Rachel turned her attention back to Jade, who was sliding over the grass, leaving behind a snotty, slimy trail in her wake. Jade swung her head up and down, her eyes stalks leaning forward, searching.
“Jade? Please, it’s okay . . . I’m sure Kat is going to fix you soon.”
Jade leaned toward her, eyes stalks focusing on Rachel. Rachel gulped. Jade opened her mouth and made a low, groaning sound. The sound became thicker and soon, mucus bubbles began to form around Jade’s soft gums.
“Look at what you’ve done to her!” Rachel screamed.
“It wasn’t . . . I’m telling you, it was like something was making me do it!”
Rachel grunted. Jade closed her mouth, smacked her gums, and began mindlessly slithering through the backyard. Rachel stared at Jade as she did this. “You said you always loved me. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means . . . it means, I just . . . I have a crush on you, that’s all.”
Rachel sighed. “Yeah, well, what the hell were you going do to me? Huh?”
“I don’t . . . I was thinking . . . I wasn’t thinking.”
She side-eyed him. “That’s for damn sure.”
Jade moved her thick, lumbering body back toward them, eye stalks staring. She made that noise again and this time, even more mucus bubbles formed.
“What is she trying to say?” Dan asked, stepping toward the snail girl.
Jade saw Dan and slid back, clearly afraid of him.
“This is awful,” Rachel said. “We have to find Kat.”
“I’m right here.”
Dan and Rachel whirled about. Kat stood at the backdoor, the book open in front of her.
“We saw you . . . you came back . . .” Rachel stammered. She felt a chill move across her spine.
“I came back,” she said, “in fact, I never really left.”
She lifted the book and began to mutter a spell. Her eyes went wide and there was a strange twitch in her face.
“Kat . . . please . . . we can . . . we’ll work something out . . . I . . . I promise,” Dan pleaded.
“So you love her? Really? How about now?”
Dan felt his feet tingle and he was suddenly stuck in place. He then watched as Rachel jerked back. She was glowing a little as magic raced through her. She then began to change . . .