The car was crowded now with students from all grades. Sarah felt out of place she was the only person out of uniform. She hurried off when it hit the station for the mall. She was in a river of flowing students. She went up the stairs and found herself in a private mall for the school. It wasn’t anything fancy. A small food court with non-cafeteria food, a barber, a hair stylist. A couple of clothes stores that catered to different tastes and general store with odds and ends. The food court was full of students. The hair stylist was empty she pondered what Dr. Carston told her, and she walked in. A change, maybe that’s what she needed. The lone hairdresser on duty perked up when she saw Sarah enter. The woman sounded American.

“What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to change my hair.”

“Really, trim? Cut? What are you looking for?”

“I think I’ll go with dye. If you have time, that is.”

“I’m not sure I should touch that hair. It’s gorgeous. You must have spent a fortune on the spell to change your hair color.”

Sarah was confused for a few seconds.

“Oh no, this is natural color, I just need a change. Something to make me excited to look in the mirror again.”

“You are a lucky girl. Hair like that, people spend thousands for.”

Sarah gave a slight shrug of her shoulders.

“I’ll tell you what, how about a temporary spell, its quick, painless and most of all inexpensive. If you like it, make an appointment and we’ll go for a full-on permanent dye?”

Sarah nodded.

“That sounds good. I probably need a trim though. It’s a bit split at the ends.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sarah.”

“Well Sarah, I’m Megan, shall we wash it, trim then do the spell on it?”

“Aye.”

Sarah let the hairdresser do her thing. She actually got about three inches trimmed off to make it easier to deal with when working out. It was down to just below her shoulders now.

“Spell is pretty cheap; We could do this a few times until you find one you like?”

Sarah nodded.

“What shall we do?”

“Well, everyone says I should have born with red hair because I have the temper of a ginger… could we do that? So, it looks natural?”

“Easy, here goes”

The woman started chanting and ran her fingers through Sarah’s hair front to back. As her fingers ran through the silver strands her hair turned to a natural red color. Megan held up a mirror so she could see the back.

“What do you think Sarah?”

“That looks so real, like I was born with it.”

“Yes! It’s a great little spell, one of the few I can cast. It lasts about a month, but it can be dispelled easily. It looks good with your skin tone. Wow good choice Sarah.”

Sarah thanked Megan and paid her bill with the credit card her mother’s duplicate’s parents gave her. She decided to just call them her mother’s parents from then on just to keep things sane. She walked through the mall to the general good store and started looking for some form of home for Sir Gallant. It seemed like they had small habitats for rodents already. She pondered why if pets weren’t allowed. Maybe older students had less restrictions. She found a nice one that would fit above her pillow. Purchased some aspen wood shavings for the small plastic bin she found. She bought a small habitat for him. Nothing big enough it wouldn’t fit in one bag. The mouse seemed smart, probably because it was an Earth-3 mouse and she assumed he wouldn’t need a cage, it’s not like she was going to make him stay, she also bought some rodent food. Her next stop was one of the women’s clothing stores where she got some help trying to find a couple more uniform bras and some uniform approved leggings. It would get cold here in the winter. She felt normal, she was just a girl out getting her hair done and then shopping. She glanced at her wrist. She was late for supper she glanced at the food court which was still open and went to the pizza restaurant and ordered a slice and a drink of soda. All they had left was peperoni and Hawaiian. The choice was clear she hated pineapple on pizza so Peperoni it was. The food court was still packed with a bunch of older kids who were laughing and chatting away. She finished her food and took in the ambiance of the food court. It felt like being in Arizona. She pondered what her friends were doing right then. Then realized it was just before lunch for them and they would be in class.

She tapped her holo-tablet and dialed a number. She had memorized it the moment her Nan had handed to her. She didn’t know why, maybe force of habit. Before all of this if she needed a champion, she’d call her mom. Her mom would fight tooth and nail for her. Now…she wasn’t so sure. Her finger hovered over the dial button she finally let her finger fall through the holographic display and it started to ring. Her finger hovered over the disconnect button. She didn’t know why she was calling her at all. Was it to piss her off with the dye job the shorter trim? Show her mother she wasn’t needed? It rang three more times, and she was about to hit disconnect when the video phone picked up. It was her mother, but she looked older, more tired. The summer had not been kind to her. Her eyes lit up but then she looked worried.

“Sarah is something wrong?”

“No mom, everything is perfect here. I’m happy, I’m making friends I had a great summer with my grandparents, all four of them.”

