It actually didn't take too long before I heard back from two of the other magical girls.

  I got a text from Fiona less than an hour after sharing the news of the theft at Judith's home. Unfortunately the Welsh girl didn't really have anything to say, apart from thanking me for keeping the team updated. She was optimistic though, that Lily and or Cel would know what to do with that information.

  Then ter Saturday afternoon I got a text from Ivy saying basically the same thing. The SoCal girl didn't have any insight or information other than an assurance that we'd be able to handle whatever came up.

  Finally I got a text from the team's self-appointed leader ter Saturday night. Anahera thanked me for passing on the disturbing news, and assured me she'd be in touch with Cel to discuss it. She also acknowledged my other message, and said she'd get back to me with those answers ter on. Although it was clear from her choice of words that the potential theft of Judith's bck magic was a much more pressing concern.

  After that, nothing.

  I didn't hear anything further from any of them on Sunday, and the ongoing silence made it hard for my friends and I to enjoy what should have been a fun rexing weekend together.

  We did our best to make the most of it though. Saturday was a quiet zy day, we didn't even get dressed until it was almost dinner time. Then we went outside and had another BBQ, and spent the rest of the evening enjoying the perfect summer weather. We slept in again Sunday morning, we didn't get up or dressed until it was past noon. That's also when the good weather finally ran out, it was raining by the time we were out of bed so we spent the day just hanging out indoors again. We pyed some games, watched some TV, and ate too much junk food.

  Eventually Harper drove both Ellie and I home, and that was the end of our big weekend.

  Monday we were all back to work as usual. I headed into the art gallery, I knew Ellie would be at the body shop, and Harper was in the hardware store. It was another quiet boring weekday, which set the stage for a quiet boring week.

  It was frustrating too. It seemed like there was no news, from anyone. Mom hadn't heard anything further from aunt Leslie. And I didn't hear anything from Anahera. Both Fiona and Ivy replied when I asked if they had news, but neither of them had heard anything either. And I never did hear back from Val, the German magical girl was apparently too busy to respond at all.

  The gallery got busier towards the end of the week, and Friday was actually the busiest I'd ever seen it. According to Mrs. Vandalen that was because of the long weekend. We were into the start of August by that point, and Monday was a holiday. So there'd be more people heading north from the city, and more people around all weekend long. Since I had st weekend off I'd be working this time, and I knew it was going to be busy.

  I figured it'd be the same for my friends too. Maybe not Ellie, I didn't think the body shop saw a spike in business around holidays, but the hardware store might. I could imagine people using the long weekend to work on their home DIY projects, so my boyfriend was probably going to be even busier than me.

  So when my phone buzzed with an incoming text te Friday afternoon I was almost worried it would be either Harper or Ellie texting to cancel our weekly date night. I checked the screen, and sure enough the message was from my girlfriend. She wasn't looking to cancel though.

  "Can we move date night up to tonight?" Ellie wrote. "Or if you can't make it Harper then Bke are you avaible? I need to talk to you ASAP."

  I frowned as I texted back, "I'm avaible. I can be ready for 6pm. Is everything ok?"

  "I'll pick you both up at 6:30pm," Harper's text appeared a moment ter.

  Then Ellie's reply appeared a half minute ter, "More bad news. See you both at 6:30"

  Unfortunately that's all my girlfriend had to say, which left me feeling anxious the rest of the afternoon as I worried what sort of bad news she had to share. So I tried to focus on my work stuff. We had a few more people wander into the gallery, but none of them bought anything. They were just there to look, and maybe ask some questions.

  It felt like it took forever for five-thirty to roll around, then Mrs. Vandalen bid me a good evening before closing things up. I hurried home, then took a quick shower before getting ready for our date. We hadn't made any decisions on where we were going, so I opted for comfy casual clothes. Tight blue jeans so Ellie could enjoy looking at my butt, a cute pink scoop-neck top so Harper would get a good view of my chest, and sneakers since they were comfy.

