There In Spirit - TG
By: ThatGuy

“Whoa! What’s happening? Why is that thing glowing?”

“What did I do? I only said-“

“It’s getting brighter. Oh, sh-“

FLASH!

Ellis blinked. All of a sudden, he felt very strange. He wiped his eyes, or at least he thought he did. His hands felt a little numb, like his arms were asleep, and he almost didn’t feel them on his face. He pulled them away, deciding he could deal with pins and needles in a second, and took a second to take stock of his surroundings.

That was odd - he was staring at the floor. Or was it the well? But he didn’t remember getting knocked over. Had he fallen asleep? No, the last thing he knew he was trying to get that stupid ring off of Wendy’s finger. Did it blow up? What was that thing made of? He tensed - hopefully, she was okay. He pulled himself away from the wall, or the floor, or whatever it was and turned himself around so he could find out what happened to her instead.

It turned out, finding her would be easy. He would never mistake his redheaded beauty of a girlfriend. She was standing right there… just below him.

Below him? “W-what in the-“ He looked around again. It hadn’t been the wall he was looking at. It was the ceiling. He was floating on the ceiling! “This has to be a dream…” He waved his arms wildly, trying to get her attention. He didn’t think it would be hard - he wasn’t exactly in a normal situation. Why wasn’t she looking up at the guy hovering in midair already? “Hey! Wendy! WENDY!”

She didn’t react, at all. She was too busy staring at...

Ellis flinched. Who was that girl with her? He didn’t remember anyone walking in, let alone either of them inviting someone over. She seemed about the same age as Wendy, but had short hazel hair - not unlike Ellis’ own, in fact. She was kind of cute, actually - not that Ellis was staring at her figure. He was a one woman sort of guy. Yet it was odd… he couldn’t look away. Something about her seemed familiar.

“Oh, my god!” She shrieked, and Ellis felt like shrieking with her. What was going on? “What’s going on?” Clearly, the girl was just as unhappy as him - but what was she reacting to? She stumbled back, but kept her balance. She looked down at her self, pinched her denim short shorts with her hands as if she had never touched them before, and looked from it from the much longer skirt Wendy had bought at the mall last week. In comparison to his girlfriend this girl didn’t seem particularly girly, or at least less old fashioned. Her hands traced up to her chest and over her t-shirt, cupping what was underneath. One would think they had forgotten there was a guy in the room who could see them. “H-how in the world…” She stopped, shook herself out of her trance, and started to glare at Wendy. “What did you do?”

Ellis kind of wanted to know that himself. Wendy shrunk back, stammering. “I-I don’t know! It was the ring!” Wendy her hand out, like the small bit of metal on it was a snake about to bite.

“You’re the one wearing it!” The girl said.

“That doesn’t mean I know what happened!” Wendy protested wildly, and the girl backed off a little. Ellis supposed it was a little unfair to blame her… so far. “All I said was that I wished you could be a little more like me sometimes!”

Ellis stared in confusion. Hold on, Wendy had said that to him. Was she talking to him now?

“Besides,” she continued. “You’re the one who bought it?”

No, that was wrong. Whoever this hazel haired girl was, she definitely wasn’t the one who bought it. He was. It was his gift to her when they became official. What was Wendy talking about?

“Don’t put this on me!” The girl snapped. “Do you think I wanted to be like… this?!” She put her hand through her hair. It was short, but undoubtedly feminine. Wendy stepped forward, and put her hands through it. She herself had hair that was a lot longer, though she kept it in long pigtails that always made Ellis think of Heidi, though she hated when he said so.

But now she wasn’t annoyed. Her mouth was ajar. She just seemed shocked. “I guess not. But, I hate to say it, but you’re so cute like this, Ellis.”

Ellis? Now this made no sense, and he wanted answers. “What is going on? Are you talking to me, Wendy? Hello?! Stop ignoring me, I’m right here!”

