Spring 2 – Wednesday
It might have been my alarm clock that woke me up, or it might have been Scruffy. I climbed out of bed and flung open the door to my 'room'. Scruffy stood barking, her hackles raised. I ran towards her, wondering all the while what was going on.
"Scruffy? What's the matter, girl?" I asked, stroking her head. She whimpered and backed away from me, like she always does whenever something is wrong. I looked around wildly. What could be wrong? We kept no livestock, and we had nothing of any real value here on our land. Besides, no one in this small town would even dream of stealing, right?
I ran back and into the house. "Mom, Dad!" I cried, "Something's wrong with Scruffy!" No one answered. No one was even in the house. I gasped and ran back out to Scruffy.
"Girl, what's the matter?" I asked wildly, "What happened? Where's Mom and Dad?" Of course I received no answer, but she did continue barking towards the forest.
Without another thought, I ran like mad toward the forest. Scruffy decided to lead the way. She came to a fork in the road and began sniffing. Without any further hesitation, she began to sprint straight ahead, and I followed. She led me through a path of dark and ominous trees, right to a large lake. On the far side of the lake, I saw something that I couldn't entirely comprehend.
Scruffy seemed to slow as she reached the opposite side of the lake, as did my pace. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Doctor was on his knees beside the lifeless bodies of my parents. He had no expression on his face whatsoever, and seemed to be in a trance.
"Mom! Dad!" I screamed, throwing myself to the ground.
"Scarlet," Doctor said, looking up. He seemed to have barely recognized me. "I… I'm sorry."
I paid no attention to him, focusing only on the two bodies in front of him. Shaking my mother fiercely, I desperately hoped and prayed that it would wake her. It did not.
Yet, as I began to cry, I saw my father's hand twitch. I leaned over him, shaking him by the shoulders. His eyes opened, I laughed in relief. "Dad, are you all right?" I cried out, grasping his cold, pale hand. His mouth opened, and he pulled me close.
"Get away from him," my father whispered, his voice sounding strained, "before he kills you, too." Those were his last words. My head shot up as something beside me moved. It was Doctor. I cautiously edged away from him, trying to get to my feet as inconspicuously as possible.
He walked to the water's edge and said quietly, "It was the Kappa." I did not know how to respond. What was a Kappa? I glanced towards the lake and saw a ripple cross the glasslike surface. Memories of grade school flooded my mind. We had read stories about Japanese myths. Suddenly, I knew what the Kappa was.
"They were lying like this when I found them," he whispered. Before I could register what he had said, he dropped to his knees, weeping in anguish. "It's like all the others," he cried, "I've failed…"
His head drooped onto his chest as he repeated over and over, "I couldn't save them, I couldn't save them," his voice seeming shrill and young. His black eyes seemed to fade, becoming unfocused.
There we were, crying by the lake. What could we have done?
"What's going on here?" a deep voice asked fiercely. It was Gotz. I ran to him and threw my arms around him, glad to see a friend, or at least a friend of the family. He patted my shoulder to calm me down.
"Gotz, my parents," I choked into his shirt. He looked towards the water's edge and pushed me away gently. Howling in rage, he ran to their bodies. Doctor flew the coop, in a manner of speaking.
Gotz leaned over their bodies, trying to resuscitate them, but they were too far-gone. He looked up at Doctor, who stood at a safe distance away. "You bastard, what did you do to them?" he roared, his gentle demeanor suddenly shattered.
"Doctor didn't do anything!" I screamed, bringing myself into the fight. "The Kappa did it! Doctor did nothing!" I was crying harder than I ever had before, "He didn't do anything," I shrieked, falling to my knees beside Gotz.
"He never does," Gotz growled angrily, glaring at Doctor. The young man seemed hurt and frightened. I knew that there was something about that moment that I did not know. Something between Doctor and Gotz.
I could barely tell that I was still crying. Seeing my parents dead on the ground in front of me had numbed my entire body. I began to tremble uncontrollably and fell to the ground. As my eyes began to close, I could see Doctor standing over me, a concerned expression upon his pale face.
"Take her home," I could hear Gotz say, "I'll have to take them to the clinic. I'll tell Carter." Before my consciousness faded away entirely, I could feel Doctor pick me up and carry me away. It was so warm in his arms.
"Who did this to you, Kathy?" Gotz asked, kneeling beside my mother's body. "Why would the Kappa do such a thing?"
Doctor's grip on me tightened as we made our way through the grove of trees. With his face above me, the trees did not seem as ominous as they had when I was alone. Scruffy whined as she trotted along beside us, ever loyal to me. As the light poured in through the trees, it lit up Doctor's face, making his skin look so smooth…
He laid me down in my parent's bed. He must not have known that I had slept in the outside shed. My eyes were barely open; he apparently could not tell, for as he began to walk away, he paused.
Turning around, he approached me again. Leaning over, he kissed my forehead, but did not pull away from me. Reaching around, he put his arms around my body, holding me close.
A tear fell from my eye when I heard him say to the silence,
"I'm sorry."