The next day, Cinderella entered school, surrounded by the usual insults. She just stood there, silent eyes turned down, waiting for the warning bell when they would leave her alone. But it wasn't the bell that saved her. It was Jim.
Walking up to the biggest bully, named Gaston, Jim spun the guy around until they were looking eye to eye. "Leave her alone," Jim warned Gaston.
"Or what?" Gaston asked.
Now Jim was a little smaller than most of the guys in school, but his strength made up for that. He slammed Gaston in to the wall by his neck. Gaston struggled to get free. Finally he gasped, "Ok, ok, we'll leave her alone." Jim released him, and Gaston rubbed his neck, shrugging away his fear in indifference. "Hey, you want to be friends with a freak, that's fine by me."
Jim glared at him. "Better a freak than an idiot," he shot back. Jim took Cinderella's arm, and gently led her away, leaving the bullies to plot their revenge.
When they were out of earshot, Cinderella looked at Jim gratefully. "Thank you."
"When are you gonna learn to stand up for yourself?" Jim snapped at her. "I'm not always gonna be here, you know."
Cinderella became so angry at him that, instead of looking down, she snapped back. "Why did you help me then? Why not just leave me be?"
"Is that what you wanted?" Jim asked her. "To be called names? Because you sure didn't look like you were enjoying it."
Cinderella sighed. "Of course I don't enjoy it. But I have grown to accept it."
"But it's not right," Jim told her, in a much softer tone. Cinderella was so surprised she wasn't sure how to respond. No one in school had ever cared enough to tell her that what the bullies were doing was wrong, and should be stopped. And deep down inside, Cinderella knew that she would have to be the one to stop it.
Later that day, they all gathered to discuss their next move. Eric turned to Jim. "How did last night go?" Eric asked.
Jim shrugged. "Quiet."
"Good," Eric answered.
Aladdin asked Eric, "Have you found out about the contractor yet?"
Eric shook his head. "Not yet, but I will, don't worry. These things take time."
"Time is something we don't have," Shang reminded him.
"I know, I'm sorry," Eric apologized. "Look, I might have the information you need by tomorrow."
"Go, then," Shang ordered.
Eric left. Jim watched him go. "You know, there's something not quite right about him."
Aladdin shook his head with a smile. "Well, there's something not quite right about you. Stop being so suspicious. We're all on the same team here."
Eric entered the public records office. The beautiful black-haired lady behind the desk greeted him with a smile. "May I help you with something?" she asked him with a voice as sweet and musical as a song. Her name tag read 'Vanessa'.
Eric smiled. "Yes. I would like to see the records for the contractor's agreement, for the forest."
Vanessa smiled. "Oh, I'm afraid I can't show you that."
"Why not?" Eric asked. "Isn't everything here freely accessible to the public?"
Vanessa looked at him. "May I ask why you would like to see them?"
"I'm doing a report for school about the forest," Eric lied, "and I need to know why it's being cut down."
"Come here," she said, motioning to him. He leaned closer. "It's being cut down," she told him quietly, "because the city wants it to be."
"Not everyone in the city agrees with that," Eric objected.
"Are you a reporter?" Vanessa asked suddenly.
"No," he answered, a little puzzled, "I wouldn't even know where to start with that. But I do get good grades in school, with the right information." He focused his mind on hers, trying to convince her that he was telling the truth.
Vanessa shrugged. "All right," she agreed. She looked in a drawer and pulled out a folder. "Here it is."
Eric looked in the folder. All the information he needed had been removed. "Hey," he exclaimed, "there's pages missing here."
"That's funny," Vanessa said puzzled, taking the folder and looking through it herself.
"Is there another copy of this?" Eric asked her.
"Not here, no," Vanessa answered, putting the folder away.
Eric persisted, "Do you know where I could find one?"
"Listen, Eric," Vanessa said in a much different voice, a rough low voice not musical at all, "You tell your friends the information was stolen, and you don't know where it is." She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. He blinked, a strange look coming over his face.
"Thanks for your help," he said, a little puzzled about what just happened.
"No problem," Vanessa said with a smile, her voice sweet and musical again. "Sorry it didn't work out."
Eric nodded and left. Vanessa laughed quietly. When she spoke, her voice was low and evil once again. "I think it's time for another sign."
When Eric arrived at the forest, Cinderella, Jim and Aladdin were there waiting for him.
"Eric!" Cinderella called, running up to him. "How did it go?"
Eric shook his head. "It didn't."
"What do you mean it didn't?" she asked.
"I mean the records are gone, stolen."
"By who?" Jim asked?
Eric shrugged. "We don't know. Whoever it was didn't leave any evidence. The woman who worked there didn't even know they were missing until we looked for them."
"Are you sure you looked in the right place?" Cinderella asked him gently.
"Of course I'm sure," Eric snapped defensively. "I know what I'm doing, and so does she. They weren't there. We looked everywhere."
"What about the contractors' office?" Aladdin asked. "Do they have a copy there?"
"I checked," Eric told him. "They were closed. I'll have to wait till tomorrow."
"Tomorrow's Saturday," Cinderella reminded him. "They won't be open."
"When will they be open again?" Eric asked her.
"Monday," Cinderella said, discouraged.
"Shoot!" Eric said, annoyed.
"Well," Aladdin said, trying to be positive, "we've lasted this long. What's a few more days?"
Eric shook his head. "I hope you're right."
Late that night, a dark figure walked steadily toward the forest. He didn't worry about anyone stopping him; he knew no one could. And he had a plan for each and every one of them. He came to Phil first. He could have easily snapped the faun's neck, but he didn't want to kill them, just leave them a message. Using his mind, he brought out in plain sight of the faun a glass of wine that had been hidden there. Phil at first thought it was strange that a cup could float in midair, but when he saw the contents, he forgot his suspicions, grabbed the cup and began to drink greedily. Within seconds, he was in a deep sleep. Feeling another presence, the dark figure looked up and saw Aladdin approaching. Using his mind, the figure knocked Aladdin's legs out from under him, and then blinded him so he couldn't see. The figure then moved on, like a shadow into the forest.