The End is the Beginning

2014

NO ONE IS REALLY AFRAID OF THE DARK. They feared what could be hidden in it. What monsters could lurk just beyond their view, stalking through the shadows. Even when nothing could be found, it was conjured into existence by over active imaginations. The human mind was a wonderful, horrible thing, with a talent for running wild with the word possibilities.

In the end, the dark had no need to scare anyone. They did that for themselves.

At least, that was what Mari Ainsworth said to herself as she sat in her bed room, the only lights coming from flickering candles around her. The blinds had been drawn tightly, blocking out the midday sun. Mari's nerves didn't allow vim to really used the Ouija board at night. Still, bed at vir back and a small wood board in front of vir, Mari was prepared for a fright.

There was a knock. Mari jumped — then realizing it came from the other side of her door. Disappointing.

"Come in," Mari said.

It wasn't a surprise when her father open the door. Sanis left a month ago and Azima never knocked on her door, ignoring Father's instructions to wait for permission every time, leaving only one person it could have been.

Father paused in the doorway and studied the room. Mari waited patiently.

"Am I interrupting something?" Father asked, finally.

"Not really," Mari admitted. "I needed another person, anyways. I tried asking Azima but she just stared at me."

"Hm," Father crouched in front of Mari and the board. "As much as I appreciate you exploring new things, I don't believe these are meant to be used in your bedroom, Marionette."

"Mari. And I know, but where else am I supposed to use it?" Mari said.

"The shed perhaps?" Father offered. He paused and scratched his chin. "Though you'd have to get rid of these candles were ever you go. They are both a fire hazard and quite unnecessary."

Mari sighed, but unfortunately vir father had a point. Vi wasn't exactly found of the idea of getting vir bedroom haunted, on the off chance vi did it wrong. So she put out the candles and collected her things, before heading out of the room. At least Father followed vir. Vi had worried his scolding had been a subtle no on contacting spirits.

Azima was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. She watched Mari with wide, round eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to join? You'll get to talk to a real life ghost," Mari said, just incase her sister had changed her mind.

"I don't need ghosts. I have Eos," Azima insisted. "They have much more than ghosts there. You should visit some time."

"Maybe I should," Mari agreed. She knew Eos was just a figment of Azima's over active imagination, but telling her that never did her any good.

"The ghosts can come to my tea party when you're done."

Mari nodded. This was the closest Azima would get to inviting vim. It was something you just had to learn with Azima, that she often said things in round about ways. Later both Mari and their father would join Azima in her tea party, complete with imaginary drinks in little toy cups and a table full of chairs for just the three of them.

Only Azima could see all their guests. Her family and the dead.

———

ALEX PACED THE LIVING ROOM, BOOK IN HAND. The others watch them in silence. Mari could feel the tension. No one wanted to sit around, but they were too paranoid to do anything else. They didn't have answers. All they had was anxiety over what their boxes could have meant. So when Alex called a family meeting with an instance that they had a real plan, they couldn't exactly say no to that.

Eyes darted from every corner. Mari wouldn't pretend vi didn't participate. Vi tried to work out their thoughts from facial expressions. Maybe it was just a coincidence. It wasn't like — if he had known all this time, wouldn't he have said something? Told someone? Confronted her? So Mari watched. Watched, as if vir siblings' expressions could give away the secrets of their own gifts, if they could be called that given their context. Surly, if they were happy with their own boxes, it couldn't have been intentional. It would have to be a coincidence, an over active imagination playing tricks on her.

"The answers are in the books!" Alex announced. Mari blinked as her focus returned to him. "I'm sure of it. There's something hidden in here that dad wanted us to see, and it might get us out of this mess."

"We don't have time for this," Sanis stood at once and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" Alex demanded.

"Home?" Sanis shook his head. Alex started to protest, only to be cut off before he could even form the words. "You wanna play some bullshit puzzle? Fine. Your lost. I'm not sticking around."

"Did you not hear anything on that recording? I mean look at your arm, look at what ever the hell Dad's been calling his layer, this is clearly more than some 'bullshit puzzle,'" Alex turned to the others for back up. They were quick to avert their eyes, but Mari caught Alex's expression break as they watched them. "Oh, come on. Anyone?"

Mari twiddled her thumbs. Vi didn't mean ruin whatever strange dream Alex had of solving the mystery of life. But they had their lives to get back to, not everyone had prepared for a long visit. This was strange and Valamir Alinsky was something, but...God, who could really believe this? Some game their father and the Maywood had seemed to have planned out for them. If that was even the case. Mari ran her fingers through her hair. Even as the evidence was building up, even thought Mari was a solid believer of the unknown, not even her prepared mind could really comprehend all of this.

