I didn’t wait for Igraine’s response. Otherwise, it might turn into a conversation. I picked a blue book from a shelf and sat down with it. It would be much easier to avoid her if my attention was focused on something else. If only I had been interested in the book I had picked at random. Unfortunately, the romantic dilemma between a teenager and the numerous mythical creatures competing for her affection was not something that I found engaging. That did not stop me from acting like I was consumed by the story.

So, I pretended to read about Babby and her romantic escapades with Daryllonious and Miska for over two hours before Igraine began speaking. I kept my nose in the book.

Unsatisfied with my behavior, Igraine yanked the book out of my hands. In the book, Babby had just realized that men can be more dangerous than wild predators, and so could she.

Igraine slammed the book closed and said, “This is the part where you say something.”

“Told you I wasn’t good at having conversations,” I replied.

“No one’s asking you to be good at it. The worst way to have a conversation is to not talk.”

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know ask a question.”

I didn’t need to think hard for this one, “What’s your deal?” But I should have put more thought into that.

“Wow, I told you all about my struggles.”

“No, I meant, why are you here? How do you know Avalon?”

“She wasn’t always like this, you know.”

“No. I don’t.”

“I had just moved to New Carissimi from out west, and I was looking for roommates. I found her ad for a roommate online. We did an interview together and quickly became fast friends. Best friends. We were both new to the city, but she was newer. She hadn’t told me about the cult, but I could tell that she was naive. But it didn’t last long. She got the hang of city life real quick.”

“When did the curse start?”

“It was late one night. I had been busy at work, and we were catching up. Then it just sort of happened. There was a moth. It bit her and then there was another. I began to panic and ran away, but they didn’t attack me. Only her. By the time I went to help her, there was a swarm. There was a lot of blood. I remember pulling her to the bathtub. My hand was covered in it, and I felt her bone.”

This was more detail than I had asked for, and it was too awkward to ask her to stop talking.

“I was going to wash the bugs off with the shower, and it worked briefly.”

“Did the neighbors hear her screaming or anything?”

“You would think they would have heard the two of us, but when the police asked later on no one said a thing. They all had their music turned up that night or were watching a movie or fell asleep with their headsets on.”

“Not surprised. Live in the city long enough and you learn to avoid making your neighbor’s problems your own.”

“Anyway. The water only interrupted them for a bit. They kept appearing, and I couldn’t see her, she was so covered. There were so many that when I tried to move some away there was a layer underneath. They made this terrible sound when their wings rubbed together. Like rubbing two pieces of sandpaper together.”

“Doesn’t sound terrible.”

“You live through that and tell me it isn’t the scariest sound you’ve ever heard.”

“Sorry.” I’ve seen weird stuff before, but it wasn’t a contest. “What happened next?”

“She was gone. I called 911.”

“How did that go?” I noticed that Igraine skipped over the details of the call.

“Horrible. They sent officers over, and the moment they saw the blood on me, they took me away.”

“They thought you killed her?”

“They thought it was my blood. They thought I had harmed myself, because there’s no record of Avalon.”

“Other than the name on the buzzer downstairs?”

“We added that after the ordeal.”

“Did they search the place?”

“I don’t know. Either way, nothing came of it. They kept me overnight until I settled down.”

“Were you settled?”

“I was exhausted and playing along so then I could show them everything. They brought me back, and Avalon opened the door. In that moment, I believed everything the police had tried to convince me. That I was delusional.”

“But didn’t they take any blood samples? Wouldn’t they have known it was Avalon’s blood and not yours?”

“I think once they confirmed that Avalon was alive, then they canceled whatever work they were going to do on the evidence.”

Like in all major cities, the NCCPD was plagued with backlogs, underfunding, and an uncomfortable tolerance for crooked cops. They had priorities, and Avalon’s bizarre disappearance and reappearance was the furthest thing from one.

Igraine continued, “After the police left, I started apologizing to Avalon. I thought I had made it all up. And that’s when she told me about the cult.”

“Did she know then why she, you know, came back?”

“No, but she figured that it was going to happen again. She was willing to go back to them so I wouldn’t have to endure it again.”

“But you wouldn’t let her.”

“No. I wouldn’t let anyone go back to someone who was capable of treating them with such cruelty.”

“How’d you wind up with the coffin?”

“Trial and error. We tried an over-sized tote crate, but the lid snapped off. We tried an oversized foot locker, but it was too small.”

“And then the coffin.” The goldilocks scenario of the experiment.

“Eventually.”

“You said you worked somewhere. What do you do?”

“Nowhere now. I couldn’t work after that.”

“How do you pay the rent?”

“Avalon covers it. She says she owes me.”

“But you don’t think so?”

“She’s going to die because I convinced her to stay.”

“You feel differently about your decision now?”

“I’m a different person than I was, but I think if she tried to go back, I’d still make the same plea. It’s just a heavy thing to live with, knowing someone will die because you talked them out of something they were ready to go through with.”

She waited for a response from me, some positive affirmation that she had done the right thing. But I couldn’t give her the sugary reassurance she craved. There is a whole lot of wrong in the world, and the pursuit of something objectively right is almost always drenched in hypotheticals and hindsight. I searched for a way to give her hope without lying to her.

When it was clear I had nothing to add, she handed me back the book.