Chapter 7-Halloween Night.

Sylvie finished brushing her short, red hair and laid down the brush. Looking at the mirror, she saw a young girl with dark green eyes staring nervously back at her. Contrary to what she had said to Taryn earlier, she was very nervous about attending this party. She wasn't sure what was driving her to go, stubbornness she supposed. There was every chance she could be found out tonight. However, she was determined to make that little witch Sarah pay dearly tonight. The thought of her rival submitting to her in defeat was a powerful drug, intoxicating to her. With renewed energy, she checked her costume top to make sure nothing was out of place.

Stepping away from the mirror, she turned round and critically examined her horse half. Everything looked okay. The brushing she had talked Taryn into had left both their coats with a nice shine. Pleased, she patted her back. The feel of patting her horse half was still the strangest of sensations, she mused as she turned around.' I hope I don't have to remain like this for much longer!' she thought. 'I wonder how the investigation Dad and Chief Brodrick is going?'

Thinking about the investigation, she opened the door and stepped into Taryn's garage. It was the only place they could go and have some room. Taryn's mother didn't own a car, or much of anything else, so most of the garage was open space. There was a workbench along the back wall with a smattering of tools carefully placed in a cheap plastic organizer. On the tabletop there was a small work-light, a bench vice and, oddly, a small vacuum cleaner with its manual lying next to it. 'A dirt devil', she thought. 'I guess that Taryn is trying to fix it.'

However, at this moment, Taryn was working at the far end of the bench. Sylvie couldn't see what she was making, and wondered what it could be. However, her friend had that familiar look of total concentration on her face that Sylvie knew that meant that she was totally focused on her task and would be displeased with any sort of interruption.

Shrugging, she went to the trunk of clothes that her mother had brought over from their house. Sylvie remembered how she had been struggling to lift it out of the car and into the garage. However, when Sylvie had grasped the handles and lifted it to take it off her mom's hands, she had started to realize how light it actually felt. Her mom had stood dumbstruck as Sylvie easily handled the trunk and slid it next to the wall.

"That trunk must weigh over fifty pounds." Anna said, staring at her daughter.

Sylvie began to feel a little uncomfortable. "Come on mom," she said nervously. "It really wasn't all that heavy."

Taryn had gotten a funny look on her face and had gone through the door to the house. Returning a minute later, she had brought back a bathroom scale. Seeing what she had wanted was easy, and Sylvie thought it was a great idea. Grabbing the trunk, she lifted it up so Taryn could slide the scale underneath. Setting the trunk back down, Sylvie and Taryn stared at the display. Numbers flew by until the needle hovered above seventy-five pounds. Shocked, Sylvie stared at Taryn. Sylvie hadn't thought the trunk could be anywhere near that heavy.

"I wonder." Was all Taryn would say. Which angered Sylvie; she couldn't understand what was going on.

An hour later, Sylvie was nearly exhausted. Taryn had had her performing physical tests continuously. The least of which was lifting a heavy anvil that weighed about a hundred pounds. When she finished with the tests, she was sweating and irritable.

"Well, what have you learned?" she snapped slightly after the last test, pushing against the scale while it was held against the garage wall. The numbers had tilted crazily as she leaned her entire body into it. Taryn had been next to her jotting things down in her notebook.

"Well." she had said detachedly, busy looking at the numbers. "It appears our strength is actually far greater than I assumed it would be. Like draft animals, we can carry or pull immensely heavy loads. Our lifting ability with our human half is nearly double, if not triple, what it should be. Basically, we could theoretically lift objects weighing in at more than a hundred and fifty pounds. Although I wouldn't advise it, we could easily strain our backs or over balance wrong and fall forward. Also, while we were running these tests I ran some additional tests, such as smell and sight. Our eyes are about the same as before, while our hearing and smell have become more sensitive."

"That's impossible." Sylvie said, feeling cold.

Taryn cocked an eyebrow at her. "Really?" she said sarcastically. "Because having horses for butts is so normal?"

Sylvie grinned. "Yeah, I suppose you do have a point. Well, I'm going to go wash this sweat off in the backyard. Could you give me a brush down when I'm done? I'll do you as well, and we'll be set for the party tonight."

Now, clean and groomed, Sylvie was ready to tackle the party. She peered over her friend's shoulder, trying to figure out what she was working on. It took a moment for what she was seeing to make sense to her. On the table in front of Taryn were the wheels from the shop. She was attaching a pair of boards fastened in an "L"-shape to the wheels.

