"Hey, sorry about yesterday," Frank said contritely as he scooted over next to Jason.

Jason looked at him and gave him a wan smile. When Frank had done little but sulk near the back of the bus ever since he got on, hardly acknowledging Jason's presence with more than an angry glance, Jason was sure that this was one friendship he had lost barely after it had started.

"We all have bad days," Jason commented mildly. "Stepmom giving you a hard time again?"

Frank just rolled his eyes. "You definitely do not want to hear about it. But, yeah, my life is crap at home right now."

"Well, at least you have the internet now."

Frank was going to give a retort to that but held his tongue. Best not to go into that. He didn't want to have to tell the whole embarrassing story (or even a small piece of it, for that matter). "Anyway, I'm not mad at you, but I still do want to hear if you know about something going on that I don't."

Jason hated being put on the spot like this. "Well, it's not something we should talk about here. On the bus, I mean."

Frank paused and then grinned. "Anything to do with the hot school nurse?"

"Um ... maybe."

"Hey, you hear anything about what her examinations are like? I heard she gave two or three students examinations yesterday."

"Oh? Anyone I know?"

"One girl was named Kathy ... no, or was it Cassie?"

Jason jerked his head around. "What? Did you say Cassie?"

"Yeah. Though it might've been Kathy instead. Or both. Know either of them?"

"Well, I know a Cassie. Was it Cassie Kendall?"

Frank shrugged. "Dunno. Just heard the first name."

The aging brakes made a strident squeal as the bus came to a stop. Richie bound up the stairs and high-fived Jason. "Whassup?" He gave Frank only a cursory glance before plopping down into the seat on the other side of Jason.

Frank gave Richie a surprised look.

Richie returned it. "What?"

"No insult? No put down? No Mr. Fist?"

Richie smirked. "Nah, not today, man," he said in a subdued voice.

Jason was grateful for this, but did think it rather odd of Richie. "TGIF?" he suggested.

"Fuck, yeah. Maybe on the weekend I can actually scare up a baseball game."

Jason nodded. He was still getting the impression something was wrong.

It was not long before the bus came to another shuddering stop and Heather and Melinda climbed on. They gave subdued greetings to Jason before sitting together opposite him.

Jason thought for sure that Richie would notice how quiet the girls were, but when he turned his head, he already found Richie staring out of the window. Richie's eyes, at least what Jason could see reflected in the glass of the window, were dark and subdued.

Jason looked back silently at Heather and Melinda. From the way their eyes were fixed on Richie, he could tell that they thought something was odd about Richie as well. Both girls looked inquisitively at Jason. Jason just shook his head and shrugged in response. Heather sighed. Melinda bit her lip and gave Jason a nervous look.

Frank watched all this with a wry smirk. Now they were giving secret signals to each other. This made him even more curious to know what was going on.

"Marcie."

A scrambling noise, then the sound of a stack of papers tumbling to the floor followed by a declaration of "oops." There was a pause, then a sound of someone scrabbling at said papers.

Laura sighed. "Marcie."

"Oh!" Another mad scramble, and her head appeared at the door, her glasses askew. She adjusted them haphazardly. "Yes, Miss Bendon?"

"Did detention duty go well yesterday afternoon?"

"Oh, yes, actually, it did, Miss Bendon," Marcie said, edging into the room more fully as she smiled slightly. "He didn't give me any trouble at all."

"Nothing unusual to report?"

Marcie paused. "Um ... unusual, Miss Bendon?"

"Yes, unusual," Laura said patiently. "Out of the ordinary. Not normal."

Marcie wrung her hands. "N-no, not at all. Everything went fine."

Laura raised an eyebrow.

Marcie swallowed. "Please don't be angry, Miss Bendon," she pleaded. "But ... but I let his girlfriend see him."

"His girlfriend?"

"Yes, Miss Bendon. A very sweet girl named Cassie."

