CHAPTER NINE

Skip was startled when he walked into the Unit's library and discovered Aideen in the stacks. "Aideen? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, now that I've set to work on your filing system. Skip, do you realize how disorganized these files were? It made it nearly impossible to find anything," Aideen replied. She smiled at him warmly, then continued to file. "It's going to take me a while to get this all sorted out."

"Um... Aideen, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine. Why?"

Skip considered the situation. There could be several possible reasons for Aideen to be there. She had been acting unusually since her father's death, and perhaps she was trying to lose herself in work. Nope. This is the girl that smites paperwork if it's even implied that she'll have to complete it. Next possibility? Skip thought. Possession? Unlikely. Aideen's got better blocks than that. Warlock research? Those aren't even the warlock files... I'm running out of ideas...

"I called the Silver Society here, by the way. I found a file they might be interested in," Aideen said. "I hope you don't mind if we have a meeting here?"

"You're all welcome here," Skip replied. "You know that. Our resources are your resources as well."

"Super!"

Yep, she's definitely possessed, Skip decided. Aideen would never use the word "super," especially not so enthusiastically.

Cassandra walked into the library and Skip was relieved to see someone that he knew might be able to help him make sense of Aideen's behavior. His relief was short-lived, however, when he realized that Cassandra was not wearing her usual leather jacket, but she did have on a baby blue dress and she was chewing bubble gum. She blew a bubble and popped it before pouting and saying, "Do we need to have a meeting right now? My favorite store is having a sale."

Oh Gods, it's the apocalypse. Again, Skip thought. He shook his head.

"It's important, Cassie," Aideen replied. "I found the file we've been looking for. Misfiled, I might add." She shot a look at Skip that reminded him of the way a mother looked at a child that had been a little bit naughty and was not off the hook yet.

Cassandra sighed. "Alright, I guess that is more important." She blew another bubble and let it pop. She smiled at Aideen. "You know, in this light, your hair looks really pretty."

"Thanks," Aideen replied. "I love your dress."

"This?" Cassandra giggled. Skip thought he might faint. "Thanks. I just bought it this morning."

"Ladies!" Spencer cried out, entering the library. Jade followed him in. "How's it going? Heard any good music lately?"

"Hey, Skippy," Jade greeted Skip with a grin. She patted him on the back. "What's the matter, Skippy? You need to smile more!"

"Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on with you guys?" Skip demanded.

"He does need to smile more," Cassandra chimed in. "Seriously, Skip, you have such a nice smile."

I'm dreaming, Skip decided. I must be dreaming. There's no way that this is happening.

Melissa walked into the library and rolled her eyes. "I have a life, guys. Do we really have to have extra meetings?" She asked.

"I found something important," Aideen replied. "You know the rules."

"Screw the rules. Why don't you put away all that paperwork and give me a kiss?"

"This isn't the place for that, Melissa," Beth scolded her gently, joining them. "I'm sure that whatever Aideen has found will prove to be very important. What does it have to do with? Is it a prophecy? Maybe I can help you translate it."

Cassandra sighed. "Boring," she said under her breath.

"Yeah, seriously," Melissa agreed.

"It's information on Erica Vitti," Aideen replied.

"Wait, you found information on her here?" Beth asked. "So the E.V.S. does have something to do with the supernatural."

"It looks that way. Tommi's not just being paranoid. They probably are warlocks."

"Sweet, so now we can kill them, right?" Spencer asked eagerly.

"We'd better wait for Alex to make that call," Aideen replied.

"Sorry I'm late," Arnie said, entering the library. "I was shooting hoops and lost track of time."

Cierra hurried in after Arnie. "Hey, guys," she said. She eyed Arnie and batted her eyes flirtatiously. "You look hot when you're all sweaty, you know that?"

Arnie blushed. "Uh... thanks," he managed, staring at his shoes.

Dylan walked into the library. "This had better be major," he said. "You know how much I hate paperwork. I'm not big on hanging out at the library."

"Did you guys all switch bodies?" Skip finally demanded.

"Nah, Skip, why are you asking?" Arnie asked.

