I tried to text her that whole week. No response. I’d like to think she was busy and not ignoring me, but that didn’t seem likely.

I didn’t think she was mad, I think she just wanted to be done. I hope she keeps everything I’ve told her close to the chest. I’d hate to see her share a bunch of info for the approval of someone who is clearly using her, not to mention the whole part where it could get me killed.

I go to a night class, I work at the tired antique store, I eat my lunch, and I scout the woods. It’s quiet. I feel no change in the town and it’s almost eerie, but a bit of change is coming.

A traveling carnival was coming through the town. This piqued my interest for a couple reasons. The first was that I might find help. I mean, if you have special powers, you might run away with a carnival to be a performer. Who knows, that kind of thing might still happen. Actually, I might be reaching, but a little bit of hope keeps the spirit alive. The second reason is that I feel like it might be the time that Red decides to break his silence. It's something where a bunch of people gather at night, plus it's a pretty dramatic space to make a scene.

But as the days grew closer, I realized that banking on finding extra help in the middle of the battle might be a bit of a gamble. I made the tough decision to try and call Paradox.

“Well, well, well, look who needs our help now. I thought you were getting away from all the scary big city problems,” he teased.

“Listen, I’m not happy to be this far back in it either, but I’m here now so there’s no backing out,” I retort.

“Oh really? You don’t want to just leave? Like that time you ran away from your foster home when another kid stabbed you with a fork? Like that time you climbed out the bathroom window instead of saying no to the weird kid who wanted to ask you to prom? Like how you left us when our issues became too real? I would say leaving when things are tough is one of your strengths. Things can’t go wrong if you aren’t there to see it. You don’t get help from those you walked out on. Have fun with your next disaster.” He hung up.

I didn’t really expect help, but I’m not sure I expected him to really go for the jugular. I want to believe I’m better than that, better than leaving my responsibilities, but the idea is tempting. Was this place beyond saving? Do I need to get distance before I charge into battle?

And what will that do to Katrina? To have another person leave her life? Would it lead her right back to the hands I have been trying so desperately to get her away from? Red was her only escape from a constant monotonous cruelty, I can’t let him have that power again.

The next couple days were full of prep. I needed to make sure I had some tricks up my sleeve if I was going to go alone. I could lay trip wires to pull, maybe a net or two to fall on people, also maybe there will be a fireworks booth I can just light on fire.

6pm, 2 days before the carnival, there was a knock at my door.

Two girls who I had never seen before stood in my doorway. One had extensive patches of psoriasis going across her face and body and one with Hypertrichosis patches, on the side of her face and backs of her arms and legs. They appeared to be related, with the same dark hair, grey eyes, and pointed-up noses.

“Can I help you?” I ask.

“Yeah I think so,” the girl with psoriasis said, “Are you Athena?”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Who wants to know?”

“We’re here because a family friend said you needed help. I think you know her as Orphan?” the second girl added.

“Uh um, oh yeah, come in,” I stutter. I start picking up weird trap materials off the floor and couch of the living room. “Hey, are you guys new to town? I haven’t seen you before,” I yell towards them, trying to not move much.

“We aren’t. We’re just from a different town. We drove over this morning,” the same girl said.

“My name is Athena, what about you guys?”

“I’m Astoria, and this is my sister Luma.”

Astoria, or the girl with psiarisos, seemed much more excited to talk to me than her sister, but I can’t blame Luma for her hesitance. I have absolutely no idea what they have heard about me. I sat in a chair across from the couch. “So, what exactly brings you guys to my apartment today?” I ask.

“Well, Orphan told us you need some help with some cult like dark magic and we were the closest people to call,” Astoria said. “We have some experiences with that kind of stuff.”

“I appreciate that, but this is a very tricky situation. I’m not sure introducing completely new factors to it would be helpful.”

“You’d rather run into battle alone? I thought you were looking for help?” Luma said gruffly.

“Well, I was looking for help from some old friends who I’ve fought with before. People who I know that I know how to work with.”

“I don’t think you should count us out just yet, Athena. We are pretty resourceful,” Astoria chimed.

“Alright, well if you can keep it contained to the living room without causing too much damage, can you show me what you got?” I ask.

The girls looked at each other hesitantly and Astoria slowly stood up. She holds out her arms and looks down at them for a moment. The clear patches in her skin begin to change, hardening into a warm grey color. It took on a high shine like it had been polished. As the transformation creeps over her, patches of her psoriasis simmer, transforming into striking blue-green fragments that catch light gloriously. Her hair changes to a light blue and her eyes mimic the same vibrant colors. She hovered lightly off the ground and raised one hand to the window. I look out into the woods outside my window, and see large rocks and chunks of earth float up into the air.

“Alright, that is certainly a very useful skill to have. What about you?” I gesture to Luma.

She stands up, and the hair on the back of her arms and legs becomes rigid. It crystalizes into dark red crystal points. They line her entire form all the way up to behind her ears and under her cheek bones. Her eyes become a vibrant yellow, as her nails and canines elongate and sharpen. She looks left and right and then down at my coffee table as she brings her fist back.

“No no no no. You don’t need to do that. I believe you’re very strong.” I interject.

She lowers her fist with a smirk, “So, you think we might actually be of some help to you?”

“Listen, you are both very impressive, but this is gonna be pretty unpredictable. We might be walking into nothing, we might be walking into an absolute onslaught from every girl in this town. Are you sure you are both up to this?”

“This isn’t our first experience with something like this. Hard to get powers like this otherwise,” Luma chuckled.

“And even if nothing happens the night of the carnival, it would still be helpful to understand what exactly is going on in this town in case you need our help in the future.” Astoria added.

“In the future? You guys would want to keep coming back to this?” I ask.

“Listen, we are doing this as a favor, but we also aren’t particularly fond of cult magic changing people. Or evil mysterious beings gaining unknown levels of power. To be honest, if you refused our help, we were probably just gonna investigate ourselves anyway.” Luma retorted.

“Well, given that very honest piece of information, I guess I’ll take you up on your offer. Let’s start talking plans,” I say.

“Can you make a plan when you don’t know what’s gonna happen yet?” Astoria asks.

“We can’t make one plan, but we can make many vague plans and improvise the rest. I should probably order pizza. We are gonna be here a while.”