  My boyfriend's pickup pulled up in front of the house right on schedule, and I climbed into the passenger seat then leaned over and gave him a hug and kiss. He'd gone casual too, in jeans a tee and sneakers. We stopped at Ellie's pce a minute ter, and she slid onto the seat next to me while I moved into the middle. She was dressed in her typical style as well, with combat boots, cargo pants, and a loose bck top.

  "So what's going on, what's the news?" I asked as soon as she was sitting next to me.

  Harper added, "Is everything ok? And where do you two want to go for dinner?"

  Ellie replied, "I'm fine, sorry I should have said that in my text. It's not anything here that's the problem. I think it's more Judith stuff. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't heard about this already Bke. Either from your aunt, or the other magical girls. Or your seer."

  "Cel isn't 'my' seer," I frowned. "I'm not even sure if we work for them, or they work for us, or how that whole dynamic is supposed to go."

  "So what's the news already?" Harper added. "Or are you going to make us wait until after dinner?"

  Our girlfriend grimaced then blurted it out, "At least two of Judith's physics students have gone missing this week. Glen disappeared on Monday, and some guy named Zayne went missing on Wednesday."

  Harper and I exchanged a look, then I asked "You mean Glen from up north? The guy we rescued, the guy Judith was going to sacrifice?"

  "Yeah that's exactly who I mean," Ellie replied.

  "How do you know he's missing?" our boyfriend asked.

  Ellie replied, "I've been paying attention to the news from Saskatoon, ever since we found out about the burgry at Judith's pce."

  "Damn," Harper sighed. "So what's going on, is there any idea what happened to the guy?"

  The cute ravenette fidgeted with her gsses as she summarized what she'd read online. The high-level physics grad student was reported missing on Tuesday after he failed to return home Monday evening. He'd been at the university for some reason, presumably working on something to do with his course.

  Ellie went on to expin how Zayne, another student in the same program, disappeared on Wednesday. He was st seen leaving a part-time job that afternoon, he was supposed to go meet some friends for drinks but he never showed up.

  "That can't be a coincidence," our girlfriend sighed. "Two of her students have gone missing just two weeks after someone broke into Judith's home and stole some of her magical paraphernalia? And one of those students was already designated as a sacrificial victim, he was there when Judith opened the rift. He saw the ritual, saw the Outsiders, and saw her die."

  I grimaced, "Tina was there too. She's in the same program. We should warn her, she might be in danger."

  "I already tried," Ellie stated. "I looked her up, since I had all her info from when we were rescued? I sent her some texts this morning. I didn't hear back from her, so I called at lunch. It went to voicemail, so I left her a message."

  Harper sighed, "I sure hope she's ok. Maybe she's just busy."

  "Or maybe she thinks I'm crazy," our girlfriend frowned. "I'm sure I sound crazy. I don't know. Hopefully she got the message."

  "Yeah. I hope so too," I nodded slowly.

  The three of us were quiet for a few moments after that. We were still parked in front of Ellie's house though, so after another half minute our hunky boyfriend made the decision about dinner and pulled out onto the street.

  Fifteen minutes ter we were back at the wings pce in Dundalk. It was busy again, there were ball games on the TVs and lots of people were enjoying beer and wings to kick off the August long weekend.

  We all ordered our usual, mild wings and onion rings for Harper, exotic spicy wings and a side of fries for Ellie, while I went for sweet honey BBQ wings and a side of wedges. And we all got co to drink.

  Then as we ate, Ellie suggested "You should probably contact the rest of the team, Bke. Let them know about the disappearances?"

  "I know it might be nothing," she added. "Or I mean, it's not nothing it's serious business. But I mean, it might not have anything to do with Judith or dark magic? It feels connected though. It feels suspicious."

  I nodded, "Yeah. It might be a coincidence, but it might not. And we definitely don't want anyone trying to replicate Judith's work."

  Harper asked, "What about Leslie? Maybe you should ask your aunt if she's heard anything? She's still out there, right? Maybe she could even help find the missing students. Like she's got magic, if there's something supernatural going on out there she might have a way to track it."

