Heather tolerated the silence as long as she could. "Someone say something, okay?"

Jason turned his head away from the window just as the bus lurched through the turn from Green Avenue. Melinda appeared startled, as if she had been dozing. Richie just frowned.

"Why aren't we talking about what we're going to be doing today?" Heather asked.

"Anything we talk about now we'll just have to repeat for Ned, Cassie, and Diane," said Jason. "And I'm not sure what there is to do during the school day except get through it."

"And if Victor goes for the Book?"

"When he hasn't had the balls to it before now?" Richie muttered.

"The Book is safe," said Jason, though his voice held little conviction.

Melinda noticed and frowned. "Oh, that makes me feel so much better, thanks."

Jason sighed. "What would you want me to say, Melinda?"

"That they're not going to try and take me again!"

"I doubt they would do that in school. This might be the only 'safe' time we have today."

"I have to attend Ms. Hollis' class again," Heather snapped. "I wouldn't call that safe."

"What more can she do to you?" Richie said. "Doesn't she think she has that stupid deal going with Ms. Bendon?"

"And if she finds out she's been tricked?"

"She's not gonna find out!"

"How do you know that?"

"Okay, fine, I fucking don't," Richie growled. "But--"

"Why is everyone ignoring what Ms. Bendon is going to do to her at the party?" Melinda demanded.

"Melinda, please," Heather said.

"You're ignoring it, too! Unless your brain has got so bubbleheaded from the things she's making you wear that you're looking forward to it now."

Heather paused and let out a controlled sigh. She squeezed her thighs together. "No," she lied.

"What's the big deal? We use the power we're gonna get from the spell to stop her cold," Richie said.

"We might need every bit of it to get Ms. Hollis and help Cassie with Gina," said Jason. "And keep Victor at bay."

"That's what I tried to tell Melinda," Heather said. "Anyway, you can't take Ms. Hollis if Ms. Bendon is watching. She's ... she's going to want to play with her little harem girl at the party."

"Stop that," Melinda said.

"Stop what, runt?"

"The way your voice goes all breathy when you say things like that."

Jason had known that Heather was going to have to serve as a diversion and was grateful that she had deduced it herself. "We're going to have to stick together very closely after school. We can't let anyone get any of us alone. You all know how much trouble Victor's people had trying to take Melinda when just Richie was there."

Richie allowed himself a small, smug grin.

"Yeah, and I was still taken anyway," Melinda muttered. She looked at Richie, who frowned back at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

Richie paused, then shook his head. "Forget it."

"I j-just don't want to go through that again, okay?"

When Jason gave her a sympathetic look, she almost told them how she had woken up several times during the night, convinced that she was back at the mansion and unable to move unless commanded. She had to get out of bed and walk around the room to convince herself otherwise before she could get back to sleep.

Even when she slept, her dreams had been plagued with images of strange men entering the room, and her body moving of its own accord to seduce them into her bed despite her silent screams to stop.

"I have to willingly give him the pendant," said Jason in measured tones. "He can't use the Book the way he wants to without it. And the Book doesn't want to be given to him."

"I still say that's really disturbing, Jason, that the Book can actually have feelings like that," Heather said. "I don't want to think it could be influencing ... that it could ..."

"It's not," Jason declared, touching the pendant under his shirt. "It can be annoying when it talks to me, but that's about ... Heather?"

"I think I just figured something out from my vision!" Heather cried, then lowered her voice when several other students on the bus looked in her direction. "The last part, where he's fighting to stop the Book from being taken from him. What if he's actually fighting the Book itself?"

"That's fucking creepy," Melinda said.

"But I think Heather's on to something," Jason said, leaning forward in his seat. "The Book is scared of being given to Victor. I just don't know why."

"But Victor will give it to the Darkness," said Melinda. "That's what it's really scared of. It would scare me!"

"But it's been used by the Darkness before through Melissa, and it never acted that way. It's always been content with its current owner."

"I still feel like there's one more missing part to the vision," Heather said. "I'm really hoping I get to see it before everything goes to hell."

Jason touched the pendant through his shirt. You are afraid of the Darkness.

Jason stated the point with no hint of doubt or hesitation. He could sense the Book as a bundle of nervous energy at the edge of his mind, like someone trying to appear stoic in the face of fear save for telling twitches of his mouth or anxious gestures with his hands.

