He shook his head with a deep frown then pushed his track pants down, stepping out of them. He studiously avoided looking at the women as he knew they were all looking at him and he didn't want to react to their interest. Once he was naked he stepped away from his clothes and twisted the ring. Reality folded."AAAAAIIIEEEE!!!" their guide shrieked and threw herself away from Stanley as she pressed her hands to her eyes. Everyone stared at the woman in shock. She was curled up in a ball on the floor at the base of the stairs, trembling."What happened?" Stanley asked Sigrid anxiously. His nerves were buzzing.Camila moved towards the servant but the petite woman quickly pushed herself to her feet. She kept her face averted from them."I am fine. My apologies for the outburst. Please- please enter the chamber when you are ready. I will be here when you return," she said quickly then rushed up the stairs and was gone.They looked at each other and turned to walk to the other end of the a

When they reached the vestibule before the front doors Camila set the clothes on a small table there. "Now Stanley. Quickly please." He blinked at her then dropped the robe and kicked it forward as he stepped back from the ladies. He twisted the ring and snapped back into his human form. Marisa stepped close with his clothes and he dressed himself as quickly as he could. "Camila..." Walter's voice was doing that omnipresent thing again but this time he didn't sound happy. "Yes Walter?" she answered cautiously towards the ceiling, now assuming there were hidden cameras. "How is it that Stanley alters his form like a Dragon?" the voice returned, slow and calm but there was an undercurrent of barely contained rage. This confirmed her suspicions about the cameras. "You would need to ask Baba Yaga that question. This was her doing. Remember, she took Stanley as an infant. She hid his true form from him his entire life. She didn't ask the Fae to give him a glamor and I believe you are

"That's what happened. The building just crumbled and I got out of the room but they fell through the floor." Stanley said. "They?" Morris seized on the detail and pressed. "The small man and two others. I didn't see their faces as it was dark and dusty from the basement falling in." "Then what happened?" Harmon asked. "I found my bag in the next room so I went upstairs and called a friend to pick me up," Stanley said and yawned widely as he was quickly fading. It had been a very long and eventful day. "Why didn't you call the police?" Harmon asked bluntly. Stanley glared at the man and let some of his exhaustion into his voice. "I just wanted to go home. My kidnappers were dead or at least badly injured. Punished enough. I didn't know who they were and at that point I didn't care." "The police have been looking for you ever since the video was released last night. Why didn't you come forward, contact us?" Morris asked. Stanley sighed. "I didn't know about the video and I just

He blinked in surprise and his face flushed in embarrassment when she finally released him. "What- what was that for?" he asked, flustered. "We're just concerned about you," Sandy said. "Is someone going to address the elephant in the room?" Roger asked when he wandered into the living room with a serious expression on his face. Stanley looked at him with trepidation. Everyone else just waited. "What's in the BOX!?!" Roger whined, pointing at the crate. It was Sandy's turn to blush. "Never you mind. That's just for me. I'll open it later." Roger moaned in frustration while Tish and Dayshia looked intrigued. Sandy waved her hands dismissively. "Let's just get dinner served before it gets cold." Stanley was quite content to let Sandy keep her secret as he had one of his own that he could never share. They got plates and served the spaghetti with a rich meat sauce. The garlic bread was hot and buttery and they went quiet for a while. Stanley brought the wine out of the fridge

She threw him a bored look and turned to the other detective to answer. "They're a competitor of VRL. I believe my aunt knew the president." "Used to be a competitor. Closed up shop. No forwarding address." Harmon said with a scowl. Marisa didn't have to fake her surprise and Detective Harmon frowned as another lead seemed to be going cold. "Any idea why this tool Ulysses would want to kidnap little ol' Stanley here?" Morris asked Marisa. The detective was getting under Stanley's skin. He scowled at Morris. "Why don't you go ask him?" "We tried. His office was cleaned out, right down to the cement floors and even those were scrubbed and polished. Anything you'd like to tell us about that," Morris growled at Stanley in return. Stanley just shook his head in confusion at the man. "What the hell would I know?" "I'm not buying this bullshit about the floor just falling in so you could miraculously escape! I wanna know what really happened in that basement! What secrets are you hidi