The lights and sounds of the midway were almost overwhelming as Body was drug by a very enthusiastic auburn-haired seven-year-old chanting, “Come on, come Brody!”
“Okay, okay,” Brody couldn’t help but laugh, “Can I stop to take a few pictures, at least? One of us has a job to do here.”
He had known that taking Pandora along to the fair wasn’t a good idea, but she had begged so earnestly, and he thought he could take her everywhere she wanted to go and get the pictures for the school paper. He was currently starting to doubt that assessment.
“Okay.” Pandora sighed dramatically.
Taking his professional-grade camera, he took pictures of several of the games, before catching sight of the mouse roulette game. “You know what would make a great shot?”
“What?” Pandora asked.
“My bratty stepsister playing the roulette reel like the gambling addict we all know she is.” Brody teased.
“Hey!” Pandora protested.
Brody laughed. “So do you want to play or not?”
“I do!” Pandora admitted, taking the ticket from him and running to the booth as he took the picture, chuckling.
#
Five minutes later, Pandora was marching by Brody’s side victoriously carrying a plush bigfoot. He was trying to keep one eye on her, the other on a good shot when they came to a structure of lacquered planks, with pictures of saucers planets, and B-movie posters plastered all over it, and sign that said: COME SEE THE STARGIRL.
“You heard me right folks!” A man in an old-fashioned ring-leader outfit was shouted, “We got an actual alien who survived a crash to Earth, right here! Just a dollar to see her for yourself!”
Pandora started excitedly pulling on Brody’s sleeve, “Come on Brody! We have to see! Come on, please? “
“Look, it’s probably just some painted latex suit in ice,” Brody told her, feelingly slightly guilty about bursting her bubble, “Those things are always some kind of scam.”
“Please.” Pandora begged, sounding as if she would die if she didn’t see the alien, “I’ll even pay for it, Mom gave me money.”
Brody sighed. “Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He walked up to the baker, waving to get his attention. “Excuse me? Who do I pay?”
#
After giving the man a dollar for each of them—it may be a scam, but at least it was a cheap scam—he ushered them into the paneled building, a one-room structure, with the lights dimmed and decorated with those glow-in-the dark stars that Brody was pretty sure he had on the ceiling himself when he was a kid. However, he barely noticed those, as his eyes immediately went to a large glass box in the middle of the room, where, to his utter surprise, stood a veryreal girl. Her skin gave off a bright white luminesce that broke through the darkness of the room and contrasted the almost unnaturally black hair that went in waves down her back, her ears catlike and pointed, her nose also catlike, her eyes looking almost like an anime character.
“See!” Pandora beamed, pointing at her, “I knew she was real!”
“Yeah,” Brody breathed, unable to take his eyes off the girl, “She’s—she’s beautiful.” Wait, no. This couldn’t be real. This had to be some sort of trick. The barker’s daughter done up in paint and prosthetics or something. “Hey, you want to closer look?”
“Yeah.” Pandora said, hurrying up to the glass.
“Welcome.” The girl behind the glass said serenely as they approached.
“Ah, thanks.” Brody said, “Ah, are you—real?”
The girl laughed. “Of course, I’m real.”
“I’ve never met an actual alien before!” Pandora exclaimed, excitedly, “I’m Pandora and this is my stepbrother, Brody. What’s your name?”
The alien girl crouched down, so she was as tall as Pandora, putting her hand to the glass. “My name’s Annabella.” She glanced up at Brody, her anime-sized indigo-colored eyes, somehow getting wider, her face twisting in confusion. “Are you alright?”
Brody had been staring at Annabella the whole time, barely aware of her and Pandora’s discussion. If this was hoax, it was very realistic one. She didn’t look painted, or latex. She looked like flesh and blood. He couldn’t believe he was about to admit it, but he was starting to think this might be real. That the girl before him might really be an alien.
A very, very pretty alien.
“Brody!”
Hearing Pandora shout broke him from his stupor. “Ah-what?”
“Annabella asked you a question.” Pandora informed him.
“I said are you alright?” Annabella asked.
“Yeah,” Brody got out, rubbing the back of his neck, “Ah, Annabella doesn’t really sound like what you’d think an alien would be called.”
“Ah, Steven thought it would be a good idea to… Americanize it, as it were.” Annabella began, started to anxiously pull at her beautiful hair. “My real is name is quite hard to pronounce apparently.” Looking back at the tiny redhead, she told her, “I love your name, Pandora. It’s so pretty.”