"Skippy's getting paranoid. We need to make him laugh," Jade said. Suddenly, she got a wicked look in her eyes and asked, "Say, Skippy, are you ticklish?"

Randy entered, glared at everyone, and asked, "Don't we spend enough time together? I'm not big on group activities, remember?"

"Deenie found something important," Jade replied.

Jesse walked into the library. "Hey, Kids," he said. "Okay, Aideen, what did you find?"

"Information on Erica Vitti," Aideen replied. "It looks like she was a warlock of some sort."

"Oh, great," Jesse said with a sigh. "So, what makes it look that way?"

"Well, for one, she was affiliated with the Eight Spokes Society."

"They're a known warlock group," Beth said in concern.

"Exactly. They were finally stopped several decades ago when the local witches killed the last of them off."

"Isn't killing them kind of harsh? Why does it always have to end with death, anyway?" Cassandra asked.

My Gods, they're screwed, Skip thought. Where the hell is Alex?

"What do you suggest we do, Cassandra? Stick them in cardboard boxes and drive them to another state to release them into the wild?" Jade asked. "I mean, I'm all for relocating them instead of killing them, like people do with bugs sometimes, but I'm worried they'd find their way home."

"Well, it would be a nicer way to get rid of them," Cassandra said. She stared at her shoes awkwardly. "Sorry..."

"Guys, what's that?" Cierra asked as a thick black fog suddenly appeared in the library.

"Demons," Beth replied.

Jesse cursed. "Brace yourselves for an attack," he advised.

As the demons took form, Cassandra shrieked in horror.

Great, their strongest fighter is terrified of her own shadow, Skip thought. He sent a message out to the Unit to send help to the library fast. Skip began to smite some of the demons while trying to keep an eye on the Silver Society members in the hopes that they could still handle themselves.

"What do we do?" Cassandra asked, completely panicked.

"We relocate them," Jade quipped.

"Yeah, to the grave," Spencer added under his breath.

"Cassie, get down!" Aideen shouted as one of the demons flew at Cassandra's head. Aideen threw a book at it and missed. She sighed, picked up another book, and ran toward Cassandra, who was pinned against a wall trying to hide from the demons. Aideen waited for the demon to get close enough to the wall, then swatted it with the book as if killing a fly.

"Good thinking, Aideen," Beth said. She smited a demon that tried to attack Jade.

Randy stood next to Cassandra and Aideen and tried to smite the demons away from their corner.

Several demons attacked Jade. As they overpowered her, she visibly struggled to escape from their clutches. "Someone help Jade!" Aideen shouted.

"I'm on it," Arnie replied. He hurried to Jade's side and started pulling demons off of her. Melissa helped him smite them.

Between all of the screaming, chaos, and confusion, Alex entered the library. He immediately set to work on destroying the demons. Skip was relieved for the extra help.

Maybe Alex is still himself? Skip thought, trying to cling to that hope.

The battle escalated quickly, but with the full Silver Society now present, it ended just as fast. As the last of the demons was destroyed, Alex glared at the others. "What the hell happened?" He demanded.

"They just appeared," Cassandra said, trying not to burst into tears.

Cassandra doesn't cry, Skip thought. This just keeps getting crazier.

"You guys need to be more careful. It takes a lot to get past the Unit's security, even for a demon," Alex said sternly. His usual gentle guidance was missing as he scowled at the others. "You should have felt them coming."

"We're sorry, Alex," Aideen replied quickly.

"Sorry isn't good enough," Alex said. "There is no excuse for slipping up that badly. You all could have been killed."

"That jacket looks sexy on you," Cierra told Alex, trying to lighten the mood.

That was when Skip noticed that Alex was wearing a leather jacket. "Shut the hell up and be serious, Cierra," Alex said. "This is not a joke."

The members of the Unit that had received the rescue call finally arrived. "What the hell took you guys so long?" Skip demanded.

"Someone had a magickal block around the room," Shooter replied. "It took me a while to break it down."

"What's the emergency?" Joanna asked.

"Just watch them for a minute, and you tell me," Skip replied.

Cassandra started gagging violently. After a few moments, she spit her gum into the trash. "Ew..." She said softly. "I almost swallowed my gum," she explained as everyone stared at her.

