For reasons beyond my comprehension, Jason and I are going to Ms. Patel’s office and pretending to just be concerned about where Zoe is, while taking care to tell her that everyone is leaving, even though not everyone is leaving yet. Well, the first part won’t be hard…

We get to the door of her office, which… has a fucking gold plaque sticking out of it. Then we open the door to her office and- HOLY FUCK. IT’S BEEN COMPLETELY TRASHED!

“What the FUCK happened in here?” I ask.

Ms. Patel is sitting in her chair, behind a desk that looks like it was smashed by the Hulk. “Oh, pardon the mess,” she says. “A couple of delinquents got in here…”

“Oh my god! Do you need help cleaning up?” Jason asks.

“That’s sweet of you. But no, I’ll be okay,” she says, smiling at them.

“Oh yeah,” I say. “We wanted to come by real quick and ask if you found my sister yet.”

“Yes, I… said he could ask on our way out,” Jason adds.

“The police are still looking,” Ms. Patel says, trying to come across as concerned and sympathetic, even though I know she’s full of shit. “Her guardians have been informed after the situation. Past that, I really can’t give you any more information… I’m sorry.”

“Fuckin’ bullshit,” I swear. I wonder how our parents are going to react when I tell them. Will they make another scene like before? Will they just not care? Either way, not looking forward to going home.

“Collin…” Jason chides. “Your language! Sorry Ms. Patel, he’s really upset. Sitting around here isn’t going to help find her. We’re going to leave this up to the authorities, and go see a movie for now so we don’t worry too much.”

“That’s a great idea,” Ms. Patel says, with a hint of smugness she tries to cover up. “Leave this to the police. They know what they’re doing.”

“Yeah, some of our friends were looking for her,” Jason continues. “You know, everyone who was hanging out with Charlotte and I earlier. But they’re all really depressed and defeated now, so they’re going with us.”

“Good. Good!” Ms. Patel says, her eyes glinting with triumph. “Go have fun at the movies, kids! Hehehe!”

God. I can’t fucking stand her.

“Let’s go, Jason,” I say.

“True, we don’t know what the lines will be like,” Jason says. “Anyways, thank you for everything. We’ll stay safe at the theater.”

“Buh-byeee!” Ms. Patel says.

When we’re well out of her office and out of earshot, I lean over to Jason and say in a low voice, “Hey, that was kinda scary.”

“What?” they ask.

“How well you were able to lie to her.”

They shrug. “I’m a theater kid. I know how to act.”

“Holy shit,” I say.

God fucking damn it, it is so COLD out here! I fucking hate this!

As part of our grand plan, we left the palace, and I have to hang out here in the middle of these fucking trees, and it’s like forty degrees out. I would’ve loved to hang out in or at least near someone’s apartment, but… can’t be anywhere where Ms. Patel would see us. And since she can enter the Metaverse, we can’t even wait there . Fuck her, fuck this apartment, and fuck human trafficking!

I’m not alone for too long before Kevin joins me. He plops down next to me, explaining, “I lucked out for once… Charlotte wanted to see ‘Into The Woods’ anyway. So they instantly believed me when I said we’re taking her to see that.”

“Cool,” I say. “Hey look. Can I ask something weird?”

“Uh, okay?”

“Can we, uh, huddle for warmth? I’m really cold.”

He raises his eyebrows at me. “Your jacket’s not keeping you warm enough?”

“No. Look, it doesn’t have to be a gay thing,” I plead. “Friends can hug each other, right?”

“I suppose so,” he says, and to my relief, he obliges and gets right next to me.

“Whoah… you’re really warm,” I say, my senses immediately feeling relief. I wrap my arms around his body to absorb more heat. “How are you so warm?”

“I’m… usually pretty warm.” he says, looking a little bit awkward. “My diet and active lifestyle might be helping me maintain a high level of testosterone.”

