Sapphire's Place - Raven's "Doorway into Summer"

This story has been an odyssey. It has stretched me in ways that I would never be stretched as a writer. For that I would like to thank Alan Lockridge, who came up with the idea for this story. He was the high bidder for the entire bake sale. Without his generosity, it would not have been the success that it was. Without contributors like Alan, FM would be just an idea. So, in recognition of that contribution, I wanted to make his story special.

Anne approached me with the idea of writing the 5000th story to be posted on FM. I thought that would be the perfect showcase for Alan's story. I approached Alan, and he agreed. Here we are. That was not enough. I asked the invaluable Steve Zink to come along on this project. His contributions as an editor and writer have added greatly to the community. I thought it would be the perfect honor for him as well. His editing on this story has helped me a great deal. Thank you Steve.

Now. The story itself. I usually deal with 2-3 characters in my stories. This story has at least ten different characters. I tried to breath life into each one of them with their own separate problems, motivations, etc. I found it more challenging then I ever imagined. Alan's story parameters just happened to dovetail with a story that I've had rumbling through my head for years and years. This is the perfect opportunity for it to come out. For that I want to thank Alan. I hope you all like it.

This story contains all of things (hopefully) that Alan asked for. The thing was, the entire story was too big for just one book. So, this book is the first part of a trilogy. By the end of the odyssey, I can only hope that it will become known as the TG version of the Lord of the Rings. I never imagined that the story would take on this epic scale. There's an old saying, "Be careful what you ask for..."

To my readers who have been faithful to me all of these years, thank you. Thank you for being so patient with me. This story marks my return from oblivion. I am officially un-retired.

The Doorway into Summer

By Raven

Prelude: Vernal Equinox

Billy Powers sat on his Granddad's knee, and looked adoringly up at the smiling face of the family patriarch. Even though he was only five years old, he seemed to understand the crazy stories his Granddad told him about a magical place called "Summer."

Billy's Mom, Jennifer Powers, always frowned at the two when she heard her dad spinning his yarns yet again. She'd say something like, "Oh, Dad! I wish you wouldn't fill Billy's head full of that nonsense. I remember when you used to tell me and Rick those stories when WE were kids. They haven't gotten any better, either."

Rick was Jenny's brother, and Billy's Uncle Rick.

"Hush, Jenny. Billy's jut a kid; so let him be a kid. You and Rick were never much interested in my stories, but Billy here loves 'em. Don't you, Billy?"

The man the world knew as John Smith, a fairly nondescript name, looked directly into his grandson's eyes. The lad was all smiles and big rimmed glasses. "You bet, Pappy!!" he blurted enthusiastically.

"Pappy" was Billy's name for his Granddad.

Jenny Powers added, "Dad!! It's just that Billy's tested out with a genius level IQ. The people who tested him say that he has a great future ahead of him. He can be anything he wants to be, so I don't want him sidetracked by your silly fantasy and science fiction stories."

Eventually he relented to his daughter, but not before protesting, "Besides, the stories are all true."

"Sure, Dad," said Jenny in a patronizing tone. "Just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny."

"Jenny!!" admonished the man. "Not in front of Billy. You'll ruin all of the holidays for him."

Billy's mom dismissed her aged father with a gesture. "Billy hasn't believed in Santa or the Easter Bunny for almost two years. He's too smart for that, aren't you, Billy?"

"You bet, Mom," said Billy, with an equal dose of enthusiasm. Up until this point his head had been snapping back and forth watching his elders argue about him. He looked a lot like a spectator at a tennis match!

"That's my little Einstein," beamed Jenny Powers.

"I'm tellin' ya, Jenny. You have to let kids be kids, and play. If you don't...well, it comes back to haunt them."

"Dad!" Jenny started sternly. "Promise me that you will stop filling his head with all of these lies."

"I promise."

Little did Jenny know that her father had already related almost every story that his failing memory could retain to his grandson. He believed that after he was gone SOMEBODY had to remember them.

"Just one last story. Okay?"

Jenny considered her father carefully. "You absolutely promise me? One last story?"

"Would I lie to my own daughter?"

Jenny started back to the kitchen to finish her preparation for the evening meal. "Just be done by dinner, Dad. I wonder how Mom ever put up with all of your stories?"

With that, Billy's mother was gone, leaving the two to the telling of one last story. She didn't stay long enough to hear her father say something under his breath, with a tear in his eye. "Sarah loved my stories...she understood."

Sarah Smith had long since left this mortal coil. After her death, Jenny and her husband took her father into their large house on South Harbor Island off the coast of North Carolina. Justin Powers, Jenny's husband and Billy's dad, made more than enough money; so having John Smith live out his remaining years with them was no hardship. Heaven knows, the huge house (six bedrooms) had enough space. Yet, John missed his departed wife. He loved her very, very deeply.

It was the kind of love that few people understand, let alone experience.

Billy asked his Granddad innocently, "Pappy? How do you know so much about this place called 'Summer'?"

"That's because I lived there. That's where I was born, and where I played when I was your age."

Jenny Powers was walking close by, close enough to overhear a little snippet of the story. She just shook her head. "That man!" she uttered in exasperation.

Fortunately, neither Billy nor Jenny's father heard her comment.

"Really?" asked Billy, his eyes full of wonder and adoration. "Then why are you here? Why did you leave? How did you get here from there?" he asked in rapid-fire succession, not unlike a machine gun.

In fact, his Granddad wasn't quite sure that Billy took a breath in between each query!!

No matter how many questions, he knew there was but one answer. "This!" replied Billy's Granddad, while simultaneously pulling a multicolored piece of jewelry from his pocket.

"WOW!" exclaimed Billy. "What is it, Pappy?"

To Billy's eyes, there were four rings of different colors, full of twists and kinks and turns, all held together by another ring of the purest gold. That ring also was full of kinks and twists and turns. "It's a puzzle, my boy. A puzzle that has an infinite number of solutions. Don't you recognize the rings? I've told you stories about them. Here...what is the green ring?"

The much older man pointed to the jade green ring that was interlaced with a red ring, a black ring and a blue ring. All of them hung loosely from the gold ring, like keys on a key chain.

"T-that's the...energy ring."

"Very good. And what does it do?"

"It turns one kinda energy into another."

"And the red one?" quizzed the man.

"That's the matter ring." The boy remembered it all now.

"The black?"

"That's the space ring, Pappy!!" Billy liked this game with the pretend rings.

"Very good. What about the blue one?"

"Time!!" Billy almost shouted. "That's the time ring."

"And finally, the gold ring?"

"That's the master ring that controls them all. It unlocks the full powers of the rings, an' lets 'em work together."

"That's right, Billy. But you see all of the twists and turns? The rings can be fit together in any number of ways to make a bigger ring that you wear. When you put it on, something magical and special will happen."

"Really?" Billy was awed now.

"Only one person in all of Summer knew every way that it could fit together. Each way made something different happen. He was the most powerful wizard of all. Do you know who he was, Billy?"

"It was you, Pappy, wasn't it?"

"Your mom is right. You are a smart boy, Billy. The problem was that a ring of that much power attracted the most evil of people. There was a really, really bad one called Nemesis Bane. So, in order to prevent him from getting it, I had to use the ring to make a doorway into this world. When I came here, I took the name of John Smith, and met your Grandmother. I never went back. Ever. And because I left, a terrible curse has fallen upon the land."

"Is that true, Pappy? You're from there?"

"Yes. And it is written that somebody from here, but who is not from here, will someday go to Summer and lift the curse from the land."

"Is that you, Pappy?" Billy had to know.

"No, not me," his Granddad guffawed. "I am much too old. I don't know who it is, but until then, I am entrusting you with the rings. Always remember my stories, for they will guide you. Never tell anybody that you have them. It'll be our secret...promise?"

"I promise, Pappy!!" stated Billy, bravely. He accepted the treasure, while hugging his Granddad deeply.

"Boys? It's dinner time. Billy, go wash up."

Billy did as he was told, but took a side trip into his bedroom to hide the rings inside the secret compartment of his toy box. Nobody would ever find them there.

However, as boys sometimes do, no matter how smart they are, he forgot all about the rings.

John Smith died later that year, very peacefully, in his sleep. He had a smile on his face when they found him.

Chapter 1: The Ghosts of the Undone

Billy walked quietly and carefully through the canyons of furniture. His movement was such that not even the dust on the plastic furniture covers stirred.

The young man toggled the switch to the overhead lights into the "on" position. They worked...but then, he knew they would. It was just that...when you haven't been home to the house you grew up in for ages, you weren't sure how much still worked.

Billy hadn't crossed the threshold of this house since the day his parents died. It was a horrible car crash on the mainland, and the police assured him they died instantly. It didn't make it any better.

And this...this would be the last weekend that he would ever be able to spend in this place. The realtor hired by the estate already notified him that the buyers met the asking price. They even wanted all of the furnishings. All that was left was for Billy to go through all of the personal effects to decide what he was going to keep. The rest would either be sold or donated to charity.

Billy sighed. He wasn't even able to say good-bye to Mom and Dad.

No. He'd been away at school when they died. In fact, they were on their way to Raleigh to catch a flight to Boston to visit him. That stray memory caused tears to well up in the corner ducts of his eyes. Still...after all of this time...they would not come.

A sense of guilt, it seems, makes a wonderful dam.

Only a few days before the accident, Billy got into a shouting match with his Mother. "You never come to see me," he said. "You and Dad don't care about me. That's why you sent me here, away from home."

That wasn't true, and Billy knew it. He'd made that decision as much as they. It was just that when you are a fifteen-year-old prodigy, there is only so much high school can teach you. So M.I.T. offered the boy genius an unprecedented scholarship in physics. The boy had a natural aptitude for the subject.

And so...Billy packed up and moved to college to compete academically against students who were four, five, and even six years older than him. It wasn't much of a challenge. Even now, he was due to graduate in a few weeks at the tender age of eighteen, and one year ahead of the other people in his freshman class.

This is now, and that was then. Being under the age of sixteen when your classmates were much, much older didn't do much for the social life. That, and being torn away from his circle of friends who had dubbed themselves the "South Harbor Island Irregulars." So, in the end, it was never Billy's fault.

Unfortunately, the emotional maturity of a child genius does not match the intellect. That was why he placed the ill-fated call to his parents within the first few weeks at M.I.T. He was just...lonely.

After their death, Billy threw himself into the study of physics. His professors would say that he was driven, and indeed he was. Driven by a need to know how the universe worked. What cruel hand had caused the death of his parents. Billy just needed to know why!!

Billy was jerked away from his reverie by the ringing of the telephone. The realtor was very thorough. He picked up the handset to inquire who was calling. "Hello?" The traditional greeting was the best.

"Billy? Is that you?" came the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hi, Uncle Rick," said Billy, recognizing the voice almost immediately. His Aunt and Uncle tried to take the place of his parents after they died. Nobody could.

"You know I prefer William now," the youth reminded his relative.

"I'm...sorry. You'll always be Billy to us. That's what your parents would call you if they were still alive."

"They're not. I don't want to talk about it," Billy cut his Uncle off.

That didn't stop Rick. Nobody in the family was able to get Billy to talk about his feelings, and they were all worried. Something was going on inside. The name change, and selling of the house of his birth were just two bits of evidence. It was if distancing himself from everything that he knew would make it like it never happened.

"The house is yours, Billy. William. Selling it won't change anything. It won't bring them back. Keep it..."

"I SAID I don't want to talk about it," Billy replied, vehemently making his point.

"Fine. Your Aunt and I were down last weekend to make it a little easier on you. We put all of the personal things in the family room. We even found your old toy box."

"My toy box? Where did you find that thing?"

"It was in the attic with a lot of your baby things. You should look through it before you just throw it away. There a lot of toys in there that your Granddad made for you."

That was a name Billy hadn't heard in years and years. It was a person he hadn't thought of in years and years. Suddenly, he felt warm inside. The kind of warmth he hadn't felt in years.

The silence must have made Rick uneasy. "Billy...are you okay?"

Billy brushed away a single, solitary tear that ran down his face. "Uh...yeah. Granddad. I heard you."

"You'll look through there, then."

"Sure, Uncle Rick."

"Okay, then. The phone's working, so if you need anything, just call. Or even...if you just need to talk."

"Uncle Rick," Billy began, "we've been through this. I have to do this alone."

"I know," answered Rick. "We just want you to know that...you're not alone. Never."

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later." With that, the youth hung up the phone.

Granddad. All of the stories that his Granddad told him ran across his mind. Stories of a wondrous place he called, "Summer". The ironic thing was that it was like winter there, and that was part of its powerful mystery. Granddad said that the people there were looking for a way to turn winter into summer again.

That struck a resonant chord in Billy. How he longed to turn the sorrow of winter that his life had become into the joy of summer once again.

That was when Billy remembered the long summer days when he and his friends played Dungeons and Dragons together out on his enclosed back porch. Billy was the Dungeon Master. In fact, he'd constructed his dungeon or world based upon all of the stories of his Granddad. When the summers turned to autumn and winter they would all play the game at his house after school. They would continue to play on the weekends.

They played to find a way to solve the mystery of Summer. And then, that last summer ended.

Billy went off to school. The game was never finished.

"I wonder?" questioned Billy aloud.

He hurried into the family room to find stacks and piles of clothes, mementos, and personal items. It only took him five minutes to locate his old Dungeon & Dragon materials. There were the books, the manuals, the maps, the miniature figures, and his notes. Even Billy could not remember how the mystery of Summer was to be solved. The only thing that he could recall was that it had to do with a white rose. The Winter Rose.

"I wonder?" repeated Billy again.

He was there to confront the ghosts that he'd avoided for so long. The ghosts of his parents, and now this. It touched his sense of incompleteness. How could he put all of this behind him, how could he find the answers he sought, without finishing what he'd started?

Yes. It all made sense now. Billy was there to say good- bye. He was there to put his ghosts to rest.

The ghosts of the undone.

He decided to call up the South Harbor Beach Irregulars. They would all be seniors or juniors in high school now, but they would still be there on the island. Their families, like all families on South Harbor Island, had been there for generations. It stood to reason they would not have moved away.

It was April, and things were starting to warm up. The Irregulars could spend the weekend. They could finish the game.

Billy sensed that if he could finish the game, just finish ONE thing in his life, he could lay his parents to rest. Their ghosts would haunt him no more.

Chapter Two: The South Harbor Island Irregulars

Billy sat on the dusty floor, legs outstretched and spread- eagled. Between his legs was a wooden toy box made of still aromatic North Carolina cedar. It was the toy box made for Billy by his Granddad when he was just two months old.

And Granddad fashioned toys of all shapes, sizes, and imaginings every month thereafter. They were things unimaginable, things that you would find in science fiction novels.

The strange thing was, as he sat there, Billy could not recall his Granddad ever actually READING a science fiction novel. It never occurred to him why he never wondered about that before.

Strange. Yet he shrugged it off.

In one movement, Billy opened the toy box with an eerie "SQUEAK." It was the kind of a sound that you'd hear in a scary movie on Saturday afternoon. Clearly, the box hadn't been opened in some time.

The smell of cedar, as fresh as the day the box had been made, filled the air.

Billy closed his eyes and remembered the day that his Mom made him put the toy box away for good. His Mom never did like the stories that Granddad told. And his sad passing gave her the opportunity to store it away for good in the attic.

"We'll put it up here for safekeeping," she said. "For your children when you are a father."

Unfortunately for her, the stories from Granddad were not so easily forgotten. So it was that Billy picked up the game of Dungeons & Dragons, and those tales had a new outlet. A new medium.

From there, the South Harbor Island Irregulars were born.

South Harbor Island was an odd kind of a place. It was situated in the lower part of the Outer Banks just off of the coast of North Carolina. It was about the size of Key West in South Florida, but there was not a single bridge to connect it to the mainland (or any other island in the Outer Banks, for that matter). The Islanders, as they preferred to be called, were too proud for that. The population was about 10,000 people strong, and a collection of old, old money, the families who served that money, and eclectic artists and artisans. It was an...interesting...mixture.

And then, of course, there were the fisherman and ship builders.

No, South Harbor Island was connected to the mainland by a ferry that ran four times a day. If you missed the last ferry of the day, you were stuck on either the mainland or the island for the night. For the proud denizens of South Harbor Island, being stuck on the mainland was a fate worse than death!

Even though South Harbor Island could support a school system of its own, all of the children of high school age had to make the long voyage to the mainland to attend the institution of higher learning. That didn't make any sense, since there was a Community College on the island, although it did specialize in marine biology.

The mainland, filled to bursting with nouveau riche from "Technology Triangle", looked down their snooty noses at the islanders. That tended to construct a makeshift caste system at the East Bend High School in the mainland town of Townsend.

In the end, all of the South Harbor Island kids befriended each other. They formed tight knit groups. That in and of itself was a little out of the ordinary. In high school you usually have jocks hanging with jocks, nerds with the nerds, brains with the brains, the popular with the popular, the thugs with the thugs, etc. Not so with the Island kids. They were not unlike the kids in the movie 'The Breakfast Club'. All of the subclasses and subcastes were equally represented. So it was with the Irregulars.

It helped that the Irregulars also went to the same middle school, which WAS on the island. South Harbor Island did support a system of elementary schools and middle schools. There was even talk of building a high school of their own, that would no doubt be the archrival of the East Bend High School Mariners.

Mariners, what a joke, thought Billy.

He'd only been to the high school for one year before going on to M.I.T., but this much he knew. There wasn't a mariner in the bunch. If you wanted a real fisherman, you had to come to South Harbor Island.

That made Billy smile for the first time in a long time. That, and the thought of his old friends in the South Harbor Island Irregulars. That was it, he had to see them. But how...how to get them all together?

Billy started to put a small wooden toy, which looked strangely like a space ship, back into the box. He was about to close it when he noticed some old writing on the inside of the lid. It was a simple rhyme that read:

Red over green, and green through blue.
Once around gold, a door to step through.

That was curious. He couldn't ever remember seeing that writing before. A closer inspection demonstrated that it was the handwriting of a person that he knew long ago.

"Pappy," Billy said aloud. Sure enough. It was the writing of his dear old Granddad.

Exactly what it meant, he had no idea. The memory of the man compelled the lad to touch the raised handwriting on the cedar wood. It made him feel...closer...to his Granddad, and through Granddad his parents, for just a second. His fingertips caressed the etching lovingly.

Then suddenly, a little door opened, depositing a strange little ring into his hand. Not a single ring, but four rings colored green, red, blue and gold, all linked together. It was the ring that Pappy had given him oh so long ago, and he'd hidden in the toy box.

The memory of it played across his mind's eye.

His Mom put it away with the rest of his toys shortly after Pappy's death. He'd never been able to play with the ring. Another Ghost of the Undone.

"I'll see to that," stated Billy. "I'll use it as a prop for the game when the Irregulars meet. I'll make it a part of the game, the most IMPORTANT part. That's how Pappy would have wanted it."

There was almost a part of Billy, the part that listened to his Granddad for hours on end, which came to the surface just then. The joy that goes with just being a boy. Then it was gone.

Billy closed the lid of the toy box, to look at all of the personal things that he had to go through before the weekend was over. If he got the Irregulars together for a game, he would never get through it in time. There was no reason to think he could even get them all together. It was a Friday, after all. There was no doubt they would have plans...lives to lead. Lives that went on without him.

"Screw it," stated Billy to the ghosts that haunted him. Everything else could wait.

He had to finish one thing first before going on to everything else. The game would finish two things, at one time. Economy of effort...one of the things he learned from Physics.

But how to get them...

"The blood oath! The blood oath of the South Harbor Irregulars," he remembered.

It all started with a call. The call would go out.

Chapter Three: Blood Oathwbw

Billy looked at his watch. 3:00 p.m.

High School would be letting out in another half hour, but the ferry to South Harbor Island wouldn't get in until about 6:30 p.m. That was one of the realties of life on South Harbor Island. All of the high school kids had to wait until all of the islanders who worked on the mainland got to the ferry launch. To kill the time, they took up extracurricular activities such as sports, cheerleading, clubs, etc. For Billy, it was the science club and chess club.

