The quiet little town was no more. Tonight, Ridgestone was loud and busy. The sidewalks were packed with people, the roads with cars, and there were somehow even more purple banners hanging in every available space. Even the streetlights were purple, their bulbs swapped for black lights, their poles striped with neon green and purple ribbon.

"This place is crazy," her dad said, letting out a low whistle as their truck crawled down one of the side streets. His knuckles were white against the steering wheel. People had been dashing out into the street and he had to be ready to brake.

"Yeah. So much for nothing big," Penelope muttered from the passenger seat.

Her dad didn't hear her. "Guess all the publicity they got from the news has been good for business."

Penelope frowned. If only these people knew just what they were celebrating...

"You gonna be okay?" her dad asked, turning to look at her as he came to a stop at a red light. "I mean, getting up there, in front of them all?" He nodded out the windshield to the stream of people flowing over the crosswalk.

Penelope could only shrug. For the first time in a while, it wasn't the crowd she was worried about.

And anyway, even if it was... Well, it wasn't like she had much of a choice.

"Really? You're not nervous?" her dad prodded.

Penelope shrugged again.

Her weak response made her dad scrunch up his nose. He had noticed something was off, but he hadn't yet sussed out just what it was. But that didn't mean he wasn't trying. Of course, tonight was the one time Penelope wished he hadn't noticed anything. Tonight she wished she had one of those clueless parents from the movies, the ones who barely paid attention while their kids ran off to defeat some great evil.

"Well, you look nice, at least," her dad continued when she didn't answer. Ahead of them, the light turned green and the truck began to crawl forward again.

"You already said that," Penelope sighed. She had been forced to shed her shredded hoodie and put on her one nice sweater, the same one she had worn for her interview with Henry. Her hair was freshly-dyed and straightened smooth and she even had makeup on, though that was more to cover all the scratches her blind run through the forest had left on her face.

"Worth saying again," he said, clearing his throat. "Just trying to, ah, what was it... hype you up?"

Any other day, her father's fumbling slang would've made Penelope burst into laughter. Tonight it only made her dig her nails deeper into her palms. "I know, I know." She paused for a minute, her throat going thick. "T-Thanks."

The little tweak in her voice... That, thankfully, her dad didn't notice. He was too busy craning his neck, searching the crowded streets for an empty spot to park the truck. "Soooo," he began, shooting a quick glance back at her before letting his gaze roam again. "I was pretty surprised when—" Then his eyes lit up, and he jerked on the steering wheel. "A parking spot!" His truck swerved, cutting off another car.

The car gave a big, long honk but her dad just laughed. "Hey! Have a little respect!" he said to the car in the rearview mirror. He jabbed his thumb in Penelope's direction. "We've got a VIP here!" He turned back to her. "They really should've given you special parking... Wait, did they? Am I supposed to park somewhere else?"

"Dunno," Penelope said, with yet another shrug.

Her dad opened his mouth to say something else, but she had already popped open the door and was sliding out of her seat and into the busy night.

By the time her dad was out, she was on the sidewalk, making her way through the crowd. Her dad had to slam the door and jog to catch up. "Like I was saying," he continued as he reached her side, panting slightly, "I was really surprised you agreed to be the special guest tonight. I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with the festival..."

Penelope let out a big gust of a sigh that was thankfully missed in the bustle of the sidewalk. "I changed my mind." It was a weak lie and if it weren't for the noise of the crowd, she was sure her dad would've picked up on it.

"Is that so?" her dad asked. "And what changed it?"

"I dunno," Penelope said, turning away like she was looking into the windows of the businesses that lined the street, but she was just avoiding his eyes and buying a bit of time to come up with a better lie.

The view in the windows didn't provide much escape. They had been painted with neon colours that glowed ominously under the black light, and the figure of The Raven stared out at her from every window. Every single one, for every building on the street...

She looked straight ahead. "B-Beth, I guess."

Her dad's eyebrows raised high across his forehead. "Beth asked you?"

