Chapter seven. change.

The lunch bell rang. Jack exited the classroom and headed to the cafeteria. On his way there he bumped into Zill, who was wearing a white shirt and brown slacks.

"Hey dude," Zill greeted.

"Hey, how was class?"

"Had a pop quiz, think I aced it though. "

"Nice! So what's for lunch today?"

"Whatever it is, it won't be enough for you."

"What do ya mean?"

"You know what I mean mister five servings! We'd need a full bucket of food for you and another just for dessert!" Zill laughed.

"I wasn't that bad!" Jack laughed back.

"Do I need to bring up your hospital bill for the cafeteria alone?"

"Hey, that's patient confidentiality!" The two shared a laugh, heading to the cafeteria. They spotted Kayla and Vanexa at a table outside. "I'm actually not hungry so I'm just gonna wait at the table."

"You're not hungry? Have a huge breakfast or something?"

"Guess you could say that."

"Well I'll meet you there."

"Sounds good." Jack said before branching off, heading outside.

Damian came to his ear. "You coulda ate something. You did skip breakfast."

"Only cause you told me not to." He whispered trying to seem inconspicuous while talking to his arm.

"We only got nine souls left, and your greedy gut would've made it five."

"I was only gonna eat one."

"No chances! You've already had enough for this week."

"Yeah yeah."

"By the way, we should keep a look out for anyone looking at us suspiciously."

"Cause of the letter?"

"Mhm."

"Ok but what if- Oh I'm coming up to the others, talk later."

"Kk." Damian rested to his side.

Jack sat across from Vanexa. "Hey guys!"

"Jacko!" Kayla hugged him from the side. She wore a green dress shirt and a red skirt. In front of her spot was a tray of chicken nuggets with a side of macaroni and greens. "Good to see ya!"

"Heh, you act like you haven't seen me in a while."

"We kinda haven't," Vanexa, wearing a black t-shirt and jean shorts, told him.

"You've kinda been doing your own thing these past few days," Kayla added.

"Oh," Jack rubbed the back of his head, "sorry."

"It's fine, you probably had a good reason. Probably been a long week for you considering your accident was only five days ago."

"Its," he looked at his right arm, "been a long and eventful week alright and my luck hasn't made it easier...made it worse in fact."

Kayla grabbed his shoulder and looked at him compassionately. "It's ok Jack. We're here for ya."

"Thanks." He smiled.

Spam came up, he wore a pair of brown slacks and a red white striped shirt, and was holding two trays of food. Both had chicken, macaroni, and carrots. One had a carton of apple juice while the other had a carton of orange juice. "Here you go!" Spam handed Vanexa the one with orange juice.

"Thanks." Vanexa said.

Spam sat next to her. Jack, seeing the two sitting next to each other, thinking about when he spotted them in the locker, and when he saw Spam with flowers last night, couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle when he thought of them as a couple.

Kayla raised a brow. "What's so funny?"

"N-nothing," Jack quickly answered, "just thinking of...odd pairings."

Spam and Vanexa looked at him with shock before quickly hiding the look so as not to draw suspicion.

"What kind of pairing?" Kayla asked.

"Uh…" Jack was saved when Zill came by. "Oh hey, Zills here!

"Yes I am." He sat between Kayla and Jack. Kayla gave him a smooch on the cheek. "So, what are we gonna practice tonight?" He asked, taking a bite of his chicken.

"Well I was thinking we could play "you and me" since it's gonna be our opener."

"That sounds nice! Then maybe we can do "Little baby Bell" since it's a favorite." Spam suggested.

"Yeah, but we should add some new ones."

"I already made up some lyrics!"

Damian came up to Jack's ear. "Bet Vanexa helped his creative flow."

Jack snickered before slapping his arm away.

"What's so funny?" Zill asked.

"Nothing, nothing." Jack held back his laughs and cleared his throat. "Didn't we get a new piano?"

"Oh yeah! The organ one!" Kayla remembered.

"What about using that?"

"Sure, It's kinda heavy, but I'm sure the two of you can handle it." Kayla motioned to Zill and Jack.

Damian went to Jack's ear. "Bet you could lift it yourself."

That statement made Jack think. With how much has been thrown at him he wondered the limits of his new strength. "Maybe I can…"

"Huh?" Zill looked at hom questionable.

"Uh," Jack snapped out his thought, "maybe I can...ask Ms Jackie if she…." His right arm reached back, "could get it out for us!" He saw them look at him wide eyes while he brought his arm down. "What?...hm?" He saw a baseball in his hand. "Where'd this come from?"

