A/N: Here it is, Chapter 4! It took awhile, but I finally got it done. I'll probably go over it again for spelling/grammar/etc, since it's pretty long. Really long, actually. Four times as long as Chapter 3. I-just-doubled-the-number-of-words-in-this-story long. Watch as people complain about it being too long. I could've split it into two chapters, but I wanted to get the plot moving.

Stalker

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The weeks passed, and life had settled back into the usual routine. Wake up, go to school, go home, procrastinate on homework, repeat, all the while waiting for the weekend.

Holly walked down the hall, on her way to 3rd period.

I tried not to dwell on the monotonous state my life was in. Instead I entertained myself by going along with the boring everyday things that happened to Holly. I gave her useful bits of information, most of which came from her own brain. I had learned to recognize certain people by magic, some of which Holly didn't even know. Sally was behind us, running to catch up; Amanda was on the other side of the school; and the boy who picked his nose in Social Studies was a few halls away.

“Lemonade alert,” I told Holly.

“Where?” she asked me silently, carefully not making any physical movement.

“B hall,” I answered.

“Thanks.”

Holly abruptly changed her course, taking a different route to her next class. It was a bit longer, but it was worth it to avoid Lemonade. Her real name was Evagell, and she seemed to think that she and Holly were best friends. In reality Holly couldn't stand her. She was annoying, whiny, and bratty. Her codename was Lemonade because every day she drank a lemonade juice box.

Last year, during the class trip to Raging Waters, someone had called out a warning of her presence. The lifeguard heard, and thought they meant that someone had peed in the pool. The rumor quickly spread, until almost everyone was out of the water. It had taken awhile for Holly and her friends to realize what had happened. They simply laughed and jumped back in, saying that it was a false alarm. Evagell had been completely clueless about what had actually happened.

I smiled at that memory. Holly could be boring at times, but she had a few good stories.

I looked around again. Sally looked confused; she was probably wondering where Holly had gone. I shrugged and let her go on in the dark.

Holly arrived at Social Studies just a moment before the bell rang. She sighed and started taking out her materials.

“Quiet, Class!” Mr. Dumples said in his nasally voice, which reminded Holly of a duck. Everyone quickly shut up, knowing that he would give out referrals at even the slightest provocation. He cleared his throat and nodded. “Today we're going to learn about manifest destiny. Does anyone know what it is?”

A few people raised their hands. Holly knew what it was, but didn't bother. It wasn't like he ever called on anyone.

Mr. Dumples didn't even look up. “I didn't think so,” he said, sounding satisfied that he knew something we didn't. “But never fear, for I will tell you!” He made a sound that could've been interpreted as a chuckle. “It was the idea that the United States...”

Holly tried to focus on what he was saying, but it was impossible. She understood the words, but her mind seemed incapable of putting meaning into the sentence. Instead she pictured a vivid image of a fuzzy yellow duck. She blinked it away and made another attempt at listening to him.

“Significant because...”

It was no use. She couldn't do it. Her eyelids drooped, but she didn't dare close them. Falling asleep was the worst thing you could do in Mr. Dumples' class. It was practically suicide, only with worse consequences.

“If you don't listen, I won't be able to help you on the test,” I warned her. It wasn't like I cared if she flunked the test; I really couldn't care less. Why was I helping her then? Well... what else was there to do? Technically it wasn't cheating. I never told her something she didn't already know. I just gave her memory a little nudged or pushed two thoughts together. I never actually learned the stuff myself, and I didn't want to either.

“Screw the test,” she muttered, very softly and barely moving her lips.

I looked around the room. Only one person seemed genuinely interested; the rest were fighting against sleep. I extended my vision to the nearby classrooms. They weren't as dull as this one, but they were hardly exciting.

“That's all for today,” Mr. Dumples croaked.

Huh? I didn't remember drifting off for that long. I wasn't the type to fall asleep without noticing. Everyone else in the room seemed equally surprised.

Holly looked up at the clock. Barely ten minutes had passed since the beginning of the period.

“But Mr. Dumples,” a brave student spoke up. “The period just started.”

“What? Oh, yes—you have an assembly now,” he waved his hand dismissively. “You all know where to go. Shoo.”

Holly didn't need to be asked twice. She and her classmates poured out of the room toward the cafetorium. They didn't know what the assembly was about, but anything was better than Social Studies.

When they arrived, Holly quickly searched for Amanda.

I could see her, but I decided to wait for her to ask.

Holly hesitated, then said, “Do you see Amanda?”

I nodded motionlessly and pointed.

Holly turned her head automatically and immediately saw her friend. She pushed her way through the crowd and sat down next to her. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Amanda greeted her, moving over to make room. “I can tell this will be boring already.”

Holly grunted. “Anything is better than Social Studies.”

Amanda grimaced. “So, so true.” She wasn't in the same period as Holly was, but she also had Mr. Dumples.

The assembly turned out to be about peer pressure and such. I listened on and off, only paying attention to the interesting bits. Which wasn't much.

