“This is where,” Austin struggled to come up with with the right words, “well, it might get weird. Pancham is, uh, he’s very passionate.”

“Pancham?” Kara glanced over to Austin and then back to the road.

“... That’s his online handle. It’s a little panda pokemon.”

Kara nearly slammed her foot down on the brakes then and there. “Please tell me that you know his real name.”

“I actually only met him a week and a half ago. We haven’t gotten to the point of using real names yet.” He winced as Kara tossed him a death glare. “There’s a community on the dark web that follows Trill’s rituals. I was trying to research if Carter and I were going to be okay, and Pancham found me.

He’s the only survivor of his own ritual and has been a part of Trill’s Following ever since. They attempt to track down where rituals have happened, and put together the data on the dark web.” She shot him another angry look. “Either way, he thought Britney was going to turn on us, and he said we could crash at his place for a few weeks if we need to.”

“Is there any other place we can go?”

“Not unless we find a way to ditch this car and get a new one,” he replied. “Take a left into this culdesac.”

They arrived at a blue house that had the garage open and waiting for them. Kara pulled in and the garage immediately began to close behind them. An Asian man in his early twenties popped his head out of side door. He dressed rather plainly with the exception of the cat-print Hawaiian shirt.

“Texsex Wolf?” He pointed to Kara. “And that’s Lady Alpha?”

Austin winced again as Kara shot him a look. “I came up with that handle when I was fourteen, and I didn’t want to use your name.” He then looked over to Pancham. “Nice to meet you in the flesh, Pandam. I brought my PC.”

“Set it up on the coffee table. I’ll put the software on it while you two unpack.” He then eyed Winston as the dog popped his head up. “You didn’t mention a dog.”

“My parents are taking care of my grandmother, and someone needed to stay behind to watch the dog. I wasn’t going to leave him behind.” Austin frowned as Pancham glared at him. “There wasn’t enough time to get someone to look after him.”

Pancham’s look darkened, but he didn’t complain. He let the two move their belongings into the guest room while he set up Austin’s computer. Mostly it was setting it up so it could connect to the internet and not have it tracked to this location. From there, they had programs that could be used to connect their phone numbers, allowing them to get calls and texts, and they could use email as they needed.

Their phones were put in a lead-lined safe, so they couldn’t be turned on and tracked, and they were given a list of house rules. First and foremost, no leaving the house. They were minors. Their pictures would be up everywhere and a neighbor would notice. Pancham would handle walking Winston and shopping for anything they needed.

Aside from that, they were allowed to do as they pleased. Austin was going to make it seem like they had gone to California, and Kara was supposed to pretend to have done the same. They were going to lay low until they either found a way to stop Britney or they found a way to escape into Canada.

“The only thing I wished for is financial security,” said Pancham over dinner. “My Patreon subscribers exploded in numbers, and I make enough that I was able to quit college and put a downpayment on a house.”

Austin leaned towards Kara and whispered in a low voice. “He makes porn games.”

“Erotic visual novels,” corrected Pancham. He then looked over to Kara. “Over sixty percent of my patrons are women.” He felt the need to clarify as though that made his work any less perverted in nature. “Texsex said you were planning on majoring in music composition?”

Kara leaned into Austin as he put an arm about her waist. “... Yes.”

“Give me a list of equipment and programs you need. I’ll get overnight shipping on them. You can pay for your stay here by composing some music I need.”

Austin whispered to Kara again. “It’ll be fine. You make tunes all the time, and I promise that he won’t make you look at anything weird.”

After they had eaten and gotten Austin’s computer finished setting up, he begun dealing with the fallout of their disappearance. It wasn’t long after they left that someone had shattered the back patio window of Austin’s house. The neighbors noticed it when they got home, and Austin’s parents had a meltdown because he and the dog were missing. He did what he could to calm them down and then it was Kara’s turn to explain everything to her father.

“You’re coming home right now.”

“I told that I can’t, dad. I’m scared.” Kara took a breath to steady herself. “I know that you don’t believe me, but Julia and Mackenzie were murdered. Eli was in on it, and he died before the truth could be revealed. Now they’re after me.”

Her father scoffed at the idea. “That’s ridiculous. The police looked into each of those cases and found no foul play. Are you saying that police are also in on it?”

“No, they aren’t, but I’m the target of someone who knows how to get around the police.” She frowned as he scoffed again. “I’m sorry… I’ll come home when I think I’m safe.”

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“You are safe. In your own home, with me, and Miss Grove, and Britney. If you have proof that someone is after you, we can get you police protection. Or if you’re scared, I can talk to your mother about staying with her, but you’re not allowed to abandon your family or your schoolwork simply because you are suffering from paranoid delusions.”

Kara had to hang up on him. She took the headset off her head and began to cry into Austin’s chest. Of course, her father wouldn’t understand, but she was not going to risk dying just to make herself seem less crazy.

She went to go lay down, and in the morning, Pancham went on to explain Trill’s Following. It was a forum on the dark web that only allowed for members that had done the ritual. They tracked how the ritual moved online and attempted to make a database of successful and unsuccessful summonings.

Less than three people could summon Trill, but he wouldn’t appear if there were more than three. Nor would he appear of the summoners were very young, older than their twenties, or if they had several recording devices setup. The incantation or summoning circle didn’t need to be specific either. All that was needed was the intent to summon him and a sacrifice of flesh.

