The summer night was devoid of any noise. The type of heavy quiet lent by a sweltering humidity. Where no wind stirred the leaves that hung listless from the moss-covered branches as if weary. Whatever sound; the soft hooting of an owl as she woke for this night's hunt, a gentle symphony of cicadas, the errant rev of an engine, deadened almost instantly. The evening was clear and in the absence of city lights a waxing crescent moon was stark against the inky blackness of the sky, each star a pinprick of luminescence.
Within the humble abode that sat just barely past the edge of the dense woods only one window was lit up. The orange flickering glow a sad imitation for starlight. Past the bay, opened wide to invite any wayward breeze inside to cool sweat covered brows, a lopsided circle of candles was lit. Small glims, long tapers, old scented pillars whose aromas had long since faded. These lambent rays caused the shadows of the six children in the bedroom to jump and shift endlessly. They were teenagers really, if barely. They sat huddled at the foot of a bed, surrounded by pillows and blankets.
"-And so we are warned by those who claim to know better than us that only a fool would dare to wander into the woods alone on one of the moonless nights. And if you happen to steal a glance towards the tree line be sure to look away swiftly or you might catch the deep golden eyes of the hell hound. If he catches your scent then forever more you will be hunted. Not far behind this ravenous beast is another much worse… the demon-"
Next to him Hunk let out a terrified squeal and dove quite spectacularly beneath the bundle of knit blankets where his lumpy form shivered. Lance might have rolled his eyes at the other boy's dramatics, but he himself was stiff with fear, his shoulders drawn high and tight, his blue eyes held wide, white's drowning out his irises. Steadily, through-out his sister's story, the young boy had pulled his long legs up to his chest and now hugged against them tightly. His beloved Tiburonsito, an old stuffed shark, the soft fabric matted down from years of similar use, trapped between his stomach and his thighs.
"Whose violet gaze will latch onto not just you, but your soul. Though, some say that even he is a victim, cursed now to drag others down."
Lance couldn't help but jump as two things happened simultaneously.
Veronica lowered the flashlight from beneath her chin, breaking the eerie spell it cast upon her features The yellow glare lending her sun kissed skin a sallow undertone, every expressive line deepened with harsh pitch obscurity.
And Pidge spoke.
"If the dog has golden eyes than it would probably just be a wolf, or a coyote more likely if it was alone like that. They have been known to travel this far south and- hey ow!"
"Okay kill joy-" Veronica shone the torch right at Pidge's face, before switching it off and tossing it to the only sibling older than her in the room. Marco caught it deftly from the air. "Next story coming up!"
Hunk whimpered from behind Lance, somewhere buried within the linens. "I'm sure we're good for tonight right guys?" came his muffled request, at which Lance shot him an unhelpful glare and Pidge executed a much more successful elbow drop into an unknown part of her larger friend, eliciting a muted "ow" from within the plush cocoon. His head came free of the layers, "Come on guys enough scary stories for tonight please"
"Oh stop being such a baby!" Pidge groused.
Usually Hunk's pleads were able to move Lance. But this was the first time in a while he'd been able to see his older brother since he'd started working. "It's still early Hunk, one more?" His friend must have seen something in the other boy's expression, or heard a certain note in the tone, because he groaned and buried himself once more. Rachel was quiet, her large dark eyes set in a face so much like Lance's own, reflected the dancing light of the candles as they looked on.
Marco smirked, the small amount of stubble that had managed to sprout added to his mischievous demeanor. He tossed the flashlight into the air, it flipped once, twice, a third time before he caught it once more.
Veronica and Rachel both rolled their eyes in such a similar manner that Lance wondered for a moment how they were not the twins.
"Show off." Veronica muttered under her breath.
"Alright losers! Are you ready for a real story?" His teeth showed as his smile grew wider. Hunk whimpered, but the rest of the kids leaned forward, eagerness filling their gazes. "Well buckle up~" He pointed at Pidge with the old flashlight, " this one is special for you nit-picker. This one is locally sourced—"
"Hey mine was too!" Veronica protested but Marco spoke over her.