Laura nodded slowly. "Oh, yes, of course," she said, smiling. "Cassie Kendall. Nurse Neris told me about her."

"The nurse?" Marcie asked with a nervous quaver in her voice.

"Yes, the nurse. She examined the girl yesterday. Thinks the world of her. She's very happy that Cassie was the first."

"Oh, uh, okay ... " Something about the way her boss said that made her shiver.

"Anyway, about this letting his girlfriend see him during detention ..."

"I'm sorry, Miss Bendon! But ... she was just so sweet and I didn't want to get in the way of a budding romance if ..."

"Marcie," Laura said loudly. When her underling fell silent, she continued. "I was going to commend you for it."

Marcie blinked several times rapidly. Her eyes widened. "Commend me? Really?"

"Yes. One of the reasons I chose you to take over detention is because I think Mr. Seeger, while good-intentioned, is a little too sour. I like to show the kids some compassion. I think that's a better approach. Don't you agree?"

"Oh, yes, Miss Bendon! Absolutely!"

Laura smiled. Marcie was so compliant. So eager to please. Laura felt her pussy grow wet as she contemplated what she had in store for Marcie next.

"Marcie, would you accompany me tonight for some dinner?"

Marcie blinked. "Dinner?"

"Yes. Unfortunately I don't have the power to grant you a bonus or raise for your good work, so I want to show appreciation somehow. So let me buy you dinner tonight."

Marcie considered this for a moment, then nodded her head eagerly. "Okay, Miss Bendon. What time do you want me to be ready by?"

"I'll come pick you up say about six," Laura said. "That will give you time to finish detention duty tonight and catch up on any paperwork before the weekend. Does that sound good?"

"Oh, yes, certainly, Miss Bendon." She beamed. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Laura smiled. "Very good."

"Is there anything else, Miss Bendon?"

"No, that will be all. Carry on."

"Yes, Miss Bendon."

Melinda looked around impatiently. "Where the hell is he?!" she demanded.

Heather sighed. "For the the third time, Melinda, I don't know." She lifted the printout again. "He said for us to meet right here in front of the auditorium right before first class. He ... wait, there he is!"

Panting, Jason raced up to them. "Sorry," he gasped. "I share homeroom with Frank. He was kind of hanging on to me. Had to ditch him at the first class claiming I needed to go back to ..."

"Never mind that!" Melinda snapped. "Let me give you my report so I can get to class. I followed Carrie from her homeroom class to her first class. She didn't do anything unusual."

"She still have the aura?" Jason asked.

"Yes, and it's worse! It's like it's thicker now, and has a kind of train on it."

Jason sighed. "Look, I don't know if this means anything, but I suppose I should tell you. Frank told me he thought Cassie was examined by the nurse yesterday."

Melinda gasped. "Oh no! Then that means ...!"

"It might mean nothing. He said he wasn't sure if it was Cassie or Kathy."

"Oh my God ..." Heather breathed, looking stricken suddenly. "Galton? Was it Kathy Galton?"

"He didn't tell me a last name. Why?"

"I only caught a glimpse of her, just before she entered her first class, but ... but I thought she had the aura."

"Oh no ..." Melinda cried. "Jason! If she went to the nurse yesterday, too, that means it's her doing it!"

Jason slapped his forehead, exasperated. He silently counted to ten. "I'm not going to say this any longer, okay?" he said in clipped tones. "This is the last time. The nurse does not have the aura. It can't be her, period. Please, can we get off this?"

"Well, nothing else makes sense! If they were with the nurse yesterday and now they have it, there's not a whole lot else it could be."

"Look, can we just stick to the original plan? It's my turn after this class is over to follow her. Then you, Heather, then back to me, then Melinda while I'm at lunch with ..."

"Yes, yes, you don't have to go over the whole thing, it's right here!" Melinda cried, brandishing the paper in the air. "God!"