I sensed a change in Holly's mood, and started listening again. They were about to talk about something they called “reproduction.” I didn't ask directly, but I searched Holly's mind for what she knew about it. That little bit was enough for me. I completely tuned out for the rest of the assembly, making myself deaf even to Holly's thoughts until we had left.

“That was...” I didn't have to finish the sentence.

Holly nodded her agreement.

Something familiar caught my eye. “Look over there,” I said to Holly.

She looked, and saw a boy. He was tall, but not overly so. His hair was dusty brown and his green eyes had a calm, calculating look to them.

“That,” she told me, still staring at him, “Is called a hunkster.”

“It's him,” I muttered, more to myself than Holly.

“What, you know him? Is he like your boyfriend?” She was getting excited.

“The boy from the alley. That's him.”

“What? No way! That guy was a total nerd,” Holly shuddered when she remembered that... incident. She had forgotten about it awhile ago, and didn't appreciate it being brought up again.

“It's him,” I said more confidently. I had specifically memorized his magical ID. They were the same person.

But Holly had another problem. “He's coming over here!” she panicked. “What do I do? I think he saw me staring at him.”

I didn't answer. It was important that he didn't get even the slightest clue that I was here. Not like he could know. I guess it was more of an instinct than anything else.

“Hey,” he said casually.

“Hi,” Holly answered shyly, feeling herself blush. Whatever Tameryn said, she didn't believe that they were the same person. “Are you new?” Stupid! What if he wasn't? Then she would sound like an idiot for asking.

“Yeah, how did you know? Is it that obvious?” he asked, his green eyes widening slightly.

“No, no,” Holly assured him, her face burning. “I guess I just have a knack for that sort of thing.”

He smiled at her. His teeth weren't perfectly straight of white, but they suited him. “Could you tell me where A-15 and M-3 are? Those are my last two classes.”

Holly felt disappointed, but tried not to let it show. “A-15 is right down that hall on the right, and M-3 is at the end of it.”

“Thanks,” he said, waving at her and walking off.

Holly smiled at him. “No problem,” she said cheerfully. When he was out of earshot she sighed loudly. He had only wanted directions. But he had chosen to ask her. That last thought made her brighten a bit.

“This is perfect,” I broke in, ignoring her stupid crush.

“What is?” she asked, confused.

“Now you know where his last class is. We can follow him.” The plan was beginning to form in my head. We would follow him and see where he went. Hopefully he would lead them to where ever the thing was, and I would be able to get a closer look.

“No way! You can't really think they're the same person!”

“Don't worry, we won't do anything,” I said irritably. “We'd just be looking.”

Holly sighed. “Why do you want to follow him, anyways?”

“I think he has something. Something that doesn't belong to him.” It was partially true. I could tell that it was precious, much too valuable for someone like him to have.

Holly blinked. “Well... I guess there's no harm in taking a look.”

I smiled. “That's the spirit.”

4th and 5th periods seemed to last only an instant. For the first time in her life, Holly was dreading when the bell would ring. Usually she was desperate to leave math, and since it was the last period of the day she would've been even more impatient. But today the clock went mercilessly fast. She knew that as soon as the bell rang, Tameryn would make her go after... She just realized that she didn't even know his name.

Beeeeeeeep!

There it was. Holly packed up slowly and dragged her feet as she walked.

“Hurry up!” I growled at her. “We have to make it to M-3 before he leaves.”

Holly sighed, but obediently walked faster. Nothing was physically forcing her to do it, but she knew that if she didn't then she would never hear the end of it. Better to just get it over with.

I watched him carefully, silently willing Holly to walk faster. Her subconscious seemed to pick up on it even though she didn't, for her pace quickened. He was still in the classroom. He seemed to be talking to the teacher. Good. It would buy us time.

“Wait,” I said as we arrived at the end of the hall. “I'll let you know when we can go.”

Holly fidgeted impatiently. Hanging out at the end of a hall felt weird. She should be rushing home right now, not stalking hot guys under the orders of the voice in her head. The reality of what a freak she was acting like hit her, and she considered leaving. But in the end she gave in. There was no arguing with Tameryn.

It was about time she caught on to that.

“What happens if he leads us to the alley?” she asked uncertainly.

“We follow,” I answered bluntly, stating it like the obvious.

Holly sighed. She couldn't have expected much else. After all, it was Tameryn.

“Time to go,” I told her.

Holly trotted off, a grim frown on her face.

I tracked the boy and guided Holly in the right direction. I knew that she couldn't see where he was, but she didn't ask how she knew where she was going. She merely accepted it and kept walking. Finally, she was starting to act like a real host.

As I had predicted (though I hadn't told Holly), he led us to the same alley.

Holly hesitated. She didn't want to be caught following him. How would she explain it? 'You see, there was this voice that only I can hear, and she told me to follow you.' She flinched at how crazy she sounded. This wasn't crazy in a good way; this was outright insane.