“She won’t hear you.”

Ellis did a midair flip in surprise at voice right behind his ear. He turned, to find a young man there floating beside him. He looked off… the best way Ellis could put it was that he seemed faded, all of him except for the stark red of his curly coif. He looked to be about Ellis’ age, but where Ellis found floating ignored above the ground to be a very panic-inducing affair, this guy was very calm. From the look in his eyes, he almost seemed… disappointed? Or was that more a resigned expression?

Either way, Ellis didn’t like what he had to say. “What do you mean? Why not?”

“Because you’re not here,” the boy said with a shrug. “Anymore, that is.”

If he thought that was an answer, Ellis had words for him. “The hell I’m not! I’m standing- uh- floating right here, obviously.”

“Not really, I don’t think,” he said. “Or at least, not to them. They can’t see you, or hear you, nor acknowledge your presence at all.”

“Like I’m dead?” Ellis said, still confused. “Or, what, astral projection? Give me a break.”

The redheaded guy rolled his eyes. “You’re flying, and you think it’s time to be skeptical. But no, you’re definitely not dead. I think this is more of a…” he seemed to be genuinely trying to look for the right words to explain. “…manifestation.”

“That clears everything up.” Ellis said snidely. “So if I’m not ‘here’ where am I supposed to be?”

“Okay, now I’m sure you’re in denial,” was the equally snide reply. “Just look.”

Ellis followed the redheaded guy’s hand down - he wasn’t sure why he kept going back to the hair, but there was just something familiar about it - to the ground, where the two girls were still in a commotion that Ellis felt should have been better spend figuring out his situation.

Was this the way girls acted when there were no guys around - or at least, none that they could see? The hazel haired friend of Wendy’s was bent over, while his girlfriend was stepping back and trying not to interfere with what looked like a meltdown. The girl’s hands were back on her shorts, and she was twisted around running her hands all over her backside, which admittedly was also pretty cute - though Ellis tried not to stare (the other guy definitely was). Her hair was fluttering in her face, and she had a look of absolute disbelief on her face. It was hard not to agree. “No way!” She was saying. “Look at this! My butt is huge!”

“I’ll say!” Wendy said, chancing a joke. She gave that giggle she always gave Ellis when she was teasing him. The other girl sharply stood up straight, eyes panicked at her agreement. “I’m almost jealous! I think I have a mini-skirt that would look amazing on those hips.”

Ellis felt a sudden surge of embarrassment, but he had no idea why. The boy saw him spontaneously start to blush, and seemed to take that as a cue. “You see her?” He said, gesturing to Wendy’s friend. “Now isn’t it odd that you’re feeling what she’s feeling? Why do you suppose that is?”

Ellis wasn’t sure how he was supposed to answer that. But it was strange. Now that he thought about it, maybe he was feeling what she was feeling. Or she was feeling what he was. Or both. But why?

The stranger clammed him on his shoulder and spoke sternly to him. “Look at her. I mean, really look at her.”

Even though he was skeptical, Ellis did as he was told. He looked. It felt right to, so he looked harder. He sunk deeper into the sight of her light brown hair, at the natural arc of their body, of the look in her eyes that seemed to mirror his own. It wasn’t just that he could feel what she felt, though he did. It was more. She was upset and overwhelmed. She wasn’t used to having a body like this, and she was so not happy about having it. Her hair kept getting in her face, her center of gravity was all over - yet she never seemed to be unsteady on her feet, what the heck was that about? And those weights on her chest, what in the world could just give a guy a pair like those! She didn’t even want to think about the space between her legs! She was supposed to be a stud, dammit! At least, that’s what Wendy always said…

And why was Wendy still laughing! This wasn’t funny! She shouldn’t be trying to get her into a skirt now, she should be focusing on getting her turned back into…

Ellis gasped, as he realized who this girl was. “She’s me.” He realized. He didn’t know why or how, but he was certain that was the truth. “How is she me?”