What is it exactly that you're afraid of? Tell me. Maybe it will help me keep you away from Victor.

It was listening to him; Jason could sense that much. But he heard nothing in reply.

It makes no sense to keep it from me when you want me to keep you and use you. I can't do that if I give you away to Victor, now can I?

Silence.

"It won't tell me," Jason said. "It's afraid of something and it won't tell me what."

Melinda shivered. "Yeah, that is creepy," she muttered.

Laura did not bother knocking. She let herself in and slammed the door behind her. "All right, just what in the hell do you think you're doing?"

Victor lifted his eyes and leaned back in his seat. He showed no surprise and no anger at her rude arrival. "And this is in regards to what, Laura?" said Victor in a friendly tone of voice.

"It is in regards to why I suddenly have two new members of the administrative staff that I most certainly did not hire, but everyone else acts as if they were always here. I want to know why."

Victor smiled. "I would suspect it is due to your own association with the Darkness that protects you from their influence."

"That is not the question I asked!"

"If you prefer, however, I can have them concentrate more fully on you, so you can just accept them as everyone else does."

The supreme confidence in which Victor delivered his words gave her a moment's pause, but that was all. "Is that a threat?"

"Take it as you please. It is not my concern."

"It is very much my concern, especially when you stated at the outset of your little adventure that our paths would not cross. Altering the membership -- and the minds -- of the staff is crossing my path."

Victor folded his hands in his lap and leaned further back in his seat. "It will not affect any machinations you have planned for this evening, and after today they -- and I -- will be gone."

"So you claim."

"Laura, I am not involved in the petty games of power that so interest you and your ilk. I work to a far greater goal. In no way do I wish to remain here any longer than I need to."

Laura folded her arms. If it were her playing for such power at the school, she would certainly not leave anytime soon, and she would not be above telling someone that she intended to leave just to keep him off her back.

Victor chuckled. "Perhaps I see this situation more clearly than you think I do. I know of your claim on Heather Sovert. I will not contest that."

"Terri Hollis seemed willing to do so."

"And her actions are none of my concern. I am neither her keeper nor her conscience."

"She is associated with you and your people."

"Marginally." Victor paused. "A peace offering, then. I offer this bit of information to you: I wish to disassociate myself from Terri."

Laura's eyebrows rose. "You do?"

"Yes. Her loyalty to me is questionable. So if you have any wish to move against her, I will not stop you or attempt to rescue her."

"All right," Laura said in a less angry tone. "Can you at least tell me why these two are here? And are there more I don't know about yet?"

"All I can tell you is that today is a very crucial day for me. I do not wish interference from the Harbingers."

Laura's lips curled into a smug smile. "Proving too much for you, are they?"

"No," Victor said, though his fingers laced together tighter. "But I would underestimate them at my own peril."

Laura's smile turned sly. "I have already struck a blow at them. I will have Heather as my slave starting next week."

"I will take your word for it that this is an achievement."

"My point is that I have helped you. I will have Heather entertain me tonight at the party. That is one less Harbinger for you to deal with."

Victor remained impassive. "And what is this to me?"

Fury flashed in Laura's eyes. "You could show some appreciation."

"You wish compensation?"

Laura hesitated. In those moments, she entertained the notion that perhaps she had been wrong, that the two women had been part of the staff all along and she had simply forgotten about it.

In the time it took her to consider apologizing for the mix-up and excusing herself, the thought had vanished, ejected from her mind before it could take root.

"No," said Laura in a lower voice. "I doubt you would be inclined to give it even if I asked. I simply want the courtesy of being informed when you make changes to my staff."

Laura tried not to appear deflated. Compensation was exactly what had been on her mind when she had first entered the room. She could have taken what had just happened as a sign that he could not alter her perceptions with the same ease as the others, but it was the first time anyone had succeeded in getting into her head since Nyssa.

"I don't want to fight you, Victor," said Laura in a lower voice. "It should be obvious to you by now that there would be no guaranteed winner."

Victor allowed himself a moment of contemplation. "Perhaps," he said in a cautious tone. "It depends on what each of us is willing to risk. And I do not believe you for a moment when you say you wished no compensation."

Laura chose not to respond. She sensed a small crack in his veneer. He must be worried about something, or he would not have brought in more people with abilities like his own.

