“...Mom?” I ask. Both as a question to her, and to reality.

“What are you thinking?” she lectures “You, here, all the way in the middle of nowhere!

“Mom... what...?” I stammer.

“Of course we had our suspicions about you. I knew you weren't telling us everything about what happened to that teacher of yours. But this? This is a nightmare!”

“You're telling me,” I agree.

“Who else is here, hmm?” Mom looks behind me, where Anja is still frozen. “Oh, I see Anja's here too, that's no surprise.”

Oh yeah… “Mom... there's something wrong…”

“How dare you endanger your friends by dragging them here!” she continues over me. “Do you know how worried sick we were when we got the call from the police department? “

“I didn't drag anyone here,” I say defensively.

“How long has this been going on, hmm? Did it start with your teacher? Why did you come back? Don't you have any sense?”

“MOM. LISTEN TO ME!” I shout, having had enough.

She is momentarily shocked into being quiet.

“Mom... I have as many questions about you as you have about me,” I say. “But there just isn't time for that. Mom, Zoe is in trouble.”

“Oh we know very well that Zoe is in trouble!” she chides, crossing her arms. “What do you think drove us out here?”

Wait… “Who’s included in ‘us?’”

The answer to my question comes lumbering out of the trees immediately after. For the first time in a while, I find myself, in a state of intense stress, on the verge of bursting into laughter.

It’s my dad. And… he’s… very hairy. His body is covered by blue fur, like he’s some kind of werewolf. Two huge longhorns stick from his head, and thick black hair covers the top of his head and part of his face, as if he had a very impressive mustache and beard.

“...DAD?” I ask, barely suppressing a giggle. “Since when were you a furry?”

“1998,” he answers calmly. When his mouth moves, I notice he has two little fangs like a vampire. It’s then when the absurdity of the situation fully hits me.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I ask incredulously. “You two? And Anja's aunt? Who else is here? Is Nova's dad gonna pop up too? Are Ruth's parents in on this?”

“It's just us two,” Mom clarifies, tilting her head at me. “ But what is this about Anja's aunt?”

“Oh my fucking god. Where do I start?” I say. “We just ran into Anja's aunt. She's... well, basically she's a bad guy. And Anja didn't take it well.”

Mom’s stern expression softens. “A bad guy? Kierstyn?”

“Oh right. You must’ve known her, didn't you?” I ask, remembering the photo Anja found. If Anja’s mom and her were that close, it’s not surprising Mom would’ve at least met her sister.

“I... thought I did,” she says, bearing a haunted expression. “Of course, we haven't talked in decades now.”

She breathes out heavily, and closes her eyes. After a moment, she opens them, and walks over to Anja.

Anja is still staring into space. She hasn’t made any sign of noticing that my parents are here.

“Anja? Sweetheart?” Mom asks in a doting voice.

Nothing from Anja.

Mom sighs heavily again. She then does something quite odd. She grabs both of Anja's hands with her own, and starts rubbing them together, as if trying to warm them up.

I’m wondering what the hell she’s trying to do, when Anja trembles a little, and her eyes start to bug out. “No... no,” she says.

“Anja? You there?” I ask.

Anja starts breathing heavily. “No…”

“She needs a little time,” Mom says firmly.

“All the same, we should get moving,” Dad comments. He walks up to Anja, easily picks her up, and then holds her in front of him in a fireman’s carry.

“Yes... yes, Dad's right,” I say, my brain starting to rev up again. “We know where Zoe is. Let’s all go rescue her, and then…”

“We'll be having a very serious family conference,” Mom says.

“Indeed,” Dad agrees.

“Yeah,” I say. And so, we walk together towards the city of Austin.

----------------------------------------

Ms. Patel is dressed in an aristocratic black cloak, draped over an embroidered blue dress. Her sleek black hair is tucked behind two large, gaudy ruby earrings She carries, in one hand, a glass of a dark red drink. Beholding all of us, she takes a sip of it, which is when I notice that she has two prominent fangs, like that of a typical depiction of a vampire. And then, I realize that her drink is rather reminiscent of blood.

