Twisted Ever After

by Celeste Thrower

  ALSO BY CELESTE THROWER

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  A THOUSAND DIAMONDS

  BY A.M. WHITE

  A DARK RETELLING OF HANSEL AND GRETEL WITH A SCI-FI FLAIR.

  The sapphire of her eyes drained away days ago. Her frail body radiated heat from the illness that ravaged her body. Her gray skin hung loosely over bones that protruded the thin sheet tangled around her. It was hard to see my mother like that.

  I carefully dabbed her forehead with a damp cloth to ease her pain. At least the moans stopped.

  Father was often away for days at a time. He had to work so that we could afford the small rust bucket we called home inside the colony. He was paid to hunt down the native termagants.

  Mother resented him anyway. She wouldn’t have gotten sick if he hadn’t made us come to this godforsaken planet. She didn’t ask for him anymore.

  Hansel played on the metal floor with a pile of rocks Father brought home for him. They were a striking bright blue. He liked the sound they made when he hit them together. I tried to keep an eye on him while I tended to Mother.

  I was too young for that kind of responsibility. Hansel was also too young to have to watch his mother die.

  Unfortunately, death was all-too-common in the colony. Once contact was established between humans and the termagant’s sickness spread like wildfire through the human population. I feared for Hansel and I because we were locked inside the capsule with Mother as the illness filled our air systems.

  Mother coughed blood from her lips. Her eyes widened while she choked on bits of lung caught in her throat. She strained as if her airway was blocked. I pried her mouth open. Mixed with a sea of red, a knotted coil stirred behind her tongue. I dropped the cloth over her mouth. She shook the drenched rag from her face.

  She grabbed my tiny wrist. "It’s them." She panted. "It’s in me. I’m already dead." She seized violently. Her last words came as a garbled whisper. "You are already dead."

  I woke suddenly. My body vibrated in sobs on a thin sleeping mat. My bedclothes were moist with sweat.

  I craved comfort. Luckily, my younger brother was close. Hansel snuggled deeper into my side.

  A month had passed since Mother died. The nightmares were a constant reminder of her death. Hansel didn’t wake from my dreams because he was used to the nightly fits.

  I lifted my head. Father was home, surprisingly. He snored from his pile of blankets on the other side of the room. The last thing I expected from him was empathy. He never shed a tear for the loss of Mother.

  The coarse blanket scratched at my chin. I closed my eyes and tried to remember happier times. Eventually, the sound of Hansel’s rhythmic breath lulled me back to sleep.

  Father plopped down at the rickety table in the corner of the room. Hansel waited impatiently for breakfast to be served.

  I held a bowl beneath the dispenser and pressed the button. A viscous concoction spurted from the nozzle. There was only one blob released.

  I stared at the mostly empty bowl. "Father, this isn’t enough for Hansel."

  He grunted. "They are getting stingy with the payouts." He pounded his fist on the table angrily.

  I placed the meager portion in front of Hansel. He picked up the bowl and gulped it down in no time.

  "Still hungry," Hansel announced innocently.

  "Did the hunt go badly?" I prodded carefully.

  Father hoisted a sack from an iron hook next to the door. He dumped two termagant heads on the table. Their eyes were closed, but their mouths were agape, revealing mossy teeth. Their black oily skin glistened in the fluorescent lights of the one-room apartment.

  I jumped away and dragged Hansel with me. "Father, you can’t bring them here." I squeezed Hansel against my stomach. "What if they carry the termagant sickness?"

  Hansel covered his eyes.

  Father stood over his trophies and let his breakfast slide down his throat before he replied. "I had them tested." He scooped the heads back into the sack. "I killed those two on my own watch last night. I’m going to use them to bid on a woman today."

  "But, there is barely enough food for the three of us." I protested. "And I can take care of things around here."

  "Ya, well I need someone around here to work for tokens. We aren’t going to make it much longer without an extra income." He grumbled.

  He grabbed my arm from Hansel’s back. It was incredibly thin in his calloused hand.

