Eventually, the trio settled into working on their professions. Julian had taken up residence in Harvey’s smithy, using a few of the workbenches to build his bunk beds. Elena preferred the sweet smell of sawdust to the ashy heat, but Harvey was better company, at least for her.

  Julian was always pleasant and respectful, but they didn’t have much in common to talk about. He was a family man with kids and a wife back home, and she was a 17-year-old girl who likely would have only spent time with someone like him if she were babysitting his kids while he and his wife had date night. Harvey was easier. Maybe it was the similarities with her brother, or the smaller age gap, but she was happy he was back.

  When it was clear they were all sucked into their various projects, Elena excused herself to read the guide in a quiet place. Julian was happy to serve as Harvey’s assistant when he sporadically needed a second set of hands, so she effectively had the day off.

  Leaving the dusty main road, she cut between the Bank and the General Store toward the decrepit residential area. The building crews had done a good job restoring some of the older homes to a more livable condition, but none held a candle to Gary’s house. She could hear the wind whistling through the misaligned slats of the neighboring homes, while her room was quiet and warm. The front door didn’t even creak anymore since Gary helped Gabe fix it up a few days ago.

  She expected the house to be empty in the middle of the afternoon, but heard the faint, tuneless lullaby Amy hummed incessantly bleeding through the wall.

  “Hello?” Gary called out as she pushed inside.

  “Hey, Gary. It’s me.” She replied.

  “Brit! How was school today, honey?” He sang, appearing in the doorway. He was shirtless, his paunch hanging over a clean set of denim jeans with a black leather belt. He rushed to pull a black T-shirt over his head before stumbling over to wrap her in a big hug.

  “Wh-what?” She stammered, pushing him away.

  “Oh come on, you too old to hug your dad now?” He laughed, tousling her hair. “Your mom and I were just about to eat lunch. Want to join us?”

  “She ate at school, dear,” Amy called after him, appearing half naked in the doorway. Her hair was a tangled mess, and a sheen of sweat glistened across her skin.

  She looked worse every day. Amy had been a beacon of hope for Elena, her radiant smile keeping her calm as they struggled through the start of the trial, but reality was taking its toll. She’d transformed from confident beauty to shuddering fear, constantly humming a lullaby as she staggered around town. Gary had removed her from the Wall crew a few days ago, letting her focus on her housework and making the most of the makeup and clothes he’d spent an unholy amount of merit on.

  “What are you talking about? There’s no school here.” Elena replied, confused.

  “Well, of course there is, where else would you get this textbook?” Amy asked, pulling John’s guide from her hand. “Why don’t you grab a beer and rest for a bit while we get lunch for you, dear? Let me finish getting dressed, and we’ll go.”

  “What a lucky guy am I, my two favorite ladies getting lunch for me.” Gary smiled warmly, pulling Amy in for a kiss on the cheek. “Alright, I’ll hang out here.”

  “What the fu…” Elena started before being pulled into the bedroom.

  “Shut up. Just stop talking if you know what’s good for you.” Amy hissed.

  “What’s going on?” Elena began.

  “Quiet!” She swore through gritted teeth. “Gary can still hear us.”

  Amy pulled a beautiful sundress over her head, slipped on a pair of dainty flats, and dragged Elena outside. She held her hand over Elena’s mouth until they were a decent way down the road. Elena groaned through the suffocating hand, wondering if she needed to bite her just as Amy let her breathe again.

  “What is wrong with you!” Elena yelled.

  “Shut up and listen. Your name isn’t Elena anymore, it’s Brittany. Gabe is Connor, and I’m Melissa.” Amy explained.

  “No, I’m not.” Elena began, before being slapped hard across her face. Her cheeks burned as a single tear welled up, but she was too stunned to wipe it away.

  “Yes, you are... Listen, I’m trying to help you. Gabe didn’t play along, and he’s gagged and tied up under the bed right now.” Amy shivered.

