This time, something is different.

The cold and the dark still wrap themselves about Cassie like a clammy cocoon, the stones sucking the heat from her bones. The darkness moves as if given form, beckoning to her. The sobbing has risen in its sorrowful cadence, and Cassie's heart aches in response.

But that was all. Nothing tugs at her will, or draws her forward against her desires. She wishes to remain still, and she remains still.

Cassie shivers. The sobs turn to cries, and a stale breeze blows at her back. She still does not move. The dream no longer has control of her actions for now.

She wills herself to be clothed and for the room to become warm. Neither happens. So the power is limited. She cannot alter the dreamscape that far.

And no power can quell her curiosity.

She steps forward, and the breeze subsides. She is doing what is desired of her. She reminds herself that she chose to do so.

Wisps of gray return as before, whirling above her head. They thicken and lower as she advances. When it crosses her path, a sudden gust of wind steals her breath. Another blows at her back, then again in her face.

She spots something brighter, almost glittering, that forms little swirls in the gray as the buffeting winds calm. It is the power from the link with the other Harbingers. For a moment, she is frozen in awe. She never thought she would see a visual manifestation. It lifts the battle of wills away from her.

Cassie rushes forward. Only a weak breeze resists her. The cage abruptly rises, and she nearly collides with it. Her eyes are immediately drawn to the simple latch ...

NO.

Cassie snaps her gaze away. She lets out another breath when nothing pulls it back. She is still holding out.

"He's d-doing this to me ..."

Cassie nearly bolts, as if forgetting about the naked girl in her prison. She grips the bars to keep herself there. Her heart pounds. She takes a deep breath. Her anxiety subsides somewhat.

"He's messing with my head ..."

Cassie's eyes glaze as they stare. She KNOWS this girl.

"Making me ... m-making me something I'm not ..."

Cassie's throat finally unlocks. "I-I'm here. Who is it that--"

The girl stirs. Her breathing is heavy and labored. She struggles to push herself from the floor.

Cassie's heart pounds again, and this time nothing will stop it. She is too frightened, her eyes shimmering, her fingers turning numb.

"I wish I could be myself again ... I can't ... I can't get out."

Cassie's eyes flick over to the latch.

(Pound Pound Pound)

Cassie's hands loosen about the bars. One hand lifts from the cage.

(Pound Pound Step)

Cassie's hand shakes as it hovers inches from the latch. Her teeth clench. The sparkling gray swirls in agitation.

(Pound Step Step)

Cassie shakes her head. Her fingers close an inch short of the latch. "No ... stop it ... this isn't what I'm supposed to do!"

(Step Step Step)

"If you could get out, you would have lifted the latch yourself! You would have escaped already!" Cassie snatches her hand away. "I'm not doing it your way!"

(STEP STEP ...)

Cassie blinks and gasps at the sudden silence. The darkness around the cage seems to close around her. Her terrified eyes dart about her as she senses something near, something waiting. A shoe scuffs the stone, coming at her from all directions at once.

"You have to help."

Cassie's gaze turns towards the bottom of the cage. She shrieks and stumbles backwards when she gazes at the haggard face and haunted eyes of the prisoner.

"Please ... please help me, Cassie ..."

Cassie shakes her head. Her lips tremble as she struggles to give voice to her shock. "But ... y-you can't ... you can't be Stephanie ..."

"Help me stop him from doing it again!"

"YOU CAN'T BE STEPHANIE!" Cassie screams.

(scuff-STEP)

The girl crawls to the bars. "Please! Stop him! Don't let him cage up another girl like he did me!"

Cassie's thoughts are frozen in an ice-scape of horror. She can only stare at the spirit, trying to see through it and convince herself that this was not happening.

(scuff-STEP)

Cassie gasps as something starts to emerge from the darkness, and for a terrifying moment, she feels as if she is floating towards it, carried aloft on currents of power. The gray fades, leaving the black to reach its tendrils towards her and slither about her mind.

She could have her own cage, her own little protected space, where no one would harm her.

"Help me, Cassie!"

Cassie whimpers and staggers back. Her eyes glaze as she turns away. The gray is back, whipping away from the dark figure like an angry snake, pulling Cassie along with it. She plows into the veil, and her dreamscape shatters like glass.