“Remember the whole business with the ring turning into a light show?”

“So it was the ring!” Ellis declared accusingly.

His companion rolled his eyes. “Duh. As you might know, Wendy accidentally wished that you were little more like her…”

“… and it turned me into a girl!” Ellis finished the thought. “It grants wishes.”

“More like the same damn one over and over…” the other guy grumbled out the corner of his mouth.

Ellis heard him, but wasn’t paying much attention. He looked down at the hazel haired girl with newfound amazement - to him, or her, or whoever it was down there - and tried to reach out for her. He waved again halfheartedly, not really expecting her to see him. Then, he thought maybe he could just think his way into her attention - she was him, after all. Taking control of his body should be just a matter of thought.

Two minutes of brain straining and a headache later, he was out of options and back to floating around uselessly asking questions. Below them, girl-Ellis was arguing at Wendy to get away from her sneakers. “But I don’t get it. If she’s me, and I’m her, why am I up here and her down there?” He asked the redheaded guide.

“As far as I can figure,” was the response, though it was a bit unsure. “We’re supposed to be in here!” He gestured to his own head, but was indicating the heads of the girls below. “But it’s not ready for us yet, and us being here is like a physical representation of our place within their personas, as we slowly assimilate into the new reality.”

“… huh?”

The redhead groaned. “Think of us as the pieces left over from DIY furniture, waiting for someone to screw us in.”

“Oh, why didn’t you say so?” Ellis blinked, using a response he’d often used on Wendy. Talking to this guy was actually a lot like- wait. He didn’t like that answer. “Never mind all that! You’re talking like I’m a stranger in my own mind.”

“That may be exaggerating it, but the fact is that you’re up here, aren’t you?” The redhead gestures to the rest of the ceiling which has so far been their perch. “And she’s down there, doing a fine job being a spaz without you.” The girl who was supposedly Ellis had moved on from squeezing her own butt and griping about shoes to trying hard not to physically check between her legs, and failing miserably - obviously, that part of her new sex was just sinking in. Ellis reddened, but this time both of them were feeling it. “Why do you-“

“If you say ‘why do you suppose that is’ again, I’ll sock you. I won’t like it, but I’ll do it!” Ellis groaned, knowing that he likely wouldn’t be able to punch anyone floating uncontrollably in the air. The redheaded stranger smirked, as if he knew either way that Ellis wouldn’t do something like that. “Listen. She can’t just be someone else, and be me at that same time. Clearly, I just have to find some way in there.”

He dove for the the girl version of himself, but seemed just unable to get close enough to touch her. He scrabbled in the air uselessly, thinking as hard as he could, trying to make contact and push himself back in there… but nothing happened. After a moment, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Clearly, the stranger had more practice moving around than he did.

The look on the other fellow’s face was sympathetic. “You really don’t get it. That’s okay, I didn’t either.” He grabbed Ellis’ Let me put it to you straight. “You’re won’t just be going back in. It’s like this…” he paused, to get the words out right. “The moment Wendy made that wish, you ceased to exist. And her, the girl who used to be you, came into existence instead.”

“But… no!” He really didn’t like these answers now. “Look at her… me! That doesn’t make any sense. She talking like me. She dresses like me… kind of. And she’s definitely reacting just like I am” Ellis protested, gesturing to where the girl was currently shrieking into her pillow. To look at her, it wasn’t hard to imagine that she was him now. Her clothes had altered in the transformation, but not by much - he too often wore jean shorts, though he hadn’t been wearing them during the flash. She had the same taste in sneakers, and he could buy her hairstyle as a feminine version of his own. She even had a character from the same anime on her t-shirt. Her backpack, left on the floor, had the same buttons and charms he picked himself.

The guy shrugged. “Lucky you, but I’m pretty sure it just hits everyone differen-”

“-and I’m sure it means she’s clearly me, just a little confused” Ellis continued hysterically. “I-I can feel what she’s feeling! Obviously we’re connected. She’s just not listening to me!” He tried again to make her look up and notice him, or do something, anything, but she didn’t respond.