"- And verifiable! Mi abuela used to tell me this one, and you're a braver man than I if you call her a liar. But if you want to, and you're daring enough you could go in search of the truth."
With that he flicked the torch back on, lighting up beneath his chin. Somehow it had a much more malign effect on Marco, whose eyes and cheeks suddenly fell into such jet shade that he appeared in the darkness of the room like a talking skeleton.
Lance re-situated himself, moving his legs back down to a crossed position, clutching onto the stuffed shark. Idly his fingers passed over the top of the toy's head like a worry stone.
"Not so long ago, yet still before you were all born an evil witch moved into our woods, yes! Our very own forest! Yes Hunk right outside those doors. She was on the run from another small town just like ours. Can you guess why?" The young man paused in dramatic affect. In this brief silence not a breath stirred, each of the children holding the air within their lungs, leaned forward with anticipation. Even Hunk had lifted the blanket from his head, peaking out. "Ah, well that is a story for another time I suppose—" Marco continued through the objections, laughter tinting his tone. "You'll know if you ever stumble upon her in the deep woods. To find her you must wander from the known path, to be first unsure, and then lost.
"She's very distinct. With hair as stark white as sun bleached bone, which hangs lank and matted from beneath her hooded cowl. This hides almost all of the details of her features, whether or not she's young or old—"
"Okay but is she hot." A chorus of groans followed Lance's interruption, but he held fast, "I'm asking the important questions here people!"
"No Lance, she's an old hag duh.—"
"But you said—"
"She's a witch! With hideous scars all over her face! That's why she hides it." Marco cleared his throat and ran a hand back through his long unruly hair, obviously scrambling after the threads of his story. "Layers of dusky clothing hang from her withered frame, browns and grays and blacks. Her hands, shaped more like claws, the only other part of her that can be seen. Stained dark with the potions that she mixes.
"While they're hidden by the shadows cast by the hood those who have been unfortunate enough to meet her claim such an odd thing. Her eyes have no color and no pupils, as if she were blind. Some say that from their pale depths you can get a glimpse of your own death- a truly terrible curse indeed. It's because of this that misfortunes follow her around like a plague—"
"Why would anyone visit her then?" Orange candlelight glinted off Pidge's glasses as she straightened them.
A familiar sensation began to build in Lance's chest, creeping up his airways, tightening around his throat, making it harder and harder to breath. This wasn't his own though, and Lance did his best not to look over at Rachel.
The sigh that escaped Marco sounded more like a growl. "Well if you brats would let me finish!" He shot a wilting glare at each and every one of them while Veronica nodded sagely in the background. "it's said—" he paused once more, eyes scanning the young faces, one last time, checking to make sure that no more disruptions were imminent. "That she can grant wishes. For a price of course." Out of the corner of his eyes Lance saw Pidge roll her eyes and from beneath the layers of blankets he almost didn't hear Hunk's snort. If Lance could loosen his voice from the vice grip prison of his throat he might have grumbled about how stories of wishes were for children. They already knew the moral of these sort of tales! Marco pulled in a deep breath, presumably to settle fully into the narrative.
Despite how the apprehensive mood had broken, when Rachel began to cough everyone still jumped. Including Marco. The sound was so sudden in the quiet, so harsh. The flashlight clattered to the floor, rolling beneath the bed where it remained flickering. If she hadn't been coughing Lance was Sure Rachel would have been laughing at them instead for being chickens and startling so easily. But that was Rachel for you, she wasn't scared of anything.
