Chapter 6
Den of a Monster
Neither Tara nor Roland slept that night. Their minds were too preoccupied with what they witnessed and experienced, and as the shock began to subside, the crawl of the primal fear began to entangle them. They had willfully entered the den of a monster, and though a charming monster he might be, he was still a monster nonetheless. In the silence and darkness of night, the two could only sing prayers of hope in silence–though they hardly expected they would get what they were promised, so long as they lived, there was a chance for the future.
The dawn came uneventfully. Sun's warm rays managed to penetrate through the canopy of the surrounding trees and the lodge's wide front windows, prompting both Tara and Roland to 'wake up', rolling toward one another on the couches. They were hardly close as they only knew each other in the passing from some of the same classes they took. The only reason they ended up together, alongside Rick, was due to the coincidental set of circumstances. Rick mentioned he had an uncle who lived outside the city, so they all packed into Roland's car and began driving. The highway out of the city, however, was virtually impossible to traverse–and, at some point, fights were breaking out by the minute, including one they participated in over a single bottle of water.
They managed to escape out into the forest and up the mountain, but not before both Roland and Rick were grazed by bullets. Tara, having taken some first-aid classes while getting her driver's licence, managed to wrap up the wounds, but they were still slowed down. They hadn't much of a plan in the works–and on the third day of their journey, just as they ran out of the last few candy bars in their pockets, they came upon the man who introduced himself as Ethan.
The two stayed lying as ordered last night for nearly an hour past dawn, which was when they heard the sound of footsteps and the doors being opened. Shuffling from the other end of the lodge, they spotted Ethan walking a young, rather adorable-looking girl into the central space. The girl appeared shy, hiding behind Ethan's legs, stealing glances toward the duo who got off the couches and stood up.
"Layla, say hi," Ethan said, prompting the young girl to shuffle out to the front of him and bow gently toward Tara and Ronald.
"Hello. I'm Layla," she introduced herself and quickly hid back behind Ethan.
"Ain't she the cutest?" Ethan grinned, causing the young girl to blush and smile in content for a moment. "Hey, kiss-ass. You mentioned making breakfast last night. You know how to cook?"
"Uh, kind of?"
"Layla mentioned she wants bacon. There's some in the fridge. Get cookin'."
"Right away," Ronald obliged and ran toward the fridge as Ethan guided Layla to the living room, sitting down on one of the couches while Tara sat on the other.
"How'd you end up here?" Ethan asked shortly after, prompting Tara to relay the G-rated version of their story, conscious of the young girl sitting there. "And that's when… you saved us."
"Sounds about right," Ethan said as Layla began fiddling with her phone, clearly already bored. "Tell me about yourself."
"What do you want to know?"
"What do you think? It ain't your cup size."
"... as I told you last night, my name is Tara," she said, swallowing a sigh. "I'm twenty years old and I was attending the Institute of Technology and Engineering as a second year. I grew up in the city, I have an older brother who lives in Cincinnati with his wife and two kids, and I have a father who's got late-stage dementia."
"Sorry to hear that."
"In effect, I have nobody who would look for me or worry about me."
"... do I seem like someone who'd be afraid of that?"
"... no. But, it still felt worth mentioning."
"What'd you study at the uni?"
"Software engineering," she replied.
"You like it?"
"Not particularly."
"... lost your mother when you were young," Ethan rubbed his chin as he analysed. "Raised by a single father–probably where you learned some basic survival skills. I'm guessing your dad was in the technological field and you naturally got pushed into it, and as you didn't want to disappoint him, you played along. You never got along with your brother, probably because he didn't want to be daddy's next project so it fell onto you. He likely moved out as quickly as he could, and considering he moved the entire two states away, he had no intention of returning."
"Ah," Tara sighed softly. "You're also that kind of… you know."
"Just a psychiatrist, I'm afraid," Ethan smiled lightly.
"I did get along with my brother, though," she said. "Until he moved out."