"Would you be content with information in payment for my temporary augmentation to your staff?" said Victor.

Laura folded her arms. "What kind of information?"

"Information on one of the Harbingers that may assist you in influencing that person at a later date."

"Which one?"

"Melinda Sovert."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "She is a bit young for my tastes. Not nearly as sexy as Heather. Though I do admit to noticing her tits have filled out a bit since the semester started."

Victor steepled his fingers. "Melinda has a weakness you may be able to exploit. Something my associates left in her recently: an attraction to older women."

Laura's lips curled into a wicked smile. "How much of an attraction?"

"You would have to use it as a stepping stone rather than a trigger. Affection for you will not simply pop into existence, especially considering how she must feel about you if what you say about your enslavement of her sister is true."

Laura nodded. She was not thinking in terms of sexual conquest. Not yet. But it would be another means of undermining the Harbingers.

"But it is not in her control," Victor said. "She will not be able to will it away even if she suspects it was placed there. The Harbingers do not understand all the subtleties of my power."

"At least now you admit you have some sort of power that's different than my own."

"I admit nothing more than you have not already deduced in your dealings with Terri. But that is all I will tell you."

Laura looked at his face and realized that his last statement was a dismissal, a permanent one. He did not want her to talk to him again. She considered yielding some information to him in return, such as his incomplete influence over Seeger. She decided she had not been compensated enough for that. "Then I will no longer bother you," she said with a sly smile. "Good day, Victor."

She opened the door behind her and stepped out as quickly as she had entered.

"Fuck," Ned blurted.

Cassie had just told him what had transpired with Gina and Stephanie as they sat in the back of the limo headed towards the school. "In reaction to what part?" she asked.

"All of it. Damn. Yer power is freakin' amazin'."

Cassie smiled. It was hard not to be a little proud of her abilities now.

"Ya really wanna help Stephanie?" Ned said. "Do ya think ya can?"

"I'm not sure, Ned. She was really adamant about me not even trying. But I'm going to need her help just to keep Gina out of Victor's hands."

"But how can she if she can't go through the door herself?"

"Distances don't mean anything in the Dreamverse. I think I can link them directly by making a door that opens right from Stephanie's mind to Gina's. Or at least across a really small gap."

"Somethin' I don't get, though," Ned said. "She said that if she left it would be like takin' her soul outta her body. How come you can do it?"

Cassie had not wanted to dwell on that. She did not relish the idea that she left an empty husk in her bed every time she entered the Dreamverse. "What I do might be some sort of astral projection. At least I hope it is."

"Sorry, babe, mebbe I shouldn't've brought it up, with how ya was worried 'bout losin' yerself or dyin'."

Cassie shook her head. "That was when I was worried that I was contacting the dead. But there's something else I'm worried about, Ned, that makes me wish I could help Stephanie." She trembled for a moment. "I may be jumping at shadows, but it was what I saw around Stephanie's cage."

"What was it?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just a big void, like she was suspended in the middle of a great blackness."

"I take it that's not normal, huh?"

"Not when she first started contacting me. It was dark, yes, but there was a floor under the cage, walls like a dungeon cell, and a ceiling. This was nothingness."

"Babe, yer spookin' me here, ya know."

Cassie gave him a stricken look. "No more than I already am!"

"So what's it mean?"

Cassie stared straight ahead, her eyes wide and unfocused. "I don't know. But whenever I think about it, I get really scared for her."

Jason's group arrived at the school first. Diane appeared a minute later and stood to the side, letting her book bag dangle near the ground so she could hold her hands folded before her in a proper show of quiet submission. Only a minute after that, Cassie's limo drove up.

"There they are!" Melinda said, pointing.

"Thanks for the news-flash, runt," said Heather.

Jason glanced in their direction, then looked towards the school.

Cassie and Ned rushed up to them. "Man, does she have a buttload to tell ya all about Gina and Stephanie."

"I don't think we'll have time for that now, Ned," said Cassie.

Jason was still staring at the school. His eyes swam in and out of focus.

"Yeah, I guess yer right," Ned said. "We gotta come up with a game plan ta get through the Day of Hell. Right, old hoss?"

Jason didn't respond. He was still staring, his face slowly twisting into a frown.

Ned raised an eyebrow and looked towards the school. "Whatsamatter, kemosabe? Something up with Seeger?"

