ended up dropping over two hundred dollars on clothing and accessories. I tried to talk her out of it, seeing as it was technically Bart’s money. But she was on some kind of buying frenzy.

When she dropped me off at the Allen’s after we were done, she didn’t seem the least bit surprised that I was staying there instead of the dorm. She gave me her digits and we made plans to meet up for coffee tomorrow. When I walked into the house, the look of shock on Iris’ face was priceless. She recovered quickly and didn’t say anything. I took all my new purchases to my “room” and returned Bart’s card to him before he even noticed it was gone. Then I spent some time with Iris in the kitchen, telling her about what happened after she left me. I’m not sure if she was thrilled with my choices but she didn’t judge me either.

Now here I was in the present, six hours after Lori dropped me off. The top I was wearing was black with spaghetti straps. It didn’t go all the way to my waist either, ending at the midriff. No amount of tugging on the end of it seemed to help. I was wearing a pair of black pants with buckles too. Lori tried to talk me into wearing one of the numerous new skirts I bought but I wasn’t ready for that. I was wearing the pair of fishnet arm gloves she talked me in to though. She wouldn’t let me leave the store until I wore them. A small part of me was shocked at the change but a much bigger part kinda liked it. I decided after the makeover that this was as far from my old self than ever and I wanted it. I’m not sure why it felt so right but I felt at peace in these clothes. Even now staring at myself in the mirror with the black makeup and clothes to match I felt like I could almost get used to being a girl. Not that I’d ever really get used to it but for this small moment I was satisfied.

A gentle knock on the door interrupted me. Once again, Iris poked her head inside. “You look lovely dear,” she said, even though I could tell it was forced.

I could almost read her like an open book now, her emotions exploding from her. She didn’t like the way I looked but she was being polite. “It not too different is it?”

She opened the door all the way and walked over to the mirror to stand behind me. She frowned a bit. “Well I have to be honest and say that if you were my daughter I wouldn’t let you dress like that but you’re an adult and you can make your own decisions.”

I sighed and nodded then bit my lip. “What about this?” I asked, lifting up my shirt.

Iris looked down at the wicked looking black bird on my waistline, its head and beak pointed near my butt. She frowned but she didn’t say a thing. She did stare at it a long time though. I laughed finally.

“Katie used to have one just like this,” I said, tearing up a bit. “I wanted to do something to honor her. I thought about getting her name tattooed on my arm but this just felt right.”

Iris didn’t say a thing. Instead, she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. She held me for a long time and I cried a bit more. When she let go, I sighed heavily. I wish I could stop all the crying. I suppose in time it would stop with the pain. A small part of me wished that that never stopped. It was my penance, my punishment for what I did to Katie. I never wanted the pain to go away just like I never wanted to forget about her.

Iris shattered my thoughts. “You know I think this might be a perfect time to call your mother.”

And I felt like crying again. I bit my lip. I’d been putting off calling her because I was scared about what she might say or think. Iris talked to her last night, told her I was safe and sound. But she didn’t say anything about my change, told me it was my place to tell her. I just didn’t have the courage to do it. But Iris was right. I was dragging my feet and I needed to get over it. Mom wasn’t going to go away and this new life of mine definitely wasn’t going to go away.

I nodded. Iris slipped out of the room, leaving me alone. I walked over to the bedside phone and picked up the receiver. Mom picked up on the second ring. “Mom” I said, teary eyed.

“Who is this?” she asked, confused.

I took a deep breath. “It’s me, Ryan; I think you might want to sit down for this.”

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

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Author's Note: Here's Chapter Eight, a new character is introduced and I don't beat around the bush concerning his identity. Things seem to be taking an interesting turn for our heroine now. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Eight:

Most people are nervous on their first days of school. It happens if it’s the very first day of school when starting kindergarten or the very first day of starting a new school, say moving from elementary to middle school or middle to high. In Azarath, we didn’t really have that problem: it was a central school with elementary, middle and high all in one large school complex. Yes, we all had a few butterflies when moving to new buildings but nothing overly fear invoking. I was pretty jittery though, a few weeks ago when I arrived for my first day of college. If anyone says that adults don’t get butterflies, they’re damn wrong because they do. Being only nineteen doesn’t really make me an adult but I’m definitely not a kid anymore.
I guess what I’m trying to get at is that one first day of college was scary, but two first days of college, there are very few people who get to experience that.

“Dude” said Bart as he pulled into a parking place. “You ok? You look pale.”

I turned to him and gave him a raised eyebrow. As soon as I did, he realized what he said and laughed. But I still responded with a snappy come-back anyway. “When do I not look pale?”

He laughed. “What I meant is that you look paler than usual.”

I took a deep breath. “Well I am about to commit the biggest performance of my lifetime.”

“You see this as acting?”

I shrugged. “Isn’t it?”

He didn’t say a thing. Instead, he took the key from the ignition and unbuckled himself.

I’m not sure if I really saw it as acting either. A few days ago, I might have said yes but that was then. After my meeting with Dakota and my trip to the mall, life seemed to get fast. The day after that I went into the city and got all my information filled out at the local office that Dakota mentioned. I was surprised to find that the DEO---top secret government agency that it was---worked out of a nondescript, gray building like any other government building. Once there a representative from the local branch of STAR Labs evaluated me. He ran a battery of tests, took some more blood and then said he’d get the results back soon. Those didn’t come until two days later, along with all my new identification. The only thing the test proved was that I was not a Meta. I think that perplexed them all a great deal. They wanted more tests but they weren’t mandatory so I told them no.

Mom came by later that night. I met her at a little coffee shop---the same one that Lori and I went to earlier that day. We had a long, nice chat. My ID said I was officially Rachel Roth and if anyone in school asked, I was Ryan’s twin sister. Not that that would make much of a difference because everyone thought Ryan was a girl anyway. Mom and I talked for a long time about things. It was a little awkward at first but the two of us got over that quickly. Like Iris, she kinda frowned at my new gothic look but she didn’t say anything. The day after that I officially reenrolled at Arizona State. The DEO helped fast track my application. I filled out most of the paperwork with Dakota as a witness. When it came to my major though, I faltered. I thought about going Theater again but something about it felt wrong. I’m not sure why but I didn’t want anything more to do with it. Old memories I guess. Every time I thought about all the fun times I had performing, I couldn’t stop seeing Katie’s face. She used to come to all my plays and the fact that I wasn’t going to see her smiling face in the front row anymore made me sick to my stomach. In the end I decided to go Undecided, that way if something really interested me, I could sign up for it later. I signed up for the same General curriculum and then found a class that Katie was particularly fond of. She raved about it actually. It was a class on the Occult, taught by a visiting professor named Dee. So I ended up putting that on my list.

Now here I was four days after my meeting with Dakota, ready to get on with my college life once again.

“You getting out dude?” asked Bart, half hanging out of the car himself.

I sighed. “I’m building up to it.”

He slipped back into the driver’s seat. “We can always ditch today, start again tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “Then I’d just have to go through this all over again.” I shook my head again. “I just need a moment to build up to it.”

He laughed. “Me too. I’m going to miss being roommates with you bro. Whoever this new guy is, he better not snore or I’m going to kick his ass.”

I smiled weakly at his attempt to cheer me up. This new life definitely had disadvantages. Officially, Ryan withdrew from school and went home, seeking familiar surroundings. If anyone asked, my “brother” couldn’t deal with the pain of being in this place without Katie. It was partially the truth. I almost didn’t enroll back at Arizona State at all, too many painful memories. Mom convinced me to at least try. She said if I couldn’t handle it then I could move to some place else.

“You know anything about your new roomie yet?”

My new roomie? I groaned to think about it. I got my new room assignment yesterday. I was going to be in the same dorm building as Katie believe it or not. I dreaded that they might put me with Sarah but that wasn’t the case. Sarah was gone too apparently, the stress too much for her to handle. I tried talking to her on the phone but she refused to take my calls, not that I blamed her. She thought I killed her best friend and I’d be lying if I said she was wrong. I tried calling Katie’s parents too but their number was disconnected.

According to Mom, they took Katie’s death pretty hard. They didn’t blame me like Sarah but they couldn’t stay here anymore. They packed up all their things and moved a day after the funeral, out of state apparently. Strangely enough, most of the stuff in Katie’s dorm was just moved to storage. They didn’t even bother to take her car.

“Earth to Ry…I mean…Rachel” said Bart waving his hand in front of my face.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. Then I sighed. “I only have a name but I’m even dreading that.”

Her name was Angelina Smith, which was bad enough. But it was made worse by the fact that she dotted her i’s with little hearts. That tells you a lot about a person and it definitely told me that my new roommate was going to be someone worthy of the cringe factor. If anything, living with Angelina was going to be enough of a problem. Add to that the fact that I was suppose to have been a girl for the last nineteen years. So far, I’d been able to get by because I wasn’t really interacting with anyone else. Lori and I hung out a lot now but if I was doing anything ungirl-like, she wasn’t calling me on it. But then again Lori wasn’t the girliest person either. Hell, Katie wasn’t all that girly. So as far as being a girl was concerned I was trying my hardest to emulate both of them.

I told Bart my fears and after he was done laughing his ass off, I threatened to make him slam his head a few times in the car door. He held up his hands. “Dude, consider me warned.” He scratched the back of his head. “You going to be ok living with a chick?”

I shrugged and took a deep breath. “Only one way to find out I guess.”

I unbuckled my seat belt and pushed open the door.

The first thing I notice when I went into my dorm was that they were much nicer than the ones I had when I was Ryan. For one thing, there seemed to be more room with an actual carpet on the floor and two beds instead of a bunk bed. The second thing I noticed was the girliness of said room. I’m not sure all of them were like this but this one sure was. One side of the room was decked out in kitten posters, boy bands and candid personal photos. The desk had a girly pink shaded lamp and there was a fuzzy pink bedspread. I wanted to gag. I looked to the other side of the room, which was bare and must have been my side.

I carried my duffel over and dropped it on the bed. I didn’t have much in the way of things. Most of my stuff was still in my old room with Bart. I promised to come by later in the week and pack it up. The DEO gave me a nice dividend to start my life over. Even if I didn’t test as a Meta, they were sure that I was something worthy of keeping an eye. So I got a five thousand dollar budget to spend on whatever I wanted. So far, the only thing I bought was a cell phone and some underwear. Most of my clothes I bought the other day with Lori---Bart wasn’t too happy I swiped his bank card, especially when he saw how much I spent. I reimbursed him with my cash, plus a hundred bucks more. I told Dakota about my wallet but she said I’d have to figure that out on my own.

So much for government aid. I looked at my brand new watch. It appeared to be in-between classes so Angelina wasn’t here. I guess that was a good thing. I decided to use the quiet and unpack. I put my casual clothes in the dresser, intimates in top drawer, jeans, t-shirts and assorted clothing in the other drawers. The rest of my clothes went into the closet. Lori insisted I have at least two dresses---both of them gothic in nature. One was skimpier for the club and the other longer and elegant. I’m not sure where I’d wear the second one, but apparently there was an alternative club in the city. Lori frequented it a lot and expected me to join her this weekend. I’m not sure if I was looking forward to that actually. The last club I was in led to a fight and that fight led to…
Clubs are bad for me. Bad things happen when I get in that kind of environment. I’d have to make up an excuse and call Lori later about it.

When I was done putting my stuff away, I went and explored the other side of the room. A lot of pictures on the wall showed a blonde girl with a big smile who I assumed must be Angelina. I groaned when I saw her in a shiny pink prom dress and groaned even more when she was wearing a yellow and black cheerleader outfit with a bumblebee in the center. That’s all I needed. I looked at the other pictures then looked over her desk quickly. Besides the girly lamp, there was a laptop with a pink trim, several pink pencils and a plush pink bear wearing a graduation hat. I groaned. This girl clearly liked pink, which was going to make things really hard for me.

The final thing I noticed was on her wall. It was a crucifix. I couldn’t help but think of my own cross with a bit of longing. One of things I planned to do was get a look in Katie’s car. Hopefully my clothes were still in there, along with the cross. It was the only other place I could think of, unless I left it back in her room before that shower I took. That dreaded shower, the one which if I hadn’t taken, Katie might still be alive. I shuddered, a tear running down my cheek. If my cross was in the dorm then it was probably in storage with the rest of her dorm room stuff. I wonder if Dakota could help me get into that. I suppose if I asked nicely enough she might.

As I was rounding toward Angelina’s bed, my cell rang. It vibrated through my pants’ pocket, thumping against my leg. I cursed when I saw the name on the screen: Dakota. Speak of the devil. I took a deep breath and clicked it on.

“You have ESP?”

She chuckled. “You’re the only psychic I know.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a psychic, I’m an Empath.”

There was one good thing about the whole STAR Labs experience. The doctor who tested me---Dr. Reynolds---was able to figure out exactly what I was. He called me an Empath or more accurately a Psionic Empath. I’m not sure what any of that really meant because he explained it to me in a bunch of techno mumble jumble. But the jest of it was that I could read emotions and to an extent, project those very same emotions on others. He didn’t know what to think of my power of suggestion though. According to him, I was the one in their database who could do such a thing. The teleportation they listed as questionable because I was never able to reproduce it. They ran me through countless tests but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t teleport at will. I guess it was for the best. I overheard him talking to his flunky and they wanted to keep me around for more tests if that ability proved liable. I definitely didn’t want to be a lab rat for the next few months, that’s for sure. I still was keeping quiet about my precog ability, whatever it may be. I’m not sure why I decided to keep that one to myself but there was something about it that freaked me out. It wasn’t just seeing those girls being killed either. There was more to it; I’m not sure how to describe it though. I guess first and foremost I was terrified of it. It was somehow connected to that thing behind the door and I didn’t like that in the least.

“Psychic, Empathic or whatever, you and I need to talk for a few.”

I groaned. “Didn’t we discuss everything discussable?”

She laughed. “I’m supposed to be checking in with you every day.”

I looked at my watch. “I have my first class in an hour.”

“This meet will only take like ten minutes” she said, I sighed. “Good, meet me on the bench in front of your dorm.”

I clicked the phone off and headed out of the dorm. A two minute elevator ride later, I was downstairs walking through the little foyer and out the door. Dakota was sitting on the bench just like she said. It was clear she was trying to look like she belonged but she wasn’t doing a really good job of it. Tank top and khaki shorts aside, she still looked a little out of place. I walked over to her. She was sitting on the bench, reading a hardback textbook. When I approached, she snapped the book shut and stuffed it back into a backpack at her feet.

She looked at me and shook her head. “Aren’t you hot in all that black?”

I looked down at my black tee and baggy black pants. The heat didn’t seem to be bothering me. Maybe it was another of my Meta powers or maybe it was because I just walked out of an air-conditioned dorm room. “You wanted to see me?” I asked, ignoring her question.

She nodded. “Are you adjusting well?”

“That’s why you dragged me out here, to ask how I was?”

She laughed. “No, that was called concern” She picked up the pack and shook it. “This is why I’m here. The government took the liberty of getting you your books already.”

I looked at the purple backpack and frowned at the little stuffed bear attached to my zipper. I took the pack from her but pulled the bear off and put it in her hand. She laughed.

“I told them that that was too easy.”

“Too easy for what?”

She shook her head and pulled a keychain from her pocket. “Give me your keys.”

I did as I told and watched as she put the little Devil mascot on my key ring. “What’s that for?”

“Insurance.”

I tried to get her to tell me more but she wasn’t in the talking mood. At least not about super secret government stuff. Instead, she wanted to talk more about me. Ever since we met the other day, in our last two meetings---this one being the third---all she wanted to do was talk about me. She was really interested in my well being, like an overbearing big sister. I’m not even sure why she was still around. I wasn’t a Meta according to all the tests they performed and yet I still couldn’t get rid of her. She did work for the Department of Metahuman Affairs; surely, there was another Meta out there that she could bug.

After a few more questions, I didn’t even have time to go back to my dorm. My first class was on the other side of the campus. By the time I got there, I would have maybe ten minutes or so to get to class. Dakota said it would only take a couple of minutes but with the questions, it was nearly thirty. I guess it couldn’t be helped. I wanted to know why she was still around and all she wanted to know was what kind of person I was. Neither one of us ended up with the answers we sought. She told me she’d back tomorrow at about this time. Me, I could hardly contain myself.

I had to walk at a brisk pace. I went to the bathroom first. On the way out, I notice a strange man standing at the corner. He was tall with dark hair and an angular face. He wore one of those coats that detectives wore in those old black and white movies. As soon as I walked out of bathroom, he started staring at me. He kinda freaked me out actually. The freakiest thing though was that I couldn’t get a reading off him. There was no color surrounding his body and when I tried to read his feelings, I got nothing. I took a deep breath. Stop looking at me you creep. I tried “suggesting” he look the other way. One of his eyebrows rose slightly then a slight smile curved his lip.

I took a step forward. Just as I was about to take another step, an influx of people floored the halls. I was nearly trampled as they poured out of the classrooms. I got a bit turned around. When I finally righted myself, I turned back to where I saw him. He was gone. I sighed. He was probably just some creepy janitor or something. I shrugged it off and slipped into the crowd. If I hurried, I might be able to make a food run before class.

My first class of the day happened to be my Occult class. Katie herself had only been in the class a few weeks before she died but she raved about it. The professor was supposed to be a foremost expert on it or something. I’d be lying if I said I knew what it was that we were actually going to be discussing in class. So after I got my course curriculum the other day, I went online and looked it up. According to Wikipedia---gotta love it---Occultism is the study of occult or hidden wisdom (forbidden knowledge). It contains things like magic and alchemy. I vaguely remember Katie going on about some of the stuff they talked about in class but she talked so much about all her classes that things just molded together. Me, the only think I could talk about was acting. Not that I ever bored her---at least she didn’t act like she was bored.

There were a lot of people in the classroom when I finally got there. I almost didn’t make it in time. There was a line at the little Starbucks cart at the end of the hall. Now standing in the door I was finding it hard to find a seat. I scanned the faces, wondering which one of them wouldn’t mind a girl like me sitting next to them. I caught eyes with a girl in the front row. She had black hair cut to her shoulders and was wearing a dark purple skirt and black skirt. I looked at her legs, which were clad in fishnet stockings. It was the boots that gave her away. Though she wasn’t all decked out in her usual wear, especially the heavy makeup, it was clear this girl was Lori.

She smiled when we locked eyes. I smiled back and walked over. When I slipped into the seat next to her, she took my coffee from me and took a sip. “Caramel macchiato?”

I nodded then took my drink back. “Why didn’t you say you were in this class?”

She shrugged. “You never asked.”

The two of us discussed classes the other day. It was true I never really went out of the way to find out which classes she was in. Then I realized that she thought I was a student here from day one. So I needed to cover and fast. “I transferred myself into this class from an earlier one. I needed more time to sleep in the morning.”

“I hear ya; this is my first class as well.”

When I first met her one of the first things I noticed was the slight accent. In fact, at the coffee shop, I picked on her a bit about it. But apparently, I had one too, at least to her. She was from Dayton Ohio. Her home life wasn’t exactly the best so as soon as she graduated high school she found the farthest college from her father she could think of. I’m not sure why she chose Arizona. She didn’t talk much about her mother, other than the fact that she was dead. I think it was a sore subject. If one were to look at Lori Zechlin, one might think they had her all figured out. I sure thought I did. But seeing her now---sitting here in semi-normal clothes---I was way off. There was definitely more to her than she was letting on. I guess that makes two of us.

The class started a few minutes after I sat down. The professor walked to the front of the room. He was definitely not what I was expecting. For one thing, he wasn’t wearing a tie and for another he actually looked like he wanted to be there. Not that any of my former professors didn’t look like that but this guy was actually smiling. When he set down his briefcase and put his long tan coat on the back of the chair, something clicked. I took a big breath: it was the guy from the hall. I forgot everything else as I stared at him. Even when he started lecturing, I zoned all of it. The only thing that mattered to me was this guy. I looked around the room. Everyone else was glowing in various colors, most of them a calming blue. But the professor was nothing. It was like how I used to see people before all this crazy crap started to happen. I tried reading his emotions again. I’d been practicing ever since the STAR Lab doctor told me I could do it. I have a pretty good handle on it now. I can either read everyone in the room---which is a bitch and a half---or one person at a time. I tested it on the blonde haired jock in front of me. I centered on his glowing blue form. There was a slight fluctuation in the color. Then I got this overwhelming sense of lust. Not for him but from him. I gripped the edge of my desk from the intensity.

I forced myself away from him, breaking the hold. Then I noticed the busty red head in front of him. The lecture hall was set up so one row looked over the row in front of it slightly. So in theory guys could actually look down girl’s shirts if they wanted. The red head was wearing a low cut top, her girls exposed for every guy behind her to see. The lust I felt was clearly directed at her. Once the feeling passed, I felt sick to my stomach.

“You ok?” asked Lori softly.

I nodded. “Something I ate.”

After I fully recovered, I lashed out again. I still wanted to make sure that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. It didn’t take long though for the lust to come back. I almost smacked the jock in the back of the head before I realized it wasn’t coming from him. I turned slightly and saw a skater punk glaring at me. He wasn’t trying to hide it either. His stare was definitely uncomfortable. Lori caught where I was looking and saw the guy too. She gave him the finger, which snapped him out of his stare. It also killed his lust. When I shook off the feeling, I decided that I was definitely doing things right. It grossed me out that a guy could think about me that way but at least I knew things were working. I picked up other emotions too before finally deciding to try my “magic” on the professor.

But just like the hallway, I didn’t get a thing off him. He did lock eyes with me though. It was only for a second. There was something about his eyes, something that made me feel uneasy. They weren’t evil but they weren’t the kind of eyes that normal people had either. We stared at each other for a long time, neither breaking the stare. My concentration was finally broken by Lori snapping her fingers in front of my face.

“You alive in there?”

“Yeah barely.”

She chuckled softly. “You were freaking me.” She looked where I was staring and smiled. “You hot for teacher?”

“Eww gross.”

She laughed. “Well you don’t talk about boys so I thought maybe you liked men.”

We both shared a soft laugh. “I saw him in the hall today and he was giving me a creepy look.”

She nodded. “That’s Dr. Occult for you.”

“Dr. Occult?”

She laughed. “Everyone calls him that. He kinda freaks people out, especially about how passionate he is about the stuff he teaches. So we all started calling him Dr. Occult.”

I stared at “Dr. Occult” again. He was no longer staring at me while he talked. His back to his happy and passionate self. That didn’t stop me from staring at him through the whole class though. I couldn’t tell you what the class was about but everyone else was really attentive so it must have been interesting. As soon as he let us go, Lori had to bail. She had another class right after this---a couple of buildings over. Before she ran off, she promised to call me. As I was gathering my things, I suddenly got this feeling that I wasn’t alone. I turned my head and found the skater punk standing next to me.
He picked my book off the desk and handed it to me. I took it and slid it into my pack. “Thanks” I said, annoyed.

He didn’t get the hint. Instead, he smiled. “I’m Brody.”

“Fascinating” I said as I zipped up my back, slung it on my shoulder and walked off.

Brody ran to keep up. “You got a name?”

“Yep” I said as he followed me out into the hall.

“You going to give it to me?”

I sighed heavily and turned to him. “Look Cody, I’m sure you’re a really nice guy and all but I’m not interested, ok.”

He frowned. “Don’t be like that.” He said then gently touched my shoulder. “You need to chill, chica. All I want is your name.”

His touch sent shivers up my body. Not the good kind either. I could tell this guy was bad news. In fact, I could feel it. I shrugged his hand off. “What part of not interested did you not hear?”

He laughed. “They always say that at first. But once you get to know me, I bet you’ll change your mind.”

Not getting the hint. “I doubt it.”

I slammed my shoulder into him as I pushed past him and down the hall. But he apparently didn’t want to give up. He was really starting to piss me off. He walked a bit faster than me and stepped in my path.

“Look, chill babe. Give me your name and I’ll leave you alone.”

Not only was it Chill but now it was Babe. My anger flared. Something snapped. I leaned into him, my mouth inches from his ear. “You’re so interested in chilling,” I said, a coldness in my voice. “Why don’t you walk into the nearest bathroom, stick your head in the urinal and flush.”

When I pulled away from him, I saw the glassy look in his eyes. He dropped his bag in the middle of the hallway and walked toward the men’s room a few doors down. When he opened the door and walked inside, I couldn’t help but smile. Was I proud of what I’d done, no not particularly? But did the scumbag deserve it, most definitely. I kicked his pack into the wall and then started off toward my next class, happy that at least my gifts worked on someone.

The rest of my classes that day went by relatively easy. Though there were a few classes that paralleled my previous schedule like my Bio one. When I first told Dakota I wanted to be in the same Bio class as before she thought I was nuts. Maybe I was. Then I explained the whole Lori thing---how she thought I was a girl to begin with---Dakota was a little more understanding. I got some strange looks from some of the others though. There were even some whispers when I walked by. At first I thought they were gossiping about me being a cross dresser but it turns out that most of them were whispering about Katie. Word on the street---she and I were lesbians---and when her parents found out, she couldn’t live with their rejection and killed herself. I’m not sure where the rumor got started but I didn’t like it.

I was thankful that no one was blaming me for it anymore.

My math class was the other one I had before. In there, I sat in the back away from other people. Not that anyone noticed me in the first place. Except for maybe Becky. She was the girl I met while auditioning for Macbeth. She kept on staring at me strangely every chance she got. I tried to ignore her but it was a little hard to do. I suppose I could have “suggested” that she didn’t know me but I’m not sure that would have helped. After class, she caught up with me as I was leaving. I had a four-hour break before heading to my last class of the day: a three-hour Bio lab.

“Ryan?” Becky called to me.

I turned my head and looked around, playing dumb. “You talking to me?”

Ok, so I’m no Clint Eastwood. Becky frowned.

She shook her head. “I thought you were someone I used to know.”

“A guy?” I asked, she nodded. Then we both laughed. I decided to not torture her any more. “He’s my brother actually, my twin.”

Becky looked a little stupid after that. “I thought you two looked alike. I’m Becky; I was in a couple of his Theater classes.”

I reintroduced myself to her. Then the two of us walked to the library together. She asked me about the rumors---the real ones. When I told her that Katie did in fact kill herself, she hugged me. I’m not sure why. Then I told her that my “brother” couldn’t deal with being here without her, so that he went back home. She understood that pretty well. Then she told me a story about losing her grandmother over the summer. She teared up a bit over that so I ended up hugging her. Becky came across as one of those girls who didn’t have a lot of friends. She was nice enough but very quiet. I never noticed it before but she was also very plain. If only she spruced herself up a bit, a little makeup, less frumpy clothes…and I did not think that. God I’m turning into a girl.

She and I hit the food court together before going to the library. While we were eating Lori called. She was supposed to meet me after the Lab tonight but she had to cancel. She was exhausted and needed to crash. I was kinda tired myself.

