:=: Jessica :=:

Jessica woke up feeling better than she had all week. Things had gone well last night. Kara was happy, and had spent the night. They even shared a bed, though they hadn't done anything. Not even cuddled. But it was nice.

Nikki made pancakes for breakfast, and they were delicious. Kara stayed for another hour or two, they talked some more over coffee, but finally Kara decided she needed to get back to residence. She wanted to shower and change, then she had to go shopping, and then get some work done.

She and Kara shared a quick nervous hug and then Kara left. Nikki had offered her a drive, but Kara declined.

After that, Jess thanked both Sam and Nikki for everything they'd done for her friend, and then she went back into her bedroom to tackle some of her own work.

Finally around noon, Jess decided it was time to take a walk. She got dressed, and made sure she had some five- and ten-dollar bills in her purse.

She liked to wander around downtown once a week, giving some money to any homeless people she came across. She'd skipped it last week when she was still recovering from the assault.

Jess made her way to the south end of St. Paul Street then started walking north. She handed out a couple the tens to pair of young homeless people at the corner. Then as she passed James Street, she spotted a new face on the other side of the road, a young girl Jess hadn't seen around here before.

The girl was huddled in the doorway of an empty storefront, its windows boarded and the door padlocked. She looked lost and frightened, her blue eyes were wide, and her blonde hair was a bit stringy and ragged. She was wearing track pants and a hoodie, and a pair of pink running shoes. Her clothes were a bit dirty, especially her shoes. Jess noticed the girl didn't seem to have a bag or any belongings, and figured she was either fairly new to the streets, or she'd been recently robbed. Or maybe both.

Jessica moved across the street and approached the girl. She stopped two or three meters back, not wanting to spook the kid. It was hard to guess the girl's age. She was small, maybe malnourished. Jess finally decided the kid was probably around fourteen or fifteen years old, but with her small size, she could probably pass for younger if she wanted. She could tell the girl hadn't noticed Jess approaching. She was just staring at the sidewalk infront of her.

"Hey there. You doing ok?" Jess asked, using her friendliest voice.

The girl looked up, and her eyes widened like she'd seen a ghost. Her already pale face went white, and she cowered back against the locked door.

It was not the sort of reaction Jess expected. "It's ok, I won't hurt you. Please, calm down sweetie. I promise, I'm not going to hurt you."

There were tears in her eyes now, and the young teen whimpered, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please tell your mom I'm sorry! Please!"

Jess hesitated. She'd known a few people on the streets who had to deal with mental illness. They were the ones who needed the most help, but they were often the ones who had the most trouble getting it.

She tried again, "It's ok sweetie. You don't have to apologize, and my mom isn't here, she's not going to bother us. Can we talk a bit? I'm Jessica, by the way. What's your name?"

The blonde suddenly frowned, "I know your name, you're a first-year at Brock. I'm S... S... s..." She finally sighed, "My name's Cindy."

Jessica frowned slightly. Maybe she had met this kid before after all? She could swear the girl was new to the streets though. "Hi Cindy. Have we met before? I'm sorry if I've forgotten." At least the girl wasn't acting as frightened now.

Cindy was still frowning a bit. She wiped the tears from her face and stated, "We met at... at... I..." Finally she shook her head in frustration.

Jess watched the girl's expression. Now that she'd gotten past her fear, her eyes were alert and moving. The stuttering was frustrating her, she clearly wanted to say something. From the look on her face, Jess guessed Cindy was trying to work out a way to communicate without triggering her speech impediment.

After a few moments, Jessica asked, "Cindy, there's a cafe just over there. Would you join me for a meal? It's my treat. Get some warm food into you, something to drink, and maybe you'll feel better? Maybe it'll be easier to think, and talk, when you aren't hungry?"

The girl looked hesitant, but then nodded, "Yeah, ok. Thanks Jess." She got to her feet and brushed off her dirty track-pants, then she started off ahead of Jessica.

The sudden change of demeanour was a little surprising, and Jess watched for a second as she walked away. For the moment she seemed calm and confident.

Jessica hurried to catch up, and walked alongside her. Cindy was three or four inches shorter than herself, and she looked about thirty pounds lighter.

