Marcie still had a lingering ache in her pussy as she walked into the office that Friday morning. Shortly after rising that morning, she had become extremely aroused at the thought of going to her job, and she had masturbated in a frenzy until she had calmed herself down enough to dress and drive to work. She could still feel the lingering effects of the strong climax she had reached.

Even then, as she prepared to start her work that morning, she felt the pleasure rising again in her sex, warm moisture making it feel steamy and musky. She uttered a short little lusty sigh as she checked her email and went about writing up her agenda for the day.

"Good morning, Marcie."

Marcie felt herself flush hot. She smiled and rose from her seat, feeling the wetness in her pussy. "Mmm, morning, Miss Bendon," she said in a breathy voice.

Laura smiled. "Some coffee if you would, Marcie," she said before heading into her office.

"Right away, Miss Bendon ... mmm ..."

Her pussy rose, a delightful sensation that made her breath a little short and gave a sense of urgency to her actions. She quickly poured a cup from the coffee maker and made it exactly to Laura's liking before taking it into Laura's office.

She smiled and set the mug down, feeling her own heartbeat pulsing softly in her nipples and her cunt.

Laura picked up the mug and took a sip. She looked up and smiled at Marcie. "Very good, Marcie. Good girl."

Marcie drew her breath in a low gasp as her pussy started to throb in orgasm. "Uhhnnn ... thank you, Miss Bendon," she said in a dreamy voice.

"In fact, I have been very pleased with you, Marcie," Laura continued with a sly smile. "Very pleased indeed."

Marcie panted as Laura's kind words drew out her climax until her legs felt weak. She had to catch her breath before she could speak again. "I try very hard to please you, Miss Bendon," Marcie moaned.

"Oh, I know you do. I can see that. And you now appear to really enjoy this job."

Marcie nodded eagerly. "I ... I was very anxious to get to work this morning, Miss Bendon. I was very excited about it ..."

"I have no doubts about that now."

Marcie smiled. More warm pleasure washed over her, her pussy tingling again.

"But, I do have something else for you."

"Something else? Something you want me to do for you?" Marcie asked eagerly.

"More something I want you to consider. I want you to think about ... serving me in a more personal capacity."

Marcie hesitated a moment, though she felt her nipples hardening again at the thoughts that were swirling in the back of her mind. "I'm not sure I understand, Miss Bendon."

"You do very well for me here in the office. But I need someone like you outside the office as well."

"Outside? I don't understand."

Laura leaned forward, folding her hands before her. "It's very simple. You do very well pleasing me here in the office. I wish someone to please me at home as well."

For a long moment, Marcie just stared at her. Finally, her eyes began to widen. At long last, an alarm bell had gone of in the far recesses of her mind that were still hers, that still reacted the way the old Marcie would.

"Think now, Marcie, on how much easier it would be to please me if you could do it in my personal hours as well as my work hours."

Marcie had opened her mouth to voice a protest when Laura's words struck her. Her words dissolved into mist, and her body shuddered as her pussy throbbed a second time. Out came a quavering moan instead. She stumbled forward and grabbed the edge of the desk, panting.

Laura stood. She came around the side of the desk and trailed a finger slowly along one of Marcie's arms. Marcie shivered and moaned softly again. "M-Miss Bendon ..." she breathed.

"Yes, Marcie?" Laura asked with a wicked smile reminiscent of Nyssa.

"What ... wh-what would you have me doing?"

"Doing? Why, just what you have so far."

Marcie swallowed. "Y-you sure, Miss Bendon?"

"Well ... you want to please me, don't you?"

Marcie quivered. Her sex flashed hot again. "Y-yes, Miss Bendon, you know I do ..."

"Then that is what you would continue to do. Please me. Do what I ask of you. And do it very well."

Each sentence brought another little ripple of pleasure through her nether regions. Marcie was panting again by the time Laura fell silent and turned away from her.

"Just think about it, Marcie," Laura said as she sat down behind her desk again. "That's all you need to do today. Think about it."

"And ... a-and tell you my decision this afternoon before I go, Miss Bendon?"

"No. Not even then. I'll give you until Monday. But ... I will want to speak with you one last time before you go."

Marcie paused, and then nodded.

"Now ... back to work with you. Be my good little girl."