"So you don't like to swallow sticky stuff?" Spencer asked with a smirk. Melissa and Jade both started howling with laughter. Cassandra's cheeks turned pink.

"Oh, grow up, you three," Jesse scolded them. "I'm sorry if they offended you, sweetie. Are you okay?" He asked Cassandra gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cassandra replied, turning even pinker.

Dylan started playing with a lighter and grinning wickedly. "Fire. Pretty fire..." He said.

"Oh. My. Gods," Shooter said. "What the hell is wrong with them?"

"Body switching?" Joanna asked.

"No, I asked. They're still themselves," Skip replied.

"Maybe they're possessed," Susie suggested.

"All at once? I doubt it," Tammy replied. "Besides, they're all acting like each other... Sort of. It's like someone took one personality trait for each of them, exaggerated it to an extreme degree, and made the exaggerated trait take control of someone else's entire personality."

Always prepared, Tammy pulled out a pen and a piece of paper. She began to write a list as she observed their behavior further.

ALEX: Has Cassandra's attitude, complete with leather.

AIDEEN: Has Cierra's obsessive-compulsive need to file and do paperwork.

SPENCER: Has Dylan's music obsession and sense of humor.

ARNIE: Has Randy's athletic tendencies.

CASSANDRA: Has Beth's teenybopper tendencies and lack of knowledge of the supernatural.

CIERRA: Has Melissa's flirtatious habits.

DYLAN: Has Aideen's hatred of paperwork and her pyromania.

RANDY: Has Jade's antisocial attitude.

JESSE: Has Alex's take-charge attitude.

MELISSA: Has Jesse's lack of tolerance for rules.

JADE: Has Arnie's sense of humor.

BETH: Has Spencer's wealth of knowledge.

"It's the apocalypse," Shooter decided as he read over Tammy's list. "There's no other explanation. The world is going to end for real this time."

"It's a spell," Susie corrected him. "I can feel the warlock energy on them."

"I think she's right," Skip agreed. "The question is how the hell do we fix them?"

"Good question," Tammy replied. "We'd better find an answer soon, or they're in serious trouble. They can't be left alone in this state."

"Who the hell would cast a spell like this? It's so... juvenile," Joanna said. 

"Teenagers, probably," Shooter replied. "It had to be warlocks in training. Maybe it was some of the high school kids."

"That's a good point," Skip agreed. "Susie, find someone from the Spell Reversal Division. We need to fix this."

"Okay," Susie replied. She hurried off to find help.

Cierra sat in Alex's lap. "You need to get a girlfriend, Alex," she said. "You'd be happier."

"Yeah, let's set Alex up with someone," Jade agreed eagerly.

"People, can we focus?" Jesse asked.

"Sure! On getting a girl for Alex," Spencer replied with a smirk.

"Everyone, come on, this is serious," Beth said. "We need to figure out exactly what we're up against."

"As far as I can guess," Aideen began, "the high school chapters of the Erica Vitti Society are actually a breeding ground for promising young warlocks. They find people with the right power levels and try to recruit them."

"See? Group activities are evil," Randy said.

"You should have tried out for football instead, Jesse," Arnie added.

"Yeah, you'd look sexy in tights," Cierra chimed in.

"The adult Erica Vitti Society definitely seems to be some sort of warlock country club organization," Aideen continued. "They are heavily involved in the community, but that's just a front for their real activities."

"Like what?" Jesse asked.

"I'm still trying to find out more. It seems they've gone to great lengths to keep their activities out of the Unit's files."

"Who can blame them? I hate libraries," Spencer whined, which was a true act of blasphemy for him. "They're too quiet. We need music."

"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world..." Cassandra sang off-key.

"Correction," Spencer said. "We need good music."

"Aw, what's wrong, Spencer?" Cierra asked. "Do you need a kiss?" She sat in Spencer's lap and pressed her lips against his. He automatically returned the kiss. After a few moments, Cierra broke the kiss and grinned. Without giving Spencer time to react, she hopped out of his lap and moved on to Jesse's.

"I'll never wash these lips again," Spencer mumbled, touching his fingertips to his lips.