In the cafe, they got a table and the girl ordered a roast beef sandwich and a coffee. Jess got a cup of tea for herself, and paid for everything. She then sat quietly, sipping her tea, and watched as the girl ate.

Cindy got about halfway through the sandwich before she was stuffed. She then slumped back in her chair and sipped her coffee, the two of them watching each other.

Cindy finally said, "Thanks for the food. Can I ask, why are you helping me? Why are you being nice to me? After what I..." She seemed to cut herself off, not finishing the sentence.

Jessica raised an eyebrow, "You seem to think you've done something to harm me, Cindy, but I'm pretty sure I don't know you. And I'm helping you, being nice to you, because you look like you need some help. You look like you need a friend."

The girl frowned, then her eyes lit up. "That's why I can talk to you! We weren't friends! I'm not allowed to talk to my old friends or my family, but I can talk to you!" She smiled triumphantly, "Loophole!"

Jessica took another sip of tea. She still didn't really understand what Cindy was talking about, but she was glad the girl was talking. She asked, "Why aren't you allowed to talk to your family or your friends?"

Cindy frowned and started picking at the other half of her sandwich. Not eating it, just sort of fidgeting with it, her eyes focused on it. She was looking thoughtful as she played with the food.

Finally she answered, without looking up. She appeared to be counting on her fingers as she said, "I'm not allowed to say what happened, or who did it, or what they did. I can't say my old name, I can't say who I was, and I can't talk to former friends or my family." When she'd finished, she grinned again, "She never said I couldn't say that stuff, though!"

Jess frowned a little, and looked down at her tea. On the one hand, the girl wasn't making much sense. It would be easy to dismiss all of this as the confused ramblings of someone who'd lost touch with reality. On the other hand, hearing Cindy mention an 'old name' and 'who she was', sent up some red flags in Jessica's mind.

She had another sip of tea, and then silently recited the truth spell, as she watched her young companion. Jess had to fight to keep the shock off of her face when she saw. The girl was soaked in magical energy, though most of it seemed faded, as if it was several days old.

There was still a bright coil of magic around her neck though, like a snake wrapped around its victim. That had to be what was interfering with her speech. Jess suspected it was some sort of magical compulsion bound to her throat, that would literally block the words if she tried to break the rules of the spell.

Jessica's mind started racing. She was getting a very bad feeling, but now that she knew the girl had restrictions on her speech, Jess could try to work with her to bypass them.

"Cindy, can you tell me how long you've been on the street, exactly?"

The small blonde thought for a moment, and asked, "It's Saturday today, right? What time is it?"

Jess nodded and checked the time on her phone. "It's a quarter after one, Saturday afternoon."

Cindy nodded and thought for a few seconds. Her lips were moving slightly, as well as her fingers, as she seemed to be counting again. She then answered, "In about eight hours it'll be one week."

So Cindy had been on the streets since around a quarter after nine, last Saturday night. She felt her stomach sink further as the pieces fell into place. She asked quietly, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-two." Cindy replied softly. "But I don't have any ID, and I look really young, so people think I'm just a kid."

Jess asked quietly, "You're a student at Brock?"

"Yeah." Cindy nodded, then frowned, "Not any more, I guess."

Jess then unlocked her phone and opened the photos app, and pulled up a picture of her sister. "Cindy, do you know who this is?"

Cindy stared for a moment, then shrugged, "She's familiar. I might have seen her around the campus, but I'm not sure. I don't know her name."

Jessica nodded, and swiped over to a photo of Nikki. "How about her?"

The young blonde's eyes went wide and her face went white, as she recoiled a little in her chair.

Jess put her phone away, "It's ok. I'm sorry, Cindy. I didn't mean to scare you. I just had to know..." She sighed, then whispered, "You were Scott Matthews, weren't you?"

Cindy trembled a little, but whispered back, "I'm not allowed to say."

Jessica frowned and stared at her teacup again, as she tried to keep her emotions under control. This was her attacker, the person who'd sexually assaulted her while she was drugged unconscious. Or was it? Was this Scott in a different body, or was it Cindy, with Scott's memories?

She knew some of what it had been like for Nicole, she'd asked plenty of questions in the weeks after Sam and Nikki had saved her.

