Aos Sí

15: PAX

The next few days went by with little problem. Mark came to visit us in Seán's room once or twice, and Seán hung out with him during the day while I was with Ethan. Once Signe had been informed (and was excited at the idea of me having my own roommate), we started packing up the essentials from Ethan's home. Without reason to hide, we were able to take a bit more in Seán's luggage then a Borrower usually would. Throughout all of it, however, that feeling of dread stayed with me in the back of my mind.

It was the last day when we jumped into a pocket with Seán to go to PAX with him, intending to leave that night straight from PAX for a Red Eye flight out of LAX. The trip there was entertaining, Seán and Mark talking about the activities they intended to go to - both being done with panels - and I finally had someone to talk to during the trip, close enough that we could whisper to each other and still hear.

At the convention center, Seán brought us in in his sweater to leave backstage. He wasn't too keen on bringing us around, and it was warm enough he didn't need the sweater anyway. We assured him we'd be fine.

As these stories go, we weren't.

Someone got in. We didn't try to find out, mostly because they stole Jack's sweater, with us inside, and bolted.

As the din of the convention started to get louder, Ethan grabbed me by the wrist and jumped. I was still too stunned to comprehend where we were until we had gotten behind a display. Something was tickling the back of my mind, something I h͝àd tr̨o͟u̧͢b̕͝͠le̵͡͡ f͜͡ì̧͢g̀͡h͏̶͡҉̵t̢́̕̕į̧́͞n̨̨͠ǵ̷̕͘

"Ani! Ani, snap out of it!"

I shook my thoughts, focusing on Ethan's face. My fear melted away. I wasn't alone.

"We gotta figure out how to get back there."

"Do we even know where there is?" I asked, a bit harsher then I meant to. We covered our ears as a voice echoed over the PA system. Once it was done, we sat down to think.

"We know they parked at E5," Ethan offered.

I shook my head. "Seán would probably miss his flight before thinking of leaving without us." I chewed on my lip for a moment, glancing around. I perked up a little. A sheet of paper lay on the ground nearby.

"Oh! Maybe that's one of the schedules he was looking at in the car!"

Ethan hesitated. "How are we going to get it?"

W̶e'l͡l ͡m̢ake i͢t.

I took a deep breath. Something felt wrong, but I couldn't place what. "I don't know. We could try sprinting for it?"

Ethan stared at me for a moment. "And risk either being Seen by a lot of humans, or getting trampled."

"Well! Do you have a better idea!?"

He looked between me and the paper for a moment, then let out a sigh. "No, I don't."

With a huff, I started to count. At three, we tore across the floor to the paper. Feet pounded around us, no one paying attention as they tried to hurry to the next spot. One landed near me, my heart lept into my throat.

My̡ ͏v̢isión̴ ͟tw͟it́c̵hed.̶

I tried to focus on the paper, grabbing it as Ethan did. He pointed to a nearby corner.

  I ̡to͠r̸e ͝th͏e҉ ͡pa͏p̕er ̸a l̶ittl͏e̕.̸ 

I shook off the thought and lifted my side, letting Ethan lead the way. He ducked behind a planter.

L̶̢̦̙̰̱̣͖̭͖̲̬̗̞͕̖̺̹͈͊̋͗̇ͯ̄ͭ͋̊ͅȩ̴͉͍̻͇͙̦̠̗̗̱̪͕͔͉̣͙͛ͭ̄ͥͧ̂́͊̄ͭͧ̂̀͘t̢̛̋͊͂̋ͪ͗ͬ̒̑̆ͬ͋̑̒̃̔̂̅͛͏̱̫̜́ ̴̶̤̳͎̭̖̮͇̻̙̺̯̪̝̺̊́̔͑̀͂̑ͥͫͣ̋̔̚g̋ͨͥ̈̏̑ͩ͛̚҉̞̗͔̬̖̻̜͕̝͉̱̰͙̺͈o̴̠͕̖̜͎̩̳̭̽ͥ͂ͪͨͮ̑ͯ̏̆͛̔̋̇ͭ͋̈̀

I stopped against my will, body jerking. My hands relaxed, letting the paper flutter to the ground.

I҉ st̡arte͏d ͠t҉o mov҉e̷ ̧i̧n҉t̴o͠ t̸h̀e ͞cr͟ow̛d͡s.͢

I managed to contain my scream as Ethan grabbed me and hauled me back into hiding. I felt that dread on my back, stronger then ever, a cold sweat covering my body. I shuddered.

"What the hell was that!?"

I looked up at him, tears rolling down my cheeks. I knew exactly who it was.

"Anti."