Kate zipped out the door as soon as everyone was covered and came back in saying, "Ok the hall's clear. We need to go before someone catches us."
"Right," Dawn said nodding. Even with Kate's assurance that there was no one in the hall she still peeked out of the door before motioning for the other girls to follow her.
They had all just exited the restroom when Miss Mackey's stern voice asked, "And why were you girls in the boys restroom?"
They all turned around and saw Miss Mackey standing there with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. They looked at each other with a sinking feeling. They couldn't tell her what the real reason was as she wouldn't believe them. But what could they tell her that would be believable and keep them out of trouble. Millie seemed to be thinking fast since she said, "Some boys dragged me into the restroom Miss Mackey. I think they were going to rape me. The others saw and came in to help."
"That was pretty irresponsible of you girls," Miss Mackey said looking like she wanted to give them all a detention. Her voice and face softened though as she said, "However you evidently prevented a fellow student from getting raped if that was their intention. Do any of you know who the boys are?"
Millie was still thinking fast as she said, "They were wearing masks."
Miss Mackey sighed and said, "I suppose they took your clothes too Miss Pulman."
"I think so," Millie said a bit hesitantly. "They had knocked me out so I can't be sure."
"Did the boys take Miss Pulman's clothes girls?" Miss Mackey asked looking a little skeptical.
"Yes they did," Rachael said without missing a beat.
"How come the boys got away from all you girls?" Miss Mackey asked. Her tone clearly said that she was having a hard time believing their story even though her voice had softened.
"We weren't expecting the boys to react as quickly as they did," Tanya said evidently expecting that question. "They knocked us out too and they must have taken what we were wearing as well before leaving."
"So most of you girls could have been raped," Miss Mackey said her voice taking on an angry edge. "Come with me and don't any of you wander off." She started walking down the hall and with no other realistic option they followed. She opened a classroom door and ushered them inside. "Now I want you girls to stay here while I make some calls," Miss Mackey said as she went into the hall and closed the door.
Dawn looked at Millie and asked, "Why did you say that?"
"Well a couple of boys had threatened to rape me if they found me in the boys restroom again before this happened so I figured it was a good excuse," Millie said shrugging.
"Well we're not in trouble but how are we going to find the book now?" Tanya asked looking a little worried.
"I guess we'll just have to stop looking for now," Dawn said sighing. "We'll just have to hope that no one else finds it before we can continue."
"Well since we can't look for it right now let's discuss how we're going to destroy it," Kate said sitting on Stacy's abdomen.
"Well I think the best way would be to burn it," Dawn said folding her arms.
"I don't think we should destroy it," Rachael said looking thoughtful.
"But we've agreed to destroy it so it doesn't mess up any more lives," Tanya said stamping a hoof.
"I know but we don't know enough about it to destroy it safely," Rachael said looking down.
"What do you mean," Kate asked sounding a little worried.
"I think I know," Stacy said frowning. "The book is magic so if we destroy it there's a chance the magic could be released in an uncontrolled burst. That is if we can even destroy it."
"I hadn't thought about that," Dawn admitted looking like she might be a little relieved.
"There's a couple of other things that I've been thinking about the book," Rachael said. "I think there's a limit to the book's power. This last time was slower and we lost consciousness at different times unlike what happened before."
"You may be right about that," Dawn said rubbing her chin. "What was the other thing you were thinking about the book?"
"Well I was wondering what happens to the people we replace," Rachael said looking troubled.
"We didn't replace anyone though," Kate said looking confident about that.
"Are you sure about that?" Rachael asked shaking her head. "All indications are that we've been dropped into another reality whenever the book emitted that blue glow. Though it's not a simple body switch between the realities. Me, Dawn, and Tanya saw the beginning of Kate's transformation before we lost consciousness. So if we transformed into other versions of ourselves and then were transported to their reality what happened to them?"
"Maybe they went to our previous reality," Millie suggested.
"That's one possibility," Rachael said sighing. "Though there's another one that's not so pleasant. It could be that someone in each reality is trapping our alternate selves in the book."
Everyone shuddered at that and Kate said, "You're right. That isn't a pleasant thought."
Just then the door opened and Miss Mackey came back in with some guy. "Here are the girls Detective Morgan," she said with some concern in her voice. "I just hope they weren't raped."
"We'll certainly find out if that's the case," Detective Morgan said sounding a bit angry. He turned to the girls and said, "We'll need to interview each of you separately but first I need to ask a couple of things. Will each of submit to a rape test?" After they all nodded he said, "Ok this next question I want you girls to answer honestly. Have any of you had sex recently?" When none of them answered he continued, "This is important. If you've had sex recently the rape test is useless. Now please tell me if you've had sex recently." With that he leaned against a bookcase.
"Dad no," Rachael yelled but it was too late. Detective Morgan had touched the book and the blue glow was starting to work it's way up his arm.
"What the hell," Detective Morgan exclaimed as he tried to brush the light off of himself.
"What's going on here?" Miss Mackey asked as tendrils of light started snaking their way toward the girls.
"Do you think we can run?" Tanya asked shifting on her hooves.
"It's between us and the door so we can't," Rachael said shaking her head.
The tendrils of light made their way towards the girls never touching Miss Mackey who seemed to be so scared that she fainted. The light touched each girl and spread over them slower than it had done before. Once it had enveloped them they lost consciousness one by one with Dawn being the last. Before she lost consciousness she saw Detective Morgan gaining some mass though she couldn't tell what he was becoming.