Becky and I spent two and a half hours in the library before heading off to Lab together. I’m not a big fan of night classes but the lab was the only one I had this late. Though it seemed like a long time to be in one place it went relatively fast. The reason for its length, I only had it one night a week. Tonight we were discussing the human nervous system just like in class but in Lab, it was the practical application of the thing. Becky was my partner and together we had to dissect a sheep’s brain. She was squeamish about it but I had no qualms about dissection. She was a good note taker and thankfully didn’t dot all her i’s with little hearts. There was no way I could deal with two of those kinds of people in my life.

When class was finally over, Becky begged me to walk with her back to the dorm. She was a little freaked out about all the girls disappearing. To reassure her, I walked with her. It wasn’t too far out of my way thankfully. I didn’t go into the dorm building but I waited until she was inside before turning and going toward my own. By the time I started back to my own dorm it was almost nine o’clock. I decided to cut my trip in half by taking a short cut through the parking lots. There were two of three of them that would make it much easier then following a winding path through school buildings.

As I was walking through the second one, I got this foreboding feeling that I wasn’t alone. So I lashed out with my empathic sense and found the culprit. I turned around quickly and even though I couldn’t see him, I knew he was there. I could feel his same lust from class mixed with anger. I took a deep breath. “I know you’re there.”

A minute or so later, Brody came out of hiding behind a SUV. He looked kinda pissed. His hair flattened to his head, the top of his shirt darker from where it spent all day drying. It was clear that he did what I suggested and didn’t bother to change clothes afterwards. Ewww. I did notice he recovered his backpack though. He took a step toward me, a sneer on his face.

“You fucking bitch” he said, stepping toward me in an intimidating manner.

As Ryan, I might have been a little bit afraid of him. But as Rachel, he didn’t scare me in the least. He was a joke and he really didn’t want to fuck with me. “What are you talking about?”

He rubbed his temples. “I don’t know what you did but I know you did it.”

“You’re confused” I said and turned to walk away.

He apparently wasn’t done talking. He took a step forward and grabbed my arm. He yanked me around violently. The blackness that flared off him was dangerous. I took a step back. There was so much anger now, drowning out any of the lust he felt. He was at least five inches taller than me and probably weighed fifty pounds more. He also a lot stronger than I thought. He grabbed both my arms in a tight grip and forced me to the ground. I tried to struggle away but he had a good grip. When he let go of one of my arms I tried to bolt. But he grabbed my hair and held firm, gasping me to gasp. I tried to throw suggestions at him but it wasn’t working, his anger was too strong.

“You fucked me over bitch,” he said, fumbling with the clasp of his pants. “And now you’re going to make it up to me.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he wanted from me. When he had his pants open fully, he starting pulling down the waistband of his boxers. He used his other hand to push my head toward it. I struggled and fought but he was a lot stronger than I was. I wanted to scream but instead I closed my eyes. When I did, I felt something. At first, it was a slow tingling but then it was like a fire. As soon as the fire got overwhelming, I snapped my eyes open and there was screaming. At first, I thought it was mine but then I realized it was him. There was a great blackness surrounding the two of us and Brody was no longer holding onto to me. In fact, he wasn’t holding onto anything. He wasn’t even standing. He was at least a foot off the ground, his pants down around his ankles.

I blinked. It was like the blackness was wrapped around him, lifting him from the ground. He was screaming bloody murder but somehow I knew the only ones who could hear it were him and I. He kicked and struggled but it was no use. Me I never felt more alive. I got to my feet and felt an overwhelming sense of power course through my body.

“Pain,” whispered a voice in my head. “Show him pain for what he did to us”.

Pain was good.

I raised my hand and the blackness squeezed around him. Brody stopped screaming and clutched at his throat. He dug at it with his hands like he was being choked. But there was nothing gripping it except the black. I wanted to kill him; I wanted to choke the life out of him for what he tried to make me do. I was so pissed and so angry. The fire burned stronger the more I choked him. There was a cackling in the back of my mind. It was low at first but grew in strength and intensity the more I squeezed. A small part of me knew all of this was wrong but the anger inside of me wouldn’t let that part get to me. Brody was a danger and as a danger, he needed to die.

“Kill him then,” said the voice. “Set an example, so these insects they can’t mess with us.”

I smirked as I continued to choke him slowly. It felt right, it felt good. It felt like he was getting exactly what he deserved. Everyone who treated people like this deserved this. Brody was scum. I knew that in the classroom and I knew even more so when he tried to force me to do unthinkable things. People like him thought they owned the world, thought they could do whatever they wanted. But not now, not to me. Not when I was still breathing. It would start with him then I’d seek out all the other scumbags like him and choke the life out of them too.

“They all deserve to die.”

They will.

“They’re in our way, all of them,” said the voice. “Just like Katie, they’re stopping you from being who you are, who you were meant to be.”

Katie? My anger broke for a split second. Katie’s face appeared in front of me. I stopped choking Brody for a second. Katie was a good person, she wasn’t holding me back. I loved her; I loved her with all my might. Katie didn’t deserve what happened to her. I looked at Brody. Even though he was scum, he didn’t deserve it either. There was a fog that had crept over me but it was slowly starting to fade. I stopped choking Brody. The cackling in my head grew louder though and my hand involuntarily twitched. When it did, I started choking Brody again.

“You’re weak but I’ll make us stronger,” said the voice.

“No” I screamed back but it was no use.

Brody continued to choke. The color drained from his features and his skin turned gray. His eyes were glassy and then dull, like all life was taken from them. He was still choking but he was no longer struggling against it. His whole body looked numb but he was still alive. I tried to fight whatever I was doing, tried to lower my arm. But I couldn’t. It was as if my arm had a life of its own. I grabbed it with my other arm, gripping my wrist with my free fingers. I tried to pull it down but it wouldn’t budge. Then I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could. I didn’t think it would make much difference though. I was going to kill Brody, become another murderer, except this time I really wanted the person dead.

Tears started running down my cheeks as I continued to scream.

That’s when the light came. It was bright and overwhelming. It cut through my blackness like a knife, severing whatever hold I had over Brody. He dropped to the ground and I regained control of my arm. I dropped it to my side and a there was a scream in the back of my head before it was silenced. I stumbled backwards. I fell to the ground. The tears ran down my cheeks. I wanted to die; I wanted to crawl into a ball somewhere and cease to exist. I heard footsteps coming toward me and panicked but I didn’t move, I couldn’t move. Then someone was standing over me, looking down at me with a frown. I saw a long tan coat and black hair. It was Professor Dee, the one students called “Dr. Occult”. He reached out and touched my forehead gently with his index finger.

Then I blacked out.

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

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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 9 finally. Sorry for the massive delay but I got busy. I had 4 pages written at the beginning of the last week but then things came up, one of them being my Birthday on Friday. But now that that is out of the way, I'm back into the swing of things. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Nine:

A bubbly, annoying pop tune woke me up. At first, I thought I was in hell because of the song but it took me a few seconds to realize I was in my dorm room. When I opened my eyes and blinked, I was kinda surprised. I sat up quickly, looking around to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming. I even went as far as pinching my arm. I winced at the pain and cursed. I was awake and I was in my dorm room. I rubbed the back of my neck. What the hell just happened? One minute it was night and I was in the parking lot. I turned my head toward the window. Now it was clearly day and some teen bimbo who screeched through her song was assaulting my ears.

“Morning roomie” said a bubbly voice, cutting through the shrill.

I turned my head toward the source and finally came face to face with Angelina Smith. For some reason, I expected her to be this bubbly, but I was hoping that I’d been jumping to conclusions before. Boy, did I hate being right. Here she was as perky as I thought she might be, dressed in a pink tank top and panties. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, smiling broadly. The song was coming from her radio. I looked at the glowing red numbers: six am. Not only was she annoyingly perky in the morning, but she got up three or four hours before I ever did. A small part of me wanted to “suggest” her back to sleep. Maybe it wasn’t too late to put in a request for a new roommate.

Angelina got off her bed and walked over to me. Before I even knew what was happening, she wrapped me in a tight hug. I was frozen in shock. Not only was she perky but she no regard for personal space. When she pulled away, she was still smiling. How could anyone smile this much? She giggled and walked over to her desk, the stupid song still blaring on her radio.

“Umm… hi.” I mumbled groggily.

She pouted. “Someone isn’t a morning person.”

I rubbed my temples. “Could you turn the song off?”

She frowned, but did as I asked.

“You’re Rachel, right?”

I nodded. I wanted to say, ‘…and you’re the roommate from Hell’. Instead, I said, “And you’re Angelina Smith.”

She smiled. “You can call me Angie, if you want.”

She was smiling again. Maybe this girl was a Meta too and her power was to annoy? I smiled weakly and slowly got out of bed. Besides the very rude awakening, I tried to process things. Last night was a bit of a haze. I remember leaving the science building and walking with Becky back to her dorm. I took a short cut through a parking lot and then…then Brody. I groaned, remembering what the son of a bitch tried to make me do. I guess I should have let him get it out and then bit off the tip. But, something else happened–something horrible. I can’t remember everything about it, but I know there was darkness. I was angry too, very angry. It was this overwhelming feeling that took control. I couldn’t fight it and I couldn’t stop it. Things after that were a bit fuzzy. The angry feeling lasted a while and then there was this bright light. I knew the light was important, but I couldn’t remember anything else about it. The next thing I knew, I was waking up to a girl who should never have been able to record that voice of hers.

I looked around the room, then down at myself. I was still wearing the clothes from yesterday, but my boots were on the floor next to the bed. How in the hell did I get back here? Was it possible that I walked myself back here after the incident with Brody? I shook my head. Then, why didn’t I dress in my bedclothes? It made no sense and as I sat there, trying to figure it out, I couldn’t help but think I was missing a very important detail. It was one of those things that was lingering in the back of my mind, but I just couldn’t place it. It was so damn frustrating, too.

I ran my hands through my hair and realized Angelina was looking at me funny. I groaned. Now she was judging me. “Ummm, you ever had one of those nights where you just can’t remember how you got home or what you did before hand?”

She blinked once or twice. “No, I’m a Christian.”

I bit back the urge to laugh. One little suggestion, just one.

I forced myself to be nice, though. I stood up and tried to get myself through my morning routine. Angelina did the same. She left a few minutes before me, wearing a fuzzy pink robe and carrying a towel. One of the things I was dreading the most about living in a girls’ dorm was the showers. I’m sure most former guys would think it was a dream come true, but not me. I wasn’t a horn dog when I was a guy. Katie was and always will be the only girl for me. The idea of fantasizing about other girls naked never even crossed my mind.

The first time I slept with Katie was the first time I’d ever seen a girl with her clothes off. I mean a real girl, not one in a movie. I’m sure a lot of guys can tell you all about this and that. I just remember how beautiful she looked. There was something about the natural beauty of her nakedness that made me feel serene.

As I pulled off my own clothes, standing there in my bra and panties, I turned to the mirror. I was trying to see that beauty in myself. To me, Katie was a masterpiece, but I was something else. Too pale, too skinny, and too foreign. I guess I wasn’t used to looking at the girl in the mirror. I was done fighting the fact that she was me, but I just couldn’t get over it. I would never be male again, never be Ryan again. A small part of me thought that might be all right, but the rest of me was screaming silently. This was not what I wanted. This was never what I wanted. As far as I know, no male would; at least, not one who was happy with himself, inside and out. Ok, so I wasn't fully happy as Ryan---I was too pale, too thin and too girly---but I was happy being a guy.

I sighed, pulled on my own robe, and walked out of the room. The shower room was down the hall and when I got there, there were five or six girls in different stages of undress–only one or two of them were completely naked. I stared from one to the other quickly. Though I didn’t fantasize about naked woman all the time like most males, I still was simply aroused by them before. I even felt this tingling when I saw them. I think it was a normal reaction. The same thing with that little feeling in your brain that tells you that you’re attracted to this girl or that one. Now, though, I felt nothing. All these girls were pretty, I suppose, but I wasn’t attracted to a single one of them. A small part of me was sad at that revelation. If I wasn’t attracted to girls… did that mean…? I shook off the thought and went to one of the benches. I sat down quietly, pulling off my robe. The girls laughed and talked, gossiping about things that made me blush. I knew what guys talked about in the showers but I never expected girls to talk like that. A lot of it, I will not repeat, but for the most part they asked questions and tried to get to know one another.

I quietly showered with my eyes closed, letting the water wash over me.

I was trying to drown out their chatter, but something caught my ear. I opened my eyes at the mention of it.

“Did you hear about that guy in the parking lot?” asked one of the girls (I think she said her name was Jaslyn?) asked someone else.

One of the other girls, Shay, shook her head. “What happened?”

“Campus security found him early this morning. Apparently they thought he was dead but it turns out he was still breathing.”

Brody? Oh God, what did I do?

“I heard about that,” said another one of the girls, her name I didn’t know. “I heard it was drugs.”

“Anyone know who it is?” asked Angelina, as she scrubbed her chest with a puff.

All the girls shook their heads. Me, I could only sigh. It was a good thing no one heard me. Brody was a dick, but did he deserve that? They continued to talk about it for a few minutes. Apparently, after finding him, security brought him to the hospital where he was now in a coma. How these girls knew so much I had no clue. Eventually, the topic shifted to some party this weekend. I stopped listening after that. I tried to get back into the joy of my shower. The water running over my new, more sensitive, skin was fantastic. I was just about relaxed when there was a surprised gasp from behind me.

I opened my eyes and turned my head. Shay was standing there, having just finished her shower. She was the kind of girl that I might actually see myself befriending---what with her pink hair and nose ring. “That’s an awesome tat,” she said, pointing to my back. “Did it hurt?”

I shook my head. “It’s little, so not so much. I have a thing for birds, especially black ones.”

She looked confused. “The bird is cool, but I’m talking about the cross.”

Cross? I stepped out of the water and walked over to the far wall where there were several mirrors. I turned so my back was to it and looked over my shoulder. I nearly had a heart attack. There was a giant cross tattoo on my back. But not any cross this one had two bars just like the one I wore around my neck. It was huge too, taking up the whole of my back. No wonder she thought it must have been painful. Something that size would have taken hours to do. I stared in numb awe at the thing, trying to comprehend what it meant. There was no way in hell I would have even forgotten that. Which begged the question: where the hell did it come from? I know for a fact it wasn’t there yesterday or even the day before that. Was it possible that I got it last night after the Brody incident? I shook my head. Something like that would have cost a lot of money, but there’s no way I would have done something that reckless.

Shay came up behind me. “Must be new if you’re looking at it that much” she said, I numbly nodded. “My folks would kick my ass if I did something like that. You have balls.”

“Thanks, I think.” I said softly, she laughed and walked off.

I reached around and gently touched the tattoo. A slight shiver went down my spine as I did so. What the hell is going on with me? I stared at the cross---my cross? ---over my shoulder for a while. Shay laughed and walked off. After about ten minutes, I went and shut my shower off. I started toweling myself dry before wrapping my hair up then putting on my robe. I left the showers after that and made my way back to my room. The whole time I couldn’t help but think about the cross tattoo. When I opened the door, though, my thoughts were distracted by the envelope on the floor. I bent down and picked it up, seeing that it was addressed to me.

I opened it slowly. It was strange because there were only a few people who knew and none of them would send me letters. The letter itself was short: You and I need to talk, D. There was also a place to meet. I groaned. Why did Dakota have to be so cryptic?

The meeting place was in a small courtyard behind a non-descript building. The area was arranged around a small stone basin filled with flowers. There were five or six stone benches around it. It didn’t take me long to spot Dakota because she was sitting at the only bench that provided shade. It was clearly not for her though, but her companion. Dakota was dressed for the weather---in her usual t-shirt and khakis---her friend was not. It was clear that this guy was new to the area because a charcoal gray suit was not smart for Arizona heat. He was fidgeting with his collar and loosening his tie, when I approached. I gave him a once over: from his slicked back hair and expensive attire, it was clear that he was some kind of slime. If I had to guess, I’d say lawyer.

They were in mid-conversation when I walked up. “How can you stand this heat, it wasn’t nearly as hot in Chicago” grumbled the suit.

“You’re the one who screwed up Damon” she said harshly, it was clear the two of them were talking about something that happened prior to this.

He sighed. “I don’t know why you picked this sun baked patch of earth” He wiped his sweaty brow with a handkerchief. “If I ever get my hands on that red skinned bit…”

He stopped talking as he turned and saw me. He looked me up and down. There was a curl to his lip as if he were sneering at me. I’m not sure what happened in Chicago but how did I get saddled with this prick.

Dakota perked up when she saw me. The smile she gave me was weak, bordering on a frown. So it was clear that this “suit’s” visit was not planned.

The man cleared his throat so Dakota introduced him. “Rachel, this is Agent Matthews from the legal department, he has a few things to discuss with you.”

I groaned. So the suit was a lawyer. Agent Matthews set his briefcase on his lap and snapped open the lid. Then he took out a folder and opened it up. There were a lot of papers in there. I tried to look disinterested but they did pique my curiosity. I was pretty certain I knew what this was all about. They were here about last night. I guess I wasn’t all that surprised. Dakota did say they were going to be watching me like a hawk and last night’s incident probably raised several red flags. I knew I was dangerous and they knew I was dangerous. But were they willing to act on that danger and lock me up. Did I deserve it? The second after I killed Katie I would have said “yes” in a heartbeat. Now I wasn’t so sure.

It was clear that Agent Matthews thought so.

“Miss Roth” he said, faking a smile. “Would you like to tell us about last night?”

I shrugged. “There’s not much to tell.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you start from the beginning and go from there.”

I took a seat on the edge of the stone flower basin. Then I cleared my throat and started at the beginning. I told about the classroom first then proceeded to tell them about how Brody tried to get me to “suck him off” in the parking lot. Matthews flushed at my choice of words. When I finished the story---with what I remember anyway---Dakota smiled. I think she was impressed that I handled the bastard so quickly. But there was a hint of fear, too. I lost control, that much I knew. Other than that, I’m not really sure what happened. It was still all very fuzzy. Whatever I did to him though had a lasting effect if the rumors about him being in a coma are true.

“You gave Mr. Gerard severe neurological damage,” said Matthews, glancing quickly at the paper in front of him. It looked like some kind of medical report. He then rattled off a bunch of other medical stuff.

From what I could tell Brody was now a vegetable. I’m not sure if I was happy or terrified. On one hand, he deserved to get punished for what he tried to do to me but on the other hand, I nearly killed the bastard. But the scariest thing about it was the picture attached to the file. It was of Brody in his hospital bed. His skin had a grayish tone to it and his eyes were white. There was a bit of drool running down his chin. It looked as if there was no one there at all, like everything had been sapped out of him. Looking at that pic, I should have been appalled but I felt slightly energized. It was horrible to see a human being like that but no matter how much I stared at the pic, I didn’t feel any remorse. I was scared of that fact.

“You’re going to have to be monitored from now on,” said Matthews as he closed the folder.

“I didn’t authorize that,” snapped Dakota, clearly annoyed. “Rachel is my Asset; her case is under my jurisdiction.”

“And under your jurisdiction, she put someone in the hospital” Matthews fired back.

I didn’t like where this was going at all. I didn’t like Dakota shadowing me around but I tolerated her. She was cool and pretty and didn’t go out of her way to annoy me. But this Matthews guy, I didn’t like him the moment I saw him. There was no way I could let this guy have goons following me all over the place.

The two of them argued back and forth. It was clear that Dakota had my best interests at heart. I wasn’t a Meta and they shouldn’t even be here with me.

“She’s not even in our jurisdiction,” snapped Dakota with frustration. Then she lowered her voice but it wasn’t low enough. “If the BPRD finds out we’re trying to push our way into one of theirs, there will be hell to pay.”

BPRD? What the hell was that? But at the mention of it, Matthews’s eyes widened. The color drained from his face. It was clear that whatever or whoever they were, it scared the hell out of this smug lawyer. The mention of it seemed to kill their argument though. Whatever it was, it scared the hell out of Matthews. I think it scared Dakota too. It was clear that whatever they were doing with me was something that this BPRD would not like. Did that mean that they were another government agency of some sorts? Maybe they knew what was wrong with me.

After the name drop, Matthews said no more. He stuffed the folder back into the briefcase and looked at me with fearful eyes. Dakota turned to me and smiled weakly. “I’m sorry about that, Damon is a drama queen.”

He scoffed; I shot him a smug look. Dakota continued. “We are going to have to monitor you more closely however. It’s clear that what happened was an accident and that you didn’t intentionally try to kill Brody.” She looked around, lowering her voice. “Did you take out the security cameras too?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t know there were any.”

She bit her lip. “Probably just a malfunction then.”

There was uncertainty in her voice though.

The two of them didn’t stay much after that. I gave Dakota a hug and limply shook Matthews’ hand. I didn’t leave the area until the two of them were gone. I sat on the basin and watched them go, both of them going off in different directions. My gaze followed Matthews though. He looked out of place on a campus full of kids younger than him. When he got to the building, a figure caught my eye. He was half in the shadows, obscured but still visible enough for me to see. It was Professor Dee. He was standing there in his trench coat. He was staring at me but also looking at Matthews too. It wasn’t a casual look either. Did he know who the agent was? I shook off that thought as ridiculous.

“Hey girl” said a voice, shattering my concentration.

I turned and saw Lori walking toward me. I smiled as she approached. Then I turned back to the Professor to see if he was still watching. But he was nowhere in sight. A slight shiver went up my spine. But I shrugged it off and turned back to Lori with a smile.

The rest of the week went by rather interestingly. After my meeting with Dakota and Agent Matthews, I tried to get back into the college life. I fell into step just like before, except now I was a girl doing it. I was just glad that I wasn’t high school and that this wasn’t an all girl’s Catholic School. I know a lot of guys fantasized about that cute schoolgirl look of white blouse and blue plaid skirt---I’ll be a fool if I said it didn’t cross my mind. Now every time I saw it in my mind’s eye, I saw my new self in that cute little outfit and I shuddered. So yeah I’m very glad that this college is coed.

The scariest thing about falling back into the college life was how quickly I adapted to my new situation. I’m not saying I got all girly---far from it---but I did become one of the girls. It didn’t take all that long either, maybe a day or two. It was the same group from the Shower Room on that second day, minus a few of the ones I didn’t really know all that well. I became fast friends with Shay and Jaslyn because we shared the same interests. Shay had three times as many tattoos as me and piercings in places that I didn’t even want to know about. Her hair changed color every day too---washable dye apparently. She said she liked a variety. Jaslyn’s parents were from India but she was raised in the US. She rocked this mixture of clothing style---both American and traditional Indian garb i.e. t-shirts and sari like skirts.

Angelina hung out with us by default. She didn’t bother me as much as the first day. Just as long as she didn’t speak all that much. Considering what me and the others talked about, Angelina rarely opened her mouth. I’m not sure when my taste in music shifted but I went from the usual crap I listened to to the heavy metal/punk stuff that Shay listened to. It helped that Lori was interested in the same stuff as well. She was the unofficial fourth member of our posse actually. She didn’t hang with us all the time because she was in a different building but she often popped in and out. I remember how close Katie and her girl friends used to be in high school and could never truly understand it until now. Girls formed this unbreakable bond of sisterhood Yeah I know that sounds corny but it’s true. I felt close to these girls, like I could share my deepest darkest secrets with them.

Except the major secrets of course. I only shared those with someone I could trust, which turned out to be the only person who really knew what was going on anyway.

“Did you see them again today?” asked Bart as I walked up to him outside my dorm.

He’d taken to picking me up every day now ever since that incident with Brody. Of course, I told him and of course, he kinda freaked. I’m not sure when he started to think of me as the innocent damsel in distress but it happened. It also annoyed the hell out of me. Angelina thought we were dating but Jaslyn thought it was sweet---like a big brother complex. Well there was one advantage to hanging with Bart---the other guys left me alone. Not that there were many who approached me anyway, but the few that did try were scared off by the size of Bart. Not that he was an overly big guy but he did have muscles and this nasty glare.

But the point of his question is this: I’m being followed. At first, I thought it was guys sent by Matthews, making good on his threat. But Matthews’ guys wouldn’t look the way these guys did. They wore dark sunglasses just like government thugs but they also wore white linen shirts and brown pants and all their heads were shaved bald. They kinda creeped me out, like MIB Monks or something. Everywhere I went there seemed to be one of them dogging my steps . At first I thought I was being paranoid but the more I noticed them, the more places they showed up. They even lingered in the hallways outside each of my classrooms. I notified Campus security about them but they seemed to think they were one of the various members of some religious organization---there were apparently a lot of those in Phoenix.

After I told Bart about them, he got even more protective. He even went so far as to put his arm around my waist while we were in public. The strange part was I didn’t actually mind that. I’m not saying I was in love with my best friend but it felt nice to have that little bit of comfort. I didn’t let onto it of course. As soon s as we got into a building, I pulled away from him as quick as possible. I couldn’t let him or other people---save annoying Angelina---think we were dating.

But to answer his question, I took a quick look around. There were a lot of people in the quad in front of the dorm building, most of them students. I did a quick scan of their faces then reached out for their emotions. The thing about my Bald followers, they gave off nothing. It was like they someone shut off everything, making them as numb as they looked.

“I don’t see any,” I finally admitted with a sigh.

But his hand tightened on my waist even more all the same. “What the fuck do they want anyway?”

Ok so I hadn’t told him the whole truth. But how do you explain to someone that some creepy Thing behind a door told you that there were people after you. Not just any people either. People who were going around killing girls who looked just like you. On top of all that, the Creepy Thing behind the door was actually in my dreams or inside my head. It was really confusing actually. All I know for sure is that she wanted out and she wanted to hurt people. Hell she got me to “kill” Katie and I think she almost got me to kill Brody. I was starting to get vague recollection of that night in the parking lot back. Her Voice was there, in my head, egging me on to kill the bastard. I almost did too. It was the light that stopped me, the bright light. I couldn’t remember anymore than that though.

“I think they’re just weirdos,” I said in response to his question.

He searched my face. He was giving off this “I’m confused and don’t really believe you” vibe. It was radiating off him actually.

Finally, he nodded. “Just be on the safe side I think you should come with me to that party.”

I groaned. The party in question was this huge frat party they were throwing tonight. I’m not sure of the significance though. It was the beginning of October so it’s not like there was anything too pressing going on. We had been in classes for about a month and Halloween was still weeks away. There was a party for that as well---in fact, there were probably fifty of them. Lori already roped me into going to about half a dozen; she was getting our costumes ready. But she was being real hush-hush about them.

“I’m not going to some kegger so some drunk jackasses can feel me up all night.”

It felt like a month since the last time I’d had a drink anyway. Truthfully, I hadn’t touched anything since the club. The club that Katie and I went too on the night she died.

“Are the others going?”