Her mom was nodding along. It looked like she was living in an apartment not a house.

“It is so good to hear from you. I…missed you. Where are you? And is your hair red?”

“I’m at the mall on campus at school. My hair is whatever I want it to be you do not get to choose anymore. I choose now.”

Her mother nodded Sarah could see tears forming in her eyes.

“Mom I’m going to lay out some ground rules between us moving forward. I will call you; You will not call me. I still have your number blocked. I am still very angry with you. I am not sure I will ever forgive you for what you did to me. So, when I call: You will not criticize me I have my grandmothers to do that now. My respect level for you is zero right now. My trust level for you is in the negatives. I do not owe you anything. I want this to change, I want you in my life. You’re my mom. I love you but love is not enough to fix what you did. Ms. Sheppard, she’s my dorm mother, you met her. She said I should hear your side of the story, she said that a girl should have her real mother in her life.”

“Okay, look Sarah I’m sorry I know that doesn’t mean anything…”

“Mom, I’m not done yet. Please just listen: I was told by Ms. Sheppard that you and dad hid something else from me. She’s going to tell me tonight. I don’t know what it is, but it has a to do with a dream I have about a man grabbing me in a green house. I thought it might be bad enough I would never make this call so I made it, in a public place so I would be able to keep it together better. So, mom, this is your one and only chance: Help me understand why you tried to make me into a boy, and drugged me so badly I could barely function sometimes?”

“Sarah it, it wasn’t like that. You… we got a letter it said they would take you away from us when you started puberty, so we ran. I didn’t want to lose you to some strange government thing so I just took you and said to a doctor you were confused about your gender, and you had expressed an interested in being a boy so they would give you the shots so you wouldn’t hit puberty just…to buy more time…at first then I thought it was working. I mean after the…green house I knew I had to do something. And you were so… I mean you. We needed to keep you calm so I got the pills I said you had a violent outburst that you were anxious… Sarah I was trying to protect you from… And then you started to remember, and I thought maybe if we… Sarah you don’t want to know what happened in that green house. You really don’t want to know.”

Her mother was sobbing at this point. Sarah actually started to feel bad for her. It was making sense.

“Mom what happened… how did they find out?”

“You, you made a bubble around the car…there was this accident you just unbuckled your belt and you got out of the car and you made bubble around us. Your eyes glowed this bright blue and the fire…the explosion it just went around us. You stood there for half an hour and when the fire was out you collapsed on the ground. You saved us all.”

“When I was six? That doesn’t make any sense…you can’t use your powers until you hit puberty.”

“Sarah, hon I don’t know what happened it was a miracle. And we just left, got to our house and pretended nothing happened. Then a letter came it said that you had superpowers and that you would need to go to be trained and that you could never come back home. It laid out all these ways we could come with you. I had no idea your father… I didn’t know. All I know… Its not important. Your father said we needed to run away so we ran to the US and we were happy in Minnesota weren’t we?”

“Yes I…I was angry you made us leave.”

“We had to Sarah, we had no choice. You… you did something, and your father called in that red haired British woman. She made it all go away but she said you would have to come with her. She gave us two weeks to talk to you and get you ready. We ran again. And after what happened, I mean what if your brothers? I just... I could not lose you and so I did what I thought was right.”

“Mom, I do not know what happened in Minnesota. I will know soon. Do you know why I’m mad?”

“I stunted your development, and you were bullied for it.”

“No mom. I am mad because instead of talking to me explaining to me what was going on you just did it. You did it without my consent. You took my choice away. A choice that is the right of every child to make.”

Her mother was still crying.

“Sarah, you don’t need to know what happened in Minnesota.”

“Mom I’m already remembering but I don’t understand. I need context.”

Sarah went back to her breathing keeping herself calm.

“Okay that is done. I don’t agree with what you did, and I’m still very angry with you for doing it, but I understand.”

Her mother sniffled and used a tissue to wipe her nose.

“Sarah, I have something to tell you.”

“I’m listening mom.”

“Your dad and I, we’re separated. He took your brothers. He said he couldn’t trust them with me… after what I did to you.”

Her mother’s mouth opened and closed a few times.

“I can’t disagree with him. After…what… happened to you. I… Sarah? I love you.”

Sarah was staring at her mother blankly. She hadn’t expected this. It made her feel sick in the pit of her stomach. Her mother’s words were becoming slower almost slurred Her eye lids were looking droopy.

“Mom, are you alright? I mean should I be worried? Are you going to hurt yourself? Did you take something?”