"No, not exactly," Penelope replied. "I'm doing it for people like Beth. Like Liam—" his name felt sharp in her mouth, like swallowing glass, and she flinched, "—like Henry, and Lyla, for the people in this town who rely on the festival to pay their bills and live their lives." It came out easy, because it wasn't a lie, not really. That had been her reasoning for considering the position in the first place.

Her dad nodded. "Yeah, this town needs its Raven."

Hearing him say its name aloud sent a chill crawling under her sweater, under her skin. The Raven... Now that she had time to think about it, really think about it, the stupid name did not fit the bristling, shapeless thing in the cell. Even though she had seen what lurked beyond those bars with her own eyes, it was hard to accept that it was real. The world where that thing existed felt very distant from the world she was in now, walking down a simple, small-town street.

Penelope grimaced. She tried to hide her pained expression beneath her hair, but her dad caught it.

"Are you sure there's not something else?" her dad asked. "You went straight to bed when you came home last night and you stayed in your room for most of the day..."

Penelope avoided his eyes."N-No, there's nothing else."

"Are you sure?" her dad pressed. He tightened his grip on her shoulder, pulling her in close to him. He stared down at her, narrowing his eyes and studying her, searching for her usual tells. "Did you and Liam get in a fight?"

Liam. The shard of glass settled deeper into her gut.

"Did he get mad that you accepted the position or something? I know he's not a big fan of the festival, or of Gunnar..."

"It's nothing to do with Gunnar," she said, nearly spitting his name, before reining her anger in just in time. "It's just... You're right. It's nerves. I'm nervous."

Her dad smirked, squeezing her shoulder. "I knew it."

As they neared the main street, where the flow of people seemed to be taking them whether they wanted to or not, Penelope's heart began to race. She was glad her dad kept his arm around her shoulders to prevent them from getting separated in the crowd. There had to be thousands of people here—doubling, if not tripling, the small town's usually meagre population.

As they brushed past the masses, Penelope caught glimpses of all the different people who had come to see the Raven for themselves. Parents with their kids, still young enough to be carried on their shoulders. College kids who were sharing sips from a not-so-secret flask. News crews asking for soundbites and interviews from anyone who seemed even a little bit interesting. They passed only a few feet from where a sharp-angled woman with a deep, orange-tinted tan was holding up a mic between two guys as they bickered over whether or not The Raven was even real. The one with a mop of dark curly hair was sure it was, while the very tall one with glasses was very certain it wasn't. Penelope wished she could shove her way in between them, take the mic and tell everyone to go home.

As they left them behind, it took Penelope a moment to realize that she recognized the duo. She had met them once.

They were fellow paranormal investigators.

A new wave of cold took hold of her. The idea that other paranormal investigators would be here hadn't even occurred to her, though it now seemed obvious. Of course, they would. With Xander, TV's biggest ghost hunter, disappearing in the middle of a hunt, it had shone a spotlight on the town's precious Raven, and Ridgestone was now the premiere paranormal destination.

Penelope shuddered. She wanted nothing more than to shrivel up and sink into the street. This... This was going to be a whole lot worse now that she knew that people, people from her old life, were going to be in the crowd. She dropped her head, letting her dark hair hide her face. She was once again grateful for her dad's arm across her shoulders. She leaned into him and let him guide her blind through the crowd.

"Craig!"

"Oh, hey!" her dad cheered, jostling her as he waved vigorously at someone. Penelope didn't look up to see, but she could guess who it was... "It's Beth and Lyla!" he said and he began to move quicker then, pulling her along.

When they had come to a stop, Penelope finally glanced up. Beth and Lyla were huddled together and Henry was there, too, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. They had found a nice little nook on the corner of a side street, between the flower beds where the crowds couldn't press too close and there was a decent view over the big stage in the middle of the main street.

Penelope welcomed the bit of space and let out a shuddering breath.

"Crowd's a bit crazy, huh?" Beth said, giving her a sympathetic look.

"I'll say," her dad said. "This should all be good for business."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure Gunnar's happier than a pig in shit," Lyla said with a snort.