What struck Cassie as she lay waiting for her heart to slow was the unnerving sense of calm she felt having just escaped a dream that could have very well ensnared her mind in the real world.

Cassie opened her eyes and sat up in bed. She drew the covers back, her movements meticulous, as if she needed to prove to herself that she was indeed as calm as she appeared and not in some state of shock.

Cassie's nightgown fell back into place as she stood up. She chafed her hands along her arms. Outside her window, gray clouds clung to the top of the mesa and slid down into Haven. The trees at the edge of the property were frosted in powdery white, and flakes floated past the window.

She sat within the bay window and pressed her hand to the glass. The cold that settled into her fingers was nothing like what she had felt in the dream.

I can hear only the living.

Cassie stared at her hand, watching the glass fog around the outline of her fingers. She was alive. Stephanie Fowler was not. Ergo, she could not have been in Stephanie's head. It must have been someone else.

Was the dark figure Victor Mann? Was it his mind Cassie had touched?

Cassie shivered and pulled her hand from the glass. She pulled her nightgown around her body and drew in her shoulders. The idea that she could get into Victor's mind without even trying was frightening. It meant Victor must have visited Haven every year about this time, to obtain another ...

Another what?

Cassie's sense of calm began to evaporate. Perhaps Victor was probing her mind instead to keep her from helping the others. She remembered how Nyssa had gone after Cassie first because she was "the dreamer," the one that could foil Nyssa's plans. Perhaps Victor believed the same thing of her.

And I got protection against it just in time.

She rose from the window. Her thoughts strayed towards Heather, the other Harbingers, and how they had forged their precious link. Her pussy tingled.

"No, no, don't think about that," she chided herself as she headed to her teapot.

The heat in her sex would not dissipate even as she struggled to put her dream into perspective. Why would Victor go after her if he were trying to keep his operation a complete secret? Why use Terri Hollis as a feint? Why use stealth via Diane? The hypothesis was not holding up.

But the only other explanation was Stephanie.

"Stephanie is dead and can't be in my dreams," Cassie declared as she poured her tea, as if hoping that hearing it would make her own convictions hold more truth.

I can't talk to the dead. That would mean that part of me is ...

The cup stopped just short of Cassie's lips, her hand shaking too much. She grabbed her wrist with her other hand, splashing a few steaming drops on her nightgown. A drop scalded her thigh, but she ignored it. She lowered the cup, where it rattled and splashed before she could let go.

Cassie felt a chill that no amount of tea could dispel, yet the notion was ludicrous. How could part of her be dead? One was either dead or alive, not some of both. Richie could receive thoughts from the dead, but he was very much alive.

But this is different, I actually interacted with ...

Cassie felt sick. She couldn't complete the thought or she would retch. She would talk to Jason again. There had to be an explanation. Or he was wrong about Stephanie. Or the article he found was bogus. Or the name was wrong.

Cassie flinched when she heard a warbling noise from the bedroom. She rushed for her cell phone by the bed. "Hello?"

"Um, hiya, babe."

Cassie blinked. "Ned?"

"Uh, yeah. Look, this is gonna sound kinda weird ... in fact, I really hope it does ... but is there anything goin' on there?"

"Going on? No, I just woke up. Why?"

"Ya sure? Nothing happened 'bout mebbe ten minutes ago?"

Cassie gasped. "You mean you actually sensed--?!" She nearly bit her tongue in her attempt to silence herself.

"Okay, babe, what happened?" Ned demanded.

Cassie fell to the edge of the bed. "It was just a dream, that's all."

"Just a dream? Nothin's 'just a dream' with ya."

Cassie ran her fingers through her hair. "Dammit, Ned ..."

"Whoa. Now I know something's goin' on if it's 'nuff ta make ya curse."

"All right, yes, something happened, but it's only the same dreams I get every Halloween. I just ..." She clenched a hand into a fist, punching the mattress beside her. "No, that's not right. Goodness, Ned, I've been horrible about this. I've kept it from everyone and I shouldn't have. It never got like this, and I never thought it would be associated with what's going on in Haven with Victor Mann and the girl that he--"

"Jeez, Cassie, slow down, I'm not followin' all that."

Cassie forced herself to take a breath. "Then let me get it all straight in my head first before I try to explain it any further. Can you be ready for school about fifteen minutes early?"

