赤裸裸的滑稽故事

For the slightest of moments, Myka froze.

He saw the roots wrap around her waist. He saw her fall. At that moment, everything stopped. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t scream. All he could do was watch in horror as it happened.

“Sadie!!!” he screamed as he came back to his senses.

His heart leaped into his throat, and he felt as though the blood was drained from his body as she was dragged back into the bushes with a scream. He and Stefan both moved to run after her. But Myka couldn’t let Stefan go. He had to keep him with the others.

“No!” Myka shouted.

They reached the rock before Myka could stand in Stefan’s path and block him from going further. He grabbed him by the shoulders. “You stay here, keep the others together and safe.”

“No!” Stefan shouted back, trying to push past Myka as he kept his eyes on where Sadie had been dragged.

“Please, Stefan!” Myka shouted, his voice filled with emotion. “I can’t have both of you in danger.”

Stefan looked up into Myka’s eyes. He saw the concern and fear. He clenched his jaw and looked away, but he nodded.

“Thank you,” Myka whispered.

Stefan watched as Myka shifted into his wolf and ran after Sadie. He was angry and afraid. It was the second time he was leaving his sister in danger, letting someone else be the one to rescue her. But would Myka return the way that Alice did? Was it already too late?

Stefan took a deep breath and lowered his eyes. On the ground, he saw the journal she had been holding. The one that Peter had given her. He reached down and picked it up, closing it gently and tying it closed. He hugged it to his chest and looked back up at the trees.

Behind him, he heard the sound of sniffling. He looked back to see the others huddled together. Two of the boys were crying. The other one stared in the direction she had been taken. His eyes were wide, and he took slow, deep breaths. The girl put her arms around the two crying boys, trying to comfort them.

Stefan swallowed and looked back where Sadie and Myka had disappeared. He took another deep breath and cleared his mind. Then turned and walked to the others. He approached the boy that wasn’t crying, just staring into the trees from the shock of what he had witnessed.

His name was Dane. He was usually very tough and sure of himself. He had been the one that had promised to catch more fish than anyone. He was older than Stefan, the same age as Sadie. Though he often teased her, he was actually very considerate of her.

Dane had sat beside Sadie at the fire, listening intently as she described the lemon berry tree in great detail. He asked her questions and read the parts of the journal she pointed to him. He didn’t care anything about the tree or the fruit. But he knew Sadie wanted to talk about it, so he listened.

“She’ll be all right,” Stefan said, trying to sound confident. “Myka won’t let anything happen to her.”

Dane blinked and lowered his gaze to Stefan.

Stefan was surprised to see not just a look of worry or concern. But fear, sadness, and grief.

Dane looked away.

“I just never thought I’d have to see it again… hear it again,” he whispered.

Stefan furrowed his brows.

“Hear what again?” he asked.

Dane swallowed.

“Sadie…” Dane whispered sadly.

“What do you mean?” Stefan asked.

Dane didn’t answer. He lowered his eyes and stepped back. He sat beside the others and put his arm around one of the younger boys.

“They used to take her away…” the girl said, hugging one of the boys. “We didn’t know why… but sometimes… a lot of times. We heard her.”

Stefan swallowed as he looked at the four children. They were scared and worried. But it wasn’t the creature that had taken Sadie that they were afraid of.

He knew the lab was a bad place and that Sadie had been treated differently than the others, but he didn’t know to what extent.

Stefan had been trapped in Autumn for a couple of weeks, but these kids had spent their entire lives in that lab.

Sadie had spent her entire life in that lab, screaming.

Stefan clenched his jaw and looked back to where she and Myka had disappeared.

‘He’ll save her… he has to,’ Stefan told himself.

***

He rushed into the bushes, moving as fast as he could. He could hear her not far ahead. She wasn’t screaming anymore, but she was struggling and crying.

Myka growled and pushed further into the thick undergrowth of the trees. Before long, the area opened up to a small clearing. As he cleared the last of the bushes, he saw Sadie still being dragged across the clear.

Another growl, and he charged forward, running just past her to clamp his strong jaws down on the root wound tightly around her waist. He bit down hard. A bitter liquid spilled onto his tongue from the root as he shook and tore until it started to give.

The root snapped, and what remained flew back into the trees while the end Myka had bit down on was still in his mouth. Then, finally, he let it fall and shifted back to his human form.

“Sadie!” he called as he rushed to her side. Immediately he worked to remove the root still wrapped around her.

She gasped for air and whimpered as the root was finally pulled away from her body. Myka looked down, her shirt was torn, and the root had dug into her skin as it dragged her through the forest leaving behind angry red welts and burns.

“Can you stand?” he asked.

“I think so,” she whispered.

Myka helped her to her feet. She hissed and cried out. Every movement burned. But she was able to stand on her own. Myka carefully pulled her close. He kissed the top of her head and took a deep breath.

“You need to hurry back to the others,” he whispered before pulling away from her.

“Come with me,” she said.

Myka shook his head.

“It’s not dead. I can hear it coming back already,” he said, looking at the dense trees before him. “Go, get to the others. Start heading back down the mountain. I’ll catch up.”

“But—” Sadie started, but two roots shot out from the trees.

“Go!” Myka shouted, barely avoiding the first root.

Sadie let out a cry, but she did as he said. She ran toward the bushes she knew she had been dragged through. As she started to crawl through them, she looked back. Myka had a weapon in his hand. He was fighting back against the roots.

He cut one of them, a green liquid oozing from the injury. The root drew itself back into the trees. The second root attacked, Myka held firm and avoided its reach, but a third root appeared. It shot straight for him. He didn’t see it. He couldn’t prevent it. The root wrapped around his throat.

Sadie’s eyes went wide.

“Daddy!!!” she screamed.