Chapter 14

25 3 143
                                    


Beth had a strong sense of Deja Vu as she walked to the kitchen sink and rinsed the knife she had just been using.

Placing it in the dishrack she turned back to the counter and the veggie-filled cutting board. Carefully she picked it up and tipped the colorful mixture into the shepherd's pie filling, mixing them evenly through it before adding the potato topping.

As she did she heard running feet, and she knew before they arrived who it was.

"TICKLE MONSTAAAA!!" a child's voice squealed in delight, and little feet pattered quickly through the kitchen, with TJ and Taehyung, a.k.a. the "tickle monsta" not far behind.

"RRAAAAWR!!" Taehyung bellowed playfully, darting his hands forward to tickle each of them.

Teenage Brandon looked up from his window seat, nonplussed as he watched the trio dart out. Maya entered carrying a baby girl swaddled in an orangey pink blanket.

Beth smiled as Brandon shuffled over and broke his cool demeanor to make faces at his little niece and tickle her belly, eliciting joyous, burbling laughter.

She slid the pie into the oven and retrieved her daughter from Maya.

"Thank you for changing her Maya, but don't you have classes to get to?"

Maya nodded. "Yeah, two. Is there anything I can bring for dinner?"

As Beth turned to the fridge Taehyung came in holding their now exhausted son in  one arm and TJ trailing close behind.

"I got it!" He sang out cheerfully, extracting the meal from the fridge and passing it to Maya. He bent over and kissed his baby daughter's forehead as her eyelids fluttered sleepily shut and she cooed at her Daddy.

Beth smiled at them and turned back to Maya "You better get going, that'll be the spaghetti and meatballs from Friday. Pick up more cheddar and..." She paused, thinking. "Oh! Right, eggs. Please get them on your way home."

"Got it, gone!" Maya waved as she sprinted from the kitchen.

The little boy in Taehyungs arms bounced a little. "Wha smells sho good mommy??" he chirped as though he hadn't just worn himself out running from the tickle monster.

"Shepherd's pie." Beth smiled at her son, a little twist of longing in the part of her heart that knew this was a dream.

Brandon interrupted his happy cheers, looking up from his phone with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"Bernard's coming over and he's bringing his family!"

The evening erupted into a miniature celebration and Beth wanted it to last forever...

But then she was pulled out of the castle and back to the terrifying clearing she was accustomed to and all sense of Deja Vu vanished.

She followed the sound of swords, confused. Taehyung and Bernard had already fought, it was over. So why...

A shrill cackle drew here eyes skywards and she saw a white figure twitching strings attached to her fingers, controlling the figures of Bernard and Taehyung, perfectly timing with the shadow figures twitching fingers, allowing them to believe they were in control.

Then Bernard and Taehyung began redirecting their slashes, cutting away the cords that bound their movements, only for them to re-grow each time they were severed.

The moonlight faded as Beth fell through quicksand without time to take a breath, she choked on the sand as it swallowed her.

.

Reluctant EnemiesWhere stories live. Discover now