The Lemon Cookie

     Holly walked through the musty halls of Tille Middle School. It was the first day of 8th grade, and her mind buzzed with excitement. The first day had always made her anxious, but this year she was the oldest, so for once she could begin with confidence.

     The thoughts flitted around the edges of my vision like annoying flies. I tried to ignore them, but they persisted.

     Summer was over, which sucked, but at least she would get to see all her old friends again.

     Yes, that's nice, I really don't care.

     It wouldn't be until a couple weeks into the year that she would start to think of school as a prison.

     You don't know the meaning of prison. If I'd had them, I would have rolled my eyes.

     Holly saw her best friend Amanda near a classroom door. She squealed happily and ran over. Amanda looked up, saw her, and also screamed with joy. The two started jumping up and down like idiots, then greeted each other in the traditional way. They stretched their hands out in front of them and started slapping at each other while squealing in an annoying, whiny way.

     What the...? I took a quick glance around and saw that she called it a cat fight. It didn't even slightly resemble a cat fight. But then again, they were a primitive species.

     The two started eagerly exchanging schedules.

     I sighed silently and tuned out. This was what I had been reduced to. I had been shoved aside, ignored, and left to “guard” this little planet. What was it called again? Oh yes, Earth. In other words, Dirt. I was trapped on a planet called Dirt. By UNS (Universal Nofra Standards), it wasn't even a planet, it was an asteret. So small and insignificant that nobody would even bother with conquering it. It only had one guard. Yeah, me.

     A different emotion cut through the others. I allowed myself to get a bit hopeful, but I knew it was probably something stupid.

     “Fifty pages tonight?!” a high-pitched, thirteen-year-old voice cried, cracking slightly.

     That was all I needed to hear. Of course. Nothing worth listening to. Bored, I started looking through my magical vision. Though I was ashamed to admit it, I had mostly been using Holly's senses to get around. It was strange for a Seer to use her host instead of her own senses, but sometimes it was easier that way.

     And yes, I am a Seer. Laugh if you want, I'm used to it by now. And trust me, I don't like being a Seer one bit. Practically anything else would be better. My first choice would have to be a Slayer. Contrary to popular belief, slayers don't kill. They simply brainwash the host, leaving the life force alone. Blaze told me that. Next I'd probably choose to be a Trainer. They break in the freshly brainwashed hosts so they're nice and stretchy, which is crucial for easy transformation. How I missed transforming. It was the signature ability of a nofra, but couldn't be done when the host's soul was still present.

     But really, anything was better than being a Seer. What do we do? We See, obviously. All that means is that our magical eye is stronger than that of most nofras. We can read emotions and identify other nofras more easily, accurately, and with more depth. Our magical eye also works as a substitute for physical ones. We can also choose to only see certain things at a time and magnify what we see, which is handy for finding things, but that's about it. It's a bit complicated when you get into all the little things we can do, but what it basically boils down to is this: we're useless.

     And when I looked then, what I saw could only be described as useless. I filtered out “everything boring,” and not even a speck remained. Just what was to be expected from a planet called Dirt.

     The bell rang. Holly double-checked her schedule, then walked off quickly towards her next class. Second period, Spanish.

     I don't speak Spanish. I only recently acquired English from Holly. Such a useless language! Only people on Dirt spoke it, and not even all of them. Dirt had way too many languages for an asteret. There were planets thousands of times its size that had only one language. Even some galaxies had managed to use a single language. That made it a lot easier for us to get around. And yet, here I was on planet Dirt, getting ready to listen to a bunch of babbling they call “Spanish.” I could just read Holly's mind and learn whatever she knew, but why bother?

     I dulled all my senses and went into a dormant state. Nofras didn't ever actually go to sleep unless they were on their death bed, which rarely happened because when a host died for whatever reason, the nofra occupying it simply left and went back to HQ to get another one. That is, if they liked you. Otherwise they sent you to co-live (your host's soul is still present) on some not-actually-planet-but-we'll-say-it-is called Dirt or Vomit or Stupid.

     One day soon, I would get away from this horrible place. I'd get a new host, even if I had to steal it, and then I'd show them. I didn't know how, but I would. I seethed for awhile, then realized that I had been going to rest.

     “Wow, only lunch and I'm exhausted...”

