Gina sat at her desk in her next class, confused.

She had seen Victor standing in the hallway on her way to the classroom, in itself nothing unusual. What was odd was her aversion to him. She avoided him, as if he were not supposed to be there.

Something strange had happened around him as well. She had seen some students standing near him, but they had vanished when she had directed her gaze straight at them. She had felt as if she needed to turn her attention somewhere else, anywhere but that section of hallway.

But what confused her the most was why she was dwelling on such a trivial matter when she had her future to contemplate.

Victor had been doing something in that hallway that he had not wanted anyone to see. He was hiding something. It was another kind of lie.

Gina shook her head. She had to ignore these distractions. She needed to focus her mind on Brad and the ceremony that evening. As if to underscore the point, her pussy once more swam in moist warmth in response to these far more appropriate thoughts.

Seeger slowly closed the door and crossed his office in small, measured steps. Jason watched in a despondent and impatient silence as Seeger fell into his seat and folded his hands on the desk. He scrutinized Jason with a hard and unyielding gaze.

"Do you care to say anything about the incident in the hallway, Mr. Conner?" asked Seeger.

Jason hesitated, as he had to be sure that he had heard a real inquiry and not a statement masquerading as a question with only one right answer: an admission of the student's guilt. "I'm sorry, Mr. Seeger?"

"I cannot make my question more plain than that. I wish to know what happened between you and Dr. Mann."

"You didn't see it for yourself?"

Seeger paused. "What I saw ... is not relevant at the moment. I wish to hear your side. Dr. Mann seems to think I should drop the matter, and I ... I am inclined to agree. But ..."

Jason did not respond; the air remained thick with Seeger's silence. Jason resisted prompting him. He was not making any sense out of the patterns -- or the lack thereof -- around Seeger's mind.

Seeger finally let out a rumbling sigh. "Mr. Conner, this is not about Dr. Mann, or whatever just happened between you and he. I have you here because I require clarification, as you appear to be associated with the others and may know of what I speak."

Jason gave Seeger a look of confusion tinged with impatience.

Seeger took a deep breath. "Now, Mr. Conner, understand that I have a high skeptic's threshold. I do not follow the mentality of 'lots of people say it, so it must be true.' Nor do I accept the fantastic based on only circumstantial evidence. Or, for that matter, the claims of a student that has a less than stellar reputation for honesty and decorum."

Jason frowned. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand. You don't mean me?"

"I speak of Richard Gardner. He would have me believe something utterly lacking any credible evidence concerning the recent trouble with Melissa Hendell."

Jason remained silent and hid his frustration that Seeger would bring this up now of all times just to ridicule it.

"And there is the claim by Mr. Weston concerning his altercation with Mr. Gardner."

Jason's eyebrows rose. Brad had said something to Mr. Seeger? Or was this simply a fishing expedition so that Jason or his friends could be blamed for something concerning Melissa?

"He came to me with a most lurid claim about not being in his right mind at the time that he ... um ..."

Seeger stopped. More impatience marred Jason's face.

"And more to the point, Mr. Conner," said Seeger, his voice rising. "There was Miss Heather Sovert's behavior in Ms. Hollis' class during that time. While not a stellar student by any means, Miss Sovert gave me few problems with regards to discipline, yet apparently she now requires a special detention that I am not privy to nor am I allowed to comment upon!"

Jason was taken aback by Seeger's rancor. "Sir, are you talking about Heather helping with preparations for the party?"

"Never mind that," Seeger snapped. "I should not have mentioned it. I meant it only as an example of a student that appears constantly in odd circumstances, such as her visit with Ms. Bendon during the last period, from which she emerged in a state that ... would be regarded ... well ..."

He trailed off. Jason stared at him.

Seeger cleared his throat. "The point is, Mr. Conner, that I have a feeling that something untoward is going on in this school, and I have hopes that a student of your obvious intelligence would put to rest the more lurid of these ideas and thus bring the situation down to something far more earthy!"

Jason let out a harsh sigh through his nose but could bring no appropriate words to bear to Seeger's implied demand.

"Well, Mr. Conner?" Seeger prompted.

"So that's what you want me to do, Mr. Seeger?" Jason said, his voice taut. "Tell you that everything is okay? That nothing is wrong?"