Richie narrowed his eyes and looked as well. Seeger was standing at the top of the steps, scowling at the students as they passed. "He's got an extra few layers of ugly on his face today," Richie drawled. "Same as any Halloween."

"Jason?" Melinda said, stepping up to him. "Jason!"

Jason blinked rapidly and turned to face the others. "Something's wrong."

"Um, dude?" said Ned. "Ya wanna be a li'l more specific?"

"And it better be that the school is on fire or something else simple like that!" Melinda said.

Richie snorted. "Yeah, I wish."

"I'm seeing something strange when I look at the school," Jason said. "I have to really stare at it to see it."

"What, an Aura?!" Melinda said in alarm.

"How can a building have a fucking Aura?" Richie snapped.

Melinda stuck her tongue out at him. "I don't see anything anyway."

"No, not an Aura," Jason said. "It's really faint, but I can see energy patterns like the ones that accompany Victor's power."

"Yer seein' Victor, of course, right?" Ned said. "He's prolly already in the school building."

Melinda looked stricken when Jason shook his head. "No, it's more energy than I think he could produce. Or at least it wouldn't be that spread out."

"Ms. Hollis, then."

"Ned, if it had been from them, I would have seen it before now. Just the two of them aren't enough to see from this distance."

Melinda was the first to react after a few seconds of heavy silence. "Aw, shit. Shit!"

"What?" Richie demanded.

"Victor's got his cult here, you dumbass!" Melinda shouted.

"Melinda, keep your voice down!" Heather hissed.

"Fuck you, Heather! Who cares who knows about it now? Everything is totally fucked anyway!"

"Melinda, calm down," Cassie said in a firm but quavering voice. "Please, getting hysterical about it is not going to help."

Ned glanced towards the school. "Um, yeah, ya better keep it down, old Seeger's givin' us the evil eye."

Richie tilted his head. "Nah, that ain't his evil eye. I oughta know."

"Okay, then what is it? Interested in our stimulatin' conversation?"

"All right, stop it, everyone," Jason declared. "Stop panicking, otherwise--"

He trailed off when Melinda appeared before him, her eyes shining. "Please don't let me go through that again," she said in a small, shrill voice. Tears leaked down her cheeks. "Please, n-not again."

By the time Jason thought to reach out to her, she had buried her face in his shoulder. He embraced her and let out a quaking sigh against her neck.

No one said anything. Ned looked away. Cassie stared at Melinda, her own eyes glistening. Heather looked uncertain, caught between wanting to comfort her little sister and not wanting to interrupt the moment between her and Jason.

Jason forced himself to take a breath and let it out, then another, steadier than the first. He hugged Melinda, but then nudged her back until she finally relented, giving him a hurt look and wiping her eyes.

"Melinda, we won't let it happen again," Jason said. "We are not going to let anything happen to any of us."

Melinda blinked a few times and wiped the remaining tears from her face. The hurt look in her eyes faded.

Jason looked at the others. "Same thing for everyone. Fine, Victor has a few of his people in the school. At least we know about it now. Stop assuming the worst. We always managed to pull through before."

Melinda bit her lip and nodded, holding back any remaining tears.

Cassie let out a small sigh of relief that belied the intensity of the emotion. Jason was finally pushing away his own doubts and acting in a proper leadership role. Now some of the others were nodding as well.

"So how are we going to protect Melinda?" Heather asked. "Or the rest of us for that matter?"

"We'll all meet up with each other after every class," Jason said. "And we keep checking on each other over the link during class."

"But, Jason, we can't all get to the same place without being late for the next class," Cassie said.

"Then be late for it."

Richie's eyes widened. "Jason Conner, The Great White Nerd, tellin' us to be late for class?" He suddenly lifted his eyes and pointed at the sky. "Look, a flying pig!"

"We could be riskin' detention," Ned mused. "Jus' like they tried ta do with us when Nyssa was in town."

"Then we blow it off."

Richie opened his mouth wide and pantomimed his jaw dropping to the ground with his hand.

"The point is, we don't let them separate us or delay us. We'll deal with the consequences after Halloween."

Ned pounded his fist into his open palm. "Now ya talkin'!"

"Victor's going to confront you, Jason," Heather said.

All eyes turned to her. "You had another vision?" asked Jason.

"A small one, just now. It was just a flash. I didn't see anything else, just you and him in the hallway."

