Chapter 8

"So..." Shannon began as she sat down at the table with the others, "What are we going to do about this?" There was a pause as everyone considered. The harder they focused, the less answers they got.

"Well I think we've basically backed ourselves into a corner." Emma sighed. "We've played right into its hands."

"It wasn't Scott in the darkroom." Maddy muttered guiltily. "It wasn't Mrs Parish who locked me in that office. It was the shapeshifter. It rounded the corner as Scott and then turned into Mrs Parish before turning back and setting the whole thing up. Then the real Mrs Parish got the blame."

"Don't even think of blaming yourself, Maddy." Emma said, glancing across at her daughter. "You had no way of knowing."

"None of us did." Dan gritted his teeth in fury. "The signs were all there, but I never believed I'd meet one in my lifetime. I'm betting that was the shapeshifter in the head's office as well. They got me out of the office to escape and then the real Mr Whiteside was the one who showed up while I was waiting to review the CCTV. No wonder he didn't have the first clue what was going on." They all fell into an uncomfortable silence. It was a problem that made them all feel thoroughly guilty. There was no escaping from what they'd done.

"Could Segolia help us at all?" Rhydian suggested. "They could fabricate a story to get Mrs Parish's job back."

"Rhydian, I don't think even James Patterson could write a story capable of that now!" Maddy scoffed. "The Maximum Ride series was epic and all that, but I told them it was Mrs Parish and it's been verified by my dad, a computer technician and the head teacher on CCTV. And anyone we show the recording to will say the same."

"I don't see a way back from this." Shannon chewed her lip thoughtfully. "But I think if anyone could find one it would be Segolia." Maddy looked around the table at everyone else. Slowly, they all started nodding in agreement.

"But how will we know the person who turns up is actually them and not the shapeshifter?" Tom asked. That was something Maddy had spent a while thinking about.

"When it was trying to be you, it gave itself away instantly. It knew what you looked like, possibly from the photos in the darkroom. Scott's on the school magazine so his photo would be on the website when you look up the school journalists. Same for Mrs Parish. She's on the 'Meet the Team' section. Plus, it may have seen her walking around when it was Scott. The point is, it can take these forms but it won't know the people. All we do is ask for assistance from someone we know and then ask them a question that only they would know."

"So take the Harry Potter approach?" Shannon shrugged. "I like it."

"Yeah, you would." Tom muttered drily. Shannon smacked him on the arm as the discussion continued.

"Okay, so we'll make the call after supper then and get someone in here tomorrow?" Emma looked around the table pointedly. Everyone nodded in agreement. With that, they all tucked in and carried on. The Chinese was over far too quickly for everyone's liking, but had been a welcome stress reliever from everything that had happened. Once they were done, Emma picked up the phone and dialled as Maddy, Rhydian and Shannon bundled onto the sofa and Tom let out a groan as he realised he'd been relegated to the floor again. The phone rang as Emma put it on speaker so that everyone could hear.

"Segolia main desk, you're speaking to Lissa. How can I help?"

"Hi, this is Emma Smith. We're with your private healthcare team." There was a pause as her words registered.

"Connecting you now." There was a click as the line switched over and the ringing started again. This time when someone picked up, it was a familiar voice that answered.

"Hello, this is Doctor Rebecca Whitewood of the Segolia private healthcare team." Dan flinched involuntarily as Shannon practically jumped for joy, causing the sofa to shake violently and nearly kicking Tom in the process.

"Hey, at least we know her." Rhydian pointed out.

"Dr Whitewood, this is Emma Smith." Emma said. "We've got a problem here and we need Segolia's help to sort it out." She started talking and had to repeat several details since Whitewood was clearly having trouble believing it.

"So you're saying there's a Wolfblood that can shapeshift and it's targeting you?" Whitewood shuffled some papers on the other end of the phone. "Okay, I'll grab Miss Sweeney and we'll be over first thing tomorrow."