     I drifted off, letting my thoughts fade into nothingness along with everything else. Well, everything except the monotonous hum of Holly's brain.

     A sudden flare of aggression woke me. I was alert instantly, and in my excitement pulses of power radiated from me.

     Holly had been walking down a relatively small street, taking a shortcut on her way home, when she had heard a deep voice. She looked down a small alley and saw a man, probably around twenty, holding a boy by the collar. The man was big, with bulging muscles and scraggly black hair. For some reason, it made Holly think of a poodle.

     I smiled, amused. The things that she came up with...

     The boy seemed to be a bit older than she was, and had a rather nerdy appearance. He wore thick-rimmed glasses, a white T-shirt, and black dress pants that were pulled halfway up his belly. He was the exact opposite of someone you would expect to meet in a dark alley.

     “Hey, kid, give me your money!” the man growled, glaring at the boy.

     I noticed that the kid was doing his best to turn his face away. It was always good to know your enemy, and I had just learned something. His breath smelled bad.

     “I d-don't have any,” he stammered in a small voice.

     I could see the veins in the man's forehead popping out. Clearly that wasn't what he had wanted to hear. I fidgetet, sending my magic away, then back again. Finally, something worth doing! Then something caught my magical eye, something I hadn't noticed at first glance. I blinked and tried to bring it into focus. Yes, there was definitely something in the boy's hand. It didn't shimmer or anything, but I could tell that it was important. I had to get it.

     But something wasn't right. I realized with a jolt that Holly was fleeing. Yes, running away from a fight. And she was a human! She should help her fellow species, not run away!

     “What are you doing? Get back there, you coward!” I snarled at her, addressing her directly for the first time. I knew she had heard me not only because I could read her thoughts, but also because her steps faltered. “Stop! You can't just leave him!” I backed up my statement by giving her a little tug.

     Holly stopped running, her heart pounding. She could swear she had heard a voice, but nobody was nearby. She glanced around quickly, but she was definitely alone. “Wh-who's there?” she asked nervously, taking a step backwards.

     “Go back... go back...” I said in my spookiest voice. All I had to do was scare her. Chances were she would faint, and then I would be able to take over her body. It had been so long since I'd had a real fight, and Holly wasn't going to keep me from it.

     Holly gasped. “Y-you can't scare me!” she called a bit louder, trying her best to sound brave.

     Liar. I knew she was terrified. Still, I gave her a bit of credit for trying. “Go back,” I said more firmly, using my magic to pull a bit harder.

     She didn't want to, but she felt that she should go back. It was like some invisible force was pulling on her. She turned around slowly, then started walking back the way she had come. Her eyes were round with fear.

     “Faster,” I encouraged her. “Just do as I say, and you'll be fine.”

     Holly's pace quickened. Suddenly she felt worried about the boy. Hopefully he hadn't been hurt. But the voice baffled and scared her. Was it God talking to her? She would worry about it later. Just then she had a bigger problem.

     Oh, I wouldn't say bigger. Soon she'd realize just how big of a problem I could be. But first I had to earn her trust, and that meant not letting her get hurt. At least, not too badly.

     Soon she had arrived at the alley, breathing hard. What was she supposed to do next? Run in and save the day? That sort of thing only happened in movies. Suddenly, she heard a high-pitched scream seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was the worst sound she had ever heard. It was the sound of someone being tortured.

     Holly jumped and screamed in horror. Her face turned whiter than a sheet that had been dunked in a bathtub of bleach. Reality began to separate from her, and splotches of darkness formed at the edges of her vision. The spots multiplied until everything was dark.

     Oh, dear, did I do that? Did I mention that patience isn't my strong point? She had been taking too long for my taste, so I had decided to give her a bit of help. There's nothing wrong with helping a friend, is there?

     The point was, now that she was unconscious I could take over. I eagerly moved from her heart to her brain, stretching my magic out ahead of me. I could see it spreading in silvery blue tendrils until had completely saturated her head. I followed, unfurling myself until I had covered her mind. I was in control. Sure, it was indirect control, but that was better than nothing.

     Holly—or rather, I—stood up. The man had heard Holly's scream, and had thrown the boy into a dumpster to start on his next victim. I grinned and gave him an insane, evil look. I saw him hesitate, but he recovered quickly. My heart thudded with anticipation.

