Chapter 1: Take It On The Run

CW: Physical Abuse, Mention of Substance Abuse (Alcohol), Terminal Illness

The bus shook as tires met bumps along the worn asphalt. In the center row, sat the only individual on the bus out of Scarlet Hollow. Vivian held the small and quiet child in her arms, swaddled in a cozy blue blanket. The baby made no qualms of the bumpy ride, as quiet as the day he was born.

Instead he stared up at his mother, almost as if looking through her. Blinking with one brown and blue eye. Vivian let out a small sigh, and wondered if she was just as her son was when she was a babe. After all, her mother was never keen on reminiscing about such things. Then that same feeling washed over her.

Spiritual energy coalesces around this child, almost like water in a baptism pool. The water threatens to pull the child back into its depths.

Vivian shook her head.

"My little Terry. We're going as far from here as we can. We'll be okay, you and I." Vivian cooed to the little fellow. The baby did not understand the words of course, but with a little sparkle in that tiny blue iris, there was a recognition. One of the emotions that Vivian's statement carried. The love she had for her newborn son.

Terrence Scarlet, one of the first boys in a female dominated family, soft and delicate. He offered his mother a smile, the first change in the boy's blank expression she witnessed. It brought a tear to her eye.

All Vivian's regrets were put far from her now, she knew this was what was best. She'd do anything to protect her son. Even if it meant leaving Pearlanne and her one year old niece Tabitha behind. Her resolve would hold steadfast, her son would never be allowed back in that hellhole of a town. Not so long as she lived.

Vivian looked down at the small bag she'd packed, in it was the very few supplies and sentimental items she felt she needed.

It was long and arduous, but they finally settled in the city of Seattle. Vivian worked odd jobs from retail to substitute teaching, until finally she found a proper position as a counselor at one of the schools.

Tougher still was having to raise a child alone, at the very least Terrence never caused much trouble at his daycares. He would often be described as spacey, with no desire to interact with any of the other children. It would soon be discovered that it was the noise that bothered Terrence. The babbling and chatter of other children upset him a great deal. Overstimulation is what the professionals would tell Vivian.

Vivian knew all too well what it was though. There were other voices there too, outside the realm of what should be real. Voices and feelings that she experienced as well. Terrence hadn't learned to parse them yet, but one day he would.

Years pass, with more hardships than acts of kindness for the out of place members of the Scarlet family. There were many times where Vivian had to answer Terrence's questions about the strange voices he heard. Other times still when she had to ground herself from some unnerving prophecy that her son would spill forth.

She understood, and was the same when she was young. Though what Terrence seemed to say spelled more doom then what should have been. After all, she'd made the right decision hadn't she? Leaving Scarlet Hollow would keep them away from what she saw festering there.

Then there was the trigger, a photo that she brought back from Scarlet Hollow. It was taken the day the last family portrait was made. One she should have burned, rather than kept.

It depicted that very portrait that hung in the Scarlet Estate. On it, herself and Pearlanne. Vivian held the newborn Terrence with a sullen expression. Pearlanne's face rested somewhere between displeasure and callousness, as she too held her child Tabitha. The toddler's face held in a deep frown.

Terrence, now a young pre-teen, had found it collecting dust in their attic. Vivian was more furious with herself then him, after all she could not blame the curiosity of a child that felt the past call to him.

"Mom? Are they our family? Why does she look so sad?" Terrence asked, pointing to the small Tabitha. Vivian hesitated, unsure of what to say. She knew better than to lie to her son, as he would ascertain the truth eventually. Whether through keen observation, or an outside source.

"Terry…" She sighed. "They're our family, yes. That is your aunt Pearlanne and your cousin Tabitha. As for why she's sad, well, no one likes to sit still for a portrait dear."

Terry nodded, as if she simply confirmed what he already knew to be true. He looked sad, as heartbroken as a twelve-year old could look. Then the real question came forward.

"Why don't we see them?"

Tabitha Scarlet sat with an almost permanent scowl on her face as she looked up at the slashed portrait on the wall. In a decrepit and dusty room, she reached up a hand to press the hanging piece of portrait back up to the rest. Hanging, but not cut all the way out was her aunt Vivian and the small baby she cradled in her arms.

For the briefest moment there was a longing, one that was quickly shunted away as her mother slammed a book closed behind her. Tabitha's soul had nearly leapt from her body.

