The Yaak House, Part Two

(Originally published on my main blog, Andi and I Write, on October 31, 2019)

“What do you mean those aren’t your marks?” Thaz’ra asked, forcing something gentle into her voice.

"I made a point to only make my marks near like, trees and boulders, landmarks..." Jasper said, his face bone white. Thaz’ra consulted her compass after a moment, finding calm in her bearings at least.

"We keep going this way," she said firmly, "It's getting dark..." she turned to Gerald, "Give me the paracord. Whatever is going on, we're not getting separated, clear?"

"Yes ma’am," Gerald said, handing her the rope. She tied six loops in the length of it, watching everyone slip their wrists through their respective loops.

"The one smart white woman in this horror movie," Rin muttered.

“You’re the one in the red shirt,” Hazel pointed out, “I’ve seen enough Star Trek to know what that means.”

“Don’t you even come around me with that,” Rin spat at her in warning, “I’m not gonna be the first to die here-”

“Hey!” Thaz’ra snapped, “Nobody is dying. I did not take on the risks I did to get you guys out of hell just to let some tweaking forest spirit get you,” she turned to the group, “Rin, I’ve held a man at gunpoint to protect you,” Rin lowered his gaze with a clenched jaw, “Hazel, I broke a guy’s hip at the bar when he groped you. Boris, I threw a man down the stairs when I saw he’d roofied you,” Boris nodded, “Jaz, fuck where do I even start on how many times I’ve had to stitch you up or give a pint of my blood to keep you alive… and Gerald, I was the one that knocked the pills from your hand that night…” the group was silent, Gerald clenching his jaw a bit, “I’m not letting anything happen to you guys; not without a fight,” she turned down the path she remembered, and everyone followed along the rope, “I don’t care if it’s Bigfoot, the Goat Man, Slenderman, the Jersey Devil, lizard people, fuckin Mothman, Cthulhu, captain hook, Momo, El Chupacabra, the FBI; they can fight me.”

“Such a motivational speech, oh great leader,” Boris mused, “just ‘Fight me Mothman’ as you have at him with a .270.”

“Don’t forget the werewolves,” Hazel laughed shakily.

“Furries,” Gerald muttered, more laughter rippling through the group. Thaz’ra glanced back again, pausing, “What’s up?”

“Shh,” Thaz’ra held a hand up for silence, they obeyed. She closed her eyes, she could have sworn just then, that she’d heard something.

The still air carried the sounds of their breathing, but nothing else.

“Thought I heard something…” a new level of silence befell the group before Thaz’ra shattered it, “Let’s go,” she murmured as she checked the compass by the dim sunset light, and Hazel passed her a lighter to read it by, “Thanks.”

“I’ve got the Mag light,” Rin said behind Thaz’ra.

“I’ve got one too,” Jasper added, “Actually, I think you’re the only one that doesn’t have one Thaz.”

“Take mine,” Rin suggested, “I don’t really need one to see where I’m going, and we don’t need to use up all the batteries at the same time.”

“He’s got a point,” Gerald hummed, “Though a Mag light is a good Mele weapon.”

“Mele all day every day,” Boris laughed, “Saves ammo.”

“You freakin’ nerds,” Hazel hummed, “Dungeons and Dorks.”

“You’re one to talk, Trekkie,” Rin mused, handing Thaz his light.

They made their way through the field of crosses in the dirt in relative silence after that, aside from an occasional roll call from Thaz’ra to calm her nerves and fill the silence.

During one lull, Jasper gasped abruptly.

“Wait; my camera! I took pictures all the way up here, on my phone too…. Ah fuck wait it’s dark now, it would be hard to use those pictures to find our way back-” without warning, the darkened heavens opened up, rain spattering down on the leaves slowly for now.

“Save your battery,” Thaz’ra said, checking the compass again, “We’re going the right direction, but it’s going to be too dark to see soon,” five nervous sets of eyes looked to her, “It’s not ideal, but let’s camp out here. We’ve got…” she checked her watch, “Maybe forty minutes of sunlight left, granted there’s a storm, but still.”

“Hazel has the tent,” Gerald sighed, shrugging his backpack off his shoulders as Hazel handed him hers, “…I don’t like this Thaz,” he murmured as the group detangled themselves from the rope, Rin undoing the knots and looping the paracord expertly.

“I don’t either,” Thaz’ra confessed with a ten-ton sigh, “but at least we can huddle up and stay warm and relatively dry this way,” Thaz’ra pointed out, “Jasper, Rin, help with the tent. Hazel and Boris, help me kick some of this leaf litter clear so we can have a spot.” 

The two small groups stayed within sight of each other, the roll call still rippling through the group from time to time, and before long, the tent was up and staked. It was a small tent, a cramped fit for the six of them and their bags, but they’d survive. Hazel and Rin slunk into the tent to set their bags down, while Thaz’ra stood by the entrance, watching Jasper, Boris, and Gerald get started on a fire for the time being.

“Hey, Husky Ruski, help me out here,” Gerald called, Boris turned to him with a confused, albeit amused, look, “You have the machete,” Boris gave a small laugh, rolling his eyes as he took his machete from the sheath on his belt. He turned to where Thaz’ra stood in the middle of things, constantly glancing between the members of her group from the stump she stood on.

“You remind me of deer, or owl,” Boris hummed after a moment as Gerald hacked some dead underbrush down for the hire, his nerves agitating his accent, setting aside some kindling, “Watchful.”