David was Billy's best friend...or one of his best friends. The other was Kevin. The three of them formed the core of the South Harbor Island Irregulars. David was more like Billy, and was also a member of the science club and chess club. Kevin, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of both Billy and David. His only interests seemed to be to hang out, and chase girls. He was motivated only by getting in and out of trouble.

The other members of the Irregulars were assimilated into the group through friendships with the central three. For instance, David was also friends with Tony, and through David, was the first outsider to join the group.

That had a side benefit, as Tony was an avid fan of comic books, and all things collectible. On the weekends, he worked in the local comic book/gaming store. As such, the group had access to the latest gaming material or miniature figurines. Tony was also the nerd of the group. Unfortunately, he was very overweight and wore thick glasses, which made anything physical prohibitive for him. He was a natural for the games of Dungeon & Dragons.

Otherwise, outside the gaming arena, Tony was very backward and shy.

Billy's memory wandered back in time to remember the exact order of membership into the Irregulars. Next came Greg, who was also a member of the chess club. Video games and computers were more of his milieu. Greg joined the group through Billy.

Rachel came on board shortly afterward, through Kevin. Rachel was actually Kevin's girlfriend at the time, but like all of Kevin's relationships, it was short lived. Thus was the lot of the "bad boy" of the group. Rachel remained the only girl in the Irregulars.

That made Billy pause for just a second. Why was Rachel the only girl in the group? It wasn't like there was a shortage of girls in their age group on South Harbor Island. And it wasn't like they had a shortage of good looking guys in the group, either.

After Rachel broke up with Kevin, she started to date Kyle. Kyle was the best looking guy in the Irregulars, and naturally a jock. By the time Billy left for M.I.T., Kevin was already the star quarterback on the junior varsity football team. Many locals who followed football actually thought he was better than the starter on the varsity football team. However, since he was only a freshman, and Matt Wilson (the starter) was the son of one of the richest families on the mainland, feathers would have been ruffled! The bias of mainlanders over islanders reared its ugly head once again.

That relationship lasted only so long. Rachel, it seems, developed into one of the prettiest girls that people had seen in those parts for some time. She had multiple beauty pageant titles under her belt by the time she got into high school. Then it was on to the cheerleaders. She, by far, was the most popular and social of the Irregulars. The elite of the mainland even accepted her as one of their own.

Was it any wonder that absolutely everybody in the Irregulars had a crush on her? To Rachel's credit, she remained steadfastly loyal to the Irregulars, despite her social status. Billy deeply suspected that pressures of being so popular forced her to conform to what was more or less expected of her. The Irregulars was the one place in all of the world where she could just be herself.

And the game. Her character in the game was the one world where she could be who she wanted to be.

How else could you explain the prettiest cheerleader religiously playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons with people who were her complete opposites? It was release. It was escape.

Rachel also, unfortunately for the rest of the group, started to attract the attention of older boys. That is how Mike came to be a member of the Irregulars. He was also the only member of the group who was not a native Islander.

Mike came from Florida, and attended South Harbor Island Community College. Attended, as in the past sense. Shortly after starting at the college, Mike started to develop an interest in software. So he quit and started to work for a small software company on the island. Like Kyle, he was also a football star in his high school days.

It was love at first sight when Rachel and Mike first laid eyes on each other. The only problem was that, due to the age difference, it was something of a forbidden love. Mike had to literally wait until she graduated from high school before they could do anything about it. So, for the most part, their mutual affection manifested itself in a close friendship and longing looks from across the room. Rachel brought Mike into the group so they could do SOMETHING together, but, judging from the way that they were never out of touching range from each other, one suspected that something...more...was definitely going on.

They at least HAD to have kissed at least once. How else could you explain the intensity of their smoldering glances, the reality of their star crossed passion. Oh, they would have each other; it was only a matter of time.

And THAT made all of the other members of the Irregulars insanely jealous. Mike did what he could to assuage those "sore" feelings by providing the group with...how shall we say it...controlled substances. Just beer and weed. Enough to make the gaming ritual an existential, stream-of- consciousness event.

Billy thought, how could I have forgotten all of them? Especially David. And the Blood Oath.

Eventually, everybody began to have their own outside activities. Distractions from the South Harbor Island Irregulars. There were football games, practices, club meetings, and even, in the case of Tony and Mike, jobs.

It all came to a head when Billy learned that he would be going to M.I.T.

They'd met one last Saturday, and in a teary eyed postponement of the game, declared their fealty to one another. The Blood Oath, they called it. When one of the Irregulars called, for any reason, they could invoke the Blood Oath. Wherever they were, whatever they were doing, they were sworn to obey its call. When the call went out, they would meet on Billy's porch to resume the game that would now be unfinished.

One would make the call and recite these words: "The call is made, the Blood Oath invoked." That person would call the next, and that person the next, until ALL were called.

Then, Billy moved away to school. The Blood Oath was never made. The obligation to one another never invoked.

Would they honor the call? Have they stayed together? What has become of all of them?

Many questions raced across Billy's fevered mind. There was only one way to find out. It was time to make good on the Blood Oath.

Billy raced to the phone. His fingers called David's phone number from rote. The youth could only hope against hope that his best friend still had his one number, and his own answering machine in his bedroom.

A once familiar voice greeted his ears, although it was a little deeper than he recalled. "Hey, this David. Here comes the beep. You know what to do!"

Same 'ole David, thought Billy.

At the beep, Billy left a simple message. "This is a voice from your past. The call is made, the Blood Oath invoked. Tell the others. My house. 8:00. It's time to finish the game."

Billy hung up. Time to get things ready.

All of the other duties and the other ghosts would have to wait their turn.

Chapter Four: "The call is made..."

David Talbot got home around 6:03 p.m.

"David?" his mother called, after the slamming front door.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Dinner's at 7:00! I need you to clean up your room before then."

David sighed. He was eighteen, and his mother still treated him like he was eleven. If he WANTED a messy room, he should be ALLOWED to HAVE a messy room. There should be one place in all of the universe where he could just...throw things. Where order was random, and not something that had to actively be arranged. Such was his life.

"Oh, and David?" continued Mrs. Talbott.

"What-" David started.

"I think you have a message on you answering machine."

"Who is it?"

"I'm sure I don't know. I don't listen to your messages. Maybe it's a girl."

That was a sore spot, and his mother knew it. He was just...awkward around girls. That's all.

David made the familiar trek up the flight of steps to his room. Sure enough, the message light on his answering machine was blinking. The L.C.D. indicated there was only one message.

The first one in a long time. David wasn't exactly at the top of the social food chain, and everything seemed to change once the Irregulars slowly drifted apart. Without Billy and the game to hold them together, there just didn't seem to be any need to keep up the pretense of meeting. David and Kevin still hung around occasionally together, but even that was becoming a rarer and rarer thing.

Kev took the dissolution of the Irregulars the hardest. Then his parents split up, and things went downhill. Since then, Kevin had frequent run-ins with the law.

David hit the 'Play' button on the answering machine.

So stunned was he by Billy's message that he could only stand frozen like a statue. David's mother chose that point in time to check up on her son. "David? Honey, is everything all right? Who was on the phone?"

"I-It was Billy. He's back on the island."

"Such a sad, tragic story. His parents were nice people. It's been a while since you talked to him, hasn't it?"

"Almost three years. The last time I saw him was at the funeral. I tried to talk to him, but he was just so torn up, you know? I tried calling him at school a few times, and writing to him. But nothing. Now, he calls me."

David's mother offered a little unsolicited advice. "Be a little easy on him, honey. It's hard to lose your entire family."

David intellectually understood her words, but taking it to heart was another matter. A large part, a very large part of him, considered Billy's silence to be a betrayal of their friendship. A friendship that dated all of the way back to kindergarten. It felt like an abandonment that left HIM all alone.

Without his best friend.

"What did Billy want?" asked Mrs. Talbott.

"He wants us to come over...our group. He wants us to finish the game."

"Oh, that silly Dragons and Cellars game? That's a game for kids."

"Dungeons & Dragons, Mom. It was the last time we were all together. We vowed that we would all finish the game. It's...important."

She understood. The bonds of friendship, especially this friendship, were strong. They'd survived three years of tragedy, and it was time they were renewed. Besides, she was deeply concerned that her only son was becoming...disconnected. He needed friends. Friends other than that awful Kevin James boy!

"Will you be eating dinner here or over there?"

David leaned in to kiss his Mom on the cheek, saying, "I love you, Mom!"

"You'd better," she whispered, heart breaking over love for her child. "But don't think this excuses you from cleaning up your room..."

"Mom..." David protested.

"...later," she continued her thought.

David sighed. "I'll probably stay all night. Don't wait up for me."

"I figured," she commented, as she turned to continue her dinner arrangements.

It would only be for her and her husband. Maybe it was a GOOD thing that David would be out of the house for the night. There were other relationships that SHE needed to attend to.

***

The phone rang at the James' residence. For a change, Kevin was home.

Since the divorce, he split time between his Dad and his Mom. Currently, his Dad had custody of the troubled youth. Mr. James was the captain of a fishing vessel that sailed each morning from the South Harbor Island pier. Their house was a facsimile of a cozy New England house on the Island waterfront.

The former Mrs. James now resided on the mainland. Kevin hated it there. The sea was his first love...that is, when he wasn't getting into trouble.

"Yeah?" he breathed into the mouthpiece of the phone.

"Hey, Kevin? Is that you?"

"Yeah," he repeated. He was a man of few words. "Who's this?"

"David."

"Hey there, Davey-boy. What's shaking?"

David was one of the few people in his life that Kevin somewhat grounded. The one person who DIDN'T give up on him.

"You're never gonna believe who's in town!"

"Who? It better be some babe!"

"Billy."

"Billy?"

"Not only that, but the call's been given. His house. 8:00."

"What the Hell's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Don't you remember the oath? We have to finish the game."

"That stupid assed Dungeon & Dragons game? I'll pass."

"Kevin, you promised. We all promised."

"C'mon. It's a Friday night. Me and a few of the boys are gonna meet down on the waterfront. Gonna have me a real good time."

"Kevin!!" David scolded. "Billy's our friend. Doesn't that mean something to you? Remember all of the times that he was there for you when we were kids? Remember the time you ran away from home, and he hid you in his cellar until everybody's temper cooled down? He needs us now. Besides, we all vowed to complete the game when the call was made, and now it is made. We HAVE to go."

"Stupid Blood Oath," Kevin remembered. David had effectively guilted him into going.

However, David was not without sympathy. "Hey, look at the bright side. You'll get to see Rachel again."

She was an ex-girlfriend that he'd never, ever gotten over.

"Isn't that who you're supposed to call on the phone tree?"

THAT reminder brought a smile to Kevin's face. He remembered that night when they all took the oath, and constructed the phone calling tree. One person to the next. First Billy to David, and then David to Kevin. After that, it was Kevin's turn to select who he would call. There was only one choice.

Rachel.

The troublemaker in him just couldn't let Rachel and Mike have unfettered access to each other. Kevin was her first, after all. A little fact that only he and Rachel shared. In truth, Rachel was his first, too. If there was truth to the old saying that you never forget your first love, then it was certainly accurate for Kevin. The only problem was that Rachel had moved on, leaving Kevin way behind.

It would be worth it to go to Billy's, if nothing more to see Rachel again. Interfere with the damned Romeo & Juliet story between Rachel and Mike. Rachel was only about a month away from her eighteenth birthday. They could consummate their relationship at that point. He couldn't let that happen. Kevin knew that he had to stop it somehow, some way. There was no way that some twenty-four-year old, college dropout should have her.

"I'm in," confirmed Kevin. "See you there, Squirt." Kevin's name for David.

It made David wince. He was a little sensitive about his height.

No sooner had Kevin hung up the receiver, than he dialed a new number. A number that he knew by heart. Rachel's cell.

Chapter Five: The Phone Tree

Putting the phone tree together had required more strategy and cunning then the game of Dungeons & Dragons itself! It was not so much a question of who was going to call whom, but who was going to BLOCK who from calling whom. The first two steps were easy. Billy was the initiator of the chain to his best friend David. David naturally selected Kevin, the third person in the central triad.

Although...David WAS dangerously close to picking Rachel. He, like every other male member of the Irregulars, had a crush on Rachel. What separated David from the rest of the guys was that he never, ever let her (or anybody else) know about it. So he carried around an unrequited secret longing in his heart for the girl. In fact, in the many years that the group met, or did other things, David had barely said two words to her.

So that meant that if David were to select Rachel as his branch of the phone tree, he would actually have to SAY something to her. That was the one thing that he couldn't do. The poor boy's shyness was almost too heavy a burden for any human to bear.

That was why David's friendship with Billy was such an integral part of his being. It allowed him to come out of his shell. Even Billy flirted with Rachel, and even if he was just emulating his best friend, it gave Billy hope.

And that is why it was so crippling and debilitating to David when Billy went away.

In the end, David's innate shyness compelled him to pick the only other person he knew reasonably well. Kevin.

After David, it got interesting. Kevin was equally compelled to pick the one that got away. Rachel.

***

Rachel picked up her cellphone on the first ring.

"Hi! This is Rachel," was her ever perky greeting.

Kevin savored the pleasingly sweet soprano before identifying himself. Her voice was one of the first qualities about Rachel that attracted the boy. It was just one level higher than average, with the slightest whisper about it.

He closed his eyes to picture the possessor of the voice in his mind's eye. Rachel was short, at 5'1". Not only was she short, but petite at ninety-five pounds, dripping wet. She possessed the deepest brown eyes that you ever saw, with small Cupid's bow lips. She was an intoxicating, if mind- boggling mixture of Hispanic and Sicilian blood. Explosive, too. She had only A cup breasts, but definitely didn't need any more. To top it all off, the diminutive girl had dark, wavy brown hair that hung to the junction of her shapely shoulder blades.

The other defining feature about Rachel was her pierced navel, which she took every advantage to show off with a never-ending supply of belly shirts. "Hello? Is anybody there?" questioned the object of everybody's desire.

That was enough to wake up the delirious eighteen-year-old boy.

"Yeah," Kevin started. "It's me. Kevin."

"You?" her tone changed instantly. It was almost indignant. "What do YOU want, and how did you get THIS number?"

Kevin looked at his own reflection in the full-length mirror that inhabited the back of his bedroom door. Fortunately, he could take the wireless phone into his room for a semblance of privacy. Not that anybody was home. Nobody was EVER home for him!

The youth stood a rather large 6'5", which was imposing enough. Kevin augmented his looks by completely shaving his head, and wearing small hoop earrings in each ear. The completely shaved pate was fashionable among black guys and older guys trying to disguise a receding hairline. However, Kevin was as white as white could be. In fact, the absence of hair only accentuated his piercing ice blue eyes. As for the rest of him, he was clad in his usual attire of leather pants, black shirt, and black combat boots.

All in all, he was quite striking. As he intended. You wouldn't be lying if you said the boy was the fantasy of many a girl in high school and South Harbor Island. The "bad boy" image only made him more the forbidden fruit. Fruit that many a girl had already tasted.

Still...there was the one that got away. Should NEVER have gotten away.

Kevin told Rachel smugly, "I make it my business to know these things. You don't need to know who I got it from."

"Then lose it," his ex requested, before continuing, "or I'll get a new number."

"I can find that number just as easily. This boy has skills."

"Too bad one of those skills is an overblown ego. It's too bad that you don't have either the brains or the ability in bed to match that sense of self."

That one stung Kevin. Rachel was his first. He wasn't as good in bed then as he was now. Another thing that he intended to rectify with her.

However, before he could respond to her attack, she added something else. "Maybe I'll just get Mike to kick your ass once and for all."

"Oh, yes. Mike. How is the old man? I'm surprised he hasn't dumped your sorry little ass for somebody younger. I think I saw him cruising the recess at the elementary school the other day."

"SHUT UP!" Rachel screamed into her cell phone.

Kevin ran his hand over his freshly shaved head. If he was going to do this last game with the damned Irregulars, he was going to do it right.

There was no reason to joust with her anymore.

"The word is given. No, wait, that isn't it. The call is made. Be at Billy's at 8:00 p.m. Plan to stay all night."

"Excuse me? What did you say?" Rachel's voice softened once again.

"I said, the call is made..."

But before Kevin could finish, Rachel asked, "Billy's back? He's here?"

"Yeah. And he wants to finish that stupid game."

"But...I have a date. And before you start anything, it isn't with Mike."

"Cancel it. We gave an oath. That stupid Blood Oath. Whenever he called, we came."

"I remember," commented Rachel.

"If I remember, you cried. You told him whenever he needed you, whatever he needed, you'd be there. I can see your word is as good as always."

Rachel defiantly stated, "I'll be there."

"It's a date."

"It is NOT a date. I'm going for Billy. And if your dumb little brain has forgotten, Mike will be there, too. Mike and Kyle. In fact, I should thank you. You've given me a reason to call Mike. Bye."

With that, there was nothing left but a dial tone.

That was the one thing that poor Kevin had forgotten. After he picked Rachel as his branch of the calling tree, she got to pick next. Her pick, of course, was Mike.

"Damn!" said Kevin aloud, bitterly.

He was once again reminded of how shortsighted his old plan was.

***

Now, the rest of the phone tree fell into place.

Rachel, of course, called Mike, who was still at work checking the code on a new software program. She gave the word.

Mike was only too happy to heed the call. A good three months has passed since the older man saw Rachel. Even then it was in passing at the grocery store. Rachel was with her mother, which limited their contact to lingering glances to each other from across the aisles.

A full eight months earlier than that, the two decided that they just couldn't bear to be around each other without consummating their love. For the good of all concerned, they decided to stay away from each other until she was eighteen. Mike made Rachel realize that she could see other guys.

In fact, he made her promise to see other guys. Even sleep with other guys if she wanted to. He wanted her to be sure, so when they did get together, they would both know it was right.

She made him promise, too. Mike lied.

He never intended to see anybody else. He didn't want anybody else.

So he bided his time, FINALLY applying himself to one thing. His job. And he'd become pretty proficient at it. He learned to write code, and was actually starting to design software. Mike wanted to build the stable environment to give Rachel everything she could ever want.

In that, she was his muse. His inspiration to make himself better than he was.

Still, every now and again, the love of the sea, the reason he first came to South Harbor Island, called out to him.

Naturally, Mike and Rachel took the time to whisper a few sweet nothings into each other's ears.

He came away from the phone call with his heart beating like a trip hammer. He would see her tonight, even if it was only to play the game.

****

Three years ago, Mike had selected Tony as his branch of the phone tree for purely practical reasons. The comic book and gaming store where Tony worked was right next door to his place of employment. Tony still worked there, so ultimately, it was a very insightful choice on the part of Mike.

"Hey, Bill," Mike shouted down the corridor of Island Software.

The delayed response was, "What?"

It was delayed because Mike's former boss, now partner, was busy stuffing his face with snacks from the kitchen.

"Going next door for a few minutes, then I'll be back. I'll be leaving early tonight. I have an important...event to attend to."

It was important, too. Not only because of Rachel. All members of the group, with perhaps the notable exception of Kevin and Kyle, were concerned about Billy.

Mike wasn't sure about Kevin and Kyle. Concern seemed to be beyond those two. It was only natural they had a bitter rivalry. Cut from the same bolt of cloth, thought Mike.

And both of them want Rachel's heart. It wasn't the first time that Mike wondered what the hell he was doing. Wasn't he too old for Rachel? Shouldn't he just move on?

Something kept him there.

That same thing hastened his step over to South Harbor Book & Games.

***

Tony was, as anybody would expect, happy to get the call. He got a chance to go back to that game, that one game that he hadn't been able to figure out.

So, he canceled his usual Friday night game with his new gaming group. Tony waited all of this time, spent hours and hours trying to figure out the mystery of Billy's land of "Summer" ever since he left for M.I.T. It was his one consuming passion.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the only thing he actually consumed! The guy was up to a hefty three hundred pounds. On only a 5'10" frame, and most of it was around his middle. That type of physical limitation tended to restrict one's social activity to...well...eating and gaming.

