Gloria, Kellie, and the others blinked as they tried to take in their surroundings. They appeared to be in a deserted area of the college campus that Katie and the others attended. “Well we’re here,” Gloria said softly. “Now what?”
“We should call my sister,” Derrick said, taking out his cell phone. “Who knows how long this isn’t going to take so we may need somewhere to stay.”
“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Kellie answered cautiously. “Your sister is staying with Katie and Kellie. If we’d show up and tell them what’s up they may not believe us and it could lead to Katie getting closer to this mystery guy.”
“What if I text her,” Derrick asked. “I mean not for nothing I look a little old to be in college and Lisa over there still looks like a high school kid.”
“Not my fault they didn’t change my age,” Lisa grumbled. “I mean I’m not thrilled about being the youngest one here either. Why couldn’t you have made me 20 like the rest of you?”
Kellie sighed as she looked at the grumpy auburn haired teen. “Lisa,” she sighed. “The rest of us are going to be wandering the campus looking for this guy. Right now we’re the only ones with magic. If we do run into him there’s a chance Morgan could be with him. If that happens we’re going to need magic to defend ourselves.”
“All the more reason for me and Lisa to find somewhere to stay,” Derrick stated. “We may not be able to stay with Claudia but she might have somewhere for us to go.” Kellie looked at each other sighing and nodding in agreement, Derrick was right. While the others would need to be out searching, Derrick and Lisa needed to be somewhere safe. If the two of them had no magic they could find themselves in serious danger. “Okay Derrick,” Kellie said. “Message her and tell her not to tell Katie or Kellie.” Derrick nodded as he now sent his sister a text message. In only moments Claudia appeared before the group, a look of surprise on her face.
“Whoa,” she exclaimed. “I was not expecting to see all of you again so soon. And why are you guys older? What exactly is going on?”
“We need some help Claudia,” Gloria stated. “Katie and Kellie could be in serious danger.”
Claudia listened intently as Gloria explained her vision and the theory Kellie had come up with. Gasping in surprise she now gaped at the group, still bewildered by the fact that the fate of reality rested in this plan. “Okay yeah this is serious,” she whispered. “Although not exactly thrilled youndragged my brother into this, he doesn’t have any magic.”
“Hey it wasn’t my idea to come along,” he protested. “Gloria and her friends needed a ride. Besides if you think I’m just going to sit idolly by while your in danger you got another thing coming.”
Claudia smirked at her brother giving him a quick hug before looking at him. “Huh all it took was a possible Armageddon to get you to finally visit.”
“You can give me the tour later,” Derrick smiled. “Now you know somewhere we can go or not?”
Claudia nodded as she now guided the group forward. As Gloria and her friends proceeded through the campus they couldn’t help but marvel at the school. This place was so much larger than high school, large academic buildings looked overhead with residential buildings randomly scattered throughout the campus. As they passed a large stadium that housed the football team (with an adjoining basketball stadium to boot) they couldn’t help but give a breathless Wow. “Where are we going anyway,” Kellie asked, trying to stay focused on the job at hand.
“Well if my place is a no go than there’s only one other person we can trust,” Claudia said as she beckoned towards a row of buildings. Focusing on the buildings the group gasped. “No freaking way,” Sasha exclaimed.
Claudia nodded as she now headed towards a row of sorority houses. “Yeah,” she said. “You guys are going to be crashing with Ashley.”
Gloria and the others gave each other looks of concern as they approached. None of the girls had ever considered even rushing a sorority when they got to college so the idea of even staying in one seemed like an impossibility. “Okay this could be fun after all,” Lisa smirked as she began to pick up the pace. Katie watched her sister, shaking her head in annoyance as the teen seemed to bounce on the front porch. As the group waited they watched Claudia knock, anxiously waiting for Ashley to answer.
“Hey Claud,” Ashley said as she opened the door. “Cmon in But stay quiet okay, got your message so just break it down real quick.”
Claudia nodded as the group made their way initial a large common room. As they took a seat Claudia now tried to explain the situation to Ashley. To her credit, Ashley listened intently, rubbing her chin as she took the information in. “Okay I’ve seen some nutty stuff over the years but nothing that was ever apocalyptic,” she said.
“Well Ash It’s pretty serious,” Claudia stated. “Why do you think Katie’s mom showed up with her friends. We gotta find this guy and stop him before they break up Katie and Kellie.”
“I knew Katie and Kellies relationship was important but I never thought the fate of the world rested on it,” Ashley chuckled trying to lighten the mood. “Well they are special,” Kellie said with a smile. “But I think it’s more the magic than the relationship. If either of them were to do anything to end the other, it could complete unravel reality.”
“Got it,” Ashley said. “No wishing out of existence. So what are you going to do now then?”
“Lisa and Derrick need someone where to stay,” Gloria said. “The rest of us are going to search for this guy.”
“And Morgan if possible,” Mary Elise added, a bitter look on her face. “Mary,” Kellie sighed. “We shouldn’t try to confront her directly, even with our magic she would be too powerful most likely. We need to find this guy Josh first and find out his connection to Morgan. Then, hopefully we can see if he’s done anything to Katie or Kellie.”
“So you can’t tell them yet because they might be under a spell or something,” Ashley asked.
“Yeah pretty much,” Kellie stated. “Until we can confirm that we need to keep them out of the loop. If Morgan’s bewitched them she might make them do something reckless or worse, kill them outright.”
Ashley nodded. “Okay well Derrick and Lisa will be safe here for now,” she said. “We’ll keep an eye out just in case. Maybe I’ll ask a couple of girls if they know this guy.”
“Sounds good,” Gloria said. “As for the rest of us we should probably split up. Mary you should go with Sasha. Katie you should with Jackie and I’ll go with Kellie.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Sasha shrugged.
“Remember,” Kellie said sternly. “We’re here to find this guy Josh not Morgan. If anyone finds him let the others know so Claudia can bring us all together with her teleportation spell.” The group nodded as they now wished each other luck in their search. As they split up Ashley, Derrick, Claudia, and Lisa watched. Hopefully they would be able to stop things before Morgan succeeded.