I shrugged. In truth, they were all going, even anti-social Lori. She said she was bottled up all week and a good drink or two on the weekend helped loosen her up a bit.

Bart frowned. He could tell I was lying. He could always tell I was lying. If Bart were a Meta, he’d be one hot chick and he’d have the power to tell if people were lying or not. An image flashed before my eyes of a female Bart Allen. Sadly, I wasn’t turned on. Then an image of a male Bart in red spandex flashed into my head. My nipples got a bit hard on that one. I cursed. It was no secret that I might be slightly attracted to him. But I swore to myself never to act on these feelings. I made a promise to Katie that never again would I ever sleep with anyone but her. I planned to keep that promise, no matter how good guys were starting to look to me now.

“You’re lying and you’re going. I’m not leaving you alone with creeps snooping around.”

I frowned then sighed. “Ok but I’m not drinking.”

He smiled. “Fine I’ll do the drinking babe and you can hold my cup.”

He put his arm around my shoulder as we made our way slowly through the Quad. A small part of me was happy that he was doing it and another larger part of me was repulsed that he called me “babe” and I actually liked it.

The party was well underway when we pulled up front. WE drove because the house in question was several blocks from the school. There was one rule on campus and that was no underage drinking on campus. So the fraternity in question---I’m not really sure which one actually---were using a house one of the member’s owned. Well one of their parents anyway. It---like so many other houses in the area---had a Spanish hacienda inspired look. With stucco finish painted tan and a terra cotta tile roof. Bart slipped his arm around my waist as we wanted up the lawn and through the front door. We got a few looks. After all, he was a track star and I was the freaky new Goth chick. I shrugged them and Bart’s arm off as I slipped away. He barely noticed. Though I did see him follow me with his eyes as I disappeared into the crowd.

I only promised to come with him to the party. I never said I was going to stay by his side through the duration of it. So I wove my way through the crowd until I caught a familiar shock of bright hair---green tonight. Shay was dancing pretty close to Jaslyn, giving rise to the rumors that the two of them were in fact an item. They were swaying to the music, plastic cups of beer over their heads. When they caught sight of me, Shay grabbed my hand and pulled me in-between the two of them. I let them have their fun for a bit before I slipped away.

“You here with the bodyguard?” asked Shay as the two of them took a break from dancing.

We found some seats on a nearby couch, trying not to disturb the guy passed out on the floor at our feet. This definitely wasn’t my scene. This was only the second college party I’d been too. The first I ended up dragging Bart’s drunk ass home, slightly buzzed myself. That was back when Katie and I were happy and the only thing I needed to worry about was a play audition. That felt like a lifetime ago. In fact, it was a lifetime ago. Any part of me that was Ryan was long gone now, including my sexual preference apparently. Though Shay was hot, in her tiny jean skirt that barely covered her ass and Jaslyn was killer in her halter, neither sight did anything for me anymore.

I looked around to make sure Bart hadn’t bailed on me. I caught sight of him playing beer pong in the corner. I groaned. It looked like I was driving the Corvette back tonight.

“Boys and their toys” said a voice as a girl in a black dress sat in-between me and Shay.

At first, I was a bit confused until I saw the trademark black boots and fishnets. I blinked a few times regardless. Lori told me she promised her Dad that she wouldn’t Goth out in class but now she had gone overboard. I guess it was all that pent up gothness trying to get out. She was wearing an obscene amount of makeup and her corset was so tight that she was practically popping out of it. Shay’s eyes bulged out of her head when she saw my “gothed” up friend.

“No fricken way” said the stunned green haired punk wannabe.

Lori smiled. “On the weekends, I let the real me come out to play.”

Jaslyn piped in. “You look like Alice in Wonderland.”

Lori took her beer and took a long sip. “Not Alice” she said, passing the cup back. “Black Alice.”

We all shared a laugh.

It took a few more sips of beer for Lori to notice one of our posse was missing. She looked around. “Where’s the Barbie Doll?”

Shay shrugged. “She met some guy earlier and went off with him. That was like an hour ago.”

“No big” said Jaslyn as she took another sip of her beer, already a bit buzzed.

I didn’t drink. I was getting enough of a buzz off the three of them. Not from the alcohol but from their erratic emotions. They were all over the place, it was intoxicating. The lust coming from Shay and Jaslyn was overpowering. Mix it with the bored annoyance coming from Lori and it was like a bad porno in a mental health facility. It came in waves too. Some were overly intense while others were dull and easy to ride. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and slowly pushed myself off the couch. I mouthed “bathroom” at the looks and they shrugged, giggling into their beers.

I pushed my way through the crowd. The emotions were running too high in the room. They swirled about the area like a colorful haze. I staggered and swayed. Most of it was lust and it tore at me. I found myself licking my lips and longing for someone to quell the beast inside me. There was a lot of happiness too, which made me feel a bit lightheaded. That was counteracted by this dull, slow feeling. I think that might have been the drunkenness of the room. It hit me the hardest. I found it almost impossible to walk through that bit. I’m not sure how I managed to get to the stairs but when I did, I got up two steps before collapsing. A pair of girls nearby giggled because they thought I was drunk. Their feelings swelled off them and into me, making me giggle and sway.

I felt like I was going to be sick. I pushed myself off the stairs. Instead of going up, I went back down. I stumbled my way into the crowd. It wasn’t what I intended but now that I was there, I didn’t want to be any other place. The emotion swirled around me in a vortex of bright pretty colors. I bumped and ground with the best of them. Several people groped me, both from front and behind but it was all good. I laughed and danced and had a hell of a time. The only problem was that I couldn’t seem to stop. The more everyone else around me partied, the more I wanted to party too. I tried to stop myself but it was like I was being carried away by it all. It was like that time in the car where Katie and I were going to screw the hell out of each other or like the nightclub the night she died. I was being overwhelmed by everything around me. My head was starting to hurt too. I grabbed my temples a minute later and the room began to sway. I tried to stop the spinning but it wouldn’t go away.

Go Away, Leave me alone. That’s when it happened. I felt a tingling course through my body. It was slight at first but slowly started to build. It got stronger and stronger until I finally I just popped. I screamed at the top of my lungs and a burst of blackness spewed from my mouth. It filled the entire room, spreading across the floor, ceiling and walls quickly. It covered every person in seconds, bathing the room in a black that looked strangely familiar. Everyone was still dancing and drinking, swaying to the music. They acted like nothing was wrong. To me I could see all their colors. They were rising from them, leaving their bodies. The colors were floating, floating toward me. I could feel them getting closer and closer. I wanted them, I needed them. The colors were power and they would make me stronger.

I reached out, trying to grab them. The tips of my fingers were able to touch the nearest cloud. I felt a burst of energy, it was orgasmic. As soon as I touched even a bit of it, one of the girls staggered and fell. I pulled my hand back but only for a moment. The girl got back to her feet, rubbed her head and continued to dance. I was scared for a second but only for a second. I shrugged and reached for another cloud, one high above my head. It was closer than the other. My hand was nearly there, just a few more inches and then…

A hand lashed out of the dark and grabbed my wrist. It held tight like a grip. As soon as it touched me, I swayed and nearly fell over. The euphoric feeling was gone. I felt sick and dizzy. I looked around for the source and found a man standing there. He wasn’t bathed in black like the others; he was like me, normal. He was wearing a gray trench coat and fedora. His dark eyes stared at me and he shook his head. I gasped because I recognized his face immediately.

“Enough of that, Miss Roth” said Professor Dee as he gently let go of my hand.

The crazy feeling didn’t come back but I staggered. He reached out and caught me when I feel.

“Professor” I slurred, feeling like I was being hit by a thousand hangovers.

“Its all right girl, I’m not here to hurt you,” he said as she swept me up into his arms. “I’m a friend, I’m here to help.”He looked down at me, smiling weakly. “Sleep” he said and then touched my forehead with a finger.

Darkness overtook me and there was nothing more.

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

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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 10 with lots of talking. This is an answers chapter so not a lot of action but there is a lot of things explained :)The picture is new but chapter specific, I've had a few people ask what the cross looks like and now I can post a pic to show. There will be a new picture for the next chapter :) I'd like to thank FaerieFyre for betaing, djkauf for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Ten:

I opened my eyes and for the umpteenth time in the last several weeks, I had no idea where I was. I couldn’t help but groan as I rubbed my temples. I tried sitting up but that only seemed to make things worse. A searing pain tore through my head so I decided it was better to just lie there and figure things out. It felt like I was suffering from the biggest hangover in the history of hangovers. The strangest thing was I can vaguely remember not drinking last night. Last night, I groaned again. Just thinking about the party made my head hurt even more.

I finally managed to force myself to sit, the thin blanket covering me slid off. I blinked a few times. I was in a rather plain looking room. There was a dresser in the corner, a door that must lead to a closet and the bed I was currently lying on. The walls were a beige color and the carpet a muted brown. Whoever owned this place didn’t have much of an eye for decoration. I continued to look for other signs too, things that might tell me where I was. There was a single window but the blind was down. There was also another door, which I assumed led out of the room.

I pulled the rest of the blanket off then climbed out of bed. The pain hit me again, nearly throwing me for a loop. My head was pounding. It sure felt like I was drunk but I knew I hadn’t had a drop. What I did have was a bit of everyone else. I guess that’s the only way to describe what happened. I partook in my fellow partygoers…like some kind of parasite. This time---unlike the parking lot---I remembered everything. In fact, I could still feel some of it, residual traces of feeling bouncing about in my head. It wasn’t the crazy lust from last night but the drunken stupidity was still there. It was hard to stand and I ended up falling on back on the bed.

I sat there for some time, holding my head, trying to will the pain away.

I sat on the edge of the bed for a bit. Sitting seemed to help a bit. I closed my eyes and tried again to will the pain away. I tried for several minutes but it didn’t seem to work. So I guess my power of suggestion only worked on others. I guess that makes sense. After another few minutes, I decided to try standing again. It was still a bit painful in my head but it was a lot better than before. I actually managed to walk across the room toward the door. I half expected to find the door locked so I was shocked when it opened. The hall beyond had the same beige color and brown carpets. Someone definitely needed a decorator. But I ignored all that as I made my way slowly down the hall. Lest I forget, I was some place unknown and whoever brought me here could be a serious threat to me.
All I could remember from that was feeling real drunk and falling into someone’s arms. Or maybe they picked me up? It was all still a little foggy.

I got a few feet down the hall when I felt pressure in my bladder. I groaned. Now was not the time. But I couldn’t hold it so I stumbled into the open bathroom. I flicked on the light quickly, rushed to the toilet and barely had time to relieve myself. Once that was down, I decided not to flush in case my “rescuer” was also my enemy---no point in alerting him or her that I was awake. So instead, I stumbled over to the sink. If I turned on the water just a bit, I think I could get enough to splash in my face. So I turned the handle gently, allowing a thin stream of water to pour quietly into my hands. I got enough to throw in my face. As I did so, I caught a look of myself in the mirror. The water was in my face before I noticed something on my forehead. I blinked back a few times just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. But there was no imagination; there was some kind of thing on my forehead. I leaned over the sink, putting my head right up to the mirror to get a better look. It was a little red diamond smack in the dab of my forehead---like those little gems that Indian women wore.

I reached up and gently touched it. I half expected the thing to have grown out of my head. But upon touching it, I could tell that it was some kind of attachment. I couldn’t really pull it off but it was clear that someone put it there. I was a bit freaked by that. Who the hell sticks funky stones on people’s heads? I tried pulling it off but it wouldn’t budge. I cursed. Did they glue it on there? I bit my lip, trying to think things through. My head still hurt and now I had a diamond stuck to it. Maybe that’s what was causing all the pain. I shook that theory off as stupid---nothing that small would hurt this much.

I continued to touch the stone for a minute or two more before realizing that if I wanted answers I might as well go looking for them. So I took a deep breath and left the bathroom. I could feel the stone now; it felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. Before the pain in my head was all that I could concentrate on. But thinking about the stone seemed to make the pain fade away. It wasn’t gone now but it was like a dull headache now, not like the pounding bitch it was before.

The farther I moved down the hall the more I wondered what waited for me at the end of it. When I finally got there though I was a bit surprised by what I saw. It was a normal house, all be it one that was lacking in much of anything. There was a couch and a pair chairs but not much else. There wasn’t even a television. Who didn’t have a TV? I stood at the end of the hall a minute or two before walking into the living room. The walls were beige like the rest of the house and there was a strange smell filling the air. I looked around, finally finding the source. There was an incense burner on the mantle of a fireplace, the smoke wafting off it filling the room with what smelled like sage.

“Finally awake I see,” said a voice from behind me.

I snapped around, hands clenched into fists. I was ready and rearing for a fight. Though I didn’t do much fighting, I at least knew how to throw a punch. Maybe if I got lucky I could stun the bastard enough to make a break for the door. But all that fire was gone as soon as I saw who was standing there. It was Professor Dee, dressed in a gray shirt and black pants. He was standing in the entryway that separated the living room and a small kitchen. He was holding two mugs; I was hoping they were coffee. I could really go for a cup of coffee right about now.

But I shook that thought away. I had more pressing matters to attend too. “What the hell am I doing here?”

He chuckled. “You’re here because I saved your life.”

He turned and walked into the kitchen. I could do nothing but follow him. He walked over to a little table and set one of the cups in front of a chair. Then he sat down in the chair across from it. I slipped into the empty chair. I looked down at the cup, it was filled with tea. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He smiled then picked up his cup. He took a nice long sip then sighed. “A special herbal blend from India…it helps clear the mind. You should try some; it might get rid of that headache.”

I looked at the cup, biting back anger. “I don’t give a fuck about your tea. I want to know why I’m here.”

He took another sip form his mug. “I know how this must look but I’m not going to hurt you, Miss Roth. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, I’m here to help.”

I frowned at that. “Then why all the secrecy. I know you’ve been watching me like some pervert, professor. I could get you fired for that you know.”

He laughed aloud. “No you couldn’t” I opened my mouth to argue but he held up a hand. “I would have to work there in order for you to do that.”

Wait what? Now I was confused. He saw the confusion and smiled.

“I’m not a teacher nor is my name really Dee” he said as if to explain.

That freaked me out even more. I took a deep breath and tried to call upon my powers. If I could just throw a suggestion at him, maybe I could get him to pour the hot tea on his lap or something. Then I could take off and run to the police. I wasn’t their favorite person but there’s no way they could turn a girl down if she claimed to have been kidnaped.

The “Professor” laughed. “Nothing you do will work on me, just like in the hallway and in the classroom.”

He placed his hands on the table. On his left pinky, there was a big gold ring with a yellow stone. I never noticed it until now. The stone had this shine to it, almost as if it was constantly catching the light. He saw me looking and smiled.

“What is that?” I asked, mesmerized.

“A gift from some very old friends” he said, slipping the ring off. He sent it on the table in front of us. “It’s called the Seal of the Seven; it’s a very powerful talisman. It helps negate any magic thrown my way. Your power of suggestion for instance or that fantastic bit of empathy that you have. None of it works on me as long as I have this.”

He picked up the ring and slid it back on his finger.

Now I was really confused. “I don’t understand. How do you know about me?”

He looked at the ring then at me. “What do you know about magic?”

“You mean David Copperfield, Hocus Pocus, that kind of stuff?”

He laughed and shook his head. “I’m not talking about charlatans. I’m talking about real magic.”

This time I laughed. “You can’t be serious. There’s no such thing as magic.”

He laughed aloud. Then something happened. The air got a charge to it, like static electricity. It felt it tug at my clothes and it made all the hair on my arms stand on end. I stared at the “Professor” and watched as he disappeared. Or so not really disappeared. His body seem to shimmer and in its place was me. I blinked a few times. There I was sitting across from me, dressed just like I was now. She smiled and picked up her tea cup. Then she took a long drink. She put it down, waved delicately at me and laughed.

“Still think there’s no such thing as magic?” she asked in my voice.

I stared at myself, flabbergasted. There was no way. I was ready to believe anything he said. That is until I remembered something from the news. There was talk about people who could change their appearance but they weren’t magic users they were Metas. I smiled smugly at her, I mean him. “Nice trick. but Metas can do that too.”

She smiled and just as quickly as she became me, she transformed back into him. “Very true but how about this.”
He waved his hand and a rose appeared in it. Then he crumpled the rose between his hands. When he opened it, back up a dove flew out. He smiled then pointed at my mug, it rose a foot from the table before he gently put it back down. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. But it didn’t prove anything. He could be a Meta like me but with a lot of gifts. Just because Dakota said I was the first one they met with more than one ability like that didn’t mean I was the only one.

“Still an unbeliever?” he asked, I didn’t say a thing. He laughed. “What if I were to tell you that there are people other than Metahumans who can do what I just did. Maybe not nearly as skilled---I’ve had years of practice---but ones just as powerful. Metahumans are a fairly new breed, there have been some here and there but in the last year or so, their numbers have been on the rise. What if I were to tell you that the homo magi have been around for centuries.”

“Homo magi?”

“You’ve heard of Merlin?” I nodded. “He was one of the better known members of our race but there were several others before him. Merlin was a visionary though; he was the man that brought magic to the forefront. Before him, our kind lived in secret, hiding and operating in the shadows. But after him, we started to take a more active role in society. There have been some ups and downs through the years---the Inquisition, that unfortunate business in Salem---but we’ve always managed to spring back. We try not to interfere in the affairs of humans but it happens every once and a while. We’re enigmas for the most part, there but not there.”

I laughed. Then I realized something. He kept saying “we”. At first, I assumed he was talking about others like him. But he kept giving me this look when he said “we” like he was including me in this group of nut jobs. “You think I’m one of them?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think, I know” He waved his ring in the air. “The Seal doesn’t just negate magic, it finds it, too. I was here in the city on an investigation, looking for signs of people misusing magic. There were some unfounded rumors but the trail ran cold. I was about to pack it up and move on. Then you appeared. At first, I thought it was a mistake; you have such a great concentration of magic in you that I was sure it was several people instead of one. Suffice to say I was a bit surprised. I would have moved in immediately but I had to be sure. As soon as I saw the DMA talking to you, I figured I was on the right track. So often they mistake Magis for Metas.”

I nodded. Not that I believed him but it was true that I wasn’t a Meta. “I’m not a Meta, they told me that much.” He nodded then I remembered something else. “I overheard Dakota talking to Agent Matthews, they mentioned another group. It started with a B.”

He smiled. “The Bureau” he said. “They handle things of the magical nature. I’ve worked for them and with them in the past. As soon as your Agent Jamison discovered what you were, she should have passed you along to them. But she’s new and ambitious. I’m not sure if she knows exactly what you are, but Matthews sure does. He’s a little prick. He stuck his nose into it once before in Chicago, got himself involved with another young woman just like you. He failed to hand her over to the Bureau as well and she got scared and ran.

He sighed. “You can’t blame them for trying I guess. They’ve wanted to control one of us for a while, I think they thought now was their chance. I’ll deal with them shortly. Right now though I need to worry about you.”

“Me? Is there something wrong with me?”

He sighed, rubbing his temples. “You have a lot of power but it’s all over the place. I can sense the magic in your blood but there’s something else too.”

I took a deep breath and bit my lip. I still didn’t even know his real name but if what he was saying was true, he could help. At least I was positive he could help. I still didn’t fully trust him but he was the only one who was making sense. I thought he was crazy about all this magic shit but maybe he knew what was going on. I took another deep breath. “I’ve been having strange dreams.”

His eyebrow perked up. “Tell me about them?”

So I told him. I told him everything, I didn’t leave anything out. I even found myself crying as I told him about the strange thing behind the door. He nodded once or twice. But it was the part about the necklace appearing in my last dream that made the color drain from his face.

“Necklace?” he asked, his body going rigid. “What kind of necklace?”

Thinking about it made me tingle. I reached absently to my neck where it wasn’t hanging anymore. He watched my movements, his eyes narrowing. It took me a few seconds but I told him about the necklace. I told him where I found it and how I didn’t want to wear it at first but I kinda longed for it. He nodded, but I could tell he was scared. It had nothing to do with reading emotion. You can always tell when someone is scared. It was a certain way about them.
When I finished telling me about it, he turned and flicked his hand. A pen and a piece of paper floated from the kitchen counter. It landed on the table in front of me. “Draw it for me.”

I frowned but took the pen anyway. I’m not an artist by any means but the cross was simple looking. It didn’t take me long to draw it. As soon as I did, I passed my rudimentary sketch back across the table to him. When he looked down, he sighed heavily. That sigh scared me. What the hell was going on? He stared at my picture for a while, not saying anything. When he finally looked up at me, there was definite fear in his eyes.

He stood up quickly. “Stay here” he said a bit too harshly for my taste. He left the room after that. A small part of me wanted to disobey him and run. But the rest of me knew better. Instead, I sat and waited. He came back a minute later, carrying a huge leather bound book. He dropped it on the table in front of him with a thud that shook the mugs, causing my now cold tea to spill a bit. I looked at the book, it was enormously thick. The pages were yellow and the binding old and cracked. I peered at the cover, half-expecting to see the words Necronomicon written on it. But there were no words. Instead there two metal buckles. The “professor” took a key from his picket and unlocked them. That freaked me out a bit; I mean who has a book that locks---besides a diary.

This thing was definitely not a diary.

He opened the book slowly. Then just as slowly started to leaf through the pages. It took a while for him to find what he was looking for but when he did, he turned the open book to face me. “Is this your cross?”

I leaned forward and looked at the pages. The words were in some language I couldn’t read but there was a picture. It was hand painted and filled most of the left page. I saw a man in a black robe holding a metal cross in his hand. It was larger than mine but there was no doubt about it: it was my cross. I stared at it for a long time. Then I stared at the man. There was twisted agony on his face like the cross was hurting him. Behind the man was fire and something else, a figure. It was a mincing creature with red skin and horns, crawling toward him. The creature was coming from a fiery circle as if it was crawling from the pits of hell. The picture sent shivers up and down my spine. I wanted to turn away but I couldn’t.

I finally managed to nod my head though to answer his question.

The “Professor” sighed heavily then took the book away. “Are you sure this is your cross?”

I nodded. “Mine is smaller but it’s the same thing.” He looked like he’d swallowed a gold fish. I bit my lip. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

It took him a few minutes to respond. When he did, his voice was hollow and distance. “This is The Rapture, one of the Thirteen Artifacts.”

I was confused. “What does that mean exactly?”

He sighed heavily, putting the book on the table in front of him. He took a deep breath. “The Rapture is one of Thirteen mystical artifacts, sought worldwide by individuals like me and others as well. The Artifacts themselves are immensely powerful but together they’re a force to be reckoned with. The Order has been looking for them for centuries. We’ve been trying to lock them up before unfortunates like yourself happen upon them. They’re usually drawn to those with magi blood but they’re been known to respond to other humans as well.”

I was really confused now. None of this was making any sense. So I found this Rapture thing, what the hell did that mean? “What does this Rapture do exactly?”
He shook his head. “It varies from tale to tale. I think I should tell you about its history first before I get into specifics on what we believe it might be capable of.”

I nodded. So he took the book and started to read from it.

According to what was written, The Rapture was first used in the early 1900s, at least the earliest recorded account of it. It was found in an old church by a man named Horace Grimes. Grimes was a mathematician, seeking ways to prove his theory of the Fifth Dimension. He searched the world over, looking for something that might prove his theory correct. According to Grimes’ journal, he spent many years looking for the Rapture. He was following old stories about an item capable of opening portals to other realms and became convinced the Rapture could help him open a gateway to the Fifth Dimension. At age of sixty one---after being horribly discredited---Grimes found it in an old church in Hungary. Eager to prove his theory, Grimes raced back to his hotel room and through scientific curiosity, he put the necklace on.

But the Rapture rejected him. It ate away at his soul and Grimes died almost instantly. The necklace passed on to his daughter and to her daughter, Tilly. Tilly never aspired to wear the necklace herself but she too was a victim of circumstance. The necklace built up a bit of a following and Tilly fell on hard times. So she decided to sell it at auction. It fetched a pretty price but not by the one who really wanted it. Before the necklace could be passed onto its new owner, the one who truly coveted it, killed Tilly and took the necklace for himself. The man’s name was Thomas Judge.

Judge was a religious zealot and believed only the worthy could wear the cross. The cross didn’t reject Judge like Grimes. He wore it for many years. According to Judge’s personal journal, the necklace spoke to him, told him to do things. Though he became a minister, Judge was plagued with many demons. Judge finally lost his battle with those “demons” at the ripe old age of seventy-five. He took the day off, locked himself in his office and put a pistol in his mouth. The necklace was in the possession of the church after that, believed to be some holy relic the minster picked up on his travels. Ten years after Judge’s death, the church burnt down. The necklace was the only thing not burnt in the fire. The new minister, believing it to be a cursed totem, threw it into the nearby river. By chance, it was found by a homeless man who sold it at a local pawnshop for fifty bucks. The Rapture’s account ended there. There was a robbery at the shop and the necklace was one of many things stolen. The writer of the big heavy book was not able to pick up the necklace’s trail after that.

But I knew what happened. I reached up and touched my neck. Somehow, after being stolen, it ended up at that costume shop in the city. I continued to caress my neck. The whole time the “professor” gave me this look. I’m not sure but I think he was trying to decide if I was dangerous or not. I couldn’t blame him, after reading about the necklace myself, I wondered the same thing. Now that that was over with, I still had my question yet to be answered.

I cleared my throat. “So what does the Rapture do?”

He sighed heavily. “It seems to vary from person to person. But the official description points to it as being some kind of life drainer.”

“Life drainer?”

He nodded. “Look what it did to poor Horace Grimes and then to Tom Judge, it destroyed both of those men. Although Judge was stronger, in the end it killed him too.”

I nodded. But there was more, I could see it in his eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Brody” he said.

I knew. As soon as the name came out of his mouth, I knew. Through me, the Rapture was different, through me, it killed people. I couldn’t help but think of poor Katie. My heart dropped into my stomach just thinking about it. It was the Rapture, it had to be. I felt sick to my stomach. The bile rose quickly. I jumped out of the chair and ran to the sink. I threw up until I was dry heaving. I coughed and sputtered and cried. It was my fault, all my fault. I thought t was my powers but it was more than that. It was the necklace, the whole fucking time it had to be the necklace. It drained the others of their life but with me, it had more to feed on. It had my powers---Meta, Magic or whatever. It used me, made me kill for it. I sapped the will from Katie and I sucked the life from Brody, left him a shell.

I managed to throw up again. Then there were those kids at the party. I remember what I did to them. That girl, the one I pulled the color from. I felt so strong then but it was because of her. I was taking the life from her. I nearly killed her. I would have killed her, her and everyone else in the whole house. I couldn’t even think about Bart, Lori, and the others. They would have been dead if, if the “professor” hadn’t stopped me.

“I’m a monster” I gasped then screamed. “I’M A FUCKING MONSTER.”