Even though Lance had known it was coming he wasn't the first by her side. That was Pidge, followed by Veronica and a still blanketed Hunk, thick comforter wrapped tightly around him. Multiple pairs of hands began to rub soothing circles across her back through the soft cotton fabric of her lilac pajamas. Murmurings of encouragement and platitudes filled the air around her. It did nothing to help. Rachel's long curling locks drooped in limp twists over her shoulders, which spasmed with each failed inhalation. She hunched over, hacking coughs loosing a wet sound into the room. To Lance it felt as if her own body was trying to kill her and he knew that there was nothing that could be done.
This had happened time and time again.
Lance sighed, knowing how the press of bodies fed into Rachel's anxiety, how much she hated being the center of attention for such a reason as this sickness. How it suffocated her and heightened her coughing. Even in this condition, between each tormented hack she still pushed out false assurances for her friends. Lance knew though, how empty they were. He knew about the panic that curled tightly in her chest whenever those she loved surrounded her during these attacks. Their worry suffocating. She'd never told him this. She didn't have too. It wasn't just because Lance could read her like a book. He felt all of this as if it were his own fears coming to life. He could feel it like a knife in his heart, closing like a hand over her throat. Made her struggle to breathe that much harder. And so, despite the fact that he wished so badly to go to his sister's side along with all of their friends Lance turned. In the face of these fits he felt more than useless. He had to do something. Anything to distract him from this triplicity of feelings; his own utter ineptness the unease and inability to breath, both of which were not his own to begin with. (Even though he knew that he was perfectly fine)
Lance pushed through this cocktail of emotions and sensations and crawled over to his bed, keeping Tiburonsito with him as he went,peaking beneath. Through the messy fall of sheets he spotted the torch in the far corner, up against the wall. It still flashed eerily. Unable to reach it with a simple stretch of his arm he shimmied beneath the frame, fingertips brushing against it until he was able to roll it into his palm and click it off. From beneath the bed he could hear Marco speaking, and as he slowly made his way back out from beneath the frame he saw how his older brother's hands were up in front of him, motioning downwards as he hushed those assembled. Lance tried to shoot him a glare, stuck as he was still under the bed, but before he could say anything Veronica was already speaking, her hissed words cutting through his hushes.
"You know she can't help it!"
"Yeah I know!" Marco hissed back. " I just don't want…"
The door flew open as if a sudden gale had picked up, though somehow it didn't slam into the wall, a skill only a mother could have as she stormed into the room. Despite her short stature the woman filled up the whole of the frame in her rage. (at least from his point of view) Lance could easily imagine that her eyes were glowing in anger. Lance jumped, the back of his head collided with the underside of the box spring. The candles were all blown out as the door flew wide and even from his vantage point Lance could still make out the curling gray smoke as it twisted into the air.
He was the only one who braced for it.
"Dios mio what in the world are you children still doing up?" Her voice joined the fray, startling those who had not yet noticed her presence (somehow) Veronica shrieked, along with Hunk. Their voices rising to the same hilarious pitch. What was even more comical to witness was Marco and Pidge's reaction. A silent, but side splitting show. Lance had finally managed to roll out from under the bed, rubbing the back of his head where a sizable knot was beginning to form.
Marco was standing, fists raised as if ready to fight, and Pidge had fallen back, eyes wide and filled with fear, pupils dashed to small pinpricks as the lights were flicked on.
All gleeful plans of teasing literally everyone in the room save for Rachel (who'd been so startled that she'd held her breath, subsequently halting the cough) were quickly squashed as his eyes finally rose to meet his mama's. They flashed in a cold fury that was only slightly dampened by worry.
Hunk squeaked at the sight of the stout woman and dove back beneath his covers. Every other person in the room stood taller than her and yet the rage that surrounded Lance's mom as a palpable aura shrunk the rest of them. Even his two adult siblings were dwarfed back into children before her.
"Mama—" Marco stepped forward, dropping his hands swiftly. His voice as calm as he could keep it even as Rachel began to cough again, shoulders shaking with the effort to hold them in. the back of her hand pressed against her mouth to stem them further. "we were just having a bit of fun with them, telling stories—"
"You should know better." The ease with which she cut him off mid-sentence was an art form, amazing (if terrifying) to watch. Her tone was crisp and there was no sign of her accent what-so-ever.