"There's no use in yearning, girl." Pearlanne spoke, a bite in her voice. "What have you to say for yourself?"

"Sorry, Mother." Tabitha said, keeping her tone quiet and obedient. Pearlanne walked over to the young teen, and slapped her on the wrist. Tabitha recoiled with a slight shriek, more so from the unexpectedness of the strike than its power.

"Do not let me catch you wandering where you ought not be again girl." Pearlanne said with a hushed fierceness. "One day it will all be yours to be as frivolous as you like. But for now you will listen to what I say. If I catch you in here again, there will be far worse punishment than a slap on the wrist."

Tabitha nodded, scurrying past her mother with the look of a scared animal. Her mother was right of course, one day this place would be hers. She thought about how she'd redecorate, how pretty she would make this place again. But not today. Today she sat in her room, and packed her old raggedy backpack she did not ever wish to part with. Putting all her valuables inside, and grabbing as much as she could fit from the pantry inside.

Tabitha waited until dark, and ran at a full sprint to the treeline. In her home she was fearful prey for her mother at all times, but out here she was free. She would run away, just like her aunt had. Of course, as most childhood escape attempts like these go, she would not make it very far. A branch laid precariously on the trail ahead sent her careening into the thicket. Briars scratched her arms and legs as Tabitha tumbled into the brush.

She let out a cry, after which she curled her knees into herself and began to sob. Her old beloved bag was torn to ribbons, contents scattered about the thicket. She was pathetic, and she'd have to go right back to her mother covered in scratches and explain herself.

A tumble in the brush ahead caused her to sniffle up her sobs, and do her best to conceal her location. Tabitha watched with wide terrified eyes, as whatever it was drew closer. Her eyes then quickly turned to an annoyed relief when her friend Stella stepped out from the shaking bushes.

Tabitha hesitated to ask what Stella was doing here, as it was likely another monster hunt of hers. Stella looked in surprise.

"Tabby? I thought you were a wampus. Are you okay?" Stella asked, before joining her. Stella leaned down and began to look Tabitha over.

"Just some scratches. I'm more embarrassed than anything. Do not tell anyone you saw me cry." Tabitha replied sharply, face scrunching up in the way that Stella enjoyed.

"I won't. Here, let's get your stuff and go to my house. My mom and I will fix you up in a jiffy." Stella outstretched her hand for Tabitha to take. Tabitha did so, reluctantly. Wincing at the pain of her small scratches she followed Stella wordlessly.

Tabitha turned over to look at her destroyed bag, ripped apart in the patch of briars.

"No more needing help. No more letting her get to you. I will be stronger."Tabitha thought, stomping off into the trees after Stella.

Terrence sat in a hospital waiting room, agonizing for news he already knew the answer too. This part of the hospital felt like death. Imminent and cold. Still despite what he felt, he hoped upon hope it wasn't true. That the feelings were too muddled by everyone else here. That the doctor would tell him his mother was fine.

The look of heartbreak was not one he had to fake when the news did finally arrive. His mother would have to be put on hospice. The doctor delivered that in a coldness that Terrence had come to feel a lot of here. He was presented with options for her care, but none of it mattered. Terrence could sense it was far nearer than the doctor expected. He just wanted to see her. Now.

He didn't know if it hurt worse that his mothers spirits were so high when he arrived. How happy she was just to see her son. The only bright light in that drab, colorless room. He smiled, a genuine and loving smile. The same smile he gave her on that bus, oh so many years ago.

"Terry… I'm so proud of you. I tried to get them to let me go to your graduation, but you know these doctors."

Terrence didn't respond, but moved forward and threw his arms around his mother.

"You know I don't care about any of that mom." He stated, his blank tone betraying his true feelings. "Here, I got the video from someone who recorded it on their phone. We can watch it together."

And so they did. Terrence stayed with his mother all night, assuring her that things would be okay. Reminiscing on their times together. Something Vivian's mother never did for her or her sister. Terrence did this the whole time knowing that this night would be her last on this Earth. His mother only asked one thing of him.

"Terry, promise you'll make things work here after I'm gone. Do not go to Scarlet Hollow."

Scarlet Hollow, the first time she'd ever mentioned it by its name. He understood her feelings as to why at least vaguely. So he did it. He promised her, with the full intention of keeping that promise.