“I… I took some…”

“Mom where are you now?”

“I moved… here… thought maybe… I could find you before school make… it up to you. I couldn’t and…I didn’t want to hurt anyone else.”

Sarah quickly started dialing another number on her Holo-Tablet.

“Mom, I got another call, don’t go anywhere.”

She muted her mother and her grandmother, her mother’s mother appeared.

“Sarah dear, you look distraught what is wrong?”

“My mom, your daughter’s…she’s not doing well, and I think she might…I think she is going to hurt herself. I don’t know who else to call about this grandma. I’m on the phone with her right now and she does not look good.”

“My daughter is here?”

“My mom, from Earth-2 she’s in Scotland, Glasgow, I think. I have her number can you call the police or something?”

“Give me her number quickly Sarah.”

Sarah recited it from memory she saw her grandmother writing it down.

“You keep her on the line with you. I’ll call you back when I have reached the police and you can bring me on the line with her and we’ll talk to her together until they get there.”

Sarah wiped her tears up.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Thank you, grandma.”

Sarah flipped back to her mother and saw she was still there and alive.

“Mom, I’m back, sorry it was one of my room mates.”

“I… don’t you… umm own room?”

“No mom, there’s another girl from Earth-2 here, she’s from Washington. We have a lot in common and there’s a vampire who is two thousand years old, but her memories were erased so she’s basically like us a teenage girl. She seems to have been made really young. And there is another girl she’s a punk. I mean like as in she likes punk music and dresses like…them.”

“I don’t…is she… are you… safe?”

“Oh, she’s harmless mom, she wouldn’t hurt a fly, literally she’d have to go to church and confess she is so catholic the pope should print a stamp with her picture on it.”

Her mother looked like she was about to collapse Sarah kept talking rapidly tears dripping down her cheeks.

“Mom? Mom, listen to me, there is Amee, she’s very opinionated. Thinks she knows what’s best for me she’s so American. Kerri, I’m not sure about her yet. She’s cool her family is on a prison colony because…I am not sure why. She has a chip on her shoulder. But she’s friendly. She…well.”

Sarah’s tablet buzzed and she tapped it and brought her grandmother into a three way.

“Oh mom, look its grandma.”

Her mother’s eyes went wide.

“Mom?”

“Yes Mòrag, I know, you’re not my Mòrag but as soon as I saw your daughter, I knew I wanted to meet her mother.”

“Mom… I don’t want to die.”

Sarah spoke, her voice more panicked with every passing second.

“Mom, listen to me, mom stay awake, mom please. The police and ambulance are on their way.”

Sarah’s mother’s head started to slant to the side her eyes closed she heard hurried knocking at the door and finally a crash and she saw a policewoman rush over to her mother. She put her hand on her mother’s throat.

“Still got a pulse. Get the paramedics in here.”

She started searching and found a bottle near Sarah’s mother and she saw the policewoman hand it off to a paramedic. Sarah’s grandmother was showing an uncharacteristic amount of emotion she was crying. Sarah had always known her to be this very stoic woman. Sarah was in tears almost sobbing; It was loud enough she had people staring at her.

“Mom…mom…”

The policewoman noticed the phone and picked it up.

“Your mom is going to be alright; We know what she took, and we’ll help her. Your daughter will be fine Lady MacDonald. I’ll keep you informed.”

Sarah’s grandmother nodded. The policewoman hung up the phone. Sarah was sobbing now. She had tried to keep it together and she was so mad at her mother she hadn’t even noticed…if she’d see her sooner maybe she would have. A couple of older girls came to the table.

“Are you alright? Should we call someone?”

Sarah shook her head then nodded. Her grandmother spoke again.

“Sarah you should go back to your room and rest I’ll call you as soon as I know more, your grandfather and I are on the way to the Glasgow and the hospital right now.”

Sarah nodded and continued sobbing.

“What is wrong Sarah?”

The older girl who was speaking was British by her accent and she had brown hair, brown eyes. She was wearing her school uniform. She was probably a senior. She must have heard Sarah’s grandmother say her name.

“I… I just need to get home.”

“What dorm are you in?”

“Umbra.”

“Come on Sarah.”

The three girls were carrying Sarah’s things and escorted her to the subway and sat with her on the car. They chatted with each other about something going on with their classes and they walked Sarah to Carly’s room and knocked on the door. Carly opened the door and looked at the wreck of a girl that was Sarah and the three seniors.

“Ms. Sheppard she kind of had a breakdown at the mall food court. I’m not sure what happened, and she didn’t want to tell us. Figured we should get her home.”

