by S.J. Drew
on, come on! I want some new dice."
"Why? You hardly play anymore," Maryann asked.
"Because I can't go to a con and not get dice. Oooo, and let's check out the new board games. Maybe we can find one we can play in the van."
"We can download hundreds of games on our phones or tablets and you want a board game?" Nora asked.
Leah rolled her eyes. "Please, please, let me have my fun, okay?"
Isabella gave a stern look to Nora, who sighed. Leah led them around the floor clearly having the time of her life.
"Leah, hey, Leah," called a male voice.
Leah jumped, visibly startled. "Really? What are the odds?" she stuttered.
The other three looked at her, puzzled.
A young man dressed up in a steampunk-style outfit walked right up to Leah, hugged her tightly, and spoke to her in Spanish. "Leah, why didn't you tell me you'd be here?"
"I wasn't sure I could make it," she answered, also in Spanish. "Sometimes Mr. Rafel springs gigs on us and we have to change up all our plans. Why didn't you tell me you were planning on coming?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise."
"How did you expect to find me in a place this big?"
"I'm following the band's Twitter feed," he said, holding out his phone. Maryann had clearly just updated their location.
"Oh, right."
"Um, Leah, do you want to introduce us?" Isabella asked.
"Oh, right, right. Everyone, this is my brother Alejandro."
They were visibly surprised.
"Alejandro, this is Isabella, Nora, and Maryann."
"Oh, Belle, Lenore, and Anna. I see now," he said, shaking their hands and smiling pleasantly. "I like the costumes." He turned back to Leah. "Still sewing Halloween costumes?"
"Still sewing?" Maryann said. "I knew her grandmother taught her to sew but I didn't realize she did a lot of it before she joined us."
"Oh, yeah, especially Halloween costumes. We always had the best Halloween costumes," Alejandro said.
"So what are you doing here?" Leah asked.
"Trying to break into the business," he said, and pulled out series of comic book pages. "I've been working on this for a long time. I finally decided I wanted to work with a steampunk setting, and this is what I've got. Slightly augmented steampunk heroes fighting crime in Victorian America. I'm thinking of turning that into a tagline somehow."
Leah flipped through the pages. "This is really good."
"Ooo, let us see," Maryann said, and took the pages. "Wow, the artwork is really good. I like how detailed the background is. That must take forever to draw."
"Well, you know, I do have some shortcuts," he said with a smile.
"Oh, no," Nora muttered.
"Well, sure, so do we, but you're clearly very talented," Maryann said, handing the pages back.
"She's doing it again," Nora murmured to Isabella.
"Yeah, I can see that."
"Did you make your own costume?" Maryann asked.
"Oh, not exactly. I got the trenchcoat and hat from a thrift store. I made the steampunk gear though," he said, holding out the piston-like glove he was wearing and gesturing to the goggles on his forehead.
"I like it, Alejandro."
He smiled. "You can call me Al."
"Okay, but I don't want to be called Betty. Just Maryann is fine."
He looked confused but smiled politely.
"Anyway, Al," Leah said sternly, "What were your plans for today?"
"Get some autographs and check out some of the indie publishers. It's not like I think I can show my work to the big two and suddenly get a job. But this gives me an idea of the trends in the market and where I might be able most successfully get this published. Also, I need some new dice. And I was even planning to go to your show tonight."
"What, really?"
"Yes, really," he said with a laugh. "Leah, you know I support your career, right? I'm following the band's site and I watch the videos. I haven't gotten a chance to see one of your shows live and I'm not going to miss it now."
"Well, thanks," she replied.
"You're silly, little sister," he said in Spanish. Then he switched back to English. "Come on, let's go have some fun. I get to walk around a Con with my four favorite superheroines."
"You're not just saying that to flatter us, are you?" Nora asked.
He smiled charmingly. "Maybe. But I really like the costumes. And I'll even buy you lunch."
"That's sounds great," Maryann said, moving next to him. "This is going to be so much fun!"
Maryann, at least, had a lot of fun that day. Nora and Isabella were more or less just along for the ride. Leah, however, seemed positively put out. She smiled and laughed when her brother spoke to her, but otherwise was uncharacteristically withdrawn. She barely managed to smile when people complimented her or the other band members on their costumes. Eventually Isabella reminded the group they needed to leave in order to get ready for the show. Alejandro promised to go to the show and they left him at the Con. The band went to their hotel and checked in. As usual, they got adjoining rooms with Maryann and Leah sharing one and Nora and Isabella sharing the other.