“Wow,” I say. I guess that makes sense. He’s pretty cut, after all. I’m really skinny. Side effect of being poor. So my body doesn’t have that much heat. I guess he’s more manly than me, huh. That doesn’t make me feel jealous or anything, it’s more of a- uh oh.

“Uh, you’re sure this isn’t a gay thing, right?” he asks.

“Y-yeah,” I say. “I mean, unless you want it to be, I guess.”

“No thank you,” he says politely. “I’ve really never felt attracted to other guys.”

“Huh. You must be the only person on the whole team who’s cis and straight, then,” I comment.

“Huh. I guess so,” he says. “Ashley and Zoe are dating… you and Anja are bi, if I remember right… Ruth is asexual…”

“Wait. She is?” I say stupidly.

“Yeah. You didn’t know that?” he asks.

“No… I mean, I know she and Anja used to date, but…”

“She still dates , it’s just a different thing than being like, sexually attracted to someone,” Kevin explains. “She explained it to me once.”

“I know all that stuff,” I say. “I’ve been on Tumblr before.”

“Ah. That’ll do it,” Kevin says. “Hey, what about the armadillo guy, Ted? Can armadillos even be gay?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “But, pretty sure he said something once about having a wife and kids when he was a human.”

“Ah. So I’m not the only one,” he says.

“Yeah. We gotta stick together to survive, or whatever. But uh, we accept straight allies too.”

“Hmm… does being a ‘straight ally’ mean you can cuddle with other guys without it being gay?” he asks thoughtfully.

“Uh… yeah! Sure” I say.

Can Ruth please get back soon. This is getting really awkward.

Slowly, the darkness subsides. It feels like waking up. I see a light in front of me. As my vision comes into focus, I see that it’s a flickering torch on the wall. I’m in some sort of damp catacomb. The floors and ceiling alike are lined with gray bricks. This must be some new section of the palace. I get up an-

I can’t move. I look down at my body to find, to my horror, that I have been trapped under a layer of stone, held together with mortar. My arms and legs are totally covered up, leaving only my head and torso uncovered. My heart begins to beat faster, as if trying to burst out of the stone.

“Oh, you’ve finally come to?” says my current least favorite person. Ms. Patel is still in her obscene vampire costume from earlier, and she’s holding a trowel in one hand.

“What are you doing to me, you maniac?” I question, panicked by my predicament.

“Your schools truly have failed you,” she rambles, as she starts placing another layer of stone on top of me. “Useless… I don’t know why we bother funding them if they won’t teach you anything useful.”

“I thought you wanted us to leave!” I say.

“That was before,” she explains. “When I still felt some grace and mercy. But you have annoyed me too much. I don’t care what happens to you anymore.”

“Implying you did before?” I retort.

“Oh, shut up. I do everything for you ungrateful cretins, and all you ever do is resent me.”

“What do you do for us, exactly?” I challenge. “Sit around in your office and collect our rent payments?”

“You wouldn’t have anywhere to live if it weren’t for me,” she says. “This is my land, which I’m letting you all live on from the kindness of my heart.”

“Until we become an inconvenience!” I say. “Then you try to force us out!”

“You only have your stupid mother to blame.” She finishes another layer of stone, and starts on a final one, which would be tall enough to cover all of me…

“I have you to blame, because you have no kindness in your heart, liar!” I accost her.

“Oh, how much I am looking forward to a few minutes from now when you shut up forever,” she says in a singsong voice as she lays down more stone.

“You’ll never shut me up!” I say. “You’ll never repress me! I’ll go back to the real world and kick your ass there if I need to!”

“You know the saying about ‘biting the hand that feeds you?’” she asks.

“We don’t need you! We’ll take the land for ourselves and live in peace! We don’t need any stupid landlady at all!”

“This system you just described is called ‘communism,’” she says pompously. “And it’s a failed system that has killed millions of people.”

“So we have to put up with anything you do, because there’s no alternative?” I spit at her. “What bullshit.”