How he granted desires had a direct correlation to those who would survive the ritual. Anyone who needed simple changes and wasn’t granted magic had a very high chance to live. No one who was given extraordinary abilities made it past a few months. This was the reason why Pancham had agreed to take in Austin and Kara. Neither had gotten abilities through their ritual, thus he could do so with little risk towards himself.

From what the group had gathered, Trill was first summoned by a theology student a year and a half ago. They were researching Babylonian religions and had possibly stumbled on the ritual through there. Someone else, possibly another person from his ritual, stole his notes for his master thesis and put them online.

Others were able to do their own rituals using what had been posted. However, the notes were incomplete. There was mention that it may be possible to banish Trill from this world. It appeared as though the student had died while attempting to do a banishing ritual, and his murderer was currently serving a jail sentence. No one in the following had contact with him to see what he knew.

That was the group’s true intention. They wanted to banish Trill from this world. Although all of them had benefited from their rituals, their gains did not justify the destruction that others had caused. It was better that no one be allowed to use it.

“If it’s possible to banish him, wouldn’t it also be possible to get rid of someone’s magic?” Kara was hopeful that there would be a way to strip Britney of her powers. She wouldn’t be able to cause any harm, and Kara would be able to go back home sooner than she expected.

Pancham shook his head. “There was someone in the forums who was looking into this. Her spells had unforeseen consequences, and we were working together in hopes that we could fix her before she ended up dying.” He shook his head slowly. “She ended up having an aneurysm before we could do anything.”

Austin chimed in next. “Britney got her powers in early December of last year. How long do you think it will be until something happens to her?”

Another shake of the head was given. “It depends. If she plays it smart, it could be another three months.”

Kara clutched the sides of her head. “I can’t wait that long.” She would end up failing this semester and having to do everything over. That would mean that she’d have to say goodbye to her college plans because she definitely won’t get accepted at that point.

“Then move in with your mom,” replied Austin. “Setup for school there, and you can come back after the summer.” He gave a reassuring squeeze to her hand. “Britney will give up if you’re nowhere near her.”

“I’m not going to leave you to fail,” she whispered. “Either you go back and she goes after you, or… I don’t know. Stay here? Stay here and do what?”

“Age of emancipation in both Oregon and Washington is sixteen. They can put out alerts on us, but they can’t force us to go back if we don’t want to,” replied Austin.

“Incorrect,” replied Pancham. “Emancipation under the age of eighteen is a court-approved process, and it will unlikely be granted. A lawyer would argue that you are acting under mental duress and that the both of you are neither mature enough or capable of living by yourselves. You will be forced home and lead to your deaths.”

That certainly didn’t appeal to either of them. “Let’s sleep on it,” said Austin. He stood up and held out his hand for Kara to take. “Come on.”

“I get up at eight,” said Pancham as Kara stood up. “One of you needs to be in charge of cooking meals and cleaning.” This was said as he stared at Austin. Kara needed as much time as needed to work for him, and it wasn’t like Austin was going to doing anything.

“Gotcha.”

“Write me a list of what groceries you need, and don’t answer the door for anyone. Not even for packages. There’s a package box that the delivery man knows to drop them off in, and they’ll stay safe out there in the event that I’ve gone out.” He stood up as well, straightening his shirt as he did so.

Austin wasn’t the best cook, but hey, that’s what the internet was for. “Will do, Pancham. Night.”

He and Kara went back to the room and settled in bed. They’d hand over some of the cash Austin had brought to Pancham tomorrow, and he could use that to buy Kara some spare underwear and other items she needed online. The two of them would be fine. If she wanted to leave sooner and stay with her mom, that was fine too.

“We’ll email our teachers in the morning and see what work we can do here. Britney had someone break into my house, and the neighbor across the street caught video of people driving up to the place after we left on their security cameras. The police have what they need to sort it out, and maybe your dad will calm down after he realizes it.”

“I hope so…”

Staying here for three months though? That didn’t sit well with Kara. She buried herself in Austin’s arms but was instead trapped by her own thoughts. What had Julia gone through since Kara had died? Attacking Austin, murdering Eli… Something had pressured her into doing it.

Was it Mackenzie’s death, or her own? Kara didn’t know. But she also knew that Julia didn’t back down when she felt threatened. She didn’t run away. She didn’t hide. She took her time, came up with a plan, and took her revenge.

“Austin?”

“Yeah, Kara?”

“I think we have everything we need here.”

“As long as we have each other, we have everything we need.”

Kara sat up. “No, I mean, with Trill’s Following. There’s literally a group of people who can help us figure out how to fight Britney.” He frowned at her. “Who else is going to do it? We can wait for her to destroy herself, or we make her do it ourselves.”

Austin sat up long enough to grab onto Kara and drag her back to the bed. When she began to squirm, he tangled his legs with hers and partially rolled on top of her. “We’re not doing that.” She let out a whining noise. “... Alright. Take a few days to think about it, and if you can come up with a plan, we’ll do it. Otherwise, promise me that you’ll give up.”

“... Alright. I’ll do that.” But Kara wasn’t going to give up. One way or another, Britney was going down.”