"I'm with Sanis on with this one, astonishingly," Leanna flounced her way to stand next to Sanis, instantly stealing the scene. "No offense, Al, some of us have lives. I do, at least. I've got a show next week and if I'm not there I won't just lose my spot, I will branded a slacker for the rest of my career. Do you know what that does to someone?"

"Leanna —" Alex started.

"Guys, what happens if Dad's telling the truth?" Mari interrupted. "I know this is hard for you to believe, I barely believe it, but this kind of stuff is serious business."

"Oh, don't start on your ghost shit," Sanis complained.

"It's not ghost shit! It's you stabbing a guy in the heart and it not doing anything. There's not believing me and then there's ignoring what's right in front of you."

"Maybe they can't reach outside of the house. They had to get us here in the first place, after all," Soo-Jin suggested.

"Or maybe they just needed us here to get attached, and now we're stuck with them until they choose a replacement. He hasn't been living here forever and they've been feeding on him since, what, he was eighteen?" Alex shook his head. "This what I'm talking about. We don't know anything, and our only hint is in these books. We shouldn't separate until we know exactly what's happening. Otherwise we'll never figure out the answer."

"You think I give a shit?" Sanis snapped.

Sanis started at Alex, pulling to a stop when Lonnie stepped in front of him. He settled on gritting his teeth and glaring at them over her shoulder.

"That's it, can we please focus? We don't even know if we can get out. There was a storm, remember? For all we know we're snowed in," Lonnie pointed out. "Obviously we're not going to searching for problems, but we can't just assume escape is as easy as you think."

"Lonnie's right, we're getting ahead of ourself. We'll check the cars and then we can decide with full information," Alex agreed.

Mari could hear the reluctance in their voice, but it kept a fight from breaking out. Vi agreed to join Sanis and Lonnie to go check their cars. A good mix of reluctant and determined, to keep things functional and unbiased. How well this would go was beyond vim. Sanis could easily over power either of them if he tried, seemingly relying on him not being willing to.

Snow had built up outside the door. Sanis had to put his full weight into opening it alone. Mounts had been blown up against the wall, peaks in a sea of snow. Some even reached the windows. Mari stepped carefully into the snow. Her foot sunk through the power up to her ankle, and she could feel the rest compact and harden beneath her boots. Swallowing nervously, vi wobbled forwards, afraid of just how deep she'd sink of the tension broke.

The air was crisp with cold. Blue skies stretched as far as Mari could see, illuminating the forest around them. Suddenly, it was clear how exposed they were. Vir skin prickled. No danger was in sight, and yet Mari could feel adrenaline pounding through her head, demanding she run.

They arrived at the end of the house's pathway. Where Mari swore vi had left her cars with all of the others. Yet all that sat beyond the fence was an open field of snow. The road was hidden somewhere inside it. Mari could make out the stop sign down the road. Even another house in the distance, thought it's features seemed to be hidden behind a faint fog.

"Something's wrong. We need to go back," Lonnie decided.

It was obvious to Mari, but vi suspected vi weren't the one being addressed.

Sanis stepped towards the fence. Mari watched as he tapped at food in front of him with each step. Trying to see if their cars had been buried, she realized. There was no way. Snowed in was possible, but completely buried? Vi looked back at the house. That didn't make sense.

But where also could they have gone?

There was a rumble in the distance, just as Sanis stepped beyond the fence. They froze. A shape appeared down the road at the intersection. It started as a blur, as if hidden behind a fogged window, before slowly growing in appearance. It rattled as it approached. A car. A old, busted car, coated in rust and barely hanging together. There was a sharp screech as it pulled to a halt.

Mari recognized that car.

"Sanis, get away from the car," Mari demanded.

"What's it going to do, eat me?" Sanis scoffed.

"I'm serious, get —"

Something shot out from under the car. In seconds it had grabbed Sanis by the ankle and torn him off his feet. Mari barely had time to dive forward and catch him before he was yanked under the car. Lonnie scrambled to their side.

Below the car was nothing but darkness. A bony arm extended from the shadows, it's source unknown and it's fingers wrapped tightly around Sanis's ankle. He kicked hard into the shadow, but nothing seemed to land. The hand released on it's own accord, sending both Lonnie and Sanis backwards as the tension suddenly released. Sanis turned to check on her.

But it hadn't let go for nothing. The hand latched on to Mari's wrist, yanking vim forwards. She yelped and dug her palm into the snow. Jagged nails raked her arm as Mari tried to tear it her free. The most vi managed was nearly tearing vir shoulder from vir socket.

Marionette...

Mari froze. The voice. The sing song whisper, a voice she knew well.

Marionette...I'm sorry, Marionette. Please come back...

A foot slammed down on the wrist. A shrill screech filled the air as it recoiled. Black blood splattered the ground. Steam rose as it burnt through the snow. Mari stumbled back into Lonnie's grasp, a sob breaking from her throat. Sanis hurried them back before the creature could lock onto another victim. They fumbled to a safe distance. In seconds the car was rumbling off in to the distance as if nothing had happened. A fog had begun to roll in, obscuring its disappearance and leaving them in a ring of haze.