     “Now, what did you do that for?” I asked sweetly. The voice wasn't Holly's; it was mine. It was a good thing I was female, because Holly with a man's voice... I wasn't even going to try imagining it.

     “Hey, you looking for trouble?” he demanded, getting in my face. I could tell from his breath that he had been drinking. He was about a foot taller than me, but I wasn't intimidated.

     Instead I grinned. “Maybe I am.”

     That was the last thing he had expected. He paused, looking stupid for a moment before growling and aiming a blow at the side of my head. I focused on my magical vision. The path of his hit was so clear, he might as well have said to me, “Okay, I'm going to hit you from the left. Are you ready? You sure? Okay, when I count to three, I'll start.”

     I ducked out of the way easily. There was a ton of lag, but somehow I still managed to be faster than him.

     Indirect control was a disgusting thing, almost as bad as co-living. It was insanely laggy, because first I had to think what to do next, then the host's brain had to receive and process the message. And that was before it was even sent to the body to do the actual motion. The other form of control—direct control—was much faster and more practical. Rather than taking over the brain, one simply controlled the body directly. That was why it was called direct control.

     After I had dodged a few more punches, he started getting annoyed. His hits came faster, but his aim was so sloppy that I hardly had to move to avoid them.

     I felt a small tug. Holly was starting to wake up. Time to wrap this up. His weak spots burned brightly in my magical vision. Although Holly wasn't very strong, a bit of magic behind my attack would be just as good. I aimed a quick, almost casual blow at his nose. There was a loud crunching noise, and then he drew back, howling in pain.

     I would have liked to chase him for awhile, but Holly seemed determined to get her body back. Reluctantly, I retreated, pulling myself back into a loose knot. I then drifted back down to her center, bringing my magic with me.

     Holly woke up and found that she was stading. She looked around in confusion. Then she remembered the boy, and took a step towards the alley. He stared at her fearfully. She tried to say something, but he turned and ran.

     “Ingrate!” I snarled, then realized that I had forgotten something. I had never gotten a closer look at what the boy was holding, but I still felt like it was important. He was too far away for me to see the thing, but I memorized his identity. One day I would track him down again.

     The voice. It was still there. Was she going crazy? She sighed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. When her hand brushed her cheek, it felt wet. She blinked and looked at it, going pale again.

     It was blood.

     Holly ran home and immediately scrubbed her hands in the bathroom sink. Nobody was there yet, but they would be soon. She didn't want to be questioned about the blood, because even she didn't know how it had gotten there.

     “Hey, you might want to close the door,” I said bluntly.

     She still thought the voice was weird, but realized that it had a point. She nudged the door closed with her foot, not wanting to get it wet. Now if someone did come home, she could pretend to be taking a shower.

     Once it was off her, she rinsed out the sink and dried her hands. She sat on the closed toilet seat, feeling sick. She didn't remember doing anything that would make her hand bloody. What if the police came for her? What if she had killed someone? She sobbed quietly.

     “You didn't kill anyone, and the police won't come to get you,” I told her in a slightly irritated voice. I couldn't stand crying.

     “Who are you?” she asked shakily, looking around the room.

     “Don't bother looking; you won't find me.”

     “Are you real?”

     “Yes, Holly. How else would I be talking to you?”

     “How do you know my name? And you never said who you are!” Her fear was ebbing away and being replaced by anger.

     I wanted to say that I'd been watching her, but that would make me sound too much like a stalker. “What do you want me to tell you, my name?”

     “Yes,” she said angrily. What else would she mean by 'Who are you?'

     Oh well, at least it was “who” and not “what.” The latter would be much harder to explain. “You can call me Tameryn,” I said. Of course, that wasn't my real name. Only nofras called other nofras by their actual name. Other beings used whatever our body's name was. That meant my name was Holly, but I could tell she would freak out if I told her that. So instead I used my first body's name, which was the closest to my real name she was going to get.

     “Now we're making some progress,” she said with a note of satisfaction.

     Not really. But I wasn't about to tell her that, so I said nothing.

     “But what are you?”

     There it was. The dreaded question. She wouldn't know what a nofra is, and it was a bit complicated to explain. “Think of me as...” I hesitated, quickly searching her brain fr the right word. “An imaginary friend. Only not imaginary.”

