Okay, three cheers for me! I think this is the fastest I've ever updated! I was planning on putting one more scene in this chapter, but it just got too long. Nineteen chapters is still the goal, though. Enjoy!

giveGodtheglory – Thanks. Don't worry about it. No offense taken. I wrote that chapter knowing that something was bound to be wrong since I'm not exactly a comic guru. But if that's the only problem, I'm happy with it.

Moonjava – Thank you!

jjonahjameson – Yay, I'm glad you liked it! I was afraid that I'd lost you, but you're back! Thanks.

And to the rest of my readers, please review!

Black and White

The three teenagers sat scattered about the basement living room. Jake was battling a bunch of aliens on one of the game consoles, Allie was furiously typing a six page paper that was due the next day on her laptop, and Nikki was lying on her back on the couch reading a book.

A giggle announced C-Cat's appearance beside the TV. Jake was so startled he nearly dropped the controller. Nikki looked up in time to see "GAME OVER" written in big, red letters on the screen.

C-Cat sniggled a bit - which was his way of apologizing - and vanished before Jake could recover enough to bean him.

Nikki jammed her bookmarker between the pages and tossed the book onto the coffee table. Sitting up, she asked, "How old is C-Cat?"

Jake gave her an exasperated look. "I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" he muttered irritably, slouching over to the leather armchair.

"Oh, get over it. It's just a stupid game."

"Ha," he said, dropping into the chair. "That's what you think." But he didn't seem quite as grouchy as before. Jake was never one to stay angry at anyone for long.

Nikki swung her legs around and sat up. "But I could almost swear he looks a lot older than he did when I came."

"That was almost a year ago," Allie interjected, printing her report. She flipped through the pages with a triumphant expression on her face. "Done."

"Yeah, but that's my point. He doesn't look like he's only a year older," Nikki said insistently."

Jake thought for a moment. "You know, Allie, I think she's right. C-Cat could pass as ten or eleven, easy."

"So? That little brat is weird."

In unison, the trio swiveled to see Thorn standing stiffly in the doorway.

Allie wrinkled her nose. "Since when does the high-and-mighty Thorn grace us commoners with her presence during the day?"

Thorn got even stiffer. Nikki could see light glinting off spots of metal on the woman's palms; a sure sign of wrath. Then they vanished. "Since now," Thorn answered imperially. And she marched down the hallway to her room.

"I can't stand that woman," said Allie. She stapled her paper with a loud crunch and dropped it onto the desk. Whipping a hair binder off her wrist, she tied her elegant white-blonde locks back as she glided over to perch on the arm of Jake's chair.

Before any of them had a chance to begin another conversation, Odrade's familiar stomping footsteps echoed off the steps.

Jake was on his feet by the time Veron had walked into the living room. "Odrade," he said sharply.

The man's gaze darted to the stern-faced teenaged boy. Briefly, he seemed to consider returning the way he had come, but changed his mind. "What?" he said resignedly.

"We need to talk about money."

Odrade's eyes flitted between Allie and Nikki who were both watching him attentively. He purposely dropped his cell phone on the carpeted floor and bent to pick it up.

He's avoiding paying Jake? Nikki thought with alarm. What if he won't give us anything? All of a sudden, she saw a dot of hope. Maybe this is just the thing that I can use to disgruntle everyone enough to leave!

She still shuddered to think how many millions of dollars she had helped steal during the past ten or so months she had been with the group.

Odrade motioned Jake upstairs. As they left, Jake scowling and Odrade flipping his cell phone over and over in his hand, Allie and Nikki exchanged glances. But rather than start conversing with her, Allie got up, excusing herself brusquely, and hurried into her room.

Nikki stared at the floor. Her hand slid inside her skirt pocket and fingered the thin piece of velvet-lined material. She didn't often wear her costume except when she was "on-the-job", but she always had her mask.

Just as she was beginning to consider having a go at Jake's alien game, her own cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Nikki, it's Aaron."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Oh, hi!" she said, a bit too enthusiastically to be real. "How are you?"

Aaron laughed. She used to love his laugh… "I'm doin' fine. You?"

"Same here, but a lot better now that you called," she lied. "You have no idea how tense things can get at home." Nikki flopped back on the couch. Usually, she would go outside for a call like this; she had often had terrible reception in the basement. But today it was crystal clear. What a shame.

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't be," she said. "I'm used to it. So what's up?"

"Well…" He sounded a little nervous.

"Yeah?" she encouraged.

"I was wondering if you were busy on the seventeenth."

