Mrs. Finolet grabbed at her chest, pounding it slightly as if she were trying to get her heart to beat. Then she fainted, slamming her head against a table.

Aaliyah's long nails were gripping Ariu's arm, and she gasped. Ariu herself was on the verge of screaming, as Ryanna began to sob and shriek at the same time.

The servants began to flood into the room, and a few of the women stifled screams, and there was a retching sound that came from behind them, as someone ran for help.

Ariu stared at the body ahead of them. It was quite obviously the principal of the school. Red blood was spilled over the floor, and the corpse seemed to be reaching out for something.

"Oh God. Oh God. What do we do?" Aaliyah asked. "Oh my Gods!"

It must be the virus, Ariu thought. And most of these servants were adults.

She turned around slowly, choking as she tried not to cry, and ran towards the door. Aaliyah, attached to her arm as she was, came with.

"Everybody! Get out! It's the Sickness!"

The servants looked around for a moment, before looking at one tall man, who nodded, and they all moved out of the room.

"Wait!" Ryanna yelled. "All of you-- you can't leave! If you've caught it, you'll spread it around."

She had stopped crying by then, and was sniffling slightly.

Aaliyah, looking very worried, ran over to the door and pulled it shut. "Ariu," she whispered as they heard the sirens growing nearer. "Why were you sleeping here? Did you know?"

Ariu shook her head. "No! Aaliy, I don't know what happened." She realized that the sirens had been going on for awhile, but they were just now noticeably close. "The sirens..."

Ryanna nodded, and looked around wide-eyed.

Aaliyah gasped and yelled an inappropriate word. "We left her in there!"

No one paid any attention to her as she began to pace back an forth as other teachers ran past and more screams and cries filled the air.

The assembly later that morning, after the excitement had died down a little, was short and very to the point.

Yes, the Sickness had reached Down Town. Yes, Principal was dead. But everything was alright. It was all under control and no one was going to die. Everyone here has magic. Try to find the cure and pray to the Twelve because magic people are the closet to heaven. Don't worry. And curfew is after dinner tonight and everything outside of the school grounds is out of limits.

"Yeah," Aaliyah muttered as they called out their thanks to the Gods. "Right. Like hell I'm staying here."

Ryanna leaned around Ariu, and said, "Yeah. I need to see my family."

Ariu didn't say anything. She wanted to see her mother, because although she tried, she couldn't hate her. She didn't like being hit, and that had happened everyday for almost her whole life. Sometimes she thought that must account for why she had so much dislike for servantry.

"Let's go," Ariu said. She had to get Lucy anyway.

The three girls, covered in capes, with their daemons trailing behind them, slipped through the woods for about half of an hour, and emerged in the outskirts of Down Town. It was about five o clock, and the sun was just beginning to go down, as they walked through the bad part of town. Which was pretty much all of it.

Ariu was right. Most of the muggers and criminals were hidden away, and no call women hung their arms from the windows. The Sickness could get into houses though. They weren't safe.

"Couldn't we have gone around farther?" Ryanna asked, clinging to Aaliyah. "I'm not an expert, but this isn't safe."

Definitely not for Ryanna or Aaliyah. Ariu was much better off than them, all street skill forgotten. She was normal looking and sized, at least in her opinion.

Ryanna had long bright blond hair, and sparkling blue eyes, and if the call girls were out, she would almost fit in with them.

And Aaliyah had long black hair and green eyes, and had dark skin. They were both very pretty, and the men in this area looked at girls like them.

"What are you looking at?" Aaliyah snapped at two men in their twenties who leered out of a car at them.

Ariu rolled her eyes, and even Aaliyah's daemon looked upset. "Don't look at them, you idiot," she snapped. "They'll-- Oh great. Look what you've done."

The car turned around and stopped in front of them, blocking the street. Ryanna and Aaliyah were backing up, but Ariu smiled at them.

"Hey ma," one man said, leaning out the window. She dropped her cloak and walking slowly to the window.

"Hey papi," she whispered, looking into the car, and trying to avoid the man's eyes. "You got room for three more?"

"Why?" The other man said. "You chicks need a ride."

"Uh huh."

"Then we got room."

Ariu giggled and Aruin purred in the form of a kitten. "Okay. Let me talk to my friends!"

She skipped over to Aaliyah and Ryanna who were looking absolutely horrified.

"What are you doing?" Ryanna asked, grabbing her arms.

"Getting us a ride."

Ryanna's mouth dropped. "What?"

"She got us a ride!" Aaliyah said.

"It would take us hours to get there otherwise!"

Ryanna looked sick. "I am not a whore!"

Ariu yanked her cloak off. "You look like one!"

She covered her short skirt. "No I don't. I'm not going."

Aaliyah said, "Whatever. We'll leave you then."

And Ryanna ended up sitting in the back seat of the car between one of the guys and Aaliyah.

Ariu sat in the front, flirting with the driver.

The man next to her kept putting his hand on her thigh, and she kept fidgeting.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

She shrugged.

Ariu looked into the mirror. "Hey!" she said. "No services for free!" Then she glared at Ryanna in a way that said, we need this ride. "Hey, Liyah! Give him one of your famous massages."

"Okay," Aaliyah said. "Switch me seats."

Ryanna had always wondered what had gone one in that girl's past. She was way too wild and didn't care about herself much.

And, as she often did, Ryanna wished she could trust her friends more, and be as brave as them. Of course Ariu wouldn't put them in a situation that would hurt them, but she couldn't trust that.

Ariu gave her a smile as if to say don't worry, and then began to talk to the boy again.

"Hey." The man looked out the window and whistled at a woman walking by, and Ariu had to try again. "Hey. Turn here. Do you know a woman named Candy Bar?"

He said, "Nah. I know Candy Cane, and Candy, though."

The man who was now hugging Aaliyah, who looked green, laughed loudly. "Candy Bar? Yo man! That lady is crazy. Oh man! She lives next door to me and I went over there to--borrow some... milk."

Ariu looked disgusted. "Well, she's my mother. We need to get there."

"Yes ma'am."