The present quest was something that had Jeff a bit nervous as he moved from the back wall toward window on the north side of the master bedroom of the Chapman home. This was the big test of things going forward, as they thought they had something that would work as a plan for ultimately dealing with Edward Cupple, the wizard that had either turned two human women, Megan and Jenny, into controlled Slug Women, or brainwashed the two Slug Women when they were far enough away from the rest of the colony that their hivemind couldn't protect them as well. The plan was improvised and there were a lot of things that they couldn't refine until they got out of the house and got more information, but Jeff also knew that they didn't have many options. His mother and sisters had all become Slug Women as a result of Megan and Jenny's actions and he'd been exposed to enough of that magic that he would eventually either become a rare Slug Man or would become another Slug Woman.
They wouldn't get any answers on this until after they were able to get out of the house. That meant they had to get out, and if his transformed family had been able to break whatever spell that had been cast to keep them in the house there was only one way to check that. Jeff had to open the window, and thus he moved toward it, while Zoe slid behind him a bit, just to make sure that Megan and Jenny didn't pull some other trick. Lucy, Whitney, and Grace looked on from their position a few feet away. Jeff blew some air out his lips as he reached the window and looked out, though he saw no sign of Megan or Jenny.
"Looks like things are clear," Jeff commented as he looked back to his sister and mother, "and now to see if that spell was broken..."
Jeff then turned back to the window and he pressed his fingers against the wooden panel that made the frame of the window. He could feel enough to now that he could now push the window up on the track, IF the spell that had held the window shut had been broken. He pressed and then tried to lift, forcing the window to slide up as it should. However, the window didn't budge. Not even an inch. It was like the entire thing was glued and then nailed down, something that he and Zoe didn't expect.
"How...?!" Zoe gasped, "but we got your window open before we came around to come in here to get Megan and Jenny out. That can't be possible."
Jeff was about to say something when Zoe came forward and he was forced to take a step back as Zoe then reached for the same spot on the window frame where he'd tried without success to open the window. Jeff wanted to say that it'd be impossible to open the window, that whatever spell had been originally cast and broken had to have been recast, but before he could even get the words out of his mouth, the window slid open with Zoe expending little energy to do so. In fact, expecting resistance, Zoe put nearly all the strength she had into it and it opened far faster than she expected. This earned a series of wide eyes from everyone in the room. They'd all watched as Jeff tried to open the window and failed but Zoe opened the window with ease.
"How?!" Lucy gasped as they all moved to look at the window again, "but the window seemed sealed when Jeff tried to open it."
"Outside of "magic," I'm not sure I understand myself," Zoe admitted as she turned one eye to Lucy and the other eye to Grace. Though she found that Grace looked almost perplexed and puzzled by all of this as Zoe was. It generated one thought in the back of Zoe's mind that they could recognize that magic was real, but even with all but Jeff becoming Slug Women, that didn't mean they truly understood magic and how it worked. It would only raise the importance of getting guidance from the various churches that might have some knowledge on how to fight what powers Edward Cupple had and help from the Slug People's colony for other protection from Cupple's magic.
While Zoe looked puzzled over to Lucy and Grace with some hesitancy, Jeff began to re-approach the window again. His mind was juggling through all the same questions and seeming to come with no answer as to how to solve them. It made no sense that if Cupple, Megan, or Jenny had sealed the windows and entrances to prevent their escape that he couldn't open the window but Zoe still could. There had to be something there that hadn't been thought of yet, and like an amateur scientist, Jeff figured the only thing to do was to test all possible escape options. Maybe with the window now open he could slip out, or something like that. It would confirm that whatever spell had been cast had been a generic one. He then reached toward that open space, expecting for his had to pass out into the outside.
To his surprise, Jeff's hand only made it to the track where the window was supposed to be. It was like he touched a hard pane of glass in that he couldn't press through it. There was no pain from it like some kind of energy shield, but it still prevented him from extending his hand further. The others noticed this and were just as surprised, particularly when Zoe crouched down to extend her hand out the window next to Jeff's. As with before, Zoe's hand passed through the space as though there was nothing there while Jeff's hand was held fast by something. Jeff even reached for Zoe's arm and ran a hand along it, as though contact with her would allow his had to slide through. That, however, didn't work and even Zoe could feel his hand's sudden stop in the middle of the window frame.
"This doesn't make any sense," Jeff said slowly, "You guys said you'd broken whatever spell had all the windows locked."
"I thought we did," Lucy said blinking.
"It could mean that the spell is more refined than we thought," Grace said after a few moments of thought, "like the spell let us out and open the windows because we're already Slug Women. Jeff may be transforming... but it's far slower and thus the spell is recognizing him as a human."
"So... the spell won't let me escape while I'm human," Jeff said slowly while a moment of silence fell over the room.