Ned snorted. "Babe, I'm usually outta this place earlier than that. I told my parents the bus arrives a half-hour earlier than it really does jus' so I can get outta the house and have some time away from 'em. No prob at all."

"All right, then I'll come by and pick you up and that will give me some time to explain it to you."

"Harry won't give ya hell fer this?"

"Oh, he'll probably object, but I'll just overrule him."

"Gotta admit, I'm amazed that yer parents haven't told him ta keep me away from ya."

Cassie's jaw clenched. Her parents had spoken to her on the point just a few days before the Halloween dreams began. They had warned her in no uncertain terms not to feel any sort of "infatuation" towards him. Yet by ending the conversation with the statement "you have been taking the pill regularly, I assume," her mother had implied that she tacitly accepted Cassie having sex with him. Just as long as she didn't feel anything for him. Try but don't buy.

Her mother's attitude towards relationships made her want to scream.

"Don't worry about it, Ned, please," Cassie said. "I better get ready for school if I want to get out of here early."

"No prob. Catch me at the west end of my block."

"All right. Bye."

Melinda's eyes narrowed as the door to the bathroom opened and her naked sister strolled out. She tried to look at Heather without really looking at her, focusing her attention on the steady strokes of the hairbrush in her hand. Melinda winced as the brush caught on a tangle.

Heather bent down to reach one of the lower drawers of her dresser. Melinda averted her eyes from the swell of bare pussy between her sister's thighs, yet her own tingled in response anyway. She thought she should say something, but no words would come to her.

Heather straightened up, tossing panties and a bra onto the bed. She turned and looked at her sister. "Yes?"

Melinda hesitated, then shook her head. She frowned as the brush caught again.

Heather gazed at her little sister as she picked up the panties. "You pissed at me or something?"

"Huh?"

Heather stepped into her panties and pulled them into place. "You've barely said a word to me all morning."

"Oh." Melinda ran her brush through her hair a few more times. "I guess I just didn't have anything to say."

"You didn't talk much last night, either."

"Well, I didn't have anything to say then, okay?"

"Yeah, right."

The brush caught again, and a single tug failed to clear it. Melinda growled as she grabbed her hair above the brush so it would stop pulling at her scalp while she disentangled it. "Shit. Now it's two things I don't have anymore with all the sex: clean panties and untangled hair!"

Heather picked up the bra. "That's more like it."

Melinda's eyes narrowed again. "More like what?"

Heather hesitated, then shook her head as she slipped on her bra. "Never mind."

Melinda dropped her hands, the brush slapping her thigh as she stomped forward. "No, come on, you were going to say something! What is it? More like what?"

Heather hooked her bra closed and tugged the straps once. She lifted her hair and let it fall down her back. "No. You're just going to get in a snit over it, and I don't want to deal with it."

"I don't have snits!"

Heather snorted.

"Okay, then I have a right to them, considering what you've been doing to me and everyone else."

"Am I doing it now?"

Melinda paused. "No, I guess not," she said, trying to hide her surprise. "Thank God for small favors, huh?"

"Considering you're giving me lots to think about in that area, it's more than a small favor, runt."

"What are you talking about?"

"You always go around this long in the mornings naked?"

Melinda's eyes widened. She looked down at herself. "Shit. I didn't even realize."

"Yeah, I know, believe me."

"And you're not--?"

"No, I am not making you go around naked. And it's not just you. Know why you saw me naked soon as you woke up? Sometime during the night, I couldn't stand sleeping in even just my nightgown and panties. I had to take them off."

"You slept in the nude?"

Heather smirked. "Why's that a big deal?"

"Well ... I ... it should be!"

"Just like you should be dressed by now?"

Melinda frowned and threw her brush atop her dresser. She dropped to the edge of the bed, folded her arms, and stamped her foot once.

"Yeah, that really helps."

Melinda didn't respond. She stared straight ahead.

"You want to know what I meant before when I said 'that's more like it?' Fine. I meant 'that's more like the whiny brat I'm used to.'"

Melinda's head whipped around. "Fuck you, Heather."

Heather cast a level look at Melinda.

Melinda tried to return it, but her eyes shimmered. She shrank back. "Stop looking at me like that."

Heather remained where she was, folding her arms.

Melinda's eyes burned. "I've got a right to whine, okay? You completely messed everything up for me with Jason!"

"What?"

