text: Ross and Luke sat across from each other in the stuffy, leather and lacquer reeking room of the former mistress Runlada. Luke ran his finger down the back of a brass figurine in the shape of a wolf hound that was placed gingerly on a narrow side table. Ross sat with his cheek resting on a fist, hunched over and losing thoughts into the meticulously crafted ebony floor. An under-wound grandfather clock ticked slowly and unevenly in the corner, its second hand was stuck in between the thirty-four and thirty-five second mark. “So-” Luke opened the silence “We’ve been all over this country side and almost through this whole state looking for an answer to these nightmare storms. We’ve been together for almost a month, but the thing is, you seem to know us and our struggles pretty well, but what about you? I've heard the rumor. Do you mind talking a little about yourself?” “As in?” Ross answered, moving his gaze to Luke. He knew what Luke was asking. “Your past? Why all this trouble to look into something that is almost impossible to trace?” “My past? Like, as in when I was a kid and stuff?” Ross returned his eyes to the floor. “Like back in the circus? And who wouldn’t want to know about the storms?” “Yeah that’s true I guess. We could start at the circus, if you’re ready to talk about it.” “I wasn’t ready for that kind of conversation, but I think it’s only fair all the same” Ross leaned back into the dimpled arm chair that was supporting his lunking, tired body. “Well, I was about thirteen. My mom was a performer.” “Was she a witch like you?” Luke inquired. “She was, but she didn’t have a deficit like mine.” Ross looked at his forearm. Under that skin and muscle were delicate carvings in his radius and ulna. A horrible contract made in a horrible time. “I got a really bad deal with this one, but I was so young. I didn’t know any better” Ross looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “Well, I did. But it was bad. Real bad, I couldn’t think of anything else to do.” Luke nodded. “I’ve heard a few rumors about that day, but I wanted to hear the story from you. You know what assumptions do. Was she a body user?” Ross looked over his nose at Luke while still facing up at the ceiling. “Yeah. She made herself into knots and things like that. Really flexible. God, she loved making those people smile. She was so kind. So beautiful. Her favorite trick was to fit inside this little box and pop back out like nothing happened.” “Did everyone know? You know, that she was-” “A witch? Yeah, they did. But they also knew her. They knew she wasn’t like that. Everyone loved seeing her” Ross leaned forward and clasped his hands around the nape of his neck. “I wish I could talk with her again.” Luke remained silent, letting the empty air buffer him and Ross against what was about to be shared. “That day-” Ross huffed “That day, there were hunters in the crowd. They had gotten word of her, someone took money in exchange for outing her. She was in the middle of an act. I was behind the curtains like I always was, watching her have the time of her life. She was magnificent and graceful and perfect and-” He choked on the words. “They killed her. THEY killed her with those glittering blades and tools.” Luke leaned forward attempting to place a hand on Ross’s shoulder. Ross stood up quickly, deflecting the affectionate gesture. “When I saw them jump over the barricades and rush the stage. I knew exactly what was happening. Their fucking-” Ross stammered “Their stupid instruments of death. Designed specifically to hunt those who are different. They talked into those shoulder radios like she was a rabid animal they found. An animal with only one fate, to be put down. I will never forget the voice that told them to take her out.” Luke shifted in his chair. “When I saw the first blade enter her chest, I couldn’t think. I just rushed them. Anything to give my mom space to run, even if I got hurt. I know now that even if I had, she wouldn’t have left me. She told me to run. One of the hunters threw me across the floor. I was panicking, my heart was screaming and my legs couldn’t hear my brain telling them to go faster. I scrambled and clawed the floor.” Luke cleared his throat. “Shit man-” “That’s when “HE” came to me. In my most vulnerable moment. HE appeared to me. My mom had always warned me to do research before I chose a contract. Well, at that moment, I really didn’t have a choice. I shook HIS hand without even hearing what HE was saying and I felt the words scroll into my bones.” “It was that quick?” Luke asked. “Like a camera flash, it was a done deal. I later found out he was the THORN being. I saw my mom laying there, not moving. The hunters were crowded around her. I could only see black. I let HIM take over.” “What happened?” “I consumed everything. The thorns reached out long. I caved in everything and everyone in there. It’s all a blur after that but-” Ross pushed over a chair and stared as it clamored on the floor. “I held my mom in my weak little arms as the thorns surrounded us. I couldn’t hear the screams or crunching of bodies. All I heard was her telling me-” A door from the hallway opened. Janet walked in to tell them that the info broker was there. Ross and Luke turned to look at her. Ross had tears staining his cheeks. “He’s here.” Janet said. She looked back and forth between them. “Jesus, what’s wrong with you? We’ve got stuff to do, let’s go.