I felt gentle hands on my shoulders. I tried to shrug them off but they wouldn’t budge. Then the “professor” turned me around and hugged me. He held me a long time, whispering reassuring words into my ear as I sobbed on his shirt. He held me for a long time. I couldn’t remember when a man had held me like that. Grandpa used to do it when I was younger but that was years ago. I didn’t want to let go, I wanted to stay like that forever. When I finally did however, I pulled away gently. I wiped tears from my eyes and looked up at him .

“Is this where you kill me?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Not quite.”

I backed away a step. “You’re going to lock me up at least?” He shook his head, I stared at him shocked. “I’m dangerous. I’ve killed two people already. I can’t be near anyone, who knows when I’ll kill others.”

“I agree. You are a danger to yourself and others but you don’t have to be.”

“What are you saying?”

He smiled. “I can help you.”

“Help me?”

He nodded. “Did you notice the thing on your forehead?”

I reached up and gently touched it. I’d forgotten all about it but it made sense. I sighed inwardly. He must have put it there. ‘What is it?”

“It’s called a chakra stone. It’s a mystical power stone, used to channel energy. But in your case I believe you can use it to control energy too, keep it in check.”

I nodded through my tears. “You think it can stop me from killing people?”

“I think with the proper amount of training we can try.”

“Training?”

He nodded. “Meditation for starters. Then a honing of your skills. You might not think so but you’re a very powerful young woman, Rachel. I can help you with that. You’re not the first person I’ve trained to handle their abilities. I might not look it but I’ve been around for quite a while. If you’re willing, I can teach you to overcome your more base instincts and even how to control them.”

“Can you get rid of the Rapture?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you know where it is?”

I nodded. “I think so” I turned around and lifted up my shirt, showing him the large back tattoo. I heard his soft intake of breath.

He walked over and gently traced the lines of the tattoo with his finger. As he did I felt another charge of static electricity course through my body? For a long time he didn’t say a thing. When he spoke, there was no emotion in his voice. “The Artifacts are peculiar things.”

“I’ll take that as a no,” I said with a heavy sigh.

“No, that just means it might be more difficult. I’ve only met one other wielder of one of the Thirteen and so far any attempts to remove the Artifact from her have been unsuccessful.”

At the mention of someone else in the same boat, my curiosity was piqued. “There’s others like me? Can I meet her?”

He shook his head. “Not a wise idea. The Artifacts should never be close together for too long, it’s dangerous.”

I frowned. “Then do we know where the others might be?”

He shook his head. “This really isn’t my area of expertise” He sighed. “Which reminds me, I need to make a phone call.”

He walked off but stopped about halfway where he turned and faced me. Just know you’re not alone in this. There are others too and we’re going to help you.”

I smiled at that. It was good to know that this man---this man with no name----was going to help me. He smiled back then pulled a cell phone out of his pocket.

He dialed and held it up to his ear. “Jennifer, it’s Richard. I’m fine but we have a problem.”

He walked off, leaving me alone. I took a deep breath and sat back down at the table. I looked at my mug with the cold tea. I picked it up and downed it all in one huge gulp. I sighed when I was done. He was right, it was damn good and it did make me feel better. Then I looked over at his big book and shuddered. It might not be the Necronomicon but a small part of me knew there was something in there he wasn’t telling me, something bad and dangerous.

Something about the Rapture that scared him more than he was saying.

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

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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 11, things are progressing at a nice pace. I have an end for this story in mind, hopefully about 4 more chapters or so. I'd like to thank djkauf for the edit, FaerieFyre for the Beta Read and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Eleven:

I was floating; I was actually floating off the ground. Ok, so it was only like a foot or so but it was still something I couldn’t do a few days ago. I still couldn’t help but be impressed by such a feat though. It was wicked cool. After agreeing to train me---and his important phone call---, Richard and I went to work. Richard was his real honest to goodness name. I’m not sure what his last name really was but he told me to call him “Dr. Occult” for now. After a few hours, I ended up shortening it to Dr. O. I remember thinking how weird it was that his house was so sparsely populated but it turns out that was a good thing. The first thing the two of us did after he got off the phone was push his furniture against the wall. Then he started in with the training. It wasn’t much actually.

First, it was meditation and then we’d go from there.

We meditated that whole first day until midnight. I only managed to get into the dorm before they shut the building down. Luckily, I managed to not wake up Miss Perky. Dr. O and I set a schedule after that. Anytime I wasn’t in school, I was to be at his place “training”. Officially, I was getting some after school tutoring, or at least that’s what he told me to tell others. I’m not sure what he told people but whatever it was, it seemed to work. He was cool like that. I still didn’t fully trust him but so far what choice did I have. Besides, he did help me out big time with Dakota and Matthews. I’m not sure what he said to them but Dakota approached me the next morning before class and told me they were pulling out. She looked kinda upset about it so we hugged as we said our good-byes.

The only other problem I had was ditching my friends. Lori and the girls wanted to hang out, but of course, I couldn’t. Dr. O said he could take “care” of them as well but I didn’t like the tone of his voice. So I just gave them the official cover story and they bought it. Bart was indifferent though I think he kinda enjoyed hanging with me, being my own personal bodyguard and all that. I offered to let him follow me to Dr. O’s, too but he didn’t like the idea of school after school so he declined. Just as well, I’m not really sure how I would explain this all to him. Hell I didn’t even know what to make of it either. Here I was two days after finding out I was a super super freak and I was now currently levitating.

I say currently because I lost my concentration. The floor came at me fast and hard. My butt did little to cushion the fall. Some girls had those big butts without a lot of whatever in the back, me I wasn’t so lucky. So I pushed myself to my feet and rubbed my sore behind. I walked in place for a few seconds, trying to walk off the soreness. Then I sat back on the ground Indian style and tried again. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing my eyes as I did so. Meditation was all about clearing your mind and focusing. So that’s what I did or at least tried to. I think I got the basic principle down but for some reason I could never truly free my mind of all thoughts. Like right now, I couldn’t help but think of everything else in my life.

First and foremost, it was Katie. I’d been beating myself up over her death and my involvement in it. I thought it was fully my fault and even though it still was, I had The Rapture to think about too. It was partially responsible as well. I’m still not one hundred percent certain what it does yet, but whatever it did, it seemed to make Katie think her life wasn’t worth living. I suppose my little mental nudge didn’t help either. Then there’s what I did to Brody. I tried going to see him at the hospital yesterday afternoon---in-between one of my classes---but I couldn’t get up the nerve to step foot into his room. According to the nurse at the desk, Brody was brain dead. They were baffled by the cause, too. It was as if his entire mind shut itself down. His body was still functioning but there was nothing there. She mumbled something about his pallid gray coloring too, which apparently “freaked her out.” Dr. O was pretty specific on the cause of Brody’s ailment: it was The Rapture.

The Rapture, that evil fucking necklace from Hell. Or least it should be from Hell or cast into it or something.

If it wasn’t Katie or Brody, my mind was definitely on the necklace. I no longer pined for it like I used to before. Dr. O helped me with that. Or rather, the chakra stone on my forehead did. He said that it was helping control my emotions and keep things in check. One of those things was my power and the other was my dependency on the necklace. I was no longer stroking my neck and I didn’t have the urge to stop in front of every reflective surface and peer at my back too. The chakra stone was fantastic but all that fantastic stuff relied on its user, too. That’s why I was doing this meditation; it was to help me build up my concentration and focus.

That was the plan anyway.

I sighed heavily, opening my eyes. I looked down at my legs. I was wearing a pair of stretchy black Lycra gym shorts. They weren’t exactly something I would have picked out for myself but Dr. O insisted. He also insisted on the sports bra. He said that the less constriction on my body, the easy it would be to focus. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he was a perv who just wanted to see me naked. However, he never looked, not even once. I’m not sure I agreed with him about the bra and shorts though, they were by far one of the most constricting things I ever wore. The shorts were too tight and the bra was squishing my boobs into my chest, making it a bit hard to move. I guess it doesn’t help that the bra actually belonged to Lori---who was a cup size smaller than me.

I sighed again. This time it must have been loud enough for Richard to hear from the other room. “You’re not concentrating.”

I uncrossed my legs and jumped to my feet. “It’s hard to concentrate when I’ve got so much on my mind.”

I walked into the kitchen. Dr. O was sitting at the table reading the paper, a cup of tea in front of him. I dropped into my usual chair.
“You’re not going to learn anything if you slack off, you know.”

I huffed. “I’m taking a five minute break.”

I looked at the headlines but nothing seemed to interest me. The other day there was a story about the new nut bouncing around the nights in Chicago. The press was calling him the Roving Ravager because of the red RR’s he left spray painted at the scene of each of his “encounters”. He apparently was the newest thug to take to the streets. The city did have their fair share of heroes from Giganta to Booster Gold to The Bat. Though it looks like the Bat was on holiday and this RR guy was picking up the slack. If you asked me, I think Phoenix was better off with just The Flash.

I reached to the center of the table where a plate of muffins was sitting. Dr. O didn’t look like a baker so I’m guessing they were bakery bought or something. They weren’t fresh anymore but I broke off a piece and shoved it delicately into my mouth. Whoever made them they were a fantastic baker?

“I think your five minutes are up.”

I frowned. “How am I suppose to focus with all the crazy shit going on?”

He lowered the paper. The look on his face told me that he knew what I was talking about. If it wasn’t the Rapture, it was the bald guys. Though I hadn’t seen any since training with Richard, apparently they were around. Bart said he saw a pair lingering outside my dorm yesterday morning. He managed to follow them for a bit but then lost them in the crowd. Dr. O seemed a bit worried about them. When I first told him about them, he didn’t seem too fazed. But that was before I mentioned the tattoo and the necklace. Now he was just as worried as Bart, though he was better at hiding it. Though he didn’t say it, I think he was worried they were after the Rapture.

“Have you seen more of them?”

I shook my head. “Bart did though.”

He nodded. He didn’t say anything more. So I decided to press the subject a bit. “What does your friend think?”

His friend was the woman he called that first night---Jennifer. She was some big magical muckity muck in Texas. Apparently, she knew a lot about the Artifacts, the two of them had been working together on tracking them down. Though she wasn’t a member of his Order, she was still a great ally. But after he got off the phone with her the other day, I could tell something was wrong.

He sighed. “I’m not sure she’s going to even try helping us. Jennifer has always been a bit temperamental but there’s something different about her, something off….”

So no help of the magical kind for us.

“What about the rest of this Order of yours? What did you call them, Sentinels?”

The Order was actually the Order of the Magus, supposedly established by Merlin back in the days of King Arthur. Dr. O compared it to the Knight’s of the Round Table except for Magic users. They called themselves “Sentinels” and sorta guarded the magical secrets of the world. At one time, they had a huge organization but time wasn’t their greatest ally. A lot of their members were killed off and their home base was destroyed. Anything they might have had locked up was long gone, either destroyed or stolen. Some of it fell into the wrong hands. There was one item in particular that Dr. O was trying to find. It was the reason he was in Phoenix actually. According to him, he’d been tracking it for years. He thought he had a lead here and there---the last one was a few months ago in California. Then he picked up a strong magical presence here and thought it was the Blood Gem---the item he was looking for. But when he got here, he lost the signal. The best we can figure, he was actually picking up the trace signature from the Rapture.

“The Order is scattered,” he said to answer my question. “The closer member is in California but he appears to have gone missing.”

The way he said, “missing”, he made it sound like his friend was gone and not coming back.

We sat and stared at one another in silence for a few more minutes. Neither of us said a word. But about another minute or two later, he seemed to remember that I wasn’t doing what he told me too. He frowned, probably thinking I roped him into this little side track on purpose.

“Get back to meditation.”

I groaned, took my muffin and went back into the living room.

“You need words of focus.”

Dr. O’s words kept ringing in my head even after a day. Yesterday’s meditation session didn’t go so well. Even though I was able to levitate myself three more times, it was only a foot and never for more than a minute. But he was a patient teacher and kept telling me to try again. So I did, over and over again. But my mind kept wandering, thinking about all the horrible stuff. It was my wanderings that seemed to be holding me back. That’s when Dr. O suggested that I needed words of focus. He said he could give me words but they wouldn’t have as much power. In order for the words to work like they were intended to do, I needed to find words of my own. In my case at least three. So I spent the rest of my time with him yesterday looking through old molding books but after a few hours, I came up with nothing.

Unfortunately, that was the least of my worries right now.

“Rach, girl, you’re daydreaming again” said Lori as she snapped her black fingernails in my face.

I blinked a few times then batted her hand away. The two of us were in the mall, costume shopping. It wasn’t exactly on the top of my To Do list on a Saturday but at least Dr. O was giving me the day off. When I say day off what I really mean is that he gave me a stack of books and told me to try to find those words. So Day Off with Homework is more like it. When Lori showed up pounding on my dorm room door at eight am, I almost slammed it in her face. But she was quick, not Barbara quick but still pretty fast. She grabbed the door, forced her way inside and told me there was no way in hell I was spending the day loafing. She used guilt too. I was spending too much time with the professor and not enough with my friends. Her guilt worked. But it had a backlash too, at least for me.

Angelina overheard us talking…

“You have been kinda staying out late a lot,” said my bubbly roommate as she popped her head into our conversation.

So now, it was the three of us. For the last two hours, it was us browsing the mall for killer costumes. Halloween was nine days away but Lori wanted to get our costumes squared away before hand. She got this great idea after seeing a copy of Macbeth by my bedside. Hey just because I wasn’t in the play anymore it didn’t mean I didn’t like it. Anyway, Lori got this crazy idea for her and I to do the three witches but overly sexed up versions of them. It worked out even better that we had Angelina now too. Lori was dying to Goth up the former cheerleader. Angelina was surprisingly compliant to her wishes too---but only because it was Halloween.

“I’m sorry guys,” I finally admitted with a sigh. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

Angelina hugged me. I normally would have freaked but it actually helped. Lori squeezed my arm and then the rest of the great costume search began. We tore the store apart but didn’t find what we were looking for. It was the third store and so far, there was nothing that seemed to impress my fashion forward friends. We even went so far as to peek in Hot Topic. When Angelina stepped over the threshold, I thought the girl behind the counter and the one browsing were going to die. It’s not every day the cheerleader shops in the Goth store. Our search of Hot Topic even came up empty. In the end, we finally abandoned the mall.

We ended up going back to the store where Lori first took me to shop. They didn’t have any costumes on sale but there was enough stuff there to pass. When we got inside, Lori decided to start with me. She took things from racks, stuffing them into my arms. When I overloaded, she pushed me toward the changing room. She and Angelina following close behind.

“I thought the point of Halloween is to dress up as something that you’re not,” said Angelina as I closed the curtain.

“It is” said Lori’s voice from the other side.

Angelina: “But you guys always dress like this.”

Lori: “True but you don’t.”

I couldn’t help but smile just imagining the look on Angelina’s face. The two of them talked a bit more but I kinda shut it out as I tried on one outfit after another. They were ok but a bit on the tight side. Though she didn’t claim to do so, Lori liked to torture me with tightness. Most of the dresses were black and each one was tighter than the last. I was squeezing myself into the fourth one, when Lori pulled open the curtain. I squealed and threw my hands up to cover myself; thankfully, the dress was fully on. I hated it when she barged in like that. It wasn’t the first time and it wasn’t going to be the last. But all of that was forgotten when I saw the smile on her face. I looked down and all I saw was my boobs pushed up farther than they were. I frowned until Lori turned me to face the mirror. What I saw surprised me. The dress was black but it had this thing to it if I turned ever so slightly it caught the light and looked purplish blue too. It was too tight in the chest area and made me look bigger up top. I liked the long sleeves though but one thing made me hate it the most. There was this slit up the side, running from the ankle all the way to my waist. I could turn and actually stick my whole damn leg out of the dress.

I opened my mouth to say I hated it but Lori beat me to the punch. “I think this is the one.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding” I said, shaking my head. “Half my body is exposed.”

She laughed. “Stop being such a prude.”

“I’m not wearing this.”

Lori got a pensive look. “I think you need a cape.”

Before I could say yes, no or otherwise she left. About a minute or two later, she came back into the little booth with a large black cape. Before I could complain, she threw it over my shoulders. It was long and surprisingly light weight. It had a large hood and these cool metal fasteners. I pulled the hood over my head and got a good look in the mirror. Walking around like this---even on Halloween---people were going to think I was a freak. Even though I didn’t care for the dress, the cape made all the difference. Staring at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t help but smile a bit. I liked that the hood was so huge and that I could hide myself almost completely in it. The best part of it though was the fact that I could pull the cape around my body, completely hiding the embarrassing slit.

Lori caught onto my smile, nudging me in the ribs. “So you do like it?”

I sighed. “I guess I can deal with it.”

Lori wrapped me in a hug. Then she pulled open the curtain. Angelina was standing there with a smile. I looked from her to Lori and back again. I think I was just played. They both realized their plan was discovered and burst into laughter. Our good time was interrupted by the ringing of Angelina’s cell. She stopped laughing to answer. Lori and I were laughing until we saw the puzzled look on Angelina’s face.

“No she’s not with us,” said the concerned looking ex-cheerleader.

“Jaslyn, I don’t think she’s cheating on you.” Angelina sighed.

Shay and Jaslyn were madly in love with each other. But they got like this. Shay liked her independence sometimes and Jaslyn liked to worry.

Angelina talked to her for a few more minutes. She kept reassuring her that Shay was fine; probably off on one her usual jaunts. She told Jaslyn to check those places and asked her to call back when she was done. Then Angelina clicked off the phone and shook her head. “Those two need to sort out their priorities” She saw the confused looks on our faces. “Shay didn’t come home last night. Jas thinks she’s off with another girl but Shay probably had too much to drink. Chances are she’s passed out on a couch somewhere.”

Lori laughed and nodded. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

We shared a laugh. Then I went back into the booth and changed back into my clothes. Lori took my bank card and the “costume” to the counter to pay for it. I helped Angelina find her costume. Overall, it took about another hour. By the end of it, Angelina had a nice black floor length dress but without the slit. She even got a cape too. It turns out we didn’t have to shop for Lori because she already had a dress and cape back home---big surprise there.

We went to lunch after leaving the shop then we drove Angelina back to the dorm. She took her bag and mine to our room. Lori and I were going to hang out for a bit longer but Ang had some homework. We left her with a frown as we went to Lori’s dorm. It’s funny how things turn out. Angelina still annoyed the hell out of me but she wasn’t as bad as I thought. I’m not saying that I was going to become best buds with her but these last few weeks of hanging with her and the others, it made me real welcome. None of them knew who I really was or rather who I once was. I’m not sure if they would care. I’m sure there might be a bit of awkwardness but they were cool like that. Shay and Jaslyn would crack jokes, Lori would probably shrug and Angelina would probably be confused
But that’s what I liked about them.

When we got to Lori’s dorm room, my whole body felt like it weighed two hundred pounds. I dragged my feet over the threshold. Lori wasn’t faring much better. She dragged herself over to the bed and collapsed on it. I actually found myself doing the same. We lay next to each other and she wrapped her arms around me. There was nothing sexual about the embrace though. We were two friends who weren’t attracted to one another and even if we were, we would never go any further than that. Friendship was too important to us.

I smiled at the thought and then sleep took me.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the fog. It was thick and low to the ground. The second thing I noticed was the fact that I was inside. I turned around and blinked, wondering where the hell I was. It only took a moment to figure it out. I recognized the cold gray walls around me and the slopping ceiling. I cursed. It was the hallway, the hallway that led to the door with that Thing on the other side. I suppose it was only a matter of time before I ended up back here. I thought I was in the clear for a while. After all, it’d been a couple of weeks at least since my last encounter with “her”. I was beginning to think that maybe I’d imagined the whole thing and that it really was a dream. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Here I was---back in the hall, staring down its endless length. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs but instead I found myself walking.

The hall seemed a lot longer for some reason. It also seemed a lot narrower and the fog, where the hell did that come from. The further I walked the closer the walls got to me and the more fog came. At first, it was at my ankles then my knees and finally my waist. When it got high enough to keep me from seeing straight, I had to stop to get my bearings. There was something wrong, something off. The hall never used to be like this. It was always kinda dark and creepy but it was never this creepy and the fog was starting to freak me out. Not only did it seem to rise but it got thicker too. It got to a point where it was so thick that it was “pouring” into my mouth like water and almost choking me.

After starting and stopping three more times, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“What the fuck is this?” I shouted as loud as I could, my voice bouncing off the narrow walls around me.

I barely had walking room, my head stooped low as it was.

A noise came back to me and it wasn’t my echo. It was low at first but it started gathering in volume the closer it got to me. When it finally reached me, I recognized the distinctive laugh of the Thing. I cringed as that laughter tore into my body, sending a chill through my bones. It was nothing like the laughter from the last time. This laughter was strong and it had power, too much power. This laughter scared the shit out of me. I cursed and turned. I had to get the hell out of here and fast. So I started to run. Not that it mattered much. I didn’t get very far before I realized the fog was too thick to see where I was going. It should have been a straight line but now that I thought about, I wasn’t really sure how to get out of this place in the first place.

I stopped and turned around, screaming at the top of my lungs. “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?”

My echo danced down the hall.

The laughter came rumbling back, louder and stronger than before. There was something else that came with it too, a strong force. It swirled the fog causing it to rip and tug at my clothes. I tried to bat it away but it was too strong. Then the fog changed, shifting from its dull gray color to a midnight black. It came at me from all sides like wicked tentacles. I tried to knock them away but they lashed themselves around my wrists. Then they started to pull. It wasn’t very strong at first but maybe that was because I was struggling. I screamed as loud as I could first in desperation then in fear. I still struggled though, trying my hardest to break free. That’s when one of the tentacles lashed out at my knees. It snapped hard like a whip, dropping me to the ground.

As soon as it did, there was nothing holding it back. They yanked with all their might and pulled me down the hall.

I screamed the whole way.

The tentacles cut off my circulation. I tried to bite at them but another one wrapped around my neck and another around my forehead, holding my head. I tried to fight back the tears and the pain but it was too much. The grip on my throat got tighter and it started cutting off my air. I knew this was a dream and that breathing shouldn’t matter but it did. It didn’t take long before the corners of my vision started to go black. I tried to fight it but I couldn’t. Whatever it was had a hold on me and wasn’t going to let go. But I wasn’t going to give in without a fight. I closed my eyes and started breathing. Concentration, I needed to concentrate. Dr. O was teaching me how to defend myself from attacks like this. When I told him about the Thing, he said meditation could help me fight it. I tried to tell him how powerful it was but he said that it didn’t matter as long as I was in control.

As long as I was focused. The only problem was that I didn’t know how to focus. I still didn’t have the words to do so.
Thankfully the dragging finally stopped. Unfortunately, it stopped exactly where I didn’t want it to. I caught sight of the door seconds before the tentacles slammed me into it at full force. Dream or not, it hurt like a bitch. I was momentarily stunned but at least the tentacles were gone. They vanished as quickly as they arrived and I was only once again. Well partially alone. I slowly pushed myself away from the door, feeling the blood from my split lip roll down my chin. I wiped it with the back of my hand and took another step back. The door still looked pretty much the same but there was something different. It took me only a second to see what it was. There was an energy coming from the dark. I could feel it; the wood seemed to be pulsating like a heartbeat.

“So you thought you could suppress me,” said the voice from the other side, the sinister Thing of my nightmares. “You little bitch.”

Something black and whip-like snapped through the door’s window, smacking me in the face. It was the only sound in the room and it sounded like the snapping of a whip. It stung like a bitch. I reached up and touched my cheek, it throbbed. The Thing laughed as the tentacle disappeared back from whence it came. The tentacles, somehow the Thing behind the door was behind them. How I had no idea. When I first started this whole thing, it barely had any power. Now I could feel it, radiating like heat from this thing. I actually took another step back, which caused it to laugh.

“You think distance is going to keep me from getting to you?” Another tentacle whipped out, smacking me in the thigh.

I cringed from the strike. I grit my teeth in pain. “How are you doing…?”

“This?” It asked as two more tentacles slithered underneath the door. “It’s all thanks to you. That little bout of power you displayed the other night, first with that fool in the parking lot then with all those delicious people at the party. You fed off them for me, giving me fuel to grow oh so much stronger.”

Something occurred to me then and there. “Are you The Rapture?”

The laugh that issued forth chilled me to the bone. “The Rapture?” It stepped closed to the opening, its four glowing eyes visible. “Your precious necklace did nothing more than jumpstart us. I’m not sure how it found us when it did but I was so thankful. To think that we might have been stuck in that horrid human body for the rest of our lives.”

“We?” I shook my head. “I’m not you and you’re not me.”

She chuckled. “You’re only half right. You’re friend hasn’t told you everything has he? He hasn’t told you about who you really are or why he’s making you wear that silly thing on your forehead. It’s not to control your emotions, it’s to suppress me. You see I’m your better half, the stronger half. I’m the One who deals with all your little problems. Like the parking lot and the police station and that sniveling little girlfriend of yours. Did you know that we have the gift of premonition? I saw into our future---she would have betrayed you in the end. As soon as she found out what you are and what you can do. She would have thrown the first stone.”

I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. “You’re lying.”

It laughed. “You know I’m right. I’m always right”

A tentacle slithered out from underneath the door, scooping up the key. It slithered over to me, dangling the key in front of my face. I shook my head taking another step backwards. “Stop fucking around and unlock the door, finish realizing me. We can kill those bastards after you. I’m not a bad person, Rachel. I’m not here to harm you but I will kill anyone who stands in our way. You shouldn’t let them tell us what to do; you’re a God to them. Not stop crying like a little bitch and LET ME THE FUCK OUT.”

Her scream at the end shook the hallway.

I took another step back. “I can handle those bald bastards. Dr. Occult is teaching me to control my powers, teaching me to suppress the bad and harness the good. I don’t need you.”

She laughed. “You always need me.”

I shook my head. “Leave me alone.”

She laughed. “I can’t leave you alone Rachel. I can never leave you alone. You are going to open this door and then we are going to flay the skin off those bastards who are tracking us. Then once that’s done, we can go about our way. If anyone gets in our way, we will strike them down.”

“No” I stammered. I slapped the key away; it soared across the small space and clanged loudly in the dark. “You’re staying where you are and I’m getting the hell out of here.”

I turned around and started to walk away. I got two steps when one of the tentacles lashed around my throat from behind. I should have seen it coming. This time it didn’t build up to choking me. It started fast and tight. It squeezed shut my throat and spun me around, lifting me in the air. I grasped at it with my fingers, tugging and pulling but it was no use. I could hear It laughing. Then It’s voice, wicked and cruel:

“I tried to play nice but you leave me no choice. I guess I’m forcing my way out of this place, through you.”