  "How many rations have you given to him this week?" Father nodded at Hansel.

  I jerked my arm from his grasp. He was right. I always gave Hansel at least part of my portions.

  He lifted the hem of my threadbare dress. "You look like death, Gretel. You have nothing but rags to wear. A woman would do some good around here. Besides, there are other things I have in mind for a woman." He hiked up his pants. "Only a few more years and you will be ready for a husband. I got to plump you up to bring in the tokens."

  My stomach curled.

  "What does he mean, Gretel?" Hansel looked up at me.

  "Sh." I covered his ears.

  Father shrugged on his atmospheric uniform and plucked his helmet from another hook.

  "Wish me luck. Hopefully, you will have a new mother before suppertime." He slammed the metal door shut behind him. The latch locked from the outside.

  "She will never be my Mother," I mumbled.

  Apparently, when a man bought a woman at auction, the two were declared automatically married. As promised, Father returned home that afternoon with a new mother for us. The woman marketed herself as a homemaker and a healer. Father told us she was all he could afford. He hoped her healing services would earn the credits we needed for food.

  We were told that we should call her, “Mother,” although Father called her, "Woman."

  She stroked my cheek with her thumb. The stranger silently analyzed me. I knew she was done when she sighed in despair.

  Something about her was off. She didn’t smell right. Her eyes were a strange amber color. They seemed to darken when she looked at Hansel and me.

  Physically she was eerily similar to my real mother. Her dark hair flowed the same way. She was built with the same curves as Mother before the illness. The similarities disturbed me.

  The new woman was nice enough to us in front of our father. When we were alone with her it was a different story. She pinched our backs and pulled our hair if we didn’t move fast enough through the never-ending list of chores she created.

  Most of the time we were alone. The woman left to heal others in the colony often. She took a leather bag with her. We were forbidden to get close to it. I supposed it contained precious elixirs along with the tools of her trade.

  The only act of kindness she offered was her food. Before mealtimes, she swept out the door to see a new patient with her bag in hand. She always told us to split her food while she was gone. The lack of food did not seem to bother her.

  After several months, the rations had not increased. Father stayed away for days at a time on the hunt to try to earn more credits. When he was home, he was increasingly bitter.

  One night Father came home with a moonshine jug in his clutches. It was obvious that he was drunk by the way he shuffled his feet. The metal floor vibrated with each step. I carried Hansel to the opposite side of the room to stay out of his way.

  Father fell into his chair at the table. "Food!" He demanded, then belched loudly.

  I scurried to get his dinner ration.

  When I pushed the button to release the gruel it beeped. A red light flashed on the monitor. I pressed the button again. Nothing came out.

  "Now!" Father bellowed.

  He took a long swig of his drink.

  I panicked and hit the pour release over and over.

  The small intercom on the ceiling crackled to life. "Inhabitants of this dwelling have no credits. Cease use of nutrition device until you have earned more."

&
nbsp; I froze. A cold shiver ran through my spine in the silent moment that followed.

  Father catapulted from his seat. He flipped over the rickety table. It broke into splinters. I ran to cower with Hansel in the corner. Father continued on his rampage. He ripped his bedding, punched dents in the walls, and tossed all of the contents of the cabinets around the room. When he was finally tired, he stood over us.

  "Where is that useless woman?" he snarled.

  I shook my head, afraid to speak.

  He yanked me by my collar. "I said, where is she?"

  The door swung open. Father peered over his shoulder. There she stood with her bag. Her mouth slightly parted. She didn’t have time to speak. Father dropped me into a heap and was upon her instantly. His thick fingers wrapped around her neck. He kicked the door closed.

  "Where are my credits?" he spat in her face. "I was promised a working woman, but I don’t see any credits!"

  She clutched her bag tightly. Her toes barely touched the ground.

  "It’s them," she struggled to speak. "They eat too much. I work every day, do all the chores, take care of those invalids, and this is my treatment?"

  Hansel whimpered.

  Father gave her throat one last squeeze before he let her go. He gulped from his jug.

