"Mommy?"
The voice slithered through the underground chamber, wrapping around their spines with icy fingers. Every light tool swung toward the same point in perfect unison, their beams converging on a spot where something yellow peeked from behind one of the crumbling structures. The fabric barely caught the edge of their illumination, teasing them with partial revelation.
Mother Veny's heart squeezed painfully inside her chest. Fear warred inside of her, twisting her inside making her uncomfortable, she has to run away, she knew that.... but somehow after hearing the word, she stopped herself and she stepped forward, her boot splashing in the moisture coating the stone floor.
"Kiddo?" Her voice came out sweeter than she felt, carefully crafted to hide the tremor threatening to break through. "Are you there??? What are you doing down here all alone? Please, come out where I can see you."
The words echoed back at her, bouncing off walls that had witnessed unspeakable things.
"Mommy, did you come to pick me up?"
The question floated toward them, the acoustics of the chamber twisted the sound, making it seem to come from everywhere at once. Mother Veny couldn't pinpoint whether, where she is looking is the source or a mirage in itself.
"Yes, yes! Mommy's here to pick you up." She forced warmth into every syllable, moving another step closer. The wetness beneath her feet made soft sounds that seemed too loud in the oppressive silence. "Why don't you let me see you properly?"
"Hmm..."
A pause stretched between them, whoever was there was taking a long moment of consideration…... Then suddenly footsteps began, small ones accompanied by an odd hard sound that rang through the darkness.
TINK... TINK... TINK...
The figure emerged slowly from behind the structure. A child wearing a tattered yellow jacket several sizes too large for him, he shuffled into the circle of light, making everyone eyes focus on the tiny figure. The garment hung from his thin shoulders like fabric draped over a wire frame. Each movement carried an unnatural quality, as though the child had forgotten how bodies were supposed to work.
"Mommy?" The kid stopped several feet away, frozen in the illumination of tools light.
"AGH!" Multiple troops gasped in unison, the sound escaping before they could contain it.
The hood of the yellow jacket drooped forward, casting the child's face in shadows too deep for even their light tools to penetrate. The head remained bowed, attention fixed on the ground. But their eyes followed what the child dragged behind, and revulsion clawed its way up their throats.
TK... TK... TK...
The strange sound still rang in the air and when they saw from where it was coming, they froze in shock.... A dead body, smaller than the child itself, was getting pulled by the kid in yellow jacket, he was pulling it like a ragged doll from his tiny hands, the dead body bones scraped across the wet stone. Decomposition had claimed most of the flesh, leaving bones visible through gaps in rotted tissue. The corpse's head lolled at an unnatural angle, jaw hanging open in a silent scream that would never end.
Several troops pressed hands over their mouths, fighting their bodies' instinctive response to expel what little food remained in their stomachs.
Mother Veny felt the shock slam into her chest, stealing her breath. Her mind rejected what her eyes reported, insisting this couldn't be real. Nightmares didn't bleed into waking life like this. They stayed where they belonged, in the realm of sleep and shadow.
"Mother, can I come with you?" The kid stood perfectly motionless now, his voice carrying innocent hope that clashed violently with the horror of the scene.
"Ah!" Mother Veny snapped back to awareness, her maternal instincts overriding the fear trying to paralyze her. "Yes!"
"Hehe! I'm happy, Mommy!"
The kid's head lifted. A smile spread across the revealed face.
The troops moved instantly, forming a protective barrier around Mother Veny. Their training kicked in despite the terror trying to freeze their muscles.
"AGH!" Mother Veny's breath caught as the light finally showed her what the child truly looked like.
Empty sockets stared where eyes should have been, just darkness that went impossibly deep..... The place where cute little teeth was supposed to be present, now it was filled with sharp points of canines, the lights bounced off from those sharp ends of teeth, bringing horror imagination to everyone looking at it….. Flesh hung from the cheekbones in sagging folds, the pallor of death clinging to every inch of exposed skin. The fingers looked charred, blackened stumps that bore no resemblance to human digits. Blood caked the bare feet, dried to a dark crust that cracked with each small movement.
This child wore death like clothing. Nothing alive should look like this!!!
"Huh! Mommy? Who are they, and why are they stopping us from meeting?" The voice suddenly changed, rage creeping in to replace the innocent joy. A growl built in the small throat, hands clenching with sudden violence.
CRACK!
A bone in the dragged corpse snapped, the sound sharp as a explosion in the confined space.
