Chapter 14: 14. Natasha: Mother Has Come

Not knowing how much time had passed Natasha came to consciousness with her ears ringing. Every part of her body ached. Moving was excruciating.

With some effort Natasha opened her eyes. As her vision unblurred she saw dark, thick trees littered with scraps of their car. The forest was covered in a thick layer of fresh snow and peaking through the bows of the trees Natasha could see the black night sky, strewn with an endless ocean of stars. If she’d not been in so much pain the sight would have been appreciated. Even on the island, the sky was too flooded with light from the city to be able to see such a brilliant sky. Even the milky way which passed over as she stared.

Her mind felt like molasses.

Eventually the cold worked its way through her jacket; it stabbed at her overly hot skin. Groaning Natasha sat up and surveyed her surroundings. The scene around her was in complete disarray. The car, smoldering now, was nearly wrapped around the trunk of the roots of a large tree ahead of her. She must’ve been flung out the windshield as they impacted it. Her dad was lying limply draped over the wheel. In the back Damon’s face was pressed against the glass of this window. Aiden wasn’t visible.

She pulled herself up to stand, knees nearly giving out beneath her, with a struggle she managed to stay on her feet. In a pile of snow a few meters from her Natasha noticed a body crumpled on his stomach. As she moved towards him her head rang like a bell. The light around them bloomed as the snow caught flickers that emanated from the car’s flames.

When she made it to the body Natasha recognized Aiden. Her chest clenched with worry seeing him unmoving and the snow around him slowly turning red. A sound came from him as he started waking and moving. Pulling his arms to his torso Aiden rolled over into a fetal position.

“Hey, Addy,” Natasha said, her voice hoarse from screaming.

Aiden groaned in reply and slowly looked up at her. “What happened, Sasha?”

There was a cut along his cheek and side of his head which was bleeding profusely. His eyes could barely open and his words slurred together.

“We crashed.” She left out the bit about her causing the engine to explode. “Come on, we gotta get the others out the car. Can you move?”

He moved parts of his body one at a time. Checking over his injuries he winced as he tried to move one of his legs.

“Yeah, ah…my leg’s pretty busted. I can move it but it really hurts.”

“Okay, come on, I'll help you up.”

Natasha slipped an arm under her brother’s and helped him lift up onto his good leg. She looked back to the car and saw that Stephen was awake and trying to get Damon’s attention. As her and Aiden limped closer she could see the other two were just as banged up. The other twin still hadn’t gotten and as she carefully set Aiden against a nearby tree and got to the car she saw just how bad Damon was.

“Are you two okay?” Stephen called out. His face was half covered in blood as well as his brow on the right side was gashed open. He reached up and touched the spot with a grimace.

“Y-yeah, for the most part. Is Damon?” Natasha answered.

“He’s still unconscious.” Stephen winced and unbuckled himself to get out of the car. “We need to get out of here. The engine is on fire.”

He went for the door handle and tried to get out, it was jammed closed. With a shove he managed to force it open and tumbled out into the snow. Grunting he got back up to his feet and went to the back. Natasha went to help him as Stephen gave the back door a tug. The door opened with a groan and Damon slipped half out, held only by his seatbelt.

Stephen reached in and grabbed his son as gently as possible, unbuckling him, and cradling him in his arms. He checked Damon’s pulse and sighed giving Natasha a nod.

Natasha had never really noticed how huge their dad was compared to the rest of his family. Standing well over six feet tall Damon looked so frail and tiny in Stephen’s arms. It had been a while since she was stuck with how young the twins were still. Natasha wondered if they would grow up to be just as big.

All around them was the rubble of what the car’d busted through, bits of snow mixed with mud, rocks, and tree branches. The car hadn’t fallen too far down from the road, and lucky for them it was slowed by the underbrush. With no artificial light from the road they couldn’t see much through the darkness that seeped through the tree trunks.

Natasha walked back to Aiden and slung his arm around her shoulder.

“You kids, grab the emergency bag in the back, then let’s get away from here.” Stephen’s voice was low but he instantly grabbed command of the situation. “Natasha, you said there was something out there, Aiden you saw it as well?”

The two of them both exchanged looks, and nodded an affirmative. Natasha quickly scanned the area as Aiden pulled away. She tried her best to peer through the night. After a moment of searching she couldn’t make out anything that looked like what she saw before. Aiden came back with a bright red backpack with a first aid cross emblazoned on the front.

“Right I’ll need you two to keep an eye out for it. I—” Stephen stopped to think through his word choice. “I’m not able to see those types of things.”

The family stood a ways from the car staring at their dad in disbelief. Their breaths crystalized around them. A deep rumbling from the car and a bright flare overtaking the entire front was all they needed to be reminded to get away from there. Natasha expected them to head to the road but their father indicated for them to follow as he led them deeper into the woods.