Tony was great at both. He hoped Billy had enough food.

The game was going to solved, one way or another.

Tony called Greg, his branch of the phone tree.

***

Greg was actually the one person out of the group that Tony stayed in contact with. In fact, as time went on, Greg and Tony became fast friends.

It took a few phone calls to get through, but Tony eventually made contact with the brainy youth. Greg was widely considered to be the second smartest of the Irregulars, after Billy, of course. Greg, in truth, had benefited the most from Billy's untimely exit to M.I.T.

It allowed Greg to get out from underneath the intellectual shadow of Billy. The absence of scholastic competition propelled him to the top of his class, and at this continued rate, he would be the class valedictorian.

There was only one little problem with the equation. In his heart of hearts, he knew he didn't earn it. All of his academic accolades had been handed to him by default. Just because Billy went away.

It didn't exactly make Greg bitter. He wasn't mad at Billy at all. That is, unless you exclude the fact that Billy chose to call David rather than him with the phone tree. It was just like back on the playground or at recess, when they were picking up teams to play ball. Greg was ALWAYS the last pick.

And so he was, yet again. Okay, maybe he was a little bitter.

More than that. He had something to prove. Greg HAD to prove that he could beat Billy at his own game.

And that was why Greg and Tony spent hours upon hours talking about the unfinished game, and mysteries of "Summer". Tony convinced him to join another gaming group, which he gladly did.

If there was one thing that Greg could do better than anybody else, it was watch and learn. Learn and become better. The best.

Tony's call to Greg was a most welcome one. Opportunity had finally come knocking at his door. Even though it technically knocked at almost everybody else's door before it knocked upon his own.

Nevertheless, Greg gathered up his worn notebook of notes and theories. Time to put them to the test.

It was too bad that he wasn't even close.

***

The last call was from Greg to Kyle. Kyle was the one that nobody wanted to call.

After Kyle and Rachel broke up, nobody quite knew why Kyle hung around with the rest of them. Eventually, they figured it out. The athlete of the group had such a force of will, an indomitable will. His very nature, quite literally, would not allow him to admit defeat.

In his mind, quitting the group would be admitting defeat. Kyle's personality trait manifested itself in a group setting to one of fierce loyalty. However, on the flip side, it also created an air of arrogance and superiority. He was good, and he knew it. He was handsome, and he knew it.

Strangely enough, he was able to accept his breakup with Rachel. Everybody suspected that he was able to rationalize it by believing that he was too good for her. Even though they all KNEW that he still loved her.

It wasn't exactly that Kyle was trying to get Rachel back, either. He was trying to prevent Kevin from getting her back. Now, THAT would be admitting defeat. Kyle really didn't have a problem with Rachel moving forward, it was just that a step back would be telling him that HE just wasn't good enough.

So...as odd as it was to everybody in the Irregulars...Kyle was a vocal supporter of the Rachel and Mike relationship. It opened the door for Mike and Kyle to become, for want of a better term, athletic buddies.

Kyle invited Mike to join a softball team. That developed into throwing darts after the game with some of the guys. And THAT led to watching the games at the sports bar. Mike even bought the underaged Kyle a beer or two.

The tension and dynamic created a natural rivalry and hatred between Kyle and Kevin. They physically fought on more than one occasion. Neither could claim victory.

Yet.

***

It was just about 6:05 p.m. when Billy's phone rang. It was Kyle.

"All calls have been made. We're all in," announced Kyle.

"I can't believe it," answered Billy. "Everybody's coming."

"You aren't the only one that has things to tie up, man."

"I guess not. It's good to hear your voice, Kyle."

"Really? We were never that close."

"Yes. I know that. But I always understood you a little better than everybody else."

Kyle considered that for a second before replying, "Hmmm. Maybe. We were all worried about you after your parents died, you know?"

That made Billy smile. Kyle's loyalty, despite everything else, could always be counted upon. Billy would be relying upon Kyle's will to get everybody to finish the game tonight.

"I'll see you when you get here, Kyle. I've got to get everything set up. Got a lot to do."

"Catch ya later!"

Billy put the phone down. The game would go on.

Now, there was only one thing left to do.

Play it.

Chapter Six: The Game

The players began assembling at exactly 7:46 p.m. Tony and Greg were the first to arrive, together, as thick as thieves. They were followed shortly by David.

Within minutes, Rachel entered in all of her splendor. Mere seconds after that, Mike arrived. You had to give the two credit. At least they TRIED to make it look like they came separately.

Tony glanced at Greg, who returned a knowing smirk. The two of them looked at David, who returned the conspiratorial expression...grudgingly. Even though he was secretly in love with the little girl, there was something inherently "cute" about the way they were enacting "Romeo and Juliet".

Even Billy smiled. It did nothing to vanquish his overwhelming sense of sadness. Many things were coming to an end tonight.

He'd spent several hours preparing for the game. He set up the props, maps and boards the same way they were when last they met three years ago. All of the player's icons were positioned in the same places where they left off. Billy cleaned the porch, positioned plenty of comfortable chairs, a couch, and love seat for the marathon session. What did he care? They were being sold, anyway.

He called a caterer to supply the group with plenty of food and drink for the game. He had plenty of money from his parent's estate, even though it was currently controlled by Uncle Rick in a trust. Rick set it up so Billy had enough discretionary cash at his disposal, particularly on this weekend. He really wanted his nephew to want for nothing...considering the circumstances.

As an afterthought, Billy placed an extra call to Mike. He asked the only one of them "of age" to bring plenty of controlled substances. Billy wasn't surprised that Mike agreed, although it took a little coaxing. Mike professed to be out of that type of behavior. All that Billy had to do was to remind him that it was a special occasion. An ending.

And THAT thought trigger a hidden emotion deep within the heartbroken youth. Seems it had been there all along. All of his studies of physics were for naught. For every iota of effort he put into figuring out the way the universe works, the more he realized that he could never control it. He could never control the forces that took his beloved parents away from him. And at that moment, he reached the only possible conclusion that his logical, ordered mind COULD reach. If he couldn't control those forces, he would have to protect himself from them.

He would have to shield himself from anything or anybody to care about. That way he couldn't be hurt. Nothing would ever break him again, because they could never touch him.

So, in the truest sense of the word, this WAS an ending for Billy. He was figuratively checking out. Saying good-bye. Permanently. Although nobody would ever know about it.

But as much as he tried to project an upbeat image of happiness, there was still the shadow, his own little cloud of doom, which hung precipitously over his head.

"What?" Rachel squeaked, at seeing all of the grinning males around her.

Simultaneously, they all said, "Oh...nothing."

Then Mike entered, carrying a couple of cases of beer.

"There's more out in the car. Will you grab them, Tony...Greg?"

He was just in time to see the smiles fading from their faces.

It compelled him to ask, "Is there something going on here that I should know about?"

That only brought the smiles back to their faces.

"C'mon, Tony," urged Greg, as he scrambled out the door toward Mike's SUV.

Meanwhile, Mike had Billy take one of the cases, while the two of them transported the drinkables into the kitchen. Billy had a cooler waiting. Rachel tagged along.

"How are you, Billy?" Rachel asked, as the two men loaded bottles of beer into the cooler.

Billy winced. This was just the first of them to ask the question that he was going to have to field over and over tonight. It was inevitable, but he DIDN'T want to talk about what was going on inside of him.

"Yeah, man. If you need to talk or anything..." added Mike.

Billy left no doubts about where his head was at, as he answered them as directly as possible. "I'm fine. But I don't really want to talk about me. All of you agreeing to be here tonight is enough. It means a lot to me, so let's just have fun. That means no fights with Kevin."

"I swear," pledged Rachel.

"I'll do my part," added Mike, "although Kyle and Kevin are the ones you really have to worry about."

"I know. I've set their places as far apart as possible."

By the time the three of them returned to the living room, Tony and Greg had the rest of the things supplied by Mike. David, who was left to greet the other two remaining Irregulars, was chatting cordially with Kyle.

Everybody greeted Kyle. Again, Billy had to deflect questions and queries about the state of his emotional health. And still...he provided them no answers.

Instead, he motioned for everybody to follow him out to the porch. They were still one group member light, but it was officially game time. The old clock on the wall read 8:01 p.m.

"C'mon guys," Billy urged, as cheerfully as he could manage. "The game awaits."

He added to Tony, Greg, and Kyle, while pointing at the remaining alcohol, "Bring that with us. I have some coolers and mixers out on the porch."

Surprisingly, it was Kyle who noted the conspicuous absence of the group troublemaker. "Where's the Jackass?" His "pet- name" for Kevin.

"Late, as usual," more than one of them said at the same time.

The splendor of the setup out on the porch made them all gasp. The dining room table was now sitting in the middle of the wide and deep screened-in porch. There were candles all aglow everywhere, due to the shortage of lamps. Oh, there were enough lamps to provide ample light, but the candles provided amiable light. It was the atmosphere that Billy was trying for. Apparently, he'd succeeded.

In the middle of the table were the maps that the adventurers' resident mapmaker, David, had written during their earlier adventures. There was the scale model of the setting, which was a snow blown expanse surrounded by high mountains. In the expanse were all of the figurines of the players' characters. The last were Christmas presents from Billy to the rest of the group more than four years ago. He'd spent hours upon hours of time on those miniatures, which showed on the exquisite detail and craftsmanship.

There were also two picnic tables, which were usually set up out on the porch, filled with plates and bowls of food. Food of every imagining, from wings to pizza, even to cake.

"Wow!" said Rachel.

"You can say that again," replied Kyle.

David, as per usual, said very little. Being the shy one of the group was such an oppressive burden.

Tony picked up the miniature of his character from the board, saying, "I haven't seen this for sooo long. Shit, this takes me back."

Greg agreed, "It's like we never left."

They all agreed.

David took this chance to speak up. "Except for Billy's mom and dad. I miss them."

"Me, too."

"Yeah."

"Ditto, man."

Everybody chimed in, acknowledging the underlying reason to why they were all there this night. It was a warm early spring evening in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. All of the weather reports promised that the weather would hold. It was a good night for gaming.

Billy motioned them all to take their places. They all graciously complied, taking their designated slots by their respective character figurines and materials. Once there, Billy said his piece. "I know you all are concerned about how I'm doing. I know you all want to know about how I've been after the death of my parents. We'll get to that...as the game goes on. I wanted you all here so we can finish this game, and I appreciate it that you all honored our oath. Let's forget about all of our problems, at least for one night, and have some fun. What do you say?"

There was a vocal and enthusiastic consensus.

"There's tons of food and things to drink, so help yourself. I hope you guys brought change of clothes, 'cause I think we're gonna go all night. If you get tired, there are places to sleep. If you need a shower, well, you know where everything is by this time."

Everybody grabbed a beer, or in the case of Rachel, a mixed drink. By that time, there was also a joint being passed around.

Kyle, ever the loyalist, insisted on a toast. "Here's to our Dungeonmaster, the ONLY one who could get us together after all of this time. All except one."

"Speak for yourself, loser," came from the threshold of the kitchen to the porch.

It was Kevin, clad all in his leather and black, wearing a dark pair of sunglasses. He casually reached down to the cooler, cracked the beer with an audible "Pssft" and said, "Here's to Billy. Our leader."

There was a clinking of metal to metal, metal to glass, and glass to glass.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we start as we always start. Roll call."

A mixture of groans and snickers greeted Billy's corny suggestion about how to start. Kevin took the only seat available, to Billy's immediate right. On his left was Tony. All the way across the table, at the most distant point, was Kyle. Between Kyle and Mike was Rachel. Billy sat at the head of the table, with David to his immediate right. Tony and Greg sat side by side.

It was Greg who started the role call, by picking up his figurine and stating, "Tark here, Dungeonmaster."

He used a low, growling voice, as Tark was a half-orc barbarian. A character as far way from the real Greg as could be. Greg was a 5'10" slender youth, with glasses and mousy, short brown hair. His character was 7'6" tall, with huge muscles chiseled out of granite. He preferred settling any problem with his club, the damage from which was pretty considerable! The reason: Tark was as dumb as a post. The adventurers always got into their fair share of scrapes, as Tark would dive into any situation without ANY consideration of the consequences. As far away from the controlled Greg as "humanly" possible.

Tony picked up his character, squeaking in the highest voice that he could muster, "Muffy here."

Tony's character was the only one of the group that changed their gender for the game. Many people wondered about that when he first did it, but he passed it off to his obsession with another passion. Tony loved all things, anything, having to do with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". In fact, on Tuesday nights at exactly 8:00 p.m. you could always find Tony in the same place: camped out in front of his family's big screen television. Nobody but NOBODY was allowed to interfere with the new episode of "Buffy". The big guy knew every "spoiler" website, and was a member of every "Buffy" posting board. He knew every little bit of "Buffy" trivia, no matter how obscure.

Again, the character was as far away from the real person who played it as possible. Muffy, the character, was a small (5'4") human female, who possessed acrobatic fighting skills. She was modeled after the television character, therefore possessing above average looks, lithe athletic body, and a knack for wisecracking in the face of danger. For weapons, she was proficient at crossbow and sword...just like Buffy.

It was down to Kevin. He still hadn't removed his shades, nor made any indication that he intended to do so.

Kevin nonchalantly lifted his figurine, an elf, adding to the growing slate of adventurers. "Thud here, oh Dungeonmaster."

Thud, by contrast, was EXACTLY like the real life person who animated him! He was a Ranger, which meant that he was a survivor, if a somewhat unorthodox fighter. He had some magical ability, but like the character himself, was unfocused, uncontrollable, and wild. The magic centered on an innate talent to change probability to his favor. Thus, quite literally, stacked all of the odds in his favor.

The trouble with that equation is that probability, albeit mutable, could not be created. It could only be transferred from one thing to another, so that meant that anybody around Thud ran the serious risk of having their probability, or luck if you will, lowered. Only those who traveled with Thud could truly appreciate the level of trouble that followed him. It tended to make him somewhat of a loner. A rogue.

Two other characteristics about the incomparable Thud needed to be known to understand the adventurer. He had a "charisma" level of 18, or the highest. That made him an attractive, lovable rascal, who could charm his way in and out of any situation. Few had resistance to his charm...it was almost hypnotic. When Kevin was rolling the dice for his character's alignment, he had the designation of "chaotic/neutral". In short, he could do anything he wanted, for any reason at all. Even evil.

Thud's figurine bore long blonde hair, down to his shoulders, with only pointy Elvin ears piercing through. It was a reflection of Kevin's real hair color before he shaved his head. Truth be told, when Billy went away to M.I.T., Kevin DID have long blonde hair, as long as his character's hair.

Thud was the wild card of the roving band of adventurers. Like the real boy, no focus, no goal, and no motivation. He cared about one thing...a good time.

Billy added his portion of the opening dialog, "The DM is in. As is tradition, there will be no non-player character of the DM. I will pass notes to David...err, Tui, since he is the cleric. The Cleric is to treat the information obtained through these notes as inspirations or messages from his Gods, so everything is consistent. My guess is that you all will need that, since we've been away from the game for so long."

"Not me," claimed Tony/Muffy.

"Nor I," growled Greg/Tark, completely in character.

"We'll see. We'll see," said Billy, while noticing the notes that Tony was clutching, and the notebook bedside Greg's hand.

These guys have done their homework, thought Billy. They've been busy. Interesting.

David was next, "I, Tui, am here."

Although bold sounding, it was uttered in a subdued manner. Tui was human like Muffy, but from a completely different part of "Summer". He was a man of religion, a healer. The unique element about Tui was his ability to communicate with the Gods of "Summer". Through this ritual of nightly prayer, the Gods would talk to his subconsciousness to give him an innate understanding about what was going on, or what the future held. Only a part of those messages would leak through to his conscious mind to the point that he could tell others about them. For the most part, the communications would manifest themselves as intuition. Call it an ability to correctly guess which way to go, or which action to take. Many suspected that the level about which messages actually made it through to the part of his mind that was aware was connected to his faith.

A faith, which wavered quite often, thus the inconsistent results. The Gods were not without their gratitude for his efforts, so each night they would "implant" the spells that he was going to need to make it through the rigors of the following day.

It worked...as long as Tui got a chance to rest and pray. Sometimes, most times, events conspired to seriously restrict those times. Nevertheless, Tui's unique and rare abilities made him the de facto leader of the hearty band of adventurers. A position, much like the real boy, he DIDN'T want.

Mike's player character was the third, and last human of the band. "Grimal is present and accounted for," he acknowledged.

Grimal was short and slight, unlike Mike. What he lacked in physical presence, he more than made up for with the power of his mind. Grimal, it seems, was a part of a secretive sect in still another part of "Summer". His homeland was on an island across a vast sea of ice. This sect studied the nature of matter to such a degree that their minds could perceive the pattern of atoms in an object, organic or non- organic, and the bonds that held them together. The Tonesians, Grimal's people, could unmake the bonds that held matter together, shift it around with the power of their minds, and then bind it all together again. The same power gave the Tonesians the skill of being able to move objects with just the force of their will. All in all, a supercharged telekinetic.

"I am here, too. Taldrin," intoned Rachel in a voice more forceful then her own. It hurt her throat.

Now here was an odd circumstance. Except for Taldrin's height, and the fact that she was an elf (complete with pointy ears), she was EXACTLY like Rachel. Taldrin was comely, sexy even, and a Ranger like Kevin/Thud. The difference was that Taldrin was of good and disciplined alignment. She fought for, and always did the right thing. Taldrin and Thud were from rival strains of elves. Where Taldrin's race was characterized by dark features, Thud was graced by light features.

Taldrin's forte, along with fighting, was her tracking skills. It was through her skills, and the insight of David/Tui that the party had made it this far into the game without a major disaster. Taldrin was clearly second in charge of the band.

Here's where it got interesting. Earlier in the game, Taldrin had the misfortune of drinking a love potion that would make her fall deeply in love with the first person she saw. That person was Tui, a human. A human forbidden to elves. How much like her real world was this?

Except in this world, she could do something about it. But she fights it, and nobody knows about her compulsion. All but Tui, who has tasted the fruit of Taldrin's loins.

And THAT, in no small part, fueled the fantasy of the real life David's unrequited fantasy of Rachel.

Taldrin was currently tracking the quest inside the game.

Then came Kyle. He grunted, "Harkon...here!"

Harkon was a centaur. A centaur warrior...make that an oversexed centaur warrior, with unrelenting appetites. They were appetites that he had no reason to quell. His life was one big party, for even fighting was a pleasure.

Harkon thought his shit, horse shit, didn't stink. Difficulty was, it did stink, like the rest of him, with supernaturally powerful pheromones. Few creatures could resist their pull. Harkon's only physical equal in the party was Tark. Where Tark was bulk, Harkon was sinew.

There was a pregnant pause. Then Billy the DM spoke. "Now, we resume the game. When we left off..."

Chapter Seven: The Game Remains the Same

"Okay, where were we when we last left off?" queried David, as the leader.

"I have my notes right here, Dave," responded Tony quickly.

That earned the portly boy a stern look from Billy, the DM.

"Oops," he blushed, while readjusting his glasses. Then he ran a hand through his greasy ponytail.

Tony had grown his hair longer since the last time Billy was in his presence. It made the host wonder, for just the briefest of moments, whether there was something else motivating the switch to a different gender inside the game. Did Tony ever have a girlfriend, or for that matter, show the slightest interest in girls?

There was a name for that, wasn't there? Billy attempted to recall some of his studies in first-year psych class. Oh, yeah. Transgenderism. But he also remembered that the condition was also related to extreme fetishism. There was such a love and obsession with the female form, that one wanted to become one with it.

Billy shook it off. He couldn't imagine why anybody would want to be a girl!!

In any event, the expression that was directed to Tony was intended to reinforce their tradition of staying "in character." That meant using character names. The only exception to the rule is when somebody had a real life question such as, "Are we out of beer?"

