pte

peeled off her sweaty clothes, adding them to the top before moving into the shower. Once clean and dressed in her standard at home clo

ven to pre-heat. She poked the potato all over with a fork so it would

n assembling the items she wanted to add to the potato once baked. While she rout

e fridge and cut the piece she was using into smaller, bite sized pieces. She put the cut up pieces to the

n too, " she decided. Something about the creature seemed masculine, but she decided she could easily be wrong. When the bacon was as crisp as she liked, Cassie set the strips onto

Part of her wanted to pull out her journal and add the new information she found. Admittedly, it wasn't a lot of new information, b

homework, " She

work in on time and kept her grades up. Despite wanting to add images to the book, a life time of discipline and responsibility took over. She retreated to her room, picked up her school bag and took it back to th

homework. By the time she was finished and sliding both her notebook and book back into the bag, the potato was nearly ready to come out of the oven. She steamed the broccoli bits and took out a plate

glasses with raspberry and lemon iced tea. Deciding she gave her dinner enough presentation, she set her plate on the placemat and settled herself in the barstool in front of it. While her meal was a simple one, Cassie still thought about

ed her potato and climbed down from her stool to begin the washing up. She knew she still had a container of duck fat in the f

a grocery list. The small store near their house had a delivery service and as Cassie's groceries typically came from their selections, she long since me

to the side, Cassie went to her armoire. Currently, her summer clothes were stashed here, tucked away with lave

ner. One was dedicated to sandwiches and was the inspiration for her school lunches. More of the books were dedicated to bakin

d to decide what sort of snack to have available for them. "Well, the

doors to the armoire and took the book back to her bed. "And cookies sound like a good Saturday afternoon snack." Bef

the bed. She found the first plate on the box shortly after she was beaten b

for it." Cassie shook slightly, her mind replaying the terrifying look of rage etched into Erra's face as he attacked. "I

she took a beating, and her thoughts turned dark, fear rising as she though

evision. The noise filled the room making her feel not quite so alone and she

ked herself as she watched a sweat drenched man traipsing through the jungle, talking about p

ng a list of things she needed to either know or add to her survival pack. She added 'book about snakes' under 'book about mushrooms' and then

show and the book. When it was time for bed, she put her book on th

e needed for the next day was done, Cassie made a circuit through the house, checking each of the locks to make certain they were bolted down. She frowned at the back

omewhat different. If she was going to replace the lock, she needed an explanation why. People didn't randomly start adding new locks to doors unless they had a reason to

r. Its lock was weaker than the one on the garden door, but if anyone opened it, she was pretty sure she would be a

the lights and the television and slipped between the sheets. In

s placed behind. This was what she thought of as standby mode. She knew that if she named a destination then the line leading to that destination would glow a brilliant gold while the others faded to pencil sketches

ol on the underside of the window sill in Mr. Babbin's office and found she could travel there to listen to him plot and scheme while he and Skadi tried to find anyone who might be a

ble to ask Oliver, Ina, and Bert. They didn't know she was the one opening gates remotely and she didn't plan to tell them. As the lines in th

at, " Cassi

Cassie grabbed the line and felt as though something hooked her behind her belly button. She flew forward faster than a thought. Although she felt as though she was moving, there was no wind and her hair l

ols placed around the bar, enabling her to flit around the room eavesdropping at will. At first she felt a little sneaky about eavesdropping on private conversation

even arguing, she saw that the center of the bar was cleared out, the tables and chairs pushed to the side. The reason was immediately evident. In the cleared off space, Oliver Dana and Enki circled each other, each

are as the two fought. Their movements were swift and sure. Few blows actually landed as both opponents were good, but when they did it was clea

iver's building." She was certain that w

made by either fighter. Cassie looked around and saw money changing hands as people placed bets on the outcome. As Cassie looked around

she thought she was getting the hang of it. From her new position she studied the cloaked figure. This close, she could see it was male. The cloak looked more like a darker mahogany type of brown rather than black when viewed up close, which m

them, ' Cassie frowned and wondered if any of the others who did look strange would show her other places as well. Since she c

his skin was naturally a tan color. 'The eyes aren't normal, ' Cassie thought as she looked. While dark, almost black in color, whe

what disturbed him. She let her eyes follow his gaze and realized with a start that he was looking at the symbols. He turned his attention to the one she was looking through and she

he felt the whooshing sensation of movement and a second