“Look, it doesn’t matter how much she acts like you, she’s not really you. Not really. It’s more like you are a part of her.” The guy said coldly. “She has your memories. She’s knows who she was. She just doesn’t know she isn’t who she was anymore…. yet. And don’t bother thinking she’ll change you back. She won’t. She’s going to forget having ever been you in a day or so. That connection you feel now goes away on her side… but never on ours.” His voice dropped, with a pained grimace. “Like her feelings should be your feelings, but they’re not.”

This couldn’t be happening. Not only was he - or some part of him - stuck as a girl, but that girl was going to forget him? He couldn’t accept it. “But then… how do I go back?”

The guy just stared at him. The answer was obvious, and Ellis decided he didn’t want to hear it anyway. This would’ve been awful to hear out loud.

“B-but. But this isn’t possible. It doesn’t just happen!”

Instead of an explanation, he only got a shrug. “Magic,” the floating guy said. “What are you gonna do, right?”

They both went quiet for a minute, and stared down at the two girls below them. Wendy had succeeded in calming the girl who had been Ellis down, but she was still very tense. She was trembling as new and terrifying possibilities came into her head. Ellis could relate, and not just because they shared the same feelings.

“What the hell am I going to do? My parents will never believe I’m me.” She whispered. Spoken like someone unaware that those parents would start believing in who she was before long. It was exactly what Ellis would have wanted to say. In way, it was exactly what he did say. “I don’t have anywhere to stay.”

Wendy gulped. She shrugged, and blurted out the first thing to come to mind. “You can stay with me!” She said, then cringed. Girl Ellis seemed to accept it, however. Who knew? The next morning they would probably just think they it was a sleepover or something. “For now, let’s just say you’re my friend. Uh… how about Chelsea?”

“I hate it,” girl-Ellis said, pouting, but something in her eyes didn’t look too against the idea. “But I’ll take it for now.”

“See?” The other boy said, pointing out the moment so Ellis would remember it. “It starts with rationalizing. Making excuses to act as if everything’s normal. But then those excuses become real.”

Ellis sighed, but a kind of calm came over him. Not because he was at all happy with what was going on. Because he was realizing that there was no point denying it was the truth any more. This was happening. He had to deal with it. But he still had one question.

He turned to his companion. “So if I’m the newest member of the Ex-Dudes Club, who the heck are you?”

The redhead stared at him for a long time.

“…you really don’t remember, do you?” He whispered, finally. Ellis’ eyes widened, but when he didn’t respond the stranger sighed. “My name is Owen.”

“And who are you now? Seeing as I got this way by being turned into a girl, and all.” Ellis grumbled, getting ready to trade jabs about who had it worse right now. No way something as crazy as his story could happen twice.

Owen rolled his eyes and bit back another “duh.” He gestured obviously to the pair of girls who were still freaking out - though less so than before. Chelsea was even smiling, and playing with her hair. But that didn’t make any sense. Ellis knew that Chelsea was him, even if he totally didn’t want to know, so this Owen guy couldn’t be her. And that meant…

“Holy crap!” His eyes widened. “You’re… Wendy?” Ellis choked. He felt faint. “My girlfriend is a dude?”

“Was. Past tense.”

The reminder that he wasn’t the only one in this dire situation got Ellis to sober up, and he softened a bit as he realized he was talking to a kindred spirit. “Was is the ring?” He asked. Owen nodded. “Who did this to you?”

Owen was suddenly glaring, and the intensity in his eyes could’ve bowled Ellis over, if they weren’t in midair. “You did, genius!”