The tentacle got tighter. Tears started flowing and my vision started to fade as the blackness of death slowly started creeping around me. I guess I’ll die knowing that at least I didn’t go down without a fight. In the end, I guess that’s all that really matters. I closed my eyes and waited for death to finally claim, maybe then I could finally see Katie’s smiling face one last time.

“HEY BITCH,” shouted a familiar voice through the darkness. “LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE.”

Something happened. There was a shriek and the tentacle lost its grip. I fell to the ground hard and air flew back into my lungs. I gasped and coughed. I was on my hands and knees, gasping for every breath I took. About a foot away, I saw a pair of boots. I knew those boots, I saw them every day. I looked up a bit following fishnet stockings up to a black skirt and then to the full form of Lori, standing there holding a really big knife. She was panting heavily as if she’d been running; sweat was rolling down her face and arms. She held a hand out to me which I took and she pulled me to my feet. Then into a one arm hug. The other was still holding the knife, the blade now pointing at the door.

“Lori?” I gasped softly. “Are you real?”

She didn’t say anything. Instead she moved so she stood in-between me and it. I saw the eyes flare behind the door.

“It’s not possible, you can’t be here,” It said, fear in its voice.

“Well, I am here bitch and you better keep your slimy tentacles off my friend or else I’ll go all Ginsu on your ass.”

Lori kept me behind her, walking one step back as we slowly walked away from the door.

The Thing screamed. “YOU CAN’T PROTECT HER FOREVER. WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE YOU’RE THE FIRST ONE I’M GOING TO GO AFTER YOU LITTLE LEECH.”

Lori laughed. “Name the time and the place.”

We kept walking until the door was out of sight. No tentacles came for us. Lori kept constant vigil as we slowly walked backwards, away from the danger. I had so many questions and so many answers. But I couldn’t speak, instead I buried my face in Lori’s back as the darkness of the hallway faded and the light surrounded us, hopefully taking us back to the waking world.

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

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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 12, about to be posted with a lot of Retcon traffic today, here's hoping my little story doesn't get dwarfed by the others. I like to call this chapter the big set up because in the next 2 chapters things are really going to hit the fan. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing, FaerieFyre for the beta and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Twelve:

I sat in the corner of the bed, my knees pulled up under my chin. Lori was sitting on the end, panting heavily. The two of us had just been through the experience of a lifetime and neither one of us knew what to say. Confusion was apparent on both our faces. Mine was because I wanted to know how the hell she got into my dream. I could only imagine what she might be thinking. We had just woken up a minute or two ago and the first thing she did was push me away from her, like she was repulsed by me. That hurt more than she could know. Here she was, the person I considered my best girl friend and she was rejecting me. I couldn’t speak, so, instead, I crawled into the corner and withdrew into myself. She wasn’t doing much better, panting heavily, wringing her fingers through her hair.

For the longest time, the only noise in the room was our heavy breathing and the tick of her clock.

Finally, she turned and looked at me. I caught her eyes and the two of us just stared. We played the staring game for a bit, neither one of us ready to break the silence. After what seemed like an eternity, I decided to take the chance. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to speak. No sooner had I gotten one syllable out of my mouth, something that would have been “I can explain”; she uttered the exact same words.

I blinked. “What?” I asked, confused.

Her head lowered. When she spoke, her voice was soft, barely audible. “I’m a freak.”

I scoffed. “If you’re a freak then I’m the Queen of Freaks.”

She raised her head and smiled. I couldn’t help but smile back. The coy, quiet girl in front of me was not Lori. This girl, the one smirking at me, that was the Lori I knew and loved. It was hard to think of her as any other girl. But, the one sitting before me, the one who thought of herself as a freak, this was not my friend. The silence returned, but only for a moment.

This time, I built up a little more confidence and tried again. “I’m not who you think I am. I’m Rachel Roth, but I haven’t always been this way.”

She nodded. “So, in the classroom back in September, before we met in the mall, you didn’t just look like a guy, you were one.”

I nodded, then realized what she said. How did she know that?

She smiled. Her smile faded and then she took a deep breath. “I wasn’t always Lori, either.”

We played the swap game. First, I told her about my life before. I told her about Katie, which she already knew pieces of, then I told her about everything else. I tried to dance around things, but she knew not to pry. When I told her about the dreams and the Thing, we both kinda shuddered. She asked if that was my power base and when I told her about the other stuff, one of her eyebrows rose. It appeared she knew a bit about Metas because she didn’t look scared or freaked out in the least. I had a good idea why, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions until she was ready to tell me, herself. I ended my story with Dr. O and how he thought I was something else entirely.

She started as soon as I was finished. “My name used to be Nick. I didn’t lie about my past in the least. I’m really from Ohio. I live with my Dad after my Mom died of cancer. It sorta drove a wedge between the two of us, actually. I lived a fairly normal life. After Mom died, I fell into an Emo punk scene, took to wearing black eye liner and all that. It freaked Dad out a lot, but he dealt with it. We got over her death and little by little, we got our relationship back. But, of course, all that changed when I became the Freak of the Week. It happened suddenly, too. Dad and I were vacation in Chicago. Well, I called it one, but it was a work trip for him. I was in the mall when it happened. Some crazy shadow dude robbed a bank. I was caught up in the confusion.

“When he started to run, he slammed into me. It knocked us both on our asses. I think it scared him as much as me. I mean, he was a shadow. I shouldn’t have been able to knock him down. The next thing that happened freaked me out more than anything, though. There was this intense pain, it lasted only for a few seconds, but, when it cleared, I felt different. When I looked down at my hands, I saw they were black and shadowy. I fucking freaked. I’d heard about Metas on the news---hell, Chicago seems to be Meta capital of the world---but I never actually thought i’d see one. I never actually thought I was one, either. In the confusion, the security guard drew his gun on me. It wasn’t until looking at the glass wall that I realized I was a shadow dude, now, too.

“He fired a shot at me, but the bullet went right through. After that, I think I passed out. When I came to, I was in a padded room, somewhere. I thought for a second I might be in a nut house, but it turns out that the authorities brought me to some Lab, a place where they help people like me. I was there for hours. They ran some tests and some government spook interrogated me. They tried to get me to do the shadow thing again, but I couldn’t.”

I was confused. “The shadow thing wasn’t your power?”

She shook her head, mascara stained tears running down her face. “They tried all kinds of tests, but they couldn’t figure me out. After a few days, they set me up with a new ID, some cash, and sent me on my way. The relationship Dad and I had spent the last three years trying to repair was shattered again, after that. We didn’t know what to say to one another, so we pretty much stopped talking, altogether. A month after my change, we moved out here to Phoenix, which worked out because I was already accepted to go to school here. That was in July. I only had about two months to get used to the new me before classes started.”

I reached out and touched her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. I didn’t know much about how girls comforted one another, but I’d seen Katie do this to some of her crying girlfriends. Lori seemed to appreciate it. She smiled. It took her a few moments to recover though.

I took that chance to ask a question. “Did you find out your Meta power?”

She nodded. “The scientists did, actually.” She took a deep breath, wiping her cheeks. “They brought in another Meta to test their theory, a pretty blonde girl. They tried a few things, but, in the end, all it took was a touch. I felt a surge of energy and then I felt stronger. Looking in the mirror, I realized that wasn’t the only thing that happened. I took some of her height and half my hair matched her golden locks. It turns out that I could copy the powers of others. All it takes is a simple touch, at least at first. Now all I need is eye contact and it happens.”

Realization dawned on me then. The two of us were sleeping together. I groaned and she nodded, crying again. Another realization dawned on me then. I bit my lip. “How long have you known about me?”

She lowered her head. “A few days after you came back to class. I accidentally bumped into you on the way out of the room. I didn’t realize what was going on until I started to feel all this funky stuff. It messed me up pretty bad. I spent the whole hour of your ‘power time’ in the bathroom, crying in a stall.” She looked at me, a sad look on her face. “I don’t know how you handle it all the time, but it nearly killed me.”

This time, I didn’t hold back the hug. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her. She flinched a bit, but rested her head on my shoulder. She cried a bit more. We sat like that for a while, neither one of us willing to move. Somehow, I felt closer to her than ever before. I knew Barbara was a Meta, like me, but there was some kind of bond I felt with Lori. Even though I wasn’t technically like her, not a Meta entirely, it felt good that there was at least someone I could share this with. After we were done hugging, I thanked her for helping me in the dream. Then, I told her as much as I could about the Thing and how it’s been trying to get me to unlock the door.

She shook her head. “That thing is bad. I could feel the darkness radiating off it. Whatever you do, promise me that you’ll never open the door.”

I nodded but cried too. “It’s so strong. If you hadn’t stopped it, I might…”

She hugged me this time. “We’ll think of something,” she said softly in my ear. “You’re my best friend, now, and I’m not going to let something like that take you away from me.”

After I recovered a bit, we talked. We spent the rest of the night talking. Then, we went to bed for real this time. I curled up on her bed and she held my hand as I fell asleep. I felt secure with her there, knowing that if something bad happened she’d be there to get my back. We made a promise. No matter what happened, she’d always be there to help me.

Lori frowned at me from the mirror. I tried to ignore the face as I finished lacing my left boot. The more I thought about that dress she bought me, the more I realized there was no way I was going out in public dressed like that. So, I took it upon myself to add some of my own style to the costume. In the end, I replaced the wicked slit dress with a pair of tight black pants and a gold belt. The top was something I had lying around; one of the many we bought on our first shopping trip together. Lori’s frown was apparent. She wanted the three of us to look like wicked badass witches, with her and Angelina being in long floor length dresses. I still looked pretty badass, but I was going to do it without half my body spilling out of that damn dress of hers.

“We’re not going to look alike anymore,” said Lori as I turned from the mirror.

I looked her up and down. Her dress was killer but there was no way I’d be caught dead in something like that. She had this real tight bodice that made her boobs look twice as big and the length, I would be tripping over the damn thing. It was hard to believe the girl standing before me was ever a guy. I couldn’t help but smile. Our revelations to one another were over a week ago, now. For a few days after that, we were a bit on the awkward side. It felt strange to know that only a few short months before hand, longer for her than me, the two of us peed standing up–not that either of us wanted to dwell on it. We talked very little of our lives before. I think it was a hard subject for her. Lori talked little about her Dad, but from what I could tell, they weren’t on best of terms. Added to that the fact that her father lost a son and gained a daughter, I’m not sure how I’d react, either.

I guess I was lucky. I talked to Mom every day on the phone. Well, almost every day. Even though we had still yet to meet face-to-face since the change, our relationship hadn’t changed. In fact, it was closer than ever. We talked about things that I never would have talked to her about if I were Ryan. She was particularly interested in the clothes I was wearing and the way my body was making me feel. We even talked about that dreaded “time of the month”. I got mine two days after revealing my secret to Lori; I got over it, yesterday. Trust me, it wasn’t a fun time, especially for an emotionally fucked up girl like me. I ended up spending most of it at Dr. O’s, away from anyone I could harm.

I was getting better with the powers, though. I spent every moment I could with Dr. O. I still didn’t have my words of focus, but my concentration and meditation were going so much better. I could levitate off the ground about two feet, now, and could hold myself there for five minutes. Not the greatest about it, but better than before. My other powers were much more toned, though. Dr. O didn’t want to proceed so quickly, but the bald monk guys were all over the place, now. They were even following my friends, so he upped the timetable a bit. Three days after revealing myself to Lori, we started on control. He wanted to see exactly what I was capable of. It turns out that when I use telekinesis, I surround the object with a strange black energy. I couldn’t help but remember popping the light bulb my first night at the Allens’. I think I did it with telekinesis, not even realizing it at the time.

My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of Lori’s cell. She pulled it out and walked away, but I vaguely heard Jaslyn’s voice on the other end. She and Shay were going to meet us at the party. Thinking about the two of them, I couldn’t help but laugh. Shay showed up a few hours after Jaslyn’s frantic call the other day. Apparently, she had a bit too much to drink and passed out–exactly what we all thought had happened. Jaslyn had jumped to conclusions, as usual. Now, the two of them were closer than ever. I think Jas was guilty for suspecting Shay of cheating. Everywhere we went, the two of them were now clinging off one another, showing themselves off to the whole world. Well, at least our small corner of it, anyway. Seeing them together, though, sent a pang of jealousy and guilt through me. I couldn’t help but remember the good times I had with Katie and how much it hurt knowing that we’d never be able to cuddle again.

Lori came back over, snapping her phone shut. “Jaslyn, Shay and Angelina are going to meet us at the party.”

I nodded. Shay and Lori were the only ones in our little circle of friends who had cars. They were our designated drivers, I guess. Angelina was the only one who didn’t have her license. Back home, I always drove my grandfather’s truck around. My Mom had a little Prius, but I rarely used it. I had been saving up money over the summer to buy my own car, but I ended up spending it on a new laptop, after my old one died. I didn’t mind being chauffeured about by my friends, though.

I turned back to the mirror, realizing that my lips needed to be touched up. I turned my head and saw my purse on the other side of the room. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. Dr. O told me not to use my powers in public because I still didn’t have a grasp on total control. I wasn’t in public right now–not really, anyway. I concentrated on my purse and watched as it was surrounded in a black light. It rose off my dresser and floated quickly across the room into my outstretched hand.

“I am so damn jealous,” huffed Lori with a fake pout.

I laughed as I reached into the bag and took out my lipstick. I applied it with great ease. Something like that would have freaked me out weeks ago, but now it was second nature. I guess that meant I was really a girl, now. That fact was hammered home by my “visitor” that had just left. Before then, it was like I was wearing a costume and, any day now, I might finally be able to take it off. It was real, but it wasn’t as real as it should have been. Now, there was no going back. I guess I sorta knew that, but a small part of me was still hoping this was all a bad dream and I’d wake up as Ryan with Katie in my arms.

After making sure my makeup was perfect, I couldn’t help but smile at the girl in the mirror. It was strange but a few weeks ago, I was scared to death to see her there. Now she was me and I couldn’t be happier. Ok so happier was stretching it a bit but I was content.

“Hard to get used to, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “How did you react the first time you saw the new you?”

She came up behind me, wrapping her arms around me from behind. She rested her head on my shoulder. “I was scared to death.”

We stood there a long time like that. Finally, Lori pulled away and announced we were going to be late. I got my cape, making sure to put up the hood for the added effect. The hooded cape was Lori’s best find by far. It made me look all sinister and mysterious. If I could, I’d wear it with every outfit from now on. As it was, it was kinda hot out even for the end of October. Lori said that was one thing she was never going to get used too. Octobers in Ohio were cold, sometimes even bitter. But looking out the window you could barely tell it was October outside. Especially when the weatherman said, it was only eighty degrees. Lori had a thing or two to say about that.

I blocked out most of her complaining as the two of us left the dorm and got into her car. Her car didn’t fit her image in the least. It was a silver Mercedes, something that definitely didn’t match the girl she was. Apparently, her Dad bought her the car right before she started school. They might not get along all that well but he was loaded and wanted his new daughter to have the best. I liked driving in the car though; it made me feel like a someone.

The party was only a few blocks from campus at a frat house. It wasn’t our usual thing but it was only one night. The whole ride I had my eyes closed, breathing and silently meditating. When I told Dr. O about the party, he tried to talk me out of it. I think he was afraid that I was going to have another repeat of the last party I went to. But I’d grown a lot since then. Ok, so not that much, but back then I didn’t have the chakra stone keeping me in check. Since wearing it I hadn’t had any more incidents, in fact I could even tune out the emotions. I was pretty confident that as long as I didn’t get in a situation where things got out of control I’d be all right.

When we pulled up in front of the house, my heart was pounding in my chest. There was already a lot of people. There were so many cars that they were lined up all the way down the street and parked on the frat house lawn. The tree in front of the house was streaming with toilet paper and there were several smashed pumpkins strewn about. Someone was having a lot of fun, even if it was two days before Halloween. We weren’t allowed to have any parties on the actual day because it fell on a Monday this year. So the college told us to throw our festivities on Friday or Saturday. A lot of the other fraternities partied real hard last night.

“Looks like the party started without us”

We shut the car off, parking it as far away from the others as we could. The car might not fit her but Lori wasn’t about to have it smashed by some drunk asshole. After making sure it was all locked up, we swept our way in. The party was already jumping, throngs of people bumping and jiving to music way too loud to be considered a safe decibel level. I had a twinge of dread, remembering the last time I was in a place like this. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, making sure not to suck in cigarette smoke. I felt someone gently squeeze my hand and opened my eyes to see Lori smiling at me. She held my hand tight as she led me through the crowd. We passed a den of monsters, freaks and weirdos. Speckled amongst the ranks were super-heroes too.

I saw quite a few Jades, Green Arrows and Booster Golds. But there was only one me and I was proud of that. Lori dragged me through the crowd until we got to the refreshment table. Shay and Jaslyn were on a couch nearby, making out. They were dressed as a sexy cowboy and Indian. I couldn’t help but groan at Jaslyn’s Indian costume, feeling a bit of anger at the white man’s constant portrayal of my people. But it was a costume and Jaslyn meant no real harm by wearing it. Lori poured me some punch and I tried my hardest to look like I was having a good time. A few minutes later, Angelina found the two of us. She frowned at the sight of my costume, upset that I didn’t real fit with her and the “other witch sister”. I shrugged off her pout.

“You going to dance?” shouted Lori in my ear.

I shook my head. “I’m going to stand here for a bit.”

She frowned. “Well if you change your mind, I’ll be on the floor with this sexy thing.”

Before Angelina knew what was going on, Lori grabbed her hand and dragged her into the crowd. I laughed and shook my head. I couldn’t help but find myself scanning the crowd for any face that didn’t belong. I was taking a great risk coming here tonight. Even though Dr. O gave me permission to do so, he was still a little on the cautious side about it. He was afraid that my bald stalkers might use this opportunity to come for me. They were still keeping their distance but I felt them haunting in the shadows everywhere I went. Looking at the faces I couldn’t help but jump at a few of them, sure that I’d seen this one of that one before. I eventually loosened up a bit. I stopped being so jumpy and tried to enjoy myself. Even though I didn’t go dance, I started to sway to the music a bit. I tried not to go overboard though and definitely avoided the alcohol. So far things were going good for my powers too. I could still feel all the emotions in the room but they weren’t nearly as strong or as overwhelming as they were last time. I could feel them pulling and tugging but they weren’t as strong as they were before. I was able to push them away with breathing and concentrating on other things. Dr. O taught me how to keep an image in my head and to use that image to center myself. The image I chose was Katie. She was my rock, the only good and solid thing in my life. Every time I felt myself losing control, I just thought of Katie.

An hour passed before I knew it. The main room of the house started to fill up quickly, one costumed freak after another filing into the room. From where I was standing, I had a direct line of the door so I could see them all come and go. Lori and Angelina were nowhere to be found, having been lost in the crowd. In fact, I lost sight of Shay and Jaslyn too. I could only imagine where the two of them disappeared to. I tried not to think about the good time my friends were having without me, instead I thought of the good time I wasn’t having. I didn’t want that at all.

Scanning the doorway did offer me some good things though. For one I saw Bart enter the house. I couldn’t help but scoff at his costume though. It was a red jumpsuit with a yellow lightning bolt on his chest. Clearly, he was going for the whole superhero thing like a lot of other people. I’m not sure who he was trying to emulate though, it looked a bit like the Flash’s costume though. I couldn’t help but smile at the irony of it. If only Bart knew that his uncle was a girl and the Flash, I think his brain would melt. Especially seeing as he hit on his uncle without even knowing about it. I watched him meander his way through the room until his eyes caught me. There was a moment---though very slight---that I felt a pang for him. I shook it off, I wasn’t going there again. He was my best friend and that’s all he’d ever be.

That didn’t stop me from stepping away from the table into the crowd to meet him halfway. I was overly giddy because of the fact that he smiled at me so big when we locked eyes. I pushed and prodded my way through the crazed partygoers. I wasn’t really paying attention so I was taken by surprise when I slammed face first into a person a few inches taller than me. I was about to apologize when I saw the long hooded brown robe. A pang of fear shot through me. It was the robe, like the ones, those guys wore in my dreams. The guys who took those girls who looked like me and murdered them. I felt a bit of rage as I propelled my hand forward and grabbed the hood, pulling it violently from the bastard’s head. I half expected to see a bald monk figure staring back at me. Instead, I saw a confused frat boy.

“What the hell bitch” he said angrily then pulled his hood back up.

“Sorry thought you were someone else” I said apologetically, my hammering heart stilled.

I pushed myself away from him and found myself in Bart’s arms. Before I knew what was happening, I wrapped him in a tight hug. I pressed my face against his chest and cried a bit. He put his hands gently on my shoulders and led me toward the stairs. We went up them before I knew what was happening. He gently took my hand and looked in a few rooms before finding one that was empty. We slipped inside. I moved toward the bed as he closed and locked the door.

I was panting heavily. “You locked the door?”

He nodded. “You looked pretty freaked, everything ok?”

I sighed heavily. “I’m seeing those bald guys everywhere now.”

His face contorted in anger. “Were they here tonight?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m just being paranoid.”

His whole body relaxed after that. He sat on the bed next to me. “We’ll cool off in here for a bit. Then I promise not to leave your side for the rest of the night.”

I nodded then felt the tears. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was scared out of my mind. I collapsed into his arms and he held me gently. I cried into his chest, my whole body trembling. I was a nervous wreck, barely sleeping, barely eating. The only thing that was keeping me going was the lessons with Dr. O but even those were going nowhere fast. Without my words of focus, my “magic” was all over the fucking place. Those thoughts and a thousand more were dancing through my head as Bart held me. Then another thought appeared, it was fleeting and only for a moment: it felt nice to be held by him. Before I knew it, I was pulling my head away. He smiled at me, brushing a hand gently through my hair. Then he touched my chin, tilting it up a bit. When his lips touched mine, I was surprised at first then shocked. I closed my eyes and for a moment, I imagined Katie kissing me. But the image shattered just as quickly when I realized that Bart wasn’t Katie. I pushed away, revulsion overwhelming my senses. I nearly gagged afterwards.

“What the hell, Bart?” I snapped, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

He looked confused. “I thought you wanted that?”

I pushed myself off the bed. “What the fuck is wrong with you. I’m scared shitless and you try to take advantage of me.”

His look of confusion dissolved into anger. He jumped off the bed too. “Me? You’re the little tramp prancing around in an outfit like that.”

“Tramp, says the horn dog that can’t keep his hands out of girls’ pants”

That pissed him off. “Well at least I’m getting some instead of being hung up over some dead chick.”

I snapped. “You mother fucking son of a bitch.”

Anger flooded me and before I knew it, Bart was surrounded in black light and slammed up against the wall. I felt the anger flood into me, fueling my rage. I held him against the wall, wanting ever so much to crush the life out of him. Bart looked shocked and scared. It was the look of fear that made me waver. I felt sick to my stomach and loosened my hold, the light disappeared and he dropped to the floor. He was coughing and holding his throat. I hadn’t even realized I tried to choke him. I took a step back, scared at what I almost did. I almost killed him just like Katie. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs instead I felt a tingling rise through my entire body and this feeling to be anywhere else but here.

There was a sense of pulling; a flash of light and the room disappeared around me.

When the light subsided, I was no longer standing in a dark room anymore. I felt light headed and woozy, I staggered a bit and felt like I was going to puke. When that feeling finally passed, I felt air hit my face. I blinked a few times and looked around. The house was gone; all the houses were gone in fact. There were no people, no trees, no cars. The only thing I saw was desert and a road. A road that I was apparently standing in the middle of. I was confused for a moment then realized what must have happened. I’d actually done it twice before both times without realizing it. I teleported myself. The first time it was in my jail cell, the second time when I was dying in the desert. Both times all I could think about was getting out of the place I was currently in. Son of a bitch!

I staggered out of the road, trying to get my bearing. I looked around and spotted a large green highway sign behind me: Phoenix, 10 Miles. Not only had I teleported myself but apparently I did it outside the city. I cursed. I wanted to get away but I never expected to send myself way out here. I took a deep breath and let it out in a scream. It was the scream I wanted to do back in the room, the one that my anger prevented me from doing. As soon as it was out of my system, I took another breath and screamed some more. I screamed a few more times before I felt satisfied. Then I allowed my mind to drift to what just happened.

Anger flooded me as I thought about that son of a bitch Bart and what he tried to do. He was supposed to be my friend, supposed to stick by me no matter what. Some friend he turned out to be. I thought out of every one around me, he might be the guy I could count on, the guy who had my back. It turns out the only reason he was still my friend was because he wanted to stick his tongue down my throat. The stupid fucking bastard. Then he had the audacity to call me a tramp. But that didn’t piss me off as much as him bad mouthing Katie. The two of them were friends, had been as long as I could remember. The three of us were so close when we were kids, we did everything together. Not only did he tarnish her memory, he did it while trying to get into my pants.

The anger came back. The only outlet I could find was the sign. I lashed out with full force, gripping it in a black vice. I pulled and tugged, twisting it into a misshaped shell of its former self. Mangling the sign felt good, it felt relaxing. But that feeling only lasted for a moment. The anger was still there but it was dwindling. I still wanted to smash something though. I lashed out at some rocks, tossing them twenty feet into the air. Then an unfortunate rattlesnake got twisted into a bloody pulp. It was cruel but it didn’t seem to help.

Walking helped.

The funny thing was I should have been going away from the city; it was after all the last place I wanted to be. Instead, I found myself walking toward it. As I walked, my temper subsided. I was still royally pissed at Bart but I had other problems to worry about. I was in the middle of nowhere and my purse was back at the frat house. I had it when Bart took me up to that room but I must have left it on the bed. I cursed my stupidity. But there were other problems, too. It might have been eighty during the day but it was night and it was going to get cold fast. The cape and hood might provide some protection but that wasn’t enough. I needed to get back into the city and fast or face another adventure in the desert without food and water. Like before, I’m not sure how long I walked.

It didn’t take me long to put the mangled sign behind me though. It also didn’t take me long to take off my boots. They were cool when it was only a party I was going too but walking down the road, the heels didn’t help much. I cursed Lori for making me wear them then I cursed myself for teleporting way out here. Not that I had any control over that. I tried teleporting myself back though. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it. I wonder if it had to do with my emotions. I was so angry in the room that I just willed myself away. I tried recreating that incident in my mind but there was no way. I was still pretty pissed off at Bart but I just couldn’t build up enough anger to “will” myself back to campus. So I tried thinking about my dorm room, maybe “will” myself there but it didn’t work. I finally just gave up altogether and walked.

The pavement was surprisingly hot and like the jagged desert floor, it was murder on my feet. Like before, I tried not to think about it. I did try to think about what I was going to say to Bart as soon as I got back. I think after punching him in the face then I’d apologize. After all, I tried to strangle him. I couldn’t get that image out of my head. It was just like Katie but at least this time I was able to stop myself. I’m not sure if I could live with myself knowing that I killed another one of my best friends. Who was next? Lori, Shay, Angelina, Jaslyn? I shook my head. What about Dr. O or poor innocent Becky? I would never be able to live with myself if I killed or even hurt them. Then there was Mom. I felt myself tearing up just thinking about hurting her.

