Lola was in my room and yelled to be heard from the living room:

"Good night Dolores!"

Why is she behaving like this? Is she trying to give them some clues?

She came now closer to me and whispered:

“Are you going now?”

I nodded.

“Yeah. Give me another second to arrange my hair.”

She grinned:

“OK, Take care!”

She kissed me on my cheek and whispered further:

“I want a complete report!”

Then she finally left.

I rolled my eyes. White Flower was not very fond of Lola but abstained now from commenting. She was concentrating on my look.

“I cannot let you go with this face!”

I protested.

“What do you want? This is my face.”

I heard her sight.

“Let me make at least a little hair arrangement, ok?”

Hair arrangement. OK, she can do that. I accepted.

I had not expected what she did. She made my hair cover my right side, the wounded side, almost entirely. She was looking satisfied in the mirror.

“How did you do that?”

I was whispering in her mind as I was not in the lead.

“It is only an illusion” - was her surprising answer - “It looks good, isn't it? Even if it is illusory, it reacts to touch, see, like this? I can move it, plus I can see through it!”

Illusory hair! Covering my wounds. I was astonished to see what she could do. That was pretty cool!

“I want to learn to do this. Can you train me?”

What better way to learn to do magic than let my magic-alter-ego teach me?

“Of course, but I do not think you will be able to do any spells once we separate.”

“Oh? Why that?”

“Because I do not feel magic in you... Oh... I can feel your disappointment… You know I might be wrong… besides, if we stay longer together, you may cultivate some magic aptitudes… it may happen...”

Is she trying to blackmail me to keep her longer?

“So, will you train me?”

“Sure, but you need to work harder than you showed until now.”

I sighted. As if my mother would have spoken: you need to work harder if you want to have success in life. Yes, ma!

I was now back in the lead as she was finally satisfied with how I looked. I must say she did a pretty good job.

I opened the window. I looked left and right to make sure nobody was accidentally watching.

I had a pair of tennis shoes on that I had to change once I'd made my descent, my 'proper' shoes already waiting for me more than four meters below where they landed on the grass.

The old tree had a hanging branch precisely towards my window. I only needed to catch the branch, make it to the trunk and get down along it.

“I want to see Lola doing these gymnastics.”

“You are right. She never did it yet, but she knows I use the window to evade from time to time.”

“Which way now?”

“Wait and see.”

I exchanged my shoes and put my tennis shoes in a tree hollow. They will bravely wait there for my return.

Tim was living not far away from us.

It was a quiet neighbourhood, close to the camp, with no big fences, just some low bushes or sometimes flowers delimiting the gardens.

I walked through the dark streets.

“You are not afraid?”

I laughed: “This is no dark woods as in Mephisto’s land!”

“Why do you call it Mephisto’s land? I lived in the Evergreen Woods! Those were not his lands! Call it Dreamland; that sounds better.”

“Dreamland is much bigger and includes many different worlds, of which Mephi's is just one. The biggest indeed, but just one of many. You’ll see it when we go back to the game; this is how everybody calls the game.”

I'm getting used to talking to myself. In the end, I'll miss her. I laughed at the thought. I was feeling better.

Ma and pa have been here, and they had no doubts about my sanity. The Robertsons also. So I am ok.

Take it easy, Dolores, be normal. Small steps, learn and try to understand.

I raised my head.

“Well, we are there; it is that house.”

“It seems very quiet. Are you sure there is a party inside?”

“I thought you knew nothing about parties?”

“Hey, I said I do not remember the last time I was invited, not that I do not know how parties are… spawns parties are noisier. Even birds make funnier parties!”

“Birds make parties?”

Interesting personality I have. I knocked at the door.

After a short while, the door opened, and a surprised voice greeted me:

“Dolores!?”

“Hi, Tim.”

“Hi! Is Lola with you?”

As he said that, he looked around. Is he afraid she might be with me?

“No, she could not come; you know how she is after the accident… not so well yet...”

“Oh. Yes, you are right” - he sounded relieved by my answer - “come in. How are you feeling? Great to see you could come! Does it hurt?”

“No. It only looks like Halloween on one side….”

I entered. True, it was not as noisy as I expected, but soon another group of five or six appeared, and the party started to roll. Nice of him to ask about how I feel. He tried at least to be polite. Well, I am his girlfriend's best friend and sort of friend, even if it did not really work between the two of us. He was too superficial and judged girls only based on how interesting they were for him to have sex with them. Obviously, Lola was higher in his ranking than me, which did not disturb me at all.

“Who is that guy?”

“It is Joe.”

“Why do you look at him like this?”

I felt my cheeks getting red. Well, my other self discovered my kryptonite. Drats, Joe here and I have a Halloween class cheek. Bad Karma.

“What do you mean?” - I asked, not willing to tell much

“Hi hi, you like him.”

“And if it was so? Obviously, I cannot hide it from you!”

“Hi hi, this is true. Why don’t you talk to him?”

Oh, stop the hihi. Even my alter ego laughs about me?