Ellis blinked. “I… what?” That was crazy, he was pretty sure he would remember turning a guy into a girl - let alone a girl he wanted to date! “That’s impossible. I wouldn’t ever-”

Owen sighed again. “It wasn’t on purpose. At least, I don’t think so. You don’t remember now, but we’re buds. We have been for years.” Now Ellis knew he was crazy. He would definitely remember having a best friend. But he had never needed another one. Ever since he was a kid, the only person that ever filled that role in his life was… Wendy…

Oh…

Owen seemed to realize that Ellis had put the pieces together, and continued. “You’re the one who found the ring, something about a steal at a flea market. I didn’t ask.” That was true, Ellis did get it at a flea market. But he remembered getting it for Wendy. “While you were holding it you started talking about giving it as a gift, and made some idle wish about having a girl to give it to. Neither of us had much luck with women, so you said stuff like that all the time.” He looked away. “Except this time, it actually did something. You know the rest. The ring started going crazy, and the next thing I knew I was here watching Wendy have a meltdown about having been a guy, and you babble apologies.”

Ellis knew exactly how much that must suck. “I’m sorry…” he mumbled, wanting to at least say something about it.

“Yeah, I figured.” Owen grunted. Ellis supposed apologies didn’t really matter any more. “So I watched the two of you trying to figure out why happened, yelling until I was hoarse to get you to notice me but you never did. At first you and Wendy acted like she was me, trying to get her ‘back to normal,’ but neither of you thought to use the ring again. Then after a while she started acting differently. You wanted a girlfriend, so she became girlier.” That made sense. Wendy wanted Ellis to be “a little more like her,” so Ellis became a girl but otherwise was mostly the same. But Wendy had been everything he wanted in a girlfriend. And you started… getting close to her. At first, I thought you were double crossing me or something, but around the time you guys started swapping spit was when I realized you had just forgotten me.” He stared into space. “You kept on living life as if Wendy was always your girl, and I never existed.”

Ellis tried to think back. Owen said the two of them had been friends for years, but even now all Ellis could remember was meeting Wendy years ago, hitting it off right away. Those years of being friends, becoming inseparable. Then those months worth of feeling each other out, going on awkward dates, fun little rendezvous and taking more of each other’s time, up until he gave her the ring a week ago. All of which wasn’t even real. Was Wendy real? Maybe she was, in the world his wish had created. But she hadn’t been, and she didn’t know that. It was looking more likely that she never would.

He looked down at his former self, and former girlfriend / friend. Just like in Owen’s story, despite wanting to undo what happened neither of them so much as thought about using the ring again to undo it. Maybe that was the first thing its victims forgot. Instead, Wendy had convinced Chelsea to go shopping for some new clothes “while they tried to figure this out” - Wendy loved retail therapy to keep her mind off of bad situations, so she shopped all the time. He wondered if Owen was the same way, but then it seemed like thanks to the differences in their wishes the ring had altered him far more dramatically than it had Ellis.

If he understood the echoes of Chelsea’s thoughts that he could fell well enough, Wendy’s attempt at getting her into something girlier would fail hard. But even agreeing to go instead of continuing to focus on what happened was a sign that her frame of mind was changing. She was getting more accepting. If Owen was right, pretty soon she too wouldn’t remember not being herself.

And there was nothing either of them could do. They were stuck like this, maybe for good. All because of a stupid gift. He knew he should’ve gotten a necklace instead…

“So, I guess we both screwed each other over,” Ellis said, summing the whole affair up. “Completely by accident.”

“Yup.”

“Some friends.”

“Yup.”

Ellis sighed. “So what happens to us now?”

“Don’t know. I’ve been here for a couple days, with nothing to do but blow off steam and watch you get gross with my other self.“ He paused. No, wait. That was a gulp. “But seeing as we can’t be the first people who’ve been changed by that thing, yet we’re the only people floating around here, I don’t want to think about it. Sometimes I feel… fuzzy. Like I’m not following her around, she’s pulling me around. Her thoughts are getting stronger, too. Sometimes, they overpower mine. I think eventually we just… fade away into their subconsciouses. If we’re lucky.”