     She frowned thoughtfully. “That means you're in my head,” she said, slowly working out what she had said. “But you're real.” She blinked, still as confused as ever.

     I sighed out loud. “Just forget what I am. It's not really that important.” At least she seemed to have forgotten about the mysterious blood.

     “I get it! I'm dreaming,” she thought out loud. “Yes, this is all a dream, and soon I'm going to wake up.”

     The conversation was going nowhere. I sat back and listened boredly while she babbled to herself. After waiting awhile I said, “Well, if you don't need me for anything, I'm going to rest.” Taking control of her had been more tiring than I'd thought. It was certainly harder than with a regular body.

     “Okay,” she chirped happily, blissfully unaware of just how real it was.

---

     When I woke up, we were at school again. Holly was humming cheerfully to herself, still thinking it had all been a dream. I stiffled a groan and shook myself awake. I hadn't slept so deeply for I don't know how long.

     I looked around and found out that it was 7th period, which was actually the fourth period out of today's six. Weird.

     The bell rang, and everyone hurried outside.

     “So, how's school been?” I asked, mostly to entertain myself with Holly's reaction.

     Holly hesitated when the voice—no, Tameryn—spoke, but walked on without responding. Her imagination was just continuing her dream, and soon it would stop.

     “It's rude to ignore people, Holly,” I scolded her.

     “What do you want?” she hissed under her breath, walking even more briskly.

     “Hey, don't accuse me!” I said indignantly. “I just wanted to give you a tip.”

     “Do you want me to look like some idiot who talks to herself?” she demanded, moving her lips as little as possible.

     “Me, wish you harm? Never. I just thought you might want to know that you don't have to talk out loud. I can hear you just as well if you think something to me.”

     Despite herself, Holly decided to try it out. At least she wouldn't look crazy, even if she was.

     “Like this?” she asked, thinking hard.

     “Perfect,” I answered with a smile.

     It was a useful thing to know, but she didn't really want to talk to Tameryn. She ate her lunch and went through the last two periods of the day in silence, then pointedly walked home the long way.

     I didn't speak to her. It was better to let her get used to the idea. Eventually she would talk to me again. The boy with the thing came back to my mind. I had to have it.

      The weeks passed, and life had settled back into the usual routine. Wake up, go to school, go home, procrastinate on homework, repeat, all the while waiting for the weekend.

      Holly walked down the hall, on her way to 3^rd period.

      I tried not to dwell on the monotonous state my life was in. Instead I entertained myself by going along with the boring everyday things that happened to Holly. I gave her useful bits of information, most of which came from her own brain. I had learned to recognize certain people by magic, some of which Holly didn't even know. Sally was behind us, running to catch up; Amanda was on the other side of the school; and the boy who picked his nose in Social Studies was a few halls away.

      “Lemonade alert,” I told Holly.

      “Where?” she asked me silently, carefully not making any physical movement.

      “B hall,” I answered.

      “Thanks.”

      Holly abruptly changed her course, taking a different route to her next class. It was a bit longer, but it was worth it to avoid Lemonade. Her real name was Evagell, and she seemed to think that she and Holly were best friends. In reality Holly couldn't stand her. She was annoying, whiny, and bratty. Her codename was Lemonade because every day she drank a lemonade juice box.

      Last year, during the class trip to Raging Waters, someone had called out a warning of her presence. The lifeguard heard, and thought they meant that someone had peed in the pool. The rumor quickly spread, until almost everyone was out of the water. It had taken awhile for Holly and her friends to realize what had happened. They simply laughed and jumped back in, saying that it was a false alarm. Evagell had been completely clueless about what had actually happened.

      I smiled at that memory. Holly could be boring at times, but she had a few good stories.

      I looked around again. Sally looked confused; she was probably wondering where Holly had gone. I shrugged and let her go on in the dark.

      Holly arrived at Social Studies just a moment before the bell rang. She sighed and started taking out her materials.

      “Quiet, Class!” Mr. Dumples said in his nasally voice, which reminded Holly of a duck. Everyone quickly shut up, knowing that he would give out referrals at even the slightest provocation. He cleared his throat and nodded. “Today we're going to learn about manifest destiny. Does anyone know what it is?”