Marcie closed her eyes and moaned, squeezed her legs together as moisture squished under her panties. "Yes, Miss Bendon ..."

The Harbingers met.

"I've come a decision," Cassie said. There was a nervous quaver in her voice. "Normally what the, uh, original Harbingers did was try to find out who the next people were that Nyssa was going to take, since she does it in two 'waves' at the end of the week like that."

"How can we do that if we're trying to stop the ones we found yesterday?" Diane asked.

"Exactly. So we're not going to bother with that. We'll just concentrate at the end of the day on stopping the ones we do know about."

"But, uh, doesn't that mean, like, we're abandoning the others to their fate or something?" asked Ned.

Cassie could tell from his voice that he had attempted to ask it in the nicest way possible, but she felt a twinge of conscious and little resentment towards him anyway for bringing it up. "Yes, that's the hardest part of it. That's why I don't want us even looking for them for the practice. Yesterday was a little ... traumatic ..."

Ashen faced, Becky cringed at this.

" ... and finding out who is next knowing we're not going to do anything for them would be, um ..."

"Real uncomfortable," Ned said softly, nodding in understanding. "Got it."

"And I think we could all use a break before we go at this again. All right, let's ... let's just try to get through the day."

"I want it over with," Becky said forlornly. "I want to s-save my sister."

"I know, Becky. We will. Really, once you get the person away from the victim for just a few seconds, it disrupts the process and the aura vanishes."

Becky nodded but did not look the least comforted by this.

"Um, all right. We'll meet back here after school. Oh, and this time, I have a different number for you to call when you're done." She handed out some slips of paper. "This is my driver's cell phone. I'd rather know right away whether you all succeeded or not."

"You won't get in dutch for that, Cassie?" Ned asked.

"Actually, that's the number my parents prefer I give out. Again, so we can show off our money that we have a personal driver who answers our calls. So he won't think anything of it. Okay, I think that's it."

The group started to break up, but Cassie caught Ned's sleeve. "Um, yeah?" he asked as he turned.

Cassie sighed. "Have you got a minute?"

"Sure thing. What's up?"

"Well, you're the only one that I feel comfortable sharing this with, but ... I had a dream this morning. A really disturbing one."

Ned nodded earnestly. "Yeah? What about?"

"It was about Jason." Cassie paused a long moment.

Ned gave her a concerned look. "Musta been a doozy. I thought you looked kinda off today."

Cassie actually thought that was sweet of him to notice but kept that to herself. "Anyway ... it's difficult to explain. I saw him with Nyssa. It was like he was different somehow."

"Different? From what? Uh, I mean besides the fact that he's her slave now."

"But it was as if the way he was a slave was different. Like Nyssa took him but ... but did something else to him. Something ... u-unpleasant."

Ned had a definite feeling that was an understatement but held his tongue on that score. He could tell she was upset about this and didn't want to upset her any further. And truth be told, this was the first girl he thought actually liked him. He didn't want to screw that up, either.

"Look, if we, y'know, take the bitch down ... uh, I mean, if we weaken her enough, maybe she'll let him go."

"I'm hoping she'll let them all go! What I'm really hoping for, Ned, is that it takes energy from her somehow to keep someone enslaved to her. I mean, it must. If someone can be released from her control, then it must take energy to maintain it. Doesn't that make sense?"

"Yeah, I guess. Unless there was some way to make it permanent."

At that moment, all the blood drained from Cassie's face.

"Holy ... Cassie! You okay?" Ned cried, grabbing her shoulders as she looked like she was about to swoon.

"Oh my God ..." Cassie breathed, looking horrified. "That's what that means ... that's what ... oh God ...!"

"What? What?!"

Cassie swallowed, trembling badly. "A d-detail from my dreams ... something trailing from each of them ... I c-can't really explain it better than that, but I-I think it represents their ... I don't know what you want to call it: their souls, their spirits, their former selves, but it's like ... leaking away from them. Like the longer they stay enslaved to Nyssa like this ..."

"The more permanent it gets," Ned finished for her. "Crap."

Cassie swallowed hard. "Ned, we can't fail today. We can't. Not on a single one of them."

"I hear ya. Don't worry, Cassie. We'll do it. We came through for ya yesterday, and we'll do it today."