"Ah, sorry, my friend." The kid's tone shifted again, becoming almost tender as attention turned to the body. "These people seem to be stopping me from meeting my Mommy. Wait here...we'll go outside just like we were promised, okay!"
With surprising gentleness, the child lowered the corpse to the wet ground. Small hands arranged the body with care, treating it as something precious rather than the rotted remains it had become. Then the kid began walking toward the troops, purpose evident in every step.
"Hey! Stop right there!" One soldier's voice cracked. "We will not hesitate to beat a kid if we have to!"
"Bad guys...... bad guys…. bad guys… bad guys.. bad guys. BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD!!!!!" The rapid chant rose in volume, anger building with each repetition.
WHOOSH!
The child vanished. One moment illuminated, the next swallowed by darkness as though the shadows themselves had reached out to claim their own.
"Huh?" Mother Veny jolted fully awake, adrenaline flooding her system and washing away the shock. "Don't kill them!!!!" She shouted as soon as felt what that kid is capable off! She don't need much time to guess of the kid capablitites because her own kids are very much capable of doing things that even adult shy away from.
THAAP! THAAP!
Her words came too late. Two troops at the rear of their formation collapsed before the sentence finished leaving her mouth, bodies hitting stone with sickening impacts. Neither moved after falling.
"Grr!" Panic seized the remaining soldiers. They spun wildly, light tools cutting useless patterns through the darkness. Nothing moved in the beams. The kid had simply ceased to exist in any visible form.
THAAPP! THHAAPPP!
Two more fell without warning. Their lights clattered across the ground, spinning to cast crazy shadows that danced across walls and ceiling before settling into angles that illuminated nothing useful.
"Monster! Face me! Don't play games!!!" A soldier roared his defiance into the void, hearing only his own voice thrown back at him in mockery.
THAPP! THAPP!
The last two soldiers dropped hard, leaving Mother Veny completely isolated. She stood alone in the center of the chamber, shaking so violently that her light tool's beam jerked across surfaces in erratic patterns. Sweat poured down her face despite the chill seeping from the stone around her.
"Umm... kid? Where are…"
TP!!
"AA!"
Something soft struck the back of her leg. The impact nearly buckled her knees. She trembled from head to toe, feeling moisture that wasn't water soak through her beautiful dress. Her hands shook as she slowly….. veryyy slowlyyyyy….. turned the light tool downward.
The kid clung to her leg, small arms wrapped tight around her lower thigh. The hooded head barely reached past her knee.
"Mommy! I finally met you!!!!" Joy saturated every word, muffled slightly against her leg. "They said my Mommy would be coming to meet me, so I came here and waited. I'm so happy!!!!"
The child looked up. Those empty sockets somehow conveyed emotion through their very emptiness, and the pointed teeth arranged themselves into an expression attempting to show happiness through that horrifying smile.
"AGH!"
Disgust rose in Mother Veny's throat, thick enough to choke on. Every instinct screamed at her to run, to kick this thing away, to escape before those teeth found something to bit on. Her muscles tensed, ready to obey those primal commands.
But….. she couldn't do it.
The desperate grip spoke of loneliness measured in years rather than days. The small body trembled with emotions too big to contain. Despite the horror of the appearance, genuine joy radiated from her face, the embrace felt weird for her but for the kid…. It was very important, she could feel that!!
That smile, terrifying as it looked, was trying so hard to show happiness.
Slowly as time passed, each second impossibly made Mother Veny's racing heart settle into calm rhythm, she was slowly getting used to her smile and her fear for the kid was also got little diluted.
Minutes passed in silence.... Suddenly broken only by distant water dripping somewhere in the darkness. Mother Veny stood frozen, her mind warring with her heart over what response made sense here.
She looked at his happy expression and somehow, she also decided to smile not knowing whether he could see it or not, she was not faking it, she really felt her heart melting away from those Feary smile and his blackened eyes.
The kid felt the shift immediately, and that scary smile grew wider still.
"Mommy! I didn't kill them!" Eagerness filled the child's voice, pride evident in every syllable. "I listened to you! Isn't I a good kid?"
"Huh?" Mother Veny glanced around quickly, relief flooding through her as she noticed the troops' chests still rising. They were just unconscious; their soft breathing was proof of that. She let out a shaky breath and nodded down at the child. "Yes. Thank you, my child. You've done great."