"What are you doing?" Sylvie asked curiously. She didn't understand what the purpose of the wood blocks would be.

"Well, you wanted the backs to still look like costumes right?" she asked.

"Well, yeah. I suppose so." Sylvie said cautiously. What was going on here?

"Then we need to make the backs seem like costumes instead of actual horse bodies, right? I'm making platforms for our rear legs to stand on. The hard part will be keeping our legs stiff tonight, so that we just roll along the floor."

Sylvie gasped. "Taryn. That's…amazing!" She excitedly hugged her friend.

Taryn smiled. "I know. At least this way, we might stand a chance of not getting caught."

Sylvie suppressed a nervous shiver of excitement. "Let's try it out." She said. Inwardly, she was thinking, I hope this works!

Nodding, Taryn pulled down two of the four wheels she was working on. Walking around, she disappeared from Sylvie's vision. Sylvie twisted her upper body to follow. When Taryn stood right behind her, Sylvie obediently lifted her rear foot. She felt a tugging sensation on her leg as Taryn attached the wheel with hose clips. Sylvie was impressed at Taryn's resourcefulness. When Taryn had finished, Sylvie placed her hoof back on the ground and immediately felt it roll away! Fortunately, she mused, she was standing in a tripod with her other legs, or things might have turned out for the worse.

"Crap!" cried Taryn, upset. "I hadn't thought about how we would keep the wheel from rolling out from under us. This isn't going to work."

Alarmed, Sylvie turned to comfort her friend, but forgot about the wheel. As she turned, her other rear hoof came off the ground and without it's stabilizing effect, the other wheel took off like greased lightning. Sylvie narrowly avoided falling over as the other leg fell back to the floor with a solid thump. She wobbled slightly, but that was all. Moving more carefully, she was able to turn and hug her friend.

"It's all right Taryn." She soothed. "The idea was great. We just need to perfect it a little more. All we need to do is find a way to keep the wheel from going backwards."

Taryn leaned back and grimaced. "I'm not sure how to do that. I'm not used to building things. I'm a 'lab rat' remember?"

Sylvie laughed, the joke bolstering her spirits. "And a bookworm too!" she teased.

Taryn gave a small smile and wiped her eyes. "I'm going to have to take the wheel off you." she said.

Sylvie waited patiently for Taryn to walk around her again. She raised her leg up and again felt that slight tugging sensation as Taryn removed the hose clamp. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her.

"Taryn?" she said, grinning happily.

Taryn gave her an odd look, as if trying to decide whether or not Sylvie had flipped her lid. "What?" she asked cautiously.

"I have an idea." Sylvie stated proudly. This idea was going to work, she was sure of it. "Listen, instead of taking platforms that remove our rear hooves from the floor, why not make up a more elaborate system of what we did to come here? Simply attach the wheels to our legs so that both wheel and hoof touch the floor. We can then use the zombie steps to make it look mechanical! How does that sound?"

Taryn bit her lip. She appeared to be thinking it over. Sylvie waited for her response.

"I guess that could work." she finally said. "I'll try to get started on it."

"Here, I'll help you. We've only got a couple of hours before we have to leave." Sylvie said, moving forward to help.

Sylvie followed Taryn's instructions as they removed the wooden platform from the wheels. Using the electric screwdriver, Sylvie removed the screws from the blocks, separating them. There were over four screws in each block. Sylvie gave a surprised look at her friend. "For the weight." Was the only reply she got. When the blocks were at last separated, Taryn took them and made sure the wheel connections were tight. Taking the now small boards, she strung hose clamps through for attachment points. Sylvie tried them on and was pleased with the results. The hooves were firmly on the ground, so she could stand just fine. The wheels would look as if they were actually supporting the weight, being on the ground. When Sylvie scudded her back leg, the wheel rolled. She made sure to make it seem mechanical and jerky, to enhance the un-realness of the costume.

"Taryn, I think this is going to work!" she said excitedly. Glancing at the clock, she almost gasped. It was a quarter after five. The party would start at six. "Just in time too. We need to get going!" she finished. Grabbing a slightly protesting Taryn, Sylvie herded her to the trunk and pulled out a pair of leaf bikinis from the year before last. They were a tight fit, but Sylvie thought that they enhanced the sex appeal, and besides, she didn't want to try another costume store for the top!

Finished, she opened the garage door and saw her dad nearby with a horse trailer. Surprised she quickly walked over, forgetting about the jerky motions she was supposed to be using.