"Uh-oh." Lance muttered under his breath, the only one dumb enough o speak in this moment. Whenever her dialect faded like this, specifically around their friends, it meant bad news. The boy flinched as a withering scowl was leveled directly at him.
Rachel's coughing subsided and the small Cuban woman moved her gaze to each individual in the room. Not even his twin was spared and all diminished before it.
"All of you should know better in fact." Rachel wasn't even immune to the lecture. "you most of all. It is your own responsibility to take care of yourself." Just as it felt as if she was entering her stride, she sighed. "unless you would like your friends to go home right now—" These words were harshly emphasized "then I suggest you all go to bed. You." She jabbed her finger right into Macro's chest, "have to work in the morning."
His two older siblings exited, looking down, shoulders slumped and properly chastised. Marco shot a quickly whispered promise to the teens. "Don't worry guys, we'll finish up that witch story some other time!" Mama stood by the door, arms crossed as she watched her orders being followed.
However no amount of parental disapproval could truly stop teenagers from complaining. The few protests that filtered out were only from the twins. Both Rachel and Lance groused about their luck. Where as Hunk and Pidge had both jumped to follow directions. The small bespectacled girl settled beneath the comforter on Rachel's bed just as Hunk bounded onto Lance's, remaining just as bundled as he already was. Lance piled in after him.
Despite her previous anger their mom fussed about, straightening the blankets around her two youngest children. "I'll grab your medicine Rachel, and a glass of water."
"Mom I'm—" Lance felt how the word 'fine' caught against the harsh cough in her throat.
"Callar mi querido y tomar esto."
Somehow through her hacks Rachel was able to speak, if only a little, "but mama- so nasty-hafta?" Lance knew what look his sister was receiving even though mama wasn't facing him.
Lance blinked, his lids growing heavy as a bitter taste flushed across his tongue almost like a memory. The boy shifted in bed, clutching Tiburonsito tightly to him and turning his back to the room, to his mom, to Rachel. Hunk's head was buried beneath the pillows.
"Oh buddy it's okay," Lance murmured, studying the way the blankets shuddered along with the boy beneath them. His vision began to blur along the edges as sleep began to sneak upon him. "you're such a wimp."
There was no telltale sign over the normal sighs of his small home in the deep night; the settling of old boards and the low hum of electricity. But Lance still knew how badly his two older siblings were getting berated. And he could feel exactly how the guilt twisted Rachel's heart up into a knot. A cold sensation that reached its icy grip across the small distance between their beds and curled skeletal fingers around Lance's as well.
Anytime Lance had tried to tell his friends about this strange sharing of emotions and sensations that went from Rachel to him they'd teased him for having some magical twin connection. Only she'd never felt any of Lance's pain, never experienced his happiness or his sadness with him as he did with her. They'd even gone so far as to test it out. And gotten in trouble in the process to boot!
"Oh no Lance I'm never gonna be able to sleep!" Hunk moaned, lifting the pillow from his face. "What if that demon comes to take our souls?"
"Shuddup Hunk none of those stories were real!" Pidge spoke in a voice just barely above a whisper, most likely in fear of summoning Lance's mama to the room again.
"It's gonna be fine big guy-ignore her—" Lance began to hum very softly. Even if he agreed with Pidge that didn't mean he wanted to hurt Hunk's feelings. He was simply, endearingly exasperated.
His own voice began to grow farther and farther away, harmonizing with the soft breathing of the two girls. Hunk's trembling subsided but Lance only vaguely registered this as he teetered over the edge of sleep.
Rachel began to cough again, the sound harsher in the darkness. The lullaby Lance had started jarred to a halt and he pursed his lips and screwed his eyes shut tight in a vain attempt to ignore her and her ragged, broken breathing. Soon after Hunk's snores filled the room despite.