Jen, of whom the ghost (also named Jen) had just managed to regain control, said "I'm okay. Don't worry about it, Jen. Just lend me the stone."
"No!" exclaimed Jo. It didn't work. Hutchinson wasn't on a leyline at the moment and her ability to convince people of things was limited. It was too obviously a bad idea to give a magic stone to a ghost who had possessed your sister. "I know what you did. You're inside my sister's head. I also know I have to be careful with these wishes...."
Unfortunately for the ghost, before she had come up with the idea of possessing one of the intruders, she had transformed them so that they would become people who wouldn't enter scary abandoned buildings. Which meant Jo was a bit more careful than Jon, which meant that Jo wasn't one to make careless wishes.
"I wish that the ghost suddenly comes to life right now in her own body, but can't hurt us or our friends." Because this was just "right now", Jo could change it later, and since she suddenly came to life, there wouldn't be any problems with reality changing so that the ghost was alive all along.
Suddenly Jen clutched her head--and next to her appeared a young brunette woman, only a little older than Jo or Jen, her hair in pin curls and wearing a knee length dress with a floral print.
"So you've caused us all this trouble," said Jo. "Who are you, anyway?"
"Jen. It really is my name. Jennifer Hutchinson. I'm a witch. My body died in 1947 when I was in spirit form."
"Well, consider yourself lucky," said Jo. "You have your body back. At least I assume that's your body."
"I think so," she said. "I sound like myself, anyway."
"Okay, what spells have you been casting on us and why? Tell me. No, I wish you'll tell me."
"None of your business," said Hutchinson, and put a hand over her own mouth, but found herself compelled to lower her hand again and speak. "You four came. I didn't want you disturbing me."
Jo said, "I'd have thought if you were in the house since 1947 you might have wanted some human contact."
"If I had thought of it. I was just mad. The four of you came in, Jo, Karyn, Sarah, and Jack."
"What?"
"I turned Jack into Lyn, Karyn and Sarah became Kara, and Jo became Jo and Jen when you were leaving and I needed someone to stay behind long enough to possess."
"What? You mean we're not the same people?"
"Right. Kara used to be two people, Karyn and Sarah. And you and Jen used to be one person, Jo. If you don't believe me, check your homes. My magic doesn't change reality like your stone so even though I transformed you and your memories, nothing else matches. I was keeping people from noticing that it doesn't match but I can't do that any more."
"That's crazy," said Jen. "Do you mean I don't exist?"
"You and Jo were one person."
"I don't know what to think," said Jo. "We're similar, I know...."
"I told you, check your homes. You two sisters Jo and Jen live in a home where there was only ever Jo. If you go to Lyn's home, you'll find Jack's room and everyone will remember Jack. That's why Lyn was in boy clothes, Lyn was Jack. Kara's home here is okay, but that's because your wish about her keys changed reality."
"I wish that me and Jen know if that's true," said Jo. "What?"
"I told you the truth," said Hutchinson. "I had to because of your damned stone."
"I didn't know people said 'damned' in 1947," replied Jo. "I wish I knew how you could have not told me the truh..... Oh, really? That's a problem. A big problem."
"Jo?" said Jen, with concern.
"We weren't one girl," said Jo. "We were one guy, named Jon. Remember our room? It was a guy's room. I wished it into a girl's room and it changed reality so that our ghostly friend here had turned a girl into us, instead of a guy into a girl into us. She told the truth as best she knew, but the reality change affected her."
"Can we fix it?" asked Jen.
"The stone can do anything," said Jo. "But how do we want to fix it? I don't want to turn you into my right shoulder or my left half or something. And it would get lonely if we're one person and we don't have a twin any more."
"We have to do something," said Jen. "There are things that people will notice.
"Let me think," said Jo. "I wish that reality will change to match how we and our friends are transformed, with the usual exception for people who hear wishes. There you go."
"Yeah," said Jen. "But we still need to decide what to do. Split people? Join people? Change people's sex? We can't just do that. Who could I give hugs to if we're one person? Should we tell people the truth? Do we have to tell them because it's the truth, so they can decide what to do? I can't imagine how they'd react. Us not being us is bad enough. For that matter, what do we do about Ms. ex-ghost also named Jen?"