"He used to call me almost every night. Or send me email, even if it was short. He stopped doing that after you started screwing with everyone's sex drive. And you said you weren't interested in stealing him from me!"

Heather was about to retort when she saw her sister's eyes glisten. She relented and let out a tiny sigh.

"So are you going to finally let up now? Is that why you're not having me lick your pussy this morning? You going to give him back to me? Or maybe he's sending you emails instead. Maybe you finally got what you wanted. You got him drooling over you again like he used to before the summer."

Heather's jaw tightened. "Yeah, okay, Jason is sending me emails a lot."

Melinda rose from the bed along with her fury.

"And they're all about you."

"Huh?!"

"He's frustrated as hell with you, Melinda, and frankly so is everyone else. It seems like every time you open your mouth it's to whine about the same thing for the fucking millionth time, or to diss someone, or to make fun of someone's idea. And the way you treat Richie--"

"Don't pull that one on me!" Melinda bellowed. "You did the same thing!"

"But I stopped and you didn't."

Melinda fell silent.

"Melinda, you can't imagine how many times I was tempted to keep you so horny all the time that you couldn't think straight just to stop you from getting on everyone's nerves. And before you go off on me for that, kindly note that I didn't do it and that I never intend to do it."

"Yeah, okay, fine, I know, we're on the same side."

"No, you don't know that, or you certainly don't act like it. Yeah, I know, you said you were trying not to be mean to people. I guess you did go with that for a bit, or at least you tried, but you've hardly been trying anymore."

"What the fuck do you want from me?!" Melinda shouted, wiping one of her eyes. "I'm only a freaking kid!"

"Yeah, well, news flash for you, runt, so are the rest of us, but we don't have time for it anymore."

Melinda's mouth opened, but no words came forth. The bitterness of her sister's tone had taken a few seconds to come through.

Heather sighed. "Yeah, that's really it, isn't it? My biggest worry should be who I'm going to be dating when the holidays get here. Yours should be figuring out how to be popular and not just be 'Heather's sister.' Jason's should be when the next Star Trek flick is coming out. Richie's should be how he's going to go a winter without baseball."

Melinda stared, her eyes still burning even as they brimmed with tears. She tried to work her mouth and throat again to speak and failed once more.

"Yeah, I know what you're going to say. You don't know who you are or what you're doing anymore. Join the freaking club. You have no clue how much I'd love to go back to the way it used to be, with me and Diane ragging on you and gossiping about boys and going to the mall. Shit, if I didn't have that stupid thing with Ms. Hollis for the party, I might've said yes when Brad asked me out. Then again, think about this: if we didn't get involved in this Darkness shit, you wouldn't have hooked up with Jason."

Melinda uttered a tiny, horrified gasp and gave her sister a stricken look.

"Grow up, Melinda," Heather said in a low voice. "The rest of us have. Or at least we're trying to."

Melinda's lower lip trembled, but she fought back the sob that threatened to rise into her throat. She swallowed hard and wiped her eyes again, sniffling once. "This is so not fair."

Heather heard more despair than whining. "Yeah, I know."

"I was only thirteen when this started! I didn't even get to be a teenager!"

Looking at her sister now, Heather had trouble believing that Melinda was the youngest of the Harbingers. The speed at which Melinda's body was developing could not be normal. Whatever force pushed them along in their fight had forced physical maturity on them, but could do little for the emotional side. Heather realized that Melinda was not immature but simply denying maturity.

"Even when this is over ... if it's ever over ... I still won't get to be a teenager," Melinda said, sullen.

Heather forced a small smile. "Yeah, but you have to admit, how many teenagers get this much sex?"

Melinda rolled her eyes.

"Come on. Don't claim you're not enjoying it. I don't really sense you even resisting me anymore."

"What's the point?"

"That never stopped you before."

"Okay, yeah, fine, I like it."

"Even when you did it with Ned?"

"I'm not supposed to! I'm Jason's girlfriend!"

"For crying out loud, you still are."

"But this isn't normal," Melinda said. "And now I have to do it with everyone else to keep up this link or whatever it is."

Heather grinned. "And that doesn't turn you on even a little bit?"

Melinda folded her arms and turned away from her big sister, moving one leg as if trying to hide her pussy from sight.

"Or maybe you're just afraid you'll have to do it with Richie."

"Oh, don't go on about that, I've had enough already," Melinda said in a quavering voice.

