After the acute humiliation of his first few hours at the school had faded, Daniel expected that the rest of his day would pass by with reasonable ease, and a minimum of giggles at his expense. Only one thing stood out, and that was a humiliation of a more private sort–changing his own diaper.

That, at least, he could do in the privacy of his own room, but privacy didn’t totally bury the shame. Even alone, he still had two eyes judging him the whole time–his own.

The whole thing just proved to be profoundly, acutely awkward. He didn’t know if there was a shower he could use, but even if there was, he didn’t know if it’d be private, or what access would be like. For the moment, he had to deal with this on his own with the supplies provided.

Baby wipes and a pail did not feel up to the task, not after how thoroughly Rachel had forced him to fill his diaper, and certainly not after he’d been sitting in it for a couple hours.

Even then, working through the awkward, slow process of wiping himself clean was not what hit Daniel the hardest. Going through dozens of wipes, trying to clean away muck that seemed to perpetually return, working at an angle that made it difficult to see? That was frustrating and humiliating, but the worst part was the implication.

If he’d been half the mage Rachel was, he could do this with magic.

If he’d been a warlock, he could have done this with magic.

But, because he was no warlock, he had to spend twenty minutes cleaning up his poopy diaper.

At least he didn’t have any other classes for the day–it was expected that they’d use this first day to get familiar with the campus, make friends, unpack, and generally get settled. He could have sought out his new coven members, tried to socialize, but Daniel had other goals.

He wanted to figure out what he’d overheard. Plot, ploy, or whatever the hell–someone in the school wanted to accomplish some nefarious, secret end.

Daniel’s first impulse was to pass the buck, but he’d long since come up with reasons not to.

Reason the First: He didn’t know who was involved. He’d heard two voices, so even if his hunch about the Voxavin coach participating was correct, there was no certainty about who the other might be. If Penelope Madrigal was involved, and he went to her and explained everything he knew, she’d be perfectly situated to retaliate and stop him from sharing what he’d found out.

Reason the Second: He lacked proof of any kind, and Madrigal hated him. She’d all but told the student body to bully Daniel, after all. His story would probably just sound like a weak excuse for being out of bounds, and lead to further reprisal, humiliation, and punishment.

Reason the Third: If Daniel solved everything on his own, discovered the culprit, and unveiled the conspiracy all in one fell swoop, it’d look great on an application.

He told himself that the first two reasons were the important motivators, and would never admit the third motive to anyone else, but he couldn’t deny it held a bit of allure. ‘I’m the warlock who saved Alphabeta’ would, in truth, be the best possible legacy of his time here. He wouldn’t just get an education, he’d get a positive reputation, saving the school that actively wanted him to fail.

So, rather than seeking out the dean, or even Jen, he instead traced his steps right back to where it’d all started.

He wasn’t stupid about it. He checked around corners and generally obeyed all the rules of stealth he’d learned from movies, spreading out his arms, crouching low, moving silently and listening for anyone who might be around.

The prefects’ dormitories were only sparsely populated, and just like last time, the hallway itself was unlit and abandoned, barely remarkable except as an ill-used wing of the campus. Daniel had no issue slipping down it, and this time he made sure to check for closets and hiding spaces as he went, in case he encountered any other teachers or staff and had to evade future punishments.

Daniel had to resist the temptation to hum the Mission Impossible theme as he went, though it ultimately didn’t matter. On his way to the room where he’d overheard the sinister conversation, he encountered not a single soul.

Or…well, that wasn’t exactly true.

He located the same room, identifying it by the faded numbers on the door. When he reached for the handle, though, he felt a slight chill and pulled his hand back.

(Is this stupid? What if it’s warded, or trapped? I don’t know who I’m dealing with.)

Even if his control was weak, he was a sort-of warlock, he had magic at his disposal. Precision might be beyond him, but he could identify magical power if he tried. Crouched in the hall, Daniel closed his eyes, extending his senses.

Nothing stuck out to him right away. No big, obvious screw-you spells were woven into the door to blow up anyone who tried to open it, not even the sensation of magical static. The people behind the door had mentioned the hall being a dead zone, and what he could feel lined up with that.

Still, that didn’t rule out subtler traps or wards. Tightening his face, Daniel searched a little harder.

He could feel something. A whisper of power, something in motion, something he couldn’t identify. Maybe a spell, maybe the lingering results of an enchantment, maybe a mistake. Focusing a little harder, Daniel concentrated his senses, trying to follow every spark of magic, grunting slightly–

“Are you pooping yourself?”

