Chapter 12

Cam met up with Megan after training in the school parking lot. His double hadn't disappeared as he had hoped and he was taking up residence in Meg's back seat when he got in. Megan turned to him with an expectant look, but the last thing he wanted to do was relay the tale twice.

"I know you want to know what I saw, but can it just wait until we get to Lauren's?"

"Yeah sure Babe. It's only five minutes away anyway."Megan said as she started the car and threw it into reverse.

Cam was grateful that, of the entire gang, Lauren lived the closest to the school. He wanted to get this discussion over with so he could get to work on a solution to his problem. It was starting to look to him like the magical world was conspiring against him to keep him from finding the answers he sought, but he was going to have to start prioritizing better because he felt like shit.

While Cam sat quietly staring out the window watching the San Francisco neighborhoods fly by, one word kept running through his head:

WHY?

He couldn't figure out what the council was up to, but maybe together he and the gang could.

When they pulled up next to Lauren's house they could see that Xan's monstrosity of a motorbike was already there. He hoped they were all there, because he wanted to get this over with so he could have some alone time with Meg and figure out what to do with the lump of magical flesh in her backseat.

As if Meg could read his mind she asked, "Should we leave him in the car or bring him in?"

"Hell no! We're not leaving him out here. He might suddenly get a thought and run off on his own." Cam shuddered at the thought.

"Okay in it is then."

Cam opened the back door and grabbed his arm or the arm of his double. This was confusing and awkward, and he wished they had found another way to track the changelings. How was he going to reverse this; what if it was permanent?

He'd have to tell his father and for sure his father would ground him for so long that he would forget what sunlight looked like.

Would he end up with a magical mentally challenged twin brother? It would serve him right if he did. He should know better by now not to mess with magic, because it had a tendency to bite back.

How would his dad even explain that to this mom? Hey hun your first birth was actually a double birth, but you just don't remember. She'd never buy it. It sounded too much like the plot of a bad telenovela.

He was just thinking about how sharing his room was going to suck while Meg and he walked his twin into Lauren's house and sat him down on the living room floor. The Cam doll just sat there with his legs flopped out around him awkwardly.

It was weird to see himself in 3D. When he started looking more closely everyone else came forward to do the same.

"That is so effing cool Brah he even has your blackheads!" Kyle said in awe.

"Yeah all he needs is that stupid puka shell necklace you wear and we wouldn't know the difference." Travis blurted out.

"Hey!" Cam objected, "My dad gave me that!

The whole room erupted with laughter at Cam's indignation.

"Okay everyone let's get started," Zach interrupted, "I don't know about you but I'm dying to know what happened."

Everyone took a seat and he was lucky enough to nab the single overstuffed chair. Quickly he grabbed Megan's waist and pulled her down into his lap. He needed her nearness to get through the gory tale.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When he finished explaining what had occurred he looked around the room at their shocked faces.

Zach and Quinn were each holding one of Lauren's hands while they sat on the big comfy couch, completely unaware they were doing it.

Kelly had taken up residence in Xan's front pocket again while Donnie the cat sat in her lap. Even Marley, Liv and Ray were huddled together on the cramped love seat.

Kyle and Trav were sitting back to back like bookends.

It would appear they all agreed this was next Gen shit and seriously wrong on a whole new level.

Cam cleared his throat nervously and asked, "Does anyone have any clue why the council would replace students with changelings? I know they did it to us, but these kids haven't committed any crimes."

Lauren spoke up then, "Did you say one of the students was the first year witch?"

"Yeah I'm pretty sure, why?"

"Don't you recall the trials the council put us through? Every magical task they set her she achieved. I remember thinking it was pretty impressive considering she's a first year."

"So let's assume all the changelings are copies of the students who did well during the challenges of last week, what does that mean?" Zach interjected while nonchalantly rubbing the back of Lauren's hand.

"And where are they?" Megan added.

"Great, Quinn complained, "we never even got around to answering any of the questions from yesterday now we have half a dozen more to add to the list."

"That's it, Cam exclaimed, "Lauren can you grab the questions I think they might be helpful here?"

"Sure be right back," Lauren ducked out of the room and ran up to her room to retrieve the note book.

She was back in a flash with a pen to add the new questions as Cam thought clever girl.

"Okay Lauren can you read off the questions from yesterday. My new fact finding mission today might allow us to cross them off the list."

"Sure, here goes nothing."

"Why are the students acting funny?"

"Well we can cross that off we know the answer to that they're changelings." Ryan pointed out.

"that means we can cross out:

Was it an experimental obedience potion?

And if so why?"

Lauren added.

"We can also cross out:

Why are the mentors cooperating with the council?

Because they're not, or at least they're not, willingly.

We can also cross out:

Why aren't the student's going to training class?

We already know the answer to that one: because changelings don't need to train.

That leaves us with the remaining questions:

Why hasn't Xander heard any rumor's about what's going on?"

Marley interrupted then, "I think the NDA spell explanation covers that as well. You see in order to start a rumor someone has to be able to talk about the situation that started it and then someone else needs to be able to tell someone else and so on. Well with a NDA spell you can't do that. So it would make sense there aren't any rumors."

Liv wrapped her arms around her to congratulate her for her brilliance.

"Okay were crossing that one off too" Lauren agreed

That just leaves:

Why were we tested in training?

Why is the school on lockdown?