"The hallway?" Cassie asked. "Not someplace private like his office?"

"No, it's in the hallway. I can't tell which one, but there were other students going by on both sides."

"Okay, thank you, Heather," Jason said. "Melinda, stop by my locker so I can jot down where all your classrooms are."

Melinda nodded and afforded him a tiny smile.

"Diane?" Jason called.

Diane stepped forward. "Yes, Master?"

"First of all, don't call any of us that. Use our names while we're at school."

Diane nodded once. "Yes, Jason."

"Second, I want you to stick to Heather today. Either you go to her classroom at the end of the period or Heather comes to yours."

"We almost always meet each other somewhere in the middle between classes."

"But this time we have to go find Jason after that, Diane," Heather said. "First two classes, let me come to you, since Jason's locker is closer to your classroom. You can come get me for the remaining classes." She looked at Jason. "That's where you want to meet, right?"

Jason glanced at his watch. "If I had time, I'd calculate the ideal position between each class that's closest to all of us. Maybe I'll do that during first class. So, yeah, meet by my locker after the first class for now."

"Seeger's still lookin' at us, and only us, kemosabe," said Ned. "We better hustle."

"All right, let's go," Jason said. He headed towards the school, the rest of the Harbingers falling into step behind him. They marched as one, like a platoon of soldiers, into Haven High School.

Seeger watched the Harbingers troop into the school building, oblivious to his scrutiny. Even Richie did not afford him even so much as a smirk. His gaze picked out Jason. He was convinced now that Jason was the leader of this group. What exactly he was leading, Seeger was unsure.

As they crossed the threshold, his eyes shifted to Melinda.

Seeger had never -- save for that one time -- intentionally eavesdropped on the students. He did not care to hear the minutiae of their shallow lives, or wince at their butchering of English grammar or their salty language. And the only way he could hear something across a parking lot was if it had been shouted.

(Victor's got his cult here)

It made no sense. He must have misheard it. For all he knew, he had misheard "cat" as "cult," and Melinda was upset because she was allergic to cats.

Yes, that was the comforting explanation, the one he could tuck away in the back of his mind and allow him forget about the incident. He would not even bother calling Doctor Mann to task for bringing an animal to school without prior permission, for that would test his comfortable hypothesis, and he would not want that.

(Victor's got his cult here)

(never saw them before)

(very familiar to him)

Seeger suddenly realized he had been staring at an empty lot for the past minute. He grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath and ducked back inside.

Gina knew exactly how to strut down the hallway, each high-heeled step perfect and precise. Her legs followed through with the same sultry rhythm as the click of her heels and the swing of her hips. Her stride was just wide enough to allow a glimpse of her panties to whatever boy decided to stare at her long enough.

And there was no shortage of boys so willing, not to mention furtive, secretly desirous glances from some of the girls.

It was so easy it was automatic, like starting a wind-up toy, as if her body had developed a separate will that followed Victor's directives without the need for conscious thought.

It was just as well. Her mind had drifted that morning on the bus as she watched large swathes of pristine snow glisten in the sun on the trees and grass. The demons no longer plagued her. She could entertain another set of thoughts in her mind without feeling overwhelmed or threatened.

By the time she reached the classroom, her pussy was primed, wanting for the touch of a cock or a tongue as it lay moist and needy behind her pretty white panties. Her nipples hardened and tingled as Brad's eyes rose to greet her. She imagined another part of him rising as well, and it sent a lusty shiver through her body.

Brad watched as she took her seat. She spread her legs, exposing her panties to him. All automatic. No thought at all. The rest of her mind could have been on another planet if she wished it.

Brad's eyes were drawn right where they were desired. Gina shivered again, as if just his gaze were enough to stroke her wet folds. "Man, I'm so really looking forward to the party, Gina," Brad said in a low, lustful voice.

"Of course you are, Master," Gina whispered softly to him.

Brad blinked and glanced around. "Um, you sure you wanna say that out loud?"

Gina could have told him about her calling, the great honor that had been bestowed upon her, the wonderful and fulfilling life that was now laid out before her. She would need only say it to him and believe it, and he would believe it just as fervently and never question it again.

The words would not come to her, hanging in a strange limbo somewhere in her thoughts. They were perfect and correct, and yet they would not come forth.