I was so caught up in my horrible thoughts of killing my loved ones, that I never saw the headlights until they were practically on top of me. They were coming from behind me, heading into the city. It couldn’t have been better. When I did see them, I was completely elated. I waved my hands, jumping up and down as I did so. I even went so far as to step out into the street a bit. The car slowed, as it got closer. When it finally stopped, I couldn’t help but realize how much of an idiot I must have looked jumping up and down like that. The driver’s side window rolled down, revealing a rather handsome blonde man who looked to be in his twenties.

“Isn’t it a bit early for Halloween?” he asked, looking me up and down.

I frowned. “I was at a party.”

“Out here?”

I shook my head. “Not quite” I took a deep breath. “It’s a long story but I can tell you about it if you give me a ride back to the city.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t be a good Christian if I left a young woman like yourself out here in the middle of nowhere.”

I smiled and quickly ran around to the other side of the car. He opened the door and I got inside. As soon as I got buckled, he started driving. I looked him over, frowning a bit at the white collar I noticed. I could deal with a priest for a few minutes. “Thanks, you’re a life saver,” I said, he laughed and smiled. Then I remembered my manners. “I’m Rachel by the way.”

He smiled, flashing me his pearly whites. “Nice to meet you Rachel, I’m Brother Sebastian.”

“Brother Sebastian?” I asked confused.

He laughed then opened his jacket wider so I could definitely see the collar. ‘I’m sure you’re wondering why a young guy like me gave himself up to the church so early.”

I shrugged. It was really none of my business. Not that I would tell him that. My mother always taught me to respect clergy even if I didn’t really like them. I wasn’t big on religion, never really had been. But this guy was nice enough to pick me up so I guess I had to be nice enough to listen to his story.

“My father was a priest. It wasn’t really my calling but after he died, I thought I owed it to him. I was in med school actually, studying to be a hematologist of all things. I guess when you get the calling you just have to answer.”

I smiled, trying to look polite.

I listened as he prattled on about this and that, not really paying much attention. When he mentioned something about having to make a stop at the church, I numbly nodded. Truthfully, I felt myself drifting off a bit. The walk tired me out more than I thought. It was strange though because I wasn’t tired until I got into the car with him. I tried to fight it but no matter how much I tried it just seemed to fight me more. I felt my eyelids get heavy and my body got real sluggish. Sebastian droned on and on though, oblivious to the fact that he was actually putting me to sleep.

As my eyes fluttered and the darkness slowly started to close around me, Sebastian turned and smiled, flashing those pearly whites again. But there was something about his smile, something unsettling, something almost sinister. I tried to fight to stay awake, realizing something was wrong but I lost and darkness took me.

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

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Author's Note: Ok I know what some people might be thinking and no this is not a one shot. Its actually still the same story but just with a different narrator, that's why there's a new pic. I thought I'd shake things up a bit and try something new so close to the end. This is a one time thing though I have to admit I rather enjoyed writing from Lori's POV so there might be a one shot for her in the future, maybe telling how she became a Meta. I'd like to thank my beta readers (you know who you are) and djkauf for the editing. I'd also like to thank DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Thirteen:

The music pulsed and throbbed all around me. I closed my eyes and found myself getting lost in it. It was surreal for a moment, until something hit me. It tugged at the corners of my mind, pulling at my sanity like a tiny little gremlin. It was Rachel, or, rather, what was left of her. It was always like that after “copying” someone’s thing. The first time it happened, the event that caused my change, it was days before I got that guy out of my head. It freaked the hell out of me and almost sent me to a shrink. I finally got a handle on it, though. After the people at STAR Labs had me do it to the blonde girl, I had a little more control over things. I was able to block her out, for the most part. With Rachel, it was pretty much a dull whisper. But, it never lasted this long. Usually a few days, but never longer than a week. Well, that was the theory, anyway.

I rubbed my temples, trying to quiet the whispers, but no amount of rubbing seemed to help. I groaned loudly, opening my eyes. I lost Angelina in the crush of the crowd about twenty minutes ago. I relocated her after only a second. She was by the stairs, chatting up a rather cute cowboy. He was tall, blonde and handsome–they’d make wonderful blonde babies, someday. I tried to wipe that image out of my head as I pushed my way back to the refreshment stand, where I left Rachel. Some Dinosaur hit on me and a Dracula tried grabbing my ass. I stomped on his foot with one of my stilettos. His face twisted in agony and I pushed past him.

When I got to the table, there was a bored Fairy standing behind it, filing her nails. Sparkly pink dress and glittery cheap wings, the whole package. Rachel was nowhere in sight.

“Hey, Bimbo Bell, where’d my friend go?”

The Fairy didn’t take too kindly to the insult. “What the hell do I look like, the Party Police?”

Stuck up bitch. “Pale girl, black hooded cape, was standing here no more than ten minutes ago?”

She shrugged. “I’ve only been here, like… three, tops.”

I sighed heavily. How in the hell did this girl get into college? I gave her a nasty look as I poured myself a cup of punch and turned to look for my friend. Rach had been pretty apprehensive about coming, tonight. I couldn’t blame her. When I copied people’s powers, I also copied a bit of them, too. I knew her fears, her doubts, and her longings. She was being followed by these creepy monk bastards and it didn’t take a genius to figure out she was scared they might try to grab her tonight. I shouldn’t have forced her to come, but she was so on edge that I felt she needed a bit of time to unwind. I had a twinge of fear as I pushed my way through the crowd. There was no way they’d try to grab her tonight, was there?

That fearful thought propelled me. I pushed and prodded, spilling some of my drink on an unsuspecting clown. He swore, I gave him the finger and moved on. When I got into the center of the room, I had a better vantage point. But, of course, I was too short to see over most of the heads around me. I hated being short, now. When I was a guy, I was six-foot-two. Now, as a girl, I was barely five-five. It was one of the most annoying things in the world. I decided the best place to look might be the stairs. I pushed my way toward them, making sure that everyone got out of the way of the angry Goth witch. When I got there, Angelina and her Cowboy were giggling like two stupid school children.

She saw me and smiled big. “Hey Lori, this is Dave. He’s a football player.”

I nodded, already bored. “That’s nice. Have you seen Rach?”

She shrugged. “Have you tried her cell?”

I wanted to smack myself. She might have looked dumb, but I felt like the idiot, tonight. I left Angelina and her football cowboy to their childish flirting and pulled out my cell. I called Rach, but didn’t expect to get an answer. Nevertheless, I let it ring as I climbed the stairs. There was too much noise from the music, but maybe I could see her from a higher vantage point. Unfortunately, some asshole decided it might be a good idea to bring a fog machine, so I couldn’t see a fucking thing. I cursed. The phone still rang until it went to voice mail. I hung up and tried again. It was a good thing, too, because I heard her cell ringing upstairs. Rach had a distinctive tone, it was from some stupid musical she liked back when she was a theater geek–I’ll be damned if I could remember the name of it.

I called a few more times, following the annoying ring down the hall.

I finally found it behind door number three. I pushed it open quickly, half expecting to startle a couple in the throes of whatever. The room was empty. The single window had its curtains open and the moonlight cast its pale glow onto the bed. Rachel’s black clutch was sitting there, the annoying tone humming from inside of it. I cursed. I sighed for a moment, glad that I didn’t barge on my friend making out with some guy. My sigh of relief was short-lived, though. If I had taught Rachel anything, it was never to go anywhere without her purse. I cursed as I crossed the room quickly and snatched it up. I bit my lip. If her purse was here, that meant she was definitely in trouble. Okay, maybe not trouble, but definitely not in the best of moods.

I grabbed the purse and left the room. I decided on a different tactic. I called Jaslyn. When she answered, I could tell I wasn’t the only one missing someone. “Shay?” she asked, her voice carrying a hint of worry.

“No, it’s Lori.” I said and sighed. Shay was gone again; someone needed to nail that girl’s feet to the floor.

“You seen Shay?”

I sighed. “No, have you seen Rach?”

There was a moment of silence. “You don’t think they…”

I groaned. Paranoid bitch. “No, I don’t think they ran off together.”

Jas sighed in relief. Then there was another pause. “Isn’t Rach with Bart?”

“Bart?”

“Yeah, I saw the two of them go upstairs, like, ten minutes ago.”

Shit. Even though Rachel couldn’t see it, it was clear Bart had a thing for her. It kinda creeped me out a bit, actually. The two of them were best guy friends before, childhood buds, and former roommates. It made my skin crawl just thinking about it. I was so glad that when I changed I still liked girls. It’s too bad my girlfriend didn’t see it that way, fucking bitch that she was. I shook that from my mind. This was about Rachel, not me. Did she have feelings for Bart in that way, though? I knew she was still pretty upset about Katie. I think anyone would be. The way Rachel talked about her, it was clear that there was no other person in the world, except her. I can’t imagine someone that crushed would rush off to someone else so quickly.

I hung up with Jas and headed back for the stairs. At the top of them, I scanned the heads. There was too much fog to see clearly, but I thought I spotted Bart over with some bimbos. He was laughing and having a good time. I stormed down the stairs. Angelina and her Cowboy were making out, now, and didn’t even notice as I stormed past them. I pushed my way through the crowd and plowed toward Bart. He was leaning against the wall, dressed as Zorro. He didn’t see me coming until I punched him in the arm as hard as I could, which wasn’t as hard as I used to be able to hit.
It was hard enough for him to curse. “What the hell?” he snapped, rubbing his biceps.

The bimbos giggled and disappeared into the crowd.

“What the fuck did you do to Rachel?” I asked angrily, waving her purse in his face.

“Nothing!”

“Bullshit!” I snapped, hitting him in the arm with the purse. “Jas saw you take her upstairs and I found this in a room, without her!”

I hit him again, harder than before. He threw up his arms to defend himself.

“What the fuck are you guys smoking? I just got here! I haven’t seen Rachel since yesterday!”

“Jas saw you!”

“Well, she’s drunk, then, because I just got here, like, a minute ago. Ask Marco and Fred, I drove here with them.”

What the fuck, Jas? I narrowed my eyes at him, all the same. It didn’t make any sense, unless Jas was drunk… or Bart was just a damn good liar. I could probably ask his friends, but they were track buddies and I knew guys–having been one myself, not too long ago. Guys covered for one another all the time, especially in situations like this. I opened my mouth to insult him, but I saw the look on his face. He was genuinely concerned. Shit, he really did have a thing for her, didn’t he? But, it was more than that, too. I knew all about his “Knight in Shining Armor” routine, following her from class to class to make sure she was safe. As much as I didn’t like him, it was kinda sweet. That didn’t excuse him from being a creep, but it was worth some decent brownie points.

“You sure you haven’t seen her?”

He dropped his cup. “You lost her?”

I bit my lip. “I only left her alone for a…” I was going to say “minute”, but it was actually more like an hour. Shit, I’m a fucking idiot.

I was about to defend myself when a phone rang. At first, I thought it was mine until I felt Rachel’s purse vibrating. I cursed and reached inside, pulling out her cell. The annoying ring tone was drowned out by the loud music. I answered quickly. “Hello?”

“Rachel, thank God I got you finally,” said a male voice in a bit of a rush, it sounded like Professor Dee. “We have a problem. Those men that have been following you, the ones I’ve been tracking, have all disappeared.”

Shit. I took deep breath. “You don’t know the half of it.”

There was a long pause. “Who is this?”

“Not Rachel.”

There was another pause. “I was afraid of that.”

Bart grumbled from the passenger seat as I drove. He was acting like a child, his arms crossed, practically pouting. “I don’t see why we couldn’t have taken my car.”

I groaned. “There is no way I’m driving around in that screaming death trap.”

He fidgeted, looking around my front seat. “I feel underdressed driving in this one.”

“The word you’re looking for is under classed.”

He gave me a dirty look and went back to his stewing.

I did what I could to follow the directions the professor gave me. After only a minute or two of talking, it was clear that he wasn’t all that he appeared to be. He didn’t give me specifics but it was clear that he was hip deep in whatever was going on here. I found it strange that of all the things Rachel told me about that, this wasn’t one of them. When I “copied” her powers and some of her mind, the stuff about Dr. Dee was nowhere to be found. It made me wonder what kind of guy he was. He knew about the monks chasing after her and he seemed to know a bit about her “magic” too. It freaked me out when he called it that. Rachel never mentioned anything about magic but she had been pretty secretive as of late. I guess I couldn’t really blame her, I’m not sure I’d tell her about something as cool as all this.

Not that being kidnaped or whatever was cool.

Ok so kidnaping was the last resort. It was one of many possibilities. When I told the professor what happened, he was real quiet. Then he asked me a bunch of questions to which I didn’t have the answers. When I told him about Jas seeing Bart take her up to the room, he seemed distant. He was even more so when I told him that Bart had no memory of doing such a thing. Bart didn’t care for the fact that we were still blaming him though. Then he had tried to take the phone away from me to defend himself. We fought a bit which only seemed to annoy me and the professor more. In the end, it was decided that it might be better to have the conversation in person. So Dee gave me directions to his house. Bart insisted on tagging along which I was against but Dee wanted to talk to him in person, too.
Now twenty minutes---and a very quick costume change later---we were on our way.

In truth I would have loved to have ridden in Bart’s car, I loved corvettes. But after seeing the condition of it, I decided mine might be a bit safer. Not that Bart complained until I started driving. I think he thought I was actually going to let him drive it. What a fucking tool. Now he was giving me the silent treatment, pouting like a six year old. At least it was quiet, which gave me some time to think. I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was going on here? I was new to this whole craziness. I’m pretty certain Rachel and Bart were too. Back when the Change happened, I was scared out of my mind. It happened so quickly, one minute I was a guy, this shadow dude ran into me and then I was shadow girl. It took nearly three hours to come back to myself and when I did, I was missing a very important organ. Not that I was complaining, it just took me by surprise.

You’d think I was used to the strange and unusual.

After the change, I tried to get my life back in order but it didn’t work out so well. My girlfriend dumped me, my Dad practically disowned me and I was a freak. The DEO didn’t show up until a day or two later. Unlike most Metas, my change was actually caught on CCTV. They found out who I was and brought me in, ran a battery of tests. It only took a day or two to figure out what I could do. They tried to recruit me but I wanted nothing to do with. Another Meta my age---the blonde I copied---stuck up for me, telling them I wasn’t going to be a problem. The stuck up bitch in charge finally conceded and let me go.

Things were supposed to be normal and they were. For two whole months, things were slowly getting back to normal. Dad and I started talking again and I started getting used to the new me. I felt blessed. That’s when Dad decided a change in scenery might be in order. I was already accepted at Arizona so Dad decided we’d just pack up and leave Ohio altogether. I was all for it, there was nothing there but bad memories. When I started college in September things were supposed to be different, clean slate and all that. Things were good; things were real good for a long time. Then I met Rachel. Not that I regret any minute of it but things were far from ok now.

“Are you freaked out at all?”

“Huh” I asked, trying to concentrate on my driving.

“All this crap” said Bart with a wave of his hand. “I mean first my best bud turns into this chick and then he, I mean she gets all these cool powers. But Katie dies, the police are after both of us and then there’s those creepy bald guys. Shit like this isn’t supposed to happen, not to normal people anyway.”

I scoffed. “Who wants to be normal these days? Normal is way overrated.”

“I want to be normal,” he said, fear in his voice.

I couldn’t help but feel for him. I’d give anything to be normal again. I took a moment or two to collect my thoughts before responding. “We’ll figure this out. I’m not really sure what the fuck is going on but the professor sounded pretty confident. We’ll get Rach, bring her back in one piece and everything will be fine…back to normal just like before.”

What a load of shit.

Bart smiled uneasily. “I guess you’re partially right.”

Neither of us said anything more.

I tried to concentrate fully on my driving. Dr. Dee didn’t live too far from campus so it wasn’t too hard to find his house. What surprised me when we pulled up to it was how much it didn’t look like the rest of the houses. It didn’t have that Spanish look too it at all. There were no stucco walls, no terra cotta tile roof. It was a wicked looking Victorian with sinister looking gables and a widow’s walk. Who in the hell built houses like this in Arizona? I blinked more than once, even rubbed my eyes. Bart and I sat in the car for at least a minute staring at the house in front of us. It was out of place too, all the other houses on the block looked like they belonged.

“Umm are we at the right place?”

I reached into my pocket and took out the napkin I wrote Dee’s directions on. I looked at the street address; it matched the one on the house. “Yep” I said, unbuckling my seat belt. I got out of the car first; Bart seemed real reluctant to do so. Some big brave jock he turned out to be, letting the dainty girl get out first. I pulled my coat on and took a deep breath as I walked up the sidewalk. Bart moved to stand behind me, walking at my heels. In the nighttime darkness, the place looked like something out of a horror flick, not at all the kind of place that two college kids should be walking towards. I suppose it kinda fit with the holiday, it definitely had that Haunted House look to it. When we got to the porch, I pushed Bart forward and made him ring the bell. He looked pretty scared doing it. When the door opened a minute later, I looked up, half expecting Lurch to answer the door. But the man standing there was not a giant gray-skinned mute; it was the same professor from my Occult class. He smiled weakly at the two of us then ushered us quickly inside.

I was surprised at the inside. It had the same look as the homes around here, the walls were tan and the carpets looked like mud. What surprised me was the lack of décor. Dee led us through the sparsely decorated main room and into the kitchen. Bart sat at the table but I tried to play it cool by leaning up against the counter. I scooped the place out. It looked like a normal kitchen, there was nothing freaky or out of the ordinary about it.

Dr. Dee sat down at the table across from Bart and wasted no time. “Your name is Bart, correct?”

Bart nodded. “Well Bartholomew, but the only one who calls me that is my Mom and only when she’s pissed at me.”

Dee smiled. Then he did something with his hand. It was real quick, a flick of his wrist. Bart didn’t notice it at all but I did. As soon as he did so there was a small flash of light, coming from the yellow stoned ring on his finger. I’m not sure what the light was supposed to do but it had an immediate effect on Bart. The whole of his demeanor changed. Where before he was scared and nervous, now his body was straight, his shoulders back. There was this blank look on his face though, like he’d fallen asleep but his eyes were still open.

“What the fuck did you do to him?” I snapped.

“Nothing serious or life threatening Miss Zechlin, your friend is merely hypnotized.”

I scoffed. “You honestly think I believe that?”

“Mr. Allen, tell Miss Zechlin what you really think about her.”

When Bart spoke, his voice came out in a dull monotone: “I think she’s really hot but I’d never do her because she’s a major bitch.”

Fucking bastard. I snapped forward, ready to strangle him. Dee held up a hand and somehow it was enough to hold me back. He wasn’t even touching me but I felt power there. It was like there was this invisible pressure pushing on me, keeping me from throttling the bastard. I took a step back and gave the professor a wide berth. There was something about him, something not right. He turned to me and smiled. It was in his eyes, a golden sparkle. I looked down at the ring and when I did, I felt extremely uneasy.

“Like I said before, I don’t mean to harm him or yourself. But I need to establish if he was being mind controlled or if he’s a very good liar.”

“Mind controlled?” I asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down, suddenly intrigued. “You think someone made him lure Rachel to that room so they could take her.”

Dee nodded. “It’s a possibility.”

I watched as Dee asked the mesmerized Bart a series of questions, not unlike the ones he asked on the phone. But for some reason they seemed to have more potency now. There were a lot of them, most of them concerning his whereabouts during Rachel’s disappearance. No matter how differently he worded the question, Bart always answered the same though. He hadn’t seen Rachel since the day before and arrived at the party a minute or two before I accosted him. After a few minutes, Dee nodded and turned to me.

“He’s not lying or at least he believes he’s telling the truth” He rubbed his chin. “I’ve fully scanned his brain and his memories, there’s no evidence of his mind being tampered with though. It might be very strong magic but it would have to be phenomenal to fool my powers.” He sighed, sliding his chair back. Then he pushed himself to his feet.

“Are you going to leave him like that?” I asked, pointing to the still comatose Bart.

Dee nodded. “For the time being” He started pacing a bit. “Tampering with the mind is a very tricky thing and not something that comes to people easily. That’s why I was taking it slow with Rachel, making sure she had complete and total control over her powers before teaching her the heavy stuff.”

I nodded even though I had no idea what he was talking about. Instead, I just watched as he rubbed his chin and passed. After about five minutes of it, I got annoyed. “What about Rach, we’re wasting our time while you wear a fucking hole in the floor.”

He stopped pacing and smiled. “Can I see her purse?”

I was smart enough to bring it into the house with me. I set it on the table. He sat back in his chair and pulled it over, gently rifling through it. One by one, he took each and every item out of it. He held the item for a second or two before gently setting it on the table. I almost punched him when he freakishly fondled Rachel’s tampon. When he got to her phone, he opened it up and scrolled through her call list. I wanted to punch him there too. What kind of freak was he? When he got to her hairbrush, he seemed to ignore everything else. He pulled a few strands from it and set the other stuff aside.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“I can use her hair to help pinpoint her exact location.”

My eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Are you some kind of freaky tracking Meta or something?”

“Or something” he said as he got up from the chair again.

He left the room, leaving me with the robot. I turned to Bart, snapping my fingers in front of his face. But he didn’t flinch. I blew in his ear, smacked him across the head and stabbed him with a fork. But he never once budged. It was by far the creepiest and the coolest thing I’d ever seen. Whatever the professor did to him, I couldn’t help but be a little impressed. I’d been trying to get Bart to shut up for weeks and he did it in only mere seconds. Ok so he froze him or something but it was still better than listening to the moron try to hit on poor unsuspecting bimbos over and over again.

Dee came back into the room about five minutes later, carrying a rolled up piece of paper. He came back to the table and pushed everything aside. I grabbed her purse and quickly started stuffing things back into it. While I did that, he spread the paper wide. It was a map, one of the city and the region beyond it. I knew it fairly well because my Dad had a similar one in his car. He was still getting lost even though he’d been in the city for a few months now. Just like Dad, Dee was pouring over the map, staring transfixed at different locations. Finally, after a minute or two of staring, he set a small silver bowl on the table.

“What’s that?” I asked as he placed Rachel’s hair into the bowl.

“Old Magic” he said as he took a lighter and lit the hair on fire.

I watched as the hair burnt to a small pile of black ash. Then he grabbed the little bowl and poured the ash on the map. For a second nothing happened but then the pile slowly started to move. It freaked the hell out of me. I jumped back, afraid that the ash might try to attack me or something. Dee laughed. I gave him a dirty look and continued to watch the ash. It moved slowly, inching its way across the map like a tiny worm. It was the freakiest thing I’d ever seen. Old Magic he called it. I never really was one to believe in such crap. But after seeing what he did to Bart and witnessing this crazy moving hair dust, I was a believer now.

It was one thing to believe in Metas and superpowers. Now magic was real too. It made you wonder what else might be out there.

“What the hell is it doing exactly?” I asked as I got my nose pretty close to the map.

“It’s searching for the rest of her. The hair is a part of her, it’s attached to her. In essence, it should be able to point out her location on this map.”

I nodded. “That’s so fucking cool.”

“Yes but its very time consuming.”

“How long?”

“An hour, maybe two at most.”

I cursed. “We don’t have that long. Hell, Rachel doesn’t have that long.”

He nodded then rubbed his chin. “Are you familiar with all of Rachel’s friends?”

I nodded. “She doesn’t have many actually.”

He nodded. “Have any of them been acting strangely. Disappearing for long blocks of time or maybe doing things out of the ordinary.”

I wracked my brain but everyone seemed pretty normal. I shook my head.

“How about any new friends?”

I shrugged. “We’re all kind of new to her actually.”

He smiled. “I mean any new ones in the last day or two?”

I shook my head. “She doesn’t have the time. When she’s not in class, she’s here with you.”

He didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Then he finally told me to sit on the couch. I reluctantly did so. But I couldn’t help but sit and turn my head to stare at the kitchen. My friend was out there and I wanted to know the moment that that thing found her. Sitting got boring though. As time ticked away, I got more and more bored. I don’t like sitting still for long. I was one of those kids who always had to do something. When I was younger, it was Intramural Sports, ANJO Baseball and Inner Soccer mostly. As long as I did something, I never drove my parents nuts. But sitting here now, fidgeting like a freak on the couch wasn’t helping. Finally, I pushed myself up and went back into the kitchen.

“I need to do something, anything.”

Dee had Rachel’s phone in his hand. He held it up, showing a number. “Did you meet the Allens while Rachel was staying with them?”

I shook my head. “That was before she met me.”

He nodded then dialed the number. A second later, he was talking to someone. “Its me, that time we talked about has come. She’s going to need your help.”

No more than two seconds later the doorbell rang. Dee closed the phone and walked slowly through the room. He went to the front door and opened it. Into the house walked a rather pretty blonde in blue jeans and red jacket. She made my face flush a bit. God she was kinda hot. She smiled as me as she stuck her hands into her pockets and followed Dee into the kitchen.

“When did they take her?” asked the girl, only mildly glancing at the map.

“A little more than an hour ago go now,” said Dee, looking at his watch.

The blonde turned to me, giving me the once over. “Is this the friend?”

Dee nodded. “The friend has a name,” I snapped. “It’s Lori and you are?”

The girl looked past me and over at Bart. She turned to Dee.

“Occult, why the hell is my nephew a statue?”

Dee smiled. “I forgot about him actually.”

Wait, what nephew? This girl was my age at the most, maybe a few years older. There was no way she was old enough to be Bart’s aunt. Unless she was one of those later in life children. It hurt my brain thinking about it. Instead, I watched as Dee walked over and waved his hand in front of Bart’s face. Movement came back to Bart. He blinked then stretched. He looked around confused for a moment then his eyes drifted on the girl. He smiled like a big dumb idiot. The girl and I rolled our eyes at the exact same time.

“Hey Barbara” he said sleepily. “Where did you come from?”

She ignored him. Instead, she turned back to Dee. “How long until we have an exact location?”

“About another hour.”

She cursed. “I can canvas the whole city if you want; it will take me ten, fifteen minutes tops.”

What the hell was going on here? Who was this girl anyway?

Dee nodded. “Not without her you’re not,” he said, pointing to me.

The girl---Barbara turned to me and frowned. “She’ll just slow me down.”

Dee smirked. “No she won’t. Lori is special just like you but unlike you, all it takes is a simple touch and she’s just like any of you.”

Barbara’s eyes widened. I was confused as all hell.

“Lori” said Dee as he put his hand on Barbara’s shoulder. “Miss Allen here is very fast and I was wondering if you’d like to shake her hand?”

Shake her hand? It took me a second, maybe two to grasp what he meant. I gave the girl a quick once over, I clicked right there. No shit. Barbara winked at me and I think I finally understood what Dee meant. I was about to shake hands with the Flash and become the second fastest woman alive, at least for a few hours anyway. I looked at Dee and nodded, he smiled.