Nikki went through her mental calendar aloud. "Let's see. I don't think I'm doing anything, but Claire keeps talking about the seventeenth. She won't tell me what it is, though."

Aaron sounded happy. "I'll tell you."

"Spill the beans."

"It's prom at our school."

Her wonderful mood vanished faster than C-Cat. She racked her brain for something to say. "That's prom night at our school too."

"Oh," said Aaron. "You aren't, uh, going with anybody…are you?"

Something in Nikki's stomach twisted. No, she was being silly. Why did it matter if she wasn't already going with somebody? He was going to go with another girl anyway…

"No," she said.

Aaron's voice became hopeful and optimistic once again. "Then, would you go with me?"

Nikki tried to make herself smile excitedly, then remembered he couldn't see her and didn't bother. "Sure, I'd love to!"

"Great!" said Aaron. "I'll talk to you later."

"Goodbye."

"Bye."

She listened to the dial tone for a moment before sliding it into her pocket.

He asked me over the phone.

Feeling extremely insulted, Nikki rolled off the couch. She landed gently on the carpet in a crouch, rose to her feet, and wandered in a sort of trance toward the open doorway that led to the stairs.

As she clomped dejectedly to the top of the wooden steps, Nikki wondered what would happen if she called Aaron back and told him to get a life – and some nerves.

Checking to see that the coast was clear, she ghosted silently through the shelf/door at the top and into the grocery store.

Only a few regulars were shopping today: a single mother with her two toddlers, a sophisticated businessman who stopped in every day for a cheap muffin during lunch, and a group of junior high punks who considered the whole street their hangout.

Nikki stood in front of her blue silhouette until it faded, pretending to be surreptitiously checking the small red price tags on the boxes of cereal that hid the door.

The businessman, in his fine black suit, meandered past. Taking a bite out of his muffin, he observed aloud, "Everything in this store is so reasonably priced. Can't understand why they would even try to sell cereal for seven dollars a box. Must be magic corn flakes."

Laughing at his own joke, he walked away. The jingle of a bell announced his exit, and a loud crash followed instantaneously.

Nikki turned around to see the single mother looking absolutely mortified. Her little girl had just knocked over a large glass jar of pickles and was watching the warty, green cucumbers roll across the floor.

Odrade and Jake, who had been having a heated discussion behind the cash register immediately forgot their little spat and came running over. As the mother, who had begun sobbing her eyes out, gave them a watery apology, Odrade kindly told her that she needn't worry about paying for it.

"Yeah," Jake put in. "You wouldn't believe how much that cereal has been bringing in since we upped the price!"

The poor woman gave him a confused look; as though she wasn't certain whether or not he was actually being serious. She cast the lined wall of boxes and Nikki an uncertain glance.

"Like I said," Odrade told her quickly, "don't worry about it. I'll get Sarah over there to clean it up." He waved his hand in Nikki's direction.

Bewildered, Nikki looked around to see who he was talking about, but no one was there.

"Is that all, Ma'am?" Odrade took the basket of groceries gently from the mother and led her to the cash register to pay. "Sarah, get a rag, will you, and clean that up."

Cottoning on, Nikki gave him a scowl, but, rather than blow whatever cover he was attempting to create, she marched off to find a mop and bucket.

The door jingled merrily as the much-relieved woman left with her two children several minutes later. Nikki was just returning from the broom closet. She got down on her hands and knees, wiping up green juice and scurrying silently after the runaway pickles.

From her spot in the aisle, Odrade and Jake couldn't see her, but Nikki could hear their ever-rising voices. They seemed to have forgotten her.

"I need that money, Odrade," said Jake's low, threatening voice.

Odrade laughed coldly. "You think you're the only one who needs a little cash now and again?"

"You've got to be kidding me!" growled Jake. "D'you think I have no idea the kind of moola that we bring in? If you don't start shelling some of it out, you can go get it yourself!"

Nikki paused, her mouth hanging slightly open. So Odrade was really going to withhold the payment he owed them?

She could hear Jake stomping around the counter. She could see his shoes through the bottom of the shelf.

"Now, hang on a second."

Jake's pounding feet stopped. "What?" he said without turning around.

Odrade put a few shreds of his former politeness back into his voice. "You know that I wouldn't refuse to ever pay you, I'm just a little late."

Jake didn't respond, but Nikki could almost see him grinding his teeth in frustration.

"If I promise to get it to you by the end of the summer, will you calm down?"

"THE END OF THE SUMMER?" Jake exploded. Spinning around, he yelled, "Do you honestly think you can tell me to wait four or five months?"

"Yes," said Odrade flatly. "I have the upper hand here. You wait and do your job, or you're out, Jacob Anderby."