Terrence wrote a letter invitation for his mother's funeral, to be delivered to his aunt and cousin in Scarlet Hollow. He hoped that they would come, but received a missive from his aunt a few days later. Stamped with the Scarlet family seal. The wording was cold and professional. In it, Pearlanne Scarlet declared that due to her work she had no time to attend. Apologizing for her absence.

Terrence wasn't surprised. Pearlanne seemed just as insistent not to see his mother as she was not to see her. He had hoped that maybe he'd at least get to meet his cousin, of whom he knew nothing. Though it seemed for better or worse, neither of them would attend.

The funeral was lonely, some members of the subdivision they lived in, a few of his classmates' parents, and his mother's very few friends. Even after she was buried, he could long hear her voice pulling away at him.

Stay here. Make it work here. Don't go to Scarlet Hollow.

The day her aunt passed was the first day Tabitha had heard her mother truly laugh in a long time. Tabitha was busy working on records for the business, as her mother drank in the foyer of the Estate.

"Look how good all that running away did you sister. Yet which one of us still lives?" Pearlanne cackled, looking up at a portrait of a young Vivian.

Then a thud from downstairs. Pearlanne tossed cutlery at it, as if it were a dartboard. Tabitha peeked from the stairwell with a groan. As if she could find it in her heart to be surprised by her mother's actions.

"I still believe we should go. Her son has no one else, you said so yourself. We should offer him a place-" Tabitha began, but was swiftly cut off.

"I would not offer my home to any child of my ungrateful sister. I would sooner perish as well before I see that boy roaming our halls." Pearlanne interjected. "Learn to close that heart of yours girl. It's a weakness. You'll never make it as head of our business with it."

Another thud as a fork stabbed right into the left cheek of Vivian's portrait. Tabitha huffed at her mother's childish glee, and turned back up the stairs. She had no money of her own to make it to Seattle if she wanted to, and the last thing she needed her mother to think was that she was slighting her.

Then just a few years later, Tabitha would walk into the bedroom where Pearlanne slept after she had not gotten up for her shift at the mines.

"Mother you're late for-" She grumbled, but stopped as she stared at the pale visage that greeted her. No rising and falling of her mother's chest. Just a warm stillness as light shone on her from the windows.

It took Tabitha a moment to collect herself, in truth, she almost laughed. She knew not what to feel. She'd hoped she would be happier without the burden of her mother. Instead something new had crawled its way inside Tabitha. Emptiness.

After his mother was gone, things changed rather rapidly. Terrence began drinking underage, it was the only thing to stop the persistent feelings and voices that plagued his head. This went on for a year until he blacked out so hard that he nearly died, choking on his own vomit. He could not imagine that this was the life that his mother wanted for him.

He accepted things as they were. Sought professional help, and went to school to become a teacher. He began teaching at a public school just a few years later. It was slow going, and he didn't earn much, but made enough to keep an apartment with his roommates. He was doing better, and getting by. He'd earned some accolades, pushing past the initial phase of "the teacher with weird eyes, that talks funny". His students appreciated him for always doing his best, to the point of staying after school to tutor those who needed the extra help.

For a time, he'd even learned to push past those voices and feelings that plagued him. Then a surprise as he opened the box downstairs for his mail. A letter with the Scarlet family seal. His cousin had reached out to him, offering for him to come to her mother's funeral. It was strange, he had no premonition of this arriving. But now that it was here, it was all he could feel.

He had all but forgotten his estranged family, but as he read the words of the letter he felt that pull once more. The one that his mother had so desperately tried to keep him from. The pull that would make him break his promise to her.

The bus will pick you up at that stop. Your ticket is already paid for, should you decide to come.

Terrence informed work and his roommates of his departure, giving his cat Mister Whisker one last scratch behind the ears before stepping out.

There was one last feeling that Terrence focused on as he stepped onto the bus that would deliver him to his fated return. Hope. His cousin invited him, and this was his chance to make up for all the distance that their mothers had caused.

No more bad blood. The Scarlet's could start fresh. Terrence would do everything he could to make this work. He'd have family again.

He settled into his seat, unknown to him that it was the same seat his mother sat in over two decades ago. Next to him, was a fellow with a large and overbearing smile. Terrence sensed that it was going to be a long ride to Scarlet Hollow.