Seeger hesitated, as if confused by Jason's response or its tone. "Certainly if there is a problem, I should be made aware of it. But I trust that those problems are quite mundane compared to anything Mr. Gardner told me."

"I have no clue what Richie told you," Jason lied. I can do some fishing as well.

Seeger scowled. "He would have me believe that the cause of the recent difficulties in discipline at this school stemmed from Miss Hendell having gained the ability of mind control."

"And you want me to tell you it's not true?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I want you to tell me."

"I can't do that, Mr. Seeger."

"Can't or won't, Mr. Conner?"

"Both. I cannot tell you something that's false, and I will not tell you something just to make you feel better."

Seeger was silent for a few seconds. "You cannot be suggesting--"

Jason's voice rose. "Whatever you're thinking of, the reality is likely worse. I'm sorry I could not assuage your fears. May I go now?"

Seeger frowned. "I will not be party to any more lurid tales of--"

Jason bolted to his feet. "Fine! Call it whatever the hell you want! I don't care anymore. I have two friends in danger tonight thanks to these 'lurid tales,' I only barely have a plan that has any hope of working, and on top of that I have to worry about another girl that I barely know who will be taken tonight by your damn school counselor!"

Seeger looked aghast. "You don't mean Victor Mann? Do you realize what kind of accusation you are making?"

"Yeah, I do. You want another one? Principal Bendon. She's in on some of the things going on around here, too. Go spend about an hour around Marcie Fuller if you want to see for yourself. Pay close attention to her when she's obeying Bendon's commands to her."

Seeger sat in stark silence and rubbed his temples.

"And remember that nurse at the beginning of the year?" said Jason.

Seeger lowered his hands. "Nyssa Neris, you mean?"

"Yeah, her. She screwed with a lot of kids' heads before my friends and I managed to get rid of her."

"Miss Neris disappeared without a word! Are you actually admitting that your friends were a party to--"

"You have her to thank for what happened to Bendon," Jason said, raising his voice over Seeger's. "And, yeah, Melissa Hendell, too. She got some of that power for herself and was one step away from taking a lot more. We stopped her. Or rather, Richie stopped her."

Seeger stared in utter astonishment.

"Yeah, that's right. He came through for us when we needed him, and Melissa's gone thanks to him. And now we have to deal with Victor Mann. Don't worry, Mr. Seeger. Unless you intend to suspend or expel me, we'll take care of him, too. Or at least we'll try. If we succeed, you can go back to pretending the problem doesn't exist. That should make you very happy, so long as you don't think too much about Ms. Bendon, or look too hard at Marcie. Now, can I please go, Mr. Seeger?"

Seeger leaned back in his chair. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his face. Jason's eyes widened as he only now noticed the bloodless pallor of Seeger's face.

"Sit down, Mr. Conner," Seeger said in a low, strained voice.

Stunned, Jason sat.

"I have a question for you," said Seeger. "Are you aware of two faculty members named Kelly and Lynn?"

"Faculty? No. I know of two of Victor's cohorts by those names. They were the ones in the hallway earlier."

"Cohorts? As in ... as in partners to this alleged crime he is to commit?"

"Yes, that's right. You think they're faculty? Wait, of course you do, because Victor wants you to believe that."

"This is simply incredible, Mr. Conner," Seeger said in a hollow voice. "What I am being asked to believe--"

"With all due respect, Mr. Seeger, no one is asking you to believe anything," said Jason, doing his best to keep his voice calm and level. "I ask only that you hold off on any punishment for whatever you think I did for one more day."

"And just what did you do?"

Jason remained silent.

Seeger sighed. "I will not punish you today. You have my word. I am not a man that gives such word lightly. Now, what did you do?"

Jason hesitated for a moment. "It's hard to remember, I was so angry. I think I rushed Victor and hit him. Maybe in the face. I wasn't really aiming for any part of him in particular."

"And did he do something to instigate this reaction?"

"Yes, he and his cohorts were making Heather, Cassie, and Diane take their clothes off in the hallway."

Seeger drew in a breath and let it go as a gusty sigh. He wiped his face with his hand.

Jason stared. "You did see it, didn't you?"