“You did the right thing, thanks Fiona.”

“I’m just paying it forward someone did it for me when I was new here. I was such a home sick wreck.”

“I’ll make sure to let the Headmistress know what you did. I’m sure there is some merit points or something.”

Fiona nodded waved to Sarah.

“See you around Sarah, it gets better.”

The seniors vanished down the hall leaving a drained looking Sarah standing there with her bags around her.

“Sarah, it is like you can’t go an hour without an emotional break down. What is it this time?”

“I called my mom…I was so mad at her I just kept telling her this is how it is… and the whole time… She… took some pills. She… didn’t look like she was breathing.”

Carly’s face fell and she wrapped her arms around Sarah.

“Oh sweetheart. You should not have had to see that happen.”

Carly motioned to some girls who were walking by. The came over.

“Go to Room 18, get the girls to come here please.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

The two girls ran off and soon afterwards Amee, Maria and Kerri arrived.

“Girls get her things.”

Carly kept her arm around Sarah’s shoulders and directed her back to her room. Her roommates followed with her bags. They were whispering about her hair. The whispering stopped when they got to her room and saw the dense black rose vine taking up one wall. They stared it at it slack jawed.

“Thank you, girls, you can go.”

Amee hesitated but Kerri dragged her out by her arm.

“Sarah, I need you to tell me some things, so I know what we need to do next.”

“Did you tell anyone about your mother?”

Sarah nodded.

“I called my grandma and asked her to call the police. Then we talked to mom until they got there.”

“Which grandmother was it?”

“My mother’s mom.”

“Good, good, now did the police say anything?”

“They said they found the bottle for what she took and that she had a pulse.”

Carly closed her eyes and whispered a prayer of thanks.

“Did they say they would call?”

Sarah shook her head.

“Grandma said she would call as soon as they know more.”

“Isn’t your grandfather a world-renowned life Archmage?”

Sarah nodded.

“Then your mom is going to be fine. He can just make whatever she took go away and then heal the damage. Oh, your mom is in good hands.”

She hugged Sarah’s shoulders.

“If she isn’t, it’s my fault, if I’d just looked at her, or called her sooner or hadn’t blocked her.”

“Sarah this is not your fault.”

“It is all my fault. If I had never been born…”

“If you had never been born your parents would have died in a car accident eight years ago. This isn’t on you. This started when your mother started making the wrong choices when you were twelve. You are not to blame for any of this.”

Sarah shrugged.

“And wow the hair? It looks good is that dye?”

Sarah shook her head.

“Spell.”

“Oh, so not permanent?”

Sarah nodded. Sir Gallant was out of his nest his nose twitching looking at Sarah running back and forth as if he was worried. Sarah reached out her hand and he ran up it and to her shoulder and squeaked near her ear.

“Safe, Safe.”

Sarah gasped.

“He just told me I’m safe now.”

Carly shook her head.

“Strange mouse.”

Sir Gallant rubbed against Sarah’s cheek then his tiny paw started brushing tears off her face. He pulled himself up to her ear again.

“Big one promised secret.”

Sarah looked at Sir Gallant who was on her shoulder rubbing his little paws together. She realized that she couldn’t do anything for her mom… but she could find out…

“What happened in the green house?”

“Sarah now is not the right time…”

“If I don’t find out why I keep seeing that greenhouse I’ll go crazy. I can either sit here and pull my eye lashes and bite my nails or I can do something useful.”

Carly sighed. Best get this done now she supposed better than letting Sarah get over her mother then destroying her again.

“Come with me.”

Sarah followed Carly. Sarah stopped and Carly looked at her.

“I want Amee, Maria and Kerri there.”

“Sarah, you really don’t.”

“No, no more secrets they are poison.”

Carly frowned. She wanted to put her foot down but honestly it was Sarah’s choice. She had enough of those taken away from her. Sarah went and gathered each of her roommates. Sarah spoke as they walked.

“I don’t know what we’re going to see but I…well I think you should know who you’re living with.”

Amee hooked her arm in Sarah’s

“It can’t be worse than what I’ve done.”

Maria nodded.

“I have read my sister’s journals about me; I was not a good person.”

Kerri followed the group not saying anything. Carly opened her door and pulled out a thumb stick and plugged it into her Earth-2 computer that was hooked up to the TV. She found the file.

“This is graphic. Are you sure you want to be here for it?”