The voice came from nowhere, and Daniel’s eyes shot open in alarm, stumbling back. He looked around, but nobody had snuck up on him–nobody he could see, anyways.

“Who’s there?” he yelped.

“Don’t let me interrupt you, sunshine.” The voice tittered. It was feminine–not a surprise–but the voice didn’t seem to come from anywhere. “If you gotta go, you gotta go.”

“I–” Daniel started. “I wasn’t pooping myself, I was just crouching down.”

“Really? Crouched down, face all screwed up, and let’s not even start on these.” With the last word, a puff of wind seemed to come from nowhere, flapping Daniel’s skirt up so that his diaper was flashed to the empty hall. Daniel felt an intense chill around the seat of his diaper, and hastily pushed the skirt down.

“I don’t need these!” he snapped, spinning in the hall. “And–stop that! Where are you?”

“You’re wearing diapers for fun? Are you just some kind of dork, or has fashion taken a really weird turn lately?” the voice asked. Daniel felt the coldness move between his legs around to the front. He crossed his hands over his crotch self consciously just as the voice said, “When did they start letting weird diaper dork boys into the school?”

“Shut–hey!” Daniel shot again, stepping back. “Are you invisible? Where are you?”

“I’m over here,” she replied. Daniel blinked, and she added, “No, a little to the left–a little more–there.”

Daniel was staring at a bit of wall in a blank hallway. There definitely wasn’t anything to see, and reaching out, all he felt was a slight chill.

“Yup, found me,” the voice said. “Though–move your hand, casanova, or we’re going to have a conversation about hypocrisy here in a second.

“I don’t get it,” Daniel said, stepping back. “Can you just tell me what’s going on? Who are you?”

He felt a chill breeze pass over him again, like someone’d just walked over his grave, and the voice whispered right in his ear. “I’ll give you a hint: Boo!”

His eyes widened. “You’re–”

“An incorporeal, post-life entity,” the voice said, her intonation slipping into a teacherly affectation. “Left behind as the result of a traumatic death surrounded by extreme magical energies. Also known, in some circles, as a ghost.”

“Oh, uh…” he swallowed, uncertain how to handle that revelation. “I see.”

“No you don’t, dummy.”

Daniel frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

“I said ‘incorporeal’. No body means nothing to refract light,” she explained. “So you couldn’t ‘see’ that I’m a ghost.”

“Okay, well… I’m sorry to hear that,” Daniel said, quickly adding, “And I can hear that.”

She giggled. “It’s okay, I don’t remember dying. My mom always said I’d sleep through my own funeral–and she was pretty darn close, I slept through my death!”

Daniel hesitated. “So when I feel a chill, was that me touching you?”

“Closest thing to it–I can’t really touch stuff, but I can kind of…move energy around, just a little. It’s like if touching was homeopathic.”

Daniel frowned. “So when I felt cold between my legs a moment ago…”

“You’re just dodging explaining why you’re wearing a diaper,” the voice continued.

“It’s this stupid thing with my prefect,” Daniel explained, rolling his eyes. “I managed to get into this school by working around the rules, so she’s getting back at me by making me wear diapers. And before you ask, yes, I’m ‘potty trained’ or whatever, I don’t actually need them.”

“I wasn’t going to ask if you needed them,” she replied.

Daniel frowned a little, surprised at her lack of curiosity. “Oh, well–I don’t.”

With a coy giggle, the voice asked, “I was going to ask if you used them.”

Turning pink, Daniel said, “Look–this doesn’t matter. I’m here because I overheard a weird conversation earlier and I wanted to try and figure out what happened.” Finally opening the door, he walked into the room where he’d overheard it all a few hours prior. “Were you here?”

“Well, yes, I was definitely here,” the ghost said. “It’s not like I have anywhere to go. Do you know the first thing about ghosts?”

“...not really,” Daniel admitted, giving the room a once over. It was mostly barren–a desk was pushed up against one wall, but the rest was given over to storage, dusty cardboard boxes stacked against each other. “Like, I’ve heard of ghosts, but…okay, to be honest, most ghosts I’ve read about were the ‘Late night TV Movie’ kind, not the real ones.”

“Well, we can’t leave our haunts,” the ghost explained. “Some of us stick with our bodies, but I didn’t really get that option, so I’m stuck here, where I died. And, uh, you may have noticed it’s a featureless, boring storage area.”

“So you’re stuck here, and the only company you get is when the janitor comes through,” Daniel surmised. “That’s got to be lonely.”

“Oh, no, I’ve got a friend. Do you know Jordan?” She asked.

“I’m new here, it’s literally my first day,” Daniel said. “I don’t know her.”

