CHAPTER SEVEN: The White Rabbit
The next couple of weeks were relatively uneventful for Theresa and Taiga. The woman selected a few hours each day to speak with Snake Eyes and their conversations usually gravitated around the ninja's own wellbeing or the whereabouts of Logan and Hideki. Theresa managed to contact Hideki's father but he mentioned nothing regarding his son, so she made a few calls to contact Hideki's siblings but they either avoided her calls or hadn't heard from him. Theresa debated phoning her Mother but if she even thought for the closest second that Logan was missing, Theresa would be called home immediately.
She considered asking Snake Eyes for help but didn't want to bother him unnecessarily, and after a while of him asking Theresa ended up lying, saying that Logan and Hideki returned a month and half after Snake Eyes left. For a while, she almost believed they were back, a stack of logs was left outside her house one morning and Theresa scrambled to the hanger hoping the plane was inside with her brother and brother-in-law. But they weren't.
The next time something funny like that happened, the carcass of an elk was left on her doorstep, most of it anyway. Sections of meat were sliced up and put into neat little bags and were arranged around the decapitated head. Theresa didn't run to the hanger this time, only dipping down and grabbing the bags before waddling back inside. She locked the door behind her and stared down at the bags, dumping them unceremoniously into the sink. One after another, she opened the bags and sliced the meat open, putting hand over her mouth as maggots festered or a strange stench wafted off the meat. She guessed poison but didn't want to investigate.
About three months later, Theresa was about to let Taiga out when she caught sight of a white figure standing some thirty feet away. Taiga growled and Theresa fell onto her knees and wrapped her arms around her dog to keep him from running off. The figure in the distance starting moving towards them, slowly, and Theresa heaved with all her might until Taiga relented and went over to stand in front of the stairs. Theresa shut and bolted the door, rushing upstairs to retrieve her knife and then staring out the peep hole. The man was standing right there, his pitch black eyes like a stagnant pool of molasses.
"Kon'nichiwa." He said, not yelling but raising his voice enough so she could hear him.
"Yeah," she called back hesitantly. "Who're you?"
"I'm called Storm Shadow."
Theresa felt her heart jump up into her throat.
"I assume you've heard of me?"
"Yeah," she called back, her voice breaking. "He's not here, you know."
Storm Shadow nodded and pulled down his mask, revealing the very casual smile on his face as he leaned forward, bracing his hands on the door and moving his face closer. Theresa looked away and whimpered pathetically, her stomach churning uncomfortably. She heard Storm Shadow chuckle on the other side of the door.
"I know. I saw them leave but, you understand, I do not have the resources to track him."
"Right," Theresa answered faintly.
"So, if it's not too much trouble I was wondering if you knew how to get in contact with him. We're old friends and he seemed rather at ease with you. He wouldn't simply leave you alone, he likes making new friends."
Theresa slid down the door and dropped the knife with a dull clatter, she heard Storm Shadow drop down with her, almost feeling the heat of him against the door.
"Come now, I'm not here to frighten you. Just let me contact Snake Eyes."
"You're going to kill him." She said, wrapping a hand around her stomach and feeling the bile build up in her throat. Taiga had stopped barking by now and settled for pacing back and forth. He stopped suddenly and ran at the window, snarling and smacking into the glass. Theresa cautiously stepped out and yelped: Storm Shadow stood outside one of the large windows waving at her and smirking down at Taiga.
"Taiga, come here." Theresa commanded breathlessly. She made him sit down near the stairs and walked to the windows, pulling the blinds over them; Storm Shadow knocked rhythmically against the window, his knocks moving from one side to the other. Moments later, he thumped on the door and Theresa couldn't remember how she got back to it.
"I'll come by again soon. Goodbye."
A week went by before Theresa felt comfortable going outside again. She had Taiga take care of his business in the tiny bathroom downstairs because she didn't want to let him out.
When she opened the door, another elk was left on doorstep but Storm Shadow had taken precious time to carve an arrow pointing somewhere behind the house. Theresa shut the door and shook her head, pacing back and forth; her laptop let out a tiny ding! and she bit her lip. She reluctantly sat down and viewed the message.
"Any more rain?"
Theresa groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, flinching when Taiga rested his head on her shoulder.
"None."
"How's Logan?"
"Fine."
Theresa cursed, the one word answers were going to start looking suspicious. Switching gears, she started typing again before Snake Eyes could question it.
"He and Hideki were a little active last night." That was enough, right?
"Sorry. Maybe take a nap?"
"Nah, gonna do some running around." It wasn't exactly a lie.
