Tease

by Mary E. Twomey

  “Don’t let go of my hand, hani. We’ll find her.”

  It made me rally to hear the concern in Von’s voice that was quickly growing to desperation. As we ran toward the baby who was lost or abandoned in the woods, I knew with everything in me that Von would’ve made a fantastic father.

  I wasn’t expecting the arms that wrapped around me – so thoroughly engrossed was I in finding the baby. “Stop!” Lang whisper-shouted in my ear. He yanked me backward to pause my flight toward the baby, who obviously needed me.

  Danny did the same to Von, only the two devolved into wrestling in the snow on the forest floor, while I stood straining against the prison of Lang’s arms. He smelled of mud, and his forearms were thick and immoveable. “Lang, we can’t just leave a baby in the woods! Help me find her!”

  Lang tightened his grip around my torso, his voice low and deadly in my ear. “It’s not a baby. What you hear is the sound of a Tiyanak.” When this did not deter my struggle, he explained with all the patience of a much older sibling laying out the way of the world. “Tiyanaks are babies who died in the womb. Their spirits come here to roam the forest of Sombi. Something about the transition from womb to death, instead of life, twists them. They’re not the babies they might’ve grown up to be – instead they’re evil. They cry from deep in the woods to lure people to them. Then when you get close, they mutate into a horrific monster and kill the person who tried to help them. The Tiyanaks eat their victims’ organs so they can age a few months.”

  If I thought I understood the creepiness of Terraway, it was nothing to the horror Lang’s explanation bathed me with. “Are you serious?”

  Lang nodded. “I wish I wasn’t. Mason usually traps and drowns them. When father poisoned our women, Sombi was filled with Tiyanaks overnight. He’s no doubt had his hands full since then.”

  I heard the insistent wailing of the baby. She was growing desperate, calling out for anyone to save her. My face drained of color. “Is September here? Is my daughter a Tiyanak?”

  Lang loosened his grip on me so he could rub my back. “This is where her spirit would go, yes.”

  The whispered ambiance was broken by a cry so horrible and anguished, I could scarcely believe it birthed from my mouth. I broke free from the group and ran full-stop toward the wailing. “September! I’m here!” Tears blurred my vision as I bolted through the snow toward the awful cry that my whole body yearned to quell.

  I could comfort my daughter. I didn’t care what kind of monster she was now; she was mine. I loved Mason when he turned into a baby-eating monster. I loved Von, and he would permanently be half a monster. I could love my daughter, no matter what Terraway had done to her sweet spirit. “September! Honey, I’m coming! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I would never leave you alone in the woods!” My heart thudded at what a horrible mama I was – to leave my daughter alone in the snow of Sombi. How many zombies had she seen already? My whole body yearned to get to her and save her from the nightmare.

  I heard the men running after me, so I hurried my own footfalls through the dark. I made good use of my smaller stature by ducking under branches and shimmying between trees they couldn’t maneuver as easily.

  “Stop! October, you’ll get yourself killed!”

  I ran as the crying grew clearer, my heart feeling like it might burst in my chest. I was sobbing audibly now, matching the baby’s wails decibel for decibel. When I reached the source of the commotion, a strangled cry escaped me.

  It was a toddler, a little boy with dark hair and chubby hands. He had tears streaming down his face as he reached for me, his beacon of safety in the darkness.

  Thirty-Eight.

  Bobby Brady

  The crush of thinking I might find my daughter in the darkness, only to lose her so suddenly all over again, tore at my insides. The raw emotion pushed a mournful cry from my lips that was so painful, I winced at the sound of my own torment. Terraway was cruel, and I had been an idiot once again to think I would get anything other than a harsh slap in my sore spots from the land that had given me nothing, and demanded my everything. I shook from head to toe with grief, barely able to see the little guy who was clothed only in a dark scrap of fabric that fit him like a loincloth.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” I worked out as I bent down to reach for him. “I’ll help you. You must be freezing out here. Where’s your coat?”