Eventually the snow, which gathered up to about their shins, disappeared as the canopy above became too thick for snow to penetrate. Here and there as they walked large piles of snow fell in with a stifled thump. A hush hovered in the space between the pine trunks.

“Where’re we going?” Natasha said after what felt like half an hour of trudging through the undergrowth. “Shouldn’t we have headed to the road?”

“No, we were pretty close to the town.” He said not looking back. “It’s not safe to go back to the road, whatever you saw there is probably still waiting for us. I don’t want to see what that thing wants to do.”

Natasha gulped, feeling those fingers caressing her face again was not something ever wanted to happen again. She understood his thinking but they all looked too roughed up to be hiking in the dead of winter.

“Where’re we supposed to be going anyway?” Aiden asked, his voice heavy with exhaustion.

Stephen sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know much about it. Your mom was a very secretive person and said the less I knew the better.” He paused and looked down at Damon; there was worry laced through his voice. “I love and support her for who she is but, damn, she had a lot to hide. Years ago we sat down and planned this, going over how to get her, what to look for. It’s a place called Dinir. She said it was a Whiston—a town where folk like her gather.”

“Is mom actually going to meet us there?”

“I don’t know kiddo,” Stephen said, his expression darkening. “This was a last case scenario for if she wasn’t able to be here. She sent the coded message this afternoon. That’s how I knew to pick you up from school.”

“So she’s in trouble too,” Natasha said quietly.

“But why—what’s the point in hunting us down like this?” Aiden asked.

Stephen looked over his shoulder, face full of sorrow. The walls he’d put up were torn as he finally explained a world he’d never been part of to the best of his ability. All he could give his children was a shake of his head.

They walked again in silence as the kids stewed on the new information. Their mother was missing, likely caught by whoever was hunting them, which made her not answering the messages make sense.

Every painful step took them away from everything they knew and towards the unknown. Natasha kept her head on a swivel, watching for anything coming at them, but they were completely alone. In the back of her head she remembered Benjamin saying he’d find them. It gave her some hope.

They began climbing upwards. Once in a while Stephen would stop, setting down Damon, and pull out a map. It was covered in drying blood and the ink blotched the snow melting on it. The trees only got thicker as they hiked and it was difficult to fight through the bramble. When they reached a clearing Stephen would let them stop to catch their breath. As the night wore on it only got colder and began to snow again. They’d all been wearing jackets but they weren’t rated for being outside for this long. Staying on the move kept them warmer so it wasn’t long before they would rally and resume the trek.

Natasha thought to try and make fire, maybe she’d be able to provide some much needed warmth for them all, but all she found inside her was ice. Her stomach tightened, and she suddenly felt sick, as she remembered how she’d reached for that ignition. With what she’d caused before it was obvious that she could put her family in danger if she were to release that magic again. A spark is all it took then. Natasha felt her muscles tighten up against the flames that stocked within her.

Stuck in her thoughts Natasha hadn’t paid attention to the dim light between the trees. A sudden strong burst of wind shot around them. It sent Aiden tumbling over. He grasped at Natasha’s arm and she was able to quickly catch him. She just caught sight of Stephen and Damon crashing into a thicket and disappearing. Her and Aiden stumbled forward trying to rush after them. She stopped them as she noticed how dark it had become between the trunks.

Reaching out from the pitch black of the forest a single arm appeared and stretched towards them. Natasha only had enough time to scramble backwards before more of the same clawed at her from the black. A cacophony of whispers assaulted Natasha’s ears. It was a voice she knew very well—their mom.

‘Sasha, my little Sasha.’

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

‘Why are you running from me?’

‘I just want to take you home.’

‘Come along, honey.’

‘There’s nothing to fear.’

Natasha gritted her teeth as her jaw set. It wasn’t right. Hundreds of hands strained to reach her as she dropped Aiden. Could she believe the voice, was it really mom? Maybe it was okay then, how could she not trust her mother? Her heart clenched, seizing with pain, she wanted to believe.

“Mom…I miss you…”

Tendrils oozed along the surface of the snowy ground and slithered it’s way towards her. It felt like cold claws raking at her legs as they wrapped around her, yanking and causing her to fall, and began to drag her slowly to the treeline. Natasha watched the roots get closer, her body going slack against the cold.

“Sasha!” Steven bellowed as he barreled over to her side and pulled on her arm to take her away from the shadows.

As the tendrils tore off her they both tumbled back across the clearing. Stephen quickly jumped to his feet. Natasha had never seen him move so fast. Her legs however didn’t want to move, locked in place by the frigid touch of the shade. Noticing that she wasn’t getting up, Stephen held a hand up for her to take.