“It’s from Greek Mythology.” Pandora informed her, “Pandora opened the jar that let all the bad things in the world, but it had hope in it, too. Aunt Karen says my real dad was a mythology professor, but I’m not supposed to know that—“
“And maybe we don’t go around telling the family secrets to strangers we met at the fair.” Brody cut her off. Especially when I’m not sure what you’re talking about.
Fortunately, his motor-mouthed stepsister was already on to other ideas. “You should take a picture of her!”
That was when it hit Brody, that, that was an amazing idea. “Hey, would that be okay?” After a beat he realized she should specify. “Can I take your picture? Please?”
“Picture?” Annabella asked, her face furrowing in confusion.
“I’m thephotographer for my school newspaper.” He held up the camera for her to see.
“That’s a camera?” Annabella asked tentively.
“Yeah,” Brody confirmed, smiling, and feeling oddly warm, “It—it won’t hurt, I promise. So, can I?”
Annabella began tugging at her hair anxiously. “You should probably ask Steven first.”
“That’s the second time you mentioned Steven.” Brody realized, “Who is he? Is he the man who let us in here?”
“Yes,” Annabella answered, her body becoming stiff, “He’s the one who found me when the escape pod crashed. I’d be dead if weren’t for him.” The last part came out hollow, Annabella’s beautiful eyes suddenly dazed.
Something about it, sent a chill up Brody’s spine. “Now are you alright?”
Annabella quickly shook out of her daze. “Yes, “She answered, smilingly placidly, “Please, talk Steven, and I’d be happy to pose for you.”
Brody smiled back. “Sure.”
Just then there was a knock in the door, calling, “Time’s up.”
Brody jutted in place, feeling a strange little pang of disappointment. “I’ll see you soon.” He told her, before taking Pandora’s hand and turning to go.
#
“Brody likes the star girl; Brody likes the star girl!” Pandora chimed as they walked through the grounds once more.
“It’s not like that, Pandora.” Brody huffed, starting to get a little annoyed, “I just want to get her picture for the paper. Which was your idea, remember?”
“Hey, do you think she could be your muse?” Pandora asked.
“My what?” Brody responded.
“You know, like painters and stuff have.” Pandora elaborated, “To inspire them.”
That was when Brody caught sight of the man who let them in. “Hold on a second Pan…”
#
The next morning, Pandora still couldn’t stop talking about Annabella.
“…And she was so pretty, Brody couldn’t stop staring at her.” Pandora chattered as her mother, walked past, “Couldn’t you, Brody?”
“Aunt Sadie, could please control your spawn?” Brody groaned, looking over to the woman in question over a bowl of cereal, “It’s too early in the morning.”
“Maybe curb your enthusiasm a bit, Pan.” Aunt Sadie said, tucking a lose strand of red hair behind her ear before picking up a small black briefcase, “Still, glad you two had fun.”
Brody looked up at his stepmother, staring at her for a moment, unexpectedly thinking back to what Pandora had the night before about her biological father. Nobody had ever told him anything about Pandora’s birthfather, and he never really thought to ask. Pandora had just always been there, from the time things got serious enough for Dad to introduce them all.
But Pandora had to come from somewhere, didn’t she? But where?
Suddenly he was wracking his brain, going back through that time for any clue. Suddenly he remembered thinking Sadie had looked so nervous, sad even. Had something happened to her mythology professor?
“Brody?” His stepmother asked, breaking his concentration, “You okay there, bud?”
“Yeah, just—just went off in my head for a moment.” Brody responded, which was the truth anyway, if a truncated version of it.
“As long as we’re on the subject, remind me, when is your photoshoot with this girl?”
#
Once Brody explained what he wanted to do, Alec was thrilled with the idea of free publicity. He cleared time in Annabella’s schedule the next afternoon. And the editor for the school newspaper, insisted on an interview to go with it, the man was very accommodating, if annoyed.
Brody walked into the shack alone and found he found Annabella, outside of her glass box, wearing a long, somewhat poofy light blue dressed with puffed sleeves. She whirled around, looking afraid, before her face lit up in recognition. “Oh.”
“Only me.” Brody assured her quickly.
“I’m sorry.” Annabella apologized, nervously fidgeting with her hair again.
“Hey,” Brody urged, walking towards, “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He found himself staring at her a few moments before clearing his throat, saying, “Um, thank you, for even doing this. Did, uh, Steven tell you about the change in plans?”
Annabella began to pull at her hair again, like she had the other day. “He said you wanted to do some kind of interview?”