"Jason, I'll see if I can get a better look at Kathy later," said Heather. "I want to know for sure if she has it or not."

Jason nodded. "Okay." He peered around Melinda. "Seeger's coming, we better get to class. Meet here after next class, got it?"

"Got it already!" Melinda grumbled, stalking off. She could be heard mumbling "nobody listens to me" as she headed down the hallway.

Jason just shook his head as he and Heather parted company.

Frank was both nervous and excited as he walked down the hallway into the west wing of the school. He had not expected to be called so soon to see the nurse. In fact, he thought it rather strange the order of people that had already been selected. By that time he knew that Kathy Galton had been called, and that Cassie's last name was Kendall. He had assumed they would go in some sort of alphabetical order.

It was only as the door to the nurse's station loomed ahead of him that nervousness won out over excitement. Perhaps having a sexy woman examine him was not such a great prospect. What if he got ... well, excited, during the exam? While he was sure it would not be the first time a patient of hers had such a reaction, it would be no less embarrassing to him.

He already had enough embarrassment over the past few days to last him a lifetime.

At least this would be a distraction from his thoughts. Living at home was going to be hell for some time to come. He was sure Mindy would take every opportunity to rub it in, and her mother would do nothing to stop it.

At least there was one saving grace. His father would be back home late that night and stay in town through the three-day weekend.

Frank paused a moment before turning the knob and entering the reception area.

"Good morning, Frank," Nyssa said sweetly as she rose from behind the desk. She pressed her hands against the desktop and leaned forward, her ample bosom straining against her uniform.

Frank stared. First into the deep, shadowy cleft between her breasts and then into her eyes. A shiver passed through him. His cock stirred.

"Close the door," Nyssa said softly, giving him a sultry smile. "We want some privacy for this, now don't we?"

Jason got lucky. Cassie was in the classroom just one door down from his, and in that particular class he was seated only one aisle away from the door.

As soon as class let out, he gathered his things and dashed for the door, drawing a surprised look from his teacher. Jason was always the one to linger, even ask questions about the lecture after everyone had left. Jason was so well-known for this that some of his teachers specifically let class out a little early just to give Jason more time to talk to them. They relished having at least one student that was not only absorbing the material but was interested in it as well.

For a moment the hallway was too thick with students for him to see anything. A few seconds later, there was enough of a break for him to see Cassie strolling down the hall, having already left the class with a head start on him.

Jason broke into a bit of a jog, trying to dodge around other students. Occasionally he bumped shoulders with one of those that tended to bully him on occasion and had to endure a rough shove that sent him staggering. He shrugged these off until he finally got to about a few locker's widths behind her. The crowd cleared enough for him to get a good look at her, at which point he almost came to a stop.

"Wait a minute ..." he muttered softly to himself.

His eyes darted everywhere over her body. He narrowed his gaze and stared at her.

Nothing. Not a single telltale wisp of inky black touched her anywhere. No darkness clung to her body. All he saw was Cassie and nothing more.

Jason continued following her, though now he dropped back. Cassie stepped into another classroom near the end of the hall and disappeared from view.

He doubled back the way he came and rushed over to the auditorium, where Melinda and Heather were again already waiting for him.

"Well?" Melinda demanded.

"She's okay," Jason said. "Nothing to worry about."

"Okay, I have the next one, right?" said Heather. "So she's all the way at the end of this hall in ..."

Jason shook his head. "No, no, you don't understand. I mean Cassie is okay, period. She's clean. No aura. Melinda was wrong."

"What?! I was not wrong!" Melinda cried indignantly.

"Yes, you were, Melinda. I didn't see anything on her. Nothing."

Melinda just shook her head, her voice becoming increasingly shrill. "I just saw her this morning after homeroom! She had it all around her, she ... stop shaking your head, Jason! Stop telling me I didn't see it!"

"Jason, something is going on with you," Heather declared. "Something's not right."

