7/7/17
Melding
August would not let me sleep. He wailed all night about his treasure. I have a feeling though, that what he’s really upset about is whatever happened between him and the goat man.
Speaking of the goat man, I asked the inn keeper what the goat man’s name was. She’s a wrinkled old lady who sits in her rocking chair on the big wraparound porch and rocks back and forth. She rocks so fast I’m surprised she hasn’t burned holes in the floor. She squinted into my eyes and crossed herself.
“Don’t go out there. Devils live out there. It's not safe.”
“They’re demons? Huh, that makes sense,” people sometimes balk at my level of comfort with the supernatural, this old woman did way more than that. She leaned away from me in her chair and crossed herself again.
“I’m giving you one more day in your room. Then you’re out,” her eyes were hard and her lips drawn across her teeth as she spoke. People afraid of demons always seem more terrifying than actual demons, if you ask me. I smiled and nodded.
“Sure, it’s your place.” I had a tent in the car, I could probably camp up in the woods to the east of town if I had to.
But back to August, he demanded I read his tarot first thing in the morning as I was still adamant about going back to the circus and he was against it. I drew the reversed Ace of Pentacles.
“See!” He flashed red then back to pale, “there is no point to going back there. They will not give me my treasure.”
“I have zero interest in your treasure, I want to know if they can find Evelyn for you,” I said through a bite of cereal.
“If they can, then she is not worth finding.”
“August Evelyn Nevernight, you are an awful coward.” I threw a butter knife at him, it whizzed through his belly and smacked the wall.
“Yes. I suppose I am.” He faded.
*
The circus starts in an hour. We’re about to leave. August is doing what he calls melding. It isn’t the same as possession, but it’s still awful. He’s… occupying the same space as me, but he isn't in me. I guess it’s hard to explain, but I’ve never been colder and it’s hard to breathe. It won’t stop me, he should know that by now, but it really sucks.