It did not matter. She was not required to tell him. Nothing in Victor's directives had mentioned it. She was still a good girl.

Brad shifted in his chair, his crotch growing tight. "So how long do we hafta stay at the party?"

Victor had imparted the plan to her that morning before she left for school. "For the first hour, then we can leave and I can be your slave for the rest of the evening."

Brad's grin faded. "I just realized something. Shit, I've been so looking forward to this that I didn't even think--"

"What is it, Master?"

Brad let out a husky breath. "Fuck, I love it when you call me that. Anyway, where the hell are we gonna go after we leave the party? Where can we, you know, do it?"

"I know a place, Master, on the east side of town."

"Huh? What kind of place?"

"It's an abandoned church," Gina said, her voice growing sultry. "On the other side of Old Fairview."

Brad's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"The lower level of the church was preserved," said Gina. "Some social groups hold meetings there."

"I never heard about--"

"It's the perfect place for us, Master. No one else will be around. We can stay there as long as you want."

"Um, okay, but ... shit, a church?" He paused. One corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Huh. That's kinda kinky if you think about it."

"Are you pleased, Master?"

Brad smirked. "If you're gonna be wearing that same little number you did Saturday, yeah, I think I'm gonna be real pleased."

Gina smiled and sat up straight in her chair as the teacher called for the class to begin. She let Brad have one last glance at her now damp panties before he turned around in his chair.

Jason was still taking notes as he left his first class, his notebook cradled in his arm like a baby. He glanced up as he jogged towards his locker, not so much to watch where he was going as to observe the patterns of energy. At first he had thought they would twist and weave like trails of smoke as the students passed through them. Instead, they seemed to pass inside each student, as if linking them to one large grid.

He turned a few pages back and looked at his failed attempts to compose a plan to allow all his friends to meet with a minimal average travel time from each class. It proved to be too complex a problem to solve without his computer.

Melinda and Richie were standing beside his locker when he arrived. Ned and Cassie showed up next, then Heather and Diane. Ned frowned as he glanced past the others for a moment.

"All right, everyone okay?" Jason asked.

Heads nodded. Heather spoke first. "Jason, I'm getting that flash a little stronger now. Victor is definitely going to confront you this morning."

"Bring it on!" Richie said. "He'll have to take on all of us."

"It might not be until after third period."

"Oh great," Melinda grumbled. "Ms. Hollis gets to fuck you over first."

"I don't know what more she can do to me. I've already been made a part-time slave."

"For Ms. Bendon!"

"I told you, runt, Ms. Hollis still thinks she has a piece of me, too."

"We're just going to have to take a chance that Heather will be okay, aren't we?" Cassie said, her tone reluctant. "We don't have any additional energy right now to lend Heather."

"I don't think we should give it to her even if we had it," said Jason.

Melinda gasped and gave him a horrified look, but Heather was nodding in agreement. Ned turned his gaze back to the others. "Fightin' the right battle, huh, chief?"

"Pretty much, yes," said Jason. "We can't win in any struggle against Terri Hollis right now. Avoiding a fight might lull her into complacency. It will make our move on her later more of a surprise."

"Not to mention your confrontation with Victor," Cassie said.

"I'm not that worried about it," Jason said, though his tone was uneasy. "He can't really do much to me if he wants the Book and the pendant. One without the other won't work."

"So what's he waiting for?" Melinda piped. "I want to get it over with!"

"I'm seeing energy patterns all over the school. Victor's people are sort of setting the stage. They're working their power over everyone so they don't pay any attention to what Victor does. They probably did the same thing when they took Melinda."

Melinda trembled for a moment.

"Yeah, that makes sense ta me," said Ned. He turned his head and looked down the hallway again.

"We better hurry up, Jason, the hallway is almost clear," said Cassie.

"I don't know how you can all be so casual about this," Melinda said. "Victor's cult is brainwashing the whole school right in front of us!"

"It's not complete control, Melinda," Jason said. "And it proves that Victor's power has limits. If we can keep most of the battle away from his cult, we have a better chance of gaining the upper hand. That means unless he can bring his entire cult to the school, we have to keep the battle here."

"I'm not sure we'll be able to do that, Jason," Cassie said. "Victor performs some sort of rite to complete his enslavement. It's unlikely he does it at the school."

Jason looked around. "We better get going. Cassie, we'll talk more about that at lunch."