"I don't...there's more of them?" Lonnie asked weakly. Mari could feel she was clinging to vim for support as must as vi clung to her. "Oh my God, there's more of them. How is there more of them?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Sanis demanded.

"Still think it's just my ghost shit?" Mari shot Sanis a dirty look.

Sanis pulled a face, but he couldn't argue. Mari lifted vir arm to check. By luck, the skin hadn't been broken. All that was left was bright red lines that stung, but would heal without effort. Good news. Because they wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

———

2017

IT WASN'T THE FIRST TIME THEIR FATHER HAD LOCKED HIMSELF IN HIS OFFICE. On and off, he'd would disappear and write for hours on end, only to appear for a few moments a day to care for the children. It seemed worse as they got older. Seventeen and sixteen was enough to care for themselves most of the time. Anima was just as uninterested as always. Sometimes it seemed they could all disappear and she wouldn't mind it in the slightest.

Mari was the other end of the spectrum. Maybe it was because vi hadn't grown up with their father, but his behavior was growing concerning.

"Dad?" Mari knocked gently on the door. Vi didn't know if the door was truly locked, but vi never dared testing it. Like their rooms, the office was their father's personal space. "Are you okay? I found lepidolite, it's good for anxiety...and also looks nice."

For a moment, there was no response. Barely a second, though, as not even work could keep their father's curiosity at bay. There was a click — so the door had been locked — and he appeared around the door, face drawn and still in the same clothes he wore days ago, but alive. Father smiled and took the small stone from Mari's hand.

"This is certainly a new one. And purple. Our we expanding our color choices?" Father asked.

Mari scoffed at his teasing tone and motioned at vir outfit in response. Still all black.

"And you're one to talk. Have you even changed your shirt?" Mari added.

Father looked down at his shirt.

"I might have forgotten," he admitted. Mari snickered, earning herself a glare. "Unfortunately, I've had to start on a new book in a bit of a hurry. I take it that is what you are here about?"

"You're still writing?" Mari asked, incredulous.

It wasn't that writing was something Mari unaware of, nor that she didn't believe their father did it. She'd been reading his books before he even adopted her. But he hadn't published anything since the years before he'd adopted vir. Vi had assumed the series was done and over with. They certainly had the money for it.

"The people are insatiable," Father paused. For a moment his expression changed, just readable enough for Mari to know vi didn't like it. "But enough about me. Are you well? How is that boyfriend of yours?"

Mari groaned. Was that what he need lead with? Of course it was the biggest change in vir life as of recent, but that didn't meant Mari was keen on having a cute little chat about her love life. Especially not with her father of all people.

"School? Almost senior year. You said you wanted to go to college, yes? And how did that cleansing ritual of yours go? You haven't said," Father tilted his head when neither option got a response. "Is there anything you wish to talk about?"

"Are you coming to dinner?" Mari blurted out before vi could stop virself. She was quick to add, "Azima misses you."

"It sounds like she isn't the only one," He gave Mari a knowing look, which vi quickly shrugged off. "I should be done by then, yes. I truly am sorry for worrying you. And thank you, for the lepidolite. It's a thoughtful gift, I'll make sure to take good care of it."

———

AND HE DID. Until the day he died, Albert Ainsworth kept the stone on his desk, and there it remained until Mari found it again years later. She turned the stone over in her hand as she listened to Lonnie report back to the others. Not even a scratch on it.

As soon as the creature had been described, Alex had hurried to their father's book of monsters. It was the Maywood after all.

This time no one argued.

"Here," Soo-Jin pointed to a page as it flipped past. It was a water color of a rock lifted at an angle, a shadow leaking out from beneath it. Bony fingers inched their way from the darkness. "Mimics. They hide in object, take their form, and wait for prey. That could be it."

"Well it wasn't doing much waiting, it drove right up to us," Mari pointed out.

"And why'd it go after Mari? If it's had Sanis like you said, why would it give up prey to grab something else?" Issac pointed out. He caught Sanis's expression and quickly added, "Not that I'd prefer you get eaten."

"Maybe because he's actually disgusting. Oh, don't make that face, you know I'm right," Leanna scoffed.

Sanis rocked in his seat and glared hard, but at least stayed quiet. Mari was thankful. They didn't need another fight.

The conversation continued, but Mari barely listened. Vi knew why the creature had targeted her. On a normal day it would have seemed insane. After all, how would it know? But every time Mari tried to hide behind that excuse, their father's warning ring clear in vir mind. To keep secrets to protect yourself or to judge each other for what you will learn. The Maywood knew their secrets, and would use it to play with them until it could whittle them down to their new replacement .