  "Maybe," I frowned as I slowly munched on a wing. "I'd rather talk to my mom about that though, than go straight to aunt Leslie."

  Our girlfriend nodded, "Agreed. I still don't trust Leslie, I'd be a lot more comfortable letting your mom deal with the woman."

  The three of us were quiet for the next couple minutes after that, lost in thought as we all focused on our food. Eventually Harper was the one to break the silence.

  "I really don't want to have to drop everything and get on a pne to Saskatchewan," the handsome jock sighed. "I'll do it if we have to, but I sure hope we don't."

  I gave him a sympathetic look and leaned my head against his strong shoulder, "Same. I'm sure the rest of the team would agree. I'll bet none of them want to have to fly back to Canada any time soon."

  "I still don't get that," Ellie commented. "I mean, they have magic right? Why do magical girls need to book seats on commercial flights? They sure didn't do that back in the fifties, they wouldn't have been able to just hop on a pne and fly into a secret atomic testing area."

  That made me grimace, because I actually knew the answer to that question. I didn't want to discuss it in public though. It was just one of a dozen things the other magical girls told me when we were up north, waiting for rescue. Whenever we had time away from the 'civilians', I'd take the opportunity to ask them questions, or sometimes they'd even volunteer some new information themselves.

  I finally told my friends, "We can talk about that stuff ter, ok? Maybe after dinner we can go somewhere private?"

  "Yeah alright," Harper nodded.

  Ellie gave me an eager grin, "Now you've got me super curious! But ok Bke, I'll hold my questions until ter."

  After that it almost felt like they were rushing to get through dinner, like they were both obviously eager to continue the conversation. At one point Harper suggested, "How about we go hang out by the woods and wetnds east of the vilge? That's usually pretty quiet. We can sit in the truck bed under the stars, it'll be nice."

  "Can we grab dessert on the way?" Ellie asked. "I'm in the mood for something cool, like a fancy iced coffee. Or even a milkshake."

  That led to both Harper and I teasing her about the spicy wings, but Ellie cimed that had nothing to do with her craving for something cool.

  It turned out the wings pce did milkshakes, so when we were done eating we ordered three shakes to go. Chocote-mocha for the tomboy, banana for the jock, and I went for the pink option and ordered a strawberry shake for myself.

  Then with our big chilled cups in hand the three of us finally headed out into the warm August evening, and across the parking lot to Harper's pickup. Ellie and I moved to the passenger door like usual, while our boyfriend went to open the drivers side. Then all three of us froze.

  "You see that?" Harper asked warily. "On the seats?"

  Ellie nodded, "I see them. The doors are still locked though, right?"

  "Yeah," our boyfriend confirmed quietly.

  Resting on the drivers seat and the passenger seat were two small ornately carved wooden boxes. They looked to be about six centimetres square, and about four centimetres high. It was almost like they'd been carefully pced there, one where Harper sat and the other in Ellie's pce. The middle part where I usually sat was empty.

  My girlfriend took a step back. She looked and sounded nervous as she said, "I don't like it. It has to be magic, right? What if it's a trap? Something cursed, stolen from Judith's pce then left here for us to find..."

  I gulped but shook my head, "I don't think so. I um, I think I recognize those boxes? I don't think they're dangerous."

  "You've seen them before?" Harper asked. "Something from your mom maybe?"

  "No. I've never seen one before, but Violet told me what they looked like," I replied quietly.

  My boyfriend stared at me for another second or two, before his attention shifted back to his truck. He unlocked the door, then slowly opened it up. He paused a moment there, then he reached in and carefully picked up the little wooden box from the drivers seat.

  "Don't open it!" Ellie gasped, but it was too te.

  Harper lifted the lid, then his eyebrows shot up. He turned the little container around to show us the contents.

  Resting inside on a bed of bck velvet sat a pin featureless ring. It shone like gold, but instead of the traditional yellow, this gold seemed to be coloured a deep red.

  PurpleCatGirl