“She comes around to spend time with me,” She explained. “Sometimes I’ll help her study, or we’ll just play games, or talk. She’s sweet. What were you asking about, though?”

“Oh, well, this should be easy. Can you tell me what happened here a few hours ago?” Turning to face where he thought she was, Daniel asked, “There would have been two people talking–one of them was a middle aged woman, not a teacher though.

“Eh…” Pausing, she admitted, “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

Daniel frowned. “If you were here–”

“I don’t remember,” the girl said. “I’m a ghost. Time doesn’t pass for me like it does for normal folks.”

“You don’t remember things?” he asked.

“I don’t remember when things happened. Once you walk out of here, I won’t know if this conversation happened yesterday or a year ago–though the boy in a diaper will probably be memorable enough to stick. There’s a reason we ghosts tend to live in the past–I remember stuff from my life the normal way, everything after that’s a jumble.”

Daniel thought about that. “If I describe the situation, could you tell me if you’ve seen something like it before?”

“I guess that’d work.” She sighed. “Sure, it’ll kill some time I guess.”

Pausing, Daniel asked, “Wait, you mentioned your friend Jordan. How do you know if she still even goes here?”

The girl didn’t respond for a long moment. “I…I don’t, admittedly, but I think she still does. She said she’d let me know when she graduated, and she’d still come back to visit when she could.”

“When’s the last time–” Daniel started, before realizing the issue with his question. “You can’t remember the last time she visited, right.”

“Not really,” the ghost confirmed. “But I can piece together the order, sort of, like–I know she broke up with her girlfriend at some point, so any time she comes here with Penny it has to be before that happened–and she started wearing her team scarf after she got into the Mothwicks, so those memories happened later, but…”

Daniel heard a sniffle. He rubbed at the back of his neck uncomfortably. For all he knew, Jordan hadn’t been around here in years. “When did you die?”

“It would have been…I don’t know how long,” She said. “But I was twenty two, the year was nineteen seventy one.”

(It’s been almost thirty years,) Daniel thought. (Jeez. That has to be lonely.)

“So…”

“I know, this is boring to you,” she said. “Go ahead, tell me about the thing.”

“So there were two people, I think one of them might have been a coach named Catherine Glinse, but I didn’t get a look at her,” Daniel explained. “The other one didn’t have a teacher’s uniform on, just plain professional clothes. She’s faculty or something, but I don’t know what she does, though she did have blond hair. They were arguing, and one of them had a voice that sounded all warbly and demonic.”

“I don’t…I’m not sure. That’s not ringing any bells, but teachers are in and out here a lot. Like, a lot a lot. The warbly demon voice should stand out, but, well, I’ve got a lot of memories.”

Daniel rubbed at his chin, trying to think. “The one who was maybe a teacher was yelling about explanations. Does that help?”

“Not really…sorry. Let me think about it some, though, it might come to me,” she offered.

Nodding, Daniel looked around and said, “That’s fine. Will you be able to remember it when it does come to you?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of a repetition thing. Like, you’ve got old memories that are still pretty clear, because you think about them a lot, right? It’s like that. I can sort of…just keep it in mind, if that makes sense.”

“Thanks,” Daniel said, walking back towards the door. “I shouldn’t stick around too much longer, I’m not supposed to even be in this hallway and if someone catches me, I’ll be in real trouble.”

“Oh.” The ghost fell quiet for a moment, disappointment more clear from the silence than it would’ve been with words.

Quickly, Daniel promised, “I do, but I’ll be back, as soon as I can. Also…here, let’s see if this helps.” Clearing his throat, he spoke loudly and clearly. “This is my first time ever visiting you.”

“I know,” the ghost said. “I’d remember the diaper boy, I don’t forget that stuff happened, I just forget when.”

“Yeah, sure,” Daniel confirmed, trying to clarify what he meant. “But you’re going to see me more than once. So let me clarify, and it’ll help you remember the order.”

“Oh–oh! That’s… really thoughtful,” she said, hesitating for a moment as another thought struck her. “What’s your name, diaper boy?”

“Daniel,” he said. “Daniel Aster.”

“Nice to meet you, Danny,” the girl replied. “I’m Ismella.”

...

Ugh, I love Ismella, and also hate that I wrote her into a corner - literally - where she can't move in and out of places, making it super hard to use her in any group scenes.

At least, I used to hate that, in the previous version. Now I've got plans to fix that.

Financial support is always appreciated to help keep me fed and diapered while I write, but if you can't do that for whatever reason (no judgement!), a comment is also lovely to receive!

-Penn

https://reamstories.com/peculiarchangelingabdl

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