"For a second," said Seeger in a weak voice. "A fleeting glimpse. Then it was gone. Dear God."

"You're able to resist it. I mean, not by a lot, but some."

"As you and your friends can, apparently?"

Jason did not want to explain the intricacies of how the link worked. "Well, to a point. Victor is different than what we've encountered before. He caught us when we didn't have our defenses up, so to speak. We have, um, I guess you could say special abilities." He paused. "But that's just going to sound even more fantastic."

"Mr. Conner, at this point, I am willing to hear anything that might resolve this matter," said Seeger. "You imply that resistance is rare. Why do I have it?"

"I honestly don't know. We're learning as we go." Jason sighed. "I don't think I have time to give you the whole story before the next class. Suffice it to say that we're going to try to stop him tonight."

Seeger frowned. "At the Halloween party."

"We hope so, anyway."

"And the school will become a battleground with all the other students caught in the crossfire."

"Victor is interested only in one girl." Jason was not about to tell Seeger about the Book. That was a whole can of worms he intended to keep closed. The fewer people that knew the Book ever existed, the better. He could not trust that even Seeger would not want it once he learned what it could do. "I don't think he intends any harm to anyone else."

"And what of Ms. Bendon and Miss Sovert? Does that factor into the scheme at all? Is she -- Laura, that is -- working with Victor?"

"Ms. Bendon works only for herself," Jason said.

"And her connection to Heather Sovert?"

Before that moment, Jason had considered Seeger to be little more than the occasional unintended obstacle. Now Jason had the impression that Seeger really cared for the students. He heard genuine concern for Heather in Seeger's voice.

He had lamented the lack of allies among adults; he had to take the chance that one was presenting itself.

"Ms. Bendon is trying to make Heather her slave," Jason finally said.

Seeger's mouth dropped open, his eyes wide and liquid. "You don't ... in ... in what capacity, Mr. Conner?"

"Sex slave, Mr. Seeger."

"That ... she can't ... that would ..." Seeger sputtered. Suddenly his beefy hand slapped the desk with a sound that made Jason flinch. Seeger bolted to his feet and stepped away from the chair. His hands clenched into fists. "Reprehensible. No, it is beyond that. Revolting. Disgusting."

"We'll deal with it," Jason said in a tired voice.

Seeger spun around. "But what will I do with this information?!" he thundered. "I have to do something! I cannot let the school principal commit such a heinous act of--"

"Of what, Mr. Seeger? What would you tell the board? That she's mind-controlling a student?"

Seeger swallowed. His hands slowly unclenched.

"Even if you managed to convince someone you weren't crazy, this goes beyond the school. It's the whole town. You won't get anywhere. Anyone sent to investigate will just be dealt with somehow or be made to believe everything is just fine."

Seeger took a few forced deep breaths and collapsed back into his chair, rattling the window. He cast a level gaze at Jason. "I must do something, Mr. Conner. I cannot simply stand by and let these things happen."

"Mr. Seeger, if you really want to help, just let my friends and I do what we need to do. Don't get in our way." Jason paused. "And maybe if we need something from you at the party tonight--"

"Such as what?"

Jason was as astounded as he was grateful at the eagerness in Seeger's voice. "I can't tell you all the details now, but at some point we need to confront Ms. Hollis."

Seeger's eyebrows shot up. "Terri Hollis is involved in this as well? No, of course she is. All those suppositions from Laura about Terri abusing a student--"

"Which unfortunately had a measure of truth to it," Jason said. "Anyway, we need to confront her alone. She'll be sticking with Heather and likely Ms. Bendon as well for much of the evening. We'll need to get her away from Bendon and make sure Victor doesn't know what we're doing."

"And just what are you planning to do?"

Jason hesitated. "Perhaps it would be best if I didn't mention that."

Seeger nodded. "Yes. Perhaps that is for the best." He let out a windy sigh. "What do you wish me to do?"

"I don't know yet. I'll have to see how everything shapes up when we get that far. I just want to know if I can count on your help."

"If it has any chance of resolving even a fraction of this terrible mess, I will do my best."

And to Jason's surprise, the Vice Principal stood and held out his hand.