"What, you think something happened to me now? That I'm involved in this darkness or whatever it is?" Jason said hotly. He spread his arms. "You see any aura on me? Huh?"

"Well, no, of course not."

"Then what the hell are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with me!"

"Except that you can't see Cassie's aura!" Melinda piped. "No, Jason! Don't tell me I didn't see it! I did! I'm not stupid. You know I'm the most sensitive to it. You know I wouldn't make something like this up. Dammit, believe me, please!"

Melinda was almost in tears at this point.

Jason felt his heart lurch. He was so busy trying to figure everything out that he forgot how emotionally involved Melinda was with this. "Okay, Melinda, I'm sorry," he said in a more contrite tone of voice. "I believe you. But why didn't I see it, then?"

"I don't know, and I have to admit, it's got me a little scared!"

"Same here," said Heather. "This is isn't right. Why should it stop working for you suddenly?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders and gave her a helpless look. "I honestly don't know."

"Heather, you keep saying you can stop it for awhile," Melinda said.

"I know, but I haven't quite figured out how I do it. I'm close. I know it has to do with concentrating on something. Every time I think I have it, I try to repeat it and it doesn't work."

Melinda sighed. "This is frustrating."

"Now you know how I feel," Jason said sourly.

"Let's continue this," Heather said. "Let me check if I can see the aura on her. If I do, then, I'm sorry, but that means you're the one that's wrong."

Jason nodded, his gaze somber. "I know. We'll have to figure out why later."

The three parted company again.

Frank was standing off to the side of the examination table. He was not quite sure how he got there. The last thing he remembered clearly was being very embarrassed at having to remove his clothing for the examination. It had not lasted long. Nyssa had said something to him that had made him relax, that had even made him feel less conscious about his rather hard erection.

Now he was fully dressed again, and none the worse for wear. He actually felt pretty good. There was an odd ache around his scrotum, but he couldn't place why that would be. Perhaps because of his earlier erection. This thought caused him some amusement and he grinned.

"Care to share that thought, Frank?" Nyssa asked with a mischievous smile.

Frank chuckled, blushing slightly. "Um, I think I'll hold onto that one, Mistress."

If he thought it odd that she should be calling the nurse by this title, he didn't show it. Nyssa brushed his cheek with her hand. He grinned at her when a tingle of pleasure rippled through him at her touch.

"I can probably guess," Nyssa said softly. "You truly don't have many secrets with me, you see."

Frank considered this. Part of him felt he should be alarmed to hear such a thing. It was silly. He knew Nyssa could be trusted. While he didn't remember the details of his exam, it could not have been bad, otherwise why would he feel this upbeat?

"Think you can handle things now, Frank?" Nyssa asked.

"Hmm? Handle things?"

"At home."

"Oh." Frank paused. He slowly nodded. "Yeah ... yeah, I think so."

"You know what to do now, don't you?"

Another pause. He looked into Nyssa's eyes. He enjoyed the wave of cool pleasure that washed over him. "Can I?" he asked in a softer voice. "Can I do that?"

Nyssa cradled his face with her hand and drew close. "Oh, yes," Nyssa whispered seductively. "You can, Frank. You can do it. And so much more."

"I just want it back, Mistress. I want things back to where they were before."

Nyssa drew her face close to his. His eyes gazed deeply into hers, no longer fearing the icy cold. He felt his heart thump in excitement and anticipation. "But, Frank ... why settle for that? You can do so much more."

Frank slowly smiled.

"Yes, you see that now. Do what your heart desires."

Frank was growing excited. His breath quickened and his cock stirred. "But ... but my Dad ..."

Nyssa shook her head slightly. "He won't interfere. You'll be able to stop that. You'll have her to yourself. You'll have ... both of them."

Frank shuddered. "Wow ..." he breathed.

Nyssa grinned and drew back from him, her hand dropping. Frank took a deep breath and let it go.