"Where'd you get the horse trailer dad?" she asked him. "And for that matter, where'd you get the pickup!" Sylvie stared at the light blue dodge ram pickup that stood in front of the horse trailer. It's side read HEMI V8, followed by a string of numbers. She looked over at her father worried. She knew that her dad didn't own either a horse trailer or a pickup, and didn't have the money for either.

Greg Mathison looked at her a little sheepishly. "I borrowed it off of Ben's uncle. He owns a ranch outside of town. It's where we're going to take you if we can't find the costume shop in a couple of days, or you don't change back." He said regretfully.

Sylvie was shocked, she hadn't thought of moving before. To her mind, it was unthinkable. The house was home, she never wanted to leave. Still, Sylvie could see his point. It would be hard to move around a small suburban house when you were the size of a horse. Stairs alone would defeat her every time.

Taryn was apparently having similar thoughts, because when she spoke, her voice cracked slightly. "Whose going to take care of Mom?" she whispered tearfully.

Greg looked at her with compassion. "Don't worry about that honey. Anna has already said she'd take over the responsibility for Mary while your…away." he said kindly.

Taryn looked miserable, hunching over and hugging herself tightly. Tears were reflecting in the light of the house. Sylvie threw her arms around her.

"I'm sorry Taryn." she whispered sadly.

Taryn took a shuddering breath and hugged Sylvie. "I know. It's not your fault, anyway."

'YES it IS!' screamed Sylvie's mind. Despite the hug from Taryn, Sylvie suddenly felt completely alone. 'You have done this.' her mind whispered nastily. 'It is your fault that Taryn is trapped in this form. If you hadn't wanted to beat Sara so badly, you could have stayed human. Instead, you've ruined her life and yours, and for what? A stupid prize of ice cream that neither of you will ever get a chance to enjoy, and petty pride that you beat Sara. Look at her. Sad that she'll never be able to go home, and it's all your fault!'

'Stop it' bellowed Sylvie in anguish, trying to banish the voice. However, its poison had already taken root. It WAS her fault that Taryn was caught this way.

Feeling incredibly guilty, she silently followed Taryn up the ramp of the trailer and let her Dad close the doors behind her. Inside the trailer was a series of half stalls set at an angle to the wall. In each of the stalls was a small window that looked on the outside. Rings set inside the stall would secure the horses in and prevent them from fighting while the trailer was moving. Taryn took the stall in the front while Sylvie took the middle one, two stalls away. She desperately needed to clear her thoughts and focus on what was ahead. She realized that if she made a single mistake, her and Taryn's lives would be over.

"This was a REALLY stupid idea." she muttered to herself.

The truck and trailer avoided the school lot, choosing instead to park on a dimly lit street nearby. It had the advantage of being out of sight from the school and, since the street was for businesses and all the businesses were closed for the night, of being a safe place to get on and off the trailer.

Sylvie started towards the door first. Being the last one in she would have to be the first one out. However, before her dad opened the door she twisted around to look at Taryn. She couldn't make out her face in the dark, but Sylvie was sure she would have seen the traces of tears. "Taryn." she whispered, "I'm really sorry about dragging you into this. If you want to stay here, I won't mind at all." She half hoped that Taryn would stay here and out of sight, protecting her from the repercussions if the truth came out. Another half of her wanted her to stay by her side and support her.

Her heart felt incredibly light when Taryn whispered back, "I'm coming with you." Blinking back tears of her own, Sylvie turned around as the lock scraped open on the trailer and the door opened. Greg stood there with a worried expression on his face.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered urgently to the girls.

Sylvie looked back for Taryn's confirming nod. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and out of the trailer. "Bring it on." was all she said.

Sylvie walked down the dark street towards the high school building. Made of dressed stone, it had always heralded another exciting day of sports and fun. Tonight however, the three story building seemed forbidding. As if something terrible would happen that very night.

'Stop it', she scolded herself. 'You're getting jumpy. Don't trip up at the finish line, girl!' She began concentrating on her goal. It was a trick she had picked up from her soccer coach. "Distractions out there are plenty." she'd said, "The only way to handle them is to focus on your target. Block everything else out, don't even think about them. Strengthen your situational awareness, keep track of key players. Keep your cool and take the shot." The old lady had always been right. Sylvie was glad of her advice now, and quickly began emptying her mind of her fears and worries.

When they passed the doors into the spacious entry hall, she felt that she had managed it a little. Her overriding sense of fear and guilt were gone, although she could still feel them at the back of her mind.