Granted, this was borderline, but somebody was bound to cross it. Billy needed to make an example out of somebody, and well, Tony just sort of stumbled into it.

"Sorry, I meant Tui. I know where we are, Tui."

"Proceed," David/Tui tried to command. It made everybody smirk.

Yup. They were right back into the flow of the game. Time and people may change, but the game remains the same.

Tony/Muffy gave a quick synopsis of where the quest stood from his notes. "We're standing in the Akashtic Snow Fields. Akash is located in the extreme northern hemisphere, near the polar ice cap."

"What are we doing here?" asked Greg/Tark in his faux "booming voice". He then stayed right in character. "I'm c- c-cold."

Everybody looked at David. This was right where the game left off. They were on a quest for something, but they just didn't know what. They were all waiting on an "inspiration" from the Gods to tell them. The only thing he's received was an urge to go north, which they'd been following for some time now.

Food and shelter were scarce.

Billy handed his best friend a note. There was the inspiration they were looking all looking for.

"A magical artifact. That's what we are looking for. It's the key to everything."

The real life Greg and Tony looked at each other...confused. All of their planning and plotting was all for naught. They'd guessed wrong.

"Are you sure?" question Tony/Muffy.

David/Tui looked at the note, looked up, and stated, "The Gods have spoken to me."

"Uh, what is our overall quest here? I'm sorry. I forgot," from Mike/Grimal.

It was Rachel/Taldrin who answered this time, "To banish this perpetual winter that has gripped the land for as long as everyone can remember. To return the seasons, the Spring, Summer, and Fall to the land."

Leave it to Kevin/Thud to not respect the sanctity of the game. He made the not insignificant point, "That's what I love about Billy. Most DM's would just do a dungeon or castle. We have the whole world to roam around in to solve some earth-shattering problem. No wonder we've done this for years and years, and haven't gotten anywhere."

Billy glared at Kevin. They all did.

"C'mon Kevin, play along," requested David. David was the only person who Kevin MAY listen too.

Now it was Kyle's turn, "Yeah, Jackass."

Tensions were starting to mount already, and Kevin was just starting to get out of his seat. Despite the fact that Kyle was a star athlete, they were almost the same exact size. Kyle had just a little more muscle mass than Kevin.

"No fights tonight," Billy reinforced. "You all promised."

Kevin sat back down, then announced, "Fine. I, Thud, am going up ahead to check things out."

"Here we go again. Thud, as usual, is off on his own."

In actuality, it wasn't such a bad strategy. In the game, David/Tui and Rachel/Taldrin may have been responsible for the quest getting this far, but it was Kevin/Thud who ultimately made things happen. Kevin was not as dumb as everybody would believe. Or...maybe it was just that he knew how Billy's mind worked after so many years of friendship. Kevin sensed that Billy's mind worked in a systematic, extremely ordered/organized way. Every ad lib, every twist and turn was planned in advance. The boy had figured out every possibility, and then planned for it. Kevin's freelancing was designed for one purpose, to figure out the edges of that planning. Then he would take Billy outside of his plan on an unexpected maneuver. It forced Billy to make something up as he went along to account for the "Kevin factor". Definitely not his strong point, especially as he was trying to keep the other members of the party on course.

Kevin was just as competitive as anybody. He wanted to win as much as Tony and Greg. More so...with one small difference. He wanted to win for himself, Thud, and not the group. Why share the glory, and riches that followed, with anybody else?

The strategy worked. It actually forced Billy to Game with Kevin at a side table, while the rest went through the regular game. In the past, Billy allowed Kevin to do this because he, more than any other, gave Billy a challenge. It also allowed Kevin to advance in experience and skill. He encountered things, accumulated things, which nobody else did.

For instance, Thud had on his belt what appeared to all the world to be a small pouch. It was his own little pocket dimension where he could store just about everything. All he had to do was get the pouch (which was elastic and expanded) around the merest portion of an object to suck it in. All he, as the possessor of the pouch, had to do to call something forth was stick his hand in, and them picture it in his mind. It came to his hand. There was plenty of treasure, objects, and even food and drink in there that nobody knew about.

That was one of the motivations for Thud to sneak off on his own. He was going to eat without sharing with the rest of the band.

Billy pointed to a separate picnic table where he'd set up another little gaming station. "Go over there. I expected this...just not so soon."

They all sighed.

***

The Irregulars played for several hours through the frozen oblivion of the Akashtic Snow Fields. The now disheartened band was slowly dying from a combination of exposure, hunger, and sheer exhaustion. All with the notable exception of the Thud.

By approximately 1:00 a.m., Thud made his way back to the rest of the party to tell them he'd located the shelter of a cave just ahead. The hurdles they would have to pass were three rather nasty Frost Giants and an Ice Elemental. The gaming party quickly surmised that the inordinate amount of firepower (pun intended) could only mean they were guarding something of great value.

That was something Thud was hoping they wouldn't figure out. As per usual, he wanted the treasure, whatever it was, all to himself. Ah, well. Kevin decided to play the consummate team player, for now. Once they had it, he'd steal it, and put it into his little bag of goodies.

Out in real life, all of the Irregulars were thoroughly drunk or high from the consumables that either Mike or Kevin supplied for the occasion. Kevin brought with him several tablets of "X" (ecstasy) or "rolls" as they called them. He'd had one, and slipped one to Rachel (who was only too happy to accept). The main feature about "rolling" was the feeling of amorousness that it produced. A feeling that Kevin planned on parlaying into play for Rachel once things began to wind down.

It was working, too. But not as Kevin intended it to. Rachel was REALLY getting into her character's role as the paramour of Tui. And THAT was giving David a raging hard on! So much so, that he couldn't even get up from his seat to get something to eat. He had to ask Kyle to bring something for him.

They formulated a plan to deal with the Frost Giants and Ice Elemental. Tark's strategy was simplicity in itself. "Tark bash!"

It was funny how much Tark resembled the Hulk, of Marvel Comics fame.

The thing was, after struggling against the elements, inch by inch, EVERYBODY was spoiling for a fight.

Even Thud.

Tui brought a semblance of rational thought into the mix. "Everybody remember, that we're cold, tired, and hungry. Our constitution and strength are going to be at a very low point. Bottom line here, folks, is that we can't take too many hits."

Muffy correctly concluded that, "That's probably why we've had to go through so much to even get here. It was designed to reduce our strength and constitution. The very thing to fight Frost Giants. What kind of weapons do we have?"

They all called out with the cache of weapons.

"Crossbow and sword," rang out Muffy.

"Bow and arrow," added Taldrin.

"Just my fists," offered the centaur Harkon.

"I gotta club," said Tark. It was a stretch for Greg to act so dumb.

"No weapons here," said Grimal. "Just my mind."

"Me as well, my friend," stated Tui. "And I haven't had a chance to pray for a while. My healing power is also at low ebb. I only have a few spells left, and I don't know how much use they will be."

"The Gods of this universe designed this thing well," joked Thud/Kevin.

They ALL looked over to Billy, who just grinned. The first heartfelt grin he'd had in a while. He wore it well.

The circumstances of the game put Thud, of all people, at a crossroads. Just as Billy intended when he let Kevin play out his little side game a few hours ago. He was forcing him to make a choice to opt for teamwork. It was clear the rogue elfin ranger would not be able to retrieve whatever this magical artifact was by himself. He would need the team. The team was hungry and tired. He could give them food and drink from his pouch of goodies. He had weapons a plenty. However, he would be forced to reveal to them all the depth of his deceptiveness for all of this time.

Thud stayed quiet for the moment to see if they could formulate a plan that would spare him.

"Let's see, these things are ice based. Is that something we can use?" posited Tui.

"Bows and arrows are not going to work on these things," said Taldrin.

"Nor my sword," added Muffy. "It'll be like attacking a glacier with an ice pick. They're probably reinforced by magic, making them as tough as a diamond."

Tony, the real life person, had encountered this particular brand of monster in other games.

"Good point," concluded Tui. "Grimal? Do you have any ideas?"

"It occurs to me that ice needs to be smashed. What we need are weapons to crush. But the only crushing weapon that might be effective is Tark's club."

That was just the opening that Tark/Greg was waiting for. "Tark, crush. Crush real good!"

"Thanks there, big guy," grinned Muffy/Tony, patting Greg on the arm in real life.

"Here's the dig," Grimal continued, "we're all weakened, so our blows are going to be ineffective. Even Tark's blows. Do you have any fire spells left, Tui?"

"Yes, Grimal. A few. We've used them all up trying to stay warm enough to go on. We're still chilled to the bone. I think I'm going to have to save them for the elemental. No luck there."

Everyone paused for a second to retrench.

Then Taldrin/Rachel made a suggestion, "Wait a minute. Maybe we're looking at this all wrong. Even diamonds can be cut. All you have to do is figure out where the fracture point is, the weak point, and hit it. That's how diamond cutters do it."

It made Billy smile. They were FINALLY on the right track. They would need teamwork, specifically from one team member, to solve this.

"That's good," nodded Muffy/Tony.

"Yeah," came from Harkon/Kyle.

"Tark smash."

"WE KNOW!!!" they all said.

"We can do this," stated Tui/David. "All we need to do is have Grimal figure out their pattern of matter, and then loosen it a little bit. He can tell us where the weak point is."

"Then Muffy and I can hit it with our arrows," was Taldrin/Rachel's part of the plan.

"That may or may not work. What if the fracture point is inside, and not on the surface? We are going to need brute force."

David held up his hand to Greg, who was getting ready, "Yes, that means that Tark smashes. Harkon can use his rear hooves to kick. Muffy can use the flat of her sword. I just wish we had more weapons, and some food to recharge us."

Thud/Kevin was left with no choice. "Er...um...guys? I think I can help?"

"How can YOU help?" queried Harkon, in a disingenuous manner. He wasn't the only one of the roving band who had little regard for the ranger.

"You see...um...awhile back there. Almost four years ago. I happened upon a little sack here."

Kevin gestured toward his belt in real life.

"It's a pocket dimension, and well, I've been storing things there ever since."

"Food?"

"Yeah...and weapons, too."

"You fucking Jackass," uttered Kyle (in real life) angrily.

"Hey, it was my character. I just played him the way I had to," defended Kevin.

"Even if it's a little too close to real life?" Rachel spat out. That effectively took care of Kevin's play on her.

"Hey," growled Billy, although he was secretly glowing inside. All of Thud's secrets were about to come out. "Stay in character."

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" quizzed Tui, the leader. "I'm inclined to let Tark smash you and be done with it."

That made Tark/Greg smile broadly.

"I'm telling you now. I'm willing to share."

"He's up to something," was Muffy/Tony's conclusion.

That was something they could all agree on.

"I suppose you have treasure in there, too?" Grimal motioned to the nonexistent bag.

"I do."

"So THAT'S where all of that missing gold and treasure went to from the last quest. You little thief," said Taldrin/Rachel.

Thud/Kevin only nodded.

Tui/David ordered, "Spill it. You tell us all of it, or we kill you here and now, even though we need the manpower."

So that's what Thud/Kevin did, while he supplied them with food, drink, and even fire. That spared Tui from using a spell. They were even able to construct a makeshift shelter in the blowing snow (from the materials in the bag) to catch some rest before pushing on to the cave. An Arabian- style tent looked out of place on the plains of snow, yet it did the job. Thud promised to empty out his bag for everybody to share after this was all over.

Thud was able to supply Tark with a +5 damage club, and Harkon with a +2 mace. Muffy and Taldrin split a cache of Arrows of Unerring Accuracy. Taldrin got a magical bow to add some power to her arrows. Grimal and Tui didn't take any weapons, per se, as their power was not of force but of mind and spirit. Although Tui took a fire wand just in case.

Finally, Thud took a cloak of camouflage. Although a cagey fighter, they all decided that his true skill was as a charming thief. It was by invoking that charisma that he was able to mend the fences.

In reality, they all wanted to throw Kevin out of the game. Unfortunately, the charisma power, inside the game, prevented them from doing so.

The rest and food restored their strength somewhat, at least to the point where Grimal could concentrate to use his powers. It was Tui who formulated the final gambit, after getting the information supplied by Thud from his reconnaissance.

It seemed the Frost Giants and Ice Elemental didn't even know what they were guarding. They didn't even know how it got there, only that they were compelled to not let anybody have it. Thud was able to see that it was a multicolored ring, frozen inside a huge block of ice.

So, Tark and Harkon would initially distract the three Frost Giants from up close with their smashing weapons. Muffy and Taldrin would strike from a little farther away with ordinary arrows. In the meantime, Grimal would scan the Frost Giants with his singular ability. He would loosen the bonds of their cohesion, identifying the weak points. Thus would Grimal communicate the weak points to the primary four, to do their damage as impromptu diamond cutters.

Through all of this confusion, Tui and Thud would confront the Ice Elemental. It was Tui who would take on the Elemental through the use of fire. Thud would use his virtual invisibility to make it to the huge block of ice. Thud's task was the simplest. All he had to do was get a portion of the block into the mouth of his pouch, and the whole thing would get sucked into the pocket dimension.

It would melt inside the pocket dimension, that Thud assured them was sufficiently warm. Who cares if it flooded that dimension? Thud had an item they could use, so use it they would.

It was up to Tui to keep tabs on Thud, to put the proverbial bell around the neck of the cat, so as to keep him from sneaking away with the magical ring.

The plan constructed, the band, Thud in tow, set out for the Cave of the Frost Giants.

Chapter Eight: The Battle in the Caves

The brilliant and bold plan did not go as well as they'd anticipated.

At first, the tide of battle seemed to be going entirely in favor of the band of adventurers, their well thought out strategy solid. The element of surprise, coupled with a coordinated multilevel attack, only lasted so long. It was as Tui surmised. Their reduced strength and constitution began to wane before they even felled the first Frost Giant.

It was an awesome shot from the bow of Taldrin. Not that the others hadn't contributed. Grimal loosened the bonds of the Giant's component ice, while simultaneously locating its fracture point. Muffy marked the fracture point with an Arrow of Unerring Accuracy, tip heated white hot from a fire, and driven deep into the core of the beast. It took multiple whacks from Tark to chip enough of the ice away from the Giant, before Harkon finished it with one mighty "WHACK" and "CRUNCH" from his enchanted mace.

They'd hardly had any chance to celebrate when Tark was laid low from behind by the second Frost Giant. The third Frost Giant joined the fray, standing over the fallen and unconscious half-orc barbarian.

It had taken nearly all of their combined energy and resources to dispatch one Frost Giant. Now they had to deal with two at the same time, and their strongest member was down for the count!

In the meantime, Tui and Thud made their way deep into the Cave of the Frost Giants. Tui was hidden with Thud 'neath the Uncanny Cloak of Camouflage until the din of the battle was just a distant commotion. They had to split up to find the magical ring before the Ice Elemental found them.

That was the EXACT point where the unpredictable "luck" of Thud kicked in. In other words, Thud's magical nature changed probability, much like a hex, so that he found the ring encased within a huge, glacial block of ice. Tui's "luck" was commensurately altered downward, such that he found the Ice Elemental.

Tui conjured and threw an ineffective fireball at the Ice Elemental.

Billy, playing the role of the Elemental, roared, "Bah. Puny human. Is that the best that you can do?"

All Tui/David could weakly offer was, "Uh-oh!"

"The Ice Elemental unleashes a blast of cold at absolute zero. If he hits you with it, it will take half of your strength, constitution, and hits points. Now, roll," indicated Billy, which communicated the gravity of the situation for Tui.

David rolled the ivory multisided dice. The roll usually would have been enough to save him, however, Billy had to grade it downward. Tui was within the ambit of Thud's hex field, so he didn't get the benefit of ANY doubt. The bottom line was that it took him under what he needed to roll to avoid the Ice Elemental's onslaught.

Now Tui was "on the ropes", too. Things did not look good for the intrepid party.

Thud encountered a challenge of a much different ilk. It seems that the portion of ice in which the magical artifact was encased was round, like a globe. Make that a big globe, approximately three stories high (and wide). And ice of that particular configuration left nothing to stick out, nothing to get the mouth of a pouch around. The elasticity of the mouth of the bag didn't stretch nearly wide enough to get it around the whole thing. He was stuck.

So, back at the real life gaming table, Kevin sat and watched Billy go from player to player, allowing them to roll the appropriate set of dice for the occasion (depending upon what they were trying to do), and then finally announcing the dire results. They were all losing. It did give Kevin a chance to sit there and figure out what to do. Clearly, he wasn't going to bag the mass of ice with the ring.

Now...there are moments in time when you can decide to turn left or turn right. Fate turns upon that singular nexus of time. All Kevin had to do was let the game play itself out, which, considering this new disastrous turn of events, would be in the next few minutes. That meant they would all wish Billy well, say their good-byes, and then go home. Rachel would leave with Mike.

That was something that the real life Kevin most decidedly DID NOT want. In order to get his chance with his ex, he was going to have to prolong the game for awhile...overnight.

So, he made a gaming decision based upon a real life set of circumstances. It was a decision that went against everything that the fictional character Thud was about. Thud should have wrapped the cloak about his person even tighter, and sneak away to live another day. He had plenty of supplies in his bag to make it back to whatever passed for civilization in the land of "Summer."

That was EXACTLY the maneuver that Billy expected from Kevin when the leather-clad boy handed him a note neatly folded over. Billy had to read it twice.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked Kevin.

"Yeah," he confirmed, making the others look at him curiously.

Apparently, they thought he was going to run away, too.

Billy thought about it for a moment, and then said directly to David, "The Ice Elemental suddenly disappears without a trace. The only thing you hear is a rush of wind."

"Holy shit! What just happened?"

"You want to tell him, Kevin, I mean Thud?"

Kevin handed Billy another note.

To which Billy told Tui/David, "Just as suddenly, Thud appears before your eyes. He has taken off his cloak."

That left the ball in the player's court to resolve through play-acting conversation. The series of events that happened next would have serious repercussions for all of them, but they could not know that, as they sat on a candlelit porch on a late March night.

The battle between Tui and the Ice Elemental left the cleric with barely a quarter of his strength and stamina.

David started, "Thud. What happened? Where did the Elemental go?"

The rest of the Irregulars watched David and Kevin, long time friends, interact.

"I slipped the pouch over his little toe. He's in the bag, or another pocket dimension, right now. I'm guessing he's not too happy about it?"

"T-that's brilliant," complimented David through Tui. "What about all of the stuff you had in there?"

"I emptied it out. There's a big pile of it back by the artifact."

"You couldn't get that in the bag?"

"No edges. The only thing to do was to come back here and save your sorry ass!"

That made all of the people on the porch smirk. Thud/Kevin was being uncharacteristically heroic.

"I think we should go and check on the others. If they were as successful as you were, we'll be lucky if they're still alive," suggested Thud.

"You have a plan?"

"Why change the one I just used? Let's just go bag us a Frost Giant or two. I pull on my cloak, and BAM, I'm invisible."

That is exactly what Thud did.

The two of them raced as fast as Tui's depleted condition would allow him to. They encountered, to put it mildly, a desperate situation. The only members of the party left standing were Grimal from a distance, and Tindral firing wildly with her bow and arrow.

Tui surveyed the situation quickly. The Frost Giant on the left had sustained a significant amount of damage, and there was much of his ice mass missing. There was an arrow imbedded deeply within its body, marking the fracture point that nobody had been able to exploit. The Frost Giant on the right was largely intact. And it was mad...VERY mad. The arrow in it had worked its way out.

Both creatures were still battling to the death of their foes...which was imminent.

Tui yelled to seemingly thin air, "Thud, bag the one on the right. I'll take the left."

An unseen ally replied, "Gotcha."

To the two survivors, Tui shouted, "Grimal...concentrate on the left one. Give it all you have. Tindral...aim for the fracture point."

Tui conjured a giant fireball with the only spell he had left. He hurled it toward the Giant, before slumping into darkness. Had he remained conscious, he would have again witnessed the eerie sight of a huge Frost Giant disappearing into thin air.