      A few people raised their hands. Holly knew what it was, but didn't bother. It wasn't like he ever called on anyone.

      Mr. Dumples didn't even look up. “I didn't think so,” he said, sounding satisfied that he knew something we didn't. “But never fear, for I will tell you!” He made a sound that could've been interpreted as a chuckle. “It was the idea that the United States...”

      Holly tried to focus on what he was saying, but it was impossible. She understood the words, but her mind seemed incapable of putting meaning into the sentence. Instead she pictured a vivid image of a fuzzy yellow duck. She blinked it away and made another attempt at listening to him.

      “Significant because...”

      It was no use. She couldn't do it. Her eyelids drooped, but she didn't dare close them. Falling asleep was the worst thing you could do in Mr. Dumples' class. It was practically suicide, only with worse consequences.

      “If you don't listen, I won't be able to help you on the test,” I warned her. It wasn't like I cared if she flunked the test; I really couldn't care less. Why was I helping her then? Well... what else was there to do? Technically it wasn't cheating. I never told her something she didn't already know. I just gave her memory a little nudged or pushed two thoughts together. I never actually learned the stuff myself, and I didn't want to either.

      “Screw the test,” she muttered, very softly and barely moving her lips.

      I looked around the room. Only one person seemed genuinely interested; the rest were fighting against sleep. I extended my vision to the nearby classrooms. They weren't as dull as this one, but they were hardly exciting.

      “That's all for today,” Mr. Dumples croaked.

      Huh? I didn't remember drifting off for that long. I wasn't the type to fall asleep without noticing. Everyone else in the room seemed equally surprised.

      Holly looked up at the clock. Barely ten minutes had passed since the beginning of the period.

      “But Mr. Dumples,” a brave student spoke up. “The period just started.”

      “What? Oh, yes—you have an assembly now,” he waved his hand dismissively. “You all know where to go. Shoo.”

      Holly didn't need to be asked twice. She and her classmates poured out of the room toward the cafetorium. They didn't know what the assembly was about, but anything was better than Social Studies.

      When they arrived, Holly quickly searched for Amanda.

      I could see her, but I decided to wait for her to ask.

      Holly hesitated, then said, “Do you see Amanda?”

      I nodded motionlessly and pointed.

      Holly turned her head automatically and immediately saw her friend. She pushed her way through the crowd and sat down next to her. “Hey.”

      “Hi,” Amanda greeted her, moving over to make room. “I can tell this will be boring already.”

      Holly grunted. “Anything is better than Social Studies.”

      Amanda grimaced. “So, so true.” She wasn't in the same period as Holly was, but she also had Mr. Dumples.

      The assembly turned out to be about peer pressure and such. I listened on and off, only paying attention to the interesting bits. Which wasn't much.

      I sensed a change in Holly's mood, and started listening again. They were about to talk about something they called “reproduction.” I didn't ask directly, but I searched Holly's mind for what she knew about it. That little bit was enough for me. I completely tuned out for the rest of the assembly, making myself deaf even to Holly's thoughts until we had left.

      “That was...” I didn't have to finish the sentence.

      Holly nodded her agreement.

      Something familiar caught my eye. “Look over there,” I said to Holly.

      She looked, and saw a boy. He was tall, but not overly so. His hair was dusty brown and his green eyes had a calm, calculating look to them.

      “That,” she told me, still staring at him, “Is called a hunkster.”

      “It's him,” I muttered, more to myself than Holly.

      “What, you know him? Is he like your boyfriend?” She was getting excited.

      “The boy from the alley. That's him.”

      “What? No way! That guy was a total nerd,” Holly shuddered when she remembered that... incident. She had forgotten about it awhile ago, and didn't appreciate it being brought up again.

      “It's him,” I said more confidently. I had specifically memorized his magical ID. They were the same person.

      But Holly had another problem. “He's coming over here!” she panicked. “What do I do? I think he saw me staring at him.”

      I didn't answer. It was important that he didn't get even the slightest clue that I was here. Not like he could know. I guess it was more of an instinct than anything else.

      “Hey,” he said casually.