Cassie nodded, too choked up to respond. She really hoped so. Everything was riding on it now.

"They met again in the parking lot before classes started, Mistress," Laura said as she stood just inside the doorway to the examination room.

Nyssa paused to finish her task, that of affixing needles to two crystalline syringes filled with faintly glowing green fluid. She checked them one last time and slipped them into the drawer under the examination table. "The same four?"

"Yes, Mistress."

Nyssa paused a moment and turned around. "How did Becky look?"

"Not well, Mistress. She was pale and very upset."

"She knows Ursula wants her sister," Nyssa said, stepping towards her slave. "Now ... how did she know?"

Laura paused a moment, feeling her pussy grow hot in the presence of her Mistress. "She would have seen her behaving oddly, Mistress, when she got home from school," Laura said in a husky voice.

Nyssa considered this for a moment. "Possibly. Or ... she discovered through other means."

"I don't understand."

"Neither do it, slave. And that is what has me concerned."

Nyssa folded her arms and paced slowly around the room once. "What I did not tell you, my pet, is that there are sometimes people that can see the Darkness. They are called Sensitives."

"You think one saw Ursula and warned Becky and the others?"

"Sensitives are very rare, slave. Yet I found four. But I discovered their secret when I made them my slaves, or at least part of it. The ability was given to them."

"Is there another it was given to, Mistress?"

Nyssa shook her head. "Not according to their story ... If it is true ..."

"But Mistress, they cannot lie to you, can they?"

"They can tell me what they believe to be the truth."

"But ... you can reach into their minds ..."

Nyssa smiled and strolled up to her slave. She cupped Laura's face in her hands. Laura shuddered and moaned, her body responding with rekindled lust and desire.

"You have poor little Marcie so close to being your fucktoy, and yet you understand so little about the power you wield. The mind is not such a thing that it can be so easily wiped and reprogrammed like a computer. Even when I am using my new toy Jason, and I fill his mind with nothing but sexual bliss, the permanent changes to his psyche are slow to come about. As powerful as the Darkness can be, there are limits my dear little slave ..."

Through the whole speech, Nyssa poured more and more lust into Laura's mind, until by the end Laura's face slipped from Nyssa's hand as she fell to her knees panting wildly.

Nyssa smiled down at her. "Even you took time to make my totally devoted slave," she said in low voice. "And you still have your mind. You can still think."

Laura mewled and fell to all fours as her pussy began to throb powerfully in orgasm.

Nyssa giggled. "Well ... usually you can think ..."

She turned away. Laura moaned until her climax abated. Slowly, she rose to her feet.

"You see? Now your mind comes back to you once the pleasure is over," Nyssa said as she leaned against the examination table. "And when you can think clearly again, slave, I have another task for you."

"Yes, Mistress?" Laura asked in a shaky voice, her pussy still throbbing dully.

"The four who seem to like to hang out together. Cassie, Becky, Ned, and Diane. Find an excuse to detain them after school today."

"Detain them, Mistress?"

"Yes. Keep them after for, oh, an hour or two and then let them go home."

"Do you really think they could interfere with your plans, Mistress?"

"Probably not," Nyssa said. Her lips curled into a wicked grin. "But ... I cannot be too careful right now."

Laura nodded. "I wish you well with your plans, Mistress."

Nyssa chuckled. "Of course you do, my pet. Now, run along. Do not disturb me for anything unless it is an emergency or I call you myself."

"Yes, Mistress," Laura said. She turned and headed out of the office, quickly assuming her outwardly normal mannerisms even before she made it to the door.

Nyssa truly did not believe they could cause her harm at this point. But this felt like the right thing to do.

She simply could not afford a failure at this point. She had a chance to smooth things out and get the supply of energy to Haven moving at a steadier pace. If she had any of the ones taken from her that day, it would disrupt her severely.

Though not permanently. She had the seeds. She could plant them early and force the issue, but the energy would be harder to control, and may make Haven suspicious she was holding back. Still, that was her contingency if all else failed.

She smiled, congratulating herself on thinking of such a simple idea.

The bell rang.

Miss Davis glanced at it with a sigh. "Well, we're not going to finish this today, obviously," she declared as the students began shuffling about. "Questions on pages twenty-three through twenty-five for homework."

A few groans and mutters curses wafted through the room.