With her new calm, she began to look around. The towering mountain lion that was the school mascot stood in the center of the hall. It had a fearsome snarl on its face, exposing the terrible canines. Posed on a rock, it was crouched in eternal preparation to pounce on its helpless prey. Its sightless eyes stared ahead, filmed over with dust. Dust also covered its tawny coat, obscuring the age-worn skin. That animal had been guarding the school since the days its doors had first opened, some hundred years earlier. Beyond it was a soaring hall of brown stone. The marble floor held the school emblem; a roaring cougar's head on a field of blue with lightning for teeth. Beneath it were the words: Praeterito tempore, Sapientia. Ad Present, scientia. Ut aliquam, Expiscor. In English: To the Past, Wisdom. To the Present, Knowledge. To the Future, Discovery. A glass roof allowed the moonlight to shine down upon the milling throng of students.

'Man,' Sylvie thought. 'this place is packed!'. Indeed, it seemed as if every student had shown up for the school's Halloween bash. There were witches, warlocks, vampires, angels, ghostbusters, even three Indiana Jones's. The one person who was conspicuously absent was Sara. 'Probably wants to make a grand entrance.' she thought.

As if on cue, the doors behind her opened and there was Miss Sara 'I'm Perfect' Kendall herself. She was dressed in tight fitting black leather one-piece that looked sprayed on, with her long hair done in a stylish bun on top. She wore dark sunglasses and severe lipstick. On her face a satisfied smile played. She had stolen the final curtain in her mind. The audience clapped at the image, Sylvie seethed.

Striding past Sylvie, she paused at Taryn. "Oh, what a cute costume!" she said loudly. People turned to look at the voice. "Not like Sylvie's. She looks like a cow!" she giggled.

Through a haze of red, Sylvie saw the laughing face of Sara vanish into the crowd. Her hands twitched at her sides. Oooh, what she would give to have Sara in alone for a few minutes. Her head throbbed as she imagined all the horrible things that she could do to her.

Some of what she was thinking must have shown on her face, because Taryn was suddenly beside her. "That witch is going down tonight Sylvie. You have a very nice 'costume' that is guaranteed to take first prize, remember? Now calm down before you give us away. You're lashing your tail."

Startled, Sylvie craned her neck around and saw that her tail was indeed lashing back and forth, betraying her irritation. The rushing sounds of the hair clearly heard. Others were watching that and commenting, so Sylvie quickly pasted a smile on her face. "Heh, heh. Neat huh? It's robotic, don't ya know." Faces cleared and heads nodded. A few gave her a thumbs up before turning back to their dates.

"Whew." Sylvie breathed. "Dodged that one."

Spying the buffet table against the far wall, Sylvie nudged Taryn and began making her way over. She made sure to make the walk seem slightly jerky and unrealistic without overdoing it. Her body fought her ever step. It wanted to walk naturally, after all. Sylvie realized that she had too little experience in controlling her own body, so she began focusing on that. Front leg smooth, back leg jerky. Front leg smooth, back leg jerky. Slowly they made their way over to the buffet.

Once in line, Sylve began heaping her dish with all her favorites, including: Jell-O, nachos, cake, and pudding. She heard Taryn sigh as she helped herself to the more healthy foods that were available, such as the salad, orange juice, and some fruit. Both girls shied away from the hot dogs that had been provided.  

With their plates filled, the two stepped away from the table and began eating. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to stand, despite the chairs and small tables in the corner that had been provided. Many students were eating there.

"Hey Taryn!" came a shout from behind them. Sylvie and Taryn turned around to see Josh, his round face beaming in excitement as he came charging up to them. His costume was of a ghostbuster, and even included a fairly realistic proton pack.

Puffing, he slowed to a stop next to Taryn. "I'm glad you're here. I was worried that you wouldn't make it."

"Thanks." said Taryn slowly, "I'm glad to be here too." Sylvie watched a faint red tinge appear on her friend's face and neck. Josh didn't seem to notice as he kept chattering on.

"I decided to go as a ghostbuster this year. The proton pack was what swung me. Otherwise I was thinking of Dr. Jekyll or perhaps even Perrin from the Wheel of Time. I love your costume however. You look really good in it. I mean, you always look good, but this costume really brings out your eyes." He was babbling towards the end, and by now Taryn's blush was a deep red.

Sylvie smiled slightly, enjoying her friend's discomfort. She just knew that the two of them were really good for one another. However, she noticed Taryn's tail beginning to twitch in agitation, and realized that she had better think of something quick before someone noticed.