“I’ll give you a call when the scrying locks onto her exact location.”

Barbara nodded and held out her hand to me. I didn’t hesitant in the least when I reached forward and gently took it. There was a surge of energy that sparked through my body and then I felt powerful.

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

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Author's Note: Here's Ch. 14, the confrontation of Rachel and the crazy cult that's been chasing her. I've been told this chapter is pretty "heavy". There will be one more chapter after this one to wrap Rachel's story up. I'd like to thank my beta readers (you know who you are), djkauf and faeriefyre for the editing and DC Comics for the characters.

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Chapter Fourteen:

When I woke up, I was a bit confused and groggy. The room was dark and there didn’t appear to be any windows. My mouth was dry and I had one of those stiff necks one gets from sleeping where they shouldn’t. What the hell happened? I tried to recall the last thing I saw before passing out. I was on the highway and a smiling priest picked me up. He promised to take me back into the city. We were in his car talking, then I fell asleep. I groaned. How rude was that? I sat up and rubbed my sore neck, finally understanding where the soreness came from. Falling asleep in the car was horrible, but no more so than sleeping on a couch. I waved my hand in front of face, but all I saw was darkness. I cursed and tried to get my bearings.

After a minute or two, I tried standing. There was something wrong as soon as I did so. I was dizzy and lightheaded, almost as if I was drunk. Did they spike the punch? I shook my head. Other people were drinking it and they were fine. I sat back down quickly and tried to think. Walking in the desert had tired me out, but it wasn’t enough to make me so woozy. My last few moments in the car were really fuzzy. I think I was trying to stay awake as if something was forcing me to fall asleep, which didn’t make any sense. The priest, Brother Sebastian, seemed like a good guy; albeit, his smile was a bit on the creepy side. Why the hell would he try to put me to sleep?

I tried standing again and, this time, I was a little better. I took a few steps and, though my feet were heavy, I managed to walk to what I hoped was the middle of the room. After a few more steps, I collided with a coffee table, I think, smashing my shins. I cursed and decided to go a different direction. I walked maybe ten steps or so when I ran into the wall, face first. That hurt like a bitch. But, if there was a wall, there was a door and possibly a light switch. I fumbled along it in the dark, hoping to get lucky. Step after clumsy step, I tried in desperation. It’s real scary bumbling around in the dark in a strange place. For all I knew, I could be in a large room with loads of people staring and watching me act like an idiot. That was a crazy idea, but it was a fear.

Finally, my fingers found what I was looking for. I closed my eyes and flicked the switch. I opened them gradually, getting used to the light. After getting my eyes adjusted, I opened them fully. I was surprised at how normal the room looked. It was an office of some kind. The couch I was laying on was actually against the wall I was standing next to. There was the coffee table I smashed into, a desk, and some filing cabinets. It had maroon carpets, wood paneling instead of paint, and, behind the desk, was a giant portrait of a sinister looking man wearing a red robe and a scowl. I stared at the painting, picking up some of the similarities between the man and Sebastian. It must have been an ancestor or something. I took a step closer and noticed a small plaque underneath with a name and date: Sebastian Krev, 1260-1340.

I took a step away from the painting and looked to the bookshelf lining the wall. A lot of books were old and worn, like the ones that Dr. O had in his library. Much like Dr. O’s, these books had no names on the bindings. I pulled one out, but the name on the cover was faded. I opened it up, but I couldn’t read anything inside. I sighed and put it back on the shelf. It was clear that the Brother brought me back to his church after I fell asleep, but this office didn’t look like any priest’s office I’d ever seen. For one thing, there wasn’t any religious iconography. I looked real hard for it, too. I couldn’t even find a crucifix. That fact only mildly bothered me, though. What really sent my warning flag flying was the lack of a window. It was strange that someone wouldn’t have a window in their office. I mean, I was all for the dark and gloomy bit, but this guy was a priest. Wasn’t he supposed to be into all the light and holy stuff?

I finally finished the tour of the room at the filing cabinets. The drawers were all locked but there was a file sitting on the desk. Curiosity got the better of me and I took a step toward it. As soon as I did so, I heard a click behind me and the door slowly opened. I snapped around quickly, casually sitting on the end of the desk. When the door was fully open, Brother Sebastian came into the room. He was dressed all in black, his priest collar very apparent. His blonde hair was slicked back and he was wearing that welcoming smile of his. It still creeped me out, though.

“I see you’re finally awake,” he said with a chuckle. “Have a nice nap, my dear?”

He walked into the room and over to his desk, slipping behind it and sitting in the chair. He looked from me to the file, but didn’t ask if I looked at it.

I put on a fake smile. “Where am I?”

“My church,” he said with another chuckle. “When you fell asleep in my car I had no idea where to take you because you never said. So, I brought you here. I figured as soon as you woke up I’d bring you to wherever it is you wanted to go.”

I nodded then looked from him to the guy in the painting. The painting guy had creepy eyes that seemed to follow me. “Nice place, love what you’ve done with it.”

He laughed. Then, waved his hand around. “Not exactly my idea of styling either. I inherited this position from my father. He died suddenly a few months ago.”

I suddenly felt bad about the crack. “I’m sorry. Were you close?”

He shook his head. “Not really.”

I nodded but twigged on something he said. “Do sons normally inherit the priesthood or the church from their fathers?”

He laughed and shook his head. “Not usually, no, but our Church is special. We’re a very small sect, barely a thousand members, actually. We’ve been all over the world, actually, founded in Eastern Europe by the man in the painting above my head.”

I looked up at the painting again very quickly. “Kinda gives me the creeps.”

He laughed. “Me, too.”

I chose my next words carefully. “He looks like you,” I said then quickly added. “Except the guy in the painting looks like someone gave him sour milk.”

Sebastian let out a hearty laugh. “We’re ancestors, actually. Brother Krev was the first High Priest of our Order. When he died, things were passed to his son. It’s been like that for seven centuries, now, passing from the father to the son.”

“What if the son doesn’t want the job?”

There was a twist of anger on his face but it passed quickly. “The son is always honored to take the father’s place.”

I vaguely remembered him mentioning studying to be a doctor. I can only imagine how happy he must have been to give that all up.

After that, there was a moment of silence. I wanted to thank him for his Church’s impromptu history lesson, but I didn’t really want to extend the inevitable. In truth, I just wanted to get the hell out of this creepy place. I’m not big on churches. My family was never the religious kind, but I always got this strange feeling being in one. I could never really describe it, but stepping into a church sent my body into overdrive. I sweat and sometimes break out into a fever. My mother said it was social anxiety because of all the people, but I knew it wasn’t. I’d been in places with loads more people than that and never felt like shit. No, there was something about churches that just didn’t agree with me.

I took a deep breath. I wanted to get out of here; I needed to get out of here. “I hate to be a poor guest and sound ungrateful, but do you think you can take me back into the city, now? I was at a party and left in kind of a rush. I’m sure my friends are worried sick about me.”

Sebastian smiled that smile of his again. Then, he sighed. “I’m afraid I don’t presently have the car. You see we only have one and my assistant took it to run an errand.”

I nodded. What time was it? The last time I looked, it was midnight and that was before I left the party. I had to wonder who ran errands this late or early for that matter. “Do you have a phone? I left my purse at the party.”

He smiled. “Of course.”

He opened a drawer of his desk and took an old rotary style phone from it. He set it on the edge of the desk for me to get easy access to. I looked at the phone and smirked. I thought my grandmother was the only one who still had one of those. I chuckled a bit as I picked up the handset and started dialing Lori’s cell. I turned slightly so he couldn’t see me. When I turned my back, I felt a rush of air. It was quick, too quick to react. There was a sharp prick in the back of my neck. I snapped around, dropping the hand set in mid-dial. What I saw was Sebastian standing there, an empty syringe in his hand.

“What the fuck?” I said, slapping a hand on where he jabbed me.

He smiled, but this time it wasn’t the happy smile from before. It was cruel and sinister, matching the smile of his ancestor in the painting. “You were trying to get away, my dear, and we can’t have that.”

Whatever it was he stuck me with started working fast. I staggered off the desk. “You son of a bitch!” I slurred as I tried to get away from him.

I tried to get to the door, but only managed the couch before I collapsed. He stepped around the desk and slowly walked over to me. He bent down so we were looking eye to eye. “We tried to be civil, but you just weren’t playing fair. Every time my people tried to approach you, you just kept running from them. So, I decided to try a different tactic.”

He pointed to the door and standing there, now, was Bart. He had his arms crossed and was smirking. What the hell? “Bart? You’re in with them?” I slurred as my vision started to blur.

Bart and Sebastian laughed. “He isn’t Bart, my dear. He isn’t even a ‘he’.”

I looked at Bart standing there and suddenly he wasn’t Bart anymore. The red costume of his faded first followed by the rest of his body. In his place was a small girl with mousy hair and glasses, a very familiar looking girl. “Becky?” I gasped.

She smirked. “Theresa, actually.” she said as she took off her glasses, her whole demeanor changing. Her body changed a bit too, getting a bit taller and curvier.

“Your confusion is to be expected,” said Sebastian as he placed a hand on my elbow. I tried to push him away, but I found I couldn’t move my body, anymore. What the hell did he stick me with? “Miss Zimmer is special, like you. She was such a rare find.”

“I’m going to kick all your asses,” I slurred as my vision started to get worse.

Sebastian smirked. “Another time, perhaps.”

He clapped his hands. Becky or Theresa or whoever the hell she was stepped out of the doorway. Behind her, two brown robed monks walked into the room. Panic seized me before my vision completely faded and the room was plunged into darkness.

“Rachel,” said a voice, a pleading sobbing voice. “Please, Rachel, wake up.”

I opened my eyes and, groggy, the world came flooding back at me. I blinked. Everything around me was blurry and unfocused. I could tell I was in large room, though–stone pillars lining the walls. The ceiling was far above my head. My vision managed to focus for a second and I got a look at the walls. They were lined with paintings, all of them of the same man. No, a different man, but they looked the same, like the painting in Sebastian’s office. These guys were his ancestors, too, all of them wearing the same sinister scowl. They were all named Sebastian, I think; I could vaguely see the plaques under them. The closest one---the only one I could fully read---was Sebastian Veri.

“Rachel, can you hear me?” said the voice, the one from before.

It sounded so damn familiar.

I turned toward it and saw Shay or at least someone who looked vaguely like her. She was wearing a white dress and her short hair was black. She was chained to a stone slab, struggling to get free. It was clear she’d been doing it for a while because the area around her wrists and ankles---where the shackles were---was rubbed raw and bloody. She was crying and looked a mess. I blinked, staring unbelieving at one of my friends. How was she here? She was at the party with me. Did they grab her there, too? I shook my head. No, that wasn’t it. My mind drifted back to Jaslyn’s phone call when we were costume shopping. Shay had disappeared then. Oh God, they grabbed her and replaced her with that Theresa girl.

I felt the bile rise up my throat. I felt the anger, too. I couldn’t act on that because I couldn’t move. Whatever they gave me was still in my system. The only thing I could move was my head. I looked down at myself, surprised that I was still wearing my Halloween costume. But I was shackled as well to a stone slab very similar to the one she was on. There was no use for me to struggle because it was useless, at the moment. I tried to lash out with my mind, instead, concentrating on the shackles holding her. If I could break them, then maybe she could get away and get help. But, no matter how much I tried I couldn’t focus, my mind still in a fog.

I realized then why they drugged me.

“Shay,” I said, the grogginess still in my voice. “You all right?
”
She sighed but shook her head. “I’m scared. Oh God, am I scared.”

I bit back my own tears. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll get us out of this.”

I left off the “somehow”. Shay was still crying.

I decided to get a better look at our surroundings as my vision fully came back to me. It looked like Shay and I were on some kind of altar. There was stone basin between our two slabs and a podium behind us. Behind that was a tall nasty looking totem of some kind. The best way to describe it was an oversized human skull with four eye sockets and what appeared to be antlers. It was clearly man-made, but it still looked pretty freaky. Behind that was a large stain glass window done all in red. Unlike most churches, which depicted scenes from the Old or New Testaments, the scene on this window was really fucked up. There was a large horned skull, two smaller skulls on either side of it and an even smaller horned skull on top of that. Beneath that were three characters bowing to the skulls and underneath them were flames. What the fuck was this place? I looked around, seeing the scene duplicated in the dozen or so windows throughout the large room.

I gasped. So, this was Sebastian’s Church, huh?

The rest of the place looked sorta like a church. There were stone pews laid with red velvet cushioning and a long red carpet down the center. There was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling, one that looked like it was made from human bones. The wall sconces looked like bone, too, and hanging from the walls---in between each of the stain glass windows---were long red banners depicting the four-eyed skull with antlers. Whoever these fucking people were, they were obsessed with the antler guy. I tried to find exits and spotted four. But, I was certain they were guarded. So, even if I managed to free Shay and then myself, it was going to be a fight to get out of here.

I turned my attention back to Shay. “How long have you been here?”

She shook her head. “I was at a coffee shop. I was just leaving to meet up with Jas when these guys jumped me. I’m not sure how long ago that was. What day is it?”

I bit my lip. “It was the twenty ninth, but it’s probably the thirtieth, now.”

She cursed. “What the fuck do these people want with me?”

I sighed. “Its not you, it’s me.”

“You?” she asked, I nodded. “Why?”

“I wish I knew.”

She started crying again. I decided I needed to get her mind off it, so I went back to the questions. “How long have we been in this room?”

“A while. They brought me in first, then you.”

I nodded. “And where did they go?”

She shook her head. “They left after they brought you in. They chained you up like me and as soon as they left. I tried to wake you up. You know the rest.”

I was about to ask another question, but I never got a chance. There was a sound coming from somewhere in the building. It was low at first, but seemed to increase in decibel. I looked around and saw three of the four doors open at the same time. A procession of brown robed monks came into the room, all of them chanting. They poured into the room from three sides, moving slowly toward the pews to take their seats. There had to be hundreds of them. I was mind-boggled by the numbers. He said there were, at least, a thousand followers of his church, but I never expected all of them to be in this room. After they came in, the fourth door, the center one, opened. Another procession came in, but their men were dressed in red robes. They were carrying something, too. There were four of them, two in front and two in back. Between them was a large stone jar. Unlike the brown robed monks who were hooded, these guys didn’t hide their bald heads. I recognized them as the very same bastards who had been following me. They walked slowly down the aisle, moving toward the altar. Behind them was a sinister looking woman with a tight bun and pinched face. Her robes were red, too, but slightly different, a gold sash around her waist. She was holding that goblet from my dream. She followed the jar bearers. After her came Theresa, in her hands was a red pillow on which sat a dagger.

Behind her was Brother Sebastian. He was dressed in red robes as well. They were long and flowed behind him like a bride’s dress train. On his head was a crown made of bone with antlers. When he walked down the aisle, the hooded monks bowed to him. I couldn’t help but gag. I gave them all deadly looks as they approached the altar. Shay squirmed and kicked, trying to get free. Me, I knew there was no use, now. Whatever these bastards were going to do, it was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not–not that I wouldn’t try to get free, if I could. My body was still numb and mostly immobile. My mind was still a fog, too. I could barely form a thought.

Finally, Brother Sebastian reached the altar. The others were already arranged around us, standing still like statues. The four jar bearers were standing before the stone basin. They had blank looks on their faces.

Sebastian turned and faced the crowd. “Brothers and Sisters the time has finally come to bring forth the dream that our great founder, the First of Blood, set about to do nearly seven hundred years before.”

There were cheers and chanting. It was a name, over and over again. “Brother Blood”. I looked around and realized they must have been referring to Sebastian. No wonder he didn’t tell me his last name when we met. I would have bolted if I heard his name was Brother Sebastian Blood.

He turned to Theresa. “Sister, is the final sacrifice ready?”

Theresa looked from me to Shay. She smiled at me, then glared at Shay. “She is my Lord.”

Shay realized they were talking about her and screamed. Her cries fell on deaf ears though.

“Deacons,” said Blood, addressing the Jar Bearers, “Pour the offering into the receptacle.”

The four Jar Bearers came forth with the stone jar. They carried it over to the large stone basin and, ever so slowly, poured out its contents. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was in there as a red liquid quickly filled up the whole of the basin. I cringed at the smell. There was so much blood, I was almost sick. Shay looked the same, turning her head away. I couldn’t help but stare at it, though. I knew where this blood had come from, it was those girls they slaughtered and drained. They took the blood and now I knew what it was for. But I couldn’t understand why it was called an Offering? Who were they offering it to?

“Sister Theresa, the knife.”

Theresa stepped forward, raising the pillow. Blood took the knife from it and turned toward Shay, walking slowly over to her. “With your sacrifice my dear, we can finally reach the Path of Enlightenment.”

Shay was crying. “Please, no. You don’t have to do this.”

Blood smiled sadly and nodded. “You’re going to be a part of something great and wonderful. I promise you that this act will not go unrewarded. My Lord will make sure that your soul will be taken care of for all time.”

I tried to struggle, but all I could move was my head. The tears started flowing freely down my face. The anger was building, though, burning inside of me. It started in my legs and was slowly moving up my body. But, it was moving too slow and Sebastian knew it. He turned to me and smirked, the evil written all over his face. Then, he turned to Shay and slit her left wrist, she screamed out in pain and agony. I screamed too. He paused and turned toward me, a twinkle in his eye. He held the bloody knife up so I could see it, turning it ever so slowly in his hand. The fiery anger built inside of me. I wanted to kill him; I wanted to tear him apart. He’s toiling with you, playing with your mind. There was a voice in my head, Her Voice.

I ignored it.

Shay was still screaming as her blood ran freely.

“Enough of that my dear,” said Blood and he quickly slit her throat.

Her screaming turned to a gurgle as she sputtered blood from her mouth. It flowed like a river from her neck. Her body twitched and spasmed. I watched as the life drained slower from my friend’s eyes, unable to do a thing about it. The fire built inside of me. I was going to kill him; I was going to kill them all. The tingling spread like wild fire, tearing through my limbs. All feeling came back immediately. I thrashed and tore into the air. Theresa jumped back, losing that snide look of hers for a moment. I looked at my hands, seeing the black light creep along my fingers.

“Is she supposed to be doing that,” stammered Theresa as she pointed to me.

Blood turned and frowned. “Mother gather the rest of the offering, I’ll deal with this.”

He walked over and bent to face me. “Such anger, such power.”

“You mother fucker! You just killed one of my best friends! I’m going to tear off your fucking head and use it as a soccer ball!”

He laughed. “You think I care about murdering your friend? Hell, I murdered my own father, so murdering an insignificant is nothing to me.”

“Your father?” I said, surprised. “What kind of sick fuck are you?”

He smirked. “It’s the way of the Church of Blood. The First was murdered by his son, and so the tradition goes, son murdering father. It’s been going on for centuries.”

“You’re fucked up! You’re all fucked up!”

Blood glared angrily at me. Then, turned to the woman he called Mother. “Did you get it all?”

“Yes Brother,” she said, pouring the goblet’s overflowing contents into the basin.

Blood smiled. “Good, now the second part can commence.”

He turned to the crowd, throwing his hands wide. “Brothers and Sisters, the final Sacrifice has willingly given herself to the Cause.”

The crowd cheered. They shouted “Brother Blood”, again. My anger was still burning, growing stronger. But, my hands were no longer glowing black. It’s getting closer, said the Voice, I told you to let me out. Now, you’re going to suffer. I ignored her. Instead, I wiggled my fingers, glad that there was movement in them. I just wondered if there was enough to stop these bastards.

Theresa turned from the cheering. “She’s not glowing anymore. You said killing her friend in front of her would piss her off, but she’s stopped.”

Blood turned to me, frowning. “This isn’t going to work unless you cooperate with us.”

“Cooperate? What the fuck are you talking about?”

He sighed. “Did you actually think you found that necklace by chance?”

The Rapture? How did he know about that? “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

He smirked. “The man who ran the prop shop, he’s one of ours. He put the necklace there when he saw you coming.” I shook my head. Blood smirked even more. “We’ve been watching you, Rachel, keeping our eye on you for some time, now. It’s taken us years to get our hands on The Rapture but we finally found it in a Thrift Shop, of all places. Can you believe that?” He laughed. “After we acquired it, it was only a matter of time before we could figure out a way for you to get your hands on it. The Prop Shop worked out beautifully. We knew someone like you couldn’t resist the Call of it.”

“Someone like me?”

Theresa laughed. “She doesn’t know?” She laughed even louder, putting her face in mine. “You’re one twisted bitch, actually. Way more than I ever was.”

Her face changed into Bart’s, whereupon she kissed me. Then, she pulled back and laughed. Anger built inside of me again, tingling through my body. Blood smirked. Theresa danced around the stone slab, laughing. Then, she ran over to Shay’s slab. She grabbed Shay’s head and turned it to face mine. She was laughing as she did so. I saw Shay’s lifeless eyes looking at me, her gray skin splattered in her own blood, her lips already blue.

“What’s the matter, Rachel?” said Theresa, mimicking Shay’s voice while moving Shay’s mouth. “Aren’t you mad that they killed me?”

I snapped. The anger flooded through me, a fire burning through my whole body. Blood and the Mother jumped back from the slab. My body arched in the air, the chains holding me in place. The Deacons took several steps back. A felt it, the power, the burning. I tried to fight it, but it was too strong. I was too far gone, now. The burning was so intense that I couldn’t think straight. I flooded with an overwhelming rage I couldn’t control. The shackles holding my feet snapped. The ones holding my arms strained as I rose slowly from the slab. Theresa was staring in wide-eyed horror as I rose. The shackles holding my arms gave way and I was free. I floated above the slab. First five feet, then ten. I felt such power, such wonderful power.

“IT HAS COME!” shouted Blood “THE TIME HAS COME FOR THE PORTAL TO OPEN AND FOR OUR MASTER TO TAKE HIS PLACE IN THE WORLD!”

Blood got down on his knees before me, the Mother did the same?

“Master,” he said, placating me. “We have prepared the vessel, brought forth a bountiful Offering, even secured a key to the Portal. Come forth and shower us with your greatness.”

There was a burning in my bones. It started in my back, creeping along the tattoo. I could feel it, feel it rising. I screamed from the intense pain. As I screamed, the Deacons ran. I lashed out at them, a reflex. It was black tentacles like the Thing inside of me. They lashed around all four at once. I tore into them, squeezing the life out of them. I squeezed and squeezed until they were no more. I dropped their lifeless bodies to the floor. As soon as I did so, the crowd screamed. I think they realized that they weren’t going to get what they wanted. They started running toward the exits. I lashed out at the closest ones, tearing through them with the black tentacles. Their lifeless bodies dropped to the ground seconds later.

Blood was still pleading. “Master, please, why do you punish the Faithful?”

I ignored him. I had no idea what the fuck he was talking about.

Theresa decided to run, too, but there was no way she was getting away. Her, I did not grab by reflex. Her, I grabbed to kill. My tentacles lashed around her running form. She screamed as I lifted her into the air. I spun her around so she could face me and pulled her close. Her face was inches from mine. I tore at her and wrenched her in many different directions at once, the whole of her bones cracking as I twisted all her body parts different ways. I ended with her head, giving her a second of agony to see my face before I twisted it around to face backwards.

Who’s twisted, now, bitch?

I dropped her to the ground.

At that moment, an alarm went off somewhere. Blood stopped his groveling. He turned to Mother and glared at her. “I thought the perimeter was secure?”

“It is, I mean it was.”

He slammed her across the face. “Deal with it, I’ll deal with her.”

I let her run. I’d deal with her, later. Instead, all my fury needed to be focused on one thing, one man. I glared at Blood, my tentacles whipping about. I let most the followers flee; whoever was out there would take them. I glared at Blood, trying to figure out the best way to kill him. He got back on his knees, still praying to me.

“Master, is this vessel not worthy?”

A spout of gunfire could be heard in the background.

“I can find you another vessel, a more worthy one.”

More gunfire. Then, a second later, a voice chirped into the room. It was coming from a radio clipped to Blood’s belt. The voice belonged to the Mother. “Sebastian there’s something out here, its red and yellow, moving very fast.”

Red and yellow? The Flash, I smiled. They found me. Some of my anger subsided but not the pain, the pain was intense.

The radio chirped again. “There’s two of them, one black and yellow, they’re tearing through our guards…what should we…”

Her voice cut off in a scream.

“You’re done Blood,” I said, my voice rumbled and trembled.

Blood shook his head. “You ruined it. You must have been Impure. You’re not the Vessel we seek. The Master must have found you unworthy. Maybe the Offering and the Vessel need to be together?”

He spit at me. Then, he ran over and picked up goblet. He rushed to the basin and dipped it inside, filling the cup. He raised the cup to his lips and downed it in one gulp. I cringed and almost threw up. The blood inside that thing must have been old, it was bubbling even. I can’t imagine how sanitary it was. That didn’t seem to stop him though. He dipped the cup in there a second time and took another drink, downing the contents again. It was clear they were refrigerating the blood but I can’t imagine what it might taste like. Blood staggered after his third cup full.

“You’ll see,” he said with a laugh, blood dribbling down his chin. “I’ll bring forth Master Trigon and you’ll rue the day you tried to stop it.”
I lowered to the ground, the pain was still burning, but my anger was gone. It was just sick, now. All the others were gone and from the sound of dying gunfire, taken care of. I was so tired and it hurt, my whole body hurt. Whatever spout of energy I had was dying fast, fueled by anger that was no longer there. I couldn’t be angry at something so pathetic. It was when he mentioned his Master that I had to quit. I thought these people had a purpose, but it turns out they were a bunch of nuts. They were killing all these girls, taking their blood and for what? All so they could hope to summon some imaginary whatever to wreak havoc on the world? What kind of bull was that?

“You’re pathetic,” I said, as I got to my feet, staggering.

I was so tired. I pushed past him and started down the aisle. As I did so, a black and yellow streak zipped into the room. When it stopped, I saw Lori. She was sweating and panting, but she was all right. I smiled and nearly fell. She raised forward and caught me, holding me in a tight hug.
“You all right?” She asked.

I nodded. “I’m good, but I’m so tired. I think I used too much.”

Lori slipped her arm underneath mine and helped me walk. We got to the door when Barbara zipped into the zoom, holding Mother’s gold sash in her hand. “Is she ok?” she asked, Lori nodded.

Blood wasn’t done. “GET BACK HERE!” he shouted. “I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!”

A bullet whizzed past us.

We snapped around. He smirked and laughed, standing there holding a gun in one hand, the goblet in the other. He had a crazed look on his face. “Just as I thought,” he said, walking down the aisle. “All those mighty superpowers and you’re all still afraid of a little gun.”