"Just because it's a weekend doesn't mean I don't expect you to do the work. Really, we went over the material enough today, they should be easy if you get right to it this afternoon. Dismissed. Oh, Mr. Gardner? I wish to see you for a moment."

Richie nodded and smiled to himself. He dawdled, letting the rest of the class empty before strolling over to the teacher's desk. "Yes, Miss Davis?" he asked with a sly grin.

Linda glanced over Richie's shoulder as the last of the other students left the room. She turned to him with a happy smile. "I checked the FedEx tracking earlier, Master," she whispered. "Those dildos you had me order will be here today. They should be waiting for me when I get home later."

"Cool," Richie said. "Good girl."

Linda gave a little squeal of delight. "Thank you, Master! Do you want me to do anything with them when I get home?"

"Heh, you betcha I do. Soon as you get home, you get those things out and you start fucking yourself with 'em."

"Mmm, all of them, Master?"

Richie smirked. "Well, one at a time. Start with a smaller one and work your way up. I want you workin' yourself with the biggest of 'em when I come walking in later."

Linda nodded eagerly. "Yes, Master." She gave a sultry sigh and squirmed in her chair. "I'm already wet thinking about it ..."

Richie grinned impishly. "How about you stay wet the rest of the school day, huh?"

Linda closed her eyes and moaned softly, shivering. "Yes, of course, Master ..." she said in a breathy whisper.

"Then I'm sure those things will just slip right in when you get home."

Linda started panting. "Uhhn ... Y-yes, Master, they certainly will ..."

Richie grinned at this and watched her squirm for a few moments longer. "Hmm, better tone that down a bit or you won't get through the rest of the day."

Linda felt some of the intensity of her arousal abate. She looked at him with a weak smile. "Thank you, Master."

Some of her relief was genuine. Like many of the newly enslaved, her dreams the night before had been very vivid and were all about what she had been like before this happened to her. Occasionally, flickers of her old self flitted through her consciousness, and she momentarily felt the imprisonment and the helplessness, causing a cold shiver to pass through her.

As if sensing this himself, Richie said, "But remember, you're still my fuckslut. That's what you always are, even if I let you do this teacher crap."

"Yes, Master, I understand. I'm your fuckslut. I love being that way."

He listened and nodded in satisfaction. "Yeah, that's better. Oh, and that bogus homework assignment?"

"You don't have to do that, Master. That's for everyone else, not you."

"Yeah, cuz I'm gonna be too busy this weekend anyway."

Linda smiled. "Will you be fucking me over the weekend, Master?"

"Heh, better believe it."

"Mmm, I'll look forward to that, Master."

Richie laughed. "Yeah, you're not the only one. See ya, babe."

"See you later, Master. Um, I mean ... that will be all, Mr. Gardner," she said, switching the cadence of her voice in mid-stream without missing a beat.

"Awesome," Richie said in a very low voice to himself before he turned and left the classroom.

"Cassie! Cassie, wait up!"

Cassie turned just as she was about to walk away from her locker. "It has to be fast, Diane, this is the same class I was late for the other day, I can't afford to ..."

"Cassie, I can't go with you today after school," Diane said in a stricken voice.

Cassie gaped at her. "What?!"

"In the class I just left, I was told that I had to stay after and help put away some of the PE equipment."

"Huh? Why??"

Diane sighed. "That's what I want to know!" she said in indignation. "All I know is that the principal came in and talked to my teacher for a bit and then suddenly I was picked to do this."

Cassie frowned. "I don't like that."

"Yeah, join the damn club. Shit. I asked her why I was picked out of everyone, and she gave me some vague answer about my classwork not being up to par. That's total bullshit, Cassie! I mean, it's not my best subject, but ..."

"It's okay, Diane," Cassie said quickly to stop the torrent of words. She sighed. "There's not a whole lot we can do about this. I can do it alone. I needed you to help me find her, but now that I know where she's going to be, it should be easier."

She did not mention how her driver was not about to let her out of the car without an escort, but she would just have to trust she could figure out that detail for herself later. She didn't have a choice.

"I just should be there!" Diane cried. "I went through all this and I should see it through to the end. Just when I thought was being useful ..."

"Diane, you can be useful to us again. Please, don't do this to yourself. This won't necessarily be the last time we do this. We just had some bad luck, that's all."