Finally she came to a decision. Whether Scott or Cindy, Jess had never wanted revenge, and she couldn't leave this kid on the street. She'd do what she could to help the girl, get Sam and Nikki to reverse what they'd done, and then she'd have to deal with Scott.

Maybe he'll have learned something from his week like this... Unless Cindy didn't want to be changed back? Jessica knew Nikki had made that choice, though it was under different circumstances.

Keeping her voice low, she said, "Cindy I'm sorry. I told them not to go after you. And they told me they didn't. I... I'm not ready to forgive you yet, but I never wanted anything like this to happen."

The girl shrugged a little, and stared at the remains of her lunch again.

Jess then asked quietly, "Do you miss being your old self? Do you miss being a man?"

Cindy frowned for a few moments as she considered the questions.

Finally she shrugged, "I don't know? I miss my family, and some of my friends... I miss my home and my bed, and I miss having money. I miss doing some of the stuff I used to do..." She paused for a moment, then continued, "I guess I don't miss looking like I did before? I..." She frowned a little deeper. "I think this is who I am now? She... She did something to my head, didn't she? To make me ok with..." Her voice dropped to a faint whisper, "To make me ok with being a girl..."

Jessica nodded slightly, "Yeah Cindy, it sounds like she did."

She didn't say it, but Jess had a feeling that there'd been more done to the girl's mind than that. She seemed to have a very strong fear response. It might be a side-effect of suddenly going from a strong muscular jock to a tiny vulnerable girl, but Jess suspected there'd been some magical influence there to make sure Cindy would remain timid and easily frightened.

She was doing her best not to let her expression show how much she was bothered by this. Jess didn't want to believe her sister or Nikki would do this sort of thing, but Cindy obviously recognized Nikki's picture...

Jess also wondered if there may have been any other tampering to Cindy's mind beyond that. She knew Scott was smart, but even if he'd been average intelligence, she wouldn't expect him to be counting on his fingers. For that matter even a fifteen year old wouldn't normally do that. On the other hand, Cindy hadn't taken long to figure out a way around the spell that was restricting her speech...

Jessica sighed again, then said, "I know you probably don't believe me, but if you'll come with me, I want to get them to fix you."

Cindy shuddered a little, "I don't know if I can face her again... I don't want her to be angry with me again..."

Jess sighed a little and nodded. "I don't blame you. But I'll be there with you, and I won't let them hurt you. They should never have done this..."

The girl seemed to think a bit, then finally nodded and whispered, "Ok Jess. I don't think I'm gonna last much longer on my own like this. Thank you."

Cindy hesitated, then said softly, "I... I'm really sorry for what I did to you. I'm not just saying that, cos of... this." She gestured at herself. "You... You're a good person. You wanted to help me without even knowing me... And you still want to help me even now you do know me..."

Jessica gave her a little smile and whispered, "I spent a few years on the street. Nobody knows that. It's a secret. But I know what it's like being alone and scared out there. I know how much it can help, having someone just be kind now and then." She then said, "Come on, Cindy. Let's go and see if we can fix this."

Cindy nodded, "Ok Jess."

Twenty minutes and a ride-share later, Jessica and Cindy were at the condo.

In the hallway outside the apartment, Jess paused. "When we go in, it's probably best to hang back a bit, stay quiet, let me talk first. I won't let them hurt you, but they might get a bit bitchy about the fact that I've found you and brought you here."

Cindy nodded, "Ok..." She looked and sounded nervous.

Jess then opened the door and led her inside, closing the door behind her. She could see her sister was sitting on the sofa infront of the tv. Jess called, "Hey sis. Is Nikki home?"

Sam looked over and nodded, "She's in the bedroom. Who's that?"

Jess cast the truth spell again, watching Sam. She knew her sister would sense the magic, but Sam probably wouldn't say anything infront of the girl. Jess then answered, "This is Cindy. I found her on the street downtown. She needs our help."

Samantha frowned. Jess could tell her sister was not happy that she'd brought home a 'street kid', but there was no recognition, no indication that Sam knew who Cindy had been.

"Uh, that's not how we help people in need, Jessica. You know there's safety concerns, bringing strangers in here."

Jessica nodded. "I know Sam. But Cindy is a special case. Is Nikki sleeping or something? The three of us need to talk."

