The Stone House

A long translucent strand trailed between Ben’s small nostril and his skinny finger. When it finally broke, he bent over and wiped his hand in the dirt.

“Stop picking your nose.” Lila said. Frustration boiled in her throat as she took his arm and forced him to keep moving. She privately recalled how many times a day she had to remind him. “You’re going to give yourself another nosebleed.”

“Lila,” the boy squeaked, “I’m tired. Why do we have to walk all the time?”

“You know why. We’ve talked about this.”

“Well, I don’t think they’re real anyway.” Ben broke a stick off of a nearby bush and swung it like a sword.

Lila stopped for a second to inspect a decaying fly-covered carcass of a large elk laying on the creek bank. A strip of its torn hide waved in the water with the current of the stream like a flag gently waving in the wind. “That's the third one today. Looks old though. They must be days ahead of us.” She continued walking along the dirt path.

Ben, distracted by the macabre scene, returned his finger to his nose and stared. Daydreams of how this large creature could’ve been destroyed so thoroughly formed effortlessly in his head. A monster slashed and bit at its flesh. The beast bucked with all its strength to get away with its life but, ultimately, it succumbed. Its arteries and veins emptied into the creek as the monster fed on it. Ben licked his lips.

“Ben!” Lila shouted and ran back to him. She grabbed him by the shoulders and gently shook him. “Not now Ben. We’re so close, okay? Just a couple more days. Please!” Fear twisted her expression as she looked into Ben’s darkened irises. Blood from his nose ran down his lips. A long slender tongue slithered out of his mouth. It greedily collected the blood and pulled it into his mouth and down his throat. Ben roared and shoved Lila backwards with tremendous strength.

“No!” Lila screamed. She fell off of the path and tumbled into the creek. Her back hit the shallow water then the stone creek bed with agonizing speed. Her head hit the elk carcass cracking one of its weakened ribs and lodging her head between the two bones surrounding it. She screamed in pain as a splinter of the broken rib pierced the back of her neck. “Ben!” She cried to the, now grey-skinned monster running at her from the path with hunger in its eyes. She panicked and gripped the elk ribs that held her head and tried to pull them apart. They didn’t budge. She kicked her legs to get more leverage but it only made the shard of bone cut deeper into her neck.

Ben jumped from the creek side into the water and rushed toward Lila.

"Ben, no! Ben!” She screamed and flailed. As she did, a small, gold, heart-shaped trinket bounced out of her shirt. The glare of it in the sunlight caught Ben’s eyes. He froze.

“Lila,” the irises appeared in his eyes again. His skin blushed, returning to its normal pinkish color once again. “What’s wrong? How did you get your head stuck like that?” He chuckled and walked over to her, careful not to slip on the wet stones beneath his feet. He grabbed one of the large bones with two hands and propped his foot against the other. He pushed as hard as he could. The ribs gave just enough for Lila to pull her head from its gruesome cage. She sat up. The rushing water drenched her clothes and backpack. She gripped the wound on her neck.

“You changed again.” She said as she struggled to take her backpack off with one hand. Quickly, she threw it in her lap, took out a shirt and pressed it hard to the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry.” He averted his eyes. “I can’t help it.”

“It’s okay. Just…” She got to her feet while making an effort to keep her back, and the fresh wound, turned away from Ben. “We have to keep moving. You go first.”

The two made their way out of the creek, up the bank, and back to the dirt trail. The rest of the day was spent in silence. They stopped once to retrieve some food and fresh water. The wound on Lila’s neck had finally stopped bleeding but she knew if Ben saw it, he’d change again. She tore a sleeve off of her last clean shirt and tied it around her neck like a scarf. Ben remarked on how silly it looked to which Lila didn’t respond.

They followed the dirt trail until the sunlight ran out, then set up their small tent in the cover of a fallen tree’s branches.

“You okay?” Lila asked Ben.

“Yup.” He responded nonchalantly.

“You don’t have to pee before we go to bed?”

“No.” He said as he squirmed into his puffy blue sleeping bag. “Lila?” Ben said as he dropped his head on his pillow.

“Yeah.” She pulled her boots off and massaged her feet, careful to avoid the blisters.

“Where are we going?” He asked.

“The Stone House.” She answered.

“Why? What’s at the Stone House? I miss my house and my friends and my…”

“I know.” She interrupted him. “So do I." She got into her sleeping bag and laid down to face Ben. “Go to sleep. We have another long day tomorrow.”

“Okay…” Ben said. He started to roll over but couldn’t help himself from asking, “why are you doing this?”

Lila froze. She thought for a minute before answering. “Because you need me.”

Ben smiled at her answer and rolled over.

Lila’s memories were resurrected in her sleep. “Frenzy trash.” A man threw an empty beer bottle at a crying Ben. People flooded the streets in panic and rage. Bodies laid in the gutters. Cars stood still in the road. Lila pushed through the crowd and threw her fist in the face of another man standing over Ben. She picked him up and carried him through the sea of desperate people. Behind her, a tidal wave of death approached. It roared through the crowded city.

