A.N. Wrote this really quickly for Sun-Chan1; Happy Birthday!

Everyone, thank you for the reviews ;_; You guys are the best!

Last time: The group arrived at the University only to find a Sphinx standing outside. It asked them three riddles, all of which they solved by working as a team. Fred becomes frustrated by several things, initially with Mickey over Natalie, then at being unable to join in with solving the riddles, and finally with Janey and Annabella for not paying enough attention to Lizzy.

And now…

The University was amazing. The first thing they saw was the grand entrance hall. All over the wood walls, paintings of old Deans had been taken down and instead there were placards full of lists. The lists consisted of the names of those who were missing, names of those living in the University, and names of those who had died.

There were a crowd of people at the windows and door; evidently they had been watching the group outside. A thin, rakish man in a tidy black suit rushed up to them.

"Hi there," he called, "welcome, welcome to the university! We're so glad you survived! Especially the child! " The man looked at Natalie as if she were something out of a fairytale.

"Why did you put that thing out there?" asked Nigel, "how many people have died trying to get passed it?"

The man in the suit looked sad, "many have died. It's awful. Everyone here are those who have made it in. We never put the Sphinx there. When the Great Change happened, it just appeared. We've been doing a lot of research and it seems that Sphinx's are attracted to knowledge. It wouldn't surprise us if there is a Sphinx outside every university, school, library and college in the world right now." He paused, "the good thing is that the Sphinx keeps away all the monsters and demons. You are safe here. Please, come with me." He glanced down at the door Fred was holding; it still had the body of Polly on it.

"If you leave that here," he said, looking around and then calling over two men, "we can make sure she's properly dealt with and then we'll bury her. There's a morgue in the sciences and forensics department."

"Thank you," muttered Nigel as then men took the body away.

Around them the crowds had dispersed, though many were sending odd (even envious) glances towards Fred and Mickey, who had Natalie between them. Both men gripped her hands a little more tightly, noticing she was the only child in the hall. Janey and Anabella received a few smiles from people, which they both took as a good sign. It made them all feel a bit safer.

"Does everyone get along here?" asked Mickey anxiously.

"Generally yes," said the man. "We've had a few scraps as people are stressed, but overall people have been working together."

The man began to walk and they trailed after him.

"There's not that much space left on campus," he continued to talk as they walked, "we can give you guys bedrooms but you'll have to share I'm afraid."

"We came here because I have a colleague here called Franklin O'Houevre," said Nigel, pushing forward and walking in step with the man, "Do you know him, is he still alive?"

"Yes, that's who I'm taking you to," answered the man, once more looking at Natalie, "no one has seen a child in ages. We thought they had all been taken. Since The Change Professor O'Houevre's knowledge and expertise have kept us alive."

They were in the back of the university now, away from all the pomp and glory of the public area. Now the corridors looked simple and basic, like in any establishment. There were doors either side of the narrow hallway which had names on the fronts, indicating that they were all offices.

They came to a halt in front of one which read Prof. O'Houevre and entered after receiving permission after a few loud knocks.

The thin man opened the door to a rather nice, if small, office. Like nearly every academic there were books everywhere, not just on shelves but on piles all over the floor also. Interspersed among the books were mugs with mould growing in them and various plates that had the remains of food on them.

A portly man with red cheeks and a friendly disposition sat behind an appropriately untidy desk.

"Nigel?" he cried, a faint Louisianna accent colouring an otherwise standard cultured American accent, "is that you old friend?"

"It sure is!"

The men both cheered and hugged as the group loitered awkwardly in the hallway and threshold of the office.

The men finally released one another and Nigel turned and gestured towards Lizzy, his eyes bright and his skin red.

"This is my daughter," he said quickly, "Elizabeth."

"Pleased to meet you-" began Franklin, holding out his hand to shake hers when his eyes landed on the little blonde of the group. "My-my god!" He sputtered, "is that a child?!"

Overcome with shyness, Natalie tucked her head into her father's back. Mickey laughed softly, "yeah, this is Natalie. My little Angel."

Franklin stared, "my god…" he muttered again before returning to his senses. "I do apologise, how rude of me, please, come in, come in."

They piled into the small room, sitting where they could, even if that was on a small pile of books in lieu of a stool or chair.

Franklin sat at his own desk after thanking the thin man, whose name apparently was David, and asking him to get them all some tea and refreshments.

"Is Natalie really that amazing?" asked Janey, "are there really that few children left?"

"There are no children left," intoned Franklin, "well, until I saw Natalie here. All of them are gone. We've had waves of traumatised parents who have seen their screaming children dragged away from their beds and cots by some Lovecraftian monster…"

Natalie whined and gripped Mickey into a hug. Franklin looked ashamed, "I apologise," he said, searching around his desk until he found a box of lollipops. He handed one to Natalie quickly, "I forget myself my dear," he continued. She smiled softly at him in response, the lollipop gripped in her hand but not consumed.

"Really though," he said, sitting back, "the situation with the children was happening weeks before The Change, we should have all worked out long ago that something supernatural was happening."

"Some of us did," said Janey, a little smugly, "before all this happened, I took Natalie to a wiccan. She was supposed to do a protection spell for Natalie but things went a little…screwy."

"A little screwy?" bit out Lizzy, who was still angry about it, "things went crazy. Natalie floated into the air."

"And," said Janey, not caring that Lizzy was pissed off (Lizzy was high strung and always pissed off as far as Janey was concerned, "and Natalie herself said that something had been called."

"Something had been called?" Franklin repeated, "by what and why?"

They all knew it was to do with the necklace Fred had given Natalie, but for some reason, none of them could say this.

Janey shrugged, "not sure. And little Natalie here couldn't tell us either."

Franklin sat back in his chair, "well, well, this is highly intriguing. Of course you, Nigel, would be the only man capable of showing me something highly impressive during a time when Witches and Ghouls suddenly walk the Earth."

"It's not just Natalie," said Nigel, smiling softly, "There's another person in our group you'll be interested in talking to…"