"Say," she said, elbowing Taryn slightly. "How's work on your programming going? Taryn Tails me that it has been taking a lot of your time."

Taryn's face took on a horrified cast and she quickly glanced back on her traitorous tail. Meanwhile, Josh had thankfully changed his focus onto her.

"It's going great. To be honest, if I had wanted too, I could have gotten it done last week, but I've decided to hold off on finishing it until end of term. That way the prof doesn't decide to hit me with another project."

Sylvie nodded. It was a common dodge for students to take the easy projects and draw them out as long as they could so that the teachers didn't assign more. Taryn, meantime, seemed to have gotten her tail back under control. She turned around and was listening politely.

Before she could speak, however, the Principle stood at a portable lectern that had been brought into the hall. Tapping it with his mallet, the elderly man brought near immediate quiet. Sylvie looked at Mr. Arno. A graying man, he had that slightly wizened look that brought into mind Mr. Ollivander from Harry Potter. His slightly crooked nose and sharp eyes were hidden behind glasses and he was always had a smile on his face. Sylvie liked him immensely, as did most of the school.

Raising his arms dramatically, he spoke in a stage-whisper, "The judging is ready to begin!"

With a mighty roar, costumed students immediately began to rush into line near a long table that was being set up near the lectern. Already, Mrs. Oak from Math and John Pine the vice principle had taken their seats. The third judge was none other than Mr. Arno.

"Hurry Taryn." She squealed. "Before all the best spots are taken."

The two quickly got in the rear of the line. Sylvie remembered to walk in a slow, jerky motion and was relieved to see Taryn doing so as well. They were about six people back from Sara, who looked slightly disgruntled at not being near the fore of the line. Sylvie smiled grimly, 'She's going to be even more disgruntled when we win!' she thought.

Slowly the judges reviewed each of the contenders as they passed by the table. Each time, the judges made little marks in their notebooks and the hopeful applicant was waved on. Large and elaborate costumes took slightly longer, but fortunately there were very few of those, and the line progressed quickly. When Sara made her run, she adopted the walk of the character and sauntered across the table. With her shades on, she tried to look as intimidating as she could. Sylvie just about laughed; it was like trying to watch a chipmunk pretend to be a wolf. She was waved on with a smile and a nod. The other six did their runs, and then it Sylvie and Taryn's turn.

Sylvie felt butterflies fill her stomach. She was so nervous. She quickly buried it however, and let her normal fiery temper take over. Proudly she walked in front of the judges, back straight and arms at her side. She left a slight lurch, as if she was still moving with robotic assistance, but made it almost unnoticeable. She paused a moment at the far end of the table, and flicked her tail, exciting a babble from the students and judges. She quickly gestured to Taryn to join her. Taking her cue, Taryn strode across in front of the table as well. As she passed, she smiled at the judges. She looked gorgeous, Sylvie thought. She felt renewed confidence that either one of them would win.

When Sylvie and Taryn walked away, she could see the judges in deep conversation. She crossed her fingers and hoped. Sara Kendall elbowed her way in front of the crowd and glared at her, her face flushed red in anger. Sylvie just gave her a wide grin and waited.

After what seemed an eternity, Mr. Arno walked up to the lectern. Clearing his throat he began to speak. "Ahem. I wanted to thank all of you for participating tonight. Your fantastic costumes have made this judging incredibly difficult. Your hard work is a credit to you all." He paused here to clap, and everyone joined in. Sylvie seethed with impatience, as did most of the other students, she saw. Perhaps sensing this, Mr. Arno quickly stopped applauding and picked up his paper. "Now as to the winner of this contest…"

Sylvie leaned forward, her hearts hammering in her throat.

"Sylvie Mathison and Taryn Grogan! Followed by Sara Kendall in second place and Mark Older in third." He announced.

Sylvie shrieked in excitement! They'd won! Taryn was  beside her sobbing. Hugging her excitedly, she reared slightly. Fortunately, people thought that she had simply jumped in excitement.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the black hatred in Saras face a moment before she stormed out of the crowd. That sight filled Sylvie with pleasure. The night couldn't, she thought as Mr. Arno came over with a smile on his face to congratulate her. The night could not get any better.

Outside, the sounds of merriment and applause echoed across the lawn. The lights from the windows stretched out on the ground, stopping just short of a pair of expensive leather shoes. Alfred Nightshade stood cloaked in darkness. His stern features stared hard through the windows at the two young girls. A small smile played on his lips. He would soon be ready to make his move. A passing cloud moved over the moon, dimming the world. When it passed, Nightshade had vanished