Why did Liam attack the Guard Headquarters?"

Connor pushed off the wall he was reclining on and exclaimed, "what if we're asking those questions in the wrong order?"

"What do you mean?" Zach asked as everyone in attendance sat forward.

"Well think about it this way: what came first?" Connor counted them out on his fingers, "the attack on HQ, then the lockdown, then the challenges?"

"OMG!" CJ exclaimed. He was obviously coming to conclusion the others weren't, so their attention switched to him"

"I think Connor's on to something."

"Think about it guys," he continued, "the beserkers attacked the guard's headquarters killing most of the guards, which left a huge number needing to be replaced. Maybe it takes a long time to get replacements in from other HQs around the globe? Or maybe the council doesn't want to openly admit their weakness here in San Fran? Why even bother when, in the meantime, you have more than enough halfbloods to fill their shoes right in San Francisco. Do you really think the council would care if the students are too young to fight? No they would only care if they were gifted enough to make a difference. That's why they tested us! "

"OMG!" Brenna interjected, "the council's enforcing conscription early to increase their numbers and replacing the students with changelings so the other kids don't find out. They don't want to start and wide scale panic." She gulped frankly looking pretty panic stricken herself.

Connor came over to her and rested his hand on the back of the kitchen chair she'd grabbed to sit on earlier.

"That only leaves why attack the guard and why guard the school. We're not exactly a precious commodity in the council's eyes; they've proven it with their actions?" Lauren added

"But what if they were protecting something valuable at the headquarters and decided once it was attacked it was too vulnerable there and moved it to a more secure location?" Ollie whispered as if someone might be listening.

Wooh where had Ollie come from?

Damn everyone was on edge. When he looked around the room every face that looked back at him mirrored his feeling. They all looked like they were watching the world's scariest horror movie and had suddenly gotten sucked in to the screen.

"The only other secure location in San Francisco is the school." Zach voiced what everyone else was thinking.

"So that's it," a tight shiver ran up Cam's spine. "The council's hiding something at the school, and we're all in jeopardy of being conscripted early. "

"I don't think that's quite true," Lauren objected, "I don't think we're all in jeopardy."

"Why is that?" Cam cocked an eyebrow skeptically.

"Because I think I recall that the first year witch has Unenlightened parents. Think about it," she continued, "If you were going to abduct kids as young as her you'd want to do it in secret and any Enlightened parent would see the ruse of a changelings in a New York minute. The entire magical community would be up in arms."

"So what you're saying is that the council has no intention of returning her?" Ollie's voice went up a whole octave in his panic. Ray squeezed his shoulder to reassure him.

"Well they're certainly preparing for the worst." Lauren sighed.

"Yeah the odds are not in a thirteen year olds favor if she's going head to head with a berserker. If they returned her they might have to do it in pieces." CJ said ruefully.

Cam looked around then, and if it was possible, everyone was even paler than before, some of his friends actually looked a little green. He knew he was feeling pretty sick about it himself.

"Guys were just spinning our wheels now. Let's go home and sleep on it maybe we'll be able to come up with some useful solutions by morning. I know I have a couple of other things to deal with." Cam punctuated his announcement with the mother of all yawns.

"Which reminds me," Cam winced, "does anybody know what I should do with Cameron 2.0?"

When Lauren suggested that he should leave him at her place until they could figure out a solution he literally hugged her so hard he nearly crushed her tiny body.

She had to squeaked out a 'you're welcome' before he realized he was doing it.

Letting her go he followed Meg out to the little beetle, and once in the passenger seat he let out a jagged sigh of exhaustion.

He hadn't slept since yesterday and if he hoped to get any work done tonight they were going to have to stop off at Starbucks; he could hear a Venti Espresso Macchiato calling his name or maybe two.

He fell asleep before they made it there though so instead she drove him home. Once there she insisted he go straight to sleep. She informed him that if he continued to burn the candle at both ends he'd get sick, and a sick Cam was a whiny Cam, and she was having none of that.

When she dragged him to his room and crawled into bed with him he was asleep in seconds curled up against her luscious body. And it was only pure exhaustion that left him unable to take advantage of their close proximity.

But he dreamt of a beautiful mermaid that swam next to him in the crystal blue ocean deeps and he dreamed he was happy.

The alarm woke him for his nightly swim.

He wanted to drift off again to be with his Meg, because in the real world: he felt cold, alone, and forsaken.

Where was his father? Why wasn't he back yet? Had he found what he was looking for? Was what he was doing dangerous? What if he never came back? What would happen with his family? What would happen to him? Would he be taken by the council if his father never came home?

Cam started retching then and dove for his adjacent bathroom. He threw up his guts even though he had nothing in it. There was only bile, so he rejected that instead. He was glued to his too cold bathroom floor with the worst case of dry heaves in recorded history.

His body felt feverish and his skin felt prickly. The ache in his bones was weirdly absent though as he agonized over if he'd screwed with his delicate physiology by taking the potion. Had he signed his own death warrant in his hubris? He was too sick to swim so he just collapsed on the cool tiles of his personal bathroom. And as the room faded out he thought: this is it . . . a damn I'm screwed!

****************** THANKS FOR READING********************

I hope you all liked this chapter -- How do you think Cam's going to find a solution for his problem if he's ancient dad couldn't even do it?

What do you think the council hiding at the school?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.

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