  “What? That’s insane!” Elena gasped.

  “Gary got mad and put him in a timeout, said he could come out once he realized how lucky he is to live in a happy home.” Amy clarified.

  “This is not ok, I need to go tell Julian. He can help us.” Elena turned to run.

  “Take one more step and I’ll break your legs!” Amy commanded, her voice ice cold as she pointed her wand at Elena. “Julian’s a fool, just like everyone who follows him.”

  “No, he’s not!” Elena replied. “Just calm down, what’s gotten into you?”

  “If you really believe we’re going to survive that undead army, you’re psychotic. I’d happily let you die with the rest of them, but Gary thinks you’re his dead daughter, and he’s not gonna leave this trial without you. I won’t let you ruin my chances of getting back to Earth. I won’t let you ruin my chance to see my son again.” She shuddered, madness in her eyes.

  “How are you going to get home if the Undead kill us all?” Elena asked.

  “Gary promised to bring us out if it looks like Veils End is about to fall. The Undead won’t care if a few of us slip past, right? As long as we don’t get in the way of their invasion plans, we can sneak to the portal and go home.” Amy explained.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “And? Even if we do, that’s just delaying the inevitable since the undead won't stop once they make it to earth.” Elena replied.

  “And? AND!” Amy shuddered, barely contained rage in every step. Elena shied away, fearing another slap that never came. “And I’ll get to hold my beautiful baby boy again. I’ll get to let him know I never meant to abandon him, and he can die in my arms.”

  She sobbed, mascara running down her dirty face. Elena didn’t know what to do. Instinct pushed her to comfort Amy. To let her know that everything was going to be ok. But logic fought back. She was a loose cannon, and Elena couldn’t afford a wrong move if she had Gary wrapped around her finger. If anyone was strong enough to sneak them out to the portal, it was him.

  “I know you want to see your son again. I want nothing more than for you to have that. But why does that mean we pretend to be Gary’s family?” Elena asked.

  “If I hear you say a word about this to anyone, you’re dead. Understand?” Amy asked.

  Elena wondered if she was even strong enough to kill her, given that she was still level 3, but chose not to press the issue. Nodding, Amy continued.

  “Gary was an Outlaw.” She began.

  “Like, a felon?” Elena asked.

  “No, well, probably yes, but it’s a biker gang. He was pretty high up in the organization, and made most of his money selling drugs and stolen cars. A few days ago, we were lying in bed when he told me how a rival gang had murdered his family after he and his boys set fire to one of their drug dens.” Amy explained. “One day, he came home to see his wife and kids tied up, tortured, and bled out.”

  Elena shuddered, her artistic mind once again cursing her with being able to envision the story in perfect detail. She didn’t know anything about biker gangs, but living with a code like “an eye for an eye” seemed likely.

  “Anyway, I told him that if we came back from the dead, maybe they could too. I just meant that nothing seems to be impossible anymore now that The System arrived, but he took that to mean his family had been resurrected in the trial with us. He had a wife, a son, and a daughter, so the fact he found us had to be fate.” Amy finished.

  “And now he thinks we’re his dead kids,” Elena replied.

  “Yes. And I know how much it hurts to lose a child. He’s dangerous, you know that, but if he thinks you’re his little Brittany, there’s nothing he won’t do to bring you out of here.” Amy stuttered

  “But it’s not true. I’m not his daught…” Elena opened her mouth to protest, saw the twitch in Amy’s eye, and still didn’t move fast enough. A palm struck her cheek for the second time, shaking the tears loose.

  “Either you play along, or I kill you and replace you with another scared little girl!” Amy shrieked before humming the lullaby, fighting to keep it together. The mascara leaking down her cheeks came alive, melting into her skin as a fierce light began to burn through her right cheek. She groaned in pain, grabbing her face and nearly toppling over.