“Not me, the editor wanted our best reporter on this.” Brody explained, “But I’ve known Paul since middle school, he’s a good guy, okay? Nothing to be nervous about.”
“And you’ll…you’ll be here?” Annabella asked.
“If you want.” Brody offered.
“I would.” Annabella breathed, before looking down bashfully. “I’m sorry, I know it sounds silly, I just—don’t spend that much time around people outside of the carnival.”
“Oh, sure,” Brody responded, “Life on the road and all.”
“Something like that” Annabella replied sheepishly, before changing the subject, “How’s your stepsister?”
“Living her best life as usual.” Brody answered, “Won’t stop talking about you.”
“I don’t know whether or not to be flattered.” Annabella quipped, “Um, so what do you want me to do?”
After briefly surveying the room, Brody said, “Let’s start by having you sit in that chair over there.” He pointed to a plain metal chair that had been left in the room.
To his surprise, her eyes momentarily widened, looking fearful, before regaining composure and walking to the chair.
“Hey, you okay?” Brody asked, concerned.
“Yes, thank you.” Annabella quickly covered, tucking hair behind her ear, “Um, is there a particularly way you want me to sit?”
“Why don’t you just do what feels best, and we’ll work from there.” Brody said.
Annabella sat down, crossing one leg over the other. “How about this?”
Brody laughed a little as he declared. “That’s perfect.” After a beat he realized, “Well, almost.” Picking up some silk flowers the color of Annabella’s eyes, he handed it to her, saying, “Um, would you mind putting these in your hair? I really think it would complete the look.”
Annabella took a few minutes, fashioning them into her hair and styling her dark mane accordingly. “How does it look?” She asked, reassembling her poise.
He snapped the first picture. “Beautiful.” Against the camera, he took another. “Okay, Annie can I get a profile shot?” Realizing what he had just done he said, “Sorry, I don’t know why I just called you Annie.”
“I don’t mind.” Annabella told him adjusting her pose, “Am I right in thinking this is profile?”
“Yeah.” Brody confirmed, taking another picture. “Hey, your English is really good.” After a beat, he thought better of what he just said, feeling his heart flutter and heat rush to his cheeks. “Um, is that an okay thing to say?”
“I don’t mind,” Annabella giggled a bit, before becoming sober, looking down,” “I was about your stepsisters’ age, when everything happened. When the crash happened.” After a moment’s silence, she asked, “Is your friend going to want to know about that? The crash?”
It took a moment for Brody to realize what she meant. And why she wouldn’t want to talk about it. Putting the camera down for a moment he confirmed soberly, “Yeah, yeah I think they are. Journalism 101.”
Annabella’s face immediately contorted, looking like she was about vomit at any second.
“Hey,” Brody said gently, hurrying over and crouching down next to her. “You don’t have to do the interview. Just say the word and we can call the whole thing off.”
“No,” Annabella insisted, shaking her head back and forth empathically, “It’s too late to go back, Steven has invested too much in this.”
“I’m sure Steven would understand.” Brody said, not wanting her to do anything that made her uncomfortable. He knew what it was like to not be ready to talk.
“No, if I back out he’ll-he’ll—” Annabella shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, sounding like she was on the edge of a panic attack.
“Annabella, breathe.” Brody hushed, “Just breathe.”
Annabella slowly breathed, managing to calm herself down, wiping at her face. “The thing is, I’ve never…I’ve never really talked about what happened. Steven wouldn’t let me.”
“He wouldn’t… What do you mean he wouldn’t let you?” Brody balked, When his mom died, his dad was always making sure he knew he could come to him about it. After he started dating his stepmother, he made sure Brody could take about his feelings. It got on his nerves a bit at the time, actually. He couldn’t imagine Annabella’s guardian, not evening allowing her to talk about something as major at being stranded on an foreign planet after surviving a crash that killed everyone else.
“Can I…can I maybe practice with you first?” Annabella asked, “Please. I’m sorry. I know, it’s not what you’re here for, I-I—“
“Hey, hey, hey,” Brody said, “Of course you can practice with me, think nothing of it. So, how did this happen? How did you get here? Just take your time.”
Annabella took a breath before exhaling. “Like I said, I was seven. My parents were part of exploration crew. It wasn’t uncommon for them to bring families along…”
#
“…I don’t really remember much about the crash.” Annabella said, tugging at her hair, sitting in the chair again, across from a lanky, bespectacled boy with fawn brown hair. “The next thing I really know is waiting up in a bed with a bunch of strange people over me. Apparently, several of the carnival workers found the crash. I’m not sure how they got me out, but I was the only survivor.”