  He was helpless and innocent as he blinked up at me with his big, round brown eyes. I couldn’t believe he’d ever done a naughty thing in his little life. “What’s your name?” He didn’t seem to be able to talk, so I made up a name to add a little humanity to the Jungle Book vibe he had going. “How about Bobby? Bobby Brady is a good boy. His mama loves him and takes care of him.”

  Bobby’s crying stopped as he reached for me, and I felt that cozy warmth Allie must’ve felt when I cried for her when I’d been a kid. Though I didn’t have a baby anymore, something in me was still a mother, and it could calm a child that wasn’t even mine. It felt like finally being able to use a superpower I’d given up on and labeled as useless.

  “Stop! Don’t touch it!” Lang and the others started to form a circle around Bobby and me, weapons drawn.

  I scowled at the men, but my mouth fell open at Von’s attack stance and focused, yet tear-stained face. “Von! Put that knife away! You’ll scare him!”

  Von met my gaze with a pained expression. “Listen to me, Peach. Don’t touch him. This is how they lure you in. Come to me right now. They’re right, and I should’ve realized it sooner. It’s not a baby. It’s a twisted spirit. It’s a Tiyanak, darling.”

  “His name is Bobby Brady, not ‘it’.” I wanted to scoop up the little boy, at once protective of his trembling, brown-skinned body. “We can help him, Von. He needs us!”

  “It’s not...” Von let out a bleat of agony that came from something scraping at his tender innards. He stared at me, like I was the culprit that caused him such torment.

  Lang’s voice was steady in the dark, “Everyone, hold your positions. Did anyone bring garlic or salt?”

  Various “no”s echoed around me. Ruiz and Klark caught my eye as they took their jackets off and turned them inside out, shoving their arms back through them.

  I couldn’t help but address the weirdness. “What are you doing?”

  Klark answered with a slight waver of fear in his tone. “It’s rumored to turn Tiyanaks away. Everyone turn your clothes inside out!”

  I cast Klark a withering look, pacifying him by tossing my backpack to Danny, taking off my jacket and turning one of the sleeves inside out while I spoke. “Seriously? Bobby’s a little kid, and you’re all scaring him. You should be ashamed of yourselves.” I couldn’t bother with my coat anymore when a fat tear dribbled down Bobby’s cheek, his lower lip trembling. I felt powerful in my femininity as I dropped my jacket into the snow and scooped the little guy up in my arms. I knew this was what he needed, and I could give it to him.

  “No!” Danny shouted with fear I didn’t often hear in him.

  The chubby arms clung to me, afraid of the Frankenstein monster with a knife. I couldn’t blame the kid. “I’ve got you, babe. I’ll take you someplace warm and safe.” I brushed the dark hair out of his eyes. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore. I’m a good mama,” I promised him, vowing that if I couldn’t save my daughter, I could at least help this poor, lost boy.

  Then, as if in slow motion with strange sudden purpose, little Bobby Brady turned his head to look up at me. His teary eyes turned into determined slits as he gripped my shoulders and leaned his head to my breast. I rocked him gently through a shiver, and I swear I could feel him smile against my thin shirt atop my thermal, his cheek dragging up the material. I was shivering in the cold winter of Sombi, but I didn’t care. Bobby Brady knew that I had true warmth in my soul, and that would be enough to get us through.

  September would never feel the warmth that was her mama holding her. She would never fall asleep on me, her little baby bre
ath tickling my neck. I was a mother without a baby – and then suddenly a baby without a mother found me in the woods. What were the chances?

  It was fate; it had to be. The world had finally been kind, doling out a sweet bit of mercy after taking too much from me.

  I felt nothing but calm as I held the sweet little guy, ignoring the panicked shouts of the others. The toddler turned his face to hide in my breast, like a tired little sweetheart. Then opening his mouth, Bobby shocked a scream out of me when he bit down, sinking razor sharp teeth into my skin. He started at my chest bone and ripped a bloody line down to my breast.

  Thirty-Nine.

  The Things You’re Destined to Save

  My arms released the boy in shock, but he clung harder to me, his body dangling off mine as I tried to push him without hurting him. “Ow! He bit me! Bobby, no!”