"Thank you." Emma nodded gratefully. "We'll see you tomorrow then." She hung up and turned to the others. "It's done. Now, there's something I have to ask you all? Would anyone like to stay the night if they're able? We know you're all who you say you are. If you can stay, that saves us checking you again in the morning. If you can't, meet up before you get here and check you're all who you say you are beforehand. It could show up looking like any one of you, but not two or three at once. And if one of you meets up with the fake and then the real one turns up, at least there'll be a chance with more than one of you." There was a pause as Tom, Shannon and Rhydian all turned to look at each other. Maddy had to admit, she was surprised. She'd thought her parents would have wanted to distance everyone else as much as possible. But they were also right. The house's security was compromised now that the sliding door at the back had been shattered and it was better to keep everyone here now that they knew for a fact none of them was the shapeshifter.

"Well my mum's pretty chill about it provided I let her know in advance." Shannon shrugged. "But I guess it depends on what everyone else is doing."

"I'll go ring my mum." Tom got up and headed over to the kitchen area, pulling out his phone to start scrolling through his contacts. Maddy turned to Rhydian with pleading eyes and it was something she knew he found very difficult to resist.

"I'll check with Mrs Vaughan." He let out a sigh and got up, going over to the back door. Maddy watched as he took a picture and started texting. "I'll just tell her someone threw a stone at the back door and you don't feel safe. She should go for that." He finished up and sent it. They waited anxiously as Tom made his way back to the sofa, flashing Emma a thumbs-up as he did. Rhydian's phone pinged and he took a look. Despite his back being to them, Maddy could feel the smile on his face before he turned around.

"I take it that's a yes, then." Dan observed as Rhydian's contagious grin appeared on Maddy's face too. "Okay then Maddy, why don't you take Rhydian and get the spare blankets from the airing cupboard. Rhydian and Tom, you can have the spare room. Shannon, you and Maddy can have a girls' night. Emma and I will stay down here and take turns guarding the back door."

"Come on, Rhydian." Maddy grabbed his hand and started dragging him towards the stairs. He stumbled a bit at first, but she was amazed he managed to keep up.

"Just don't forget what you went up there for!" Maddy heard Emma call after them.

"From the speed she's going, I think she knows exactly what she's going up there for." Tom said. Maddy heard a sharp smack as Shannon hit him around the back of the head. She couldn't help smiling again as she reached the top of the stairs. She knew he'd been expecting it, but also didn't hear him complain as she pushed him into her room. Their lips met instantly as she practically threw him onto her bed again. As Rhydian's head hit the pillow, there was an audible crack as his face twisted in pain. Rubbing the back of his head, he reached under the pillow and removed the offending object.

"What the hell is this and why is it under your pillow of all places?" Maddy realised what he was holding and took it from him, flipping through the pages as she spoke.

"Oh, this! This is an old photo album. The kind you don't let your boyfriend see. The one with all the baby photos in it. I had it out because there was one in there that's just been calling me lately. I don't know why." Once she found it, she took it out and held it up for Rhydian to see. It was a picture of a little girl sitting under a tree in the back garden and laughing as a younger version of Emma played with her.

"Whoa, you looked different!" Rhydian remarked, leaning in to get a better look. "I can't tell for certain, but you look almost blonde in that shot."

"Apparently that was something my aunt did." Maddy shrugged. "I don't know why, but apparently my mum ripped her a new one over it. That's why I've never dyed my hair with anything permanent. I always make sure it washes out." She sighed as she flopped sideways, leaning her head on Rhydian's chest as he wrapped an arm around her to support her. "The weird thing is, I don't remember Mum ever looking that young. Although when I said that she grounded me, so it's really not worth chasing up." Rhydian burst out laughing until he realised that she wasn't joking.

"Okay, I don't know much about parents but I know that is a sure-fire way to get in trouble." Maddy rolled her eyes and leaned into him further, loving his warmth.

"Part of me really wishes I could just have you to myself tonight." Her voice was little more than a mumble but she knew he heard it. Reluctantly, she stood up and headed for the door. They'd already been gone too long and she knew it. He followed her as they got to the airing cupboard and she stood back to let him pull bundles of sheets down and pass them to her.

"Don't worry." He handed her half the sheets before landing a kiss on the top of her head. "There'll be another time." With that he vanished into the spare room to start laying out the sheets for Tom, leaving her in the upstairs hall feeling thoroughly dazed.