"Hey! Can you throw that back?" Someone from the courtyard yelled.

Jack turned to the source. It was a fox. "Sure!" He yelled back. He got up and was about to throw it with his left arm.

Damain quickly spoke in Jack's ear. "With me dummy!"

"Oh right!" Jack whispered before transfering hands. He threw a fastball at the and he caught it.

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome!" Jack sat back down.

"How'd you do that!?" Zill asked.

"Do what?"

"You caught that without even looking!" Kayla told him.

"It's like you sensed it." Vanexa said.

Jack laughed nervously. "Instincts?"

"Seems like you've been dodging everything that's been trying to get you, or just pushing it back."

"Yeah, and now that I think about it," Kayla took a close look at Jack, "you've never looked healthier! Not a single patch in your fur!"

"I know right!"

"Hehe thanks!" Jack said while rubbing the back of his head.

They continued to eat and chat before the bell rang. They bid their goodbyes, saying they'll see each other in the auditorium for practice. As soon as Jack got to class he was thinking about something, something about his bad luck. He needed to talk to Damian so after about ten minutes he asked to be excused for the restroom. He left for it and when he entered, he checked to see if anyone was inside. He was alone and went inside an empty stall, taking a seat.

"Hey, Damian?" Jack spoke to his right arm.

Damian's mouth came at the palm. "What's up?"

"Let's recap this week. I had my accident, met you, became a demon, killed my first demon beast, destroyed a doll and found out about the house of souls, killed the ringleader of it on that same night, and on the next day, we destroyed two dolls and fought another demon monster."

"Sounds about right."

"That's a lot happening in one week."

"It really is. We haven't had time to do strength control, or see your other powers, but you've already gotten used to changing, and using fire."

"Yeah, I guess all my bad luck has made me pretty adaptable. I've gotten a bunch of things thrown at me."

"Both literally and figuratively. Your regular bad luck is manageable but the demonic bad luck? Hoo boy."

"My what?"

"Demonic bad luck. Basically I'm superstitioning that you becoming a demon created a new version of bad luck for you. I call it demon bad luck."

"Really now? Anyways, we also got our mystery guest. The one with that katana."

"Speaking of which. While you got an excuse, why not go take the last mammal trapped there back home?"

"We don't know where that is nor how long that'll take."

"True. Let's check to see if the radars got a log once you're done with music practice. Then we can do your strength test and a power check to see if you've got any other abilities."

"Sounds good. I'm kinda curious on how strong I really am."

"I'm curious too. We can go to the lower layer after school and test it out."

"That reminds me, what if our mystery person is in the lower layer?"

"I can still sense them, just can't see them, unless the dip's high, then we could partially see them."

"How does that-" he stopped when someone from the stall beside him, knocked on the wall. Apparently another mammal came in while they were talking.

"Hey, don't mean to interrupt, but they forgot to fill this stall up with toilet paper. Mind handing me a roll?"

"Oh, uh sure." He grabbed one of the extra rolls in his stall and handed it to the other animal from under the wall.

"Thanks! What are you guys talking about anyway? Some game?"

"Uh no it's uh…"

"A DnD Session!" Damian shouted.

"Your friend can hear me? Your phone has a good microphone, and good speakers, he sounds so clear."

"Th-thanks! Anyway I should get back to class!" Jack hurriedly got out the toilet before washing his hands and leaving the bathroom. He glared at Damian. "I thought you were keeping a lookout!" He whispered.

"Who told you that!?" Damian loudly whispered back.

"I don't know, the fact you always do that!"

"I can't see through walls!"

"You have before! Like yesterday!"

"That was sensing energy, not seeing them! Tomatoes are not potatoes!"

"Ugh!...When school's over I wanna rush over to the auditorium before the others get there. Think we can hop over to the layer unnoticed?"

"Maybe in a crowd. Why do you wanna get there first?"

"I wanna see if I can lift that organ piano."

"Oh? A quick test of feats?"

"Yeah something like that. I'm just curious." He got to the door of class. "Talk later."

"Kk." Damian got rid of his mouth.

The final bell rang. "Alright, try to blend in." Damian told Jack.

"Got it." Jack whispered. He got with the students leaving, meshing with the crowd. He made sure to look inconspicuous and double checked to see if anyone was looking at him. He was in the clear. "Do it!"

Damian emitted a red wave, taking Jack and him into the lower layer. Everyone around him turned into hazy silhouettes that he could now pass through. "The path is clear!"