“Welcome to my abbey,” she greets us, smiling nastily. “I expected your visit, but be warned; we are wary of outsiders here.”

“Sounds racist,” Nova quips. Ms. Patel scoffs at him.

“Ms. Patel?” Charlotte asks, examining her up and down. “What in the world is up with that outfit?”

“Oh, most people call me Vampire these days,” she says matter-of-factly.

“Why?” Kevin exclaims, looking dumbfounded.

Ms. Patel smirks. “Because I love the taste of human blood,” she answers, before giggling in a sinister manner.

“You know, that doesn’t surprise me,” Nova grumbles.

“A vampire, huh?” Kevin says, wondering aloud. He starts carefully examining his gun. “I think I know how to deal with that.”

“Hmmph. Well, go ahead then,” Ms. Patel taunts. “Hit me with your best shot.”

“Wait, really? We're starting the fight already?” Charlotte asks, blinking confusedly.

“I don't think so,” I answer. “Has it ever been this easy before, Nova?”

“Nope,” he answers. “Mind rape chambers, goons swarming trying to kill us, illusions to trick us… It’s always something.” Nova shakes his head. “You don’t even have any GOONS? What kind of pathetic boss are you?”

“I don’t have any ‘goons,” Ms. Patel explains snootily. “I do have one who will do my bidding… but he is more like a son to me than a ‘goon.’ Come to me, Yatagarasu!”

We all hastily begin looking around as we hear the unmistakable sound of rustling feathers. Ms. Patel sticks her arm out, and a large, black raven lands on her wrist.

“Uh, hi,” Kevin greets uncertainly. “Another talking animal sidekick?”

“Oh, you'd better hope he doesn't talk,” Ms. Patel says, smiling sadistically.

“Bro what the FUCK is going on right now,” Nova says quickly. “That fucking bird is your SON? What???”

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“I just wanna know, who’s the father?” Charlotte asks, tilting her head thoughtfully.

“Never you mind,” Ms. Patel snaps. But, her sadistic smile quickly returns. “You'd all know full well what was going on if you read your literature. What are they teaching you in that school?” She directs a look directly at Kevin. “Well, at least I know your sex ed classes are going well.”

“That’s not funny!” Kevin shouts, his face quickly glowing red. I likewise feel my temper spike to dangerous levels. Nova and Charlotte just look confused.

“It's hilarious, actually,” she says, unmoved, still smiling that horrible smile. It occurs to me that she must be goading us into attacking her; she’s too calm and collected about this.

It also occurs to me that I don’t really care.

“You are a sick and twisted person,” I spit at her. “To think the abuse of children is funny.”

“Oh, I don’t care for children myself,” she says, looking at her black-painted nails as though bored. “I don't think I could bear the screaming.”

“You are rotten to your very core,” I continue. “You must have been an immigrant, or recently descended from them. How can you bear to ally yourself with the powers who prey, primarily, upon immigrant girls? Don’t you remember what it's like to have nothing in a land of people who don't want you?”

“Oh, the people here want me,” she counters. “Go along with their games, and you'll have a respectable life. Learn how to play, and you become a GOD!”

“You think they won’t throw you away at once, the moment you threaten the power of white rich people?” I interrogate her. “You are deluded.”

“Ah. You see, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.” She takes another drink from her glass of blood, and then starts rotating it in her hand. “The people here want me; I know how to be resourceful, how to work hard. They don’t want people like you. People who do nothing but complain. People who do nothing but seethe in envy of the successful. If you shut your mouth and just put in the work, you could have what I have, you know.”

Nova scoffs. “You're fucking stupid,” he says bluntly.

“Or a liar, more likely,” I add.

“I don’t think they want what you have,” Kevin comments. “They want to actually be good people!”