"It's about time for your next class, Frank," Nyssa said, leading him back into the reception area. "And I have more patients to see."

"Will you have to see me again, Mistress?"

Nyssa turned and flashed a wicked grin at him. "I am most certainly counting on that."

"Jason! Jason, Cassie does have the aura," Heather cried breathlessly as she ran up to the others.

Melinda's jaw dropped and she gave Jason a stricken look.

Jason took a deep breath and let it go as he spoke. "Okay ... she has it, and I can't see it. All right. We'll figure that out later. Now ..."

"Jason, wait, there's more. I saw Kathy Galton. She has it, too."

"Oh my God," Melinda whimpered. "What's going on?"

"That's what we're trying to find out, Melinda," said Jason. "Heather, I take it Cassie didn't do anything odd?"

"No, nothing. If she's going to do anything, I think she may be waiting until after school."

"Like she did yesterday!" Melinda piped. "I knew she was staying late!"

"Okay, calm down," said Jason. "So far, no one has done anything bad to anyone that we know of."

"What about ...?" Melinda abruptly cut herself off, biting her lip as she looked past Jason.

"What about what?"

"Yeah, that's what I wanna know," said Richie from behind Jason.

Jason spun around. "Oh, uh, hi."

Richie glanced from him to the others. "So what's with all this?"

"Nothing. We were just talking, that's all."

"About me?"

"No, of course not."

Richie paused a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever. Don't really give a shit if you are. Goin' to lunch?"

"Yeah, sure." He turned to Heather and Melinda. "Hey, I'll see you two later, okay?"

Heather nodded, but Melinda was distracted. She was staring intently at Richie.

Richie frowned at Melinda. "What the hell are you lookin' at?"

Melinda blinked and opened her mouth without saying a word. She quickly averted her eyes. "Uh ... sorry."

Richie made a face and shook his head. "Weirdo."

Melinda shot him an indignant look but said nothing.

"Come on, Melinda, we'll be late for class," Heather said softly. She placed an arm across Melinda's shoulders, steadfastly ignoring the thrilling little tingle it gave her in her nether regions, and nudged Melinda away from the others.

As the two girls walked away, Frank wandered up to Jason and Richie. "Hey."

"Hey," Jason replied, still looking towards the retreating backs of the girls. He finally turned his head in time to see Frank looking at Richie.

"What??" Richie cried in exasperation. "Why the fuck is everyone staring at me today?"

"Just checking to see if Mr. Fist is still on vacation," Frank commented with a wry grin.

"Yeah, he's still gone. Wanna see Mr. Boot instead?" Richie replied acidly, lifting one foot briefly.

"Hey, it's cool, I was just joking. Sorry, I won't bust your chops anymore."

Richie sighed. "Yeah, whatever. Okay."

Jason looked askance at the sudden deflation of Richie's anger, but quickly looked away before Richie could notice that Jason had been staring at him. "Let's just get to lunch," he said.

A short distance down the hall, Heather leaned over to Melinda. "You looked spooked back there, runt," she said. "What's up?"

"It was Richie," Melinda said in a hollow voice. "I ... I thought I saw ..."

"Saw what? Not ... not the aura?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe. It was only a little bit, but ..." Melinda shivered. "It ... i-it was where I saw it that freaked me out."

"Where?"

Melinda had a frightened look in her eyes. "His neck," she said softly. "It l-looked like a collar ..."

Yvonne Rand was so anxious she was sure she was going to be sick.

She uttered a despairing sigh. She hated her body. She was too tall. She was to thin. Her breasts were too small. It even cheated her out of what might have been its one saving grace, a fall of platinum-blonde hair to go with her bright blue eyes. Her hair was so fragile and frizzy that she had to keep it cropped short.

In her mind, she was a freak. And now she had to have a school nurse remind her of that.

Yvonne paused briefly at the last classroom before she entered the west wing. She was so tempted to go in there and find some way to get her brother Jord out of his senior year history class. Ultimately she just sighed and trudged on.