"Alright!" Jack turned to his demonic form and began to run. He ran faster than he thought, able to give the top runner at school a run for his money. He did have some difficulty turning though and crashed a few times. The dip was low so he thankfully didn't damage anything, but that didn't stop Damian from laughing. He made it to his destination, going through the front doors when the last student and Ms Jackie left. "Sweet! All alone!" Jack hopped to the stadium. "Take us back please."

"Righto!" Damian pulled them back to the mortal realm. "So where's this organ piano?"

"It's in the back." Jack walked to the back area. He saw the organ in the corner. It was half as wide as the regular piano, shaped like a rectangle, and had long brass pipes on the back, one for each key. "Alright," Jack stretched and cracked his fingers, "let's do this!" He came up to the side of the instrument and reached from underneath, grabbing it from the side. He grunted and lifted it up. It was lighter than he thought, feeling as though it weighed only thirty-five pounds. "Wow, this is lighter than I thought." He took it to the podium, gently setting it down in the middle. "Hm...might as well get the rest while I'm at it." He went back to get the drums.

"Uh...Jack?" Damian said in a low voice.

"Hang on, lemme grab this." He hoisted the large drum over his shoulder and wrapped the snapper drums under his arms.

"I don't think you should do that."

"Why not?" He set the drums down in the corner of the platform and set them up. "Getting all this set up ahead of time doesn't seem like a bad idea. Especially with the larger ones." He finished setting up the drums. "Done. Now all that's left is the guitars. Think I should get the regular Piano too or are we good with the organ?" He asked Damian, who didn't respond. "...hello?" He looked at his right arm. His right thumb pointed out to his right. Jack raised a brow and looked, his eyes going wide as soon as they saw Zill, Kayla, Spam, and Vanexa standing at the door, all looking at him with shock and surprise. "...h...hey...guys…"

"Hhheey… " Zill responded.

"You uh...got the Organ...by yourself I see." Kayla said, disbelief in her voice.

"Yeah it was...really heavy!" Jack tried to fib.

"You made it look easy." Spam mentioned.

"Pfft what? Nooo no, it was really tough, ehe-heee." He nervously laughed. "...so..I'm gonna go grab your guitar, Spam, be right back!" Jack dashed off to the room where the smaller instruments were. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he slumped. "Oh man…"

"I tried to warn you." Damian said.

"Is there a demon power you have that can erase memories?"

"Nope. Sorry dude. All I got is fire."

"Maybe I can play it off as a fluke?"

"How?"

"Grab it again but...really struggle?"

"..."

"Yeah...that's stupid. How am I gonna explain that!?"

"You've been exercising since the incident?"

"Damian, it's barely been a week, plus I've got no muscles to show that!"

A knock came at the door. "Uh, Jack? You ok, dude?"

"I'm fine! Be out in a second!"

"Guess you'll just have to face the music." Damian whispered to him.

"Not in the mood for puns!" Jack lowly yelled.

"Was unintentional, to be honest."

"Let's just grab Spam's guitar." Jack groaned. He went back a few shelves and grabbed the guitar that belonged to the fox. He came out the door and was faced with Zill. He smiled albeit a bit awkwardly. "Got it."

Zill smiled awkwardly back. "Cool."

The two met with the others. Jack gave Spam his guitar. "Here ya go."

"Thanks!" Spam said.

Jack went to the drums and took a seat. "So, shall we begin?"

They played for about an hour, going over the new songs Spam came up with and rehearsing it multiple times, making sure they got it down.

"I think that went pretty well." Kayla said.

"Agreed! Nice job with lyrics as always, Spam!" Zill complimented.

"You're welcome!" Spam replied.

"I gotta say, this organ piano sounded amazing!" Kayla noted. "We should use it more often!"

"Yeah, if only it wasn't so heavy." Jack commented.

Zill looked at him with a raised brow. "Didn't look heavy when you grabbed it."

"Ehehe it was, it was, trust me." Jack nervously chuckled. "I'll get the drums so I can help you with it." He started to unscrew the drums.

"Struggle," Damian whispered in his ear.

"What?" Jack whispered back. He saw the others glance at him so he lowered his head behind the big drum.

"They're onto you, so struggle when you lift that."

"They saw me lift it so easily, wont me struggling just add suspicion."

"No no, they think they saw you do it easily. You actually struggling will show that it was all in their heads."

"That's not gonna work!"

"Git a better idea?"

"...ugh, fine, fine!" He raised back up.

"Uh, you ok J-man?" Zill asked.