"Um... Cierra?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, Jesse?" She replied.

"Why?" He asked in confusion.

"Why what?" She replied innocently.

"Why are you sitting in my lap?"

"It looked lonely and oh-so-inviting." Cierra wrapped her arms around his neck and got comfortable.

"Melissa? What are you doing?" Jesse asked suddenly, still trying to ignore the fact that Cierra was sitting in his lap as he watched Melissa out of the corner of his eye.

"Um... Nothing?" Melissa replied, trying to look innocent.

"You just put something in your pocket," Jesse said knowingly. "Hand it over."

"You suck," Melissa replied, but she handed over what she'd stolen. It was Shooter's wallet.

"Hey!" Shooter protested as he recognized it.

"I was bored. I just wanted to see if I could do it," Melissa replied with a shrug.

Jesse shook his head and handed the wallet back to Shooter. "Sorry," he said. "You know how she gets."

"Susie had better hurry up," Shooter mumbled.

"I don't know," Joanna said with a laugh. "I have to admit I find this kind of entertaining."

"Yeah, I know we need to fix them, but it's pretty funny to see them like this," Tammy added.

"It's not funny," Skip scolded her.

Cassandra screamed. "What's wrong?" Randy asked.

"I thought I saw a bug!" Cassandra shouted in disgust and terror.

"Okay, so maybe it's a little bit funny," Skip admitted.

"How many of the members of Bishop's Erica Vitti Society do you think are actually warlocks?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know, man. You're the one who's a member," Spencer pointed out.

Jesse thought for a minute. "Lydia and Hugo definitely are. Hell, at this point, I'd say everyone except Tommi, Bianca, and I might be."

"Why not Bianca?" Aideen asked.

"Because he has the hots for her," Dylan replied. "He's thinking with his hormones again. That gets you into trouble, Jesse."

"Do you really think that everyone else is a warlock?" Alex asked.

"Yes. I mean, maybe some aren't as bad as the others, but they're definitely all warlocks. It's becoming obvious that they kill anyone who resists too much. I'm pretty sure Arthur made the transition," Jesse said. "His energy's different... It's stronger. He must have unlocked his magick."

"Great, so they'll be initiating you and Tommi next," Spencer said. "We'd better find a way to stop that."  

"Stating the obvious much, Spence?" Jade asked.

Suddenly, the members of the Silver Society froze and then collectively cried out in pain. They clutched their heads as they tried to recover from the shock.

"Spell's broken," Susie said cheerfully as she reappeared in the library.

"Wow, Cierra, I never knew you gave lap dances," Jesse said, eying Cierra, who was still sitting in his lap. Mortified, Cierra got out of Jesse's lap and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh my Gods," Cierra said. "Oh... My... Gods... I can't believe that I... Oh Gods... I can't show my face to you guys ever again!"

"It wasn't that bad," Beth said gently.

"I kissed Spencer."

"Okay, so that was pretty bad," Beth admitted.

"I'm so sorry Jade," Cierra said quickly.

"It's not a big deal," Jade replied calmly. "Actually, knowing the way the two of you normally act around each other, I find it kind of amusing. I'm not the jealous type, Cierra."

"What the hell happened to us?" Alex demanded.

"We're thinking warlocks, or at least high school kids planning on becoming warlocks," Shooter replied. "They cast a spell and you all changed personalities." He showed them the list that Tammy had written.

"Hey!" Melissa protested as she read the list. "I am not some lap-hopping hussy... I don't know why they made Cierra act like that if she was supposed to be me. Yeah, I flirt, but not that much."

"Yeah, the only lap you sit in is Arnie's," Aideen teased her. She sneezed. "I think I'm having an allergic reaction to all of that paperwork..."

"Can we go home now?" Cassandra asked as she noticed her clothing. "I can't believe I'm wearing this... thing."

Alex handed her the leather jacket he was wearing. "Feel better?" He asked as she wrapped it around herself.

"A little," Cassandra admitted.

"Good," Alex replied. "We can work on this tomorrow. For now, I think we all need time to relax and recover from that spell. Let's go home, kids."

They filed out of the library as Alex silently added, And let's never speak of what just happened here again.