Jason stood as well and shook it. "Thank you, Mr. Seeger," Jason said, his voice gushing relief.

Victor steepled his fingers, his eyes boring first into Kelly and then Lynn as they stood before his desk.

"Sloppy," Victor said. "Very sloppy."

Lynn's eyes glistened as she stared like a deer caught in the headlights. Kelly bowed her head, then tapped Lynn's arm. Lynn swallowed hard and did the same, a quavering sigh becoming a small sob.

"You assured me you had the whole school subdued."

"I take full responsibility, Glorious One," Kelly said, her voice shaky.

"That is not enough. I wish to know why you did not think to check the Vice Principal. Of all the people that were most important to keep quiescent, he was at the top of the list."

"I-I don't know, Glorious One. I assumed he would be easy to--"

"You assumed?"

Lynn whimpered. Kelly took a quick, deep breath. "Glorious One, we had so many students to deal with, it was more important to ensure they were accounted for."

"As I said, sloppy." Victor rubbed his jaw, a bruise blossoming just to one side of his chin. He wiped away a few remaining flecks of dried blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at them on his hand.

Kelly dared to look up, and her eyes widened. "He hurt you, Glorious One?" she said, aghast. Lynn's head jerked up, a horrified look on her face.

Victor narrowed his eyes and lowered his hand. "No."

Kelly appeared confused. Lynn looked to Kelly for guidance and found none. Her hands twitched at her sides.

"What you saw was the Book striking at me through Jason," said Victor.

"I do not understand," said Kelly.

"The Book knows my intent. It is trying everything it can to protect itself, including sacrificing its own energies."

"But those are the energies you seek to extract."

Victor stood. "Self-preservation is a most powerful and primal force. A man would willingly cut off his arm if it meant the rest of him would live. This is no different."

Kelly nodded. "Yes, Glorious One. I understand several things now."

Victor raised an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Such as why you have not moved in force against him when we can affect his compatriots as easily as we did today with only a fraction of our number."

This had not been the reason he had chosen not to move with such brute force against the Harbingers, but it was a valid reason now. Victor's jaw tightened for a moment. He had wished to avoid such a blatant show of weakness, either before the Harbingers or his own cult. Now Lynn's eyes betrayed doubt as they flicked from Victor to Kelly.

Victor stepped out from behind his desk and fixed his eyes on Lynn. Lynn let out a tiny gasp and quickly lowered her eyes. Kelly retreated a step as Victor surged forward, grasping Lynn's chin and forcing her eyes to meet his. Lynn held her breath and trembled.

"I am still who I am," said Victor in a low, rumbling voice. Lynn shivered and let out a small moan. "You would do well to remember that."

"Y-yes, Glorious One!" piped Lynn.

"I am your life."

"You are my life!"

"I am your meaning."

"You are my meaning!"

"I am your pleasure."

"You are my p-ple ... uhnngg!"

Victor let go of her chin. Lynn sank to the floor, moaning and gasping as her pussy throbbed. Kelly bowed her head in respect to the Holy Words spoken by every initiate when first Chosen by Victor.

"Pleasure," Lynn moaned. "Yes ... oh yes ... uhnng ..."

Victor lifted Kelly's chin and beheld far more confidence and strength of will in her eyes. "Do you need a reminder as well?"

"No, Glorious One," said Kelly in a steadier voice. "I do not doubt you."

On the floor, Lynn rolled onto her back, panting hard, eyes glazed. Victor glanced at her. "She is being reeducated while in her thrall of pleasure to purge her of the sin of doubt. When she comes out of it, you will put her on lighter duty until she understands her place better."

"I will obey, Glorious One," said Kelly.

Victor frowned. "To expand on your earlier enlightenment: I cannot move against them now, not with the Book so willing to strike through Jason. As midnight approaches, we will grow in power. But that means we cannot let the battlefield be here at the school. We must get Gina to the church as early as possible. We must draw on the support of all our brethren."

Kelly bowed her head. "Yes, of course, Glorious One."

"Jason, my man, you are fucking awesome," said Richie, slapping his friend on the back.

"I gotta admit, dude," Ned drawled through a bite of lunch. "The way you decked ol' Victor warmed the cockles of my heart."