From the bedroom, Nikki called, "I'm here, I'm listening."

Jess then stated, "It's about Scott Matthews."

Samantha sighed, "You heard the news?" She gestured towards the tv, then picked up the remote and turned up the volume.

Jess moved closer to see the screen, and Cindy followed nervously, staying close to Jessica.

It was a police press conference, the chief of police standing at a podium as he spoke. "...identification. The Matthews family are asking for privacy at this time. We are continuing our investigation, and have not ruled out foul play." After the man stopped talking, a reporter's voice asked, "Have you determined the cause of death? Did he drown?" The chief answered, "Cause of death has not been established yet..."

There was a graphic on the top of the screen that announced, "Missing Student Found Dead" while a ticker running along the bottom of the screen stated, "Breaking News: Body recovered Friday afternoon from Welland Canal positively identified as Scott Matthews, missing university student..."

There was a noise, and Jess turned. Cindy had collapsed, she was sitting on the floor, looking stunned.

"Shit!" Jess cursed, kneeling next to the girl. "Cindy, are you ok?" She added, "Sam turn that off please!"

Sam hit the remote then grabbed her phone, "Should I call 9-1-1?"

"No!" Jess stated. "This is our mess, we're going to deal with it!"

By now, Nicole had emerged from the bedroom. Standing in the bedroom door wearing just an oversized night-shirt, she asked, "What's going on Jess? Who's that?"

Cindy, still on the floor, looked up at the sound of Nicole's voice, and let out a yelp. She curled herself up into a ball, and started sobbing.

Nikki looked startled by the girl's reaction. "What's wrong with her?"

Jess cursed and stated angrily, "This is Scott Matthews! You did this to him Nicole, after I told you both I didn't want revenge! You told me you didn't do anything!"

Nikki blinked, "Jess, I didn't... I couldn't do that, and you know it. What makes you think this girl's got anything to do with Scott?"

Jess glared, then told the two of them, "Use the truth spell and look at her! She's been on the street since the moment Scott went missing last week! She's got a magical compulsion spell wrapped around her throat, choking her whenever she tries to talk about her old life! She's been isolated from family and friends, left homeless and alone on the street! How could you possibly think I'd ever want that kind of fate for anyone?!" By the end Jess was shouting. She couldn't believe they'd do this to someone, after everything they knew she'd been through.

Sam and Nikki were both staring at her. Nikki looked shocked and maybe a bit scared, Sam looked angry. Jess knew she'd just blown several secrets talking about magic infront of Cindy, but fuck it. The girl had already been exposed to a shitload of magic, so being told about more was nothing.

Jessica felt the tingle of magic as Sam used the truth spell, verifying what Jess had said. Then there was something else in the air. Not a spell though.

Nicole's back straightened and her eyes grew brighter. She stated, "It was not Nicole that punished your assailant, Jessica. It was I."

Jessica gulped, and glanced down at Cindy. The girl was still curled up, trembling, and pulled her arms up protectively over her head. She was clearly terrified.

Looking back up towards the Goddess, Jessica asked, "Please, can you undo it? I didn't want this... I didn't want revenge."

The Goddess shook her head slightly. "No Jessica, I will not reverse My judgement. The three of you are as My children, and an attack upon any of you is an attack upon Me. I allowed her to live. That was mercy enough."

Jess wanted to protest, but the Goddess's tone did not invite debate.

After a moment, She added, "I will not reverse My judgement, however I will not hinder you should you wish to aid her in other ways. Do with her as you will, Jessica."

Nicole slumped a little against the bedroom door. Something looked off about her, as if the Goddess's visit had taken more out of her than usual. She looked paler than normal, almost ill. She whispered, "I'm... I have to lie down." She retreated back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Sam looked at Jess, conflicted, confused. "Jess, I'm sorry, I didn't know. Do what you can for her, I have to check on Nikki." She then disappeared into their bedroom, closing the door again after her.

Jess was still kneeling on the floor next to Cindy, who was just laying sort of limp now, exhausted from her fear. She put her hand on the girl's shoulder, and tried to comfort her.

"Cindy, I'm sorry. That was a lot scarier than I thought, and didn't go like I expected. Are you ok?"