Nikki saw Jake's feet leave the ground as he lunged forward snarling…but he let himself drop back to the ground without touching the man behind the cash register. "You know what? That's fine. Just fine." And he stormed out of the store in a foul temper.

Looking down, Nikki realized she was conducting a smear campaign with the pickle juice-sodden cloth. Her future was becoming less certain by the minute. But she couldn't have asked for a better chance to talk to Jake.

She scrambled to her feet, barely remembering to toss the rag into the bucket of soapy water. Throwing caution to the wind, Nikki ran barefoot down the aisle and burst out of the store.

She stopped running as soon as she hit the sidewalk, letting the door clang behind her. It was sunny and very windy. The breeze pulled shamelessly at her long peasant skirt. She gathered it together in two handfuls at her sides to hold it down.

People pushed past, ignoring the young girl. Her head whipped left, then right, but Jake was nowhere to be seen.

Nikki spat out a strand of hair that had gotten caught in her mouth and chewed her lip. Where had he gone? She knew that if Jake didn't want to be found, there was no searching for him. He was good at disappearing.

She glanced at the Starbuck's several shops down and across the street. Nikki squinted. Was that Jake shuffling near the door outside?

Ducking around an ambling older couple, she tiptoed across the chilly concrete to the edge of the sidewalk.

It was Jake. He caught sight of her and their eyes met briefly. Nikki desperately wished she knew what he was thinking as he stared at her.

Her hair, which had grown even longer over the past year, wandered about her face and flowed to the side in teasing tangles. She released her skirt and let her arms hang loosely. The swishy, white material streamed out freely. Unconsciously, Nikki allowed a plaintive blue hue tinge her face.

Jake broke the moment first. He turned away and strode determinedly into Starbucks. He didn't look back.

A little disappointed, Nikki gathered up her skirt again and stepped carefully back toward the store. She froze.

A pale face framed with sleek blonde tresses returned her gaze. Both girls said nothing; one gaping in horror, the other glaring back with callous iciness.

Allie reached out and touched the door handle. She moved away fluidly, her head back as she barked out a derisive laugh.

Something in Nikki's neck prickled, ever so lightly, but it was more than the deepening feeling of dread that was collecting in her stomach. She tried the door. It was sealed shut – probably with crystal.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Allie flipping the OPEN sign to CLOSED.

Banging on the window she shouted, "Allie! Allie this isn't funny, open the door!"

Allie didn't respond. Nikki couldn't see her anymore.

She cupped her hands and pressed them to the glass to look inside. The store was devoid of life. Furiously, she smacked the door one last time before making her way across the busy street.

Dodging cars and paying no heed to the angry shouts she got for J-walking, Nikki clenched her fists. She couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude. And by the looks of the high sun, it was only noon. She wouldn't be able to risk ghosting back inside until dark.

Starbucks was crowded with employees on lunch break. After scanning the store, Nikki realized that Jake must have ordered a coffee and left right away, although the endless line made her assumption seem a little unlikely.

Miserably, she resigned herself to waiting outside Odrade's Fresh Food Mart until either Jake showed up or it was dark.

Sitting with her back against the side of the grocery store, Nikki pulled her legs tight up to her chest. A clunk against her hip reminded her that her cell phone was still in her pocket.

She took it out. Never had she wished more that they had a phone. But Odrade refused to have one. He said they were an unnecessary risk, and Odrade did not take any unnecessary risks.

Nikki speed dialed Claire and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Claire. It's Nikki."

"Hey, girl!" said Claire's cheery voice. "Whatcha up to?"

"Oh…" Nikki twisted her neck to look up at the door. "Nothing. How 'bout you?"

"I'm getting ready for dinner with Luke tonight, so I can't talk long. Hey, I heard some great news!"

Nikki smiled weakly. "Did you talk to Aaron?"

"Yes!" Nikki could almost picture Claire grinning into the phone. "I'm so glad you're going with him!"

Nikki felt a twinge of guilt at bursting her friend's bubble. But she had become so sick of keeping secrets lately. She couldn't tell her best friend anything. They barely got to see each other since Nikki was so busy. Their conversations were almost always over the phone.

"Yeah."

"You don't sound too happy about it."

Nikki tried to run a hand through her hair, but it got stuck in a bunch of knots. She sighed into the cell phone. "Claire, to tell you the truth, I've been less and less interested in Aaron since we met. Sure, we do stuff, but he's not really…Oh, I don't know. We just don't connect."

There was silence on Claire's end. "That's not what he said."