Yvonne was sure that no one could ask for a better brother than Jord. He pulled her out of a very dangerous depression two years before. She used to brood constantly about her imperfections. Now at least she could control that impulse so that it came out only when she was already upset about something else, like having to see the school nurse. He was also protective of her without being smothering. She was so afraid of what was going to happen if he decided to go away for college next year.

Jord was simply the best. The best brother she could have. The best friend she could have.

Yvonne stopped at the door to the nurse's station. She fidgeted for almost a full five minutes before she could get her shaking hand to grasp the knob and let her in. To her surprise, the nurse was standing just inside the door.

Her first shock was Nyssa's stunning beauty. Her next was the cool allure of Nyssa's eyes eyes. Her third was what Nyssa said next.

"You, my dear, deserve the best."

Yvonne was speechless. She could only blink and stare in wonder.

Nyssa took her hand. Yvonne felt a tingle of excitement and anticipation. "And I'll show you exactly how you can get the best ..."

Melinda hovered outside the entrance to the cafeteria. She bit her lip as she struggled to see around the flood of students that spilled out into the hallway. As the minutes passed, she silently cursed being assigned this shift. She didn't understand why Jason couldn't do this one, since he had the same lunch period as Cassie.

Finally she saw a a brief glimpse of inky black before the other students blocked her view again.

"Shit!" Melinda hissed. She ducked into the crowds, having an easier time of it than Jason had when he had tried this earlier. She was smaller and more lithe, and she did not have as many people that wanted to shove her around when she grew near.

She finally got to a point where the crowd thinned out enough for her to see Cassie ahead of her. Her breath caught in her throat. She would never get used to seeing that aura. It chilled her to the bone every time she saw it.

Poor Cassie, Melinda thought, her heart lurching. She wished she could just confront Cassie with it, somehow convince the girl to ... to ...

To what?

Melinda fell into step a short distance behind Cassie. She felt helpless again. She was supposed to follow Cassie and make sure she did nothing unusual. How would she know? What if whatever Cassie was going to do didn't require any suspicious moves at all? All she knew about the darkness was that it had something to do with mind control.

Melinda visibly shivered. That was the first time she could get herself to form the two words in her mind as a coherent thought. She had been avoiding it until now. As much as she occasionally craved the delights of having another in her power again, she was revolted by it in equal measure.

That was the reason why she was terrified of it. She was not completely sure she could give up that power if it were ever presented to her again.

Up ahead, Cassie suddenly turned down a side corridor.

Melinda was puzzled. She didn't remember anything down that hallway except the administrative offices.

Melinda turned the corner and came to an abrupt stop, uttering a small "eep" sound as she came face to face with Cassie.

"Why are you following me, Melinda?" Cassie asked sweetly. She smiled.

Something about her smile made Melinda feel cold. She found herself tensing in the same way she did at the House when she was trying to resist control. It had never worked, and that thought made her skin crawl.

"I-I wasn't following you," Melinda sputtered.

"Oh? You were reporting to the principal's office?" Cassie grinned. "Did you do something naughty?"

Melinda shuddered at the word. Her mind raced. She was not prepared to be confronted. "I ... I j-just wanted to ask h-her a question, that's all."

"Really? That's all?"

Melinda nodded quickly, her eyes wide.

Cassie's gaze swept her. "Then why are you trembling?"

"I'm not! I mean ... I feel a little cold, that's all." This was not entirely untrue. She felt a chill every time her gaze met Cassie's.

Cassie paused, then took a step towards Melinda. Melinda gasped and backed up until her back was pressed against the lockers, her heart hammering.

"I don't know what game you think you're playing, Melinda," Cassie said darkly. "But I don't care for it."

"I-I-I'm not ... really, Cassie, p-please ..."