In the back of her mind, Cassie did think this an odd coincidence, that this would be the one day that something like this would happen when nothing like it had happened before. She eventually pushed that thought aside. It was one thing to be cautious but another to be paranoid. That was not going to do them any good.

"So you have to go do this right after your last class?" asked Cassie.

"Yes. Right after. Don't even stop by my locker, I was told."

Cassie frowned at this. Now that nagging feeling that there was something odd about this was rising. "Diane, do me a favor ... meet me outside the auditorium just before ... no, make that just after my lunch period. I want to tell Ned about this first."

Diane looked oddly at her. "I don't understand."

"I just want his opinion on this."

"Opinion? You don't ... you don't think that there's something else behind this?"

"Well, you do know that ... wait, maybe you don't. Dammit, I keep making assumptions about you, I'm sorry ... Principal Bendon has the aura, Diane. She's in league with the Darkness and has been from the start."

Diane paused and then nodded slowly. "I think I knew that," she said in a small voice. "My ... m-my mother was affected by her, remember?"

Cassie nodded and mentally kicked herself again for forgetting that detail. Damn, Jason was so much better than this, she thought with a twinge of sadness.

"Okay, I'll meet you there," said Diane. "I really hope this is nothing, though. I mean, I'd hate to think we'd get this close and then ..."

She left the rest unspoken. It was enough anyway to send a chill up Cassie's spine. "Yeah, I know. Okay, meet you later, I have to go."

Cassie turned away and started running to get to her next class. She didn't run quite as fast as her mind was racing right now.

Ned stomped his way down the hall to the cafeteria, making as much noise with his feet as possible. This had the effect of making him look a little ridiculous with the exaggerated footfalls he needed to accomplish the effect, but he ignored the snickers and comments in his wake. There was simply no way that they could make him any more angry than he already was.

He was still fuming when he found Cassie, dropping himself heavily into a seat without bothering to get lunch from the serving line.

"Oh, there you are, I was getting a little concerned when you were late," Cassie started to say as she turned to him. She took one look at him and blanched. "What's wrong?"

"I'll tell ya what's really wrong," Ned said darkly. "The state of the educational system in America. It breeds environments like this, it does! One day you're allowed to hurry along your merry little way and then the next? Poof! Rules change on you! Then little tin-pot dictators like ..."

"Ned ... Ned! ... Ned!" Cassie cried during his narrative until he finally stopped. "Look, just tell me what's wrong? I'm not really in the mood for ..."

"I got detention."

Cassie stopped dead and stared. "Not today ..."

"Today. Thank stupid saggy Seeger for it."

Cassie's head was spinning. "Ned, h-how did this happen? You didn't do anything that ..."

"He nailed me for running in the freaking halls!" Ned cried, throwing up his arms.

"Well ... technically you're not supposed to do that ..."

"Oh, come on, Cassie! Everyone fucking runs sometimes to get to a class. I see it every day. Suddenly now it's being enforced? Makes no fucking sense." He paused and blushed slightly, remembering how Cassie felt about excessive foul language. "Er ... pardon my French."

Cassie had barely noticed it. "Ned, I don't like this. Diane said that she has to stay after school to help sort through some equipment for PE class or something. She has to do it right after her last class."

"Aw, fuck. Oops. I mean ... anyway, that means we're down two people. Any way we can recruit ..."

"No, Ned, stop. Think for a minute. You think this is coincidence? Both you and Diane being knocked out of action today of all days?"

Cassie's voice was rising to a near panic by the end, such that it made Ned's eyes widen in concern, and then in mounting dread as he understood what she was implying. He gave a low whistle. "Bogus. You really think that someone's, like, doing this on purpose? Just to prevent us from ... well, you know."

Cassie sighed. "I don't know what to think anymore, Ned," she said in a choked voice. "I-I feel like I'm getting in way over my head here."

"Hey, c'mon, it's okay, babe ..."

"No, it's not okay!" Cassie cried. "What are we supposed to do now, Ned? We can't do this with only two people! And if this really is something planned, then me and Becky are probably next to be given some reason to have to stay after."

Ned nodded at this and was silent for a long moment. Finally he said, "Screw 'em."

Cassie blinked. "Huh?"