***

The victory, the cessation of battle, allowed everybody in the Irregulars to take a bathroom break, stretch their legs, and, for those so inclined, grab a new beer. The monumental Battle in Caves had lasted a good hour in "real" time. It was almost 2:30 a.m., but all of the gamers were energized by the success of the quest.

Granted, their several characters in the game were near death, but it wasn't anything that time wouldn't solve. While the majority of the Irregulars sat out a turn, Rachel, Mike, and Kevin, on behalf of their respective characters, made the decisions for the group. Tindral assumed the temporary mantle of leadership.

Billy even complimented the Irregulars on their teamwork. He was more than a little impressed with Kevin's efforts. Kevin, for his part, was feeling particularly smug.

Tindral, with the approval of Grimal and Thud, decided to camp out and recuperate in the cave using the supplies dumped from Thud's bag. The other two were astounded by the sheer mass of all of the supplies that he actually had IN the bag. The three of them started to nurse the others back to health. They decided to build a fire by the ice mass that encased the artifact. It would take at least a week at this rate for it to thaw.

Fortunately, these were the parts of the game where the DM could advance time. There was nothing going on to warrant a blow by blow process.

Tui was the first to awaken, as usual. That was good, as his counsel (with the assist of notes from Billy) was invaluable. As he recovered his strength, he was able to utilize his healing ability to hasten the recovery of the others. In about a week, everybody was up, well, and rested.

The first decision they made was about the pouch that belonged to Thud. They dare not open it up. Nothing else could be put in there, for it could be called forth at great risk. Any breach in the dimension that trapped the Ice Elemental and Frost Giant may give them insight into a way out. And a way out was OUT of the question. The band, sans Thud, voted to burn the magical bag, thus sealing the dimension for all time.

The fringe benefit was that it deprived the least trustworthy one amongst them of his primary means of deception. That was why Thud vocally protested. The end was never in doubt.

The only "up side" was that Thud was lionized as a hero. He was forgiven all of his trespasses. A few more days after the "pouch incident", the ice mass was completely thawed. The supplies were still holding, so there was no real need to rush.

The virtual band gathered around the artifact that was left on a slightly wetter cave floor. "What is it?" asked Tony.

It was at this point that Billy chose to introduce a new prop into their game. The ring given to him by his dear old Granddad. The DM set it down gingerly in the center of the dining room table on the model of the cave floor.

That gave all of the real players a chance to marvel at the strange rings within rings.

"Wow," exclaimed Rachel. "What is it?"

Billy explained, "My Granddad gave it to me when I was a little boy. I found it earlier tonight when I was going through my old toy box. I decided to use it in the game."

"Yeah," asked Greg, "but what is it? I've never seen anything like it before. Just look at all of the bends and curves in each of the rings."

"I think it's a puzzle," Tony correctly deduced. He obviously had experience with such things. "You can fit it together in any number of ways."

"Hey. That's pretty cool," came from Mike.

"So how are we supposed to use it?" was Kyle's contribution to the inquiry.

Billy slipped David a note.

It gave their leader a chance to speak. David as Tui cleared his throat. "I have had a dream about this...a message from the Gods themselves. It is the Ring of the Phoenix."

"That would explain all of the colors," added Thud/Kevin in his restored, flippant tone of voice.

He'd been a hero long enough, and it was too late for the proverbial leopard to change is spots! He was the bad boy, after all, in real life as WELL as the game.

"Yes..." continued David/Tui. "It is magic."

"What kind of magic?" Tony/Muffy wanted to know. Neither he nor Greg had anticipated this twist in the road.

"Depends how you put the rings together. A different pattern will give you a different effect. There is no way to know for sure unless we try it."

"Who's going to try it?" Grimal/Mike wanted to know.

Thud stepped forward in a virtual sense of the word. "I'll do it. It's only fair, since I found it. I beat those Giants almost single handedly."

They didn't appreciate the arrogance of the statement, but they couldn't ignore the fact that he WAS technically correct.

The gamers all looked at each other, and shrugged. They all suspected that Thud was up to something (of course he WAS up to something) yet what could they do?

So the real life David handed the ring over to the real life Kevin. Kevin took the ring, studied it intently for a few seconds, and then started to manipulate the individual rings. He twisted one ring one way, bent a second ring another. By and by, he heard an audible "click" of two of the rings locking into place.

Kevin started to work another ring, while the others looked on, until it too eventually "clicked" into place. The last ring took almost ten minutes before it too, fell into place. Ultimately, the boy was left with a single, solitary ring with an intricate pattern of gold, green, red and blue.

"Put it on."

"Go ahead, put it on," the Irregulars urged Thud/Kevin one by one.

Kevin nonchalantly slipped the ring onto his right thumb (the only finger upon which it would fit). He looked down upon it, then to his comrades.

"Hmmm. Looks good. Now what?"

Billy started to say, "At first you feel nothing, then...slowly..."

Before he could finish his thought about the game, the weirdest thing happened. There was a blast of arctic air blowing through the screen of the window, as it if was just coming off the glacier. It scattered all of the game papers and materials all across the porch.

"What?" a stunned Mike shouted. "What IS that?"

"Damn. I'm freezing," exclaimed Kevin, visibly shivering. "Do the rest of you feel that?"

"No," offered Tony.

Neither did the rest of them, although they did feel a little cool.

"I-I feel strange," Kevin mumbled. There was clearly something amiss.

There was a huge thunderclap, and then a pressure wave that threw everybody but Kevin three steps backward onto their respective assess. All with the exception of Kevin, who was held in place by an unseen force. Like a small doll stuck in the hand of its owner.

The Irregulars started to recover, to get to their feet, only to see a cloud of sparkling silver starting to spin in a vortex around the poor Kevin. A helpless Kevin could only stare out from the growing vortex, stark terror in his eyes.

"Oh my God," screamed Rachel in a shrill voice. "Look at Kevin. This can't be happening. Somebody help him. Kyle...help him."

Kyle instinctively rushed to the sparkling tornado. However, the pressure was too much for even his athletic frame. Mike and Tony quickly joined him, backed him up, and tried to force Kyle closer to Kevin. It was no use.

They were all helpless. All they could do was watch. Every time that silver mote of the vortex struck Kevin, it carried off a little bit of his flesh. It was disassembling him atom by atom, molecule by molecule.

From inside the beautiful but deadly phenomenon, all of the Irregulars could see Kevin open his mouth to scream something. They could barely hear above the roar of the vortex a portion of the words Kevin was saying. "Help...me...feels...so..."

Then nothing.

They all assumed from his rapidly dissolving form that their friend was in intense, inhuman pain.

They couldn't know that it was the most intense pleasure that any human had ever yet experienced. Every sparkling mote that carried off a portion of his being sent a signal of pure pleasure to his assaulted brain. His sexual organ grew from the stimulation, then unleashed its load. Only to swell and release a few seconds later. Over and over it went; all of the while, Kevin came apart piece by piece.

The disassembled atoms of Kevin thickened the swirling mass to the point where the others could no longer see into its interior. The porch was a mess from all of the improbable tumult. So forceful was the pressure from the speeding tornado that Billy and his friends had to shield their eyes.

Then, just as suddenly and unexpectedly as the vortex appeared, it was gone, in a blinding flash of light. Papers from the game fluttered to the floor, like dried leaves in an Autumn wind.

The South Harbor Island Irregulars ran to where they last saw Kevin to find out what happened to their friend. It was also impossible and fantastic that none of them could even speak. Each had to be wondering in their little minds whether they were experiencing a group hallucination.

If not, this was the most amazing game effect that they'd EVER seen.

"Kevin? Are you okay, Kevin?" wondered David aloud.

They all reached the spot of the vortex at the same time. They all let out a collective gasp.

There...swimming in Kevin's black leather clothing...was a small blonde girl with unearthly gorgeous Asian features. She was huddled and clutching herself, afraid to move. Her large obsidian eyes looked up at them with nothing but mind-terror reflected within.

"Is that you...Kevin?"

The beauty slowly nodded her head in the affirmative.

Chapter Nine: The Wake of the Ring

Kevin sat huddled on the floor of Billy's porch. He was afraid to even move. He didn't know what just happened to him, but he...felt...different? Something, mind-numbingly impossible happened to him.

The last thing that the poor...boy...remembered was the sheer pleasure screaming into his brain at 186,000 miles per second. He could not...would never...forget the pure bliss that triggered all of his neurons, all at once, as he was...dissolved into nothingness.

He struggled to make sense of it all. That couldn't be. Could it?

Kevin could still see all of his friends surrounding him. He could hear them all talking.

And what was more...he could actually feel what they were feeling?

There was fear. Great fear. There was astonishment, confusion, anger, and even desire. All strong emotions. Kevin wondered how he could be feeling this?

It was overwhelming. It was all at once. It threatened to drown him under a tidal wave of utter emotion. So much emotion that he couldn't distinguish what was coming from where.

And still...he was afraid to move. Afraid to know WHY he felt the way he felt. Every one of his senses was so acute. On fire.

He looked up into the faces of his friends, looking into their eyes one by one, seeking some clue, some hint, of what just happened.

Amazingly, Kyle was the first of the Irregulars to put a vocalization to what they were all seeing and experiencing. "This is NOT happening. It CAN'T be happening. Kevin just turned into a chick!!"

That was all Kevin needed to confirm what his subconscious mind already knew. It was just that the transfer from the subconscious to the conscious was disrupted. More like blocked by denial.

However, there was no denying it now. The sight of long, golden blonde hair hanging in front of his eyes. The undeniable physical sensation of an unstable, shifting weight high on his chest. The glaring void of familiar extensions from his body. The crush of being so much...smaller and lesser than what he once was.

It all erupted, all at once, with the flow of salty tears from those obsidian eyes down the flawless, porcelain-like skin of Kevin's altered face. His bladder let go. The warm urine dribbled down his legs to pool at his feet.

Mike pulled Kyle way from the circle of friends that surrounded Kevin, saying, "Way to go, you idiot. I know you don't like Kevin, but have a little heart. Don't upset her."

The presence of the words "Kevin" and "her" being used in such close proximity, and in such a manner, was an arrow to the heart of everybody there.

"What?" Kyle protested. "I didn't say anything that anybody else wasn't thinking."

Billy, as the host, finally took control of the situation. "Mike, just keep him away from her until we can figure out what just happened."

Mike nodded to Billy, and then physically restrained the athlete at the far side of the porch. The elder of them asked Kyle to help him pick up the debris from the vortex as the others assessed the situation. The two of them set about the task of cleaning up, albeit silently, to avoid the topic on everybody's mind.

"I'll tell you what happened. It's that ring that you gave her...I mean him. Damn. This is confusing," Tony said by way of jumping in. "I think that it's really magic."

"There's no such thing as magic," David reminded them all.

That drew quick nods of affirmation from Billy and Greg. They were the other two members of the group that were scientifically inclined. The concept of magic did not jive in any way shape or form with Billy's understanding of the way the universe worked. Physics, even quantum physics, did not allow for the concept of magic.

"Then how the fuck do you explain what just happened?" yelled Rachel, at the men left in the circle surrounding Kevin.

The use of the "f-bomb" from the diminutive and feminine girl caught everybody off guard. Even Mike and Kyle momentarily stopped what they were doing across the room. Everybody was understandably in a heightened state of emotion.

At this point Kevin was shaking like a leaf, and STILL hadn't moved an inch from her original position. In fact, if you ignored her violent trembling, one would think the new girl to be catatonic!! For, in truth, she was STILL feeling all of the emotions that her friends were feeling. She was struggling in vain to separate the onslaught of their emotions from her own.

Finally, somebody concentrated on the victim of this incredible phenomenon. Kevin.

Leave it to Rachel. Maybe it was one girl to another, but it was Kevin's ex-girlfriend who reached out to the transformed boy. "Kevin, are you okay?"

That snapped Kevin out of it somewhat. She looked up at her, through the cascade of blonde hair in front of her eyes, opened her mouth, and tried to say something.

Nothing came out. Not a word, not a grunt, or even a sound. She was absolutely mute.

Radically changed hands flew to her throat. Her mouth worked a mile a minute, while the small, slender hands tried to force a word, ANY WORD, out of her mouth.

Still, nothing came.

"Uh...I don't think she can talk," observed Greg.

Kevin's renewed movement exposed the others to the smell of urine.

"Oh, my God. She peed herself," said David, whilst scrunching his nose up in disgust.

That angered Rachel, who suddenly was quite defensive of Kevin. She glared at poor David, growling, "Like you would do anything different?"

She extended her hand down to her new "sister" in order to help her to her feet. "C'mon, Honey. Let's get you cleaned up. You're going to need a new set of clothes."

Kevin took her hand. Now all of those who were not cleaning up got a chance to look at that hand. It was so slender, with long, elegant fingers. At the ends of those fingers were what appeared to be perfectly manicured fingernails that extended another inch way from the fingertips. The only thing that was out of place, given the situation, was the fact that the nails were a golden yellow. They looked more like claws than anything else.

Rachel tried to pull Kevin to her feet, and was able to do so with decided ease. That took her, as well as the others, by complete surprise. That was especially true as they could all see for themselves that Kevin was still a little taller than Rachel. Rachel shouldn't have been able to accomplish the physical task with such facility. Cheerleading was not exactly the best activity to promote bodily strength.

It was starting to dawn on all of the Irregulars that their transformed member might no longer be quite human.

They all assessed Kevin's new physical reality. Now that she was in a standing position, that dense golden hair fell into place over her shoulders and down her back. The thick tresses flowed enchantingly all the way to a rear end that was now hidden behind oversized leather pants. They could all see that she now stood between 5'5" and 5'6" tall. That was a reduction in height of close to a foot.

And THAT type of shrinkage had an immediate impact on Kevin. Even though she was on her feet, she STILL had to look up to see the faces of her friends. She used to look...down...on everybody. The only exception in this new reality was Rachel, who was now disconcertingly almost eye- to-eye with her.

Kevin raised one of those hands to her face to pull away the loose strands of hair that had not fallen into line. She unconsciously tucked the hair behind a small, delicate ear.

Once the hair was away from her face, Billy, Greg and the others could see her new face. The almond shaped eyes were...large...almost too large for the face. They looked surprisingly like the eyes of an anime character in Manga comic books. The nose was cute, and upturned. Kevin's heart-shaped face was accentuated ever the more with full, pouty lips, and dazzling snow white teeth.

Kevin looked like a cross between a Japanese and Korean woman with the height, hair and skin color of a Scandinavian. The combination of these things was quite disconcerting.

She was so beautiful that it actually...hurt...to look at her. It was the kind of perfect, unearthly beauty that was only reserved for goddesses.

They all gasped. That made Kevin's hypnotic eyes widen in concern. She...felt...shifting emotions all around herself.

As for all of the Irregulars...sans Rachel...they all smelled the most incredible aroma wafting into their olfactory organs. It was an indescribable m�lange of flowers, spice, and musk. It was all coming from one person.

Kevin.

While the odor worked its virtual fingers into the systems of Billy, Greg, Tony and David, Rachel put a hand on Kevin. She then explained the reason for their gasps. "No, Honey. There's nothing to worry about. It's just that...you're so gorgeous."

Rachel looked to her male friends for confirmation of that fact, only to see them staring, almost in a trancelike state, at Kevin. Then another thing became immediately apparent to her. The crotches of each one of them was slowly, but noticeably, swelling into a huge erection.

Then Kevin saw it. Just before she...felt...it. Waves and waves of desire and lust were radiating from all her male friends. So much desire that she couldn't shut it out.

It was so...powerful. And, she couldn't separate it out from her own emotions. All she felt was desire, like being caught in an irrepressible feedback loop. Kevin couldn't help feeling want...need, even though it wasn't her own.

Then she felt something that was purely her own. That didn't make it any less terrifying.

Kevin felt the nipples of breasts that she now knew that she possessed begin to tingle and swell. There was this...heat. So soothing and pleasant. Warm MOIST heat, which spread from her breasts to her new maidenhood. Kevin felt herself swoon. She wanted something that she COULDN'T want.

Billy's, Greg's, Tony's and David's eyes roamed downward from Kevin's face to her chest. Prominent erect nipples were now threatening to poke through the black T-shirt that hung like a sack on her drastically reduced upper torso. Even though she literally swam in the shirt, it couldn't hide large, firm breasts that rode high up on her chest. There wasn't even the slightest trace of sagging.

Rachel spat, "I can't believe this. Your friend gets transformed into a...I don't know what...and all you can think about is fucking her? C'mon, Kevin. You're getting changed. RIGHT NOW."

With that, Rachel grabbed Kevin by the arms, and pulled her toward the stairs that led to the upstairs of the house. Kevin literally walked right out of her shoes, leaving them in place in the pool of urine.

She was hastened away by Rachel, leaving a swirl of hair and then a strange scent that almost seemed to seep from her pores. The guys didn't know what it was, but a few seconds later it wasn't only Kevin that would have to clean up a mess from their pants.

"Ooops," gulped Tony. This was very easily the most arousal he'd had in...well...forever.

Then Greg blushed, signaling his similar accident.

Rachel left them with one thought, "Get your shit together, and figure out how to change her back."

Chapter Ten: Revelations and Discoveries

"Hah!" Kyle chided the two who were not able to control themselves. "You busted a nut over your friend. Another guy."

His snickering was not going over well.

It was Billy who raised the brilliant defense, "He didn't actually look like a guy at the time. He looked like a pretty girl."

"Pretty? Kevin is the most beautiful girl I think I've ever seen. Even in movies and magazines," replied Greg, as one of unfortunates not able to control himself.

Mike pointed out something the others hadn't, also in defense of Tony and Greg. He looked right into Kyle's eyes while doing so. "What are you talking about? You were catching a gear when I pulled you away, so I wouldn't get all superior about it. We were all turned on by Kevin."

They all nodded in agreement with each other. The smile was erased from Kyle's grinning face. Greg added a period to the discussion by pointing to Kyle's STILL straining erection. "At least Tony and I GOT some relief."

He always liked getting the last word.

"It's that damned smell or perfume coming off of her. It's like BAM, instant chemical reaction. I just couldn't help myself," pled Kyle in defense of himself.

It was the kind of weak backtracking that you didn't expect from the star athlete of the group. It was especially incongruous from the guy who was now, with the strange alteration to Kevin, the largest male in the group.

"Yeah," David finally contributed to the discussion. "What exactly WAS that smell? It couldn't have been her urine."

"I'm not a biology major, but..." Billy started to surmise.

It was Mike who offered the most help in this spot. "I think I know. Her urine would have made it worse. Marine biology used to be one of my passions before I got into computers. I still dabble in it now and again, mostly fishing."

"Get to the point, Grandpa," prodded Kyle, while making reference to Mike's age.

"The point being," Mike stared Kyle down, "nature has a way for an animal to attract a mate. They're called pheromones. The male who smells it will be instantly attracted to the female who secrets it. They would be in any bodily fluid, and sometimes piss is used to mark a breeding ground for the female. Kinda like laying out bait."

"So Kevin is now secreting this supercharged pheromone?"

"I don't think she's doing it on a conscious level. It's probably something that the body she now has does naturally."

"What is she now?" wondered Billy aloud. "Did you see those fingernails?"

Amazingly, everybody looked to the professional gamer, Tony, for answers. "Hey! Why are you all looking at me? Just because I work in a gaming store and play D & D regularly, I'm supposed to know about magic? I'm supposed to know what's going on?"

Billy vocalized for everybody, "Well, yeah. Who else here has a clue?"

Tony thought for a second. Then he said, "First things first. Can we all agree that what we saw was magic?"

There was a round of positive affirmations.

"Good. Then can we all agree that Kevin is something...more than human right now?"

Another hearty round of yeses.

"It seems to me that everything begins and ends with that ring that she put on. We need to find out everything about that ring that we can. Where did you get it, Billy?"

All eyes turned to the host of this now-disastrous game for his answer. However, what they were all wondering was what new and amazing things was Rachel discovering about Kevin upstairs?