"I don't want to hear it." Cassie's voice was soft and unassuming, the smile never leaving her face, yet each word felt heavy and commanding to Melinda's ears. "I don't take anything from anyone anymore, Melinda. Make sure you understand that."

"Cassie, you don't h-have to tell me this," Melinda said in a badly quavering voice. "I'm your friend. I w-wouldn't ..."

"I'll decide who my friends are." She giggled. "I'm rich, remember? I can afford to pick and choose my friends. Do you understand this?"

Melinda swallowed. She nodded quickly, unable to speak.

"And if I tell you stop following me, you'll do it?"

Melinda's heart raced. Was Cassie trying to control her? Was Cassie compelling her to agree? No, that was just her own fear, but it was just as effective. She nodded again.

"Very good. You see, I get whatever I want. That's what you can do when you're rich."

If Melinda needed any more evidence that Cassie was not herself, this was it. Never in all the time that Melinda had known her did she ever flaunt her wealth. If anything, she tried to pretend it didn't exist.

"Now ... leave."

Cassie backed off. Melinda slid along the lockers, wincing as the handles dug into her back until she was far enough away from Cassie that she felt safe to leave them. She stumbled backwards a few steps, then turned and broke into a run.

Gary Tailor didn't care for being extracted from his class in this manner. If he wanted to be on top of his year academically, he needed every moment to absorb the material. He didn't want to get beat for the number one position.

He was thankful that Jason Conner was one grade behind him. That competition he didn't need. It was bad enough that Sally Franner was in his year. The girl was infuriating. Bad enough to be intelligent, she had to flaunt it as well.

Gary took a deep breath to calm himself. No need to get excited over it. This was best handled with a calm, rational approach. He had several extra credit assignments lined up that he was sure could put him over the top. He'd show her up for sure that year.

He entered the nurse's station without a second thought. He stopped and blinked when Nyssa looked at him.

"First one that deserves the best," she said in a sultry voice. "Now one that wishes to be the best."

Gary took a few seconds to find his voice. "I beg your pardon, Miss Neris?" he said in a surprisingly steady tone, though his eyes widened as Nyssa stepped closer.

"It's really quite simple. Step into the other room, and I will be happy to show you ..."

"Melinda! There you are! We were worried about you!"

Melinda cringed and gave her older sister a sheepish look as they met just outside the east entrance to the school. "I'm sorry." She glanced around. "Where's Jason?"

"Probably talking to Frank. Jason mentioned he was suddenly in a more upbeat mood at lunch. Now why didn't you show up at all after Jason's lunch period?"

"Don't yell at me, okay?!"

"Melinda, I thought something had happened to you. I've been ..."

"Something did happen! Cassie ... found out I was following her."

"What?! How did you screw that up?"

"Shut the fuck up, Heather!" Melinda shouted. "I didn't screw anything up! She just knew. I turned a corner and boom, she was right there and asked me point-blank why I was following her."

"But why didn't you show up to tell us?"

"I was scared, okay! God, Heather, she creeped me out. She's ... she's not herself. It's like she was a different person. I couldn't ..."

"It's okay, it's okay, shh," Heather said hastily in a softer voice. Melinda subsided, looking up with watery eyes, sniffling once. "I'm sorry. I'm just ... getting that bad feeling again."

"What? You mean like the other day?"

Heather swallowed and nodded, wrapping her arms around herself as if cold. "It started around lunch and it's gotten worse. And I saw another aura. James Nells."

"Oh, great! And we still don't know where this is coming from."

"Wait, I think I see Jason," Heather said, peering back through the entrance. "Here he ... oh no ..."

Melinda's eyes widened at the stricken look on Heather's face. She turned and uttered a frightened gasp as her eyes fell upon Jason and Frank as they emerged from the school.

Both girls saw it. The miasma had coalesced around Frank's frame in the form of a cloak-like garment, billowing out behind him, but also wrapped around partially towards the front. As they watched it writhe and twist around his body, they realized that it looked like a lab coat, making him look like some horrific parody of a mad scientist.