Maryann was chatting amiably about Alejandro and oblivious to Leah's mood. Nora and Isabella, however, were more observant.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Nora asked as she dug out her outfit from the costume trunk.
"Nothing's wrong," Leah answered.
"No, something is wrong. So what it is?"
Leah sighed.
"Come on, you can tell us," Isabella said.
"You won't like it."
"It's fine, I'm sure."
"It's Maryann."
"What did I do?" she asked.
"Nothing you don't usually do, and that's the problem," Leah answered.
"Um, I don't see what you're getting at."
"Maryann, look, can you just leave Alejandro alone?" Leah asked.
"What are you talking about? It's not like I'm chasing him and he's telling me to go away," Maryann replied, sounding annoyed. "I know you guys worry, but Al's your brother, so what have I got to worry about?"
"I don't want you two to get involved."
"Leah! What's wrong with you?" she snapped. "We're both adults. You can't tell us what to do."
"It's not that. Not really."
Nora raised an eyebrow. "There's more to this. Leah, talk to us."
She plopped down on the bed. "Alejandro is a good guy. That's why I don't want you and him to be a thing. I mean, Maryann, you're my friend and I don't want you to get hurt if this doesn't work, which it probably won't because we're on the road. But anyway, I don't want Alejandro involved in all this," she said, waving her hands around.
"All what?" Maryann asked.
"What do you think?" she snapped. "The weird stuff. Magic."
"You're involved," she retorted sharply.
"Yeah, and you don't know how hard that is. Maybe Nora does."
"Nora, do you know what she's talking about?" Maryann asked huffily.
"Maryann, stop it," Isabella said.
Nora pulled her silver cross necklace out from underneath her shirt and gripped it in her hand. "It isn't easy to have faith sometimes. Our religion doesn't really have room for the kinds of things we see and go through."
"Yes, that, that's it," Leah said. "I pray. I pray a lot. A lot. And I'm confused lot of the time. I don't want Alejandro to get his heart broken, but I don't want him to know about the weird stuff. I make jokes and I pretend it doesn't bother me, and day to day I'm fine with it all. 'Oh, I'm in Fairyland. It must be Tuesday.' 'Oh, Isabella's talking to a ghost again. Must be Wednesday.' You know, that sort of thing. But sometimes I just stop and scream in my own head, 'What the hell is going on here?' I don't want Alejandro to go through that. I know I can't protect my brother from every crisis of faith, but I can protect him from this one. And if he gets involved in all this,
who's going to look out for him? He doesn't know any natural mediums or pagan mages." She sighed and put her head in her hands.
The others looked at her sympathetically, and Maryann felt ashamed of herself for being so harsh.
"I love my brother. Maryann, you're one of my best friends. I think you might be a good couple. But please, help me keep my brother out of this-whatever we find ourselves in all the time."
"We don't find ourselves in magical messes all the time," she muttered. She liked Alejandro and rightfully resented being told what to do, even though she could understand Leah's point.
"Yeah, and when you say stuff like that, that's when all the bad stuff goes down," Leah snapped. And then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell over on the bed, unconscious.
The other three just stared for a moment.
"I, um, wow," Maryann stuttered.
Isabella was the first to react. She checked Leah for a pulse and found she was still alive, although she didn't wake up despite gentle shaking or smelling salts stuck right under her nose. "Damn it," she sighed. "Maryann, we need to figure out what's going on or take her to the hospital."
"Oh, right." She dug out her tarot cards and was about to start a divination when her phone rang. She reflexively checked the number. "Oh, it's Al. Should I, um, answer it?"
"Yes, go ahead," Isabella said, and wrote out a charm for protection. She stuffed it Leah's hand, but there was no obvious effect.
"You know, if we'd seen that weird guy in the red robe thing, I'd think he was the cause. I mean, remember what he did to me?" Nora asked.
"I'm worried that just because we didn't see him doesn't mean he didn't see us," Isabella said. "Of course, this could be something else."
Maryann ended the call in a voice that the others could tell was artificially cheerful. "So Alejandro wants to come over and