"Normally, I don't like violence," said Cassie in a subdued voice. "But it did get him to stop what he was doing to the other girls and I."

"Look, everyone, don't be so quick to praise me," Jason said with a trace of irritation in his voice. "It really wasn't me that did it."

Ned eyed him. "Now don't go tellin' me I gotta take back my praise and go away with cold cockles."

"Maybe a better way to put it was that I wanted to do it, but it wasn't me that allowed me to actually hit him," said Jason. "Or at least not as hard."

"You couldn't have channeled any energy over the link," Cassie said. "We would have sensed that."

"I think it came from the Book."

"Oh, come off it," Richie growled. "You can't go blaming the fucking Book for everything."

"Richie, I'm serious," said Jason. "I think the Book gave me some sort of power so I could strike at Victor. There's no way I could punch anyone that hard, let along an adult. The Book was goading me the whole time that Victor was demanding it from me."

"I don't understand," Cassie said. "You mean you cast a spell in your head?"

"No, nothing like that. I wasn't even thinking of one. The few that I've memorized I doubt would even work against him."

"Then what's the deal, chief?" Ned asked.

"I'm not sure. It's like the Book just gave me some raw energy. I tried asking it what it had done, but it refused to answer me."

"Huh. Woulda been nice if it coulda done that fer ya before when ya really needed it."

"That's just it, I don't think this was for me. I thought about this last period. I ... um ..."

Richie raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Jason frowned and reached under his shirt. He pulled out the pendant and removed it from around his neck. He reached across the lunchroom table and held it before Cassie. "Here. Put this in your pocket for now. I think this thing can read my thoughts when I have it on."

Cassie gave it a wary look. "Jason, maybe you shouldn't take this off if this is the only thing that lets you see if the Book is still safe."

Jason thrust the pendant forward again and waited for Cassie to finally take it before he spoke again. "I really need to be able to speak without it listening in."

Cassie nodded and tucked it into a small pocket of her dress.

"That's just so fucked up that we have to worry about a freaking book listening in on us," Richie muttered.

"Yeah, not to mention it's s'pposed ta be on our side," said Ned.

"Frankly, Ned, I think it's on its own side," Jason said.

"Yeah, ya mentioned b'fore how it don't care who uses it."

"It's more than that. I think now it's just trying to protect its own existence. I think Victor intends to destroy the Book."

Cassie gasped. Ned rubbed his chin. Richie frowned and spoke up. "Yeah, I'd love to see the tool try that."

"You don't think he can do it?" Jason asked.

"The fucking Book is indestructible! Remember me trying to kick it to shit? You said you even tried setting fire to one of the pages."

"Whoa, time out," Ned said. "Even if he could do it, what fer? Isn't it kinda more useful intact?"

Cassie's eyes widened. "Jason, I just had a crazy thought. What about Heather's vision, where she says Victor is fighting someone for the Book but she can't see who it is? What if--?"

"Victor is fighting the Book itself?" Jason said. "Yes, I think Heather had considered that possibility, but the rest of us kept insisting someone had to be there. Maybe it knows Victor will destroy it, and it's trying everything it can to stay, well, 'alive' for lack of a better term."

"But what the fuck for?" Richie said. "Why the fuck go to hell and back for the goddamn thing if all he's gonna do is trash it?"

"Energy."

"Huh?"

"Energy. Power. The Book must have tons of it stored in its pages."

Richie snorted. "Like he fuckin' needs any more."

"Not for him, for the Darkness."

"Oh goodness," Cassie said in a quavering voice.

Ned slowly nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense, don't it?"

"Jason, are you sure?" Cassie said.

"Of course I'm not sure, Cassie," Jason said. "It's just a hypothesis at this point. But one thing might prove it. When I go back home later to fetch the Book, if I find that it has some damage now, that would support the idea."

"Damage from what?" Richie demanded.

"From where it gave him the energy ta rearrange Victor's face," Ned said.

"What makes you think it has to damage itself to give you that energy?" Cassie asked.

"Something I felt before I rushed Victor," said Jason. "Like a stab of pain. It couldn't have come from me, since I wasn't moving and no one was touching me."

"Wow," Ned said. He frowned. "Fuck."

"What is it, Ned?" Cassie asked.