"Yeah I'm ok." He smiled. He set down the side drums and picked up the large one, making sure to look like it wasn't easy, grunting and wobbling. "Just...give a minute and I'll help out with the organ." He said with forced grunts.

"Ok dude." Zill waited till Jack was out of sight. "Alright, what was that?" He asked the others.

"I don't know, but he's acting strange, and I don't just mean his attitude." Kayla said. "This organ must weigh a ton yet he picked it up so effortlessly!"

"And who was he talking to?" Vanexa questioned.

"He didn't have his phone on...it kinda looked like he was talking to his arm." Zill surmised.

"Again?" Spam said.

"Again? What do you mean again?"

"Uhhhh."

"Did you see him talk to his arm before?" Kayla asked.

"Well," he looked to Vanexa for help, and she softly shook her head, "we, I mean, I...saw him...talk to his arm at...lunch one time!"

"Really?"

"It could've been his phone, he was far away, but I didn't think I saw anything in his hand."

"Huh. Yeah that's weird."

"Back! Ready zill?" Jack said.

"Uh yeah sure," Zill told him.

"I'll take one side, you take the other." Jack got to the left side of it.

"Alright." Zill took the right.

"Three, two,one, lift!" The two lofted it up. Jack took most of the weight but not all of it so Zill wouldn't think it was too light. They took it back into the corner. "Phew. That was tough huh?"

"Yeah….jack?"

"Hm?"

"You ok dude?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that...I don't know if you noticed but uh…"

Damian got into Jack's ear. "We need to leave now!"

"Hm? Why?" Jack asked, concerned.

"Why what?" Zill wondered.

"Um, why are you...acting so weird."

"I'm not so sure I'm the weird one here."

"The dip's rising! Someones making it rise!" Damian shouted.

"What!?" Jack was taken back.

"It's true. The past few days you haven't been yourself lately." Zill told him. "Did something happen during that accident?" Zill look worried, wondering if something happened to his best friend to cause his odd actions.

"I...well…" Jack tried to find the words. He don't want to tell him he became a demon because he was afraid of how he'd react. Then he saw something, a silhouette someone in a hood walking behind Zill, leaving through the auditorium backstage exit. "I...I gotta go! I just remembered something important!" He rushed off, hearing Zill call out his name. "Damian!"

"Shifting now!" Damian pulled them into the lower layer. "Whoever that is, they pulled the layer up so high it was close to crossing over!"

Jack was chasing after the hooded mammal. "They can do that!?"

"They didn't so quickly that it grew me off! Don't let him escape!"

"I'm trying! I got him in my sights!" Jack kept up his speed, not going super fast since he didnt wanna crash when turning. The hooded figure made one last turn while Jack was gaining on him. "Hold it!" He turned and saw that the person was gone. "What the!?" Jack looked around. "Where'd he go!?"

"I...I don't know!"

"Can't you sense them!?"

"No! I can't sense them at all!"

"What!? How could he just disappear!?" Jack looked down the hallway and saw his locker door slightly open. "Hm?"

"Why's your locker open?"

"...shift us back." Damian did so and Jack approached his locker. He opened it and saw a letter.

"Another letter."

Jack took it and read it. "I realised I forgot to mark where the last doll was. My mistake. The locations on the back of where you can take the mammal back." He flipped it over and saw an address.

"Think it's safe to assume who we just chased is the one who left this letter?"

"That or working with them. But why?"

"No clue. Well at least how we know where to put the last mammal. Let's do that now!"

"Hold on…." He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. "I gotta do something first."

Jack gingerly walked into the auditorium. The others were still there and saw him walk in.

"Jack!" Zill called out, approaching them. "Everything is ok!? You just ran off!" He was concerned.

"Something happen?" Kayla asked.

Everyone looked at him concerned and he just smiled weakly. He expected them to be mad but was glad they weren't. He looked down. "I'm fine...but…"

"What's up?" Zill asked.

"Something...did happen..the day of my accident...something big...so big that I haven't been able to make sense of it all just yet...and it doesn't help with how much had been thrown at me since then...I...it's not like I don't want tell you what happened it's just….i… I don't...It's not something I can...what I mean is…"

Zill out his hand on Jack's shoulder. "If you're not ready to tell us, that's fine. Besides, it's not like you're not Jack anymore...you're a little different but you're still our friend." Zill smiled warmly.

"Yeah. We can wait for when you're ready." Kayla told him.

"I'm patient!" Spam said.

"It doesn't bother me much." Vanexa said.

"...thanks." he looked up at them with a smile.

They all embraced him in a hug, insuring Jack of the strength of their friendship.

End.

Next chapter. Work out.