  The noises of distress from the men told me something freaky was happening, beyond that of a toddler biting into my breast with all the joy of munching on a juicy apple. Bobby’s legs started to elongate, and enormous black wings sprouted from his back as the rest of his body mutated. I nearly vomited when Bobby grew to a size that was more Andre the Giant than toddler. His giant mitts gripped my biceps, squeezing as his fangs grew into long knives that would’ve fit in great in any number of horror flicks. His smooth brown Sakuna skin seemed to thicken and stretch over his cranium. His skull bulged into a misshapen oblong mass that pushed his left eye out further than the right.

  The guys didn’t hold back, now that the monster was fully formed before me. They stabbed and pummeled, but were thrown back by the giant who had too much strength, and an endless supply of organs he could now feast on. I’d led my friends right into his well-laid trap.

  It wasn’t fate that led me here; it was the hunt, and we were the lost kittens who would be served up as dinner.

  Bobby screamed when Lang pierced through his kidney from behind. The sound was still boyish and frightened. I cried out for my monster, my sweet little Bobby, who was hopelessly outnumbered. He swung a too-heavy fist and knocked Ruiz into a nearby tree. Then he grabbed Klark’s arm to take a tasty bite from the bulging muscle.

  Von took advantage of the distraction and ripped me away from Bobby, flinging me behind him as he growled with feral teeth bared. Bobby didn’t like me being hidden from view behind Von. I could tell by his frustrated growl and furtive glances in my direction, that he wanted me to see his fighting abilities, almost like a show and tell.

  Danny was a force to be reckoned with. He was mostly bulk, while Von was a combination of bulk and agility. Danny focused on the wings, stabbing into the black webbed skin with no hesitation. The ripping sound that hit my ears was a mixture of spilling water and something almost metallic as Danny sliced clean through one of the wings. My surly brother let out a roar at finally letting his barbarian self out to play. He’d been opening doors and learning to waltz, stuffing his zombie-slaying desires away to feign civility for Mariang. Danny put the romance movies on a shelf and let loose.

  Lang was wrestling with Bobby, who let out alternating noises that switched between toddler cries for help and roars that sounded like a bear trying to attack its meal. His razor teeth chomped down on Lang’s shoulder, ripping the skin with a growl of savory triumph. Lang howled, which rallied Klark and Ruiz. The two threw themselves at Bobby without thought of their own safety. They tried to stab, but Bobby guarded his sturdy core with agility they could not best. The monster watched my face, gaging my emotional response to his fighting prowess. Again, like he wanted my approval.

  I shook my head at Bobby, letting him know this wasn’t what I wanted. He seemed to grow confused at this, and lost his grip on the upper hand of the battle. Bobby was soon becoming overwhelmed with the sheer number of determined knives that stabbed toward him from every angle. He growled as he flapped his one functional wing, trying to lift himself off the ground to no avail. His head swung in my direction, letting out a mournful cry that seemed to say, “Mama! How could you let them do this to me?”

  I didn’t have an answer. “Bobby Brady, you put those boys down right now!” I roared in my best I-mean-business voice. I moved from behind Von to stand at his side, angry, shivering and glaring as my chest dripped with my own blood.

  Bobby’s eyes locked in on mine, and it seemed that with me as his focal point, he was done with wrestling time and wanted the toy he’d originally set out to trap. He flung Lang, Ruiz, Klark and Danny off of him, as if he’d been merely tolerating their antics this entire time.

  Bobby ran for me, hungry and crying with that urgency of longing for a life that wasn’t filled with loneliness. I knew that feeling. I lived in that longing. Von lunged forward with his knife, but Bobby whacked him sideways in the temple with one hard blow from his battering ram fist, sending Von flying into the nearest tree. I winced at the smack my best friend’s body made against the bark, and the snowfall that rained down on his body. I held my finger up to Bobby and shouted, “Young man, don’t you dare try anything like that ever again!”

  Bobby slowed, as if confused that I wasn’t cowering or fighting. I don’t think he’d been scolded much in his life, and the anger my finger pointed at him gave him pause.

  “Run!” Lang bellowed, jumping on Bobby from behind, his knife poised to slit the beast’s throat. Bobby turned his head and gnashed his teeth at Lang, coming dangerously close to slicing through his handsome tattooed face.