Heather raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

Melinda glared at her sister, but relented when she saw no amusement or mockery in Heather's face. "I thought about him in the shower. And ... it ... I sorta ..."

"And it got you wet."

Melinda shivered. "I ... I f-frigged myself silly."

Heather smiled. "So that was the noise I heard."

"Heather, please don't tell anyone! Especially not Richie! He'll never let me forget it. I have no fucking clue why I thought about him like that. God, I'm thinking about it again now!"

Heather's gaze lingered on her sister's rising nipples.

Melinda eyed Heather. "You're not--?"

"No, runt, I'm not. You're doing it all on your own."

"But why?"

"I don't know. The vision I had didn't go into a lot of detail. She just said we had to maintain it and I assumed that meant we had to have sex with each other regularly."

"But you didn't say we wouldn't be able to pick our own partners." Melinda slapped her forehead. "Stop whining! Stop complaining!"

"If it helps any, you're not the only one having a problem like that."

Melinda looked up. "Who ...?"

"Thinking about Ned gets me horny. If I don't fuck him by the weekend, I'll go nuts."

"Ohmigod, this is so screwed up. Jason better get Mrs. Radson to let us use her house!"

Heather smiled and squeezed Melinda's shoulder. "We better get moving and get out of here before Mom wonders what the delay is."

Melinda stood up, stared at her sister, then reached her arms around Heather and drew her into a hug.

"What's that for?" Heather said, her voice somewhere between amusement and affection.

"I don't know, it just seemed right."

Heather hugged her back and smiled. "Yeah, it does."

Ned whistled as they stepped away from the limo, feet crunching against the light layer of snow over the gravel of the school parking lot. "Wow, yeah, no wonder yer upset. That'd be 'nuff ta freak out anyone."

"I don't think you know the half of it, Ned," Cassie said, clutching her books. "You remember what Heather said, about what her vision told her what happens when some people die."

"Oh, yeah, that Presence stuff. Okay, yeah, I get it. Ya think yer bein' visited by some spook."

"Jason said Stephanie Fowler died twenty, no, twenty-one years ago. And that teacher she mentioned is gone, too."

"Mebbe yer doin' more like what Richie is doin'."

"But it's not the same! He just gets messages from them. I can interact with them. I don't want to be able to talk to the dead! My power never worked like that before!"

"I dunno, babe. Mebbe Heather's orgy-boost did something to it."

Cassie sighed and shook her head, her breath fogging before her face.

Ned shuffled his feet, which only made them colder as they dug themselves into the snow. "Mebbe it's some other girl, and she hasta pretend she's this dead girl so the counselor don't find out she's contacting you."

"Oh, that's really unlikely, Ned. But you're right that it probably has something to do with whatever he's up to. I have to tell Jason about this. Maybe he can ask Mrs. Radson about it."

"Ya sure the girl didn't look anything like that Gina chick?"

"Gina Caligano? No, I don't think so, but then again ..." Cassie trailed off. "Wait. That's ... that's really odd. I don't remember anything about her at all."

"Well, ya hardly know her, so, natch."

"No, that's not what I mean. I've seen every person at Haven High in my dreams at least once. Every one. But never her. No wonder I blanked on the name when you mentioned her to me. I wouldn't have known she existed if you hadn't told me."

"Huh. I wonder what would happen if ya tried ta get inta her head on purpose."

Cassie shuddered. "If she has anything in her head like that figure in my dreams, I'm not sure it would be safe." She blinked suddenly as a snowflake landed in her eye. She glanced at the bag Ned was carrying. "Ned, you better put something over that, it's already got a dusting of snow on it."

Ned looked down. "Nah, it's okay, this thing's been through worse." He lifted the bag and brushed the snow from the exposed end of the book. He held it between them and grinned. "Like the job I did? This oughta fool 'im fer a bit."

Cassie was impressed. He had spread shoe polish on the edges of the covers at the exposed end to make them look like leather, and he had yellowed the edges of the pages. A homemade paper dust jacket hid the rest of the cover.

She sniffed. "Except it still smells a little like shoe polish."

Ned waved a hand. "He won't notice that in a crowded hall."

"If he takes it from Jason in the hall. I'm not even sure how he expects to convince Doctor Mann that he has the real Book. Mann is not going to wait hours to take it out of the bag."