“We are both so sorry for your lost.” Paul said, sincerely “That had to be terrible for you. ”Do you need a moment before we go on?”
“Just one please.” Annabella said, taking a tissue from Brody and whipping her face again before asking, “What’s the next question?”
“Well, I have to imagine this was all a big adjustment.” Paul said, “In fact, I imagine it was something of an understatement. Would care to tell us about it?”
“It was.” Annabella responded, “An adjustment, I mean. I didn’t even speak English, didn’t know anything about the planet I was on, I couldn’t even walk without help because of my injuries. But many of the people here, they were very kind to me when I needed it. Especially Steven, I owe him everything.”
There was something about the response that seemed off to Brody. When he looked at Paul.
And there was something in Annabella’s eyes.
“And who’s idea to have you perform?” Paul questioned.
“I had to earn my keep somehow.” Annabella laughed, though it struck Brody as somewhat forced, “I like it now, thought. Seeing new places, meeting so many people.” She glanced up to Brody, “I just wish I could spend more time with them.”
#
“Dad, what do you know about Pandora’s bio dad?”
Brody’s father shot his head, almost spitting out his coffee. “What?”
It the day the paper was supposed to come out and Brody couldn’t stop thinking about Annabella. About how off things had been at the interview. He also couldn’t stop thinking about his stepmother’s mysterious mythology-minded former and possibly dead lover. It was like his mind was ping pong table between the two subjects. He didn’t even mean to ask it, it just sort of came out.
“It’s just…something Pandora said at the carnival.” Brody explained, “Apparently Aunt Sadie’s sister told Pan that her birth father was mythology professor.”
“Dang it, Karen, why can’t you ever keep you mouth shut?” His dad muttered where he thought he couldn’t be heard before looking back to his son. “That’s…that’s a long story, bud. Let’s just say that Sadie and that…man, they didn’t part on good terms.” After a beat he added, “When we met, she was still pretty wounded.”
Brody looked down at his own coffee for a moment. “So, what did you do?”
“Excuse me?” His dad asked.
“You said she came to you wounded, so what did you do about it?” Brody elaborated, “ I mean, she’s in the upstairs bathroom right now with a straightening iron, so you must have done something, right?”
Brody’s father raised an eyebrow. “What’s brought all this on?”
“I’m not sure—” Brody said, which was true.
“Anything to do with this Annabella girl?” His dad asked with a knowing smirk. “Look, what I can tell you is, just be patient. Just be her friend.”
#
“Man, you must really like this girl.” Paul said, getting out of his car, a slightly rusty panel sedan, at the same time Brody did.
By the time Brody got his hands on a copy of the newspaper the carnival had already left town. It took a few calls, but they were able to track it down to the next county.
“It’s not like that.” Brody insisted, “We promised her, didn’t we?”
Paul chuckled. “Whatever you say, lover boy.”
They didn’t talk much as they walked into the part of the carnival that was not usually accessed by the public. “Do you know which trailer’s theirs?” Paul asked finally.
“Not really.” Brody admitted, looking them over. This could take a moment.
As if on cue, while still a distance to not be noticed themselves, the pair saw Steven pulling a rather distressed Annabella, dressed in a thin jumpsuit, by the arm. “But I didn’t do anything, I swear—”
“It’s just maintenance.” Steven said through gritted teeth.
What does that mean? Brody thought, barely having the time process what he heard before he opened his mouth to call out, only to feel someone pull his arm and yank him behind the trailer. “Hey, what are you–?” Suddenly he felt a thick weight over his mouth as Paul’s hand covered it.
“If what I think’s about to happened is about to happen, Steven’s not the kind of guy you want to confront.” Paul whispered in a harsh hiss, “Not without a plan.”
There was a small window above where they were hiding. Unable to take it, Brody peered up, looking through into the kitchen and dining room aera. Steven was sitting in a metal chair, not unlike the one they used for the photo shoot, and he had Annabella in a rather awkward position over his knees with her arms in front of her, squirming with tears in her eyes.
Steven made hushing sounds, in what he was probably thought would be comforting to his victim, then said, “Remember, you’re not in control of this punishment. This is for your own good. Just hold still while I count.”
Brody watched, unable to look away as Steven grabbed a leather strap from the wall, his stomach knotting. Something bad was about to happen. He knew it.
Steven raised the strap and then swung, landing right on a Annabella’s bottom, causing the girl to yelp. “One.” He said, emotionless. He swung again, this time she let out a sob, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. “Two.”
