I woke up to some woman almost screaming, "Are you crazy? You can't send her to Gregorskie's."
I looked down at myself and noticed that I was wearing a different nightgown than the one that was put on me when I was transformed. I felt something around my hand and looking at it I saw the locket. I must have ripped it off since the chain was broken. Maybe that's why my mind was back though I had to wonder how long it had been. Just then I heard the man say, "She needs to go to school and Gregorskie's is a very good school or so I'm told." He wasn't talking very loud so he must be right outside the door.
"Beth Milansky is the headmistress there," the woman said. "You know that she's responsible for starting a war in the future. All she needs to accomplish this is some key people and your quote daughter might be one of them."
"Beth won't know if she's one of the ones she's looking for or not," the man said sounding convinced. "If I'm to keep up the pretense of her being my daughter I need to send her to school."
"So send her to a public school here," the woman said. "Or better yet a private school far from here and Blue Diamond. In fact that would be best since Beth has been seen around here."
"Why would she be here though?" The man asked sounding confused.
"Isn't it obvious?" The woman asked sounding a bit exasperated. "She's looking for the ones that will help her start the war. You know that she's bound to hear that you have a daughter that recently came to stay with you. What do you think will happen when she does?"
"I have things under control," the man said sounding sure of that. "Even if Beth comes here all she'll find is a little girl who is my daughter."
"What if her original mind reasserts itself while Beth is here?" the woman asked the tone in her voice suggesting weariness of the conversation.
"It won't," the man said a note of pride in his voice. "There's been no sign of her original mind returning and it's almost the end of summer."
There was a slight pause then the woman said, "Do what you will Greg Drummond. Just remember that you let the last two escape before we could ascertain if they were the ones that help start the war or not. You let this one escape and you may suffer the consequences. We're still unsure if she is one of the ones Beth is looking for but it just isn't a coincidence that she's around here now."
There was a moment of silence during which I presumed that this Greg Drummond was showing the woman out of the house. I remembered him pointing a gun at me and I had to wonder what he would do if he knew my mind was back. I was sure that he'd be really upset. Just then who I had been resurfaced though I was still myself. My name had been Jessica Drummond and I was six. Greg Drummond was my daddy though he wasn't very nice. I shivered as the memory of punishments flowed into my mind. They were harsh punishments like being wiped or cut when I was punished. There was even one time when I was disemboweled. Thanks to him knowing some magic though he was able to heal me so there were no scars. And those were over what I thought of as minor things like not picking up my room as soon as he said to. I looked back down at the locket and knew that I was in big trouble for breaking it. It had to have been what was keeping my own mind suppressed and letting Jessica run free. Now that it was broken the magic seems to have broken with it though I didn't transform back into myself. I wondered if I had kept it on much longer if Jessica would have taken over permanently. As it was she was making an effort to resurface and she was both heartbroken and fearful over the locket breaking.
I heard footsteps outside of the door and they stopped right outside. I just knew that Greg was going to be checking on me to see if I was asleep still. Fortunately I could hide that the locket was broken and pretend to sleep in case he came all the way in. I moved as quickly as I could to arrange myself without making much noise. Jessica was starting to panic but I forced her to the back of my mind and concentrated on breathing like I was asleep. I had done it just in time as I heard the door open and footsteps approach. Jessica wanted to get up and run and her panic almost allowed her to take control. I don't know how I managed to stay in control and keep pretending to sleep but I was able to. After a few seconds I heard footsteps recede and the door close. I heard footsteps walk away and another door open down the hall. I knew I had to get out of here before morning otherwise Greg would see that the locket was broken. I wanted to go right away but I forced myself to wait until I could be reasonably certain that Greg was asleep. When I felt that enough time had passed I got out of bed and quietly went to get dressed but stopped. If I got dressed then Greg would know that I had ran away but if I didn't there may be a chance that he would think I was kidnapped. He knew that Jessica wouldn't run away since he created her but he didn't know that the locket had broken and I was back. So it would be best to just go as I was and take the locket with me. I briefly considered going out the window but since I was on the second floor I would need something to climb down and I didn't think there was anything there. That left going downstairs and out the doggy door. Greg hadn't gotten it replaced since Andrea disappeared which would be lucky for me. I thought that there were alarms on the doors and windows downstairs but couldn't be sure.
I crept out of Jessica's room, which was the room I had stumbled into before, pausing outside of Greg's door and really listening for any sign that he was awake. When I heard none I continued to make my way downstairs as silently as I could. My heart was beating so fast and Jessica was making it difficult for me. Fortunately I made it to the kitchen and out the doggy door without making too much noise. Once outside I was kind of regretting my decision to leave with what I had been wearing to bed. It was a little chilly out and there was some dew forming on the grass. I thought I heard the distant rumble of thunder but couldn't be sure. So I had a couple of choices. One was to go back inside and accept what would happen when Greg found out the locket had broken or continue and find some shelter as fast as possible. Needless to say I chose the second option while Jessica wanted the first one. So I stood there for a few minutes until Jessica seemed to finally wear out and stop fighting. With that distraction gone I hurried over to the gate and through it to the alley behind the house. I stopped for just a moment to look back and up to the window of Greg's room wondering if he was awake and watching me. I shook my head and continued on since if he had been awake he would have stopped me.
It took a little while to find a suitable place to take shelter in and by that time it had started sprinkling. It looked like an old clubhouse some kids had built but it was still standing and it was dry inside. There was a dusty sleeping bag in one corner that was thick enough to provide some comfort sleeping on the floor. I yawned as I looked at it and realized that my body needed sleep as well as my mind. As I crawled into the sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep I had to hope that Jessica wouldn't take over and go back to Greg's.