"Screw 'em. The school I mean. We just high-tail it outta here when the last class is over."

Cassie stared at him. "But ... but if we do that we'll ..."

"Get in trouble?" Ned said with a smirk. "We're already in trouble if what you're sayin' is true and they're doing this on purpose. Means they're on to us. We're damned if we do and damned if we don't. So let's do instead of don't."

Cassie shivered. "And if this is the last 'do'?"

"Um ... then we storm Nyssa's office?"

Cassie actually managed to laugh at this. "That would be about the only thing we could do at that point. Look, I told Diane to meet me outside the auditorium after lunch, so we'll all talk about it then."

"Someone will need to tell Becky."

"Damn, you're right. I'll get Diane to do that. I wish I had thought of it before, so she could have brought her to the auditorium with her. Now we'll have to hunt her down after the fact."

"Ah, we'll get it done, one way or the other." Ned stood. "Now that I got that anger off my chest, I gotta go get some grub, I'm starved. See ya in a few."

He smiled at her and headed over to the serving line.

Cassie smiled softly as she watched him go. She was becoming very glad that she had met him.

"Cassie, I ran into Becky and brought her along to this," Diane said as Cassie and Ned walked up to them. "I hope you didn't mind."

Cassie was actually quite relieved. "No, Diane, that was perfect. I was hoping we would have to track her down later. This way we can ..."

"This isn't fair!" Becky suddenly cried in a choked voice. "Why today? Why today??"

"Let me guess," said Cassie. "You have to stay after school as well today?"

"The day Nyssa ... w-well, you know ... with me ... I had a test I was supposed to take. My teacher wants to give me a make-up exam for it this afternoon after my last class."

"I have to stay after as well, Becky," Diane said. "That's why I wanted to bring you along. Cassie thinks it might not be a coincidence."

"It's not," Cassie said darkly. "Ned has detention."

"Oh no!"

"I'm the only one that doesn't have anything yet, but I'm guessing I will by the end of the day."

"Me, I think we shouldn't worry about it," Ned said. "That's what I told Cassie over lunch. Let's just skip out and do this."

"I'll get a failure for that test!" Becky wailed. She paused a moment in the silence her comment left in its wake and blushed, cringing from the others. "I'm sorry ... that ... that was petty ..."

"It's okay, Becky," Cassie said in a low voice. "We're all under a lot of stress right now."

"Look, I'm willing to do it," Diane said. "At this point, I-I just don't care what kind of trouble I'm going to get into." She paused, her face going pale. "I t-tried talking to Heather earlier. It's ... it's like I don't recognize her anymore. It's like she's a different person now. I want the old Heather back, Cassie. I don't care if I get expelled doing it!"

Cassie was somewhat taken aback by the vehemence of Diane's passion for this. She was grateful for it, yes, but mystified by it nevertheless. She nodded. "And I don't intend to stick around here either no matter what they try to saddle me with ... You know, in a way, this doesn't make sense."

"How so?" asked Ned.

"Well, look how easily we can just say we're not going to go. If they really thought we could just blow this off, would they have done something this simple?"

"Unless they have a plan B."

There was a long silence amongst the group.

"Then ... then we're screwed, aren't we?" Becky said fearfully.

Ned grinned impishly. "Maybe not."

Cassie looked to him hopefully.

"Maybe we can kinda make it look like we're going to be good little girls and boys and show up, but then find some excuse to ditch it after a short while."

"But by then we'll miss the bus," Diane pointed out.

"Not if Cassie's driver takes you all."

"Wait a minute, I'm not sure he'll do that, Ned," Cassie said. "And I'm definitely sure that I don't want to chance that. I mean, I can still take Diane with me, but the rest of you I'm not sure. And even then I don't think I can get you across town fast enough."

Ned sighed. "Well, that was my only idea. I guess we'll just have to chance ..."

"Wait ... what I can do, though, is pay for taxis for you and Becky," Cassie said, her expression brightening. "My parents won't even notice such a tiny charge like that."

"Won't the cabbies be wary about ferrying minors around?"

"Not if I include a huge tip for them. In advance. They won't care after that."

"Okay, cool!" Ned said with a grin. "So you think if we hang around for ten minutes that should be enough?"