The girls all nodded. Sarah was squeezing Amee’s hand. Carly pressed play and there were three camera angles of the greenhouse. She was hiding under a table. The green house door swung open, it was man in his mid-forties, chubby, he was very average looking so much so you’d not be able to pick him out of a crowd. Twelve-year-old Sarah jumped out with a boo then realized it was not her brothers and stepped back. The man said something that the video didn’t record. Sarah ran around the tables and tried to dash past him, but he grabbed her around the waist and started touching her hair with his free hand. Amee’s grip on Sarah’s hand tightened Maria grabbed on to her other arm. In the video, Sarah reached desperately for a hand trawl, but she couldn’t get her hand around it then he said something to her ear and her eyes glowed bright green, veins started appearing all over her arms and hands and on her cheeks the plants started growing and an exponential rate. The first tomato vine started pulling his arms off of her, she landed on the ground, and she had her hand reached out the towards him the vines started wrapping themselves around his limbs he was crying out for help. Twelve-year-old Sarah smiled, and she said something, but the words were lost in the sound of the man’s screams. They could hear him begging for his life. In response Sarah reached out her hand and clenched her fist. The vines around his limbs snapped all of them at once bending them to extreme angles he was screaming so loudly the audio was cutting out. She said something but the sound was again lost in the man’s screams. He begged for mercy. She said another word then. She flicked her other palm towards him, and several vines reared up as if about to strike then they stabbed through him twisting and tearing the final sound on the video was the sickening sound of a man getting torn apart.

Sarah and Kerri ran and started throwing up in Carly’s double sink. Amee didn’t look as disturbed as she should have been, and Maria could be described as more intrigued than she should have been. Even Carly had turned away for the final seconds of the man’s life. Maria’s hand started stroking her crucifix.

“Fifty-three plants at once. Instant growth. Complete control of them. Isn’t that PL13?”

Amee nodded.

“If they have this footage, why is she listed as a PL8?”

Sarah had finished throwing up and was wiping her mouth off she had her arms crossed and her hands wrapped around her arms. She refused to look at the screen.

“I didn’t just kill him, I enjoyed it I was smiling, I knew exactly what I was doing…why can’t I remember.”

“The Headmistress tried to make you forget, when that failed to work, she edited the memory.”

Amee shook her head.

“It looks like something else took control. The body language completely changed two minutes twenty-three seconds in. When he whispered into her ear, her whole demeanor changed. She went from scared twelve-year-old to pissed off something way scarier. I was able to filter out the sound its voice I don’t have the language in my database. But it sounded like this.”

Amee repeated some alien sounding words in Sarah’s twelve-year-old voice. Sarah understood them immediately she didn’t know what language it was, she translated it.

“I see your sins, all those girls, all that pain. You are a sickness; You are a monster; You will not touch me like father once did. Then she said beg for mercy. Then she said beg louder than the last word she said was no.”

Maria nodded along to the translation.

“Yes, that is exactly what she said.”

Carly looked at the pair.

“You both understood that?”

Maria and Sarah nodded. Sarah still had her gaze averted from the TV.

“Do you know what language it was?”

Maria’s fingers started stroking her crucifix.

“No, I do not, I know many languages my mind remembers how to speak and understand them, but I have no names for them.”

Sarah shook her head. Carly nodded.

“Well, there is something else you need to see.”

“I don’t think I need to see more; I know why my mom did everything. I know why… The Headmistress is so scared of me.”

“No, you need to see what you saved yourself from.”

She opened another file and pointed at the screen.

“That man was charged and convicted with three counts of sexual assault on a minor, he served fifteen years. They suspected him of more.”

She scrolled down.

“When the Headmistress was cleaning up the situation, she had to speak to his mother… she knew where the bodies were buried. He is suspected of raping and killing six girls thirteen years old or younger, he would keep them for weeks before they disrupted his illusion of love, and he would kill them in a rage. His mother knew all about it and helped him cover it up. You would have vanished; You would have been raped repeatedly and you would have been buried with those girls. You were right in the video; He was a monster.”

Sarah looked like she was going to be sick again. Amee rubbed her arm.

“I know the feeling. I did the same thing my first time. Couldn’t stop, of course I was at the point where there was nothing left to get rid of so I just… It’s hard to deal with, but if it was easy then we would be the bad guys.”

Carly grabbed Sarah’s arm suddenly.

“You said in the video that he would not touch you like your father did, did your father…did he sexually abuse you?”

Sarah shook her head.

“No, my father…would never. Never.”