"Have more animal bodies shown up?"
Theresa sighed and rubbed a hand down her face.
"No, no. I've been hunted, foods spoiled."
She realized her mistake too late and as she pressed "Enter", her heart dropped into her stomach. For a few tense seconds, nothing happened and Theresa couldn't get her fingers to move. Taiga nudged her with his nose, whimpering a bit and licking her neck.
"Hunting, jeez. I need spellcheck." She typed numbly.
"No worries. I need to go. I won't be able to talk for a while. Stay safe."
"I'll try."
She waited a while before getting up, grabbing a jacket and lacing her boots before she left the cabin. Taiga cried as she locked the door behind her and Theresa glared at the elk, dragging it by its legs and pulling it away from the door. She delivered a kick to its side before stalking behind the house. She still had the knife tucked into her belt and a hand wrapped around it despite the fact that she'd probably never get a proper chance to use it. Theresa walked past the hanger, stumbling into a few puddles along the way. She looked at the door and felt sick as it was slightly ajar. She peeked inside and found it empty, again.
After a while, the hanger was far away and the house was nothing more than a tiny blip in the distance, she shuddered as she turned and walked backwards, watching the sun drift farther into the western sky. Theresa spun around, she tripped over an overgrown root and found herself lying at the mouth of a great forest. Hideki had mentioned this forest before, a small protected area, not a lot of animal life save for small rodents and birds. Theresa groaned and picked herself up, something white flickered just out of her peripheral vision and she whipped around. A white flag blew in the wind. It looked like an arrow.
Theresa took it as a sign and continued walking, the sunlight streaming freely through the leafless tress. Every couple hundred steps, Theresa encountered another white flag or a carving pointing her this way and that, the path she took was still straight but it weaved around a fair bit. She looked behind her again and bit her lip, the cabin was so far away now.
Later, the woods started opening up, there were pieces of metal strewn here and there and Theresa wailed as a piece of plane's wing lay off to the side. She was running then, jumping over logs and other plane parts until she recognized the cockpit. She sank to her knees beside it, the plane had collided with the ground, wings torn off, shattered glass. Without thinking, she started pulling off the glass with her bare hands, peeling it away from the opening to get a better look. The stench hit her first, then the image of two mangled figures practically smashed together. Theresa lurched backwards and vomited, crawling backwards until her back hit a tree.
Hideki's long black hair was pooling over Logan's head which had split open when it collided with the roof of the plane. She could see his brain matter, shrivelled up and grey in the open air, sliding thickly down what remained of his nose. His eyes were opened whereas Hideki's were closed, one of his eyes had been pierced with glass, but Logan's hazel eyes were like clouded pieces of jade. She threw up again, yanking off her soiled sweater and shivering as the cool air brushed along her arms.
When she initially looked in, her eyes gravitated to their hands – crushed together over the joystick. The nose of the pilot had dug into the terrain, it was likely their legs were more than just broken.
Stop it.
Did they regret it when the storm kicked up? Did they try to turn around?
Stop it.
They hadn't gone far, they'd gone north, they should've tuned around but they couldn't.
Please.
Their skin was fifty shades too white and maggots had nested in their guts.
Please, stop it.
Why was she even here?
Your magic white rabbit had left its writing on the wall/ We follow, like Alice, and just keep diving down the hole
Theresa staggered to her feet and walked past the plane and debris and ran. She could've swore Storm Shadow was right on her heels but she was too scared to look behind her lest she trip and fall. He'd been here. He'd been here for a while and he knew. He knew. He knew.
She collided with the door sometime later, the sun was almost gone. Lock, lock the door behind her. Drag the couch before the door. Drag the other couch before the back door.
Theresa sat down and covered her face in her hands and wept. Why didn't she convince them to stay?
Surprise! I haven't kept up with regular updates so I wanted to thank everyone for your patience with a chapter where actual interesting plot stuff happens! ...even if it involves hurting my protag in a very personal way. Regardless, I also need a little help from you guys in way of OC's. A few of my own will show up later but I'd like to test myself and write with characters that aren't my own. I need 3, and they'll show up around Chapter Nineteen which I know is far away now but I'm currently writing it and the sooner I finish, the sooner I can post without making you wait.
I don't want to clog the review section with these, so (if possible) PM me a quick character bio. I'm looking for one character with some sort of counselling background, and the other two can be Joes or warriors. If I chose your OC, I'm going to bug you a bit to make sure they're portrayed correctly, meaning you'll also be privy to plot stuff not yet shown.
So, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I will hopefully post again soon :)