      “Hi,” Holly answered shyly, feeling herself blush. Whatever Tameryn said, she didn't believe that they were the same person. “Are you new?” Stupid! What if he wasn't? Then she would sound like an idiot for asking.

      “Yeah, how did you know? Is it that obvious?” he asked, his green eyes widening slightly.

      “No, no,” Holly assured him, her face burning. “I guess I just have a knack for that sort of thing.”

      He smiled at her. His teeth weren't perfectly straight of white, but they suited him. “Could you tell me where A-15 and M-3 are? Those are my last two classes.”

      Holly felt disappointed, but tried not to let it show. “A-15 is right down that hall on the right, and M-3 is at the end of it.”

      “Thanks,” he said, waving at her and walking off.

      Holly smiled at him. “No problem,” she said cheerfully. When he was out of earshot she sighed loudly. He had only wanted directions. But he had chosen to ask her. That last thought made her brighten a bit.

      “This is perfect,” I broke in, ignoring her stupid crush.

      “What is?” she asked, confused.

      “Now you know where his last class is. We can follow him.” The plan was beginning to form in my head. We would follow him and see where he went. Hopefully he would lead them to where ever the thing was, and I would be able to get a closer look.

      “No way! You can't really think they're the same person!”

      “Don't worry, we won't do anything,” I said irritably. “We'd just be looking.”

      Holly sighed. “Why do you want to follow him, anyways?”

      “I think he has something. Something that doesn't belong to him.” It was partially true. I could tell that it was precious, much too valuable for someone like him to have.

      Holly blinked. “Well... I guess there's no harm in taking a look.”

      I smiled. “That's the spirit.”

      4^th and 5^th periods seemed to last only an instant. For the first time in her life, Holly was dreading when the bell would ring. Usually she was desperate to leave math, and since it was the last period of the day she would've been even more impatient. But today the clock went mercilessly fast. She knew that as soon as the bell rang, Tameryn would make her go after... She just realized that she didn't even know his name.

      Beeeeeeeep!

      There it was. Holly packed up slowly and dragged her feet as she walked.

      “Hurry up!” I growled at her. “We have to make it to M-3 before he leaves.”

      Holly sighed, but obediently walked faster. Nothing was physically forcing her to do it, but she knew that if she didn't then she would never hear the end of it. Better to just get it over with.

      I watched him carefully, silently willing Holly to walk faster. Her subconscious seemed to pick up on it even though she didn't, for her pace quickened. He was still in the classroom. He seemed to be talking to the teacher. Good. It would buy us time.

      “Wait,” I said as we arrived at the end of the hall. “I'll let you know when we can go.”

      Holly fidgeted impatiently. Hanging out at the end of a hall felt weird. She should be rushing home right now, not stalking hot guys under the orders of the voice in her head. The reality of what a freak she was acting like hit her, and she considered leaving. But in the end she gave in. There was no arguing with Tameryn.

      It was about time she caught on to that.

      “What happens if he leads us to the alley?” she asked uncertainly.

      “We follow,” I answered bluntly, stating it like the obvious.

      Holly sighed. She couldn't have expected much else. After all, it was Tameryn.

      “Time to go,” I told her.

      Holly trotted off, a grim frown on her face.

      I tracked the boy and guided Holly in the right direction. I knew that she couldn't see where he was, but she didn't ask how she knew where she was going. She merely accepted it and kept walking. Finally, she was starting to act like a real host.

      As I had predicted (though I hadn't told Holly), he led us to the same alley.

      Holly hesitated. She didn't want to be caught following him. How would she explain it? 'You see, there was this voice that only I can hear, and she told me to follow you.' She flinched at how crazy she sounded. This wasn't crazy in a good way; this was outright insane.

      “Keep going,” I ordered her distractedly, my thoughts elsewhere. The air in the alley had a peculiar feeling, which hadn't been there before. Or maybe I just hadn't noticed it. I couldn't decide exactly what was different. It was more of a feeling than anything else.

      Holly went to the edge of the alley, then refused to go on. No matter what Tameryn said, she wouldn't go in there.

      I shrugged. It didn't matter. I could watch him from here. His glowing outline stood out starkly in my magical vision. He turned a corner, then seemed to disappear. I frowned and quickly searched the area around us. There was no sign of him for a mile in every direction.