“If we’re lucky?” Ellis scoffed. He didn’t think being a figment of the imagination of someone who didn’t even remember him was such a good option.

Owen stared at him. “Do you want to be a floating, aimless discount ghost that no one can see or interact with for the rest of existence?”

Well, seeing as Ellis didn’t want to go insane… “Okay, that’s a decent point.” He paused. “So what do we do now?”

“Unless you know any word games, we wait…”

And wait they did. Owen and Ellis floated there, making the occasional small talk as Wendy and Chelsea sat down on Ellis’ bed and made plans to “fix this” - plans Ellis now knew would be forgotten before long. Owen filled him in on bits and pieces of the way things had been back when Wendy was him, and Ellis replied with the ways he remembered those things differently. No matter what, nothing Owen said jogged his memory. Owen didn’t seem to take it that hard, but it was a pretty stunning show of how powerful the ring’s magic was. Who knew how many times it had completely altered the state of the world, if not the universe. Owen seemed certain that it only turned men into women, but even just that could have had drastic effect on history.

Meanwhile, the girls went from reassuring one another to chatting and joking around. They had originally planned to go to the mall (“only so I can get used to this stupid body,” Chelsea insisted), but that was postponed as they chatted about all sorts of things. Laughter filled the room, and soon they were talking more like best friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. Ellis felt a pang of sadness to see it. He had lost the girl of his dreams, and soon she would never even know he was gone. But then, looking at Owen he wondered if he ever deserved her in the first place.

Eventually, the girls realized that it was getting late, and got up to actually head to the mall. Ellis got the urge to follow them to the door, but just as he said Owen seemed to be pulled along. Maybe that urge just stopped being a choice after a while.

The girls made it to the door, but didn’t get to go out just yet. They opened it to find that someone was already there. Specifically Ellis’ brother Jacky.

“Uh oh…” Ellis and Owen said at the same time. Last Ellis remembered, Jackie was messing around outside. But the new bandaid on his cheek suggested he might have gotten himself hurt - again - and gotten called in, which was all the worse for everybody. Chelsea looked at the bandage in concern, as did Ellis, but knew she couldn’t say anything.

Jacky took one look at Wendy and his eyes narrowed. “What are you doing up here by yourself? Who’s she?” He glared at Chelsea, unaware of her true identity. “Where’s my bro?”

Ellis’ winced. Of course his brother would give Wendy and a person he thought - or would think for now - was one of Wendy’s friends a hard time. The two of them had never gotten along. They sniped at each other whenever they thought Ellis wasn’t listening, and let it never be said that Wendy was too mature not to take shots at a kid. He used to think it was because Jackie hadn’t quite left the “girls are gross” phase, and he was jealous of her taking all of his big brother’s attention away. But now, he had to wonder if they had the same feud back when Wendy was Owen. Ellis couldn’t read Owen’s face to tell.

Wendy grimaced. “Hey, Jacky! This is… uh…” She looked at the other girl, who urged her to say something. “… Chelsea, she’s another friend of Ellis’. We were just waiting for him.”

“He’s not here? Aw…” Jacky said, before remembering he was taking to his mortal enemy. “I thought he was already here! Where did he go!”

“He…” Wendy’s ran out of words. She was always a bad liar. “Chelsea” had to finish far her, as Ellis usually did. “She- I mean, he’s out!”

But Jacky was not satisfied, even if he did believe them. Which he probably didn’t. “Mom says Ellis is barely allowed to have one girl in his room. She’s gonna go crazy when she sees two of you in here!”

Owen chuckled in a grim sort of way. “Well, he’s screwed.” He said. “What do you think for his girl name? He could stay Jacky, I guess. Or maybe something different, like Alice…”

Ellis tried to shove him, but couldn’t reach. “Shut up! They wouldn’t do that to my brother!”

