The Gateway - Part 3

NOTE: This is part 3 - Please see my profile for the 1st and 2nd parts.

Voices jar Hayley out of her stupor. A voice raised in anger, the other meek, placating. The voices… she knows them. They are burned into her memories; they visit her in her nightmares. Hayley’s knees go weak with trepidation. How can this be?

Hayley’s eyes widen as a not so ghostly form emerges from the hallway and stalks across the living room. It was a man, and one she knew well. Like the rest of the place, he was colourless, like an actor from an old black and white film.

His eyes burn with anger as they lock with Hayley’s, and his visage seems to grow taller the closer he gets to her. By the time he stops, he’s towering over her, and Hayley instinctively shrinks back, his anger hitting her in waves.

Nervously, Hayley reaches up to twirl a lock of her hair around a finger, something she hasn’t done since she was a kid. Her legs feel like blocks of ice, and she couldn’t move if she wanted to. She would gladly face the beast outside if it meant running from the monster in here.

“Get that stupid piece of hair out of your mouth, brat! I told you that’s disgusting!” Reaching over, he slaps her hand away from her mouth. Hayley yelps, shrinking down even further. She hadn’t even realized she had stuck the lock of hair into her mouth, another childhood habit she thought was long cured.

“Sor–sorry, Hank.” She stammers, then grimaces at the mistake she knows she just made.

Hank’s eyes narrow, his fists clenching at his sides. “I told you, you call me dad when you speak to me. Haven’t I been taking care of you and your brother for over five years now? Don’t I go out and work everyday just so yous two and your ma have food on the table?” His words, his face… so angry. Why? How could she, a little girl, inspire such feelings in a grownup?

No! I’m not ten anymore! I’m a grown woman! Shaking her head, Hayley looks around, remembering where she is. He’s not real, this… place, my old home, can’t be real!

But as Hank’s hand comes up, his other hand reaching for her arm, Hayley shrinks even further into herself. She knows what’s going to happen next. Hank will grab her by the arm, spinning her so he can give her ass several hard slaps.

Time slows, and Hayley blinks up at Hank's raised hand, which has frozen several inches from her. His eyes still blaze with anger, threatening to thaw whatever holds him in place.

“So much anger, so much hatred. I wonder, little rabbit, who was it all for?” The spectre is back, and for once, Hayley isn’t sorry for its presence.

“For me,” she whispers, an anguished lump forming in her throat.

“So, you must be a terrible person after all,” it says, its voice a guttural purr in her ear.

Jerking back, Hayley wipes at the warmth its breath leaves on her skin.

“No! I was only a kid! Sure, I made mistakes, but I didn’t deserve half of what he dished out!” Her words end on a sob.

A moment of silence has Hayley looking around for that dark form. It ‘stands’ several feet behind her, its face once more cowled. “That hand is going to come down. What will you do about it, rabbit? Run? Hide? Shake and cry? Burrow under the ground to get away from an anger you didn’t deserve?” For once, it utters its words without its usual sneer.

Hayley’s world narrows as her gaze whips back to Hank and that raised hand. Her eyes move to his, and she sees her own terrified image reflected in their rage filled depths.

“No! No! NO! I’m not that little girl anymore! I’ve lived, loved! Grown into someone I’m proud to be despite him! FUCK HIM!” Her breathing hitches as her own rage builds.

“HOW DARE YOU!” she screams into his stupid, frozen face. “I was only a kid! All I wanted was love! FUCKING LOVE! WOULD IT HAVE KILLED YOU TO GIVE THAT TO US?” Hayley feels heat build in her core as those words come flooding out of her.

Time speeds up, thawed by that heat.

Stepping up to him, she halts the hand that falls towards her. “MAYBE IT WOULD HAVE! MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE!” Her words come out in heavy, deep pants, and her world shifts once more. But this time it's because Hayley feels herself stretching, growing, getting bigger… powerful.

Still caught in her grasp, Hayley recognizes the terror stamped on Hank’s face at seeing her transformation.

“I DIDN’T DESERVE YOUR ANGER!” The roar that erupts from Hayley’s lips is no longer human.

Hank stumbles back, wrenching his arm from her hand, which is now furred and equipped with dagger like claws. The front of his pants darkens, and Hayley grins at the sharp smell of urine.

“What is that saying humans use? Seems like the tables have turned? Yessss, that’s it. Is there something you want to tell this human, little… rabbit?” The creature asks, once more brushing against her ear, which is now furred and tapered, like a wolf’s.

A chuckle rumbles out of her. “Run,” she growls, baring her fangs at Hank.

The terrified man needs no more encouragement as he turns and dashes for the door.

Hayley, turned monster, lets him escape, knowing that with her newfound sense of smell she can track him anywhere.

She waits, her haunches quivering. One heartbeat, two, a dozen more pound in her chest before she sets her newfound self free.