She smiled warmly, then slowly knelt on the wet ground. The filth soaking into her expensive dress meant nothing compared to what she felt compelled to do. Her hand trembled as she reached out, hesitating for just a moment before gently touching the kid's head. Her fingers began to pat softly, moving with increasing confidence.
"Hehe! Mommy!" The kid's whole being seemed to radiate happiness despite the corpse-like appearance.
Mother Veny studied the face more carefully now, looking past the horror to the structure underneath. Understanding dawned, and she spoke with gentle certainty. "Ara, you look like a girl! It looks like I have a cute daughter!"
"Hmm? What is 'cute', Mother?" Confusion colored the question, the girl's head tilting in a gesture that managed to be both childlike and a little disturbing.
"Huh? That's just mean…"
"Mommy, can I hug you?" The request came out suddenly giving Mother Veny a little shock, but seeing her vulnerable expression made Mother Veny's heart ache. The kid not getting a response asked again "A real hug which my friend always talked about?"
Mother Veny's body tensed on instinct, but after a heartbeat's hesitation, she nodded. "Yes."
She opened her arms wide, offering an embrace. The girl approached carefully, movements suggesting she feared this gift might be snatched away at any moment. Thin arms, more bone than flesh, wrapped around Mother Veny's shoulders. The fragile body weighed almost nothing as it pressed against her chest.
"Ah! It's warm, Mommy! It's true!" Wonder filled the girl's voice, amazement making it crack. "I heard Mommy's hugs are warm! It's true! It's really true!"
She clutched tighter, using every bit of strength her weak body possessed. The desperation in that grip spoke years of cold treatment she received, the loneliness she must have felt, and lack of love she never gotten in her entire small life.
Mother Veny let herself truly feel the child's body. She clenched her teeth against the tears threatening to fall and carefully placed her hand on the girl's back.
"Huh?" Her eyes widened in shock.
Her hand sank deep into the jacket, going far further than it should have. The fabric engulfed her fingers, and she realized with dawning horror just how little actual body existed beneath all that cloth. When she finally felt the girl's spine, understanding hit her soul with incredible strength, making her realize how horrible the world must have been for this little girl.
The child felt completely hollow from inside. Breakable at any moment even with a tiny amount of force. Like she might simply exist on her bones, there was barely any flesh in her little body!!!
"Mommy, can we go outside?" The question emerged breaking Mother Veny thoughts. The girl relaxed further into the embrace, finding comfort in the warmth. "I've never felt outside world. They said outside is very windy and warmy. There's something called the sun that gives us warmth. Mommy, can we go outside together? Pleaseeee?"
"Hmm, yes, of course." Mother Veny smiled through the pain in her chest, patting that impossibly fragile back. "Mommy will take you there. I promise."
They remained like that, two figures finding comfort in each other despite the horror surrounding them. The wet ground soaked into their clothes, the darkness pressed in from all sides, but in that moment, neither noticed anything beyond the embrace itself.
The girl suddenly sniffed at Mother Veny's neck, cold nose pressing against warm skin.
"Mommy, you smell nice." The voice changed, taking on a different quality. "Can I eat you????"
....... Huh?.........
Mother Veny jolted violently, every muscle going rigid. Her arms started to push the girl away on pure survival instinct. At the last possible moment, she caught herself. The motion froze, arms extended but not completing the rejection.
"What are you saying, my daughter?" She managed to keep her voice relatively steady despite the fear coursing through her veins. She carefully repositioned the girl to face her directly. "You can't eat Mommy. Your tummy will get bad if you eat me."
"Umm, is that so?" The girl considered this with genuine confusion. "But I ate many people before, and I never felt bad in my tummy!" The statement came out purely innocent, as though discussing something casual on a dinner table.
Cold sweat broke out across Mother Veny's entire body, drenching her already soaked dress. "Are... are you sure you ate people?" She forced the words out slowly, carefully, though her voice betrayed her terror. "Maybe you got confused? You can't see, right? Maybe someone played with you and joked around."
"Umm, no, Mommy!" Certainty rang in the response. "I can smell them! I'm very good at smelling! Hehehe!"
The innocent laugh sent ice water through Mother Veny's veins.