"Eh, never said I was a good one," Ethan shrugged as the sizzling of cooking oil began to sing from the kitchen. "You're guarded but deliberate; cautious but caution-to-the-wind when you make a choice. And I imagine quite a bore at the parties."
"..."
"Good qualities to have," Ethan said, yawning. "How do you know that kiss-ass over there?"
"We took some classes together," she said. "I didn't even know his name, truth be told, till we got into that car together."
"Alright, go switch with him."
"H-huh?"
"Send him over to tell his story, while you continue breakfast prep."
"... right," Tara got up, still seeming in disbelief, and went over to Ronald, informing him of the new arrangements. The young man swiftly came to the living room and sat down, wide-eyed and expectant.
"Go," Ethan said.
"My name's Ronald Efferick," he said. "I'm twenty-one years old. Just like Tara, I'm attending Tech uni. Same program. I'm an only kid. Both my parents are retired bees, and they live up in the country, tending to their farm. I got in touch with them before the trip and told them I wouldn't be able to make it any time soon. I've got no girlfriend, no wife, no kids, and barely any friends. I excel at puzzles, maths problems, and games. My weaknesses are that I'm not physically conditioned, I'm kind of a wimp, and I–"
"Alright, thank you," Ethan interrupted as the scent of fresh bacon began to fill up the lodge. Even Layla set her phone down, her eyes glued to Tara who was finishing the preparations. "Do either of you have any experience with hardware engineering?" Ethan asked as Tara came with a plateful of bacon, four glasses of orange juice she found in the fridge, and a few fresh apples.
"Some," both replied. "What do you have in mind?" Tara asked, sitting down.
"How difficult would it be to set up some sort of an alarm system around the lodge?" Ethan asked.
"... we can set up a primitive one fairly easily," Ronald replied. "We'd just need some light thread and a simple mechanism that produces any type of sound. The issue would be that even the light rain would have the chance of compromising it."
"And for a more complex one?"
"You'd need cameras and an algorithm that recognizes a human shape that would then directly send feedback to the house system," Ronald said. "We'd probably be able to write the algorithm in time, but setting up cameras would be difficult."
"... set up a primitive one on just the side that faces the city," Ethan said. "It should be fine for now."
"What about the supplies?" Tara asked. "I'm sure two extra mouths to feed isn't exactly something you took into account."
"Even with you two gluttons, it can still last at least three months with some rationing between the three of us," Ethan replied. "But if you behave, by then, you'll be doing supply runs to the city. Eat now. We'll talk more later."
The group ate in silence, with Layla finishing first and going outside the lodge. To both Ronald's and Tara's shock, Ethan let her go alone, merely shrugging when they looked at him quizzically. Considering how protective of the young girl he seemed, it was almost unthinkable that he would let her roam about alone. While Ronald cleaned up, Ethan went and grabbed a few cans of beer, sitting back down on the couch and handing the two out while opening one for himself.
"Your turn."
"Hm?"
"Ask your questions," Ethan said. "Of course, whether I answer them is entirely up to me."
"... how long have you been up here?" Tara asked cautiously. It was odd, and something that bothered her nearly as much as Ethan's strange, occult abilities.
"Came here about two days before all hell broke loose," Ethan replied honestly, a faint smile on his lips. "Make of that what you wish. Kiss-ass, you go."
"Uhm, alright. Uh, how old are you?"
"... really? Ah, whatever. I'm thirty-two. Detective, go."
"Layla's your only family?" Tara asked.
"Yep," Ethan nodded. "Next."
"How old is she?"
"Why? You thinking about making a move?"
"E-eh? What? No, no, no way! Not in a million years!"
"Relax, I'm fucking with you."
"Oh. Phew."
"But seriously, if you make a move–"
"I would rather bury myself alive!" Ronald exclaimed, appearing offended.
"Are you this easy to fuck with?" Ethan smirked and glanced at Tara who recoiled back slightly. Though she could likely play the game better than Ronald, just the image of feeling what Ronald was feeling at the moment was… quite unpleasant. "Layla's nine. Uncertain detective, go."