“Soon, you won’t have to worry about it!” she replies cheerily, laying down the last stone. “Because guess what? Once I go back to my real self, I’m going to turn in your family to the folks at Play Hard. You and your mom will be useful to them. There’s always a certain niche for weirdos like you, you know! Your father… eh, they’ll probably just kill him. Enjoy your new life, it’ll probably be the only way a man will ever show you affection. Bye!”

“No… NO!” I scream, words failing me. I struggle against the stone surrounding me, but I can’t so much as budge it. Ms. Patel rolls a stone encasing over the top, and it all goes dark…

I can’t let her go back to her real self… but I’m trapped… I can’t move…

What’s gonna happen to my family and I…

No. She’s not getting away with this. She’s not…

Ready to fight now, are you? says a refined voice inside my brain.

Yeah! I say.

This is more than just “ghost hunting,” you know, the voice says. You’re entering a fight that will define the rest of your life, and likely well past that… are you prepared for that commitment?

What does that mean? Oh, it’s because just saving my parents and I isn’t enough… this should’ve never been allowed to happen!

I understand, I say.

I am thou, thou art I! You have found the spirit of rebellion within you, and I, Valkyrie, will come to your aid! You have known for quite some time, though you deny yourself, that you must make your inner self match your outer self, and that the world is f-

Let’s just do this before I suffocate, please! I interrupt, feeling panicked.

Fine.

WHOAH! I feel different all of a sudden! Stronger, somehow!

I pull against the stone, and now, I feel as if the earth around me is shaking! The entombment crumbles down, and I emerge from the rubble, now clothed in an embroidered yellow dress and a necklace of pearls! SHE’S ALIIIIVE!

I rush out and find Ms. Patel ascending a staircase across from me in the dark, dingy chamber. I can’t let her get back to her real self… I pull out my new ROCKET LAUNCHER and fire a rocket at her! I love Personas!

She hears it coming and dives out of the way, but the impact causes the ceiling to cave in, blocking her ascent!

“You!” she says, baring her fangs at me.

“I told you, you’ll never shut me up!” I taunt. “Now, I have a long list of grievances, and you’re going to listen to all of them!”

She growls at me, and collapses into her shadow form. Oh no, I’m not letting this happen again! I pull out some grenades, and pepper the ground in front me with them. When they explode, she’s blown out of the ground in the rubble, coughing, and bloody in her forehead from a piece of shrapnel.

She gets to her feet briskly, and dives down a narrow corridor leading away. I follow, hot on her heels!

In the most recent of the string of odd circumstances I’ve found myself caught in, I am now at the mall in a nearby city, dropping three middle schoolers off at the movie theater, driving Anja’s car without a license or parental supervision to satisfy the legality of my learner's permit. Thankfully, I am a good enough driver to get us to the theater without getting pulled over, and now the risky part is over.

“Okay. So now what?” Collin asks, as we pass through the doors to the building.

“Well… might as well actually watch the movie,” Jason suggests. “I’ve heard it’s really good.”

“Yeah. I’m sure that’s gonna be real fun,” Collin says through gritted teeth.

“I mean… what else are we supposed to do?” Kat reasons, shrugging. “We don’t have hell demon powers.”

“For what it’s worth,” I tell Collin, “I truthfully believe that, when you leave the theater, Zoe will be safe, and here to greet you at the exit.”

“She better be,” Collin says threateningly.

The three of them leave to get their tickets. That means it is time for me to find my ride back.

The others can not fight Ms. Patel without me, and we thought she may be savvy enough to ID Anja’s car, and look for it in the parking lot to confirm if we truly have left. So, I am catching a different ride back, and we will plan to collect Anja’s car after the ordeal is over.

The idea of coming to this mall came because I happen to have a friend here who can give me a ride back. I look around the food court for a minute or so, until I find him, standing near the photo booth on his phone.

When I get near, Mason sees me and puts his phone in his pocket. “Hey Ruth!” he greets. “Look at us, being naughty and skipping mass.”