That was when Brody first felt the bile run up his throat.
“Please…” Annabella pleaded, whimpering as the third blow came down, hitting her lower back, eliciting another whimper.
“Three.” Steven said, his voice almost neutral, his eyes almost blank, as if in a trance.
“I didn’t even do anything wrong!” Annabella wailed, “This isn’t fair! It isn’t right!”
“Do you want me to add lashes on?” Steven threatened through gritted teeth.
“No.” Annabella whimpered, seemingly cowed from her earlier anger at the injustice she was suffering.
As the man raised the strap again, Brody lost it. Falling to the ground, he was barely aware of anything except the hot bile coming up his throat, forcing his mouth open, a burning spew of green and brown slop hitting the ground.
Paul crouched down, holding him steady. “Just breathe. Just breathe.”
Brody managed to do that, inhaling as his stomach seemed to calm down.
“That’s right,” Paul soothed, “You think you’re going to be okay, buddy?”
“No,” Brody thought, shaking his head, “What—how—she was so scared…”
He felt Paul’s hand dig into his shoulder for a minute, before the other boy helped him up. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do…”
A minute later as Annabella was rubbing her sore bottom and legs, sobbing.
“What are you supposed to do now?” Steven reminded her sternly, annoyance in eyes.
“T-Thank you, sir.” Annabella sobbed. She knew he was looking for a reason to spank her again.
That was when there was a knock on the door. “Go to your room.” Steven ordered.
Annabella slowly got up, her cheeks burning with humiliation, her lower body still sore and hurried from the room, only hear a clamor from the kitchen, and Steven crying out, “Hey, what are you—”
“Brody, I got him. Go get your girl.”
Brody?! Annabella thought, whirling around for a moment. No! He couldn’t see her like this! Not after…
That was when he appeared in the doorway. “Annie!” He called out, running to her. Next thing she knew he was inches away from her face. “I’m sorry, there’s no time to explain.” He put his hand in hers. “Come on.”
“But I-you—” Annabella stammered.
“We saw everything.” Brody said, “You can’t stay here. Not after that.”
Annabella’s heart sunk, heat filling her cheeks, but she went down the hall to find Paul pinning Steven against the door. “Meet me at my car.” The boy instructed, “I’ll buy you some time.”
Brody froze for a second. “Wait, how ?!”
“Nothing illegal.” The boy said, “Now go!”
Still hand and hand, Annabella and Brody ran for it, seconds before Brody’s friend let Steven go but blocked the doorway. “You know, I’ve never liked bullies…” They could hear Paul sneer.
“Where are we going?!” Annabella asked, breathless. Her whole chest felt like it was pounding!
“Away from here!” Brody shouted, as they ran past all the trailers and to the midway.
Unable to run in the throng, they slowed down, trying to blend in with the crowd of carnival-goers. “How offend does he do that? What Paul and me just saw?”
Annabella didn’t say anything for a moment, looking down at the ground and tugging her hair. “He calls it maintenance spanking. He does once a week. Ever since he found me. Even when I couldn’t understand it. Even when I was still hurt from the crash…”
Brody had to fight from yelling as he balked, “Why?”
“To remind me who’s in charge.” Annabella explained, looking down, “And if I did anything wrong he missed.”
Brody could feel a terrible heat rising in him.
“He’ll also do if I mess up with a customer, or if I leave the trailer without permission, or get confused on my English.” Annabella said, tears welling up in her home, “Sometimes I just want to go home so much….”
Brody pulled her closer to her. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. I don’t know if I can get you home, but, me and Paul can definitely get you out of here. “
That was when they noticed suspicious glances from a few of the midway workers. Did they know what went on in that trailer? Had they ever even tried to stop it?
What would they do if they knew they were trying to help her leave?
“Yeah, I think we may need to walk a little faster.” Brody said, picking up his pace.
They made it to Paul’s sedan near the entrance to the carnival around the time Paul did, his glasses cracked and his knuckles bloody.
“Is Steven…alive?” Brody asked uncomfortably.
“For the love of pity, I’m not The Punisher.” Paul huffed, opening the driver’s side door. “Now get in her in.”
Brody and Annabella slid into the back of the car and buckled up just as Paul put it in drive, sending a blast of gravel as he sped away. Annabella turned back, watching the carnival fade into the distance.
As Brody watched her, his father’s words rang out in his head. When we met, she was still pretty wounded.
He figured Annabella was pretty wounded now, too.
“Hey,” He said taking her hand, “I don’t know exactly what we’re going to do yet, but we’ll figure this out.”