The girl didn't move, but she sighed a little. Her voice was muffled as she was still curled up, but she said softly, "I'm dead. I saw the tv. It said I'm dead. And your mother... She said she wouldn't fix me..."

Jess sighed, finally making the connection. The Goddess called them her children. That's why Cindy had been so scared of Jess's 'mom'.

"Cindy, I'm sorry. But I'm still going to help you. I won't let you end up back on the street. C'mon... there's a bathroom here. I'm sure you'd like to have a shower or maybe even a soak in a warm bath. I'll get you some clean clothes for when you're done."

Cindy slowly sat up, and wiped the tears from her face. "Jessica... Who are you people? What are you?"

Jess glanced at her sister's bedroom door, then replied quietly, "I call us the Witches of Welland. Me, my sister Samantha, and Sam's girlfriend Nicole. The one you call our 'mother' is a Goddess. It's complicated, and it's secret, and I'm not supposed to be telling you any of this." Jessica then motioned to the nearby door, "That's the bathroom there, by the way."

Cindy nodded slowly, then said with a faint smile, "I get the hint... I smell bad, you want me to get washed up."

Jessica was glad to see the little smile on the girl's face. She figured it meant Cindy wasn't too traumatized by what had just happened.

She gave her a small smile in return, and said, "I'm going to let you use my bed to have a nap too, but not till you're clean first."

As she slowly got to her feet, Cindy frowned. "Witches of Welland is a stupid name. Alliteration is lame." She then walked into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it behind her.

An hour and a bit later, Jess was sitting quietly on the living-room sofa and Cindy was curled up asleep in the guest room. The girl had showered and was now wearing one of Jessica's pyjama tops and a pair of panties. They were too big on her, but at least they were clean. Jess had put Cindy's clothes into the wash and started the laundry, so they'd be ready for her in another hour or so.

When Cindy had got into bed, Mo joined her and curled up with the girl. It seemed to help, as Cindy had fallen asleep almost immediately with the big black cat cuddled against her.

Sam finally emerged from her bedroom, and quietly closed the door again behind her. She joined Jess on the sofa, and sat down with a sigh.

"Is Nicole ok?" Jess asked quietly.

"No, she's not." Sam looked and sounded worried. "I don't think there's anything physically wrong though... I think it's something to do with the Goddess. Nikki wouldn't say too much, but something's got her frightened... She's asleep right now." Sam then asked, "How's Scott?"

Jessica corrected her, "It's Cindy now. She had a shower, I gave her some clean clothes, and she's asleep on the sofa-bed."

Sam sighed, "We can't keep her here..."

Jess nodded, "I know, sis. We aren't sending her back on the streets though. She doesn't have a family, she's got no-one, nowhere to go. The Goddess didn't rewrite reality around her. Scott still existed, and now everyone believes he's dead. Cindy is... Like what? A non-person? Legally, she doesn't exist."

Samantha bit her lower lip as she thought. "Ok... We can use the non-profit's resources to try and place her in a group home, and get her some support that way. If she cooperates, she could get back on her feet... She'll probably have to go back to high-school, but she'd come out of it with a diploma, which will help her a lot going forward."

Sam added after a moment, "It's going to be a mess though. We'll have to cook up a story for her, to explain where she came from. And we're going to have to convince her somehow to go along with everything, and not spill any of the stuff she's learned about the three of us... I have no idea yet how we can do that. I don't think it'd be wise to just trust her. Not after what she was like before, and especially after what's been done to her now..."

Jess nodded, "I know. We'll figure something out." She then changed the subject, "Sam, I'm sorry I accused you and Nikki of doing this stuff behind my back."

Samantha shrugged, "I understand why you'd think that. It's ok."

"Thanks sis." Jess smiled a little.

Sam smiled back. "For what it's worth Jess, I'm proud of you. For not wanting revenge, and for wanting to help the girl despite what she did to you. You're a good kid."

Jessica shrugged slightly, "You're a good role-model, sis."

:=: Kara :=:

Kara knocked, and the door opened after only a couple seconds. It was just before noon on Sunday, and she'd be seeing Jess tomorrow at class, but she was eager to share the news. And anyways, it was an excuse to spend some more time with her friend.

Jessica smiled, "Hey Kara, c'mon in. What was so important it couldn't wait till tomorrow?"

