"They have horns," Joy said, playing along.
"Horns, you say?" Lupo repeated to the crowd in a loud vaudevillian tone.
Julie's head began to ache.
"Yeah, like, ones that curve backward."
The crowd started to murmur. Everyone looked at Julie.
"Was that the same feature you were thinking of, Julie?" Lupo turned to the other girl and saw that she was rubbing her forehead. "Oh dear, is something the matter?" His coattails flipped in the air as he slid across the stage to her side, putting his hands on her shoulders in a display of reassurance.
"I don't know...maybe it's the lights..." Julie stopped rubbing abruptly when her hand touched something hard growing out of her hair. "What?" She brought up her other hand and together they felt two solid, pointy horns. They were growing by the second. "WHAT?"
"Steady, now." Lupo held her to the spot as she squirmed. "Steady. You're all right, Julie. Look! You've got horns just like Joy said." He produced a pocket-sized mirror and held it in front of Julie's face. She stopped struggling when she saw a pair of slightly curved gray horns a half-foot long sticking up out of her hair. The audience erupted in applause.
"What the fuck," Joy said flatly, watching the horns finish growing on her sister. "How did you fake that?" With the audience still clapping, only those onstage could hear her.
"Nothing is fake here, my dear," Lupo winked. "If you haven't realized that yet, perhaps you'll be convinced by what happens next."