Toni waited until we sat down to dinner before jumping up, “Okay, two down, one more and Florida will be cleansed, just one--”

“And then what? We move on to Georgia? Alabama? Till we get to New York?” Mercy didn’t sound angry. Looking around, everyone was tired, they’ve been putting in extra hours training.

“Yes!” Toni's face lit up with zeal, “That’s why we’re all here, isn’t it? To get rid of this menace no matter the cost!” Toni slammed her hands on the table far angrier than the simple question called for.

I was still surprised Kitty and Ethel had nothing to say against this plan. Ethel had made it clear she didn’t want to destroy her kind. So either she had another plan or we weren’t meant to live through this.

“But we could use a break,” Heala didn’t look high for the first time since I met her, eyes focused, her voice firm.

“Break? While innocents suffer and we have a real chance to do something about it?”

“Yes, a break Toni,” Lighting chimed in, “You obviously need one too.”

“We need a better plan too,” Brad spoke, “The last one didn’t exactly work out so well.”

“Fine!” Toni stalked out of the room.

“What was that about?” I whispered to Brad who shrugged.

Shadow passed me a napkin. I was about to refuse when I saw the writing on it. “She is no longer helpless. It can be addictive.”

Great, the only person who knew the whole story was mute. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I didn’t know where to find Ethel but I could probably track down Kitty.

After dinner everyone went their separate ways. I tried to trace the steps from my room to Kitty’s but got lost after the second right turn.

Great! What were the chances of me running into someone. I sat down on the cold metal floor, leaning against the cold metal walls. I guess I could spend the night here, hope someone finds me in the morning.

“I hear you’re looking for me,” Kitty walked out of nowhere.

To my credit, I didn’t jump three feet off the ground this time. “I was, got lost.”

Kitty quirked an eyebrow, “Do you expect me to ask as to why?”

“Oh.” Why did I feel stupid? She did just walk out of thin air; I was allowed to be caught off guard. “I have questions, about how all this started.”

“Well,” Kitty snapped her fingers and we were standing in her rooms, where she flopped down on her couch, “the popular theory is that there was a Big Bang and viola, the universe was born.”

Any hope I had of getting answers deflated. “Nevermind,” I turned to leave.

“You may have to be more specific,” Kitty called after me.

I didn’t feel like playing games but...I stopped mid-step, if there was a chance of getting answers…

I turned around, “What are you?”

“Me?” She smirked.

“All of you, the so-called gods.”

She pouted, “So-called? How do you know we aren’t really gods?”

“Are you?” A game, this was all a game to her, “Forget it.”

Kitty laughed, “For the love of--” suddenly her smile dropped replaced by a deep-seated rage, “What did he see in you?”

I backed away wondering if it would do any good to run.

She smirked, “At least you’re afraid of us. Ethel made them forget.”

“Forget what?” I kept backing up till I hit the door.

“That you are here to live and die at our pleasure.”

“Aren’t gods supposed to care for their creations?”

“Of course not, you were created to keep us entertained, why would we care about each life as long as you keep reproducing.”

“So Ethel started this? Making Worshippers that fight for humanity?”

Kitty rolled her eyes, “You are no fun. Not like I can kill you anyway, Ethel would throw a hissy fit. To think I have to abide by her rules now.

“Yes this is Ethel’s experiment, she has no love for the Prince herself.”

“And you’re okay with killing your own kind?”

Her face contorted with rage as she snarled, “They deserve all the suffering you can bestow.”

She unfolded herself off the couch, “I can’t touch them, but you,” she moved to stand right in front of me, brushing my face with a spindle-like forefinger, “But you will be our greatest weapon--you can,” she smiled maniacally, “hurt him where we cannot,” she laughed.

I ran; blind panic and mind-numbing fear leading me. I could still hear Kitty’s laughter following me. Fresh evening air hit me as I stepped outside. How did I get here?

I didn’t think as I threw the barn doors open and walked to the nearest car, a red Chevy. The door opened easily, the key ready to go in the ignition.

I sped onto the nearest road, looking for signs for an interstate, any interstate. I breathed in relief as I passed the first sign for I-75. Maybe I will actually be allowed to leave.

Ethel appeared beside me, “Stop, Emma, turn around and go back to the compound.”

I jerked the wheel in surprise, driving through the grass for several seconds before realizing what I was doing. Thank God, there was no one else on the road.

“Jesus, I’m not a pawn, not a toy for you, I’m done,” I yelled at her, wondering if I fell into the same trap as the others, trusting a god not to kill me.

“Of course you are, you are human so you were born a toy to them, and you became a pawn when the Prince doted on you,” her voice was soft, gentle as if resigning me to my fate.

Helpless tears burned my eyes. I kept shaking my head though I couldn’t say anything to deny her. I kept driving, the entrance to the interstate just up ahead. North or South? South was a dead end, North it is.

Ethel kept looking around as if the shadows were ready to jump out at her, “Where will you go? You can’t hide. You know better than anyone the bond between a god and his Worshipper, you don’t believe he doesn’t know where you are.”

I didn’t care, or at least I didn’t care right then. Scared, no I was terrified. Tears streamed down my face, the road turning blurry.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ethel fidget, looking behind us as if something was chasing her. “Turn back now, Emma.”

I shook my head, her behavior starting to penetrate the fog of my mind. Was she nervous? What would a god be afraid of?

“They will go after the Clown without you and die, is that what you want?”

“They’re your Worshippers, you help them,” her words settled like stones in the pit of my stomach. I got Toni’s hope up. I made them believe they could win a war against gods. But that hadn’t been my choice. Their choices weren’t my responsibility.

“I can’t help them, not yet,” Ethel’s voice rose almost to a whine, “Just one more, Emma, help them with the Clown and I will let you go.”

Why hadn’t she snapped her fingers and taken us back to the compound? What was she afraid of?

I pulled off the road, “One more and you let them go too.”

She stopped fidgeting her eyes studying me, “They chose this, to be changed to more than they are, to fight for their humanity.”

“But you can reverse it, right?”

“Why would you want to be weaker?” she whispered.

“It’s not weakness to want to be free.”

“Perhaps,” she turned away, “if such a thing exists.”

My heart slowed, I could feel the cage locking me in again. Perhaps I was not meant to be free.

I turned the car around and started back.

“What happens after the Clown?”

“Everything changes.”