As Kara entered, she noticed some unusual sounds coming from behind Jessica. After a moment Kara realized they were from a video-game. She was suddenly distracted as she realized there was someone else here with Jess, someone she didn't know.

Looking past Jessica, Kara could see a young teen sitting on the sofa, playing some sort of violent first-person-shooter game on the big TV. She was small, and her age was hard to guess. Maybe fourteen or fifteen Kara figured, but she might have been younger.

The girl was wearing leggings with a white and pink flower design on them, an oversized lavender t-shirt with a pony on the front, and she had white ankle socks decorated with little purple flowers. She was short and skinny, and had shoulder-length blonde hair. Her blue eyes were focused on the tv as her body moved and twisted in response to the action on the screen while her small hands clutched the controller.

"Who's that?" Kara asked quietly as she stared at the girl.

Jessica sighed, "Uh... That's Cindy. We're um, babysitting her for a few days."

From the sofa, Cindy called out, "Hey Kara! There's another controller here if you wanna join in! Jess sucks at this game."

Kara looked from the girl back to Jessica, feeling confused and awkward again, "Sorry Jess, did I interrupt something?"

"Nah. Let's go to my room, we can talk there." Jessica led Kara into the guest-room, as she said, "Sam and Nikki are out getting groceries right now. If you wanna wait and talk somewhere quieter and more private, they'll be back in about an hour and one of them can keep an eye on Cindy. Then you and I could go out or something?"

Jessica sat down on her bed, and motioned Kara to have a seat as well, either on the bed, or the small office chair.

Kara noticed a shopping bag on the floor with the discount-mart logo on it. The bag was full of girl's clothes, presumably for Cindy. There were a few small shirts, bras, and panties scattered on the floor nearby. It looked like the kid had just showed up with a bag of new clothes this weekend. And that she was sharing the guest room with Jess.

Kara slowly sat on the bed next to her friend, but she was still confused. "She's what, fourteen? Why's she need babysitting? And why's she here with you three? Cousin or something?" She knew there had to be some kind of story behind this, something recent because Jess hadn't mentioned anything before. And when Kara was here just two days ago, there'd been no sign of this kid.

Jessica shrugged, "Or something, it's a long story. We're not really babysitting as much as, mostly just trying to keep her out of trouble. She's a handful, and there's some issues... Nikki bought that game console this morning to try and keep her distracted."

Kara glanced at the door, the sounds of the game were still audible throughout the apartment, "Ok... I don't really understand any of that, but..." She shrugged a little, then said, "Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about residence."

Jess frowned, "What about it?"

"You said you felt bad staying here too long because you were crowding Sam and Nikki. And I know you're not comfortable about your room at residence, because of... Anyways, this morning, I heard that Tina was gone. Like, officially quit university. So if you did want to go back, at least you'd have the room to yourself?"

Jessica blinked, "Shit. I wonder why she left?"

Kara shook her head, "No idea. I asked around, apparently it was a week ago. Her parents came and packed her up last Sunday."

Jess looked surprised, as Kara continued, "I had an idea though, Jess. If you wanted. I could talk to Kelly, and see if she'd swap with you? She might do it, knowing she'd get a room to herself that way. Then you wouldn't have to stay in the room where it happened, and... You and I could be roommates? Or if Kelly didn't want to swap... I could move to your room with you. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad, if you had a friend with you?"

Kara paused, then added a little more quietly, "I realized yesterday too... I really need to either not have a roommate, or have one who uh... already knows about... I'm worried Kelly's going to walk in on me in the shower, or see me getting dressed or something, you know? So... what do you think?"

Kara held her breath and watched Jessica's expression carefully. Her friend had been nodding slowly while Kara was talking, and now she was just looking thoughtful as she considered Kara's suggestion.

Before Jess could answer, a voice at the bedroom door asked, "Hey, so are you two finally dating now or what?"

Kara jumped slightly. How long had the girl been standing there listening? What did she hear?

Jess sighed, "Damnit Cindy! I thought you were playing your game?"

The tiny blonde shrugged, "I was, but you two are more interesting. So are you a couple now? You may as well be, everyone already thinks so. And you're pretty cute together too, by the way. Sorry I never said that before."

