Depressingly, my dad has to go to work on Christmas Day. This would normally make for a very boring day for me, but Anja came to my rescue. I’ll be spending the day with her family at Lily’s house in New Braunfels instead, and then at around 7 PM she’s going to drive me back so I can meet Dad when he gets home and spend the rest of the evening with him and Kat.

Anja’s dad is apparently interested in meeting her new boyfriend. I feel like the stereotypical dad thing is to Jack Bauer interrogate the new boyfriend, but he goes really easy on me. Just asks me what kinda stuff I’m interested in and how Anja and I met. Lily declared confidently that introducing me to her was the worst decision she’s ever made in her life. Anja and Lily’s grandparents give him the good word about me, saying that I’d been a good influence on Lily. Apparently.

Later in the day, Lily insists on taking Anja and I out to the backyard. Stepping onto the back patio brings back memories. It’s hard to believe it was only a year and a half ago that we came back here to play video games. I can’t believe that broken down hot tub is still sitting there. I’m pretty sure nobody uses it. I guess it’s hard for stuff to get done when the only people who live at the house are two old people and Lily. Anyways, she doesn’t want to sit on the porch today. She takes us behind the porch, past a rusty old grill, and around an area which sometimes has an above-ground pool, but currently is just a bunch of mud.

In the back corner of the yard is a small sitting area that is behind some unkempt shrubs. There’s a rusty metal chair, and a tiny Fisher Price plastic table, the kind that little kids would use for picnics. Lily sits down in the metal chair, saying, “You guys can take the table, my fat ass would probably break that thing.”

“Such hospitality,” Anja remarks sarcastically. “Why can’t we just use the porch? The chairs there were, you know, adult sized.”

“Nobody will hear us back here,” Lily reasons. “And what I’m going to tell you needs to stay between us.”

“And what is it this time?” Anja asks.

“A dangerous threat. One sitting right in your city.”

“Ah, right. Just like last time.”

“Yeah. And guess what, bitch, I was right last time. That pedo teacher was real, wasn’t she? So I don’t want to hear any shit from you, Anja. I’m really trying to help you guys out.”

Oh shit, is what she’s going to tell us about… the other side? I, uh, never told Anja and that told Lily about that. I hope she isn’t mad at me.

“Well, given that it’s Christmas Day, I was hoping we could… you know, have a good time today,” Anja says, sounding a bit irritated.

“Well, when else am I supposed to talk to you guys about this?”

“You could tell us whatever it is on Skype tomorrow,” I suggest, trying to be helpful.

“Dude, do you really think the government isn’t reading all of our Skype conversations?” Lily retorts. “This is the only way.”

“The government reads our Skype conversations?” I ask, shocked. I look at Anja nervously. “Are they… you know, looking at the pictures we send to each other too?”

“...Why do you ask?” Lily asks suspiciously.

“No, they’re not reading our Skype conversations, Nova” Anja interrupts, sighing. “But how about we just get this over with anyway. I know she’s not going to drop it. And to be fair, she was right about the last one.”

“Thank you!” Lily says triumphantly.

“Is this… um… about what we talked about?” I ask nervously.

“It’s related,” Lily says. “You said that the pedo teacher was connected to some larger organization who silenced her when she tried to speak out. I think I have a clue as to who that may be.”

She gets out her phone and starts looking for something on it. “I found something on 4chan which I think you’ll find very interesting.”

“Ew, 4chan?” I question. “That site with all the incels and nazis on it?”

“It’s more than just that,” Lily says. “I personally frequent /x/, the paranormal board. And while it leads to a lot of degeneracy, the site’s hands-off nature means that sometimes leaks can be posted here without being covered up.”

“I’d hardly consider it a reliable source of information, though,” Anja says. “When literally anyone can post anything anonymously, there’s no way to verify the validity of the claim. I’d expect about 97% of what’s on there to be completely made up to troll people.”

“True. But there’s always that other 3%,” Lily reasons. “And from what I can tell this one seems legit.”

“Alright. Hit us with it then,” Anja says.

“It’s a story from someone who used to live in an apartment complex in your city,” Lily explains. “He says that he suffers from insomnia, and sometimes would notice suspicious people in the complex late at night. They would come by and knock on people’s doors. He thought they were just common drug dealers, until he realized that everyone they visited had some commonalities. All of them were the apartments of families, for one. If they were selling drugs, wouldn’t they be mostly selling to single people? And on top of that, the guy knew one of the families they visited. He says they had been struggling to pay rent, and had even been given an eviction notice. Then, he saw the night men visit the place, and they never actually had to move out. When he asked them about it later, they just gave some bullshit answer about the strange man being a salesman. He got so creeped out that he decided to move out of the place and share his story on the internet.”

“Uh, wow, that’s pretty weird,” I say. “So if they didn’t move out after that, the ‘night men’ must have been giving them money.”

“Exactly,” Lily says. “But nobody just hands out money for free. They were getting something in return.”

“Most likely, they were pimps,” Anja reasons. “You know, people who try and get young women to sell their bodies.”

