CRYPTID

Chapter 34

"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..."