“I had urgent business to attend to today,” I explain. “What’s your excuse?”

“We wanted a day out after the Christmas shopping rush was over,” Mason explains, shrugging. “Hey, the way I see it, Dad would be in more trouble if they knew who he was spending it with, than he would be for just missing a Sabbath.”

“You’re probably correct about that, sadly,” I agree. “Speaking of which, where are they?”

“In there,” he says, pointing at the photo booth.

“And did you take Diana or any other friends with you today?” I ask.

“Nah,” he answers. “I invited Kevin, but he said he was busy.”

“That he is,” I confirm.

Just then, two men step out of the photo booth. One is a thin man with short blonde hair, and a pronounced jawline like Mason’s. The other is Mr. Castro, our school’s band director.

“Good evening, Mr. Wallace and Mr. Castro,” I greet.

“Ah, boa tarde , Ruth,” Mr. Castro greets, grinning at me. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon.”

“You need a ride home, yes?” Mr. Wallace asks, one arm still around Mr. Castro.

“Not home, exactly,” I explain. “I’m… staying the night at a friend’s. I’ll give you directions.”

It takes a while for my dissociation to fade. When it does, I find myself wishing it hadn’t. Pain, rage, anguish, horror, grief. Pounding against me relentlessly like waves hitting a cliffside.

I’m Anja Beulen. I’m sixteen. I’m the daughter of Ben Beulen and…

I’m Anja Beulen. I’m sixteen. I live in Enchantment City, Texas. I’m a sophomore in high school. I play the trombone. I’m dating Nova. Ashley and Zoe are my friends. Ashley’s here, right now, walking alongside me.

Except I’m not walking. I’m being carried…

I look up and…

“What the fuck?” I ask aloud.

The furry face of Ashley’s dad looks down at me. “Feeling any better?” he asks softly.

“What are… HUH?”

“Would you like to be put down?” he asks.

“Uh, yeah,” I say.

He puts me down. My legs feel stiff from disuse. How long was I out?

Suddenly feeling very aware, I look around me. Ashley and both of her parents are watching me. I survey them up and down, balking at her dad’s blue fur and fangs, and her mom’s large butterfly wings, pointy ears and ornate dress.

“Yeah. My parents have Personas,” Ashley states flatly. “I know.”

“Whoah,” I say.

“Sorry to pile on another revelation for you today,” Ashley’s mom says apologetically.

I… honestly don’t know how to respond.

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t know the story yet either,” Ashley says.

“That will have to wait, I’m afraid,” Ashley’s dad says. “For now, Zoe needs us.”

“Ted too,” Ashley adds. “He went with her, he could’ve ended up in the same place.”

“And who is this Ted?” Ashley’s mom asks, crossing her arms.

“Can’t wait to introduce you. You’ll love him,” Ashley says flatly, a ghost of a smile on her face.

“So… you guys are helping us get Zoe out of there?” I ask.

“She’s as well as our daughter too now, you know,” Ashley’s mom says.

“Awwh,” I say. “That’s sweet!”

“We’re within Austin’s city limits, so we should be seeing the place soon,” Ashley states. “We’ve been told it has some sort of security even in this realm.”

“That goes without saying,” Ashley’s dad says. (Uh… it does?)

“We’ll know it when we see it, I’m sure,” Ashley’s mom says. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”

I can only imagine what Ruth thought when she arrived in our little clearing to see Nova and I huddled together. If she felt any amusement at all, it didn’t show on her face.

“Oh, thank fuck, FINALLY!” Nova complains, immediately releasing me and getting to his feet.

“You’re rather eager to get back into the fray,” Ruth comments.

“It’s cold out here!” Nova complains.

“It’s… gonna work, right?” I ask.

“Jason is sure that Ms. Patel believed them,” Ruth explains. “It’s time.”

“We’re coming, Charlotte,” I say. Nova is the first to get to his phone, and once again, in we go.