"All this time, Jason's been lookin' fer a way ta get rid of that Book. Now we got one but we can't use it. I mean, yeah, Victor won't be usin' the Book against us, hurray fer us, but only if we let 'im use it ta recharge the Big Evil Kahuna's batteries."

"So we still can't let him have it." Cassie shivered hard and drew her arms around herself.

"You okay, babe?" said Ned.

"No, I'm not! I don't know how much power I'm going to need to help Gina break free of Victor. I was hoping if we didn't have to worry about the Book, that would give us more energy I could use."

"Yeah, but think 'bout this: sure, we gotta split our forces, so ta speak, but so does Victor. Mebbe we can use that."

Cassie nodded. "I know, you're probably right." She looked pained for a moment. "I can't imagine now sending the Book to that sort of terrible fate. It does seem now like that Book is alive."

Jason shook his head. "No, it's not alive. It's just an object with some sort of enchantment upon it. It has a rudimentary intelligence, but it's not alive."

"I wish I was as confident as you about that," Cassie said in a low voice.

"It's just a stupid Book far as I'm concerned," said Richie. "I'd burn the fucker if I could."

"Anyway, I think we've gone as far on that topic as we can," Jason said when he saw Cassie looking uncomfortable. He held out his hand, and Cassie dropped the pendant into it with alacrity. "Cassie, what about the costumes for tonight?"

"I checked with the costumer before I came to school this morning, and they're all ready," said Cassie. "We should go pick them up after school and try them on to make sure they fit."

Ned grinned. "Cool. Can't wait. I've been practicin' my pirate talk all last night."

Richie rolled his eyes. "You're gonna sound more dorky than Jason will look in his Trekkie getup."

"Hey, I figger on havin' some fun with this. We can't always be all doom and gloom, ya know. I'm jus' sorry Cassie can't be my wench."

Richie smirked. "I thought she already was."

Cassie blushed bright pink. At the same time, her lips twitched into a tiny smile and she stifled a giggle.

"Yeah, ya can jus' yuck it up all ya want, baseball-boy," said Ned. "But I'm gonna be the best lookin' one outta the lot of ya. Well, barrin' our little princess here. Hey, mebbe we can do somethin' like yer the princess that the big bad pirate just kidnapped."

"Um, well, actually," Cassie said, still blushing. "I, um, sort of had Armando get the other costume for me."

Ned stared. "Huh? Really?"

Jason looked between them in confusion. "What's going on?"

Cassie explained Ned's original idea, her mother's objection, and then her subsequent remedy to the situation (though she withheld exactly how much she had to pay the costumer).

"Score!" Ned said, giving her a thumb's up. "Now ya jus' gotta find someplace ta change so Harry doesn't find out."

"That's easy," Richie said. "Wait til we get Ms. Hollis, then just use her to make him believe--"

"No, Richie," Cassie said, all trace of humor gone.

"Aw, for fuck's sake, why the hell not?"

"Because he's only doing his job, and I feel he already puts up with more than he really should. It probably pains him not to report half the stuff he sees or hears. I understand having to involve Ms. Hollis, but Harry is really innocent in all this. And I don't want to use this power for personal gain."

"All right, all right," Richie grumbled. "Shit, sorry I brought it up."

Jason clasped Richie on the shoulder. "It's all right, we know you just wanted to help."

"I'm sorry I'm such a goody two-shoes about it," Cassie said.

Ned took her hand and squeezed it. "Wouldn't want ya any other way, babe."

Cassie smiled.

Victor's cell phone rang. He sighed when he saw the caller-ID. He turned his chair to face the window as he flipped the phone open. "What is it, Charles?"

"You wanted me to give you an update about anything concerning Lydia," came Charles' flat voice after a second's pause.

"She is acting up again," Victor stated. "I thought I had sensed something unsettling Gina's mind. You have your directive from me concerning--"

"It's not that, Victor. In fact, it's quite the opposite."

Victor was silent for a moment. "Explain."

"Ever since she came out of the last sedation, Lydia has been very listless and distant, as if her attention was wandering."

"Are you sure you are not mistaking it for concentration?"

"No, it is nothing of the sort. I'm afraid something is wrong. Perhaps we should arrange for someone to examine her."