Flying through the door, Hayley pauses for a moment as she sniffs the air. The scent of Hank, terrified, soiled Hank is like a big neon arrow pointing his direction. Turning her head up to the grey colourless sky, Hayley howls. Her anger, hurt and betrayal is capsulized within that cry as is her newly found joy.

Joy in the power and strength that flows through her. In this body, there is no fear, no confusion… just the hunt. She is no longer the prey, the rabbit… she is the hunter.

And with that thought, Hayley is off. With great loping strides, she closes the distance between her and her prey.

A grin stretches her lupine mouth when she catches sight of him, and another howl escapes her. Hank stumbles, nearly falling before catching himself. He flings a terrified look over his shoulder and a moaning sob bubbles from his lips when he realizes how close she is.

For a moment, pure elation floods Hayley’s body. Soon her fangs will close over the throat of her prey, its warm blood will fill her belly, and all will be right with the world.

No!

Hayley stumbles, a growl leaving her lips.

“Shut up, little rabbit. I’m doing what you should have done. What you never could have done. Weak, small, terrified little rabbit! All you could ever do was run!” Hayley spits the words through her fangs.

Tiring of the chase, Hayley reaches out a massive paw, easily tripping Hank.

With a great “Oof”, Hank lands on his stomach and slides for several feet before stopping.

The world narrows yet again as Hayley faces the demon from her past. One she had thought she had put well behind her. Her surroundings fade, the colourless houses and trees vanishing so that only Hank and her remain.

“How pathetic you look now, how insignificant,” she says, stalking forward. Hank has rolled onto his back, scrambling crab-like, away from her.

That’s not Hank! Hank’s wasting away in some hospice somewhere! The rabbit in her ear won’t shut up!

This is just some figment of our imagination. Why stoop to this now? We’ve dealt with him, we got out; we grew up!

“Scarred! We grew up scarred! Relationships were hard, harder than they had to be! Do you remember our first boyfriend? How we let him treat us? All because we believed him!” Hayley points to Hank, her great curved claw shaking.

She roars, shaking her head to clear the uncertainty that creeps in with the rabbit's words.

But it's too late, and memories come flooding back. Her brother and her at their mother’s hospital bedside as she succumbs to cancer. Their aunt coming to pick them up to live with her. Her aunt’s sharp words laying into Hank when he tries to intervene.

Oh, he tried many times after that to get them back, even crying, telling them how he had loved them. His sobs turning to anger when he couldn’t convince them.

Finally, after his 3rd time in jail, he had disappeared.

It wasn’t until years later that Hayley had discovered he had developed his own health problems until finally he had ended up in a hospice.

Her eyes narrow on the sniveling, whimpering man at her feet.

“What are you waiting for? Don’t your fangs ache to sink into his throat? To tear it out like he tore out your heart each time he raised a hand to you? Each time he raised his voice?” The spectre is back, and Hayley starts at its sinuous voice.

No! We don’t need to do this. We’ve become so much stronger over the years. He may have scarred us, but he never broke us. We can’t stoop to his level.

“No. I’ve become so much stronger,” she repeats the rabbit's words out loud. “I am a good person. I found the capacity to love. To love myself, the people in my life, despite him. If the point of our human existence is to learn to be a decent person, well, I think he taught me something valuable. I’ll never be like him. I’ve strived my entire life to not be like him. So maybe it wasn’t all a waste.”

The fur that covers her monstrous form recedes, as does her rage. The confidence that came with that shape, however, remains, and Hayley boldly steps up to the shaking form of ‘Hank’.

Once more simply human, she sinks down on one knee in front of him and holds his watery gaze with a firm one of her own. “You were a broken, unbalanced person. The faults you found in me… in my brother and mom, were all your own. Wherever you are now… wherever you go after you die… I hope you find peace.” With those whispered words, Hank vanishes.

“Not a wolf… not a rabbit… what then, dear Hayley, are you?” That murky form swirls around her, its voice almost comforting now.

Hayley stands, a smile tugging on her lips. “Neither, both… just human? Or maybe something so much more complex,” she sighs, feeling something open inside her, expanding. Suddenly, her world feels… fathomless.

Turning to the creature, Hayley steps up to it and peers into its hidden face. It hovers several inches from her and although it's as mysterious and intimidating as before, she no longer fears it.

“I’d like to go home now,” she says simply.

The creature studies her for a moment before reaching up to pull back its cowl. That fearsome visage that made her faint when she first saw it only makes her tilt her head curiously now.

The red eyes have dimmed and as Hayley studies those eyes, she sees the flicker of a candle dance in their depths.

“There is no light without darkness, and no darkness without light. I think you see that now. Never stop seeking a balance of the two, dear Hayley.”

She nods, even as her world fades. