she snapped.
Maryann couldn't resist and she looked back down the hill to see a large, black, and probably feline shape carefully picking a path up to the ledge where they were standing. With the moonlight and its black coat playing tricks with estimating distances, she couldn't tell how far away it was, but it seemed to her to practically be within leaping distance. Her voice left her and she could only point.
The cougar looked up at them with eyes that reflected red in the moonlight.
Leah looked down. "I told you not to look," she said grimly.
Isabella stuck a piece of paper to the air and a circle of light glowed around it. "Go!" she ordered, and the other three jumped through. She grabbed the paper and followed without looking back to see how close the black cougar had been.
They fell practically on top of each other in the ill-lit corner of parking lot for a grocery store.
"Where the hell are we?" Leah asked. "And what time is it?"
"Check your phone," Nora replied, as she was already doing so.
"Oh, I've got texts from Sinclair," Maryann said. "Wow, okay, that's interesting. He's been texting stuff like, 'are you okay?' and 'where are you?' I'm going to call him. We need a ride back to our van."
"Are you sure he's not responsible for this?" Nora demanded.
"Nora, it's alright. I actually don't think that was his doing," Isabella said.
Maryann called Sinclair, who seemed relieved to hear from her and agreed to pick them up. "Hey guys," Maryann said, "I'm sorry for kind of losing it back there."
"It's fine," Leah replied. "We've been through a lot of weird stuff. Everyone has different stuff that really gets to them, and that place got to you."
"I don't like horror movies."
"Yeah, that's obvious. But seriously, don't worry about it. We've got your back."
"Thanks guys."
In about ten minutes, he drove up to them.
"I'm sorry," he said immediately. "I felt the rush of magic right outside the club but when I went to investigate, I realized the spell was already done and you were already gone." He looked around. "I didn't realize the Veil was thin in a place like this," he said. "I thought I knew all the weak spots around here."
"Maybe it's just timing," Isabella said tiredly.
"Well, get in and let's get you back to the van. The club closed up an hour again and I've been trying to keep your van from getting towed."
On the ride back to the Dark Chambre, they discussed what had happened with Sinclair in general terms and he became more and more upset. "That was dark magic," he said.
"No, really?" Nora retorted.
He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "I think you probably know what I mean. It sounds like you were deliberately dropped into a very small and dangerous near-spirit realm. In sci-fi terms, it's like a pocket dimension. I think of them more as realm fragments; places that were once part of the proper realms but were torn off or otherwise damaged or the remains of proper realms. I know there are some fragments that periodically approach this area, but I didn't know anyone else knew about them."
"Is that why you're here?" Maryann asked.
"One of many reasons. I'll investigate this matter. I don't like someone doing such dangerous magic in general, and certainly not in my home."
"We'll help if we can. I'm pretty good at divination," she offered.
"Thanks," he said with a smile. "I'll let you know what I find, if anything. I'm just glad you got out."
"So are we."
They retrieved their van, Maryann and Sinclair said their goodbyes and promised to keep in touch, and they headed to their hotel. The band was grateful to be safe, get some sleep, and concentrate on their next gig.
The Lyrics:
Something seems wrong here
Everything's a little off
It's not just a trick of the light
There's no reason to scoff.
The angles seem slanted
The birds a bit off-key
Something just isn't right
There's a sense of unfamiliarity.
Refrain: Nothing is totally strange
This place makes me uneasy
But nothing is quite normal
Here in the uncanny valley.
An android that's almost human
Should be a sight to see
But it makes me so unsettled
I don't want to stay; I want to flee.
A doll that's almost life-like
Should be a lot of fun
But it seems to look at me
And I just want to run.
Refrain:
People with eyes like glass
Twins that speak in one voice
Is just strange enough
I will leave if I have the choice.
Echoes without sources
Buildings that lean to the side
Faint whispers in the wind
And there's no place I can hide.
Refrain x2:
Track 9 - Möbius Strip
The Interview:
Nico: And now you shift gears to a retro '70s funk inspired song.