"Oh?" said Nikki. "What did he say?

"He said you guys were pretty much a couple now."

Pulling the phone away from her face, Nikki groaned loudly. She placed it back on her ear and said grumblingly, "That's news to me."

"Oh, boy," said Claire. "Nikki, if you never wanted to go out with him, why did you lead him on?"

"I was not leading him on!" said Nikki indignantly.

Claire sounded unconvinced. "Hmm. Well, you better figure out how you really feel about him before prom. He'll probably start officially asking you out after that."

"Then I'll turn him down."

"Have it your way, Nikki, but don't blame him."

"Claire," Nikki began hesitantly. "I think the reason I seemed interested was because it's been almost forever since I had a real crush. I'd forgotten what it was like."

"What?" said Claire, exasperated. "This is just a crush?"

"Was," Nikki corrected.

"For goodness' sake, what was holding you back before?"

Nikki lowered the phone slightly. Should she go right out and say it? Should she just tell her best friend what had been taking up her time for the past year? It would make everything so much simpler. Someone who she could actually confide in again…

Raising the phone, she said, "Listen, I need to tell you something –"

"Oh!" Claire shouted abruptly. Luke's here! I gotta go now, Nikki. I'll talk to you tomorrow okay?"

"Uh…okay."

"You'll be fine 'til then, right?" Claire asked with concern. "'Cause I can always tell him to wait for a few minutes…"

"I'll be fine, Claire," said Nikki. "Bye."

"Okay, talk to you later then! Bye!" And she hung up.

Nikki turned off her phone and shoved it into her pocket. Stretching out her arms, she let them hang forward over her knees and rested her head on them.

About an hour later, she heard a small giggle from beside her. She raised her head to see C-Cat sitting against the door too, imitating her pose. Once again, Nikki was struck by how much older he seemed to have grown.

He looked up, saw her, and laughed. He looked older still.

"Hello, C-Cat," she said warily. Then, having an inspiration, she said sweetly, "Do you think you could pop inside and get the door open for me?"

He chortled with glee and shook his head.

"Why not?" She glared at him.

He flipped imaginary hair about and sniffed; his sign for Allie.

"So? I won't tell her who let me in."

C-Cat crossed his arms.

"Please?" begged Nikki.

The boy jumped to his feet, holding out his hand for her to take. Nikki eyed it charily. "What are you going to do?"

Of course, he said nothing but smiled without explanation.

"All right. I'm trusting you…even though I probably shouldn't," she mumbled. Standing up and easing the stiffness out of her legs, Nikki took his hand.

For a moment nothing happened. A woman swept past the shop on high heels. She walked with an air of confidence, swinging her purse with just enough flair to accent her panache.

As Nikki clutched the little boy's hand, her eyes followed the woman's steps. They were gradually becoming slower…dragging…barely moving…And the colors on her dress were becoming faded and less vibrant.

Looking around, Nikki gasped. The whole world was stopping. It was as though the wheels of time themselves were grinding to a halt. Everything looked like an old fifties movie on pause; black and white.

The warmth from C-Cat's grip brought her back to reality. Her free hand touched her face and smoothed her shirt; her gaze quickly took in the colors on herself and C-Cat. She whirled on him. Taking a shaky breath, she asked, "What happened?"

"This is what always happens."

Nikki nearly pulled away in shock. "You can talk?"

He squeezed her hand even tighter. "Don't let go." He started to pull her back to the shop door. "Ghost us through."

"What's going on? And how come you can talk?" She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to face her. Her face was wild with questions. "Why haven't you ever spoken before? Is this why you're so much older? Because you spend all your time in this…this place?"

He raised his face to meet hers; Nikki barely recognized it. There was an unusual…a chilling…spark in his eyes that had never been there before. And his lips – he wasn't smiling. If it was possible, his new C-Cat was even more frightening than the old one.

She jerked her hand back from his shoulder as though burned. "Wha -?"

He dropped his gaze. "I said, 'Ghost through the door.'"

"C-Cat?"

"Just ghost through the door."

And Nikki did.

Taking a deep breath, she plunged into the airless darkness, dragging the little boy with her. They stood on the other side until the residue had disappeared, neither speaking a word.

Without any more delay, C-Cat let go of her hand.

The world instantly resumed its normal pace and color. There was the frequent roar of a passing car, and the buzz of a busy street outside. The flashy signs and advertisements had never struck Nikki as so vivid before. It felt like coming back to life.

C-Cat had vanished; returned to the cold, gray dimension that only he could enter; his own secret hideaway that he, for no fathomable reason, had chosen to share with Nikki.