Kara was staring at the girl. She was acting like she knew her, like she knew about the rumours at school. She even knew Kara's name when she first got here, though Kara had assumed Jess had told her she was coming...

"Jess how does she know about the rumours? Who is this kid? Why's she acting like she knows me?" Kara was feeling anxious and confused again. She didn't like it when strangers knew too much about her.

Cindy giggled, "Tell her Jess. She's curious! Telllll herrrrr!"

Jessica rubbed her forehead, looking frustrated. "Cindy! You remember what Samantha said, right?"

Kara was surprised as the girl's demeanour changed in an instant.

She shifted from relaxed, smiling and teasing, to tense and almost frightened. Her grin vanished, her eyes widened and she paled a little. "I'm sorry Jessica, I'll be good. Please don't tell Samantha?" She then added, "I thought Kara was already in your secret club or something. Sorry." She glanced at Kara and added, "I'm sorry Kara."

With that, she turned and quickly moved back to the living-room. The sounds of the video-game changed, from what was apparently the pause music back to the action music and explosions of game play.

Kara looked back to her friend, feeling more confused and uneasy. "Jess? What the fuck's going on?"

Jessica sighed, looking and sounding weary. "Ok... sis is gonna kill me but I'll tell you. Promise first, you'll keep this a secret?"

Kara nodded, "Of course."

Jess then gestured towards where the girl had been standing, and whispered, "Cindy used to be Scott Matthews."

Kara felt her eyes widening and her mouth hanging open. She stared in the direction of the living-room for a few moments, speechless.

Finally, she looked back to Jess and whispered, "What the fuck did you guys do to him?"

Jessica shook her head. "It wasn't us. It was... Someone a lot more powerful, who was looking out for us. Sam and Nikki had agreed not to do anything... I didn't want revenge or anything like that. She did it without us knowing. I had no idea till yesterday, I found Cindy downtown. I didn't know who she was at first, but I felt sorry for her, and was trying to help her out. Then talking with her, I finally realized who she was."

Kara's head spun a little as she tried to comprehend, tried to picture the tall, muscular, self-assured jock, in that tiny girl's body.

She then frowned, "Wait, they fished Scott's body out of the canal on Friday. It was all over the news last night. They're having a vigil for him at the university tonight. How...?"

Jessica shook her head and shrugged. "I honestly don't know, we haven't got all the details yet. I don't know if the body was fake,. or if She really killed Scott and somehow reincarnated him into that girl?" Jess sighed. "All I know is, last Saturday night, Scott vanished and Cindy appeared, and she used to be him. She's been living on the street all week. Part of the curse meant she couldn't talk to friends and family, or anything like that? No ID, no money, nowhere to go, so she was kind of screwed."

Kara felt a chill go through her. "Fuck... that's kind of nasty. I mean, ontop of making him a little girl... Then leaving him on the streets, looking like that... Wow."

Jess nodded, "That's why I was trying to help her. I felt sorry for her, she looked so tiny and scared and vulnerable."

Kara looked at her friend, "And you're still helping her? Now that you know who she was... After what he... she... did to you?"

The redhead shrugged slightly, then nodded again. "Yeah... I still feel sorry for her. I never wanted revenge. We can't change her back... Even if we could, we couldn't now because they've got a body and it would be impossible to explain all that. So, we're going to try to get her into a group home and stuff. Figure out how to get her back on her feet, settled into a new life, I guess."

Kara shook her head slowly. It was all still hard to believe. She was impressed though at how forgiving her friend seemed to be.

She then had a thought, something else that she was curious about. "What was that you said about Sam, that scared her so much?"

Jess hesitated, then replied softly, "We're still trying to figure out what to do with her, and like you saw, she can be a real pain in the ass at times, and dropping hints about how she's not what she seems? Sam told her, if she won't behave as a teen, next stop she'll be back in diapers and adopted out to some family that'll raise her right."

Kara's eyes went wide. She whispered, "Holy fucking shit, seriously?"

Jess shrugged a little and whispered back, "I don't know if that's actually possible, but just the threat's been enough, so far."

Kara just stared towards the living-room again, still a little awed, but also curious about the former jock and bully.

"Oh fuck!" Jess suddenly exclaimed.

Kara looked back at her friend, "What's wrong?"