"Oh, hey!" her dad said, pointing at Lyla as if he had just noticed her. "Cool shirts!"

"Thanks!" said Lyla, holding out the hem of her shirt so they could get a better look. They were all decked out in matching teal t-shirts, emblazoned with a mid-century modern logo bearing the name of their campground, though Henry's was half-hidden under his flannel. "I designed it!"

"Nicely done!" her dad replied.

"Yeah, we figured if we were gonna come out, we might as well do some lazy self promotion," Beth said with a smirk. "Want one? We could always use a few more walking billboards." She tapped the cardboard box on the sidewalk with the side of her foot. Inside was a small pile of folded teal shirts.

"Heck yeah!" her dad said, reaching down to grab one. He was never one to turn down a free t-shirt. "Do you want one, Penelope?"

"Sure, but I don't know if I can wear it up on—"

"Oh, right. Don't worry about it, hun," Beth said, not bothered at all. She must have heard of Penelope's new gig. "I'm sure Gunnar would pop several brain cells if you tried to advertise something he didn't approve of—or get a cut of the money from." She rolled her eyes before giving Penelope a heartening smile.

"You're right about that," Lyla agreed with a giggle.

A weird half-laugh broke out of Penelope.

Beth's gaze flicked out behind Penelope. "Y'know, I thought Liam was gonna show up with you... Do you know where he is?"

Penelope froze. The shard cut a little deeper.

"Oh, no, we don't," her dad answered for her as he pulled the teal t-shirt over his other shirt so that they were both bunched up and lumpy. "I haven't seen him all day."

Penelope turned away, pretending like she was distracted by something. Really she just was trying to hold herself together. Her edges were fraying fast and if she wasn't careful she might completely unravel.

"Really?" Beth raised her eyebrows, genuinely surprised. "I thought for sure that he was with you. The SUV has been gone since this morning and he's not responding to my texts." Her eyebrows plunged, folding in tight over her eyes. "I wonder where he's gone..."

"Oh, did I forget to tell you?" Henry piped up, the first thing he'd said since they got there.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"He told me he was picking up an extra shift—a double at the tourist center," Henry said. "Y'know they need all hands on deck for a busy night like this."

Beth groaned. "And he couldn't send me one measly text to tell me that? I swear, that boy... Gunnar works those kids too hard."

Penelope gave a small sigh of relief as the conversation began to shift away to easier topics... Then her eyes met Henry's. Their gaze held for barely a second before breaking apart, each fixing on something else as if it had never happened.

"There you are!"

Gunnar had shoved his way into their midst. He was puffing and his red cheeks were bright against his almost white hair.

"Ah, the speak of the devil," Beth said. "Evening, Gunnar."

"Evening everyone," he replied, his tone clipped as he surveyed them. As his eyes settled on Henry, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Fancy seeing you here, Henry."

"Just supporting the family business," Henry explained, pulling back the edges of his flannel to reveal the full design of the teal t-shirt underneath. His expression was flat, but Penelope noticed the twitch in his beard around his mouth.

Gunnar nodded approvingly. "Glad to see it! About time you were a team player." He slapped Henry on the back. To his credit, Henry didn't even flinch. "Maybe we can finally put all that ugliness behind us."

Henry didn't react, but Penelope thought she heard him mutter, "We'll see."

Gunnar glanced around again until his eyes found Penelope. "You!" he snapped, pointing at her.

Penelope gulped.

"The news crews are getting ansty," Gunnar said. "We've gotta get up on that stage in ten. Come on now, get a move on." He hooked his index finger at her, beckoning forward, before disappearing back into the crowd, expecting her to follow.

Penelope flashed one last look at her dad. She wanted to say something, anything, but she couldn't find the words.

Her dad patted her on the back. "Knock 'em dead, kid!"

Penelope took a deep breath and nodded, and stepped between the others. As she passed, her eyes met Henry's for another second before she slipped into the crowd to follow after Gunnar.