He leveled the weapon and fired at Barbara. She zipped out of the way. Then, she was in front of him. She snatched the gun from his hand. Then, she zipped back over to us. It happened so fast that Blood had no idea what just happened.

Blood recovered quickly, though, and screamed. I turned just in time to see the knife being hurled at me. I reached fast, lashing out with what bit of power I could muster. I surrounded the knife in black light and threw it back. It sailed high over his head, right toward the chandelier. The force of the throw, added with my powers, cut the chandelier free. It fell toward Blood before Flash or Lori could react. He let out a startled scream as he looked up as it crushed him into the ground, piercing him with several spears of bone. His blood splattered and the gold goblet rolled away, stopping just at our feet.

I smirked. So much for Brother Blood.

Then, I staggered from exhaustion and collapsed into Lori’s arms. She screamed my name and I blacked out.

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

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Author's Note: Here's the final chapter of Raven's very dark and interesting tale. I've loved writing this one, its been a lot of fun. I have to thank everyone who was involved (you know who you are). I also want to thank everyone for their wonderful support of this story, a different tale than the others I've told so far. Last but not least I have to thank DC Comics for their wonderful characters once again.

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Chapter Fifteen:

When I woke up this time, I wasn’t the least bit confused as to where I was. It was sterile smell that invaded my nose and when I opened my eyes for a moment all I saw was white. After blinking a few times, the white faded into shapes and the room came into focus. It was a hospital room. There was a huge light overhead, happy landscape prints on the wall and a large window with the curtain drawn. My bed was in a half upright position and there was one of those little tables next to me with some flowers and a tiny black teddy bear. I smiled at it, then turned to look to my other side. Sitting in a chair, fast asleep, was my mother. I nearly jumped out of bed when I saw her. I started to tear up a bit, surprised and confused.

I reached out for her, but stopped inches from her hand. It was strange. No one would ever guess the two of us were related. Her hands had a reddish hue like someone who had stayed out in the sun far too long---a perpetual, never-ending suntan. At least we had the same hair, though. Hers was currently in a French braid, down her back. She usually wore it loose unless she was going somewhere. Looking at her face, I couldn’t help but gasp. Back when I was Ryan, it was hard to tell that she was my mother because we didn’t look anything alike. Now, the two of us could almost be sisters---me being the paler one, of course.

Mom always looked like a young mother. When I was still a child, people often mistook her for my older sister or the babysitter. She had a beautiful, youthful face. Even now at only thirty-eight, she still looked to be in her early twenties. She often said it was good genes. My grandmother was very youthful-looking, as well. But, she still looked old enough to be the mother of an almost forty-year-old. My Mom didn’t look old enough to be the mother of anyone. It used to drive the guys at school nuts whenever they saw her. They all drooled and made lewd comments before they ever even knew if we were related or not. Azarath was a small town but not small enough for everyone to know everyone. Mom got a lot of strange looks, especially from envious women her age.

There were a lot of whispered stories, too. Mom was the girl that got knocked up the summer before her senior year of high school. What’s worse, it was by some grifter passing through town. In Azarath, that was big news. She was severely ostracized because of it. I got some of it, too, as I was growing up. Our community was mainly Native Americans, save for a few families like Bart’s. Even then, Bart still passed as “normal”, what with his skin tanning pretty dark in the summer. But me, I was always the pale, strange kid that only ever had two friends. Growing up was rough, but, at least, I had drama to fall back on. I loved the theater and now, after a few weeks of not performing, I realizing how much I really missed it.

After staring at the woman sleeping next to me, I finally got up the nerve to touch her. I slipped my hand around hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. As soon as I did, Mom stirred and slowly opened her eyes. Like me, she blinked and looked a little groggy. She stared around the room and, then her eyes focused on me. As soon as she did, she smiled.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re finally awake.”

I nodded. I was a bit choked up for a second. With tears, I spoke. “It’s good to see you, Mom.”

That’s about all I could muster before tears overtook me. She reacted fast, wrapping me into a tight hug. I had forgotten what it felt like to be hugged by Mom. She had great hugs: so reassuring, so safe. Every single bit of emotion that I had been holding back started to well up and I let it out in tears. I sobbed through telling her about Katie and poor Shay and about the hell I just went through. She reassured me with her soothing voice, telling me everything was going to be all right. I believed her, too. She was Mom and, now that she was here, I was certain that nothing more could go wrong. I held onto her and cried and I felt safe. The two of us stayed like that for some time.

When I was finally finished crying, Mom pulled away. She placed her hands on my shoulders, then smiled real big. “You look so beautiful, honey–like the daughter I always wanted” I frowned. So she quickly added. “Not that I never wanted a son, but there’s something about mothers and daughters…”

I laughed. “It’s okay, Mom. I liked being Ryan and I like being Rachel. The transition was strange, at first, but I feel pretty normal, now… well, normal as far as I can be, anyway.”

She didn’t respond to my last comment. I had to wonder how much of everything that she knew. I had told her some things on our phone conversations, but I kept it all pretty vague. Mom was a very accepting person, but, even to her, some things were a bit too much. For instance, I never had the heart to tell her that I was the one who actually caused Katie’s death. That truth would have destroyed her as much as it did me.

She chewed her lip before speaking. “Your professor told me some of the stuff that happened,” her voice trailed off again. Then, after a moment or two, she said. “It’s horrible what those people did to all those girls and to you. I can’t imagine what you must have gone through and then to see them… with another girl… your friend… right in…”

She stopped when I felt myself tearing up. I think she saw the tears because she wrapped me in a hug, again. When I closed my eyes, I could see Shay’s lifeless face and her empty, agonized stare. I opened my eyes, shuddering. Then, I had some questions. I pulled back and wiped the tears off my cheeks, trying to remain strong. “How long have I been here?”

“Two days.” she said, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

“And the others? Lori, Bart, Barbara, Dr. O?”

She shook her head. “I met your professor when I got in last night. I don’t know about anyone else. But, there was a girl here earlier. She had black hair, wore lots of black.”

I smiled. “That would be Lori.”

“Very strange girl.” Mom said with a sigh.

“She is definitely that.”

Mom and I talked for a little while. She tried to get the topic away from the tragic events of the other day. She asked me about school and about my love life. I dodged the last question, while, inside, all I could see was Bart’s smiling face and that scared me. I was definitely not interested in him and probably never would be. But, it was clear that I definitely wasn’t interested in girls, either. As much as I loved Katie and missed her, I knew now if she had lived all we could ever be, now, would be really good friends. A part of me was a bit saddened by that revelation. I couldn’t help but cry to think that we’d never even get the chance to be that.

Our talk was interrupted by a knock on the door. Then, the door opened and the nurse came in. She stayed for a few minutes, checking this and that. I asked when I’d be able to get out of here but she didn’t know. Apparently, I was officially here because of heat exhaustion, or something. At least, that’s the story my Mom said she was told. Then, Dr. O told her it was actually because of magical exhaustion, I used up too much magic and it drained me.

After the nurse finally left, I heard Mom’s stomach grumble. She frowned. “I’m sorry, sweetie, I’m starving. I haven’t eaten anything since before I drove down here. I hate to leave you, but I’m not sure how much longer I can go without something to eat.”

I laughed. “Its okay, Mom. I’ll be fine while you stuff yourself.”

She frowned at the remark. Mom still had a beautiful figure. I found myself wishing I’d be able to look like that at her age and got scared at the thought. I was even starting to think like a normal girl. A few weeks ago, that would have horrified me, but this is my life now.
My mom left after that, leaving me alone. I sat in bed, staring around the room a bit. I looked over at the bear and couldn’t help but think someone was making fun of me. Who thought I needed a cute little bear? I reached for it and took it off the table. I turned it over in my hands, looking for some sign of who might have given it to me.

“Angelina got that for you from the gift shop,” said a voice from behind me.

I turned and saw Lori standing in the doorway in all of her goth glory. She was leaning against the doorframe, a cup of coffee in her hands. She stayed there for a second before walking into the room and taking up Mom’s former seat. Then, she set the cup on my little table and wrapped me in a tight hug. She mumbled something about me “never doing something like that again”. I hugged her for a while then I pulled away to get some much needed air.

I took a deep breath. “How are the others?”

“Angelina brought that bear by this morning, Bart is camped out in the waiting room and the professor disappeared.”

Disappeared? That didn’t bode well.

I waited a few seconds before asking the big question. “How’s Jas?”

Lori frowned. It was clear she wasn’t done mourning for Shay either. “Not good.” she finally said and sighed heavily. “Ang and I tried to talk her into coming here, but she refused. She kinda…well she….”

I nodded. So, Jas blamed me for Shay’s death. I wondered what they told her. I guess I couldn’t blame her. I was, after all, responsible for it. They only took her to get me angry and it worked, too. I killed all those bastards for what they did to poor Shay. I was so angry and so pissed. I shuddered to think about what I did. They all deserved it, though, and that’s what truly mattered.

“What happened to the Church?” I finally asked, trying to move my mind onto other things.

“The cops showed up pretty quickly after you passed out. I’m not sure who called them. They tried to arrest all of us until the Flash stepped up. She took charge pretty quickly. She was bossing them all around as if they were her little bitches. What members of the cult that she and I subdued were arrested on the spot, but a lot of them got away. After that, some feds showed up, some Native American chick with a badge. As soon as she started flashing that around, we were free to go. They brought you to the hospital, Bart called your Mom and then the professor sorta disappeared.

“He was kinda shifty about it, too. One minute he was there and gone the next, like freaking Houdini or something. Anyway, after he disappeared, Bart, Angelina and I took turns at your bedside until your Mom arrived last night. She’s awesome, by the way. I can definitely see where you got your new looks from. Ummm….you know pretty much everything after that, I guess.”

I nodded. “Mom said she talked to Dr. O.”

Lori frowned. “Maybe he met her elsewhere because he wasn’t in the waiting room when your Mom arrived.”

A small part of me felt better knowing that things with the cult were done for. I still wished I knew more of what was going on, there. Like, who the hell were those nuts and what the hell did they really want me for? I was kinda pissed that I didn’t spare Blood’s life. I mean, he deserved to die, of course, but now that he was dead, I had no answers. A part of me cursed myself for being so rash. But, the rest of me was happy that I put whatever operation that son of bitch was running out of commission.

Lori stayed for a couple of hours. Then, Mom came back and the three of us discussed what was going to happen next. The only thing I could think about was going home.

“Just like you left it,” said my mother as I stood in the doorway of my bedroom.

I nodded and stared around the room, the room that was distinctively “Ryan”. I couldn’t help but frown. It wasn’t like I was unhappy because I loved my room; it was my own private little sanctuary. The only problem was that it was Ryan’s private sanctuary. Standing in the doorway, staring at it reminded me of all that had changed since leaving it a few months before. It was a guy’s room, made apparent by the blue painted walls and the clothes littering the floor. My bed wasn’t made, just as I had left it, and everything seemed to smell. It’s funny how I never noticed how much of a slob I was before. Now, staring at this mess, I couldn’t help but feel my skin crawl. That feeling made me a bit uneasy. I couldn’t help but think that maybe I wasn’t the same person I was before.

My mother put her hand gently on my shoulder. “You can sleep in the guest room if you like.”

How is it that mothers always seem to know what you’re thinking?

I shook my head. “I guess I wasn’t prepared for how much I’ve changed.”

She stepped around so she stood in front of me, taking my left hand. Her hand she waved around the room. “This isn’t you.” she said, then tapped me in the chest with a finger. “This is you, in here. You may look and even act differently, but you’re still the same person, boy or girl.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”

She kissed me on the forehead, then left me to stand in my doorway. It took me a few seconds, but eventually I carried my overstuffed duffel into the room. I dropped it on the floor near my desk and then sat on the edge of the bed. It felt strange being back here, being back home. Home. A small part of me actually thought of the dorm room as home, but only for a moment. A small part of me also thought of going back there after I left the hospital, this morning. But, I couldn’t do it. Yeah, I went there to get my stuff but that was it. Though it wasn’t official yet, I was withdrawing from school---at least for the rest of the semester. I thought I could do it, but, in the end, it was just too much. First Katie, then Shay. I couldn’t imagine what might happen if I stayed there any longer.

When I broke the news to Angelina and Lori, there was a lot of crying. I surprised myself by joining in. Though Angelina promised to keep in touch, I think Lori really meant it. In fact, this weekend, she planned to drive here and I was supposed to give her a tour of Azarath. Not that there was much to show her, but it might be nice to have a friend to hang out with. As far as Bart and I were concerned, it was complicated. It was me, not him. I found it hard to look at him, especially after what Fake Bart did. I know it wasn’t really him, but the thought of him getting like that scared me. When he hugged me “good-bye” at the hospital, there was a moment of dread.

I had to wondered if our friendship would survive all this.

I sighed and looked around. There were half a dozen theater posters all over the walls. Most of them were plays I dreamed of seeing. Scattered amongst them were pictures, most with Katie and me. I couldn’t help but frown at those. We looked so happy then or, rather, they looked happy. Katie and Ryan, I mean. It pained me to see her with him, the other me. I couldn’t bring myself to think of him as me, any longer. It felt like another life, he was the caterpillar and I was the seriously fucked up butterfly. More fucked up than I could possibly imagine.

Lori told me what she and Barbara saw when they went speeding into the room, her words still echoed in my head: “You had this blackness all around you as you floated there and for a second it looked like a giant black bird was forming around you.” I couldn’t help but remember the black bird I’d been seeing in my dreams, the one that appeared at the death scenes. I hadn’t really thought about it much, but it reminded me a lot of Katie’s tattoo, the one the two of us now shared. I remembered when she first got it, the exact conversation the two of us had:

“Why did you get a crow tattooed on your butt?”

Katie frowned and smacked me. “It’s not a crow you jack ass, it’s a raven.”

“Okay…” I said with a laugh. “Why a raven then?”

“It’s you, actually”

“Me?”

She nodded. “There are two highly held beliefs in the Raven. Many people believe they’re the Messengers of the Dead.”

I interrupted her. “You think of death when you think of me?” I frowned. “Thanks a lot.”

She laughed and smacked me. “No, I think of the ever-changing. The Raven is also a shape shifter, like an actor. He changes with the situation–sometimes the wise man, sometimes the trickster–but always wise and cunning.”

I pushed myself off the bed and walked over to the mirror on the wall. It wasn’t like the mirror in the girl’s shower room, but it was good enough. I pulled off my shirt and stood so I could look at my tattoo. I think I got it right the first time around when I called myself a Messenger of Death. I killed Katie and I killed Shay, plus all those other girls who died just so those twisted mother-fuckers could get to me. And for what? I didn’t even know. I sighed and stormed over to my bed, pulling my cell from my purse. I tried once again to get a hold of Dr. O, but still it just rang. After leaving the college, I had Mom drive me over to his house. I used my key to let myself in, but the place was deserted. Everything that he owned was gone, except two things: a book and a note.

I pulled the note out of my purse and stared at it, reading aloud the simple message. “I went out of town; don’t try to find me because you won’t be able to. I’ll be back soon.” I crumbled the note and tossed it across the room. What the fuck kind of message is that? The book wasn’t much help, either. It was one I’d never seen before, but it was like all the others, old and dusty. I didn’t dare read it in the car, but I couldn’t stop myself from opening it, now. I was surprised that it was in English and even more surprised that it talked mainly about ways to focus one’s power. I cursed, wondering why he couldn’t have given me this to begin with.

I found myself reading into the night, absorbing the words. Most of them were nonsense, words that didn’t mean a thing to me. But, the words I could understand meant even less. “In order to properly focus, you need three important key factors,” I read aloud. “You need something close to your heart, something of great power and something to help you control everything in the end.” What the hell did that mean anyway? I knew all this before. It was the same stuff that Dr. O had been trying to teach me. I tried time and again to find my words with little luck. Even now I tried, running words over and over in my head. I closed my eyes as I did so, trying to concentrate on words, any words.

I got myself into my meditation stance, stripping down to my underwear as I did so. I closed my eyes and tried hard to concentrate. I started mumbling, running words over and over, trying to see if any clicked. I kept my eyes closed and felt weightless as I slowly lifted off the bed. I concentrated harder, mumbling more. Soon the words out of my mouth were utter nonsense and I felt real lightheaded. There was a knock on the door, my grandfather’s faint voice on the other side, but I could hear none of it as the meditation took me…

My eyes were forced open by a huge gust of wind. It whipped around my nearly naked form, tearing my hair about in a tempest. I looked around and watched it awe as my room slowly started to crumble around me. Bit by bit, it broke away, leaving a huge gaping black void around me. Soon, I was floating in the nothingness just like that dream from so long ago. But, unlike that first dream, the blackness didn’t last. As quickly as it came, it started to fade. There was a flash of blinding white light, which forced me to close my eyes. When I reopened them, I found myself floating above a strange and nasty black landscape. It was all crags and rock, blackened by God knows what. The sky around me was blood red and there were black, ominous clouds looming in the distance, sparkling with lightning.

I unfolded my legs and slowly drifted down to the ground beneath me. As soon as my feet touched it, the ground cracked and shattered. It broke into several large pieces, drifting apart like leaves on water. It was a slow drift, allowing me to jump from one to the other without too much of a problem. I found myself involuntarily hopping along. I was several feet from my starting point before I even realized what I was doing. When I did, I turned and looked back at where I came from. I was surprised to see how far I’d come. A small part of me wanted to turn back but the rest of me was pushing forward.

An unconscious urge seemed to drive me forward, though. Any attempts to fight it seemed futile, so I just decided to go with it.

It got kinda tedious after a while, though, moving from one floating rock to the next. It didn’t help matters that it seemed like I was going nowhere. The rocks seemed to go on forever with no end in sight. Every time I stopped to look, all I could see was more of nothing. A small part of me wanted to just stop and try to find some way to wake up. The rest of me, the majority, wanted to move on. The majority won in the end and I kept going. I started to pick up pace, too, as if I got a second wind, running from one stone to the next. I kept going for a while–what felt like hours, in fact. When I couldn’t possibly jump onto another floating stone, they seemed to stop. I landed on the last one and the ones in front of me seemed to fade away. In their place was a twisted structure of stone, made of winding paths, snagging this way and that like some demented mass from hell, but there were no walls to this maze and there didn’t seem to be any end in sight. I stood on the end of this wacky menagerie of rock pathways, wondering if, just maybe, I might have gone too far.

As I was contemplating whether or not to go on, there was a cawing sound from above. I looked up and saw a large black bird fly over my head. It had to be the size of an eagle and landed on the middle of the path in front of me, its back to me. When it turned its head, I was startled. It looked like any other raven, but it had four eyes instead of two–not just any four eyes, either. They were vicious looking slits, glowing red like the Thing. The bird and I glared at one another, neither of us moving for the longest time. After several minutes of this, it let out a caw and took off into the air. I followed its flight with my eyes, watching as it soared toward a large black opening that wasn’t there before.

The raven disappeared into the void. I got over my momentary confusion and found myself running after it. It wasn’t fully involuntary, but I couldn’t seem to stop, either. I ran through the winding, twisting paths around me. Looking down, I saw nothing but darkness. Looking up I saw the blood red sky and horrible black clouds. I tried not to think of them as I ran; in fact, I tried to force every thought from my mind. I barreled on ahead, my main focus on catching that damn bird. When I finally reached the black void---a trip that took less time than it should have---I found myself pausing before it. I reached out and gently touched it, half expecting to get pulled inside.

I didn’t. Instead, my finger dipped into it like it was a pool of black water. I pulled my hand quickly away, then took a deep breath. Like ripping off a Band-Aid, I stepped quickly into the void. There was a tingling throughout my whole body and, for a moment, I felt like someone was pulling at my insides. The feeling lasted only a few seconds, but it was agonizing. I didn’t even know my eyes were closed until I opened them. When I did, I found myself standing in mid-air, in a large circular opening. The walls around me were stone. The focal point of the room was a girl sitting in the center of it, sitting like I would if I’d been meditating. She was dressed in an outfit identical to the one I wore for the party; save for the fact it was red. I looked down. It was like the one I was wearing, now, except mine was black. How had I not noticed that?

The Raven was sitting on her shoulder.

“It’s about time you got here,” she said, in a voice that was my own, but not my own.

It was sinister and familiar. It was the Thing.

“You!” I said angrily, taking a step forward.

I’m not sure why, but I wasn’t afraid of it, anymore. Even now with it being out of its prison, I wasn’t scared. I’m not sure what changed but I felt stronger now, braver definitely. I took another step toward it. The Thing turned its head, the hood obscuring its features. The only things I could see where its four glowing red eyes. I didn’t waver though as I continued to walk toward it. I didn’t waver, either. It just sat there as if it was waiting for me to come to it. The bird turned and watched my progress, staring at me with those very same red eyes. It watched and scrutinized as she just sat there and waited.

“How did you get out?” I asked as I stopped about a hundred feet away.

She laughed, then waved her hands theatrically. “This is your doing. You created this glorious new place for me.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t do any of this.”

She turned to face me, her movements almost like my own now. “Of course you did. When you finally let yourself feel our power, when you killed those fools in the Church. You finally unlocked the door and let me out.”

I shook my head and suddenly the key was in my hand. “I still have the key.”

She laughed. “The key? It was never about the key, in the end.”

She jumped to her feet. When she did, I realized she didn’t have any at all. Instead, it was those tentacles, the very same ones she tried to strangle me with before. The very same ones that I used to kill all those people. A feeling of dread overwhelmed me. I hadn’t even thought about it when I summoned up all that power, it had come like second nature. It didn’t even occur to me that those tentacles might be her tentacles. But she knew, she always knew. It was so clear, now. She didn’t want me to run from those bastards. She wanted me to be scared of them. She needed my fear because she knew it would turn into anger and that anger would finally break her free. She was right; it was never about the key, at all. It was all about fear and my ability to use it as a weapon.

Now, my anger was fueling her.

“Not me,” she said, reaching up and grabbing the hood. “Us.”

She dropped the hood and what I saw made my heart skip a beat. It was me, but different. She had gray skin; her hair was limp and greasy. She had those four glowing eyes and something else, something that the hood had been hiding. There were antlers growing out of her head, small ones like little nubs but antlers nonetheless. Like the skull in the Church, like the pictures all over that horrible place. I shuddered at the thought. What did they have to do with me and this strange evil doppelganger of mine?

She smiled; her mouth stretching a bit longer than it should, revealing a row of pointed teeth. “Still haven’t put all the pieces together, yet?”

I shook my head. “You’re lying.”

She smiled and laughed. “There was a reason they wanted you, a reason the Rapture would only work on you. It’s your blood, you see. It’s very special. The fools who tried to use it before didn’t have your very special blood and it killed them. The Church and its pathetic followers have been looking for you for centuries… the blood of ‘The One’ who could open the portal… the blood of ‘The One’ who could bring the darkness. You must see it. You must know who and what you are.”

I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t–wouldn’t–believe.

She laughed. “That fool Occult knows. That’s what he does for a living. He was trying to suppress me, to hold me back. Trying to teach you Old Magic to bind me and control me. It’s pathetic, really.”

Old Magic? The words, the three words he wanted me to learn. I thought they were focus words, but now I realized they were much more than that. They were power and she feared them. If only I could find the right ones. I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. She started laughing, her voice growing louder and louder. The circular room amplified the laughter, making it all that much more sinister. I wasn’t afraid of it, or her. I’d never be afraid of her again. After all, how can I be afraid of myself? Yes, I knew who she was: my darker half. Knowing that helped me find power over her because I remembered something else.

It was the book; the one Dr. O left me before he vanished. I was so pissed on the car ride home because I thought he was abandoning me, afraid that what I did in the Church might have crossed the line. Now, I see he was giving me the tools I needed to fight. I had gotten it all wrong. The words were not Heart, Power and Control. That’s why they would never work for me. The words were Heart, Power, Darkness. Meaning it was an incantation, a spell of Old Magic, something to control the Darkness inside of me. I knew it, now. I knew something else, too. In the book, I found the word for Power, it was old but it still had great strength. I also stumbled upon the word for Darkness, too. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it. They were just two words, without the first word, they were meaningless. Now, I knew the first word. I’d been blind not to see it before.

I opened my eyes and smiling, mumbling it softly on my breath.

The laughing stopped. “What did you say?” she asked, fear shaking in her voice.

I said it a little louder, she screamed. I said it again, speaking the word that was my Heart, my Soul. I thought it was Katie but it wasn’t. I loved her with all my heart but she wasn’t my real Heart. My real Heart lied in a place of warmth and comfort, a place where heart always lay. My real Heart was Home and the word for Home was “Azarath”.

“AZARATH!” I said, speaking it loudly for the first time.

She shrieked, putting her hands on her ears. “You can’t know…you can’t possibly…”

I smirked. Now, for Power. “METRION!”

She shrieked even louder, the circular room shaking with my voice. Trembling with my power. She fell to the ground, chains appearing out of nowhere, lashing onto her arms, and holding her in place. She screamed and cried, pleading with me to stop. I wasn’t going to stop; not now, not ever. She was evil and she needed to be contained, to be locked away for good.

“You don’t have to do this. You and I can come to an agreement.”

I shook my head. “You should have thought of that before you made me kill my lover.”

For the first time, I saw fear in those four eyes of her and it made me feel good. I took a deep breath and brought forth the last word, the word that had power over her. The word that would have power over my concentration and skill from now until the day I died. With these three words strung together, I knew I would be able to do anything.

I took a deep breath and shouted the last word. “ZINTHOS!”

The chains came from all over the place. The Raven on her shoulder shrieked even louder than her and flew up into the air. The chains wrapped tightly around the shriveling wreck on the ground. They bound her and held her, making sure she never got loose. A new lock appeared, but this one didn’t have a hole for a key. I held the key in my mind and watched as it disintegrated. Then, I held out my arm and the raven fluttered down. Its features changed as it flew, so by the time it got to me it was a normal bird once again. The darkness that was plaguing it was gone for good.
I smiled and opened my eyes….

….I was sitting on my bed, Dr. O’s book opened in front of me. My body was drenched in sweat, my hair clinging to my back. I took a deep breath and, for the first time, I felt everything go out of me. It was a very relieved feeling. I wouldn’t say I was overly happy, but I felt a lot better knowing that the darkness was contained---at least, for the moment. There was still a lot of stuff that I needed to learn, a lot of stuff that plagued me. First and foremost was the Rapture, I knew that it wasn’t going to go away anytime soon. I also knew that Blood failed to use it, but there would be others out there that would try. Maybe they might be more successful. I’d have to be vigilant.

I closed the book, setting it aside. Then, I ran my hands through my damp hair. I definitely needed a nice hot bath after all that. First, there was something I wanted to try, something bugging me from the beginning of all this. I closed my eyes, took my meditation position and concentrated. This time I had the proper words, this time I had the proper focus.

I took a deep breath and said them very slowly. “Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos.”

I rose six feet into the air and couldn’t be happier.

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