Ned rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, it's not really Mann we gotta fool so much as Jason."

"Jason? What are you talking about?"

He told her Jason's scheme.

Cassie gasped. "Oh, goodness, Ned, no!"

"It was his idea, I swear!"

"I don't mean that! It was dangerous enough toying with the spells in that Book! And what about Diane? She'll know about the trick anyway." When Ned shuffled his feet, Cassie grew more alarmed. "Ned, she does know, doesn't she? We can't just use her like--"

The laboring engine of a school bus drowned out her words as it turned into the parking lot. "That's them, we better go meet them when they get out," Ned said as he ran after the bus.

Cassie sighed and followed along, pulling her hood up to keep the wind and snow out of her hair. She came alongside him as Jason, Richie, Heather, and Melinda spilled out of the bus. "Jason!" Cassie called out. "Ned told me what you're planning, and I don't--"

Jason headed off to the side, away from the door of the bus. "We better talk over here, to minimize the chance of Doctor Mann seeing us from any of the windows of the school. And, Cassie, I know what you're going to say, but there's just no other way to do it."

"If it helps any, Cassie, I think he's nuts, too," Melinda piped.

"I think it's a way cool idea," Richie said.

Melinda looked at him as if wanting to retort, but clamped her mouth shut instead.

"You mean you won't implant something in his head while you're at it to make him worship at your feet?" Heather said with a smirk.

"Oh, that is so not funny," Melinda said, though she turned her head to hide a tiny smile.

"Chrissakes, chill out, everyone," Richie said. "Not like he's goin' up against someone like Melissa or Nyssa."

"No, just someone that might be worse, that's all," Melinda said before she could stop herself.

"Let's go over here and get behind this bus," Jason said.

"Diane is not here yet," Cassie said tightly.

"She's not going to be if she got the email I sent her last night," said Jason.

"She did," Heather said. "I had an email from her this morning about it. She's freaking out a little."

"I didn't want us to have to use this on two people," Jason explained in response to the questioning looks. "Especially if she has been, well, tampered with by Doctor Mann. I don't know if using that spell might conflict with it."

Cassie thought that was a very flimsy excuse, and she came close to taking Jason to task about it in front of the others. In her mind, this was nothing less than using Diane to their own ends, no matter how noble they thought those ends to be.

"That's why yer the brainy one of the outfit," Ned said. "I hadn't thought of that. But what did ya tell her that got her so upset?"

"I had to claim that I was going to follow her advice anyway and bring the Book to class. I got the same email you did, Heather. I didn't like having to fool her, either."

Cassie was aghast. "You told her to stay away from us??"

"Just so she could avoid being a target in the big argument I told her would follow." He took the bag from Ned and fished out a piece of paper from the pocket of his jacket. "All right, I got the spell written down here, the same one I used on my Mom before." He held it out to Ned. "All you have to do is plant the idea that I decided to follow Diane's advice and that I brought the Book with me."

Ned took the paper between his fingers, holding it like he was afraid it would contaminate him. "Um, yeah, okay."

"Something wrong?"

"I jus' feel kinda funny 'bout doin' this, ya know?"

"Because he's another guy?" Richie said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, I'd be lyin' if I said no, but it's more jus' doin' it in general." He glanced at Cassie.

Cassie shook her head. "I am not doing it. I'm sorry, I don't want any part of this."

Jason risked a look at Cassie, and it was met with such disapproval that he had to avert his eyes. He didn't need any more guilt than he had heaped upon himself.

Melinda snatched the paper from Jason's hand. "I'll do it."

Heather snickered.

Melinda held up the paper and looked at Jason. "Okay, um ... you ready?"

Jason nodded.

Melinda took a breath and read: "Thotg'altkas orgos ron'indna!"

Jason blinked once, eyes half-lidded as if drifting off to sleep. His body relaxed and his shoulders slumped, his book-bag strap sliding from his shoulder. Heather grabbed it and pulled it back into place.

"Um, Jason?" Melinda said in a small voice.

Heather leaned over and peered at Jason's glazed and unfocused eyes. "He's under, Melinda."

"Wow, th-that fast?"

"Never mind that, just let's get this done," Cassie declared.

"Um, Jason, listen to me," Melinda began in an uncertain voice. "You decided to believe what Diane said about the Book."

