Alice did her best to observe the man she had been sent to watch as Jenny took her turn. He was an older man who apparently had business connections to Bartholomew and Jennifer Smith I. Alice didn't know exactly who the man was, but just that it was important for her to observe his answer and the result.
"Transform or what?" the man asked in a surprised voice, "Jennifer you're not making any sense."
Alice carefully took her head out of the mirror so that she could hear what Jenny said on the other end of the line.
"Transform or dare," came a voice that sounded like it was being modulated heavily by something, "it's a game here in Glendale..."
"Like truth or dare games the kids play?" the man asked.
"But this game has real power," Jenny answered, "but he rules are sort of incomplete. We're merely trying to test its effectiveness. Oh, and the game has a time limit, so I'm going to need your answer in about ten seconds."
"Transform, I guess," the man answered slowly, guessing that Jennifer was playing some sort of prank on him. Eventually the joke would be over, and they would get on to serious business.
"Okay, this may sound a little strange," Jenny warned him.
"It's alright," the man replied, "the whole thing sounds strange to me."
Alice watched intently from the mirror as Jenny began to give the curse.
"You will turn into an ordinary gray wolf, yet retaining all your mental faculties and the ability to speak," Jenny spoke, "to serve as a pet for... some extraordinary wolves. You will be loyal and friendly to them, and to all that they have as guests. You will enjoy their company and will be happy and content, knowing that all but the wolves will have forgotten about you."
The man pulled the phone away from his ear and blinked at it a few times.
"That's it?" the man asked, expecting the line to actually demand he act out something.
"That's all the test line is," Jenny answered, "it it works you should be feeling something by now."
"I'm feeling nothing," the man answered, "Is this the only reason you called, or was their something serious you needed to discuss?"
"No, not really," Jenny answered, "maybe just to invite you to come out to the estate some time, but that would be all."
"All right then, bye," the man grumbled and put the phone down and returned to his work.
He paid no notice to the image of a blond wolf pup in a blue and white dress watching him rather closely from inside the mirrorverse.
++++++
"You had him come here?" Jensen questioned as Jenny hung up.
"He is an old family friend, and a business associate of both myself and Bart's," Jenny answered, "we've had him here before. To not invite him would have been rude and out of character."
"That and Jenny's "transform" might still work," Bart commented after a few moments.
Jensen and Jenny's heads turned to look at him.
"Jenny's turn was to see if the game allowed an asker in Glendale to use the game on someone outside the city," Bart slowly explained, "and well, it looks like some of the rules pertaining to the range of the game are rather set in stone."
"And your point is?" Jensen asked, finding himself growing rather impatient.
"Well... maybe the game's powers are limited closely to Glendale, but maybe the question and answer truly aren't," Bart tried to explain.
"You mean that he'd actually have to come to Glendale before he'd actually start to change?" Jenny asked.
"Yes, the game's power only affects him while he's in Glendale, but the question is still valid, even if the askee is well outside of town," Bart nodded, "although it is still all a big "if", if you know what I mean."
Jenny turned turned more and more toward her brother, wanting to see if what Bart was saying actually worked.
"So, we'd have to get him to come here in order for it to work?" Jenny asked
Bart shrugged, "it might be the only way for it to work."
"Shouldn't we call him again then?" came Darla's voice, "tell him to turn around and get him to bring Alice home? She's still watching him from inside the mirror."
"No," Jensen spoke, paying no mind to Darla's nervousness at her daughter not returning, "She knows to return if he didn't transform immediately."
"But..." Darla began to protest as Fran put a paw on her shoulder as the mirror suddenly rippled.
"Look!" Kaylee pointed out.
They all turned to see Alice returned in their mirror.
"What took you so long?" Darla demanded of the wolf in the mirror.
"Just seeing if the change was delayed, mother," Alice answered from inside the mirror.
"And?" Jensen and Jenny asked.
"No, but he has made arrangements to come here," Alice answered, "alone."