“Well, just see how far that bleeding-heart arrogance gets them,” Ms. Patel says dismissively. “Here’s my guess: for the girl,” she says, nodding to me, “cleaning bathrooms. For the… whatever you are-” she glances sideways at Charlotte- “selling weird street art in an inner city before being arrested for touching someone’s children.”

“Huh?” Charlotte says innocently. “I’d n-”

“And the boy…” she turns to Nova. “You don’t seem quite ‘all there,’ so I’d put my bets on, wandering the streets muttering to himself like some sort of lunatic.”

This hits a nerve; Nova immediately becomes tense. “The FUCK did you say to me?”

“I see vagrants like that from time to time,” she continues, smirking evilly. “It’s too bad… ah… too bad your mother could never teach you how to behave properly.”

A flash of lightning seems to come from the ceiling itself, striking down upon Ms. Patel. The other guests at the party scream and start running around down the hallway.

Nova has completely lost it, and launches himself straight into Ms. Patel. Yatagarasu the raven squawks and quickly flies away from them. Kevin seems taken aback, but takes up a fighting stance.

I grab Charlotte’s arm, and walk backwards. “This is gonna get hairy,” I warn her.

“Holy shit! This is awesome!” Charlotte says, transfixed while watching the fight.

Nova is wailing on Ms. Patel with Mjölnir, having thrown caution to the wind. He stumbles forward and falls down, and Ms. Patel seems to have vanished…

“GET BACK HERE!” Nova screams, his eyes darting around quickly.

I reach out to see if I can still feel her presence, and find her just along the wall, but when I look with my eyes, all that can be made out is a shadow, cast by some unseen figure.

“Nova,” I say. “Check your three.”

“My three what?” he shouts at me.

“Three o- look to your right.”

He turns his eyes and finds her. Wasting no time, he dives straight for the wall, bashes a hole in it, and then pulls Ms. Patel’s solid form out the wall. He throws her by her ankle, and sends her flying into a grand piano in the corner of the room.

“Whoah!” Kevin shouts. “How’d you do that?”

“I’ve played Sonic Adventure 2,” Nova answers cryptically.

Ms. Patel climbs out of the piano, looking battered, but not even close to done yet. “Get the fat girl,” she whispers.

I’m wondering who that was meant to address, when out of the shadows flies Yatagarasu. For a brief moment, I catch sight of his flashing eyes, and then I hear a word, one single word, spoken as though directly into my ear, or perhaps beamed to the center of my brain, to the very core of my being.

“Nevermore.”

And then, I seem to leave the palace, leaving everyone behind. It’s as if a time warp has taken me back. Back to the worst day of my life. The day I found out that my cousin, Roberto, had died.

All I can think about is how I talked to him just the night before… and he told me that he was scared for his life… I tried to warn everyone that he was in danger, but they wouldn’t listen to me. I’m ignored and I’m alone and he’s dead and he’s gone and everything is pointless now. There will never be justice, there will never be truth, I don’t understand it and I hate this world and I hate all of the stupid people living on it. If God had any good will at all he’d wipe us out now, and take us out of our misery, because we can’t survive, we’re all going to kill each other, either from violence or from destroying the planet, and nobody will ever listen to reason, nobody will ever listen to me, nobody, nobody, nobody…

----------------------------------------

Right next to me, Ruth collapses to the ground.

“What did you do to her?” I demand of the raven. It says nothing more; its eyes only glint at me threateningly.

Nova again launches himself at Ms. Patel, but I stop watching to kneel down and check on Ruth. She’s definitely still alive, but something’s wrong. She has her eyes closed, and she’s writhing around and groaning.

“What happened to her?” Kevin demands, rushing towards her.

“I’m not sure!” I say. “It was something that bird did!”

“K-Kevin!” Ruth says in a hoarse voice. She seems to be trying to break through a trance; she’s muttering without looking at either of us. “Run… don’t let it…”

“Why? What happened to you?” Kevin pleads.

“I see… the worst day… of my life…” Ruth chokes out, before she convulses, grabs both ears with her hands, and turns onto her side.