"Decided to ..." Jason said softly, but trailed off.

"Do it again, he's resistin' it," Ned said.

"You believe what Diane said about the Book," Melinda said in a louder voice. "You brought the Book with you today."

"Believe Diane," Jason intoned. "Brought ... brought the ..."

"You brought the Book!"

"I brought ... the Book."

"The real Book, not a fake one that--"

"Melinda!" Heather hissed.

"Shut up, bubblehead, it's not like I've done this before!" Melinda hissed back. She turned back to Jason. "You brought the Book because of what Diane said."

"Brought the Book ... because ... " Jason began.

"Because of what Diane said! Jeez!"

"Brought ... the Book ... because of what Diane ... said ..."

Melinda uttered a windy sigh. "Why is this like pulling teeth?" she demanded in an urgent whisper to the others. "Is it always this hard to use this spell?"

Ned leaned over and craned his neck to peer past the end of the bus. "That's gonna hafta be good enough, kids. Ol' Saggy Seeger's headed over here."

Melinda gasped and nearly dropped the paper. "How do I stop this thing?! I ... oh, here ... Jason, awaken."

Jason's head jerked once and his eyes fluttered. "Huh? What's going on?"

"That is precisely what I wish to know, Mr. Conner."

All heads turned. Seeger folded his arms and glowered at them. His eyes shifted towards Melinda and narrowed on the slip of paper still in her hand. Melinda crumpled it and stuffed it into her pocket.

"Is there any particular reason you have all congregated here?" Seeger asked. "Where some of you are conveniently out of the line of sight of the school building?"

Glances were exchanged. Before anyone could speak, Richie stepped forward. "Hey, chill, peeps, I'll handle this." He stood before Seeger and flashed him a cheesy grin. "Top o' the morning to you, Mr. Seeger! Fine day we're havin', huh? Good thing you're out here to protect us from snowball fights and all that. Nothing like wet snow running down your neck to totally ruin your day."

Seeger sighed. "Is that a backhanded confession, Mr. Gardner?"

"Huh? Confession? Oh, yeah, you're right. Right as always, Mr. Seeger, can't fool you anymore."

Melinda looked at the others and mouthed "what the fuck is he doing?"

"Do you have a comment, Miss Sovert?" Seeger said.

Melinda flinched. "N-no, Mr. Seeger."

"She was probably just gonna tell me not to do it, Mr. Seeger," said Richie.

"Do what, Mr. Gardner?"

"Just what we were talking about. Starting a big snowball fight. But you stopped me, Mr. Seeger. Thanks, I won't forget it."

Seeger hesitated.

"Hey, ya know, I think I wanna repay that. How about I, oh I dunno, volunteer to help get the party together Monday night?"

"Are you quite serious, Mr. Gardner?" Seeger said, his tone betraying his incredulity far more than his words.

"Yeah, sure, why not? I mean, you can't really gimme detention since you didn't see me doing anything. So this is sorta the next best thing."

Seeger stared at him, then flicked his eyes over the others, as if calculating in his head all possible motivations and angles. He clenched his jaw and let out a long sigh through his nose. "I do not know what shenanigans have been going on with this group, and at the moment it is too cold out here for me to care. From now on, I will insist you all get inside the school with all due haste when you step off the bus."

Melinda gasped and Heather let out a frustrated sigh. Jason remained impassive and adjusted his glasses. Ned held his tongue between his teeth to stop himself from commenting, and Cassie simply stared at a point just off to the side.

Seeger stared at the others in turn as if checking that his announcement had been met with a satisfactory amount of venom. He turned towards Richie. "Very well, Mr. Gardner. But I am doing this only because we are short on volunteers as it is. Ms. Hollis is in charge of the arrangements, but for reasons I cannot fathom she has sought no more assistance after Miss Sovert. But do not think this will exempt you from punishment if you choose to step out of line. Now, all of you, get to class."

The Harbingers filed past Seeger and into the school. Once past the entrance, a fuming Melinda turned two eyes of fury at Richie. "Nice going, fuckhead. And don't you start on me, Heather, I think I have a right to complain this time!"

"It's okay, Melinda, I'm not too crazy about it either," Heather said. "What the hell was that, Richie?"

"Hey, lemmelone, okay?!" Richie snapped. "I said I would try to get put on that party detail with you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, we didn't ask you to screw up our morning meetings!"