  “Bobby, I told you to mind your manners! I need all these guys alive, and you’ll calm yourself down about it.” I motioned for Ruiz to come to me, my palms sweating as a stupid plan began forming out of sheer desperation. “Ruiz, hand me the cat you caught. The one on your belt.” Ruiz shouted for me to run, but I paid him no mind, instead extending my hand for the roadkill. “Just do it!”

  Ruiz tossed the cat’s body toward my feet, making Bobby jump. I held my finger up to steady him. “Now, that’s quite enough, young man. You can have the whole thing if you let my guys go.” It was a joke, really. I mean, he was far stronger than any of us. He could’ve just taken the cat. But there was something in his bulging eye that softened me. I saw that he wanted to dominate, to win in some way other than a quick killing. Otherwise we’d already be dead. He loved the fight, just as I did. My eternal struggles with Judge were proof of my addiction to that particular dysfunction. Bobby was a monster, sure, but he was sentient, which meant he cared about how he killed his prey. He had opinions, and some part of him existed that wanted to please the viewers while he won a duel. The way he’d watched me while he fought wasn’t strictly to keep an eye on his dinner, but rather to make sure I was noticing how awesome he was. I recognized that same insecurity in the inmates who had a little pride left in them.

  I pretended I was back in the prison, lifting my chin to communicate bravery and a certain “deal with it” charm I’d had to ooze on more than one occasion to keep my virginity intact, along with my life. I looked into Bobby’s wonky eye and forced a smile, which I’m sure he didn’t get a lot of in his current physical state. “If you want this, then you’ll have to leave my guys alone.” I clicked my fingers over my head to garner everyone’s attention. “Ruiz, get Lang out of here. He’s bleeding pretty badly.”

  “I won’t leave you with a Tiyanak!” Lang bellowed, angry he’d been wounded.

  I kept my voice light and a bland smile on my face as my torn chest burned and oozed. “You’ll do as I say and let me handle Bobby. You guys are getting nowhere, going how you are.” It was true; Bobby had stopped out of sheer curiosity, not defeat. Everyone was frozen in the middle of the fight they’d been losing, scared to start back up and continue the battle they were nowhere near winning.

  Von slowly stood, making his way to my side with his knife drawn and fangs ready while he hissed. “Back up and let us handle him.”

  Bobby was not thrilled with being put on hold. He roared at Von, vying for my attention like a true two-year-old who needed to be the star. Von and Danny
started circling him while Ruiz helped Lang off to the side, so he wouldn’t be more appealing to Bobby than the offering of the cat. It made no logical sense from a predatory standpoint why Bobby wouldn’t go for the bigger pieces of meat all around him. Why he was so fixated on the cat, which was far smaller and not nearly as fresh.

  But I knew it wasn’t about food at that point. It was about figuring me out, toying with his inherently human need to please, and the more monstrous desire for the Darwinian need to be the cunning predator. It was anybody’s guess which of his two natures would win out.

  Bobby let out a baby-ish cry to poke at my weaknesses so that when I fell, the victory would be sweeter, worthy of a longer savor. He kept his eyes on me, experimenting with varying pitiful cries to see how much he owned me.

  I let his wails pull the corners of my mouth into a contorted expression to show him that I cared he was in pain, or at least that I understood he wanted me to think that. Danny stabbed at his wing again from behind, and Bobby roared, whirling and batting at Danny irritably. I ran forward, putting my smaller body between the two. Only instead of protecting Danny, I braced my back to Bobby, my arms splayed as I shouted for Danny to stand down.

  “You’re mad! Get back, daft girl! He’ll eat you as soon as look at you!”

  “Then it’ll be only me who gets eaten. Back up! I mean it, Danny. I’m working on a solution, here. I won’t let you get hurt, do you hear me? Give me a few minutes, and then if it doesn’t work, you can go nuts. Trust me in this.”

  Von’s voice from behind Bobby was angry, and my teeth set against his vitriolic tone. “He’s not your pet. He won’t sit and roll over simply because you ask him to. You’re bleeding!” he whined, and I knew the scent of my blood was torturing him, making him that much more unsteady.