Cassie nodded. "We can't risk any longer than that or the taxi may not get you there in time. I'll have to send the taxi back to pick you up after."

"Hell, better than the stinky ol' school bus any day. So we get an extra bonus out of this."

Cassie grinned slightly at this. "Okay, then. We do our thing for ten minutes and then find a way out, like having to use the bathroom or something. Then we meet outside where we usually ... no, better, just down the block at the corner."

"Riiiight," said Ned with a grin. "So they don't see us standing there. That's usin' the old noodle."

"What if someone sees us in the school?" Becky asked.

"Run," Ned said before Cassie could answer. "Fast."

Cassie hated the idea of having to run from the very people she used to turn to the semester before whenever the teasing became too much, but she nodded in agreement nevertheless. "Yes, run," she repeated tonelessly. "Fast."

Cassie did indeed get called out as the others had, and she was going to share detention with Ned. At first she thought this was going to cause an awkward situation, until she saw that it was Marcie Fuller that was presiding over detention still. Cassie hated to think this of her, but Miss Fuller was rather gullible and likely would not think twice about the two of them leaving the room at almost the same time.

For the time she was there, she again had the feeling that something very odd had happened to Miss Fuller since the start of the semester. It was not just her dreams or the way Miss Fuller dressed anymore. There was something more than that.

Part of it she knew had to do with her dreams. Sometimes when someone appeared prominently in her dreams, she would see them in a different light the next time she met the person again in real life.

Yet this was different even from this.

Cassie had no time to be concerned about it. She had not had any particularly powerful dreams of Miss Fuller of late, at least none that she remembered. Even so there were more pressing matters to contend with.

They had agreed that Ned would go first and then Cassie a minute later. Marcie had agreed for Ned right away. For Cassie, she was a little more reluctant, as if remembering what had happened the last time she had listened to Cassie.

"Please, Miss Fuller, I really need to go badly," Cassie said, squeezing her legs together tightly for effect.

Marcie paused for a moment. "Okay, Miss Kendall, you may go. Please don't be too long,"

Cassie shot out of her seat. "I won't, Miss Fuller."

As soon as she was out of the classroom she fled down the hall as fast as she could. At any moment she expected to be stopped by someone from the faculty, or that the principal would come around a corner, or that Nyssa herself would step out in front of her and drag her back to detention.

Or worse, into the nurse's office.

Once outside the building, she ran for where both Diane and the limo were waiting. "Cassie, I'm sorry, I think I left a little too early," she said as Cassie approached.

"Don't worry about it now, Diane, there's no point." Cassie took a few steps towards the street to the corner. One taxi was just pulling away from the curb. Ned was getting into the other one, and soon it was on its way as well. Cassie heaved a huge sigh of relief, feeling a little weak from the tension breaking.

"Everyone got away ... All right, let's go, we can't afford to wait a moment longer."

"Oh, God, Cassie, do you really think we'll pull this off?" Diane said quietly but urgently to Cassie as Harry opened the door for them.

"We have to," Cassie said as she slid inside first, followed quickly by Diane and then the slam of the door. "We have no choice. Let's just hope that they don't decide to put any 'plan B' into action until we get this done."

Diane bit her lip and glanced out the window at the school as Harry started the engine. Her gaze lingered until the limo pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.

"Cassie, are we ever going back?" she asked in a small voice.

Cassie looked at her and puzzled over this for a few moments. "Going back? You mean to the school?" She paused a moment. "Why wouldn't we?"

Diane shrugged vaguely. "It ... i-it just seems like so different a place now."

Cassie took a long, slow, deep breath. She had not really stopped to think about that. Yet there was a ring of truth to what Diane said. This was the first time the school seemed to take an action directly against them. Now it was no longer safe. Not that it truly ever was, but they had the illusion of safety. Now even that was shattered completely.

"Cassie?"

"Yes, Diane?"

"Are you scared?"

Cassie hesitated only a moment. "Yes."

"So am I."

The two of them looked at each other. The next moment they leaned across to each other and shared a hug.

"I so hope this will eventually bring back Heather, Cassie," Diane moaned in Cassie's ear. "I really do."

"She's your best friend, isn't she?"

A long pause. "Yes. You could say that."

Cassie felt a shudder pass through Diane's body. She had the nagging feeling that she should know what it meant.

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