***

"Go on upstairs and take your clothes off. I'm going to get my bag and a few other things," Rachel ordered Kevin, much like an older sister would her sibling, when they got to the bottom of the stairs.

Kevin glared back at the small brunette, a subtle mixture of anger and humiliation in her eyes.

"Oh, don't get so upset. It's nothing I haven't seen before, every day of my life."

It was what Kevin felt that made all of the difference. There was this aura of sincerity radiating from Rachel. And, there was something more. A deep, deep concern, one human to another. It was so soothing and warm that it almost made her blush. It was a sensation that Kevin hadn't experienced since she was a small boy...from his mother.

It made Kevin feel safe. So she nodded her head in the affirmative, sending still another wave of hair falling into her eyes.

The transformed boy grabbed handfuls of the thick tresses in both of her feminine hands, and lifted them in a gesture to communicate to Rachel. An indication of the frustration with her newfound asset.

Rachel, who experienced the daily rigors of caring for and dealing with long hair, understood instantly. "I'll fix your hair for you when I get upstairs so it isn't so much of a problem."

Then Kevin made another gesture. She used two of the fingers of her right hand to emulate scissors.

"No," Rachel stated, "I don't think we should just yet. If we change something that drastically, we may not be able to get your real body back. You're just gonna have to deal with the hair...and all of the rest until we can figure this out."

Kevin agreed without further gesture or indication. Instead, she simply turned and began the long climb up the steps. She did NOT want to see what was underneath her clothes.

The problem was the ever present jiggling of the breasts on her chest, and the swish of the long hair across her back could not be ignored. Keeping her old clothes on was not going to change that one little bit.

Rachel watched the new girl slowly climbing the stairs. Kevin was so engrossed and distracted by the other new sensations that she didn't recognize or notice the exotically exaggerated grace of the new body. She's so...girly now, thought Rachel to herself.

Rachel put that out of her mind, and retreated into the foyer. There she grabbed her overnight bag. There was also a small desk in the foyer, which the girl hoped and prayed would have a pad and pencil. There was more than one way to communicate, and if Kevin had no voice, then...

Kevin finally reached the upstairs. The distance between her new self and the others was somewhat of a relief. The further away that she was from them, the less was the press of their emotions into her. Oh, she could still feel them down there...feeling...emoting...but she could control it now. She could concentrate. What was left was not a small amount of curiosity. That same perverted curiosity that compels people to watch a train wreck!

They all said she was beautiful. She felt their desire. She had to know what she looked like.

Kevin hurtled headlong into the upstairs master bathroom. There in the three-way mirror, she saw her transformed body. They were all right. She was...beautiful.

Those small hands with the golden nails lifted slowly to her face, where they caressed the silky smooth skin of her cheeks. Her mouth formed into an "O" of stunned amazement.

Kevin saw Rachel appear in the mirror behind her. She "felt" her there a second before she fell into place behind her.

"Yes," Rachel confirmed. "You are gorgeous. Judging from what just happened downstairs, you are going to have to beat guys away with a stick if we can't get you changed back."

Then, suddenly, Kevin felt it. It was there for just an instant, and then it was replaced by the almost maternal concern in Rachel. A pang of jealousy. Envy of her new body!

Kevin came dangerously close to smiling, but repressed it. She looked at her ex in the mirror. She still wanted her, despite her now body, she still wanted her.

Rachel handed Kevin the pad and pencil. "First things first. I want you to tell me exactly what you are feeling."

Kevin took the pen in her radically altered hand. She found it hard to manipulate the instrument with those long, long nails. Still, she attempted to write Rachel a note to describe what was going on with her.

No words would come. They were there in her head, and she understood exactly what she wanted to say. However, when it came to writing the symbols and letters for those words...they were just not there. Gone.

Rachel saw the look of confusion in the exotic Asian features of Kevin's face. An elegant, slender arch of an eyebrow rose and fell under extreme concentration. In the end, Kevin just shrugged (setting those still unrevealed breasts to bobbling), and shook her head "no." Her blonde hair went flying again.

"You can't write, either? Holy shit, how much worse can this get? How are we supposed to talk to you?"

Kevin immediately felt the anger directed at her. It was like unto a physical force striking her. She responded the only way she knew how. She began to cry.

***

Meanwhile, downstairs, the guys had restored the porch into a semblance of its former disorder. Nobody had realized the full amount of havoc wreaked by the eldritch tornado. While they worked, Billy explained all that he could recall from his Granddad, and the stories.

It didn't take very long for the prodigious collective brainpower to conclude that the ring was the key to their problem.

"Dude? Where did your Granddad get that ring?" asked Kyle.

"I don't know. He never told me or my parents where they came from. My Uncle Rick doesn't know, either. I asked him once, and all that he could say was that Granddad didn't want to talk about it."

"You don't think..." Tony started.

Billy finished, "...that the land of Summer is real? I don't know, but considering what we all saw, it's something that may be possible."

Mike tried to be the voice of reason. "Guys, guys, guys!! Do you realize that we're sitting here talking about the very real possibility of magic and other dimensions? Another dimension that may very well be frozen over? That is, if the stories that your Granddad told you are real."

"Shit," David, uncharacteristically, commented.

"One thing is clear. If it IS the ring, we have the power to change Kevin back. I think all we have to do is come up with the right way to solve the puzzle," Billy said, reasserting his leadership role, in the face of a desperate situation.

"Puzzle?" asked Greg.

"Yes. Puzzle. You saw the four colored ring components of the ring as a whole. Each can be bent and rearranged to fit into any number of patterns. I figure all that we have to do is find the right pattern, and Kevin is back to normal."

"What if we get the wrong pattern, Billy?" one of the guys asked. Billy thought it was Tony.

"Well, then something worse happens."

"Can we take that risk?" Mike said.

"What choice do we really have, guys?" David offered, defending his best friend.

"Can we even take the ring off of Kevin? That may prevent us from changing her back," Tony logically concluded.

Greg, his coconspirator, nodded his head a vigorous "yes."

"We're going to have to take SOME risk here to solve this problem," Billy said. "I think all we have to do is remember how Kevin originally arranged it so we can get back to square one, if worst comes to worst. That's the only thing we can do."

That suggestion seemed to induce some consensus of agreement. Tony and Greg weren't so sure.

David made the other beginning assumption. "I don't think anybody else should put on the ring until we have a better idea of what the pattern will do. We don't want to get it any worse."

Even Tony and Greg agreed to that one.

Mike looked at Billy, suggesting, "Billy, try to remember. Did your Granddad ever tell you anything about a particular pattern?"

All of the guys now sitting around the table in their original positions watched Billy's brow knit in concentration.

***

Upstairs, Kevin, in every sense of the word, felt Rachel's genuine concern change into mounting frustration. The way her emotion ebbed and flowed, almost like music, was something wondrous to behold. Or, more accurately, experience. This new sense that Kevin possessed was similar to taste and smell...yet infinitely more complicated. How could she explain to the others how she sensed the internal tapestry of their feelings?

In this case, it wasn't even necessary for Kevin to separate her emotions from those of Rachel. For she was just as frustrated as her! Why couldn't she either speak or write? What was short-circuiting her understanding of written words?

Rachel grabbed the pad from Kevin's hand, and slammed it down on the sink. "At least let's get you out of those clothes."

Kevin hesitated once again. Her tears dried, while her face reddened into a vicious blush.

"Oh, c'mon." Rachel herself began to undo the large buckle on the belt encircling Kevin's leather pants. "You couldn't wait to get naked in front of me when you were a guy. You shouldn't let a little thing like being a girl stop you."

Kevin tried to grab at Rachel's hands, but was too late. The real girl of the two was quite adept in manipulating the belt, fly, and pants of somebody standing in front of her. Quickly, too. Before she knew it, Kevin stood there in front of Rachel with the soaked leather pants bunched at her feet.

Rachel realized why Kevin was fighting her. She was not wearing any underwear!!

The long legs were perfectly formed, if not a little too slender. They led all the way up to the junction of upper thigh, hip and groin. The vagina, still glistening from the moisture of Kevin's urine, was completely and utter devoid of all hair. In fact, there was no hair anywhere on Kevin's lower body.

"Let's go. Step out of the pants," Rachel commanded her charge.

If it wasn't for Rachel, the poor ex-boy would be content to just dry in soiled clothes. That wouldn't do. Not at all. Not on Rachel's watch.

The way in which the tiny brunette took charge surprised even Kevin. And the way in which Rachel dropped any element of facade allowed Kevin to "see" with her unique new sense, the components of her inner workings. What she saw made her happy and sad, both at the same time. Here was a girl that she could trust with her life. She was true and honorable, and very, very loving. The sorrow was from her own stupidity.

She only saw the outer shell as her male self. If she would have only taken the time to look on the inside, and just acted human, they might still be together. Kevin had let her get away from him. The enormity of the regret came close to making her weep once again.

She averted that humiliation by obeying the girl. She stepped out of the leather pants. The cool air on her bare legs made the supple flesh of her legs dimple.

Rachel observed there was not an ounce of fat to be spared on Kevin's new body.

"Lift your arms up...over your head," Rachel ordered even further.

Kevin obeyed without any further fight, allowing Rachel to pull the black T-shirt over her head. It was a rather unique sensation to feel the miles and miles of that long hair thread through the neck of the shirt. The hair then fell into perfect order once again. It tickled the top of Kevin's fetchingly rounded bottom.

Rachel threw the shirt into the pile with the rest of the ruined clothes, before looking back at her friend. Her eyes locked on the most perfectly formed breasts that she'd ever seen. They were big, considering the frame of the girl on which they were placed. Rachel guessed they were a full C cup, but looked more like a D. They were conical; in the way most nascent breasts are on a teenager coming into the full flower of womanhood. Only they were much too big to be nascent breasts. The aureolae were an extremely erotic hot pink, the size of silver dollars. The nipples themselves were larger than her own...again, perfect.

For perfect was the only way to describe Kevin's physical assets.

Kevin felt her companion's emotions flare, like a brush fire, into full jealousy. She looked at her. God, she wanted her. Right now!

She thought, pointedly, 'She likes my body. I wonder if she...'

The thought faded into nothingness like morning fog in the afternoon heat. There was no use. She didn't have her old equipment.

That didn't stop some of the old Kevin personality from reasserting itself. She grasped her full breasts in her hands, and felt their firmness. The physical sensation of breasts being fondled from within was like NOTHING she'd ever felt before. She felt the heat from her loins rise again, like dying embers stoked back into life. Those nipples hardened under the ministrations of her dainty hands.

The sight of her former boyfriend, the neighborhood bad boy, playing with her new body was too much for Rachel. She felt her own hormones surge into her blood stream. Soon her nipples were JUST as hard as Kevin's. Rachel felt a familiar wet heat in her own loins.

And what the Hell was that smell, she wondered? It's like spicy flowers...

"Into the shower with you," Rachel insisted, before this went too far.

It was too late. Kevin already sensed the desire welling up in Rachel. It only served to fuel her own desire for her.

In the end, she still listened to her. She bent over to pull off her now oversized socks.

Rachel had to turn away at the sight of Kevin bent oven, the long golden hair splaying forward over slender rounded shoulders, and the dangling breasts. Oh, how Rachel wanted to touch those breasts. The image of them stayed in her mind even after she closed her eyes.

'I may need a cold shower after this,' pondered Rachel.

She'd never, ever had thoughts like this about another girl. Why was she feeling this way? Why was her curiosity so piqued now, of all times?

Concentrate on something else, she commanded HERSELF.

Something DID come to mind. Kevin's body as a whole. If you looked at it, it was unnaturally slender, the way an adolescent's body was extremely slender. Yet it was still perfectly formed and configured. Then Rachel remembered how easy it was to pull the transformed boy to her feet.

Rachel turned back around, to see Kevin's ultra feminine body stepping through the shower curtain into the shower. "Hold it a sec," she said.

Kevin's sexy Asian face looked over her shoulder with the unspoken question, "What now?" in her eyes.

"Just a hunch. Step on the scales for a second." Rachel pointed to the scales on the bathroom floor.

Again, Kevin did as she requested.

Rachel's eyes widened as she looked down at the digital display. Kevin only weighed fifty-eight pounds!

***

"Yes..." Billy began slowly, building up momentum as he went. "There is...something. I found it today as I was looking over the stuff I have to get rid of."

"Where is it? Show us," asked Mike.

Everybody was a little eager now.

"C'mon. Follow me," encouraged Billy.

They all got up from their spots to follow him into the room where he found his old toy box. The lid was still open so that they could all freely look at the words on the inside of the lid.

They each, in turn, read the little rhyme recorded there in Granddad's script.

"What do you think it means?" asked the slower witted Kyle.

"It obviously opens up a doorway to someplace else, dimwit," stated the game-experienced Tony.

That made Kyle rear back into a threatening posture that was directed at the fattest of the bunch. Again, it was Mike who was able to calm the combustible youth down. "That won't solve any of our problems, Kyle. Just cool down. If you're tired out, why don't you just go lay down somewhere, and we'll wake you up when we have an answer."

"That's a good idea," Kyle snorted. "The best idea that any of you so-called brains have come up with yet."

Billy gestured to the upstairs. "There's a guest room on the second floor. First door on the left. You can catch some rest in there."

"Thanks," Kyle said, as he stalked away.

As soon as he was gone, it was David who spoke for all of them. "Man, I'm glad he's gone. There was enough tension without his anger."

"Oh, he's okay," offered Billy.

He left it at that, electing to not provide a further explanation. Instead, he directed his focus to the problem at hand. In the past, before he went away, Billy had discussed all of his problems with David. They were ALWAYS able to figure something out.

He relied on their past relationship once again. "What do you think, David?"

"It makes sense. The reference to specific patterns of colors that are contained in the four rings is unmistakable. It is one possible solution."

"The only thing is, who is going to try it?" queried Greg.

Billy didn't even wait for another volunteer. There wasn't even a question in his mind. "I'll do it," he whispered, just loud enough for the others to hear.

"Wait a second, we can..." Mike tried to say.

"No. It makes sense. Pappy left it here for me. He practically gave me instructions. I think he wanted me to solve the puzzle in this specific way, and then go through whatever door appears. It's the only way. Besides, you all have too much to lose. You all still have families. I have...nothing."

That last statement hung in the air. NOBODY dared to touch it. And by not touching it, they acquiesced to Billy's wishes. The fateful decision had been made for all of them.

***

Kyle heard Rachel's voice when he reached the top of the stairs.

"What are you doing in there, Kevin? All you have to do is rinse off. You're going to prune that new body of yours."

He saw that it was coming from the master bathroom. He saw that the door was slightly ajar. From his vantage point, he could see the main mirror through the open part of the door. He could see the reflection of Rachel's back in the mirror.

Hmmm, thought Kyle. THIS could be interesting.

He stole closer.

***

Kevin heard Rachel's admonition from the other side of the shower curtain. She HAD been in the shower a little longer than she originally anticipated.

She couldn't help it. Curiosity got the better of this cat. Or, more to the point, this pussy!

Kevin did what any red-blooded guy would do if they were surreptitiously plopped down into the body of a stunning girl. She felt herself up!

Unfortunately, as she kneaded her breasts, and urged her sensitive nipples into full attention, she awakened a new urge. A new itch that needed to be scratched. A need to be filled with steel hardness.

She caressed her new flesh lower and lower until those hands reached the petals of her flower. The improbability of looking down over large boobs to small hands cupping her new sex was too much for her.

Her fingers instinctively found the pearl that was located just inside the petals.

It was a good thing that she was mute, because EVERYBODY would have come running had they heard her screaming in pleasure. She orgasmed multiple times. It was well that she was in the shower; else she would have been drenched in perspiration.

But perspire she did. The scent of her nature was already wafting through the bathroom, and through the door to the hallway beyond.

Kevin had just stopped shuddering when Rachel called out to her. So, her tender manipulations ended, she shut off the water and then stepped from behind the shower curtain.

***

Kyle saw Kevin step into the reflection in the mirror from where he was standing. The very sight of her, coupled with her pheromones, was too much for even him to take. His manhood roared to life, and from life's erection to ejaculation in the scant space of three seconds.

The humiliation of his own lack of self control forced him to retreat like a beaten dog into the guest room. The embarrassment did nothing to quench a growing desire within him, however.

He had to have Kevin. He HAD to fuck her.

***

Kevin felt the wave of desire as soon as she exited the shower. However, her skills at discerning and separating the emotions of others were just not present. She quite naturally assumed those desires were coming from Rachel.

And why wouldn't she? They were there when she left.

Rachel handed Kevin a towel. "Here. Dry off, and then sit in the chair. I'll fix your hair."

Kevin dried off as best she could, although even the terry cloth was a bit rough on her sensitive skin. Once dried, she sat down in the chair. It faced a three-way vanity where she could see exactly what Rachel was doing.

Rachel pulled out a comb and brush, and lovingly started to brush the tangles (what few there were) from Kevin's rich, glossy hair.

"You know, girls would kill for hair like you have now. It's so pretty, like spun gold."

Kevin could only listen silently, enjoying the feeling of having Rachel play with her hair. It was luxurious and indulgent. She closed her eyes, sensing her weave the hair into an intricate braid.

Rachel explained as she went along, "It's a French braid. Very sturdy, yet good-looking. It'll keep the hair out of your face...out of the way."

Her soft words seeped their way into Kevin's mind, the words triggering her want of Rachel, and that want triggering even more pheromones to be released into the air. Both girls felt their nipples start to harden again.

Rachel's hand went unconsciously to retrieve a stray lock of Kevin's hair that rested on a perfect breast. Kevin put her hand on hers, freezing it in place. Then she moved her hand so that it rested right on the big breasts. Kevin squeezed her hand, ever so slightly, to encourage her to venture further on her own.

She did.

The brush in Rachel's other hand dropped to the floor with a dull thud. That hand found its way to Kevin's rib cage, where it traced lightly up to the other breast. Rachel cupped that breast, too, taking its soft fullness into her small hands.

The heat from both girls fed off of each other.

Kevin looked into the mirror at the sight of Rachel standing behind her, fondling her new breasts.

Rachel mumbled in a far away voice, "Your tits are so...great. I could just eat them on a spoon."

They caught each other's eyes in the mirror. There was that look of passion that only lovers know, what they knew once upon a time. But never like this.

Kevin turned her head to the side to look her directly in the eye. As soon as she did, their lips met in a soul shattering kiss. Both girls opened their mouths to allow their tongues to explore that of the other. All the while, Rachel continued to fondle Kevin's breasts.

As suddenly as it started, it was over.

Rachel pulled way suddenly with a whispered, "No! This is not right."

She had to look away from the desperate pleading in Kevin's eyes. "No. Please, don't look at me that way. I know that you still want me, that you're still in love with me. I can't. Even though you are a guy inside, you're a girl on the outside. It's unnatural."

Kevin lowered her eyes. That new empathic sense was a better lie detector than the electronic version. She knew how much Rachel wanted her, even in this body. But...she had a point. She couldn't "close the deal" like this. She was just afraid that...if they found a way to fix HER...HE would no longer have this weird power to make people want HIM.

Even though she didn't have a clue about how it was working.

She raised her hand in a "scout's honor" gesture to tell her that she would behave herself. It wouldn't be easy. And if Rachel's nipples were anywhere near as hard as hers, it would be tough for her, too.

It only took Rachel a few more minutes to finish the French braid.

The braid finished, Rachel was able to identify some odd markings on Kevin's narrow back. "What are these?"

Kevin's pretty face in the mirror signified that she didn't have the slightest idea what she was talking about.

"There are two scars...no...wait...ridges on the inside of both of your shoulder blades. They are in perfect straight lines, right by your spine. I have no idea what they are."

Rachel proceeded to touch the ridges, only to discover that they were not ridges at all...but flaps. The question was, flaps to what?

Rachel quickly described to an ever-surprised Kevin what she found. She bade her to concentrate on the flaps with her mind. Feel them.

