Chapter 21: Interview

JAVERT

I nodded. I had prepared my interview carefully, but to be honest, I now had a great deal more questions than when I started. I turned on a tape recorder, and bid my camera person start rolling, "Okay, first things first. My initial report was about your mysterious disappearance, and that of your parents."

Alicia (as she assured me was her name now instead of Emett) told backstory that I didn't ask for about her college life, meeting several different women, struggles with depression, and so on. I supposed she was getting somewhere, but it felt like there were a series of threads dangling in midair but I couldn't see the larger fabric yet. She then told of Kat Fox Hillard, and how this Fox seemed to be everywhere. "It was then that I first believed she was a spy," she said. She further elaborated on how a series of coincidences happened, and the entire idea behind her being a spy seemed to lose merit. "But she was still suspicious as hell," she continued, "So I began to suspect that she was a supernatural being."

This logical leap seemed out of nowhere, so I asked for clarification, "Wait, why didn't you just assume she was a normal person?" Alicia explained, "Well, it's like I'd be meeting one person and talk to them, and later on in the week, someone else would seem to have evidence of that conversation." She gave examples, like when she attended a club only for later on in the week, the same imagery to crop up in church. I was still dubious that they weren't just coincidences, but as she gave example after example, my doubt appeared to fade. I did however begin to develop other doubts, namely serious doubts that any of this was fit to be published even in the National Enquirer. Oh sure, I believed it now. But the idea that supernatural beings were living among us, that one in particular frequently shapeshifted and encountered a person repeatedly was something that modern science was at a loss to explain. The cornerstone of investigative journalism was the idea of using principles of logic and reason to come to a conclusion. How could I write this article in a way where it wouldn't be laughed off?

"Alright, next question," I stopped to change a tape, as all she had explained had filled one up, "What about your parents?" Alicia said, "The last I saw of them, they were at their houses, though honestly, when my memory returned, I discovered that I was adopted. Around that time I found this house and met Rena and her friends, so I don't really know what happened next." I scribbled that particular detail down, "So you weren't aware that there is a gaping bare spot where your parent's house used to be?" She looked surprised, "Wait, what?!? Rena told me that my parents might leave now that I was gone, but an entire house?"

"I suspected that this might happen," Rena said, "But should you want to contact your adopted parents again, I have their cellphone number." She also gave their forwarding address, "Your parents worked for my interests after all, so if you need a father or mother figure to talk to, go right ahead!" Alicia got sidetracked from the interview for the next several minutes while she had a long conversation with her mom. Her mom, despite not being her real mom, and obviously having moved to some undisclosed location, proceeding to ask her if she was eating enough, how she was managing with living with Rena, whether she was changing her underwear, and other questions similar to what any mom would want to know about. Alicia looked happy.

But my interview wasn't completed so I decided to instead ask the one she called Rena some questions, "So, Rena was it? Introduce yourself and your friends. As in, what exactly are all of you?" Rena explained, pointing around the area, "I'm a gumiho. Marina over here is a mermaid. Autumntwig is a gnome. That's Aellisa, she's an elf. And this is Arboria, she's a dryad." I needed to ask what a dryad and a gumiho were. "So like," she explained, "a gumiho is a fox spirit with nine tails. And a dryad is a forest being. When she was a child, she would get sick if she was too far away from her tree, but now she's fine anywhere. Crowded or polluted cities make her uncomfortable, though." I scribbled notes about each of them, including drawings as they showed their true forms. I guess I figured that we probably wouldn't be able to use the video footage we had.

I paused the recorder for a second to make sure that all the footage was working, "Okay, then my next question was about what everyone is doing here. This seems like a rather remote area, and you didn't mind uprooting repeatedly to try to avoid me." This question was easy for Rena to answer, so she talked without restraint, "Well, it all started millions of years ago, when the Earth was unified into one continent circling the North Pole known as Pangaea. Our town Winter had just become attacked by a demon named Belial..." I took notice of this, interrupting, "Belial? That's the name of the man who assigned me to report on you guys. Only his name was spelled differently." Rena shook her head, "Make no mistake, that was probably a demon in disguise that you were seeing." I noted that his eyes did look kinda funny. She continued with her story, talking about how Alicia, or Alethea as her name had been at the time, had shown that she had a rare power that they recognized as the power of the Oracle, and that they had sent her into the future in order to protect her. I asked her to spell the name Alethea to make sure I got it right. I wanted to write this news somehow or other, so it was important to be accurate as possible. I made a mental note to take some of the world history stuff off the record, as most people were bored by that, even though there were years and years of history that I knew nothing about.

I asked a follow up question, "So I'm to understand that the purpose of her staying here was something like training to fight Belial? And what would you say the progress of training is?" Rena blurted out, "Well, it's pretty much been done for the last two weeks. That's why it was so easy for us to move. We didn't have any important business left." Alicia had finished her phone call, and her mouth was open wide in shock about something. She beckoned Rena over inside the house. I still couldn't see where the actual entrance and exit of the building were, so while they disappeared from my sight, I decided to interview the others.

"Ummmm so Marina," I asked, "How exactly do your fins turn into legs? Can you show me?" Marina explained, grabbing some water and a container of salt, "It's like this..."

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