  "You have a point." He wiped his lips.

  She fell to her knees. She strained to regain her breath. I thought I saw the traces of a smile flash over her face.

  "Of course, dear," she said sweetly. "I could be such a better wife to you without them always hungry and needing my attention."

  Father raised an eyebrow. His massive frame swayed from the alcohol.

  The woman brushed herself off. She ran her fingers through her hair. Then she did something I’d never seen her do before; she kissed him. It was a long, hard kiss, one that eluded too many unspoken promises. Father’s hands groped her backside.

  I pulled Hansel behind me and covered his ears.

  When she was done, she turned her back to him. "We just need to find a way to get rid of them." She paused for dramatic effect. "I know just the thing."

  The woman slid herself up Father’s body until she was on her tiptoes. I saw her tongue caress his ear lobe. I couldn’t hear what she whispered to him. All I saw was his eyes glaze over like he was entranced.

  He snapped out of it when she licked his ear again.

  "Ready?" she asked.

  Father nodded. He strode over to us and pried Hansel from my skirt.

  "No! Father, no!" I pled.

  He elbowed me in the chest. The blow knocked the air from my lungs. He passed Hansel to the woman, then he turned to me. I slapped at him. He wrapped his strong arms around my waist. I kicked and screamed, but I was subdued easily.

  No one in the colony batted an eyelash as Father and the woman wound through the rusty corridors to the airlocks. They were too consumed with their own survival to worry about two scrawny, dirty children.

  Once we were in the lock, the woman opened a slot on the floor and produced atmosphere suits that appeared to fit children. That’s when I realized she had planned to get rid of us for some time.

  Father didn’t question the convenience of stored suits in the floorboards. He held onto a wall to stay upright.

  The woman unsheathed a knife from her skirts. "Put that on or I will slice your brother’s neck."

  Hansel sobbed uncontrollably.

  I quickly pulled on the suit. "Don’t hurt him. I will do whatever you say." My voice shook with fear.

  When I was finished, she commanded me to dress Hansel.

  Father slid to the floor. I wasn’t sure he was conscious anymore. His head hung awkwardly.

  "Hansel, look at me. It is going to be okay. At least we will be together," I tried to console him.

  I willed myself to be strong, but a few tears streaked my cheeks.

  I zipped Hansel’s helmet to his collar.

  The woman opened the first set of doors. She poked me in the back with her knife. "Now get out. Don’t come back or I will kill you, your brother, and your father."

  I took Hansel’s hand in mine. We shuffled into the air chamber. Oxygen hissed from the second set of doors as they parted.

  Bright orange light pierced my visor. I covered my eyes with my free hand. I expected it to be dark since it was night in the colony. Outside, the closest star shone like an infinite number of lightbulbs.

  I dragged Hansel from the confines of the vault. I had never been outside the colony. There were no windows to see what was beyond our prison, so the vast amount of rocks and sand that lay before us was a surprise. The landscape was a desolate wasteland.

  We walked for what seemed like forever. Hansel whined, so I continued to urge him forward.

  Finally, I decided to look back. The colony was a distinct metallic blemish on the horizon. I feared one day we might need to find it again.

  My eyes scanned the clumps of rocks around us. I noticed some small stones like Hansel’s; bright blue against the gray land. An idea came to me.

  I squatted in front of Hansel. "I think we should play a game to pass the time. What do you think?"

  He shrugged.

  I put my gloved hand on his shoulder. "You see those rocks? They look like yours. Do you think we can collect enough to fill our pockets? If I fill mine first then I win. If you fill yours first then you win."

  Hansel eyed me suspiciously.

  I let go of him and began to pick them up. For a moment he watched me. He decided to join in once it looked like I might beat him.

  I made sure to let him win. I doted over his success. He was so proud of his weighed down pockets.

  We trudged forward. I dropped a small pebble every so often to mark the way back. I sang little songs that Mother used to sing to me to pass the time. I had no idea where to go. I only knew that we couldn’t go back to the colony.