"Please, Mommy, I'm hungry! Let me eat you, please! Please!" Desperation crept into the girl's voice, building with each word. "I haven't eaten for many, many days!!! I'M SO HUNGRY! JUST A LITTLE, MOMMY!.... They said they were not giving me anything to eat because Mommy taste delicious and told me to eat you!!!! Please Mommy it's hurt a lot, just a little bit! They never spoke anything when I ate them so why are you not giving me food Mommy! It's hurting!!!! Aaaaa!!!! Mommy, you're my Mommy! You left me here! Please let me eat first!!!!! Grrrr Grrrr!"
The words tumbled out faster, tripping over each other in their rush to escape. The girl pushed forward more aggressively, small hands gripping Mother Veny's arms with impossible strength.
"AGH!" Mother Veny's gaze darted to the unconscious troops, finding no help there. She tried pushing the girl away gently, but the fragile-looking body refused to budge. Despite appearing ready to shatter at the slightest touch, the child possessed strength that defied logic.
"AGH!" The girl's mouth opened wide, revealing rows of pointed teeth gleaming in the scattered light. Mother Veny's imagination supplied vivid images of what those teeth could do to flesh, and she felt the raw desperation radiating from the child eyes, she saw her pain, her hunger, her eagerness….. Mother Veny don't know what is going on but she knew one thing if she didn't let her eat then she would go crazy!!
From somewhere deep inside herself, she search for courage, she didn't know existed... phheeewwwwww….. Mother Veny calmed her heart down and decided to walk the path of no return.
"FINE!" The word rang through the chamber with a fearful confidence. "But only a little! Mommy will get hurt if you eat too much!"
She had no idea how she managed to speak with such firmness, but the declaration came out clear. She clenched her teeth hard enough to hurt her jaw and slowly slid the fabric of her dress down from her shoulder, exposing smooth white skin. The upper curve of her breast became visible as the cloth moved lower.
The girl trembled with barely restrained hunger, leaning close. She inhaled deeply, smelling the exposed flesh. Then her tongue emerged, dragging across the skin in long strokes.
SCCHLPP SCHLLPP!
"Mommy, you smell soooo nice, and for sure you will taste nice." The words came between licks, thick with hunger and mixed with a desperation. "I will eat only a little Mommy, I promise! I will never hurt my Mommy!"
She spoke with earnest sincerity while continuing to lick, cold tongue leaving wet trails across warm skin.
"Aghhh!!" Mother Veny squeezed her eyes shut, fists clenched so tight her nails drew blood from her palms. Every muscle tensed in anticipation of pain she knew would come.
After what felt like an eternity of licking, the girl finally opened her mouth wide. The pointed teeth caught the light, gleaming like blades fresh from the forge. She positioned herself carefully, jaws stretching wider than any human mouth should open. The teeth began to descend toward the exposed shoulder…..
TAP TAP TAP!
Swift footsteps echoed through the chamber. A hand shot from the darkness, placing itself directly on Mother Veny's shoulder where the girl's teeth were about to sink in.
CHOMP!
"AAAAAH!" A woman's voice grunted in agony as teeth pierced through flesh and scraped against bone. Blood welled immediately, pouring out hot inside the kid mouth.
"You bastard!" A loud roar came out in pure fury.
The woman grabbed the girl's head with her free hand, yanking upward with explosive force. She tore the child away from both Mother Veny embrace and her own impaled hand. Then, without hesitation, she drove her fist forward.
BOOMM!!
The impact resonated like thunder contained within stone walls. The girl flew backward, small body sailing through the air before crashing where she'd first appeared. She hit the ground hard, rolling multiple times before momentum finally stopped her.
"AAAH! IT HURTS! MOMMY!!" The cry held genuine pain, confusion and betrayal. "It hurts so much!!!"
The girl lay curled on the ground, clutching her midsection where the punch had landed.
"Ah! Julia! You came!" Mother Veny looked up with relief, seeing Mother Julia standing above her with a confident smirk.
"Hey there, wifey!" Mother Julia grinned despite the blood pouring from her hand. "I saved your life! Be grateful!"
"AGH!" Sluggishness hit Mother Julia suddenly, her confident expression faltering. Her legs buckled, sending her crashing to her knees.
"TYRR!" Tyra appeared, squeaking frantically while circling Mother Julia's head in panicked loops.
"Julia!" Mother Veny immediately examined the bite wound, horror growing as she watched. Mother Julia's brown skin was turning black around the injury. Not just darkening but becoming truly black, and the discoloration spread rapidly up her arm like poison racing through her bloodstream. "This...! Julia, we have to go! We need to get you help now!"