“Too bad we can’t bet.”

Meanwhile, Wendy gulped at Jacky’s accusation, but Chelsea quickly cut in. “Which is why we’re leaving to meet him, Jacky. So if you would just…” She said, pulling Wendy out of the room before this could get worse. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be that easy.

The kid rounded on Chelsea. “Hey, don’t you call me Jacky! I don’t know you!” He snapped at her, pouting. “And you’re lying! You just said you were waiting for him! I’m telling mom!”

The two girls stared at each other in panic. They couldn’t get Ellis’ mother involved in this, and Ellis had to agree. According to Ellis, it would take some time for the world to get used to her existence, and Jacky was proof of that. They had to think of something or else this was going to get really bad, and they had to do it fast. But thankfully for Ellis’ worry and his nonexistent bet, neither of their eyes went to the ring. Obviously the situation was not bad as Owen liked to think it was.

Or so he thought. Chelsea looked desperately around the room, trying to find something to convince the half pint. “Look, I’ll level with you Ja… kid.” Jacky glared at her, but at least he wasn’t shouting yet. “You let this slide, and we’ll… uh… hang out with you today? Play video games?” She said, and Ellis didn’t need to know her thoughts to wince. That was something Jack wanted to hear from his big brother, not from either of these two.

Sure enough, he stuck his tongue out and pretended to vomit. “Gross! Back off from my console, you dumb girl!”

That’s when Wendy did something stupid. She groaned, having had conversations like this with Jacky before. And in her frustration, she blurted out what sounded unnervingly like “honestly, ‘El! This is why sometimes I wish you had sisters, like me!”

Again, nothing she hadn’t said before. But this time was different. She clapped her hand over her mouth with a squeak, a moment too late. Ellis and Chelsea shouted in a chorus of “NO!”, though only Chelsea’s could be heard by those on the ground, while Owen just groaned and palmed his face.

“Told you…” Owen said, as the room was engulfed in a bright flash.

It was different on this side of the flash. From here, Ellis could sort of make out the transformation. As the light from the ring hit its brightest, time seemed stop for everyone but him and Owen. In the center of the flash, he could make out his brother’s shadow. Then that shadow seemed to snap in two like a piece of toast. The halves pushed apart, and each became a shadow of it own. It shifted here and there, and then the light subsided. When it was gone, the first thing Ellis could see was a little pink dress. Two of them. And then, the stunned girls who were wearing them. Twins, in fact.

“Well, that’s new.” Owen said. It was freaky to think that the ring could turn someone from one person into two, but Ellis realized what had happened right. Wendy had wished that Chelsea had sisters. Plural. Sisters like hers were, and from he knew about Wendy’s family, that totally explained the frills.

Meanwhile, the room below was immediately filled with the sounds of four shrieking girls of various ages and volumes as the room’s “living” occupants finally reacted to what happened, two of those voices shouting in unison like a stereo and accusing the other of being "fake."

Ellis knew how that one ended, so instead he looked around the room for a sign of what he knew would be popping in. He held out some hope that his brother wouldn’t have to go through this with him and that maybe, just maybe his consciousness was still down there in one or both of those girls, somehow. But he’d been wrong before. It wasn’t long before he spotted Jacky floating transparently by the ceiling behind them, flapping around in a complete panic.

“W-what’s happening? Where am I?” He drifted through the air, twisting as he flailed around, but he noticed Ellis’ presence almost right away. “Bro? W-what’s going on? Where are we?”

Ellis sighed. This was starting to look like a repeat of the last hour. “So, do you want to explain?” He said to Owen. “Or should I?”

Owen shrugged, and laid back in midair. It looked like the girls wouldn’t be going to the mall after all. They were here for the long haul, or at least until Ellis’ parents came home. And with the ring on a spree, after that who knows? “I think I might wait, actually.” He quipped. “At the rate we’re going, I’m thinking we won’t be alone up here for long…”