"Can we not argue about this, please?" Cassie said.

Jason turned around and brought them to a stop. "Look, we'll talk about this later. Right now, I just want to know what we were talking about when Seeger came over."

"Um, huh?" Melinda asked. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"I mean I felt like I had zoned out or something."

"Oh, uh ... oh, crap, I forgot to--!"

"We were arguin' about the Book," Ned declared. "Still gotta say I disagree with ya, old hoss."

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as Jason stared at Ned for a few long seconds. "Let's not go into this anymore," Jason finally said. "Diane was right, I need to keep this with me. In fact, I think I've had enough of the arguing. I need to get to my locker, this damn thing is almost as heavy as all my school books combined."

The others stood absolutely still and silent as Jason walked away. Ned finally grinned. "Ah, the geek brain combined with the ol' Ned noodle. We'd rule the world if we weren't the good guys."

Ned looked at Cassie and noted with dismay that this was one joke at which she did not laugh.

Diane rushed out of her homeroom class seconds after the bell rang, a letter clutched in her hand. She stumbled as she tried to dodge around the other students. Her legs felt like lead. She had not slept much the night before, not after reading the email that Jason had sent. She had wanted to call him, but her mother had imposed an eight o'clock 'phone curfew' some time ago when she used to talk too long on the phone with Heather. She had never had the nerve to ask for it to be lifted.

Not that it would have mattered. She believed she would have reverted to telling him to bring the Book anyway. She thought it creepy that she could still be convinced of something she knew was wrong.

Just ahead of her, Heather raced towards the door to her first class. "Heather, wait!"

Heather almost didn't stop and seemed to cringe. Finally she turned, and Diane staggered to a stop before her. "Diane, I have to get to class, can this wait?" Heather said in a short voice.

Diane brandished the letter. "I got another note from the counselor. This time he says I have to see him! Right now!"

Heather's eyes widened. "Well ... you ... you better see him, then."

Diane stared. "What??"

"You better see him, Diane," Heather said in a steadier voice. "You don't want to raise any suspicions."

"But, Heather, Jason has the Book with him. He'll make me make Jason give it to him!"

Heather sighed. "Diane, look, what did Jason say at the end of the email?"

"Oh, I don't remember, this is all just--"

"He said you had to trust him."

Diane paused. "Wait, is this some sort of plan?"

"I didn't say that."

"But it has to be, right?"

Heather ran a hand through her hair. "I really don't have time for this, Diane, I'm sorry."

"But that doesn't make sense, he would have told me, right?"

Heather made an exasperated sound but said nothing.

Diane frowned. "Come on, Heather, don't do this to me! You know how desperate I am to do something u-useful." She blinked as she stumbled over the word.

"You are useful, Diane, please stop saying you're not. Look at it this way: you think we'd let you go to him if we thought it wasn't the right thing to do?"

Diane let out a shaky sigh. "I really don't want to do this."

Heather looked pained. "I know, but I think it'll be okay."

"You don't know that."

"But we got the link, all right?" Heather said a little louder than she had intended. "It'll work for any of us. Didn't you feel something last night? And then again towards morning?"

"Heather, I was up most of the night. I was only catnapping the few times I did manage to sleep. It could've been just a funky dream." She sighed. "All right, yes, I guess I did feel it."

"We'll be there for you, I promise." Heather glanced at the clock. "You better get going, Diane, or the counselor will really get suspicious. Look for me after this class, okay?"

Heather waved once and disappeared into the classroom.

Diane rushed to her first class long enough to hand over her absence slip, then ran towards the counselor's office.

She was approaching his office when she realized that talking to Heather could have done more harm than good. If she happened to think this was all part of some plan, would Doctor Mann pick up on that? Did she just risk whatever scheme the others had hatched?

At the same time, resentment churned. How dare they keep her in the dark and throw her to the sharks for some plan for which she had no idea of the goal or what was expected of her! She felt no different if they had told her she was little more than a pawn.

She paused at the door to calm herself. She took a few deep breaths before she let herself in.

Victor looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Diane. I hope you are well?"

Diane tried to speak, and her voice cracked. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I-I'm fine, Doctor."

"Please, it's just Victor," he said. He gestured towards the sofa. "Have a seat, Diane. There is something rather important we need to discuss."

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