Kevin tenses up. In a moment, fear has overtaken his expression.

“Why? What does that mean?” I ask, feeling lost.

“Come on. I’ll take you with me,” he says, sounding weak but brave at the same time. He offers his hand, which I take, and he pulls me to my feet and starts running out of the room. His incredible speed leaves me stumbling to try and keep up with him.

“Where do you think YOU’RE going?” Ms. Patel’s voice says from behind us. “Yatagarasu, take care of lightning boy, now!”

“She’s… she’s chasing us!” I tell Kevin, as we take a sharp turn past a couple of gothic windows.

“I’m… less afraid of her. Probably better we split them up,” he says. “We’ll dispose of her, and then go back to help Nova.”

This doesn’t make sense to me, but there’s no time to question it. We’re running into a second room, which is colored purple instead of blue, the windows and tapestries all matching to create the effect. There are more masked party guests, who at first glare at us as we run through, before screaming and following us, as the sounds of ripping and smashing behind us promise that Ms. Patel is hot on our trails.

This pattern of interior design repeats again and again. We run through sharp turns, which would then lead into a room strongly themed around a different color. After the purple room, comes one in green, and then orange, and then white. The rapidly changing colors are disorienting, and I start to feel like I’m in some horrible nightmare, and not in reality. The few times I brave a peak back at Ms. Patel, she is not slowing down; she’s flipping over furniture and slashing through her own guests to get to us without a care in the world. A trail of blood, ripped fabric, and splinters follows behind her as she breaks through each room like a juggernaut. As we reach another chamber, of a different shade of purple that’s more of a violet, Kevin and I continue to weave through the crowd, I wonder how far it goes. Then, one last turn, and we find a dead end. The most eerie chamber of them all, not matching like the others, but instead with black tapestries and window panes of blood red. It was here, upon seeing we had reached a dead end, that Kevin stops, and turns to face our pursuer. All of the guests have seemingly vanished, leaving only the three of us.

By this point, Ms. Patel has cast aside all pretense of masking her monstrous nature. Her clothes are covered with blood, which also drips down her chin and neck from her mouth.

Kevin pushes me behind him, outstretching one arm in a protective way. He uses his other to draw his pistol, and points it right at her.

“You’re truly a monster!” he tells her in disgust. “But, hunting monsters is my specialty. Come one step closer, and you’re done for.”

“Only if you hit me,” she taunts, smirking.

“Test me!” he grunts, putting both hands on his gun.

“Oh Yatagarasu…? Come to me, my dear,” she calls.

I feel a spike of fear, expecting to see the bird who Kevin was so afraid of, who made Ruth collapse, flying towards us at any moment…

…But nobody came.

Ms. Patel’s smug look falls off her face, replaced with fury so intense she seems to be vibrating. “It can’t be… the boy has…”

The most piercing, horrible scream I’ve ever heard rends the air, as Ms. Patel collapses into a shadow. We quickly lose sight of her as she scurries, as though two-dimensional, along the floor…

“Damn it… it’s so dark, I can’t see her!” Kevin agonizes, rapidly searching the room.

“Ruth was able to find her before,” I suggest. “There must be a way!”

“I can’t do things like that!” he protests. “We have different powers.”

“Well, I really wi- EEEEEK!”

I scream out in terror, as I feel something grab my ankle. Before I know it, I’m sinking into the floor, as if it’s made of tar.

“CHARLOTTE!” Kevin shouts. He reads out his hand, which I take, and he starts pulling me up…

“SHE WILL PAY FOR HIS LIFE, WITH ETERNAL AGONY!” says Ms. Patel’s voice, which seems to ring through every wall in the room itself.

“Picking on someone who… can’t fight back?” Kevin shouts back. “I don’t think so! You’re a bully and a coward…” He pulls me up even harder… I feel my foot coming free…

But then, hands of shadowing circle my waist, pulling me straight down into the floor. My hand slips from Kevin’s grasp, and in an instant, I’m engulfed into darkness.