As I entered the playing field a figure loomed over me. A dark-bearded man with a long curved apparatus slung around his neck, his features concealed by a hooded sweatshirt.
“What are you doing here?”
I saw Meghan and the others threading toward us through the growing crowd. “Mr. Shirazi,” I said, “I’m trying to find my father.”
“Go home,” he said. “My group is here as well, along with members of the Lovecraft Underground. Tonight, the evil one will not get through. But it’s dangerous. Go home – go to my house. Play video games with Sam.”
“I can’t do that, Mr. Shirazi.” I gestured and he turned. Sam was standing behind him, with Mehri and his other sisters. While Mr. Shirazi let his offspring know that he was not pleased, Meghan approached me, but I shook my head.
“There’s no time,” I