In any other context, it might be amusing. What was certainly not amusing was the fact that it was obvious Jason was not seeing it.

"Hey," Jason said casually.

"Um, hi, Jason," Heather said hesitantly. Melinda simply stared at Frank.

Frank noticed and smiled back. Melinda shuddered and averted her eyes. It was a smile very much like Cassie's.

"I need to talk to Melinda about something," Jason said, using the pre-arranged line specifically in case Frank was tagging along. "It's kind of private."

There was a long pause. Jason looked meaningfully at Heather. Melinda finally nudged Heather with her elbow.

"Huh? Oh, uh ... well, anything you can say to Melinda you can say to me," said Heather in her planned response.

Jason rolled his eyes dramatically before turning to Frank. "Hey, uh, I'll catch up with you, okay?"

"Sure thing, Jason, no prob," Frank said with a wide grin. He stepped away from them and headed across the gravel to the waiting bus.

Jason waited a few moments, then gave Heather an exasperated look. "You almost forgot," he chided.

"Jason, he has it!" Heather hissed. "He has the aura!"

Jason gave her an astonished look. "Frank? Are you sure?"

"I saw it, too!" Melinda piped. "Or are you going to tell me I'm wrong again?"

"No, calm down. Goddamn. Why the hell am I not seeing it?"

"Never mind that now, Jason," Heather said. "What do you want us to do?"

"What we planned. We hang out and try to find Cassie and what she's up to. So what excuse did you guys come up with for your parents?"

Heather and Melinda exchanged a guilty look.

"What? You didn't come up with anything?"

"Did you?" Melinda demanded. "Give us some ideas, then!"

"No, I didn't," Jason admitted. "But then my Mom doesn't work. She doesn't care much if she has to pick me up, so long as I call her before I'm supposed to be home so she doesn't worry. Damn, are you guys going to get in trouble for this?"

"We had too much to worry about last night to think about excuses," Melinda said. "My mother gave me the third degree about your phone call to me, and then we had to go over your crazy schedule."

"It wasn't crazy. And why didn't you show up for ..."

"Wait, wait, quiet!" Heather said in an urgent but hushed voice, making a brief gesture towards the entrance.

Jason and Melinda turned. Melinda drew in her breath quickly.

Cassie strolled out of the east entrance. She started down the steps and paused as she approached the three. She gave them a supercilious smirk and tossed her head back in a very snooty manner and walked with a crisp step towards her waiting limo.

"But I thought ..." Melinda started to whisper.

They watched as Cassie climbed into the limo, the door closing with a distinct thunk. A few seconds later, there was a crunch of gravel as the car pulled slowly out of the parking lot.

"I don't get it," Jason said.

Melinda stomped her foot. "Shit! I guess I did screw it up."

"Huh?"

"Cassie caught Melinda following her," Heather explained.

Jason gave Melinda an alarmed look. "She didn't do anything to you, did she?"

"Just scared me, that's all. Fuck! I'm sorry. I ran her off."

Jason sighed. "I guess you don't have to worry about your parents then. We might as well get on the bus."

Heather looked anxiously back to the school.

Jason noticed. "What?"

"She's getting that funny feeling again," Melinda said. This was the first time she referred to it in something other than a mocking tone of voice.

"Jason, something is going to happen. The feeling is just getting stronger."

"Well, it's not going to happen here," Jason said. "Let's go and maybe we can figure out something else on the way home."

Slowly, the three turned and walked across the lot towards the bus.

Cassie peered out the window of the limo. "Harry."

"Yes, Miss Kendall?"

"Head to the next light, then take a right and head back to the school."

"Back to the school? Did you forget something?"

"Yes, Harry, I forgot something," Cassie said with a smile that was both sly and blissful. "Something very important."

"Yes, Miss Kendall."

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