      “It's okay, Holly,” I said glumly, “He's gone. You can go down the alley now.”

      “Why would I want to do that? It's only asking for trouble. What if the police come?”

      “There aren't any cops around here,” I told her. I was constantly pointing out the obvious to her. “And even if there were, you aren't doing anything wrong.”

      “No, I'm just stalking a guy,” she said sarcastically, “Nothing wrong with that.”

      I growled. “You can say you're taking a shortcut home.”

      “But it's a dead end...”

      “What?” For once I was the confused one. “But he turned a corner.”

      “He couldn't have,” she tried to sound confident, but doubt trickled into her voice.

      “Only one way to find out.”

      Once again, Holly found herself resigned to Tameryn's will. She peeked down the alley, then cautiously entered. Just as she had thought, it was a dead end. There was a dumpster and a few old, bent trash cans, but it definitely didn't lead anywhere.

      “I could've sworn...” I trailed off, dumbfounded. He had taken a right. But through Holly's eyes there was a wall right there, solid as all the rest of it was.

      “Are you convinced yet?”

      “Shush. I'm thinking.” How was it possible? I looked around with my magical eye, flicking through the different types of vision. I searched for material, technological, and even magical barriers, but the wall was still just that—a wall.

      Frowning, I remembered the strange feeling the alley had. I focused myself onto it, closing my eye and ignoring Holly's until I had a firm grasp on it. Then I opened my eye slowly.

      The wall was gone. In its place was a second alley, perpendicular to the first. This one also seemed to be a dead end, but that wasn't what interested me. There were two people standing at the end of it. One was the boy, and the other was a stranger.

      They spoke in whispers, which I could barely hear.

      “You sure about her?” that was the stranger.

      “As sure as I can be without knowing,” the boy answered.

      “It takes discipline. It's not something just anyone can do.”

      “I know. I think she can do it. There's something about her...”

      “Can we go?!” Holly hissed out loud. I tried to gag her, but it was too late. They had heard.

      They exchanged a glance, then the stranger spoke. “You go ahead. I'll deal with whatever it is.”

      The boy nodded and walked through the second dead end. Then the stranger turned towards us and began to transform. I gawked, not believing my eyes. It looked just like a nofra transformation, but with that same, nondescript quality to it. But it wasn't just the fact that he was transforming that was amazing. He was good at it. Really good. He molded into his new form quickly and effortlessly. It was smoother than I had ever seen, even by the most elite nofras.

      It wasn't until he had finished transforming that I realized that we were in danger. “Look out!” I shouted at Holly.

      Holly jumped. “What's your problem?!” She said out loud. Her voice was drowned out by a low growl that came directly from the wall. She stared at it, not sure what to do. A huge black panther stepped through the wall, its amber eyes glaring. It snarled at her, but she was too shocked to move.

      Cold fury swept over me. How dare this... this thing be able to transform better than I could! If a lowly human could do it so easily, surely I would be able to change Holly into something at least competent.

      While she was shocked into being frozen, I seized Holly roughly. This time I didn't only control her brain; my magic seeped into every corner of her. She panicked and tried to take herself back. “Calm down,” I said. “You didn't get hurt last time, did you?”

      I felt her mind relax. I thought of my battle form, and gently coaxed Holly's body into it. Usually that was all it took, but she was stiff. Nobody had trained her. I knew it was hopeless, that I should give up, but I couldn't stand seeing him transform when I couldn't.

      I tried to force her into the proper form, sending out spurts of magic. Holly's bones made a harsh grating sound as they rubbed together, but I guessed that only she and I would be able to hear it.

      Pain shot through Holly, launching her back into reality. Her whole body felt numb and raw, like someone was trying to bend her into an unnatural shape. She screamed, struggling desperately to make it stop.

      I heard her scream and felt her struggling, but I wouldn't give up. I kept going.

      Black splotches began to form at the edges of her vision. This had happened last time too. Maybe there was something about this alley that made her scream and faint.

      Sense finally returned to me. I couldn't stay here. I started pulling my magic back, but it was slow. It was my turn to panic. The first rule they taught you during training was never to go unconscious with your host. It was one of the few ways a nofra could die, and the leading cause of young nofra deaths.

      I wrenched at my magic, but it was already too late. When Holly plunged into darkness, so did I.