“Worse things to be,” Thaz’ra supplied with a shrug, smiling when the fire roared to life, illuminating the area in front of their tent as Rin and Hazel came to put the rest of the bags in the tent.

“It’s not a great fire,” Gerald admitted, “But it’s light.”

“Well met,” Jasper muttered, feeding some kindling into the fire after a moment, “Did anybody bring food?”

“I got you guys,” it was Hazel that spoke, coming out with some granola bars, “It’s not a lot, but it’s something. I’ve also got jerky,” 

“I brought some jerky too,” Rin hummed.

“I have the water bottles in my bag,” Boris said, feeding the fire.

“I always have MRE’s in my bag,” Gerald sighed, passing by Thaz’ra to place his bag in the tent as well.

“Can’t take the military out of the man,” Hazel hummed.

“The military will take a out from the man,” Gerald countered with a scowl as he set his bag down. Thaz’ra pat his shoulder absently as he passed her stump.

“Settle darling,” she soothed, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Gerald sighed shakily, taking her hand as it rested on his shoulder.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to snap atcha Haze,” he began after a moment, “We’re all a bit stressed here.”

“I mean, I’m nervous, but I’m not that scared. I trust Thaz’ra and you to get us out of here,” Hazel explained, “I know how serious she is about being a leader, and how serious you are about keeping people safe. I’m way out of my element here, but I trust all of you guys… we’re a team,” she gave a wavering smile to the group before continuing, “So let’s just… eat for now, because we’re here and we have this going for us; food, fire, shelter, and water,” beside her, Jasper nodded.

“She’s right. Might the first time I’ve said that, but I don’t want it to be the last,” he gave his own smile, and across the fire from him, Boris nodded as he stood, slinking into the tent with Jasper and passing out water bottles when he reemerged.

“I uh, also brought salt apparently,” Jasper said sheepishly, “I accidentally grabbed my witching bag.”

“Wait, witch?” Hazel gave him a surprised look, “I’m not judging, my mom is catholic. Witchery makes a bit more sense to me honestly,” Thaz’ra cracked up, stifling a snort of laughter behind her hand.

“You know, I’ve got a confession to make,” Thaz’ra hummed, “I do buy a little into the energy thing. Just a little. Kind of. So long as whatever stuff you do is in the best interest of getting everyone off this mountain safe and sound, I’ve got no objections.”

“So you’re cool if I just pour salt around the tent?” Jasper asked, though he arched a disbelieving brow at Thaz’ra.

“I’m not going to ask you to explain or justify yourself; if it brings you peace of mind knowing that you’ve done all you know how to, then it brings me peace of mind.”

“And if I did something shady?” Jasper asked. Thaz’ra gave him a long, hard look.

“Jaz,” she said softly, “You’ve seen what I’ll do to protect my people. Don’t expect exemption just because you’re one of them,” the gunmetal hue of her eyes danced in the firelight.

“…You know, you scare me sometimes,” Jasper sighed.

“I meant what I said.”

“…You sure you only buy into it a little?” Gerald asked.

“Okay, look; I know a lot about it for-”

“Writing purposes,” the group said in unison. Thaz’ra’s serious expression softened a bit and she sighed, giving a small laugh.

“You’re all assholes,” she sighed, though she was smiling still.

“But we’re your assholes?” Hazel hummed. Thaz’ra gave her a gentle smile.

“If I’m gonna go through some creepy shit in the woods, I’m glad it’s with you guys,” Thaz sat on her stump, through she continued her glances until everyone had gathered around the fire, Boris and Gerald having rolled a log over to sit on while Rin perched on a smaller stump. The rain had relented as they ate, and Boris stood after a moment.

“I’m going to build the fire up some more,” he hummed.

“No,” Thaz’ra said. It was a soft voice in which she spoke, forcing the group to hush and listen, “We’ve already drawn something’s attention,” she murmured, “in the clearing… let’s not draw more,” by the firelight, she saw Jasper pale, “we’ve done what we needed by the light. I doubt any of us will sleep well, but our bodies will do well to rest,” she nodded toward the tent, and Boris clenched his jaw.

“Why not have light for us to see what we’re up against?” he murmured in challenge.

“Because whatever we’re up against will see us before we can see it,” Gerald murmured, his eyes haggard, a thousand miles away. Boris blanched as well now, “Thaz and I will take care of the fire, you lot get to the tent,” nobody needed told twice, though Jasper lingered just outside the flap for a moment before grabbing a mason jar from his witching bag.

“I think you and Gerald should do this Thaz,” he murmured, handing her the jar.

“Why?” Thaz’ra looked at the jar by the firelight, it was full of salt, and she could make out pieces of rosemary as well.

“You’re a powerful presence,” Jasper murmured, “and he is a protective one-” Gerald was shaking his head.

“I know you’ve got good intention, but I’m not going to dabble in that out here…” he murmured, “I haven’t been to Mass in a while, but…” he struggled to find the words, and Thaz’ra pat his shoulder.

“You were raised Catholic, it’s familiar,” she suggested. Gerald nodded, sighing, “Jaz and I will handle this, you go keep an eye out,” Jasper made an uneasy sound, but agreed.

“I understand,” he murmured to Gerald, “Sorry to ask that of you.”

“Its okay. We’re all trying to watch out for one another in our own ways,” Gerald murmured, “I just-” Thaz’ra held a hand up for silence, her head snapping up.

“Kill the fire,” she hissed, twisting the top off the mason jar, “Now.”