“Now we know what you said, you know we have to report him right if it could be true… if it could be true, we need to report it.”

Sarah shook her head furiously.

“No, he’s good dad, he never touched me, never.”

Carly looked caught. She knew Sarah was telling the truth, but she was a mandatory reporter. She frowned.

“Sarah, I know you are telling me the truth as you know it. But I just cannot take that chance. I am sorry.”

“You can’t, if my mother…and my dad…my brothers will have no one.”

“If he is innocent, IF he is innocent, he will be able to get custody back, but you know I’m a teacher that means I am legally bound to tell the authorities if there was an accusation of sexual misconduct towards a child. This is one of those times I want to have your back, but my hands are tied.”

Amee shook her head.

“Who do you report him too? Those crimes took place on Earth-2 in a country with no treaty. I mean, do police on our side have…jurisdiction?”

“Look I have to report it to child services in Arizona, I will let the legal crap get sorted out by the lawyers.”

Sarah looked at Carly.

“Won’t the Headmistress find out you showed me the video then?”

Carly swore a few times.

“God damn it. You’re right.”

Amee blinked a few times.

“If MANA has Sarah listed as a PL8, they have not seen this video…”

“No, only the Headmistress and I have seen it.”

“Why would she lie about her strength?”

Carly looked at the floor.

“The Headmistress has her reasons. But I’m not here to be her yes woman. Sarah has a right to know the truth. But you cannot tell anyone else what you have seen or heard here. Sarah was almost killed on Earth-2 by terrorists trying to capture her they were from Earth-Prime. The Headmistress is concerned that they would ignore the danger of attacking the school if they found out how strong Sarah really is.”

Sarah looked at Carly.

“Just how strong am I?”

“The limiters from the government weren’t bad, you just overloaded their capacity. I don’t know how. Neither does the Headmistress. That is why you’re being tested tomorrow. What does this say?”

Carly pulled out the piece of paper Eyre had written the Atlantean message on.

“Good Afternoon, Sarah.”

She looked at the ruby around her neck. No light. She showed it to Maria.

“What language is this?”

“That is in Atlantean, like my sister’s journal, and my journal.”

“Maria how old is this language?”

“It is older than creation, according to my journal.”

Sarah stumbled and sat down heavily on Carly’s couch.

“Sarah, I don’t know what is going on with you or how you know all this, but I have a feeling you have a lot in common with Maria. Maria is there anything in either of the journals that might give us a hint?”

Maria shook her head.

“I have not seen anything. I could do a search once I am back in my room.”

Carly glanced at her holo-tablet wrist band.

“Alright I need to take care of something. Remember this is all top secret. As far as anyone in this school knows Sarah is a PL8. Not a word about the Atlantean translation to the Headmistress, don’t even lie about it just say nothing, same with the mouse.”

“What mouse?”

Sir Gallant poked his head out of Sarah’s top. Sarah glanced down.

“Sir Gallant.”

“Oh, he’s so cute.”

“Where did you find him?”

“I don’t know he nibbled on my ear to wake me up from a nightmare.”

Carly frowned.

“Maria, you turned it into a mouse zombie, Sarah brought it back from the dead. The headmistress sent it to test. I have found out someone swapped a dead mouse for him. I think it was so it looks like Sarah just infused it with life energy instead of raising it from the dead.”

“Who would do that?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I was asking about lab security because they have some of the dangerous stuff from outside the barrier in there and I found out there are magical wards, a barrier and of course the cage itself was locked. So, whoever it was is either a very skilled mage, knows a secret entrance or is a ghost.”

Carly’s wrist vibrated.

“I need to go.”

The girls filed out. Sir Gallant hid in Sarah’s hair until she reached her room. Then hoped down her arm and onto the bookcase his nose twitching. Sarah decided the best way to deal with the revelations of the night and her mothers’ near-death status was to put together Sir Gallant’s habitat. He watched her assemble it with his keen eyes she moved her underwear and threw them on the floor and put the non-enclosed habitat down for him. He sniffed it and explored then started rolling around in the wood shavings.

“Do you like it Sir Gallant. I didn’t want to get you a cage. I do not own you. You are your own mouse.”

He jumped onto her pillow and up her arm to her ear. He nuzzled it.

“Now safe too.”

Sarah laughed and he hopped down her arm and into the padded habitat and curled up. Sarah looked around her room. She knew she needed to get it clean but that could be another night, right? She flopped back onto her bed and starred at the ceiling suddenly missing the glow in the dark galaxies and stars from her old bedroom.