  The star scorched us for hours. It didn’t seem to move in the sky. I began to believe that it didn’t set. We were stuck in an endless day.

  My lips cracked from lack of water. Our pace slowed dramatically. Hansel became too tired and dehydrated to walk. I decided to carry him.

  Eventually, we reached a small canyon. As we descended, I spotted a cave on the opposite side. I hoped we could find some shelter there. I slipped down the embankment clumsily with Hansel on my hip. His head bobbed with my steps.

  The cave entrance had a thick glass door. I shielded my eyes to peek inside. A stream of water cut across the floor.

  I giggled. "Hansel, there is water! Do you see it?"

  He didn’t respond.

  "Hansel?" I shook him.

  His eyes rolled into his head.

  I didn’t think. I pushed the door aside. The cool damp air rushed into my face. I laid Hansel on a flat rock by the stream.

  "Who is there?" A meek voice called from the darkness.

  I was startled. "It’s okay. We just need a little water and we can leave."

  "Who are you?" the voice asked.

  "We were sent away from the colony. We are young and my father put us out. Can I please let my little brother rest a few minutes? He isn’t doing so well." I spoke to the darkness. Our host lingered somewhere beyond my sight.

  "Take your time, my sweets. It’s not often that we get visitors. The air is fine for you to breathe here. I managed to grow some algae and moss that produces oxygen. I’m just happy we have guests." The woman’s voice sounded so lonely.

  I shed my suit. My body was wet with thick perspiration. Then I pulled off Hansel’s.

  The air was musty. A strange odor tickled my nose. It reminded me of the way Father"s wife smelled.

  I cupped my hands and dipped them in the water. The stream was colder than I’d imagined. I poured a few drops into Hansel’s mouth. He roused. I grew calm after he grabbed my thumbs to pull my hands closer.

  "More," he croaked.

  I turned his body so he could guzzle as much as he wanted. I put my face in the water and
sucked up as much as I could too. When my belly was full, I flopped onto my back to rest.

  A faint glow emitted from further in the tunnel.

  "Why don’t you two stay for a bit? I will cook you something nice," the disembodied voice sang gently.

  My eyelids fluttered. It was hard to focus on my surroundings. My vision blurred. Something wasn’t right. Suddenly I didn’t have the energy to move. I reached for Hansel. He seemed so far away. I couldn’t get to him. Then the world disappeared.

  When I awoke, I found myself bound by a chain to the rocky wall. I stood with a grunt. The chains allowed me to move only a couple of steps.

  A fire blazed behind iron bars to my left. The heat from the flames was unbearable. My head throbbed.

  "Gretel?" Hansel cried from the other side of the cave. He moaned in terror.

  His small frame cast a long shadow on the wall.

  "Hansel!" I screamed.

  I tugged on the shackles until my wrists bled. I shrieked in frustration.

  "You must stop that now. I can’t handle all that noise." A figure emerged from the shadows.

  I gasped and shrank back to the wall. It was a termagant. The alien’s hands were bony claws. They wrung in delight. Its long thin legs crept closer while the body swayed above like a serpent. The haunched torso carried a human-like skull. Eyes the color of amber stared into my soul.

  "What do you want?" I whispered.

  The termagant’s mouth didn’t move, nonetheless, I heard its voice. "I want your skin. You see, your people keep killing mine because we are different. We could have lived with you humans peacefully, but not while we are being hunted. We were here before you. I don’t see how that is fair. We have figured out a way to become you. We just need your skin."

  The termagant crouched to hold my chin in its grotesque fingers. A small key dangled from a thread around its neck. "Your fool of a father made this all too easy." The alien backed away. "Your brother will be first. We only need to fatten him a little. You will take much longer."

  It pulled the iron bars. Those fingers, like tendrils, extracted meat from within the fire. I was afraid I knew what kind of meat it was. The sinewy chunk of meat was torn in half. A piece was tossed to me and the other to Hansel in his cage. Hansel snatched it from the dirt.