When we got home, I immediately ran up the stairs with the camera. “Mooom? What are you doing with the camera? Joseph said never to take them apart or experiment with them,” Eli said, making me stop and turn around. “Whaaaaat? What makes you say that? I just wanted to- ok fine you caught me,” I said, admitting defeat. After a short awkward silence, Eli shrugged, “Eh, it’s not like I can stop you from being curious. I gotta go anyway. Aesop wanted to watch a movie together. See ya,” he said, leaving the house. I listened to the sound of Eli getting into Aesop’s car as I thought, He’s not really letting me off that easily, is he? I ran upstairs into the attic before he could change his mind.

Once in the attic, I set down the camera next to my chair, then sat down, waving away the cloud of dust. I watched as a spider made a web in the corner, the silk almost invisible. It reminded me of when I used to spend every night sewing a blanket with beautiful designs on it for Joseph. He was so happy when he received it. The designs had a picture of Eli sitting on one of Joseph's cameras with Brooke on his shoulder and Joseph on his right. I was doing a dance to the left, a red butterfly swirling through the air above us. I giggled, remembering how Eli once took the blanket because he wanted it, and how Joseph ended up sleeping in his room that night so they could share it.

I remembered the camera in front of me, getting to work. I opened the film area, which had a roll in it. The camera was buried in the snow for quite some time but still seemed to be able to work. I gently hit the side of it, getting off dust from the attic ceiling when a small panel opened. I removed it, peering inside. All the mechanics and stuff were in there, easily seen from my view. However, when I looked to the side, in an area almost out of sight, I saw something that shocked me; a living spider. But what shocked me more was the fact that when I craned my neck so hard it hurt, there was a witch mark next to the small web. What?

“Open the door! I know you’re in there!” I shouted, banging Violetta’s front door. She had tested my patience for 20 minutes, leaving me on the porch in the cold night, even though I could tell she was in there. “Ugh!” I shouted, frustrated. I then got an idea. I went around the house and soon found a window that was open but far too small for any hunter to fit through. Smiling, I remembered how people never cared for the fact that I walked through the walls whenever I went through the windows. She’ll never expect this, I thought as I crouched and rolled, going “oof,” when I went through the wall (and FYI, Violetta is my friend, so I can break in if I want to).

Once inside, I yelped, hiding from the view of millions of spiders. Geez, this would be any Athena kid nightmare, I thought, remembering how Joseph used to read Percy Jackson with Eli, even though he understood pretty much nothing. Eli would always insist he was grown up enough to read the books yet still covered his ears whenever Joseph would read a part about fighting. He would always laugh, then they would start tickling each other. I smiled, remembering how they would come to dinner laughing like crazy.

I was brought back to reality when a spider crawled right past my hiding spot. I peeked over the edge of the couch, then saw Violetta. “Gotcha,” I whispered, then shadow dashed quickly to her. “Surprise!” I shouted, tackling her as she yelped, shocked at the fact I was here. I blew the hair out of my face. “Why didn’t you let me in? I waited for 20 minutes!” I exclaimed, pouting. “Sorry, I didn’t, um, hear you?” she said unconvincingly. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah right! I pounded on your door until my hands went numb,” I said, helping her get up. “Would you like some tea then?” she said.

How did it get to this? I wondered, fighting off eight robotic legs intent on pinning me to the ground. I vaguely remembered something off about Violetta, then something about accusations, and things leading to this. I got a rush of adrenaline and pushed her back in a quick second, surprising her. I flipped her onto her back, then pinned her down. “Hey!” she shouted. “That’s not fair!” I blew dust off my nails. “Yeah, well, you know what else isn’t fair? Eight. Giant. Spider. Legs.” I got closer with each word. “Fine! Sheesh!” she exclaimed, probably rolling her eyes. “Just flip me back over!” I gave her a pretending-to-be-offended look. “You think I’ll trust you to be right side up after lunging at me? No way,” I said, realizing that Eli was probably home by now when I saw the darkness creep into the sky outside.

Suddenly, Violetta glitched. Wait, that’s not right. I thought, confused. She looked guilty of something… like she stole something. “...like someone’s identity!” I shouted that last part out loud, then slapped one of her spider legs. Sure enough, it glitched, like a hologram. “Took you long enough to find out,” Violetta sneered, then snapped her hologram-hidden fingers. The spiders disappeared, along with her fake spider legs. Soon, she was out of disguise, no longer pretending for sure. I gasped, staring at her in shock as four Followers entered the room. “Yidhra?!” She chuckled, saying, “I would get off if I were you. Those scythes can do much more than hurt.” “But you’re not me, are you?” I replied, watching how the Followers looked uncertain of what to do.

“I’ll get off you, but first you owe me some answers,” I said, flipping my hair back in place. “After all, I didn’t pound a dent into that door for nothing,” I finished, still holding her down. She growled, clearly angry things weren’t going her way. She suddenly calmed down, looking smug. “Fine then. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll answer 2 questions, and you let me go.” I thought a bit before answering, “Fine. Deal,” I shook her hand before quickly pinning it back. “Now let me go,” she said. “No, first you answer me,” I said, staring her in the eyes (or should I say in the blindfold?). “I’ll answer one first, then you get off me,” she offered, which I nodded to. “First question: Where is the real Violetta?” I asked. “Oh, I convinced her to go on an all expenses paid vacation. For 3 months,” she replied, shrugging.

Reluctantly, I got off her, watching as she slithered to her full height, almost towering over me if it wasn’t for the ceiling. “Next question: Why was there a witch mark in the camera? I know you know which camera I mean,” I added, then said, “That spider didn’t fool me, it would’ve been dead by now.” She slithered to one of her Followers, saying, “You’re smarter than you look. That spider was indeed a trick. As for the witch mark, I was using that to spy a little bit on you. After all, how else would my plan with your family work?” I shivered when she said that. “M-my family? But, Joseph is-” She shushed me, walking away smugly. “I said two questions~” she sang, then disappeared from view. “Have a good rest of your night, Mrs. Sakura,” then the lights went out, leaving me in a dark room confused, frustrated, and desperately trying to get home quickly before Eli is left alone for too long.