“Because he does not give a damn about me. He does not like me.”

“Not possible. You are such a nice girl!”

Compliments from my alter ego. Did I get so low? Does she try to compensate now?

“Thanks, but it is so. Actually, and that is the painful thing, he likes Clara.”

“Clara?”

“Yes. She broke with him a couple of weeks ago, but they say he still lounges for her. She never really appreciated him as younger than her, but she used him. That's Clara”

“May I?”

“What?”

“Let me talk to him?”

“Oh no. Don't try; you’ll ruin it. He does not like me, that’s all, but at least we are cordial, better than being the over-attached girl from whom he has to run, you know what I mean? And give Clara ammunition to laugh about me? She dropped him, but he does not even look at me?”

“Oh, don't worry, he will not run away. Let me talk to him, please?”

“Hm… O.K. But if you fail this, you will not lead for a week and speak only when I ask you. Deal?”

Heh, if I am to make a fool of myself, at least let me have some benefits.

“If I win, you let me lead any time in the coming week whenever I want? Deal?”

Lol, she is trying to bargain with me, but this does not look like a bad deal.

“Deal!”

After all, why not? Let's try to see how my other self is doing this. It is still me, isn't it? It is a manifestation of my character that somehow impersonated in my brain through that dream interface. At least I am not so crazy to do things that I do not remember.

To my surprise, White Flower did not go to him. She went directly to the bathroom.

“Getting cold feet? What do you want to do?”

“OK, for this operation, we need more preparation. Look at yourself!”

“What’s wrong with how I look? You just fixed the hair?”

White Flower did not answer, raised only her shoulders, letting out a sight. She started to put everything in order; this is what she called it. It took her only about 2 minutes, but I must confess she did some outstanding work to my surprise.

“Did you change something through magic?”

She looked so good that I was not sure she was not cheating in a 'magic' way.

“Well, some kind of little tricks to make things look shiny and pretty, nothing that you couldn't do even without magic, but I am more efficient. I put your hair better in order, changed your eyeshade colour, your brows were done wrong, your lipstick colour was horrible, and your taint, now really, Dolores, you gave it the wrong colour... and...”

I wanted to give a deep sight but could not… Not being in the lead. She gave me the time to look at myself. I continued to grouch, but I was being unfair to her; I was looking much better now; I was surprised to see the girl in the mirror and realize it was me. I can look like this!?

She went out and headed for the main room. In a mirror, I saw myself advancing. How is she doing this? I never moved so felinely gracious; I am rather the broom type.

I felt the boys were watching me, but she did not seem disturbed by this. Good that I was not leading; I would certainly stumble upon my feet from stress. She was moving naturally and confidently; sometimes, a split personality is a blessing!

Joe saw me and waved with his hand

“Dolores? Hey Dol!”

He said that with a note of pleasant surprise. It was not his usual bored look.

As she came closer, she grinned and stopped in front of him.

“Enjoying the party?”

Ding, ding! My breasts greeted him from under the blouse as she moved from foot to foot, changing the centre of gravity, my bones moved slowly, moving my hips whilst my head hung on one side. Of course, the healthy half of my face was for him to see. My long eyelashes (are my eyelashes so long?) blinked shortly.

“Starting to enjoy it, and you?”

He replied with a smile I'd never seen before on his face when he was looking at me. As if he would show me thumbs-up for my look.

Well, that was only the start-up. She sat near him on the couch, chatted with him and even touched him slightly to point out something. I was simply drooling behind those eyes that were looking at him, enjoying any moment.

She even told him about Tim, that I am here to check on him, and both laughed over this, even if I despaired.

Later on, Joe went to bring some drinks, and White Flower used the opportunity to talk to me:

“How am I doing?”

“I never managed to talk to him so long; you did well; keep on going!”

“Don't forget about the lead for the coming week… By the way, who is that guy?”

“What do you mean?”

“He is sitting there near the table? He was watching you from time to time. I think he likes you!”

“Oh, that is Matthew. It’s new in our class, unfortunately, a poor loser….”

“I like him. Why do you call him a loser? Hihi, look again.”

“Now concentrate on Joe. You are doing well, but you only started; if you screw it, gone is the week. Don't flirt with that idiot. Look at his doggy eyes and open mouth; he will soon start salivating like Pavlov's dogs. And he looks like the neanderthal at the human exposition.”

“But I like him; he looks open, sincere, straightforward.”

Now, this is funny. I never thought I could not agree with myself on boys. Yeah, I was always a bit hesitant, that is true; maybe this is the reason why I am still single when almost all other girls have their friends. I do not look really that bad. I would say I look at least acceptable, but even girls that look worse than me have already had at least one boyfriend. And I am eighteen (being two months older than Lola) and had none. Sight.

“Flo, don’t drive me crazy. I hate that loser. Joe is my option. Joe ok, Matt loser, Joe ok, Matt loser, clear?”

I had been calling her Flo for some time. White Flower was too long, and Flo was much better. Getting cosy with my alter ego.