“You have to get up, kiddo,” he said, voice cutting through the stupor that had taken over her mind. “Come on, you gotta get up, Sash.”

He was almost pleading at this point as he grabbed her arm again. Natasha shook her head clearing the last bit of fog. As she did the whole forest rang with an unnatural scream. Birds and other fauna took off fleeing in its wake. With a shaky hand Natasha grasped his arm as well, it was warm even through his gloves. Reassuring. He pulled her up to her feet and Aiden dragged Damon’s still unconscious body back to the center of the clearing.

The family huddled around Damon who was awkwardly propped up on the ground. A tar-like substance pulled itself out of the darkness. The vague form of a woman formed out of it, connected to the main blob with a tendril. The shape behind her bulged at all the wrong places as she walked towards them. As she looked towards them they were met with a face that more resembled a mannequin than a real person. The tar pulled itself up, ballooning into a wretched form with too many arms and bulbous heads undulating in and out of the center. A litany of tendrils reformed at odd points around the main body grasping and caressing the woman ahead of it and quivering with anticipation around her.

The nightmare rattled out, “come home to me, my loves. Shhh, you’ll be safe soon.”

Aiden and Natasha both tensed and readied themselves to jump into action. Their expressions cringed as the smell of rot hit their noses.

Stephen looked back at his children over his shoulder and Natasha watched as he clocked every single one of them. “What are you seeing?”

Natasha shook her head. “Y-you don’t want to know.”

His dark eyes full of love for each of them fell on Natasha. An indescribable emotion overcame his features as he let out a heavy breath.

“You take care of your brothers alright, Sash?” Stephen stooped down and picked up a thick tree branch at his feet. “You three need to get out of here as fast as you can, follow the map and go to Dinir.”

“What do you mean?” Natasha’s eyes flicked from him back to the monster; it stared back at her seemingly waiting for something. “You can’t.”

“Promise me, you’ll take care of them, they’re gonna need you.” Stephen’s voice cracked and held desperation behind it. “Promise me that one thing, please?”

“Dad,” Natasha croaked on the verge of tears. “Dad, we can’t…not without you.”

“Please…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say it but managed a nod of affirmation.

With that Stephen brought his attention back on the treeline. “Aiden, where is it?”

“Uhm, It’s—” Aiden hesitated looking at Natasha.

He pointed a shaky hand at the monster and Stephen took a step forward. “Good, now, grab Damon and get ready to run. On the count of three, alright?”

The tar began circling them and Aiden gestured to their dad the way it began moving before exchanging another look with Natasha.

With a nod they heaved and got Damon onto her back. She winced with the effort. She wouldn’t usually have a hard time picking him up but her ribs hurt so badly. Stephen pushed the map into Aiden’s chest and ran a hand through his son’s hair.

“One.” He gripped tighter on the branch he brandished like a baseball bat, turning along with the monster between them.

He closed his eyes in an attempt to hear how it rustled through the ferns and thickets.

“Two.” The creature, done waiting, whipped its tendrils forward.

The fake puppet of their mother wailed, desperation shaking the kids to their core.

“Three!” Stephen rushed forward, brandishing his weapon, and the children bounded as quickly as they could the opposite way.

Stephen was quickly overtaken by the tendrils but blindly fought back. It was too preoccupied to send any grasping after the kids as they sprinted away.

Natasha had to look back to make sure their father was okay but the clearing had been overtaken by the sickening tentacles. The trees closed around them offering some safety but making her lose sight of Stephen.

Within seconds the clearing was gone and they were left alone in the dark. A minute later, with a pounding heart, they stopped being able to hear their dad’s fight. For good measure they kept running at full speed for as long as their lungs would allow them to.

“Where are we going?” Aiden called out behind Natasha. “We can’t just run in any direction!”

“I don’t know, we just have to get away1” Natasha replied, her breath laden as the weight of Damon made running difficult.

Aiden stopped. “What are we doing? We can’t just leave dad—we can’t.”

Through gasps he wiped tears that were streaming down his face.

“What can we do? Addy, I–I wish we could do something but we can’t.” Natasha put on a brave face for him. “Dad told me to get you guys out of there. We need to find this town, maybe someone there can help, yeah?”

Her voice warbled as she also held back tears. Natasha’s whole body was screaming at her to stop, to rest, and her heart told her to go back to find their dad. It was her brain that she needed to listen to know though.

Aiden fell silent for a long second before looking back up and eyeing up Damon. “He needs to go to a hospital…we can’t turn back if he’s going to make it.”

Natasha nodded and shifted her brother on her shoulders. “Exactly.”

“O–Okay, we let’s go get help,” Aiden agreed as he held up the map trying to make out the markings. “I can’t make sense of this map. I don’t know where we are.”