The group broke up, the girls dashing off to make it to their classrooms before the start of the period, while Richie simply trudged away. Jason closed his locker and stopped when he saw Ned still standing there. "What's wrong?"

"Somethin's up."

When Jason gave him a questioning look, Ned jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Jason looked past him, and his mouth went dry as he saw Vice Principal Seeger standing at the far end of the hall, watching them. "Shit, we better get going before--"

Ned grabbed his arm. "Dude, he's been standing there the whole time we've been talkin'. He didn't bat an eye when we stood here while everyone else went ta class. He didn't make a sound when the others ran in the hall. An' he still ain't doin' nuthin' more than jus' watchin' us."

Jason looked at Seeger again. Hard. "No Aura. No energy coming from him at all."

"Well, that's nice ta know. But it still don't explain it."

"We'll have to worry about it later, Ned," Jason said. He headed off and ducked down another hallway.

Ned waited until he was standing in the hallway alone. He turned towards Seeger, clicked his heels, and let off a salute.

Seeger scowled, his hands clenching into fists. He turned and walked away.

Ned nodded. "Yeah, there's something seriously up with him."

Second period came and went. The Harbingers gathered a second time.

"Everyone still okay?" Jason asked.

"Other than I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop!" Melinda complained. "Jason, I-I saw someone in the hall. It looked like Lynn, one of the women that took me!"

Jason heard the rising panic in her voice. "Melinda, you're not going to be taken again."

"But you can't watch me during class!"

"Melinda, please, chill out!" Heather cried. "You're giving me a headache. I would've had a vision if you were going to be taken again."

"Nobody understands what I went through," Melinda muttered.

Jason placed a hand on her shoulder. "Melinda ..."

"I know, I know!" Melinda cried, wiping her eyes and sniffling once. "I should stop whining."

"I wasn't going to say that."

"But it's what a lot of you are thinking. You're right. I just--"

Cassie stepped forward and touched her arm. "Melinda, it's okay. I think this hit you harder than you wanted to admit."

Melinda forced herself to take a deep breath and nodded. She wiped her eyes and turned away when Cassie tried to comfort her.

Jason wanted to console Melinda. From the way her eyes shimmered, that was exactly what she wanted from him, but the group needed him more than she did. "Heather, speaking of visions--"

"It's going to happen after next period." She paused, then added in a lower voice. "After Ms. Hollis' class."

"Cassie's third period class is the furthest from Victor's office. We gather there first. We don't let him get any of us alone."

"Some of us have classes kinda close ta his office," Ned said. "Richie, fer instance."

"Yeah, just let that fucking tool try something," Richie said. "I'll nail him in the balls, and I don't give a flying fuck if I get expelled for it."

"If he doesn't make ya believe he's yer long lost friend first."

"Then I'll get out of class early."

"How?"

Richie shrugged. "I'll just leave."

"Look, dude, there's a difference between bein' heroic and bein' a dumbass."

Richie rolled his eyes. "Fuck you, Nose. I'm not stupid, 'kay? I'll just claim I gotta take a leak in the last five minutes and can't wait. Teacher'll be glad to get rid of me early, trust me."

"My class is only just down the hall from Victor," Melinda said in a shaky voice.

"I got your back," Richie said. "Remember what I did to some of them that fucked with you the last time?"

A shadow of a smile fell across Melinda's face.

"That's settled then," said Jason. He glanced at Ned, who was peering down the hall. "Seeger again?"

Cassie spun around. Seeger once more stood at the far end of the hallway.

"It's okay, babe," Ned said. "He watched us last time, too. Didn't do nuthin'."

"I think ol' Saggy-Seeger's finally gone batshit crazy," Richie drawled.

Jason's gaze was suddenly drawn to Diane.

She stood as she had the last time, watching and listening, hands folded before her, waiting for a Harbinger to give her a command. Jason felt his jaw clench and was not sure why. He could see the energy exuding from her, snaking towards himself and the others, but it elicited no alarm. He had the thought that he should be angry, perhaps even furious. He again wished he knew why.

Diane noticed him staring at her. "Do you need something of me, Jason?"

I need you to stop...

The thought aborted in mid-stream. He shook his head.

"That's all we need is Seeger getting on our case," Heather said in an irritated voice.

"We'll worry about it when we get that far," said Jason. "Let's go."

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