“Keep going,” I ordered her distractedly, my thoughts elsewhere. The air in the alley had a peculiar feeling, which hadn't been there before. Or maybe I just hadn't noticed it. I couldn't decide exactly what was different. It was more of a feeling than anything else.

Holly went to the edge of the alley, then refused to go on. No matter what Tameryn said, she wouldn't go in there.

I shrugged. It didn't matter. I could watch him from here. His glowing outline stood out starkly in my magical vision. He turned a corner, then seemed to disappear. I frowned and quickly searched the area around us. There was no sign of him for a mile in every direction.

“It's okay, Holly,” I said glumly, “He's gone. You can go down the alley now.”

“Why would I want to do that? It's only asking for trouble. What if the police come?”

“There aren't any cops around here,” I told her. I was constantly pointing out the obvious to her. “And even if there were, you aren't doing anything wrong.”

“No, I'm just stalking a guy,” she said sarcastically, “Nothing wrong with that.”

I growled. “You can say you're taking a shortcut home.”

“But it's a dead end...”

“What?” For once I was the confused one. “But he turned a corner.”

“He couldn't have,” she tried to sound confident, but doubt trickled into her voice.

“Only one way to find out.”

Once again, Holly found herself resigned to Tameryn's will. She peeked down the alley, then cautiously entered. Just as she had thought, it was a dead end. There was a dumpster and a few old, bent trash cans, but it definitely didn't lead anywhere.

“I could've sworn...” I trailed off, dumbfounded. He had taken a right. But through Holly's eyes there was a wall right there, solid as all the rest of it was.

“Are you convinced yet?”

“Shush. I'm thinking.” How was it possible? I looked around with my magical eye, flicking through the different types of vision. I searched for material, technological, and even magical barriers, but the wall was still just that—a wall.

Frowning, I remembered the strange feeling the alley had. I focused myself onto it, closing my eye and ignoring Holly's until I had a firm grasp on it. Then I opened my eye slowly.

The wall was gone. In its place was a second alley, perpendicular to the first. This one also seemed to be a dead end, but that wasn't what interested me. There were two people standing at the end of it. One was the boy, and the other was a stranger.

They spoke in whispers, which I could barely hear.

“You sure about her?” that was the stranger.

“As sure as I can be without knowing,” the boy answered.

“It takes discipline. It's not something just anyone can do.”

“I know. I think she can do it. There's something about her...”

“Can we go?!” Holly hissed out loud. I tried to gag her, but it was too late. They had heard.

They exchanged a glance, then the stranger spoke. “You go ahead. I'll deal with whatever it is.”

The boy nodded and walked through the second dead end. Then the stranger turned towards us and began to transform. I gawked, not believing my eyes. It looked just like a nofra transformation, but with that same, nondescript quality to it. But it wasn't just the fact that he was transforming that was amazing. He was good at it. Really good. He molded into his new form quickly and effortlessly. It was smoother than I had ever seen, even by the most elite nofras.

It wasn't until he had finished transforming that I realized that we were in danger. “Look out!” I shouted at Holly.

Holly jumped. “What's your problem?!” She said out loud. Her voice was drowned out by a low growl that came directly from the wall. She stared at it, not sure what to do. A huge black panther stepped through the wall, its amber eyes glaring. It snarled at her, but she was too shocked to move.

Cold fury swept over me. How dare this... this thing be able to transform better than I could! If a lowly human could do it so easily, surely I would be able to change Holly into something at least competent.

While she was shocked into being frozen, I seized Holly roughly. This time I didn't only control her brain; my magic seeped into every corner of her. She panicked and tried to take herself back. “Calm down,” I said. “You didn't get hurt last time, did you?”

I felt her mind relax. I thought of my battle form, and gently coaxed Holly's body into it. Usually that was all it took, but she was stiff. Nobody had trained her. I knew it was hopeless, that I should give up, but I couldn't stand seeing him transform when I couldn't.

I tried to force her into the proper form, sending out spurts of magic. Holly's bones made a harsh grating sound as they rubbed together, but I guessed that only she and I would be able to hear it.

Pain shot through Holly, launching her back into reality. Her whole body felt numb and raw, like someone was trying to bend her into an unnatural shape. She screamed, struggling desperately to make it stop.

I heard her scream and felt her struggling, but I wouldn't give up. I kept going.

Black splotches began to form at the edges of her vision. This had happened last time too. Maybe there was something about this alley that made her scream and faint.

Sense finally returned to me. I couldn't stay here. I started pulling my magic back, but it was slow. It was my turn to panic. The first rule they taught you during training was never to go unconscious with your host. It was one of the few ways a nofra could die, and the leading cause of young nofra deaths.

I wrenched at my magic, but it was already too late. When Holly plunged into darkness, so did I.

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Well, there you go! Please let me know what you think. It'll take a lot of incentive to get started on Chapter 5 (which will probably go back to normal length).