"What is your plan?" Tara asked. Ethan paused for a moment, silently observing the young woman. Considering her age, she was quite sharp, perceptive, and strong-willed. Though he didn't have any true long-term plans for either of the two when he picked them up, there was a part of him that was beginning to reconsider his stance.
"Why do you think I have a plan?" Ethan asked back.
"You didn't have to leave the city," she said. "With that magic or whatever, you would have probably thrived in that chaos. But you left anyway. I'm guessing for Layla?"
"Hoho, look who's that kind of a… you know, now," Ethan smirked, causing Tara to sigh. "There's a notion of too much chaos, I'm afraid. It's one thing when people are panicking because the sirens of war are going off or when they're in duress because of the things you can understand–human behaviour in those scenarios can be mapped out. Reactions, actions, and all things, like numbers, can be put into equations and calculated. But if the whirlwinds start spinning out of control, no amount of knowledge on how the people's psyches work matters. It's a new scenario–uncharted waters, so to say." Ethan was naturally lying–the reason he left the city was simply because he knew there was nothing in it worth sticking for, and the chaos it bred was too large of a variable to control, even for him. "That satisfied you?"
"... nothing satisfies me." Tara replied simply.
"Damn. I feel a sudden fatherly urge to hug all of your exes and tell them it wasn't their fault."
"..." she scoffed in silence, pulling back, seeming empty of all further questions.
"What about you, kiss-ass? You done with questions as well? I gotta say, I expected more from you two."
"... do you know what that alien thing is?" Ronald's question surprised Ethan. The latter looked meaningfully at the young man he'd labelled a 'clown buffoon'. But that was on him–he forewent his training and just played along. It was hardly an insightful question, but it was one asked within the context of the rest of the conversation and some tiny hints that Ethan was dropping here and there. Even Tara perked back up, seeming interested in the answer.
"No," Ethan replied somewhat somberly. "I genuinely don't. I don't know what it is, why did it come, where did it come from, or what its final purpose is. I'm not in some shadowy cabal with it to take over the world, it's not feeding me human placenta through some spiritual antenna to make me stronger, or whatever other tenth-degree insane theories you have about me swirling in your heads. I just… don't know."
"..." Both Tara and Ronald stayed quiet after, not asking any more questions. Whether they believed him or not, Ethan didn't particularly care. Unlike an image they seemed to have concocted of him inside their heads, he was actually quite an honest man–and was most of his life. He was certainly not above lying or anything of the sort, but he found it much easier to navigate through life without needing to keep up with whatever web of lies was spun years if not decades ago. His favourite kind of a lie was always a lie of omission, as it was able to cover anything and everything while offering a level of plausible deniability.
A week sped by quickly–and while the world was spinning out of control more and more, the little group up in the mountains seemed stable. Layla spent most days either playing with Ethan or Tian or occasionally with Tara and Ronald once she got to know them a bit better, while Ethan continued writing out a Word document full of info dumps that he could recall with his shoddy memories, occasionally practising his solitary activate ability.
While setting up a wide perimeter was impossible, Ronald and Tara did some basic tinkering and installed at least a lodge-wide security system. They ended up temporarily pawning Ethan's phone as a camera, mounting it stealthily up on the lodge's roof, while writing some or another program or code or algorithm–they called it many-a-name–so that the camera can 'recognise' anomalies, as they called them. It simply meant it was able to pick up on shapes that 'stuck out' from its static scenery–animals, people, heavy-duty trucks, crashing aeroplanes, that sort of thing.
As such, by the week's end, and while Layla was taking her standard-issue midday nap, Ethan's standard-issue midday writing session was interrupted by two college-aged kids standing impatiently in front of him, staring intently, but not saying a word. He sighed after a couple of minutes and set the laptop down, standing up from the couch and facing the two. They were kind of adorable, he mused inwardly, in so much adult-aged men and women can be adorable whilst looking like they were some six hours overdue for a bathroom break.
"Alright," he said. "Let's get you kids juiced up."