Page 10 of An Invocation of Monsters

Well, whatever. It was probably just a smudge from my thumb on the camera lens. My hands sweated like hell in those damn gloves.

I had my Nikon camera in my duffel bag for better pictures later. This place was a dream for an amateur urban explorer like myself; I fully intended to take some time out for myself to go exploring and get more photos.

My cousin’s reply was almost instant.

Juno: Exactly where is this place?

Juno: How long are you going to be there?

Juno: I need an address, Elle!

I laughed a little. My older cousin could be a little overprotective; she’d lost her parents at a very young age, so she’d be sensitive to my feelings and the sensation that I’d been cut loose into the world before my time.

Elle: Ok don’t freak out

Elle: I don’t actually know lol

My phone chimed again before I could put it down.

Juno: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DONT KNOW

I sighed and climbed up on the bed, kicking my boots to the floor. This was going to take a while.

Elle: They’re a little secretive about it. But trust me on this, my mom came here every year

Elle: and yes Ive already considered that they might be serial killers

Elle: but the chef is to die for and the lake is amazing. I’m going swimming tomorrow

I leaned back on the pile of down pillows, my thumbs pausing.

I wondered if I should tell her about the archway of antlers and bones, the insane headache that felt like I was dying… the strange way Kase had talked about my mother.

Juno was no stranger to weird shit. She’d been up to her eyeballs in the occult since she left the womb.

But I’d never even told her about my healing hands. Some things just weren’t possible to bring up in normal conversations.

Juno: I’d feel a lot better if I had some idea of where you were

Elle: girl chill. You’ve got a baby to worry about

Juno: she hasn’t popped out yet, I have plenty of time to worry about other shit

I still wondered exactly who the father of Juno’s baby-to-be was. She lived all alone on that island, and was secretive about her life; it wasn’t like it mattered, really, but sometimes I wondered why Juno went to such lengths to hide it.

Which made me feel a little less bad about hiding all of this from her. She loved me, yes, she was as close to me as a sister; but she wasn’t my keeper.

Elle: All I know is that its in the woods past Dunwich. I’m perfectly safe, Juno. Promise. If things get too weird, I’m out

There was a long pause. Little bubbles popped up and disappeared as Juno typed and deleted over and over again.

Finally I texted:

Elle: for gods sake just spit it out

There was another pause. No bubbles. Then:

Juno: Fine, I know you can take care of yourself. But feel free to call if you need ANYTHING

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