Anna: The last song ended on a fast beat, so we just continued that, even if we did change to a funky beat.
Jana: This might be why your critics complain of abrupt tonal shifts.
Belle: They're entitled to their opinions. We feel that this actually follows. We have a dark, horror inspired song followed by something considerably lighter. We don't want to weigh the album down too much.
Nico: So you claim there's a method to your madness?
Lee: We always claim that. I don't know if everyone agrees though.
Jana: So what was the inspiration for this song?
Lenore: Things come back around.
Nico: That's it?
Lenore: Sometimes that's all there is. Actions have consequences, and sometimes those consequences are not what you expect.
Anna: Sometimes there's a twist.
Jana: And we're back to the twist in your songs.
Lee: See? That totally proves our point.
Nico: [laughs] Okay, you got us there.
The Story:
"I really like this venue," Maryann said as the band packed up their gear after an afternoon show at the Cascade of Music Festival. "It's just so pretty and the crowds are so polite."
"Outdoor venues make me nervous," Leah replied. "Things keep happening."
"Things keep happening anyway," Nora countered.
"That's true, I guess."
Isabella thought Leah's body language indicated she was nervous, so she moved closer and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," she answered. "I'm just waiting."
"Waiting on what?"
"Finding Data's head," she said, and then moved away to continue packing.
"I really wish I knew more about geek culture," Isabella thought, shaking her head. "I'll look it up when we get back to the hotel." Then she felt the wind shift. "We need to hurry," she said to the group.
They had been together long enough they didn't even ask what she meant; they just doubled their packing speed. Leah, however, pulled a heavy duffel bag out from underneath the front passenger seat and threw it over her shoulder.
"Do you really think we're going to need the emergency kit?" Nora asked.
"Data's head," she answered cryptically.
As soon as Isabella shut and locked the back doors, toadstools started to rapidly sprout up in a ring around them.
"Um...." Maryann said, and then she vanished.
"Wait, that's not right," Leah stuttered. "We should all disappear."
"What?" Isabella and Nora asked.
Then the rest of them disappeared.
They reappeared in another mushroom ring in a dark, gloomy forest.
"That-that is not what I expected," said a high-pitched voice.
They looked around and saw a creature sitting outside t
he ring. It was about seven inches tall with blue skin, dirty green hair, folded bat-like wings, and some kind of garment crafted from leaves. It had a pointy face and it was difficult to determine if it was male or female or something else.
Leah knelt down to be closer to the creature's level. "Hello, your Majesty. You were trying to summon fire, water, wind, and Earth?"
"What?" the other three asked.
"Yes. How did you know that?" the queen asked.
"That's a really, really good question," Nora snapped.
"Your Majesty, is this a safe place to talk?" Leah asked.
"It's safe enough or I wouldn't have performed my spell here. I am very curious as to how you seem to know so much."
"So are we!" Maryann said.
Leah stood up, patted her pockets, and finally pulled out a piece of paper with something typed in a very small font. She handed it to Isabella. "Remember the greenlings?"
Isabella frowned and read through the prophecy given to them by the goblin-like creatures they had encountered at a previous Cascade of Music Festival. "Does this mean what I think it means?"
"What? What?" Maryann said impatiently. "I can see it's a greenling."
"That's not really what we're called, and I'm puzzled you seem to know most of my people are green," the queen said. "But I suppose that name will do for now. What magic is written on that paper?"
"Can we please drop the mystery and get a straight answer?" Nora snapped.
Leah sighed. "'A 4-D pair of drakes.'"
"That is totally not a straight answer," she retorted.
"No, it's a bad pun," Isabella said. "Time paradox. The fourth dimension is time. Drakes are male ducks. Time pair of ducks."
Maryann and Nora just stared at her for a minute.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!" Nora said. "What is going on here?"
"I need help," the queen said, flying up to their eye-level. "I thought I was summoning elementals but I got you humans instead. I see your souls do mirror what I asked for, but I am uncertain how you can help, although you seem quite knowledgeable about