He swore and Natasha looked around for any landmarks they might be able to make out from where they were. The trees stretched overhead blocking the view of anything but a few heavy clouds laden with even more snow. The inclement weather worried her.

“We need to keep moving. If we head uphill maybe we can get a better vantage point of where we are.” Natasha said after not finding anything of use.

Aiden frowned down at the map then tucked it away and followed Natasha as she began climbing again.. A flash caught Natasha’s attention. She ignored it until the beacon drew her eyes again. It was bouncing off in the distance, a little more than a glimmer that passed through the trees the way they’d been going. Natasha squinted trying to make out what it was.

“Hey, do you see that, is it a flashlight?” She said, indicating with her chin.

Aiden turned around and watched as the light continued to weave through the forest slowly heading to their left.

“I dunno.” Aiden hushed his voice barely above a whisper. “Should we check it out?”

Natasha wasn’t sure. Everything seemed to be looking to harm them. The wind whipped up their hair and her body tensed ready to start running again.

“We need to get moving,” she said as her blood drained from her face.

The whispers had started up again below them coming closer then farther. The thing was looking for them.

As they began trudging again, as far away from what was below them, a low melody began to echo barely audibly over the rustling pines. A small bell rang clearly above the blowing wind. The siblings crouched and like fawns hidden in the brush. Another bright sounding of the bell came again and Natasha indicated they should go slowly ahead.

The soft glow appeared again, staying the same distance from them, and weaved through the boughs of the trees. It had a sense of playfulness as it ducked behind trees and swung from branches. Natasha couldn’t make out any kind of shape in the glow. Still, it seemed to know they were following and didn’t actually want to interact with them besides keeping them in sightline. The hushed whispers behind them faded into the wind.

After a few minutes the song’s melody repeated this time with lyrics.

Away towards the wind, away

Run to the hidden lake town

For horrors prey on you in the forest today

and night closes in and cold holds you down

As they picked their way up the mountain in the glow of their strange guide the snow picked up. It came down so hard and suddenly they weren’t able to prepare.

They hunt for you, they hunt

In the stillness of the reaching pines

It comes for you, the shade you confront

Scurry and scamper and look for my signs

The trees closest to them began to fade rapidly into the white but they could still barely hear the singing. Natasha could hardly feel her face, blistering and red from the storm wind blowing down the mountain. She squinted up the mountain and could just make out the glow.

Remember what is lost, remember

As storms come and winds blow

Your soul everlasting, shard of ember

Flames will always protect you

It was getting hard to blink as her eyes dried up and lashes got icy. She mumbled a curse at their guide for mentioning fire.

“Natasha!” Aiden yelled over the din of the winds. “I need a break!”

“Where are we going to stop?” She replied looking over her shoulder. “We have to keep going, Aiden.”

She was so exhausted. Her feet and legs hurt and the rest of her body was shaking with the effort of carrying her brother. Whatever wounds she had burned the wind feeling like shards of glass. She wanted to sleep. Maybe Aiden was right—they should stop. Take a rest. Even for a moment.

Rubble under Aiden’s feet gave way and he slipped forward. He scrambled too late to right himself, and Natasha reached out to try and catch his arm but missed. He slipped into the white and dissolved away. Natasha screamed after him but there was no reply. She looked around, panicked but her mind was too muddled, she didn’t know what to do.

Her eyes fluttered and she fought to keep them open. She adjusted Damon and followed whereAiden had disappeared, not wanting to lose him. Every fiber of Natasha screamed as she began feeling numb. She’d stopped shivering from the cold. After taking five or six steps she dropped to her knees. Damon tumbled from her arms and though she tried to hold onto his freezing hands she lost him too.

She cried out before falling on her belly trying to scramble after them. She came to a stop and trembled, curling in on herself. On the brink of fully losing consciousness Natasha could swear she heard footsteps crunching behind her. Then came a melodic voice murmur. A warm hand touched her forehead. Small bells chimed. She tried looking over at whoever it was but everything was a blur.

“Dad?” she asked, feeling emotion well up in her chest.

“Don’t worry young one,” the person reassured her, it wasn’t her dad. “Help is on its way.”

Her mind was having a hard time keeping up as she saw cloven hooves, shimmering like fresh snow in the sunlight, stepped into view. Something large touched her hand which twitched in response. A beast whimpered next to her. The sound reminded Natasha so much of Tucker. She mumbled his name as someone gingerly turned her over and lifted her up like a parent would a small child who’d fallen asleep on the couch. In the last seconds before her world went completely dark Natasha felt herself wrapped in a warm blanket and heard a familiar voice speaking in her ear.

“I’m here Sasha, you’re all safe now,” Benjamin said.