Lila woke abruptly. She felt weak. Her skin burned.

“Ben!” She choked. “Ben, we have to move.” She shoved Ben.

“What? Why? I’m still tired.” He groaned..

Lila pulled his sleeping bag open. She threw her own bag open and pulled her boots on. “Ben. Please. It’s here. We slept too long.”

Panicked, they ran out of the tent. Lila’s breath became labored.

“Come on.” Lila took Ben’s hand and began running. In the distance, she could see sunlight. Safety. But surrounding her was darkness. The sky was a dark purple. The grass and trees began to wither as black vines and roots began to slither like serpents from the darkened earth. The blisters on Lila’s feet burst all at once filling her shoes with pus and causing excruciating pain. Her veins showed dark blue through her nearly translucent skin. She struggled to fill her lungs. Her vision blurred as her eyes ignited in stinging agony.

Lila watched as the line, a crawling darkness between this hellscape and safety, grew further away as they ran. Each step grew harder and harder until Lila fell to her knees. Suffocating and in agony.

“Ben, I need you.” She coughed on her words. “I need you to take me to the sunlight, okay?”

“I can’t.” He cried. “I’m not strong enough.”

“You are… Ben…” Lila’s voice became a whisper as she handed Ben the heart shaped locket she’d been wearing. “Trust me…” She took a small knife out of her backpack and pressed it to the skin on her palm.

“Wait! Lila, don’t! I can’t control it!” Ben sobbed.

“I…” Lila fell onto her side, “I… need… you…” She pulled the knife across her skin just before her world went black.

“Lila.” A voice penetrated the pitch black silence . “Lila, wake up.”

She opened her eyes, blinked away the fog and was immediately confronted by sunlight. As she squinted. She saw Ben standing over her. His skin was dark grey. His eyes were clouded over. Lila’s heart jumped.

“Ben? Wait. Don’t kill me... Ben...” She said weakly as she pressed at her shirt for the locket.

“Lila, I did it!” His voice came again. Then his skin blushed. His irises reappeared. “You’re safe now! I did it!”

Lila lifted her head. She saw the wall of darkness in the distance behind them. Small collections of wildflowers peppered the field between her and death.

“Ben…” Lila looked into his eyes. They’d never looked so undeniably human before. She saw pride in them. But behind that, she saw her daughter’s eyes. She saw trust. She saw happiness. More than that, she saw love.

“I thought I was going to hurt you.” Ben said. He pulled out the locket. “I was so scared before you found me... I thought those people were going to kill me. Then I saw this and I was safe. I could control it.”

“Thank you, Ben.” Lila held back tears and threw her arms around Ben. He returned her hug.

“Your blood doesn’t bother me anymore.” Ben said. He gently pulled out of the hug and took Lila’s injured hand in his. He inspected the still bleeding gash. “See?” He said proudly.

“I’m glad you don’t want to eat me anymore.” She laughed.

“Does this mean we can be friends now?” Ben asked.

Lila didn’t answer. The two of them sat in silence. Lila wrapped her new wound and took a minute to regain her strength. After she was able to get to her feet, she took Ben's small hand, and they continued to walk away from the darkness.

Lila’s feet still ached, her skin felt frail and her lungs still burned. However, she didn’t mind anymore. She spent the whole day listening to Ben tell stories about his people and how he can’t wait for the terraformers to finish so he can play with his friends again. Eventually, the Stone House appeared in the distance. Lila thanked God the rumors were true. Ben’s people constructed a large metal fortress yards behind it.

“Ben.” She teared up as she interrupted a story about a vehicle he hoped to own someday to impress a girl. “You have to go now, Ben.”

He looked at her confused.

“Those are your people. They will be able to get you to your family.” She explained.

“You aren’t coming?” Fear replaced his confusion.

“No, Ben. I can’t. Our people don’t get along.” Lila said.

“But you saved me. I need you” He started crying. “You need me.”

“It’s okay. You don’t need me anymore.” She took the locket, opened the clasp and put it around Ben’s neck. “Your life is just beginning. You’re going to grow up. You’re going to find a girl and have kids and live a happy life. Okay? Do that for me?”

“No.” Ben sobbed and wrapped his arms around Lila. “I can’t leave you.”

The locket doesn't shine under the purple sky like it did under Lila's sun but Ben never forgot its glorious radiance. He also never forgot the kind human who saved him from the last cruelties of the former world.

He passed the precious locket between his fingers. As he turned it, a fingernail caught on its side. He felt it split open and his heart sank. The thought of breaking the trinket was devastating. But his panic was immediately relieved when he saw that inside it was engraved, "Semper Fi." Along with a small mirror. Ben caught his reflection but almost didn't recognize himself. The years since Lila saved him had warped his image and carved deep wrinkles into his once young face. But he smiled all the same. "Lila… thank you." He closed the locket and set it gently at the steps of the, still standing, stone house.