"I assume you're not here for the music." Bethany nodded at the stage.

The lead singer's screaming reached a fever-pitch. He marched on the stage as if possessed. In her mind, every word he sang rang out like a crazy man's ravings.

She chuckled. "Not tonight."

"It's a shame about your clients."

Or lack thereof, was Bethany's implication.

"Yes, a shame. Hard to find someone who's not missing or dead these days."

"Good thing there's me then," Bethany said.

"My impromptu pimp." Both women smiled. "What have you got for me?"

Noise from the crowd drowned out their conversation, driven by an out-of-control mosh pit. Instead of shoving, pushing, and pulling one another, people threw punches. Bloody mosh pits weren't the standard, but occasionally shit went sideways. A girl in the middle of the pit was lifted up to crowd surf. She opened her arms and legs wide, obviously far more intoxicated than Bethany.

Bethany said of the girl, "That's dangerous."

"How so?" Juniper wanted to know.

"Because men are disgusting." Bethany mimicked her shirt being torn. "When a girl crowd surfs, that's the first thing they grab for. That, or some sickos punch." She held up her index and middle finger to represent the girl's open legs. Then, she used her other index finger to jab in between them.

Juniper cringed. "Ow, what they hell do they wanna do that for?"

"The same reason they go into the pit. This music, it's got a primal sound to it. It brings out the animals in some. The right person hears it, and they can't help but wanna punch somebody."

"That's sick," Juniper said, not really understanding the tie between the music and the violence.

She glanced once more at the mosh pit. The energy was palpable. Animals. Yes, that's what they seemed like.

"Hell, I'd be in that pit right now if I wasn't here talkin' to you," Bethany confessed.

"I get that. First though, help me out with that thing."

"Right, that thing." Bethany pointed, swaying a bit. "That man over there. He's in need."

The needy man looked about thirty-five, which helped set him apart from the teen crowd dancing near and around him. In his own way, he sought to fit in. Although, his youthful attire was ill-fitting, and his dance moves were stiff. Juniper sensed the lust coming off of him. It spiked whenever he looked at any girl, younger ones in particular.

In situations like these, her ability came in handy.

"Oh, what a treat," she said.

"Makin' money's never easy," Bethany replied. "You go have fun now, 'cause I'm sure gonna."

Her head of purple hair bobbed along the crowd until she reached the pit at the front of the stage. Then she became a blur as she was shoved around by strangers. To Juniper, the mosh pit looked dodgy. Her feeling was confirmed when Bethany was punched in the mouth, then smacked in the face. She almost jumped in to pull her friend out, but stopped when she saw Bethany laughing, bleeding gums and all. In the next second, Bethany pushed and hit as savagely as the rest of them.

Why did hurting each other look like fun? Juniper wanted to understand it, and assessed the feelings emanating from the pit.

At the highest capacity, her empathic ability forced her outside of herself. She could hone in on others to determine how and what they felt. But when she knew a person, say their name, she could dive inside of them and see through their eyes for a brief time. It wasn't a true sight, merely an impression of sights and sounds interpreted through intense feelings. Since Bethany was a person she knew, Juniper reached out to peer through her eyes.

Sweat and blood hung thick in the circle of the pit. Either blood or light from the stage cast a red film over the crowd, but Juniper thought it was mostly blood. The music was similar to the beat of tribal drums, begging her to hurt, or be hurt.

From Bethany's viewpoint, Juniper punched the boy next to her. Not only did she enjoy her fist connecting with his temple, but she was further gratified when he shoved her into someone else's fist.

Enough.

The fun of the mosh pit sickened her. She noticed a red haze around the circle of people. The ground shimmered. Juniper was reminded of a story she had read in college simply called N. In it, the main character N. had discovered Ackerman's Field. Ackerman's Field was a place where reality was thin. Otherworldly demons tried to break through the thin element of reality present in the field to allow entrance to the human dimension. The pit promised that same element of worn-out reality.

N. believed there could be other places in the world like Ackerman's Field, where reality was a blurred line. To Juniper, the senseless violence of the pit altered the perception of reality, all concentrated in one spot. The red haze around the pit glowed brighter. Everyone committing questionable acts had a smile on their face, Cheshire cat smiles. A few of the faces changed to resemble dog-like creatures. They wanted to break outside of the circle. Juniper felt their need to hurt.

Just then, the song ended. The crowd stopped dancing, clapping in approval. No more red haze or mutated faces.

Juniper jumped when someone patted her on the back.

"Whoa there," Bethany said. "Thought you might wanna go catch your guy before he's gone."

Mr. Needy zoomed past the bar to the exit of the concert hall.

"Damnit. See ya later, Bethany. Thanks!" Juniper hurried to catch the potential customer.

"Later!" Bethany shouted back.