In Control

Chapter 5

My mother paid no attention to the weather above the woods, which I found curious, but at this point, I was no longer surprised about anything she was doing. Whatever those voices were saying, well, they were true. It wasn't her anymore, but something otherworldly. '...IT came to Earth for you AND me...' One of them had said. These voices kept calling the thing that took my mother, IT. 

And what were they trying to say, '...IT came to Earth...' So, this thing is an alien? 

That would explain why it was acting the way it was. How it was acting wasn't normal, and that red spot on her, err, IT's neck wasn't there before we arrived. Maybe that's how this thing took her? Glancing over at the alien replacement, she hesitated before stepping over a large root, as if unsure it would end well, then stumbled around a bit and kept going. My mother use to be an avid climber and hiker. She knew how to walk through woods better than a market. I kept watching her as we moved deeper into the forest. 

After a good while, she stopped and sat all her things down and started unpacking everything. "How's about this for a place to set up camp?"

I nodded and sat my stuff down too. "After we get set up, can I go out and start exploring while you stay and relax? You've been working really hard on the new house, you need to rest better."

She thought a moment before nodding. "Sounds good to me."

Even her movements setting up the tent were unsteady. She was jagged in her movements and seemed frustrated. 

~----~

After we got the tent set up and everything else into the tent, I stepped out of it and looked out to the trees that were surrounding us. I hadn't noticed before, but the trees felt like they were pulling closer to me. Even walking around the branches moved, ever so slightly, with me. The voice had mentioned something about ruins. Maybe there would be some deeper into the woods.

I headed off in a random direction that, to me, just felt right. I began to notice how more and more of the trees stopped moving entirely. Birds were still chirping, the wind was soft, but it was there none the less. I saw a squirrel jump from branch to branch, then follow me on the ground once it failed and fell. 

"Squirrels don't normally do that..." I spoke softly, turning around and kneeling down, the little creature came up to me directly. "What's so different with me?"

It chirped and set its paw on my hand when I reached out. A hoot from above me made me jump, but the squirrel didn't flinch. Though an owl did gently glide down and settle next to me, turning to settle its head on my arm. It was a Barn Owl if I wasn't mistaken. This was strange, an owl and a squirrel so close to each other, but weren't enemies.

"You two are so strange..."

I stood up and felt a chill run down my spine. The owl shook and hissed in the direction of camp and the squirrel started chirping and flicking his tail. Then all fell silent, but for those two creatures getting upset at my feet. The squirrel's hair stood on end and he climbed up my leg as he tried to get away from something and the owl hissed and tried to make itself large. A large shadow darkened the forest in front of us, moving from right to left. Along with it, a chill rushed past me and it felt like everything froze. The trees were already still, the chirping quit, the air turned cold, and the sky stopped moving. The three of us were the only things that were still moving.

The owl jumped up and rapidly flapped its wings, landing on my shoulder and hopped into my arms when I curled them to hold the little furball that was nearly sprinting up my leg. They saw that thing to, so what if it saw me? Turning, I ran away from the shadow's direction and tried not to stumble or drop what I was holding. I could feel both of the scared little creatures digging their claws into my chest and gut, trying so hard to keep hold and not fall out of my grip.

Slowing down after a good few minutes of running, I took in my surroundings to see what I could understand in that moment because something big was off that I did not notice at first. The shadow was gone, or it had never followed. The trees were frozen in the midst of a windy dance that bent them at the waist, birds were as still as frozen statues in the sky, a rabbit stuck mid-jump over a fallen tree which itself was still falling. My friendly owl jumped from my arms to the ground and clawed at it. All around us, flames had scorched the ground leaving it an almost pitch black canvas. Clawed holes littered the entire area along with other blunt signs of a struggle. 

I heard something shift behind me and I whirled around.

"...You made it..."

Static filled the air and the small, smokey form of a humanoid creature lay on the ground. There were no distinguishing features of the blackish grey face beside its white eyes looking towards me. It reached out its thin, feminine hand towards me and whined slightly.

"...There is little time... But there is no need to be afraid..." 

It flopped to the ground with a thud and groaned, a puddle of some glowing orange substance grew. Blood?

"...Come, Luna, please..."

It raised its fingers ever so slightly and whined. Both of my new little friends came rushing over to it and I had a strange, unexplained urge to follow suit. This creature was wounded but was gentle with me when it set its hand on my knee.

"...My dear Luna, I understand that you are confused about our situation... I, cannot explain everything that I wish I could... You, and I, are both in danger... As well as the rest of your world..."

It raised its other hand, palm up, and sighed. In the palm of its hand was a white circle with weird, almost cybernetic symbols on it. It, she, flipped its palm over and sat it on my chest above my heart. A weird, tingly feeling encased my entire body in seconds when contact was made. The world around turned a colorless, all except for the four of us. Somewhere along the line of looking into those large, white eyes I reached out and cupped her cheek, making the air around us warm with comfort.

"...I shall take you somewhere safe... Where IT cannot get you..."

A gentle breeze from the right blew through my hair and circled around us. Dust picked up and started swirling higher and higher as what sounded like bells rang through the air. The dirt cloud turned from a light grey to a straight black as the walls got thicker and thicker.

"But Casey-"