but I'm not convinced by your costume (part III)

(Contined from part II.)

The blonde woman sighed. "OK, B̸̨̧̜̬̜̮̘̈͑̍̂̂e̵̤͚̦̻͓͗͛̆̽͐̋̎̈́ĺ̵̛̥̼̣͚̪̇̽̐̕ͅḷ̵̨͉͓̗̻̜̞͗̆́ả̶̲͍̰̖̱̽̌, since you can give the whole version, let me summarize...B̸͖͎͔͕͕̅̀̔̄̄͝e̶͎͂͆̇̐͆̅̕l̷͍̟̏̇̀̀l̴̛̮͇̖͚̦͆͆͊͜͝ȧ̸̡̧̝̟̜̙̰͓̘͜ was a 'vessel' at one point." She looked at the dark-haired woman. "That a fair way to state it?"

Justine slowly crawled out from under the desk. "A vessel for...?"

The woman in pink shrugged. "I would not worry about it so much, Bella. Next thing you know these interesting folk will be telling you the undead walk the earth, that zombies and Vampires are real, and you'll be wary of the cemetery."

Emilly arched an eyebrow at 'interesting folk'.

The blonde woman nodded. "And there is a difference between being a lovely, stable vessel like she is now, and a CRACKED one."

Justine stared at the ground and muttered, nearly inaudibly. "Nothing good. No one is ever a 'vessel' for anything good..."

The dark-haired woman blinked. "A vessel for me, if that makes sense."

Hiro rubbed the back of his neck. "Vampires and zombies are real..."

Emilly sighed. "Well, it may not necessarily matter, if she was, and she hasn't sealed the gaps, so to speak, summoning and unsummoning spirits may affect her. That, I understand."

The woman in pink nodded. "See, just as I said."

Emilly shrugged. "Well, of course they are."

Hiro looked at her, nodding. "And they are least of your worries..."

The dark-haired woman smiled. "<̶̧̼̲̆͋͝b̶̮͚͎̟͐̒͆̋r̴̳̠͈̻͖̤̺͌̽͑̇̿̃͗ͅ ̵̧̡̡̛̥̖͚͇̳̏͗̒͂̚/̶̹̣̘̪͕̤̾̉̕̚͝>̶̤͍͘ has a very powerful ability that borders on magic...she doesn't see anything that can be described as beyond belief."

Emilly rubbed her ear. Was the distortion on certain words getting worse?

Justine nodded eagerly. "Oh, yes. I met the MOST polite vampire ever the other day..."

"Duke," Emilly said slowly. "Let me test my understanding. Did the clown arrive...before, or after, the door was opened?"

Justine blinked, her words trailing off. Emilly smiled tremulously at her. Hiro touched her arm, pulling her attention towards him.

"After," he said softly.

The dark-haired woman agreed, nodding rapidly. "After!"

Great...

"Would anyone like to come visit their neighbor for tea?" the dark-haired woman said.

There was an almost artificial brightness in her voice that was unnerving. She watched Hiro shrug.

"Most vampires are fine," he murmured.

She nodded, but was still concerned. "Even those with...vampiric tendencies."

"Posers!" said the woman in pink. "Ha!"

Hiro took out a tin of what looked like mints, until she peered closer. The pressed letters in the top of the tin said "EXTRA STRONG GARLIC MINTS". Emilly sighed and arched an eyebrow.

"Mint?" he asked calmly, holding them to the woman in pink, who just stared at him contemptuously and sniffed.

Meanwhile, Zack frowned. "Yes...They're fine until they show their true nature, which was to lure you in and suck you up until you die...that is their 'vision' of good."

"Not all of u--them!" Emilly protested. She watched as Hiro looked off into the distance.

"I need to get some air..."

"Well, don't wander too far off, Hiro," said the blonde.

Emilly watched Hiro move away. "He is...safe...at this point, to wander off?"

The dark-haired woman smiled again, brightly. "Well, I could use some help at home...I was hoping one of you would help. I--have a painting that need taken down, and I can't get it off the wall."

"Doc...Em...Girl who speaks Enochian," Hiro said, that odd, faraway tone in his voice again. Emilly looked around.

"Who speaks Enochian?"

"You need to see this," he finished, moving back to the balcony.

"Oh, what now..."

She joined him. She heard the dark-haired woman call after her.

"Don't look, Emilly!"

But of course she did, and saw two more clowns on the street below. She sighed.

"I've seen them before," she muttered. "Especially the fellow in stripes."

"B̴̦̜̯̋̋̏̚͠é̸̡̫̟͓̱̘̒͘͝͝l̷̢̗̩̯͍̼͚̄̊͌͝͝ļ̴̛͙̪̲̀͐͛̚͝a̷͓̲̩̲͉̭̠̽ translated...what I was speaking..."

"Oh, good for her!" Emilly replied.

"After the thing...spat me back out..."

"Spat you..." She peered at the Duke. "You're not telling me everything, I have a feeling.

The dark-haired woman--a native speaker of Enochian, or had she just memorized that one passage that Hiro quoted? So hard to tell--drew a weapon, then yelled up to the balcony. "Okay, WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!"

Emilly reached out, concentrating, watching the light from the woman's weapon arc towards the clowns. She murmured the spell she used the last time they were here. Nothing...happened. Her eyes widened.

"Hiro! It's not working!"

"Justine...took the watch...it was something....I took..." Hiro mumbled.

"Yes, yes, I know," Emilly muttered, butr he wasn't done.

"...from the Ringmaster at the Dark Carnival..."

She sighed. She was losing him again. And...that set off a bell, somewhere...had she lost the Duke before? Where was that?

While she was struggling to remember, the blonde woman joined them on the balcony.

"Hiro...Duke...allow me to tell you something...you may be wlelcome here...but if H̷̺̹̜͇̱͈̋̅e̷̞͈̬͈̬̾̐̕l̸̢̙̗̝̯͉̄̈́̈́ę̵̨͈͖͎͇̤̔̒̚n̶̦͓̗̈́̈́ͅą̸̻̯̬̟̫̾̔̊̄ thinks you are a threat to the island, things can get unpleasant, and I am not even speaking of B̸̞͕̺͚̩̕͜ė̶̡̳͔͔͎̓̒̂͘l̶͍͓̞͙͙̻̀͐͠l̴̩͙̣̏̂͋̎͐͜a̷͎͒̆̆̆͑'s mother, who has an uncanny ability to know EVERYTHING!"

"Doctor," Hiro started.

The dark-haired woman called up from the street below. "And don't look at me, I'm not the one who tells her!"

(Continued in part IV.)