At 2:30 PM, Peter and Lauren stepped into the old warehouse wearing trench coats. They were burning up and looked like television spies, but they were dressed this way because, even though no one except Peter could see it, Lauren hadn't like how she looked in a skimpy top due to her fur, and Peter had trouble with pants due to his tail. The more they could cover, the better.
"So, you found my note," came a voice from the darkness. An ominous shadow stepped into the light and they Peter wondered who she was. She was a short black lady with pony tails who seemed only slightly older than Peter and Lauren. Peter was about to ask her who she was when Lauren spoke up.
"Olivia, is that you?" she said in a questioning voice.
"Oh my gosh, it's been so long!" they said to each other and embraced like long-lost friends. Peter was confused.
"Peter, this is Olivia, she was my really close friends in high school," Lauren explained.
"Oh, uh, nice to meet you I guess," said Peter. It sounded more like mumbled braying to Lauren, but Olivia just heard a slightly confused, perfectly human comment in Peter's regular voice.
"Nice to meet you, too, Peter. Lauren told me all about you last time we were on Quikchat."
Lauren's voice turned a bit more serious because she was ready to cut to the chase about why they were there.
"So, Olivia, what is it that you know about us?"
"I know you're turning into donkeys," she said bluntly. Peter was relieved but also a bit cautious.
"So, uh, how do you know--I mean, what makes you think this?"
"I was at that carnival the same night you were," she explained. "I saw you playing the game, and heard the last part of your argument. I know the old hag cursed you to become asses, and I know she can do it, too. I lost you in the crowd before I could say hi, and I never saw you again that night, but I did try to get back at her for you in my own way. I sneaked over in a way I thought know one notice and tried to grab that prize you were after. She caught me and said that if I thought I was sneaky as a snake then I could be one."
"So you're ..."
"Turning into a snake? Yes. My whole body is covered scales. They're red, black and yellow. I got them in three separate changes since Wednesday night. I still have arms and legs, but I don't know how long that will last. I can't see you're changes, but I bet you've got some."
Peter and Lauren both nodded.
"Do you know anything about the carnival?" Lauren asked.
"It's called Pleasure Island," said Olivia. "It started on an actual island off the coast of Italy many years ago, but now it's a traveling fair. The workers are an old clan with the power to change people into animals. It's happened or almost happened to hundreds or even thousands of people. I can't tell you how many library books and conspiracy theory websites I had to go through in order to find out all of this."
"So do you know how we can get back there?"
"Well, I'm not absolutely sure, but I do know they seem to have been following the same path they followed in this area a few years ago. After they came to our fairground, they set up in another town south of here a month later."
"That's more than we've heard from that private investigator we hired," said Peter.
"Oh, you guys hired someone? That sounds expensive!"
"Yeah, I wonder how he's doing right now..." said Lauren.