A moment later, the door opened and Jon was confronted by a woman, probably Athena's mother. He had never seen her mother before, but she resembled her daughter. "Who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Jon," he started.
"Mom, that's Zoe's brother," a girl's voice said. It must have been Athena. She came into view, and he relaxed. It was the real Athena.
At least Athena was fine. Even if it was just a few people, how was he supposed to save everyone in less than seven hours? It wasn't like they would cooperate.
Jon pushed his way in. "Is Karyn ... uh ... I mean, Zoe here?" he asked, looking around.
"No," Athena said. "What's this all about?"
"I need to find her. It's important."
"Why?"
Jon looked back at Steve, then back at Athena. "Can we talk in private?"
Athena looked at her mom, then back at Jon. "Come with me," she said, then walked down a hallway, which led into a bedroom. She closed the door, then turned to Jon. "Now what's going on?"
Jon sat down on the bed and took a deep breath, then began. "I know this will sound strange, but ... I know you're into the occult. A bunch of people around town have been ... swapped ... with other people. Listen, I know this all sounds strange, but it's the truth. You're into the occult, right? You must have heard something like this before." He took a deep breath. "The person you think is Zoe, my sister, is actually my friend Karyn. And I have to get her back to normal ... before ... before she stays that way forever. I'm not sure where the real Zoe is."
It seemed too fantastic to believe, but, while she didn't particularly like Jon, he wasn't the type to say things like this and he seemed so sincere. She decided to humor him.
"Fine," she said, giving in. "What do you need me to do?"
"Well ..." Jon began.