  Pained screaming turned to whimpers, and when the light finally faded, Elena saw the aftermath. She’d been stained with a tattoo of a bloody white sheep wearing the cheap plastic mask of a lion. Injured prey, disguising itself as a predator. The hunted hiding behind the face of a hunter.

  “What? What happened?” Amy groaned.

  “You got a new tattoo,” Elena replied somberly.

  “On my face? Oh no. Oh no! What if he doesn’t think I’m beautiful enough to be his wife anymore?” Amy started to panic, pacing around the alley separating their home from the main road.

  “Amy…” Elena began.

  “Melissa!” She corrected, “Call me by the right name so you don’t mess up in front of him!”

  “Melissa,” Elena sighed, “you’re still beautiful. Look, I’ll play along. Let’s just go get his lunch and head back.”

  “You… you’re right. He’s probably wondering where we are. Let’s hurry.” Amy scrambled towards the store, only to turn back and point a finger in Elena’s face. “And don’t think telling your little boyfriend about this is going to save you. Gary could rip him in half. ”

  Rushing to the mirror, Amy bought a steak dinner and an energy drink for Gary, and two boxes of rations for her and Elena.

  “What about Gabe?” Elena asked.

  “Connor…” Amy replied in a warning tone, “Can eat when he’s learned to behave”

  Amy did her best to fix her makeup in the mirror before rushing home. They sat around the dinner table, Gary asking all about how Elena’s softball intramurals were going and whether she wanted to make Varsity or JV that year.

  It was surreal, pretending to have a family dinner with a man she’d watched drink the blood right out of a bird's corpse.

  She had no idea what to do, but knew that if she played along in the short term, Harvey would have an answer. He may not be strong enough to face Gary alone, but there was no doubt in her mind that Julian and Hannah would stand behind him. They were a real family. What Gary made was a sad mimicry.

  When lunch was over, Gary and Amy retired to the bedroom so he could “snuggle up with Brittany’s hot mama.” Elena could hear them talking through the walls, Gary reminiscing about vacations he and Melissa had taken together while Amy did her best to pretend she knew what he was talking about.

  Gabe was stuck under the bed, listening as his new parents slipped deeper and deeper into their delusion. There was nothing she could do to help him, so she focused on ignoring everything and getting sucked into her book.

  Congrats, you managed to scrounge up enough murder money to buy my little book that teaches you to draw pretty little pictures. But don’t worry, these pictures aren’t just for show. They’ll help you make walls and weapons that help you earn even more murder money, without becoming merit for another sucker to spend on one of these guidebooks. My name is John, and I’m going to teach you all about the wonderful world of Inscriptions!

  The introduction was crass, but humor quickly turned into immensely valuable information. Every word burned into her mind as she learned all about ink, elemental patterns, essence balancing, and the other aspects vital to creating powerful magical effects. She barely noticed the sun go down, only pausing to light a lantern so she could keep reading. Eventually, Gabe stumbled out of the bedroom, eyes red and puffy above skin that had been rubbed raw by whatever they used to gag him.

  “Good… goodnight, Brittany. I love you.” Gabe said.

  “Goodnight, Connor.” She replied flatly.

  “Atta boy. Goodnight, you two! Don’t stay up too late reading now, dear, you’ve got softball in the morning!” Gary said, leaning in the doorway.

  “I won’t… dad. Goodnight.” She stammered.

  “I love you both, more than you could ever know.” He sighed, a heartfelt smile beaming down at her.

  “We love you too.” They both said in unison.

  Gabe climbed into his sleeping bag without a word when the bedroom door shut, and Elena turned back to her book.

  What was she going to do? She could tell Harvey, but he’d just storm over and get himself killed. She couldn’t feed Gary’s delusions, but she wouldn’t let anyone die over having to answer to a different name.

  No matter how she spun it, there didn’t seem to be a great answer, so instead, she let herself get lost in the world of inscriptions. Hopefully, this would all just blow over.