She watched in utter amazement as the flaps moved slightly in their attempt to open.

"Try harder, Kevin!!"

She did, only to have large white wings erupt from the twin ducts on her back. They were literally huge, and covered with snowy white feathers and pinions. The totality of the circumstances made Kevin look like the visage of an angel.

The wings flapped once, then retreated from whence they came.

"Holy shit!" Rachel exclaimed. "You have wings!!"

***

The two girls rejoined the boys, with the notable exception of Kyle, moments later. Kevin was now clad, unhappily, in Rachel's spare set of clothes.

Rachel had the sneaking suspicion that Billy would be somewhat protective of his mother's clothes. That left only her spare clothes, even though she was still smaller than Kevin was now. Kevin's sheer slenderness allowed her to squeeze into Rachel's clothes.

They were still tight on her frame. The jeans were tight around her ass, accentuating its round bubble shape. The only setback was that the legs rode higher up on her ankles. The same was true of the plain white T-shirt that Kevin now wore. It was tight, making the shelf of her breasts stick out enticingly. She wore no bra. Even though the strap of Rachel's bra fit around her back, the cups just didn't do. They dared not venture into the lingerie of Billy's mother. The T-shirt rode up on Kevin's upper torso, exposing her taut belly.

The oddity there: NO belly button!

For shoes, they purloined a pair of flat sandals from Billy's mom. They figured that Billy would never notice the missing shoes. She wouldn't be using them any time soon.

The rejoined group shared the new information with each other. However, nobody believed the story of the wings. So, Rachel had Kevin lean over. She pulled up the T-shirt so that everybody could see the flaps just on the inside of each shoulder blade.

Greg asked an appropriate question, "I wonder if she can fly?"

"We should try it," suggested Tony.

"No way," answered Billy. "That's all we need to attract attention. A flying Asian girl with blonde hair. Good thinking!"

"Hey. I'm getting tired," protested Tony.

"I wonder if Kevin's an angel now?" pondered Rachel.

"No. Not an angel. She's part bird."

"That's it. It all fits," agreed David. "The slender size, the nails that is like a bird's talons and the weight. I bet Kevin's bones are hollow now, to allow for more lift. If you look at him...er...her, she's aerodynamic. I bet you she can fly."

"Great. Kevin's a bird girl now. I wonder what kind of bird?" came from Billy.

At least two of them said at the same time, "A swan!!"

"Swan? How do you figure that?"

"Have you watched Kevin move? The moves are so graceful and flowing. It's almost like watching ballet."

They were all quiet for a few seconds. They all absorbed what they knew. Indeed, Kevin was very swanlike.

Somebody suggested, "Kevin's going to need a knew name until we get her back to normal. What about Swan? It even sounds Asian."

Billy acknowledged, "We do need to avoid suspicion if our next move doesn't work. Kevin will attract attention. She certainly doesn't LOOK like a Kevin now. Kevin, what do you say?"

Kevin shrugged a noncommittal kind of a shrug. To her, one female name was the same as another...unacceptable. However, she nodded her head in defeated acceptance.

"Good. Then it's agreed that we call her Swan until this is over. Everybody watch your pronouns, too. Remember to refer to her in the feminine."

There was agreement all around.

"We're going to need a last name, too."

"Hey, what about Lake? Swan Lake," said Greg, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

They all glared at him evilly.

"What about Komari? I think I read that name somewhere in a story," Tony offered.

That was just as good a name as any, so Swan Komari was officially born. They came up with the cover story that she was a fellow student at M.I.T. with Billy. She was originally from Korea, but came here to go to school.

It would do for now, and would explain why she didn't speak or write much.

Now that everybody knew the truth about Swan's pheromones, they were a little better at controlling themselves. It was...hard.

They were STILL extremely turned on.

They managed to remove the ring from Swan's thumb without incident. They carefully reverse engineered the pattern so that everyone could remember how to assemble it. Who knew if it would be useful in the future?

That done, they then reassembled the different rings in the pattern recorded on the lid of the toy box.

Nothing happened.

"Well, Buddy?" asked Mike.

"Here goes nothing," replied Billy, as he slipped the ring on his middle finger.

Almost instantly, a black door opened on the wall in front of them. None of them could see what lie beyond the threshold other than inky darkness. Billy shuddered in fear.

He couldn't believe what he was about to do. Step into the unknown.

But he had to. For Kevin.

Without adieu, he walked forward and disappeared into the void.

Rachel wasn't even able to complete her admonition, "Be careful..." before Billy walked back out onto the porch.

They all blinked.

"Well, that was quick," smiled David.

"What do you mean? I've been gone for three hours!"

Chapter Eleven: Twists and Turns

"There is no way that you were gone for three hours, Billy. It's just impossible. You were only gone for an instant. If that," insisted Rachel in disbelief.

"Look at my watch," Billy replied.

The group crowded around the host in order to see the dial of his wristwatch. Sure enough, the chronometer on Billy's wrist read EXACTLY three hours ahead of their local time. To Billy it was precisely 6:20 a.m., when in reality it was only 3:20 a.m.

"Whoooa," uttered Greg, in an uncharacteristic Keannu Reevian remark.

"Where were you?" asked Mike.

"The best way that I can describe it is a sort of...limbo."

"What did it look like?" Tony wanted to know. There was real excitement in his voice over the prospect of another separate reality.

A reality where he could be...thin!

"Uh, it didn't look like anything. It was totally black, but I could sense there were things, another whole world, all around me. Weird."

"Anything else? Did you learn anything?"

Billy hesitated. Something was clearly wrong with him. It was something that had affected him deeply. Profoundly. "Yes," he answered lowly and slowly. He put his hands to his head as if to relieve the pressure of a tremendous headache.

The rest of the Irregulars waited for the details of Billy's monosyllabic statement. The pregnant pause grew heavy under the gravity of the moment.

"My Granddad was there. I...talked to him."

"Wow."

"No WAY."

"Really?"

That was a sampling of comments from the peanut gallery.

"We're in a lot of trouble. No...I'm in a lot of trouble. I can't get any more of you involved in this."

"No way you get out of this that easy, Billy," Rachel scolded him. "You got us here, and we're in this together. We can't just leave Kevin like this."

They all looked at Kevin, now known as Swan, who was standing quietly and demurely off to the side, in a decidedly girlish pose. She looked absolutely radiant, even without any makeup on. She was just taking in the entirety of the conversation, and trying her best not to burst into tears.

She was STILL trying to deal with the ever present onslaught of other people's emotions into her brain. It was enough to drive a person mad.

"Okay," Billy finally relented. "I'll tell you everything. I just need...to digest it all before I can describe it to you. There's a lot. Just let me close my eyes for a few hours."

It was a suggestion that was agreeable to all. It took only a few seconds to decide on the rooming arrangements. Billy would take his old room upstairs, and Kyle was already sleeping in the guest room. They all insisted that Swan take the master bedroom, the bedroom of Billy's parents, considering the trauma that she'd endured that evening. Mike, Greg, Rachel, Tony and David assured Billy that they would make the most of the accommodations downstairs. There were plenty of couches and chairs that they could use.

Mike sensed Billy's state of mental and physical exhaustion. The boy had reached his vertical limit (and was about to go horizontal). It fell to him to shore up concrete plans for the 'morrow. "Everybody catch a few Z's. We'll meet in the kitchen between 7 and 8. Billy can tell us what he learned, and only then will we decide what to do as a group. Each person can choose to be in or out for themselves. Agreed?"

Not one person amongst them disagreed.

They all retired to their respective resting places. The downstairs crew then decided where each of them would nap for a few hours. They too split up, leaving only Mike and Rachel.

Only after everybody was out of sight did they move to hold hands.

"I missed you," Mike whispered.

"Me, too," Rachel whispered back.

"It's a shame the only thing we can do is hold hands, or hold each other," bemoaned Mike.

"It's enough...for now." Rachel stole a quick kiss. "Our time will come. We still have a few hours to be with each other. You can hold me."

That made Mike smile. They retired to the den for a few private moments.

***

A man in a dark cloak was waiting patiently at the pier where the ferry docked. A wide brimmed hat cast a shadow over his face, completely obscuring his features. Even his hands, clad in black leather gloves, gave no clue as to the age, race, or nationality of the man.

The only thing which was discernible was his height, which was considerable. To the casual observer he had to be at least 6'10" tall. However, he was very, very slender.

The morning person was just starting to open the ticket booth for the morning ferry traffic. He was surprised to see the man waiting in line. The ticket taker checked his watch. 6:30 a.m. Nobody was ever there THAT early. "Can I help you, Sir?"

"Bane," he remarked in a rumbling bass voice. "My name is Nemesis Bane."

"Strange name. Where do you hail from?"

"Ah. Pleasantries. I will never understand the need of your kind to waste time with pleasantries. I will be requiring a transportation to yonder island."

The ticket taker, Winford Smith, was not used to such directness. It was his job to dispense small talk to his loyal customers. He figured this guy had to be from out of town. New York or LA. That was the only way to explain the rudeness. "Well, Mr. Bane, you are out of luck. The first ferry won't be leaving this here dock for another hour. You're just gonna have to wait."

"That will be...fine. I have waited for a very long time already. Another hour will matter not. A ticket...please," Bane rumbled.

His voice was almost like a distant thunder.

He'd waited years upon years for the power of the ring to finally reveal itself. The other had hidden it well, choosing not to invoke its magic. The other knew that Bane could sense the magic, would be drawn to it.

And then last night it was finally invoked. And then again only three short hours ago...this time creating the same portal that brought him to this inferior world. A world that operated on the laws of physics. Where magic did not exist.

Where Bane was mortal.

No more. The ring was revealed, and he would have it. Finally.

The other had hidden it well, indeed. For Bane would have never thought to look for it on a barrier island off the coast of North Carolina.

Just one hour more!

***

Kyle was dreaming.

It was not an ordinary dream. It was a carnal dream that featured Kevin transformed into his luscious new body.

They were running across a gassy field, Kyle trying to catch up to the winsome Kevin. Kyle could feel his hatred for the former boy coursing through his veins. He would finally have his vengeance on the Jackass.

However, when he caught the girl by her slender arm, he realized that it was not hate that he felt at all. He wanted her...more than he'd ever wanted anybody. He wanted to possess her, show her that she was his.

Kyle kissed her in the dream. She responded...eagerly.

In true dreamlike fashion, their clothing faded into nothingness. Kyle could now see and cherish the body that he saw in the mirror last night. He smelled that smell of hers.

Just as the boy was about to enter her, he woke up in his bed. He was positively drenched in sweat. He had a raging erection from the dream.

"What time?" he mumbled, turning over to look at an illuminated alarm clock. 7:09 a.m.

He wondered what the others were doing.

Kyle also had a tremendous thirst, so he opted to climb out of the warm bed to find something to slake it in the bathroom.

***

Swan tossed and turned in her bed. She hadn't even taken off her new clothes, Rachel's clothes, electing to just sleep for a few short hours until the meeting.

Unfortunately, even in her sleep she was not able to turn off that damned empathic sense of hers. She tuned in and absorbed the dreams, sensations and emotions like an organic satellite dish.

The guest room was located right next to the master bedroom.

So...she awakened with turgid nipples and a veritable puddle of natural fluids between her legs. Somebody was on fire with desire. She knew it instantly.

What's more, she could NOT ignore it. So strong...so combustible.

Swan HAD to find it...find the source of this torment that moved her to excitation so!

She too got out of bed, moving slowly to the door that led to the master bathroom.

***

Kyle was so startled by the sound of somebody entering the bathroom behind him that he very nearly dropped his glass of water. He whirled around to the sight of Swan studying him intently.

"Oh. It's you. You scared me."

There was absolutely no change in her expression.

"Where are the others?"

Swan put her two hands together to form a makeshift pillow, pantomiming their present state of being.

"I see. They're asleep."

Kyle started to smell that intoxicating, ultrafeminine odor coming from her. His erection, which had only just started to fade to half mast, sprung to violent attention once more.

He tried to avoid what was happening by changing the subject. "Uh...what are you doing up? Shouldn't you be sleeping, too?"

The blonde Asian girl tried to explain in the only way that she knew how. She pointed tight at the bulge in Kyle's boxer shorts. It was the only thing that he was wearing.

Kyle wondered if this was a surreal dream. Maybe he hadn't really awakened!

Swan couldn't tell which way was up, or what was what. The only thing she understood was that she'd been awakened in an extreme state of arousal. She was on fire with lust and desire. It mattered little at this instant of time what the source of that desire was. It was just an itch. It was an itch that needed to be scratched.

Be it the grogginess of just waking up, or the disorientation of being on the receiving end of carnal emotions from the most virile of them all, Swan had to have relief. She had to have relief from this thing that had held her in its grasp ever since the transformation.

It was that which guided her hand to place it on Kyle's swollen member. She started to rub it, even though that part of her that was the very male Kevin didn't want to. Her name was "need", her purpose to be fulfilled.

"Are...you sure...Kevin?"

Swan nodded her head once.

But what Kyle wanted, more than anything else, was for this beauty to drop to her knees and take him in her mouth. He didn't want anything beautiful or meaningful. He wanted it down. He wanted it dirty.

All of which Swan felt all too well. All of which she recognized from the times that she...as he...wanted the same so many times.

The girl dropped to her knees, and yanked the boxer shorts down without much ado. There didn't seem to be a point in pretext at this point.

And then...she moved forward to take the large erection in her mouth. She slowly started to bob her head up and down. She felt the soft steel slide between her teeth. It glided smoothly over her tongue.

And she felt every part of Kyle's passion in her blood. They were caught in an erotic feedback loop.

"Oh...my...GOD!" Kyle yelled.

The former man knew just what to do to please a man.

Suddenly, Billy, David, Mike and Rachel burst into the bathroom.

"What's going o-"

They all stopped dead in their tracks. Kyle's manhood popped out of her mouth with a wet slurp. Swan looked up at them all, guilt in her eyes.

Then she burst into tears again.

***

The Irregulars discussed this latest twist and turn of events in their tumultuous lives.

"Explain this to us again, Kyle. How could you do something like that to Kevin? How could you take advantage of the situation?"

"I told you. I thought I was in a dream. I never thought Kevin would do something like that, so it made sense that it was just a dream. If I thought it was real, I wouldn't have done it. I don't like Kevin, but that is going too far."

Billy looked over to where Swan was sitting with Rachel. Rachel had her arms protectively around her.

"What's going on, Kevin?" Billy pointedly used her real name. "Why would you do that? You're still a guy, aren't you?"

She said yes with a gesture.

"Then what is it?"

She thought hard how to explain this new sense she had that constantly confused and overwhelmed her. She thought back about when she used to play charades with her family at Christmas when they were all together.

The new girl tugged on her ear lobe to denote the start of the "game."

"I know this game," blurted Tony. "Charades. Sounds like..."

Swan ran the palm of her hand along Rachel's skin.

"Touch?" guessed Greg.

She rolled her hands to indicate "close, but something else".

"Feel?" suggested Rachel from beside her.

Swan disengaged what she was doing to take both hands to pull against each other. She pulled her hands apart to try to communicate a lengthening.

"Feel...ing!" continued Rachel with her thought.

To which Swan put her finger on her nose. The next thing that she did was put the palm of her hand just above Rachel's left breast. There was no mistaking what that meant.

"Heart!" they all guessed simultaneously.

For the last item, the girl pointed to her head.

The guess by one of them was naturally, "Head?"

She shook her head "no".

"Brain?" said David.

Again, Swan put her finger on her nose. She rolled one hand to urge them to put it all together.

"Hmm," Billy considered.

Tony thought out loud, "Feeling, heart, brain. How do they all fit together?"

"Maybe if we add verbs or connectors," was the weak suggestion of Kyle, who only wanted to resolve this mystery.

To that, Swan got up from her place, slid gracefully to the door to the kitchen, went out, and closed it. A second later, she reentered, and tugged her ear. "Door?" was a guess.

"No...wait. She went out, and then came back in."

She almost jumped out of her skin.

"In? That's the word...in?" pondered Mike. "Feeling in heart?"

She put her finger on her nose. After a few more gyrations, Swan got them to use the word "in" again. They put it all together.

"Feeling in heart in brain? That doesn't make any sense."

Tony, naturally, put it all together. "It does if she's referring to empathy."

"What's that?" queried Rachel.

David answered this one. "That's where somebody can sense or feel the emotions of another."

Swan began to (fetchingly) jump up and down. Her boobs were flopping this way and that, her braids swinging wildly. It did nothing to improve the high state of arousal in the room from her mere presence.

"Of course. If somebody was empathic, make that newly empathic; they wouldn't be able to tell their own feelings from somebody else's. That is, until they got used to it. That would be especially true if it was strong empathy. Is that what happened, Kevin?"

She made them understand that it was a strong "yes". They'd figured out just what was happening inside of her.

"This keeps getting better and better," Billy remarked sarcastically. "New rule, for as long as this lasts. We need to constantly tell Kevin what we are feeling until she learns how to control her power. We all agree?"

They did.

"Now then, Billy. Tell us what happened to you last night," insisted Mike.

One sentence started it all, "Summer is real!"

They were all so intent on his story that nobody noticed a dark figure watching them from a window.

Chapter Twelve: Family Secrets

"As I said, it was dark where I was. But then, it was weird. The longer I was there, the more that I could sense things...even people. I don't know. The best way that I can describe it is like waking up after a deep sleep. You're kind of groggy for a while, but then everything starts to clear up."

"I know how THAT feels," acknowledged Tony, the late riser (slacker) of the group.

That earned Billy an eager bunch of nods, for he was able to relate his experience in terms, which they could all easily understand. All except the transformed Kevin, who was noticeably distracted by something.

Indeed she was. VERY distracted. On top of that, she found it increasingly difficult to follow the conversation of the group. Now, it wasn't that her incredible transformation made her dumber. In fact, she had as much, if not more, brainpower as her former physical form. And it wasn't that she didn't understand the words that they were using, either. Even though the pathway from the language centers of her brain to the written hand were interrupted, the knowledge of the language that she grew up with was still there.

No. She was experiencing something only handicapped people know. Specifically, people who go blind. As their sight grows progressively dimmer, their sense of hearing and proprioception grows more accurate. In advanced cases, it is almost like the echolocation that animals such as dolphins or bats develop.

So it was with the stunning Asian girl that used to be Kevin. Her empathic senses conveyed more information about the intent, motivation, etc. about the person that was speaking than the spoken word ever could! To a being such as she, only the tone of voice and inflection, the very manner in which it was spoken would be relevant. Naturally, as time went forward, and the reliance upon the spoken word faded away, there would be a tendency for such a person to NOT follow a conversation.

This is what Swan was now beginning to experience, although she could not know it at this time. That, and her extreme effort to sort through what were her own feelings from those of everybody around her were too taxing for her to even begin to make sense of it all.

Then add, on top of it all, the odd physical sensations of being shorter, smaller, and much, much weaker. Every time she even moved, there was the all-encompassing feeling of the big boobs on her chest jiggling, or that mass of hair (even though it was in a braid) getting in the way of everything.

How do girls deal with all of this, she wondered? Her poor mind hadn't even begun to process the fact that only moments ago, she was on her knees eagerly giving her archenemy the blow job of his life. Psychiatrists call it denial.

Still, there was one thing that she couldn't get over. Her inability to process the emotions of others made her very suggestible to what THEY wanted. The bottom line was that feeling their desire made her horny. Horny in a way that she could NEVER accept. She was a guy, damn it! She was considered a stud by some of the girls at high school.

Swan shivered.

And she didn't understand where that chill was coming from. It was like the chill in the air that signals an oncoming cold front. Yet the thermometer red a warm 72 degrees. She sensed this...darkness. Like the night falling. But something infinitely more dark...almost evil.

And THAT was what was distracting her from the conversation even further.

"You said your Granddad was there," mentioned Mike.

"Not exactly there. I didn't see him or anything. It was more like he was here," replied Billy, pointing to his own heart. "It was just that being there allowed him to have a voice to talk to me one last time."