“You’re close,” Lily says. “But, think about it. Why would they only visit the houses of families then? He didn’t say anything about the night men visiting attractive young women.”

Anja sighs. “Ah, I see. So that’s how you think it’s connected to Ms. Truman?”

“Oh god!” I say, the realization hitting me like a semi truck. “No! No way!”

“Yeah, it’s really shitty, I agree,” Lily replies calmly. “But, we already know stuff like that’s happening around the state.”

“That’s true,” Anja says. “I saw on the news that human trafficking has been a huge problem here.”

“But… are you saying… they were giving away their children?” I ask. I’m surprised to find myself crying, although I’m honestly not sure why. Anja notices and starts holding me tightly.

“Unfortunately, it does happen,” Lily explains. “Trashy people will give their children up for money. It’s sick and twisted.

“What place was it at?” Anja asks.

“It’s called ‘Lake View Apartments’ or something,” Lily says nonchalantly.

“SHIT!” I shout. “THAT’S THE PLACE MY SISTER’S BEEN GOING!”

“Keep it down, man!” Lily scolds me. “Well, you might want to warn her not to go out at night, then.”

Anja and I make meaningful eye contact, and I know we’re thinking about the same thing. That’s the apartment complex that looks all gothic and shit in the Metaverse. Zoe had mentioned something about that in the group chat. That can’t be a coincidence.

“Lily, Anja and Nova? Are you out here?” A voice calls from the porch. I look over the shrubs and see the voice is Anja and Lily’s grandma.

“Look what you did, man!” Lily says in a low voice. “YEAH, WHAT?” she shouts back.

“Your mother is here to visit,” her grandma says.

“Oh,” Lily responds stupidly, taken aback. “BE RIGHT THERE!”

“Aunt Kierstyn is here?” Anja says, looking emotional. “We… can finish this discussion later, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Lily agrees. “I mean, that’s basically all I wanted to say anyway.” We quickly return to the house.

Anja’s aunt is this punk-looking woman who I’ve never met before. Anja is really happy to see her, but Lily is strangely distant. She’s barely here for any time at all before she has to leave again, saying that she’s super busy with work. I don’t get too strong of an impression of her, but there’s one weird thing about her that keeps bothering me. Right as she’s leaving, I swear, she looks straight at Anja and I, and says rather pointedly to stay out of trouble. What’s that supposed to mean?

We do something a little bit different for Christmas evening. Ashley’s trumpet teacher, Sarah, is holding a party at her house, and she invited the four of us to come. I stand anxiously near the doorway along with Ashley’s mom, ready to go. Ashley is not ready yet, and her dad is in the living room with Erin’s side of the family, who are staying home. We thought it’d be good to dress a little nicer, so I’m wearing my periwinkle dress from Homecoming. Ashley brought a glittery pink dress for the occasion.

“Jeez, I’m gonna have to check on her if this takes much longer,” Ashley’s mom comments.

I don’t respond. Ashley didn’t seem all that excited about doing this, so I’m not surprised that she’s taking her time.

“How have you been doing, Zoe?” Ashley’s mom asks me. “You've been very quiet this trip.”

“Yeah,” I respond. “I've just felt a little off.”

“Sorry to hear that,” she says sympathetically.

“Ashley’s been quiet too,” I say. “I’ve barely gotten to talk to her.”

“Hmm,” she replies. “Well, I’m sure recent events have been hard on you two. I’ve been worried sick about it myself. And when something is wrong, people tend to react in different ways depending on their personality. Some people seek out others to talk to, but others, they do the opposite and isolate themselves.” She glances back down the hallway to where Ashley is getting ready. “You seem like you’re the first type, Zoe. Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?”

I take a deep breath, trying to figure out what exactly is weighing on me. Of course, I haven’t been happy about Ms. Truman’s fate, or the looming danger. And Ashley ignoring me makes everything worse. But I think there’s something even deeper down than that. Something to do with the fact that it’s even Christmas at all.

“I don't know,” I say. “I think it's just, in my family, we had a big Christmas celebration every year. Everyone in the family comes. And... it's weird not being there. I know it's stupid.”

“It's not stupid,” she says consolingly.

“I guess…” I sniff loudly, noticing a few tears running down my face. “Every time I remember it's Christmas, I also remember that they don't want me. Not the way I am. They only wanted a… flawless trophy daughter.”

She pulls a tissue from a nearby box and hands it to me, and I use it to wipe my eyes and nose. “Well Zoe, I don't think any child should ever feel that way. You're welcome with us, Zoe, just as you are. We're not perfect, or normal, but you have a home in our family.”

I nod, feeling warm inside at her words. “Thank you,” I say. “That really means a lot.” I blow my nose loudly. “May I ask something?”

“Sure.”

“I always think of you guys as ‘Ashley's mom’ and ‘Ashley's dad.’ Would it be weird if I just said... ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad?’”

She gasps, and then smiles widely. “No, it wouldn’t be weird, Zoe. You… may.” She comes over to me and gives me a big hug, which I return happily.