"AGH! I know, I know!" Mother Julia nodded, feeling her strength draining with each passing second. Her words started slurring slightly. "It does seem that way, doesn't it? But I'm fine! Kill that monster first!"
She glared ahead at the girl still writhing on the ground, grunts of pain mixing with sobs.
"Ah!" Mother Veny suddenly registered what she was hearing. She turned, seeing the girl crying with real distress, curled in a ball of genuine agony. "Don't do anything!" She called out firmly to the troops beginning to stir and waking up after getting a nice nap. "Let me handle this!"
Mother Veny stood slowly, her ruined dress heavy with filth and moisture. She walked toward the girl while troops groaned their way back to consciousness around her.
TCP... TCP...
Her footsteps echoed across wet stone, each one bringing her closer to the suffering child.
"Mommy! It hurts! It hurts! Aaa! Wahhh WAAHH!!" The girl cried desperately, though no tears emerged from those empty sockets. "Sobb! Sobb! Mommy!"
"Let Mommy see where it hurts." Mother Veny spoke with forced calm, pushing down the fear and a with a little revulsion which was still trying to control her... She knelt beside the girl, offering gentle words with her warm hands trying to ease out the pain on her little body, she kept took care of her until the crying began to ease.
The girl nodded weakly, laying back on the ground. That smile returned despite the pain, still hopeful at seeing her mother coming to help.
Mother Veny carefully lifted the yellow jacket to see her body and what she saw made her breath stopped completely.
Stitches covered every inch of the girl's torso. Dozens upon dozens of them crisscrossed the pale flesh, creating patterns that suggested the child had been taken apart and sewn back together multiple times. The skin stretched thin as paper over bones that showed clearly through the translucent tissue.
"AGH! Who could do this!? And why!?" Tears poured freely down Mother Veny's face as the full horror revealed itself. "What kind of monster would do this to a child!?"
"Umm, Mommy, are you crying?" The girl spoke with a lower voice now, strength fading with each word. She raised one hand with visible effort. "Don't cry. I'm a good and cute girl, so don't cry, okay?"
Mother Veny gently took the offered hand, guiding it to her cheek so the girl could feel the tears there.
"Mommy, it hurts." The voice dropped to barely more than a whisper. "My friend never woke up after feeling the same thing. Is it the same for me?".....AGH...…. "Mommy, I want to see the outside world. I want to see the sun. Can you take me there, Mommy?"
Emotion cracked through the words, pain mixing with longing that transcended the physical. "I will not eat you, Mommy. I'm sorry. I'm not hungry anymore. I'm just..... tired, Mommy."
Suddenly with each passing second's color drained from the girl's already deathly pale skin. What little life remained began visibly fading, ebbing away into the darkness.
"Ah, yes! Mommy promised you, remember?" Mother Veny forced brightness into her voice through the tears. "So let's go see the sun together! Hehehe! I will let your friend also see the sun, okay! Let my people carry her for you. Is that alright, my cute daughter?"
The girl managed only the weakest nod, strength nearly gone from her body. She grew paler and paler by each heartbeat, her warm expression fading before Mother Veny's eyes, it was no longer full of energy but just a empty expression who was trying its best to tell her mother that she is okay, she is fine, that she has lot of energy left inside of her…..
Mother Veny carefully scooped up the girl's body, cradling her with infinite gentleness as she stood. The child weighed nothing. Less than nothing. Making her mind churned with thought "How could any living thing be this light?"
Fresh tears fell from her eyes, splashing onto the girl's face as Mother Veny walked quickly toward the exit. She nodded at Mother Julia, who struggled to her feet with support from the recovered troops. The blackness had slowed its spread, but sweat poured from Mother Julia's skin in sheets telling her that it is not over.
Together they left the chamber behind, carrying two children….. one barely clinging to life, one long surrendered to death…. They moved up toward the surface where warmth waited for them, away from this cold wet place.
The girl in Mother Veny's arms smiled faintly. Those empty sockets somehow still saw the hope of a promise about to be kept. Behind them, two troops carried the small decomposed body with reverence, treating the corpse with respect and dignity.
They climbed stairs slowly. Each step brought them closer to sunlight, closer to keeping a promise that might have arrived far too late to matter but still…. It matters to her and to her friend and to Mother Veny.....….
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END OF CHAPTER
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Author Blabbering
What Promises matter in your life? Are you keeping them alive? or have you forgotten about it?
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