They were all interested now.

"What did he say, exactly?" asked Rachel.

"He said that he was sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Sorry that he created such a mess by being so rash. He let his anger and pride get the best of him, and did something very, very foolish. Pappy said that it is up to me to set things right. It was my destiny or something."

"That sounds ominous," stated Tony.

"What else?"

"As I said, Summer is a real place. That's where he came from, and where I'm from. Pappy said that a long time ago when he made his mistake, he came to this world. He brought that ring with him so nobody in Summer could use it for bad things. There is one big bad guy there who wants this ring more than anything else."

Billy held up the ring so that the light from the kitchen glinted off the shiny metal surface.

***

The man just outside the window espied the thing, which was his goal. The ring was only a matter of a few steps away. He could just rush through the window and...no.

He would wait. Bide his time. He was too weak still to overpower so many.

The dark man could feel the immense magical power crackling like static electricity from the artifact. He felt that stray magic begin to refresh his limbs and senses. It made his blood boil. Such magic had not been felt in this Earth for many a millennia.

Not since...his birth.

He'd not felt such power since following the old man through the doorway to this fetid place. How could one such as he deign to flee to a place such as this? And now he was gone.

The dark man knew that he, too, would soon be gone if he could not open the doorway. It was so close. If he could even hold the ring, it would recharge him like a battery. Then he would show these stinking humans a thing or two.

He chuckled to himself, a deep rumbling belly laugh. The senses of these humans were so dull that they could not even see the magnitude of the thing that they held. It was everything.

It was all.

***

"Pappy told me that in order to make everything right, the ring has to be returned from whence it came. It has to be returned to Summer."

"Didn't you just do that?"

"You don't understand. He said that I could not be the one to carry it. It would have to be another. That is how he was able to come through that black doorway to here."

"Uh," Rachel had a question, "who was that person?"

"Granddad didn't say. All he would say is that the person died once they came over to our world. But somebody else came through the door, too. Somebody bad. Pappy said that he was there waiting in the shadows, ready to attack him. But watching carefully, once Pappy had opened the doorway, he jumped through. Before the dark one could get him. Then the one with the ring jumped through. Well, the dark one, when he saw Pappy and the ring slip through his grasp, he jumped, too. The thing is, he wasn't prepared to come here, while my Granddad was."

"Who is he? Where is he?" David prompted, for more information.

"Granddad calls him Nemesis Bane. At least that is the name that he uses on THIS world. Pappy kept tabs on him until he died. But Bane never knew where Pappy and the ring were. Pappy figured that Bane would never think to look in a place like South Harbor Island. I guess he was right."

"Wait a minute here," Greg interrupted the story. "Something doesn't add up. Didn't they jump through the door together? They would have ended up in the same place...according to the laws of physics, at least."

Billy elaborated on his previous dissertation. "I asked him, too. The first thing he said is that magic works completely different from physics. He told me to remember that always. However, when magic interacts with the laws of physics, weird things could happen. Because they jumped at different moments in time, they ended up in different places in the world."

Kyle added something, although it wasn't directly relevant to the topic of discussion. "If I hadn't already seen Kevin change in front of my eyes, I'd be saying all of this is bullshit. It's just so hard to believe."

"That doesn't make it any less true, knowing what we know. Go on, Billy," prodded Mike.

He laid a reassuring hand on Kyle's shoulder to steady the big guy.

That sense of darkness, a growing storm, was overpowering Swan now. She was starting to tremble now, where before it was just a shiver. A splinter in her mind. But...there was something about that darkness. It was so simple, so pure. There was beauty in that simplicity. There was peace in that purity. It felt like it was on top of her, or even looking over her shoulder.

With that, Swan looked carefully around the room at her friends. In doing so, she tried to open her newfound senses to their ultimate degree in an attempt to determine the source of the darkness. It was almost like a physical force assaulting her.

However, she also sensed that it was not coming from any of her companions.

The beauty fidgeted slightly in her chair, then looked over her shoulder toward the window.

***

The dark man carefully observed and listened to all that Billy had to say.

Then he saw a girl with her back turned to him start to squirm in her chair. He was able to figure out that the girl sensed his presence just from her mere aspect.

He saw her turn to look over her shoulder in his direction, forcing him to slink lower into his hiding place. He could still clearly see the party of humans.

It was only when she turned her full face to him that he showed any type of emotion. "By the Phoenix," he whispered. "It is She! How could she be here? It would explain...much."

***

"Pappy told me that the one who brought him here was very brave. He sacrificed himself knowing that he would perish here."

"That sounds kind of eerie. Why would he die here and not there?" A sound question by the gamer, Tony.

Tony was hastily assimilating the pieces of information related by Billy. He, out of the entire assemblage, had the easiest time grasping it all. A part of him always suspected that magic was real!

"He, my Granddad, and Bane were all immortal over there. They are mortal here. They could die. He and my Granddad did die."

"What about this Bane?"

"He still lives. What's more, Granddad warned me about using the ring EXCEPT to open the door. He said that Bane would be able to feel the use of the magic power from anywhere in the world. It'd be like sending up a signal flare. He'd come running."

"Oh, my God," blurted Rachel, "that means..."

"Yeah," Billy whispered. "We're all in danger. No doubt he felt the thing that changed Kevin. He's probably on his way here now."

"He may BE here now," somebody said.

There followed dead silence.

Still, Swan was craning her neck, searching in vain in the area of the window for...something. If she'd only been following the conversation, she may have a clue as to exactly what that something WAS!

"Didn't your Granddad ever use the ring? Not even once?"

"Once," Billy said slowly, and this one was causing him intense emotional pain.

They all waited.

"It was almost eighteen years ago. He waited until they were in New York City, until they were just about to leave. Pappy figured that he could use it just this once, and he could run back to here before Bane found him."

"They?" uttered Rachel.

"It was a family trip. Pappy insisted. Uncle Rick and his wife, my Mom and Dad, and Pappy all went. Uncle Rick left my cousin Peter at home."

"Yeah...and..." queried Kyle impatiently.

A tear appeared in Billy's eye.

"Pappy said he tried, but half blood was not enough. Only a child with his full blood could take his place and set things right. He said he tried with Rick, my Mom, and even Peter. But it wasn't enough. So he used the ring to make my Mom think Rick was my dad, and Rick to think my Mom was his wife. They...slept together. That was the night that I was conceived."

"That's exactly how Merlin used Uther to conceive King Arthur," mentioned Tony. It was completely lost in the gravity of the moment.

"Then your Uncle Rick is..." Mike started.

"My father," finished Billy. "He doesn't know. Pappy never told anybody. We all just went on living like nothing ever happened."

"Billy," David urged. "You have a father. He's still alive."

"Yeah, but how can I tell him...this? I can't. He would never believe me."

***

The dark man heard all that Billy told his friends. Every last word of it.

There was a grudging respect for his now departed adversary.

"Very clever, old man. Very clever, indeed. So this youngling has all of your blood. We shall see if he fares any better than you did."

***

The feeling was too much for Swan. She HAD to find out what was making her shudder this way.

So she got up from her chair, and began to gracefully walk toward the porch where this mess all started. All of her movements, all of her mannerisms were feminine through and through.

Thankfully, her strange compulsion was providing her some relief from her "transaction" with Kyle.

"I'm so sorry," sympathized Rachel.

They all saw Swan get up and walk away.

"Let her have some time," Mike said, "she's been through a lot."

They ALL glared at Kyle.

"I SAID I was sorry," tried Kyle, to no avail.

"Is there anything else we need to know?" countered Greg to Billy.

"Yes. Like I said, somebody other than me needs to open the doorway. Pappy said it has to be somebody stout of heart. Somebody brave. I figure that since Kevin and I have to go, she can open the gateway."

"You are going to need some help with her," Rachel pointed out.

"I can't ask you to go. Over there is magic. It's in everything. Pappy said that whoever goes there will...change."

"Change into what?" David wanted to know.

"It depends. He said that nobody could hide their true nature from magic. By going into the land of Summer, you will slowly change into that which you truly are inside."

Kyle laughed, "How do we know what we are inside?"

"The...game," Mike concluded. "We picked our characters and their traits by using what we are inside. If those characters are any reflection of that true self, then it's logical that we might become our characters."

"Holy shit!" more than one of them said. The possibility of actually becoming your own fictional character was too wild to even contemplate.

Although one of them was already contemplating it a little TOO well.

"Does that mean I'll become a chick, too?" Tony said insensitively.

Rachel cocked an eyebrow, "Depends. Is that who you really are inside? It'd be nice to have another girl around...even up the odds a little."

Tony didn't even have a chance to respond to Rachel's comment.

Instead, they all gasped as one.

There, at the opening to the kitchen was a dark clad man. He was huge. In front of him he had a swooning Swan. The man had one huge leather-clad hand wrapped around her slender neck, as if she were a puppet and he the puppeteer. There was no confusing their position.

He could snap her neck with the simplest of gestures if any of them tried to move.

"Bane!" spoke Billy.

"Ah," Bane acknowledged, in that deep bass of his. "I see you recognize me...my brother."

The Irregulars all looked from Bane to Billy.

Chapter Thirteen: The Doorway Into Summer

Nobody knew what to do. Nobody knew what to say.

On one side of the kitchen were Billy and the rest of the Irregulars, sans Swan. On the other was the intimidating presence of Bane. He had Swan quite literally in hand.

To the casual observer, it looked like she was on a hallucinogenic drug trip.

The closest of the Irregulars to Bane and Swan was Kyle. Tensions were...high...to say the least. It was as if they were all waiting to hear the dark man's terms.

They were all waiting for an explanation as to why he called Billy a "brother."

Leave it to Kyle to unwittingly lighten the mood. "Dude, when was the last time you bathed? You reek!"

"Bah," he scoffed at Kyle. The athlete didn't even merit words or a snappy comeback.

"What do you want, Bane?" Billy started the pseudo- negotiation, even though it was apparent to ALL of them that Bane didn't intend on leaving any of them alive.

The only thing that stood between them and utter destruction was the ring. This had to be played perfectly, yet they hadn't the time to discuss this potentiality yet.

Billy stood facing Bane with as much confidence as he could muster. He was still scared out of his mind. Both hands he had clasped behind his back, as if a drill sergeant inspecting his troops. The ring was in his left hand. David, as always, was shoulder to shoulder with Billy to his left.

"I think you know, youngling. I will have the ring."

Billy tried to dictate his own terms. "I'll trade you for the girl."

"What do you want of her? No idea, have you, of what she is."

That raised the curiosity of the rest of the group. This...thing...knew something about the girl that Kevin appeared to be.

Even Billy was intrigued. It gave him the opportunity of getting even more information, whilst simultaneously stalling for time. "And who exactly is she?" he demanded.

"You really know not? The old man was feebler than I believed to entrust you to set right what he put wrong. You know not even the actors in the grand play. How pathetic. It matters not that you know this, as it will be over once I have the ring and am away through the gate. Trapped in this place, you are as human as they. Mortal."

Bane shook Swan by the neck; she currently didn't even have the wherewithal to moan. "This is 'She Who Has No Name'. She was made so by, what did you call him...Pappy? How quaint."

"What did you do to her? Why is she like that?"

Meanwhile, Billy nudged David with his elbow. It took them only a few seconds to transfer the ring to David. It was a maneuver, which they'd used many a time in school when hiding things from a teacher. Billy glanced at David and winked.

David gave a knowing sign. He would wait for Billy to signal.

"Do not tell me that you have not deduced this creature's essential nature. I would be heartily disappointed."

"She's empathic. Extremely so."

"Very good, youngling. You'll make a good adversary yet. Nearness to one as powerful as I, has made her swoon thusly. Too powerful an emotion has subdued her. You cannot know why she was made so. Tell you this I will. With her death dies all hope. Ponder that."

Bane made a motion as if to close his grip, breaking Swan's neck like a twig.

"I sense that another soul animates her form. How can this be so?"

Billy got set to answer, as it was his game to play. He could only hope the others would play their parts when given the opportunity. As such, Billy gazed at Kyle. An exchange of winks acknowledged that he was in. Even though he was the slowest of the group, wits-wise, he still figured out that it was up to him to pull Swan away from the dark man at the right time. He would have to wait for a diversion.

The many times the group had played Dungeons & Dragons together, even after all of this time, served them well.

"It was an accident. One of our friends put on the ring, and he got changed into her."

"This form houses a male soul. What great jest."

"You called me brother before. Why?"

"Why? Can you not feel it? The same blood flows in our veins. We are kin, you and I. That ring you hold behind you is made from us. You must feel this?"

In truth, Billy did. He knew beyond any reason that he was related to the man veiled in shadows. How, he could not say, nor how he knew. Only that he did. "I...feel it."

"Good. Then let's finish this."

"Listen," Billy tried to reason with his relative, "you said all you have to do was take the ring, and go back to Summer. You can leave her here with us. Without the ring, we cannot hurt you."

"No. I will dispatch her. Once she is dead, then all hope dies. She and the ring are keys to all. Without her, no hope can there be. This I give you. Give me the ring, and I'll spare your life and those of these humans. Be grateful for that."

"Can we talk about it?"

Bane looked at all of the Irregulars. He sensed no threat from any of them, but lest they have any ideas, a show of power was necessary to warn them off. And he had gained enough power from proximity to the ring for a relative parlor trick. "One of your minutes I give to you. Observe you all this."

Bane concentrated, making the clothes that Swan wore start to squirm and then flow about her nubile form. Before anybody could even blink an eye, the clothes that she had been wearing (Rachel's clothes) had completely changed in texture and composition. Gone were the simple jeans and T- shirt, to be replaced by something much more elegant.

Each slender upper arm was encircled by a wide band of golden cloth. The Irregulars could see, even from their vantage point, that it was a cloth that was woven in gold itself. The band was about ten inches wide, so ended approximately where a short sleeve shirt (or T-shirt) would end. The only thing was that the band was not connected to anything on her upper arm. Her right forearm was also encased in a similar band that went from wrist to elbow. On Swan's left wrist were three bangles/bracelets made of the purest gold. There were strange golden rings on each one of the Asian beauty's fingers.

Her actual dress was just as unusual. For Swan now wore a chest piece that looked like a golden metal bra. Each cup had ornate symbols and runs, but worked much like a wonder bra to make the transformed boy's cleavage look even bigger than its already impressive size. The cups were fastened together by a large golden ring. The sides of the cups, where one would usually find a bra strap, were formed into a slender band that eventually became what looked like shoulder pads. It was actually a type of shoulder armor that extended a foot to a foot and a half from Swan's rounded shoulders. The shoulder plates were also covered with the arcane symbols and runes. The effect was quite unmistakable. It made the girl look like she had little wings, even though her real wings were not extended. The gold shoulder plates became as one behind the still swooning girl's head.

Around her neck she wore many necklaces of gold, jewels, and pearls. The magic that the dark man had conjured undid the work of Rachel's braid. Swan's hair was now loose and flowing to spectacular effect. Her hair looked much like the gold of her new outfit.

There was even less on the bottom. All the bottom contained was a belt of ornate gold. Again, there were the runes and symbols. From the center buckle of the belt was a triangle of the white silk that disappeared around the girl's loins.

For footwear, there were sandals with gold laces. Those laces crossed each other in fetching "X's" before terminating just below her knees.

Bane explained himself. "Even though she must die, she deserves the honor of perishing in her traditional raiment. She does not deserve to perish in that in which you had clothed her. One such as she merits honor, even from one such as I. What name have you called her?"

"We call her...Swan," squeaked Rachel, weakly.

"You know not how close you are to the truth."

With another gesture, Bane extended her wings fully, completing the image of a celestial angel.

"Have your minute. No tricks. As you have seen, I have more than enough power to deal with the likes of you."

In mere seconds, the Irregulars were huddled together out of the earshot of Bane.

"What are we going to do, Billy?" asked Mike quickly. Everybody was looking to Billy for answers now.

"Listen. We don't have much time. Rachel, give me one of your rings. The big one there on your thumb."

The girl gave their leader her ring without argument, even though it was given to her secretly by Mike.

"We are only going to have one shot at rescuing Kevin. I'm going to throw Bane this ring, Rachel's ring. I'll accidentally throw it by him so he will have to look away. If just for a second. Mike, I'll need you to put a shoulder into Bane to knock Kevin loose. Kyle, you snatch her and run."

"What about his power?" Tony pointed out.

"I think it was just for show, and he is depleted now. Would he have taken this long if he could have just turned us into frogs or something and been done with it? I...sense...that he is weak, despite his show. The only thing we'll have to worry about is his size."

"And the rest of us?" pondered Rachel, desperately.

"Run!" Billy instructed.

"To where?" she followed up.

Billy sighed, "Through the doorway. Into Summer. It's the only way. Otherwise, he intends to kill us once he gets the ring."

Greg protested, "We can't go in there. We don't know how long it will take before we can come back. If we can come back."

Billy shook Greg. "Think! You said I was in there for a second. Three hours passed for me. Time works differently there compared to here. If a year passes in there, how long will it take here?"

It only took David a moment to perform a simple mathematical calculation. "Less than an hour."

"We'll find a way. We are the Irregulars."

Greg continued with the calculations. "That means that your Granddad and this Bane have not been there for hundreds of thousands of years."

"Maybe millions," Billy corrected. "David has the ring. David, when I throw Rachel's ring, put that one on. The door should open close by. Everybody run for it."

"Wait a minute," mentioned Mike. "What if he goes through like before?"

"Hit him as hard as you can. Remember my Pappy's story. If you can create enough time before he jumps, it is likely he'll end up in a different part of Summer. That is out only hope."

They all clasped their hands in silent assent.

"One last thing. If we get separated, try to find somebody called Chronos. My Granddad said that he is something called a 'Paragon.' It sounds important. He told me that I must communicate through the Paragon, so that is as a good a place as..."

Billy's last instruction was interrupted by the booming voice of Bane. "What be your decision?"

"We'll give you the ring. You will spare our lives, right?"

While Billy spoke, they all fanned out, taking their places. The Irregulars were bravely ready to do their part when the time came.

"Of course," said the dark man. Although it couldn't be seen, one could almost feel a grin of victory forming beneath his veil of shadow.

Once everybody was in place, Billy simply said, "Here. Catch."

He tossed the ring toward Bane, but in such an arc as it flew over his head into the porch beyond.

Bane spat, "Rotting youngling; you'll pay for that."

No sooner did Bane look over his shoulder to determine the location of his prize, than the other Irregulars flew into action. Mike speared the dark man with a shoulder block worthy of Dick Butkas on a cold Chicago Sunday afternoon. Bane involuntarily released his grip on Swan as he himself went reeling into the porch with the false ring.

Kyle caught the light form of Swan in midair, draping her limp form over his shoulder. The girl's wings automatically, and thankfully, retracted into their resting place.

Meanwhile, David put on the real ring. A swirling doorway formed to his immediate right. All of the Irregulars ran to the opening of the doorway, but did not jump. They waited for Mike, Kyle, and Swan to get there before leaping. They all wanted to stay together as much as possible.

"Hurry," Rachel shouted to Mike, above the roar of the doorway.

It took them a second to join the others, and by that time Bane was already on his feet. He was making his way toward them.

The Irregulars all jumped as one. But not before Kyle got the last word to Bane. "You just fell for the oldest trick in the book, you jackass!"

Bane jumped through the doorway two seconds later, and just as the arcane doorway was starting to fade away.

The old house was silent, but for a swirl of dust in a stray slant of sunlight.

They were all gone...through the doorway into Summer.

***

They all awakened on a freezing, snowy field. There was naught but ice and snow as far as the eye could see. The skies were gray and gloomy, as if the sun hadn't shone on this place in many a year.

Bane was nowhere to be found.

The party quickly took a head count to make sure they all made it through okay. However, they were one member short.

Billy was gone.

End of Book 1 of the Summer Suite. This is a trilogy that is made up of three parts. The Doorway Into Summer. Summer. The Doorway Out of Summer. Stay tuned for Book 2 in a few months.

Raven