Replacement. Suddenly Mari understood what their father meant when he said the people are insatiable. She swallowed a lump building in her throat. What had they gotten themselves into?

"It's my fault," Mari choked out. The group fell silently and turned to her."I know why the—the mimic went after me. It was my fault."

"How is that your fault, none of us even knew this stuff existed," Lonnie said, her voice soft with sympathy.

Mari took a deep breath. She could let it go now. There was a burning in her chest, a warning of the pain that would come if she told the truth. But...what if their father was right? What if they'd been torn apart without each other, holding their secrets to their chest all the way. If Mari spoke now. There was going back. If vi stopped and brushed it off as self pity, vi could go on as if nothing happened. Continue to be as innocent as they believed.

But at what cost? Clearly her lies had brought her nothing but pain. What would the Maywood do with it, when the lying got harder and the pressure got worse? So Mari broke. Vi told the truth.

It started with her boyfriend — ex-boyfriend, now. He'd been sweet when they first met. Never judged vim for how vi dressed, even when being a seventeen year old goth kid was likely to get mocked as edgy and immature, or made inappropriate jokes at vir adoptive family, or laugh when vi gifted him charms for his protection or offered to curse his many bullies. He liked vir father's books, but didn't treat vim like an extension of him.

Hell, he'd been so invested he even went to college with her, despite it not being the best for his art degree.

"I just don't want to risk a long distance thing, you know?" He had said. "Some people say it works, and good for them, but it always gets a little weird."

Then he died. Car crash. Tragedy. Mari was heart broken, but she moved on.

At least, that was the story the family got.

The truth? He was great. He was Mari's world, because she was a stupid kid who got attached to the idea of a high school sweet heart. But it was all a bullshit line. Turns out, he didn't need a long distance relationship for things to get a little weird. He was perfectly happy cheating on her right where she could see it.

By luck, the girl was sweet about it. She'd been horrified when she'd asked about Mari — who she assumed was her boyfriend's friend — and he casually admitted vi was his real partner. It was the girl who told Mari the truth, tears in her eyes and pleading forgiveness. Mari didn't give it, but only because there was no forgiveness to give her. He'd lied. She'd been played just as much as vi had.

Mari had confronted him and he lied to her face. Said it was nothing, said she was just paranoid. Vi had cried and plead for the truth and he never gave the truth. Not until Mari got back up from the other girl did he admit it.

That was the state Mari was in. Vi was angry. Beyond angry. He'd hurt vim. He'd hurt some random girl who'd done literally nothing to deserve it, except maybe being the perfect popular princess he'd decided he suddenly preferred.

So, Mari cut his breaks. He crashed. He died. No one even tried to make a connection, because the car was so mangled and destroyed they couldn't tell sabotage from wreckage. Mari couldn't stand it. Everyone was so sympathetic. They were all there for vim, there for vim when vi needed someone to talk to. Ever sweet, kind word, made Mari rot from the inside.

Without telling her family, Mari dropped out of college. She couldn't stay there, but she couldn't tell them she was leaving either. It had been vir dream since the idea could even come up. They would ask so many questions. Father would give so much sympathy, the opposite of what Mari needed. So she waited until she could get into a new college and called it a transfer. That made it...easier, in someway.

There was a silence when Mari finished her story. Vi kept vir head down, and still vi could feel their stares. Tears burnt in her eyes.

"He died?" Sanis asked. Mari nodded weakly. "Good."

"Sanis!" Alex scolded.

"What? You think he didn't fucking deserve it?" Sanis demanded.

"I think Mari's clearly upset, and she doesn't need your shit."

"I didn't mean too to kill him!" Mari said. Her voice broke with a sob, and Lonnie was quick to pull her into a hug. "I wanted...I even know what I wanted, but now it's coming back, just like everything else will."

"'Like everything else will?' What are you going on about? What does you murdering a guy have to do with us," Leanna asked.

"Leanna," Alex warned.

"Alex," Leanna responded in the same hushed tone. "If you've got thoughts, Al, say them instead of hissing at us like a catty little bitch."

A giggle erupted from the couch. Mari turned to find Azima on the couch arm, swinging her legs and watching them with vague amusement. Her pervious silence was suddenly painful in comparison to her mocking behavior. What had she even been doing this entire time?

"Eos knows everything about you. They've been watching for a long, long time," Azima hummed. She continued in a mocking half-sing, "They know all your rotten little secrets. Did you like your gifts? They put so much work into them."

Mari could feel the horror that washed over the group. Even normally stoic Soo-Jin shot to her feet with a yelp, before realizing her mistake and sitting quickly. Mari stared between them. Vi wasn't the only one with secrets. And, from the looks of it, she wasn't the worst of it.

Getting into the dirt, aren't we? It only goes down from here, especially because Mari's probably one of the most open of them (not counting Azima, who cares more about her horror audition than hiding anything.)

And that's on a guilty conscious.