"Absolutely not."

Charles sighed. "Victor, we have at least one doctor that is a loyal member of the cult. Surely we can trust him with--"

"Lydia's existence in your house is known only to a small segment of the cult," said Victor. "I intend to keep it as such."

"Victor, you are being completely unreasonable!"

Victor again fell silent.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," said Charles.

"No," said Victor in a calm, level voice. "Please explain yourself. I insist."

There was a silence at the other end, as if Charles had decided that terminating the call was a more palatable option. When Charles did finally speak, his tone was cautious and measured. "I don't feel you are thinking things through. I feel you are becoming too obsessed, and you are missing things that could be potential problems. Some of this may be due to your latest plans concerning the intended slave this year, a venture into which I have no insight or even basic knowledge."

Victor let out a slow sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "If this is in regards to your previous comments about the cult and their loyalties to me, perhaps there is some truth to your words. I discovered earlier today that I had to adjust the minds of some of the cultists to convince them to use a more mundane form of address."

Charles uttered a small, relieved sigh. "Thank you for acknowledging the issue."

"I fear there is little I can do about it before the ceremony tonight."

"I know, but at least you are cognizant of the problem now. That is not the only thing, however."

"Yes, I know, you are worried about Lydia, and you feel I am not paying enough attention to the problem," said Victor. "Perhaps you forget that I do indeed care about what happens to her. I did not ask to put her into such a state."

"I am not blameless," Charles said in a low voice. "I encouraged it by my 'use' of her. Now that I look back on my own behavior, I find I cannot make peace with--"

"Recriminations are useless, Charles, and least of all self-recriminations. Now, you state she has been exceptionally quiet. There have been no manifestations of psychic power whatsoever?"

"None, Victor, and she usually becomes quite agitated on Halloween. Her quiescence is unnerving."

Victor would not state it, but it disturbed him as well. His avatar had detected an aberration in Lydia's mind, and he believed that only an external force acting upon her could be the cause.

At first he did not believe the Harbingers were to blame. They had little energy at the moment, given how they could not defend his earlier attack. Yet there was Cassie Kendall and her so-called Dream Gift. From what the Darkness had told him, it did not have the power to influence other minds; Cassie was only a passive receiver of thoughts and emotions. Through her, the Harbingers likely knew of Victor's plans concerning Gina, but there should be little they could do about it.

And yet Charles was telling him that he was ignoring potential problems at his own peril.

"I doubt that the sedative you gave her had anything to do with it," said Victor.

"With all due respect, you don't know that."

"For now, any further use of the sedative is at your discretion. Monitor her and notify me of any further changes. As for having someone look at her, I will consider it."

"Thank you," said Charles, though the tone of his voice suggested it was less than what he had wanted.

"Is there anything else?"

"No, Victor. Preparations for the ceremony continue as planned. We will be ready."

"Very well. I will contact you later. Good day."

"I am not at all sure I like this idea, Miss Kendall."

Ned frowned and rolled his eyes. Cassie turned to him and shook her head slightly, holding a finger to her lips for a second. She turned her gaze forward again. "Harry, I don't see the problem," Cassie said in as haughty a voice as she could manage. "You will not have room in the limo for all of us, and some of my friends you refuse to accommodate."

"Certainly they can find their own transportation, or have Mrs. Radson take all your friends while you ride with me."

"I've already explained this to you, Harry. I want to fit in better and act more like a normal teenager. I can't do that if I ride around in a limo while they pile into a minivan. It's already bad enough I have to wear the princess costume."

"I should be at the school," Harry protested.

"And do what? The school faculty will not let you in if you're not a parent or guardian, and they will check your ID to verify as such."

Ned smirked and winked. He knew as well as she did that that was a blatant lie.

Cassie waited until Harry was about to speak before she continued, a technique she had seen her mother use far too often. "And furthermore, I would hardly consider myself in any kind of danger considering that the Principal, the Vice Principal, and at least one teacher will be present."

Harry sighed. "I was told to keep a closer eye on you."

Cassie frowned and exchanged a glance with Ned. "When?"

"This morning, Miss Kendall. Your mother is apparently concerned you will do something ... untoward during this party."