“Hmm, well, maybe a week's lead is worth it.”

When Joe came back, he invited me to dance, then we chatted again and then danced again.

Dancing with him was a surreal experience for me.

If I were there, I would tremble. But I was there, and she did not shake. She asked me a couple of times to take over, but I refused. I did not dare yet. I could enjoy it, let the feelings overwhelm me, savoured any moment and still be sure that she did everything perfectly.

Splitt personality, I love you!

Several others joined us, between them Janice, Clark and Thomas. After a while, we went to play snooker in the basement. It was intimate and romantic there, and we had a lot of fun.

I heard Janice talking with Clark about Clara. The two, together with Thomas, were Clara's colleagues, and for sure, my escapade with Clara's ex will reach her ears very soon, but Joe seemed not to care, and since Flo allowed him to kiss me (actually my neck) he had sought contact with my skin very often. Yes, he showed me how to play, helping to guide my hand and so on.

After the third game, Clark went to the toilet, and I went with Joe upstairs for another dance round. Thomas went with Janice to the kitchen to grab some food. Once we arrived in the room with the music, only a couple of pairs were dancing. A group of five was sitting in a corner and talking in a low voice. Joe embraced me immediately, and we started to move slowly in the rhythm. He then kissed me on my neck. Again. It was a simple, tender kiss, and I was in the ninth heaven. My heart bumped in my chest.

I could not believe my luck. I could not believe it was happening. As we made another break and Joe went to bring more wine, Flo asked me:

“Do you want to take over? I think he wants to kiss you and makeout, you know?...”

Take over? Me? My knees will get weak, and I will lose my balance instantly.

“No, please … you do it!”

“Oh, don't exaggerate. Look, I did it for you. I can feel your feelings, but frankly speaking, I am not sure I want to make out with him.”

“Oh, please, please! I can feel I am here! Do not let me alone! I'll panic!”

“Oh, come on. This is not ok!”

“Please, please, please? You get a whole month to decide when you lead, but please, please, please?”

She sighed, then laughed a little.

“OK, I started this; I'll do it for you, but kissing him will be expensive...”

“What do you mean?”

“I am not sure, but I will ask for fair trade. I won't go further; kissing is my limit.”

“OK, sure. Whatever. A little makeout is included, hm?”

I got only a grumble as an answer. This does not mean no, isn't it? I was wondering, what will my alter ego ask for as a price for kissing him? Joe came back with two full glasses and sat with a smile near me.

The fuck why am I so afraid to make out with him? She is so confident, poised and calm. Why can't I be like her? He has always been my dream, and she conquered it one evening?

“By the way, how is your victim progressing?”

He was asking about Tim. Flo shrugged:

“To tell the truth, I lost him.”

“Hm, I haven't seen him anywhere; it could be that he went to the upper rooms.”

Flo took the bait:

“I wonder what for? Are there other games like the snooker up there?”

He had a mischievous grin.

“Hm. Good question. Should we check?... We could just stumble upon… by accident.”

“So, do you want to go with him? This sounds like an invitation to visit the house?”

At first, I thought she had asked me again to take the lead. I was still numb and emotionally charged one hundred per cent; therefore, I could hardly follow their conversation, my legs still trembling in my inner world. Is it really happening? Am I really on the verge of becoming his girlfriend?

“Oh sure, please...” I finally managed to answer her.

“Well, maybe I'll check shortly...”

He answered laughing:

“Hey, I cannot leave you alone on such a dangerous journey, and it is the best pretext to check the rooms.”

We went in the direction of the stairs, I hanging at his arm with my body touching his at each step and chatting happily. We were almost dancing. I felt excited and felt his excitement.

On the stairs, I felt as if all were watching us. Maybe they did. Flo stopped, and Joe put an arm around me again. He then continued whispering in my ear:

“It is funny; we have known each other for almost a year, we are colleagues, but I have the feeling I have never really known you before.”

“Well...”

Flo was going to answer him with something wise, and meanwhile, I could enjoy it.

Yes, baby, yes! It is real; it is me! I was feeling great! It was not like a film you watched; it was so much more; I was there, touching and feeling his fingers on my skin. His hand was now around my waistline; his fingers slipped a little under my shirt, dragging me with more power against his body. My leg was touching his leg, and my breathing accelerated. Feelings submerged me; my heart was beating harder, faster, stronger. There was something in the air around us; you felt you could almost touch the tension between us, and I felt his accelerated breathing on my neck.

Strange, even if not in the lead, my feelings reflect in my heartbeat, my breathing, which means that it is still me here under my split-personality-alter-ego. But what does Flo want to do? Can she no longer wait for us to go upstairs? Does she want to give a kissing show here on the stairs?

She acts as if she would have some other priority suddenly. Confused, I felt a different tension building up in Flo, fear and hesitance. What was wrong? What does she fear? She stayed on the stairs, resisted his push and finally looked behind and saw him, the cause of her fear.

She said, shocked:

“… a Warlock!”