"I just realized, you said Tina left last Sunday? It must have been Her... She cursed Scott, She must have gone after Tina the same night... Shit. I'll have to tell Sam and Nikki when they're back... Not that there's anything we can do I guess. She refused to undo the curse on Cindy, She probably won't fix whatever She did to Tina either..."

Kara was confused again. "Who is this 'she' you're talking about? How's she more powerful that you three? Is she like, your coven leader, some kind of witch queen or something?"

Jess rubbed her forehead again, and sighed. "Oh fuck it, you already know just about everything else. She's a Goddess. An actual literal real-life divine supernatural Goddess. Sam and Nikki and I sort of work for Her, and She grants us power, and I guess She sort of looks after us too..."

Once again Kara's eyes were wide and her mouth hanging open. Her head spun a little. Part of her mind wanted to say this was all crazy, unbelievable, bullshit. But she'd already experienced her own personal miracle two nights ago. She knew there was no mundane explanation for any of this stuff.

"Let me get this straight, Jess... You and Sam and Nikki are friends with an actual real-life Goddess, who's teaching you all magic, giving you power, and when someone attacks you, she goes off and puts a whammy curse on them?"

Jess shrugged, "Uh... more or less? We're hoping there'll be less cursing in the future..."

Kara was quiet for a few more moments, then she slowly smiled and asked, "How do I get in on this? I want to join..."

From just outside the door, Cindy said, "Me too please! I wanna join the club too!"

Jessica sighed and slumped back across her bed. "Sis and Nikki are gonna kill me."

:=: Henry :=:

Henry pulled out of the church parking lot and headed back home. He was feeling inspired. It had been a good service, and the hymns today had left him feeling energized.

At home, he grabbed an apple from the bowl on the little table, then sat down on his threadbare sofa. He turned on the old laptop, and while it was booting, he started flipping through his dog-eared notebook.

Ever since God had given him that vision back in July, he'd been a changed man. He no longer thought of it as a dream. No dream was that vivid, that powerful. Even now, months later, he could remember all the details clearly. It's as if he'd led two different lives, and he remembered them both.

About two weeks after it happened, he bought the notebook and started writing, details and highlights from both lives. He wanted to compare them, figure out what the key moments were, where things had split and gone wrong.

It wasn't that hard, really. He could trace things that linked together, like a chain. There were countless differences in the two lives, but most of those could be attributed to something else. And almost everything linked back to when he broke his promise to Grace. That was the first, the largest point which had changed his life. If he'd kept that promise, almost every other facet of his life would have been perfect.

Well, he may be nineteen years too late, but he'd finally quit drinking. He'd cleaned up his life. He had a mission now, a purpose. And since he'd stopped spending all his free time and money on booze, he had more of both to help him pursue his goal.

With the laptop finally ready, he checked his email. Nothing new. Then he opened up the documents he'd already saved, reviewing them quietly.

It had cost him a bit, but he'd hired an investigator to track down Grace. She was living out in Kelowna, BC. She was married, and had two kids. Henry had emailed her last month, a somewhat long and rambling apology. She'd sent back a short response. She hadn't been rude, but she was straightforward. She had a good life, a good family. Henry was part of her past. She asked him not to contact her again. He'd respect that.

The other key point was a mystery. His child. A girl in the Wrong life, a boy in the Right life. He couldn't figure out anything he'd done to cause that. He knew it had nothing to do with breaking his promise, Grace was already pregnant when that happened. The fact that it seemed such a random, unrelated difference, and that there was no real cause for it, or fallout from it, made it stand out to him.

It was a change, with no reason or explanation. That made it important, in his eyes. Nothing happened without a reason.

He had to find the kid, to figure out what role they played. That had been more expensive. He'd hired another investigator, and there had been some not-quite-legal research which cost even more. And he still didn't have the answers. He knew the child had been adopted within Ontario, and 'narrowed it down' to York Region. But that was basically the most populated region in the province.

Henry took a bite of his apple, then started typing. He tapped out an email to the investigator, pushing the guy to hurry things up. He gave the man a deadline, he wanted answers by the end of the month. That was two weeks away.

After he hit send, Henry sat back and continued munching on the apple.

"Who are you, child? Where are you? And what's your part in all this..."