Ned had to clamp his hand over his mouth to suppress the ironic laughter.

Cassie paused to adopt a properly indignant attitude. Not all of it was faked. "Oh, really, Harry! I would hardly think I could do anything at the party that I could not do during a normal school day, and you certainly do not insist on escorting me to all my classes, now do you?"

"I only know what your mother has told me, Miss Kendall."

"Consider this, then: I will be with Mrs. Radson on the way to the party and on the way back. She is a parent herself. I doubt very much she is inclined to let me do anything she would not let her own child do."

"You are putting me in a very difficult position, Miss Kendall."

Cassie let out a small defeated sigh and gave Ned an imploring look. Ned looked thoughtful for a moment, then pantomimed a light bulb atop his head. He rubbed his fingers together as if feeling something. When she looked at him in confusion, he dug out his wallet and pulled out a few bills.

Cassie shook her head. Harry was one person that could not be bought. This was one of the reasons Cassie liked him; he was above all the pettiness that plagued her family and seemed to care about Cassie's welfare.

She was forced to take advantage of the latter. "Then think about this, Harry: if you insist on refusing to give in on this one little matter, I will be quite disappointed, and I doubt I will enjoy myself at all this evening."

"But Miss Kendall--" Harry began in a more contrite voice.

"This is the first time I've ever done this. I want it to be perfect. Please."

Harry let out another sigh. "Very well, Miss Kendall."

Ned grinned broadly and held out both his hands in thumb's-up gestures.

Cassie smiled. "Thank you, Harry, I appreciate this immensely."

Stephanie sat in her cage, her knees drawn to her chest, her arms wrapped about her legs. She stared at the door as she had for the past hour. Or since morning. Or since Cassie had left her. She had little concept of the passage of time anymore.

The door had not vanished with Cassie's departure as she had expected (and hoped) it would. It was closed, but she sensed it was unlocked. Tendrils of light played under and around it, a slowly shifting and silent cavalcade of color.

Beyond was the Dreamverse, the realm that she had only touched upon when she had contacted Cassie. She tried not to think about what might have been. It could have been her as the surveyor of dreams and collector of memories. She could have been the psychic traveler, letting her spirit ride the lines of energy in ethereal nocturnal excursions.

Or she could have been a slave. She could have devoted her life to the pleasure of others. She could have been the living sex toy, the trophy to be displayed, the possession that gave others prestige and an inflated sense of their own worth and power.

Instead, she had been caught and then crushed between the two worlds. Now she was nothing.

Stephanie shivered. The door's presence mocked her. She hated Cassie for leaving it, though she knew the reason why. It would be a conduit for the energy that Cassie had promised her, that would allow her to bring her mind close to Gina's so she could ...

Could...

Could what?

She had no idea what Cassie or Gina expected of her. She had never thought past calling for help when she had first reached out to Cassie. Perhaps she had assumed Cassie would assume all responsibility past that point. Then at least one girl would be spared. She would consider that her atonement -- or perhaps revenge, the two were indistinguishable anymore -- and she could be content to live out her days in her cage, hoping that someone might take pity on her and reunite her with her mind.

As much as she hated the door, she was reluctant to avert her eyes. That would mean looking at it again. Nevertheless, Stephanie turned and cast her gaze past the bars of the cage.

The nothingness had come sometime the night before. That was when the darkness rolled in around her like a malevolent fog. The little dungeon-like room around her simply dissolved, replaced by the void. To describe it as black was a convenience and ultimately inaccurate. Calling it black implied that something was there. Black was the only way her feeble senses could interpret it.

She sensed something beyond it that retreated from her and further entombed her in the nothingness.

Stephanie's eyes shimmered as she clutched the bars of her cage. They had become colder since the last time she had touched them. She stared into the void, desperate both to understand and to be spared enlightenment. Her first thought was that something had incurred brain damage, that they had perhaps given "Lydia" an overdose of sedative.

But that wasn't it. The brain was intact, but it would soon become little more than a lump of organic matter, burning energy and directing the body's rote life processes, but devoid of thought, emotion, or spirit. It led Stephanie to only one conclusion, its realization like icy claws clutching at her remaining life energies.

Lydia's mind was dying.

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