Chapter 6

Dinah Hunter got off the bus and ran to the shed where SPLAT gathered and had their meetings. She went faster than intended, as the bus had been late, and she knew they would not be able to start the meeting without her. As she shot through the door, Lloyd rolled his eyes and muttered crossly and slightly sarcastically

"Don't rush on our account…we've only been waiting fifteen minutes..."

Dinah apologised between pants as she got her breath back, before thumping him playfully on the shoulder

"Oh lighten up Lloyd, you know I wouldn't be late on purpose, SPLAT is the most important thing to me."

He scowled at her for a few moments before relaxing his face into a grin and said,

"Alright, I forgive you; I know how seriously you take SPLAT. Now, what do you want to tell us? It must be pretty important to call a meeting out of schedule".

Dinah did not answer immediately; instead she gathered her thoughts and prepared what she was going to say. She knew that if she didn't have her answer properly structured, the others would not be convinced by what she had seen.

"Do you know of a website called 'MySpace'?"

Lloyd rolled his eyes again

"Of course we do! Everyone our age knows what 'MySpace' is! Where have you been living? In a box?"

Dinah ignored his uncomplimentary reference towards her and said,

"Well, while I was browsing through the profiles on there I came across one where the user was called 'Red Dragon'…"

She continued her description of the profile, as well as who was on the friends list. When she stopped, there was total horrified silence in the SPLAT shed. Everyone was staring at her, all of them most likely thinking the same thing that she had done: it's not possible!

At last the silence was broken by Harvey who stuttered

"B-but how is that possible? He's in a coma isn't he?"

Dinah shook her head sadly.

"Not anymore he's not. It is possible for someone in a coma to wake up. It seems that this is what's happened. And the worst of it is that he seems to have got his memory back"

Everyone's mood seemed to darken further. Mandy sighed.

"This is going to make it a lot more difficult to stop him. If he remembers everything, he is going to do his best to ensure that we can't interfere with his plans this time".

Dinah surprised the rest of SPLAT by smiling at what Mandy said.

"I've got good news for you. I have managed to persuade Red Dragon to betray the Headmaster and help SPLAT. It seems the Headmaster has placed her in a very important position, she is one of his Prefects".

The rest of SPLAT stared at her. Then Lloyd broke the silence.

"Do you think it's a good idea? What if she gets under the Headmaster's control again?"

Dinah sighed.

"I'm afraid it is a risk we will have to take. Anyway, his hold is only partly broken, hopefully not enough to arise his suspicions".

Turning away from Lloyd, so that she caught the gaze of the whole of SPLAT, she began to start a discussion on the best way to make use of Red Dragon.

In the Headmaster's lab, Red Dragon suddenly snapped out of her dreamy contemplation as the harsh reality of her situation confronted her. Unconsciously speaking her thoughts aloud, she wondered,

"How am I going to slip my appearance past my family? They will be sure to notice something…"

The Headmaster looked up from where he had been examining the snapped pin, frustrated by an issue that he saw as his Prefect's responsibility. He stated coldly:

"I fail to see how that is of my concern."

This time Red Dragon could not restrain herself and let out an irritated growl. Taking note of her hostile expression, the Headmaster became slightly alarmed. He was not certain that he would be able to hypnotise her again if she threatened him. He decided that the wisest course of action would be to take responsibility for the issue she had mentioned.

"However, if you do not return to your house, your family will become suspicious. Can I suggest that you wear a pair of dark glasses? This way you will appear normal. So far no more physical oddities have manifested themselves, so your evolution should be easy to hide. However, you are to return to the laboratory by nine tomorrow morning. It will be easier to deal with things here if anything else should change ."

Red Dragon felt even more irritated, as she believed she should have come up with this solution herself. Not trusting herself to speak, in case her voice displayed her anger, she gave a curt nod. It was while the Headmaster was instructing one of his white-coats to fetch a pair of dark glasses; that it was discovered how much of her was truly human. Subtle changes which had been occurring to her senses while she was oblivious manifested themselves.

Suddenly everything changed. She could hear the breathing of herself, the Headmaster and the white-coat amplified many times over, as if it was happening right next to her. She could feel the texture of the floor as if she was standing on it in bare feet (although she was not), every ridge and every grain of dust creating a blend of sensations, some of pleasure, some of revulsion. It was her vision which changed the most. All the colours and objects in the room became ten times sharper and brighter, and she found that if she stared very hard at something, her vision automatically homed in on that area, the details becoming as clear as if she were seeing them through binoculars. She also found that the people in the room caused her to experience rapid mood swings. When she looked at the Headmaster, the feeling was one of peace and order. He also seemed to be surrounded by some kind of aura, which slowly changed colour. However, when she looked at the white-coat, she was struck with a wave of revulsion and fear. There was something so intensely evil about him that she almost staggered backwards from its strength.

The Headmaster was frowning at her,

"Red Dragon? Is there something wrong?"

His aura changed colour slightly, rippling from a drab grey to a hint of red. The evil she detected surrounded her, distorting and confusing her senses, so that it appeared as if the source of the evil was the Headmaster. Almost all rational thought left her, as the instincts from her other half took over. She gave a low, savage, snarl and barely registered the brief burst of pain as claws sprang from her changing fingers which were hardening and becoming more flexible. Her fully slitted eyes come to rest on the Headmaster and she hissed menacingly as she identified him as a threat. With a roar, she sprang towards him, instinctively running on all fours. She was not prepared when he abruptly disappeared, then was forced to stop, as she felt a sudden, sharp pain at the base of her neck. For the second time in the same day, everything went black.

When she became aware of her surroundings, she realised that she was in control once again. She blinked, bewildered as she realised that she was in a different place. Instead of sitting in front of the Headmaster's desk, she was sitting behind it, in the seat that he had previously occupied. She attempted to look around to see where he was, but to her dismay she couldn't move an inch. The Headmaster suddenly walked into her view, and he instantly accounted for her condition.

"A nerve-pinch"

He said bluntly.

"It was the best solution to stop you, while causing the minimum amount of damage."

Noting her terrified expression, he attempted to calm her.

"You need not worry; the effects will wear off in a quarter of an hour".

Striding to within a few feet of her, he placed a hand she could not feel on her head, turning her face to his.

"Now…"

He began

"Tell me what happened…"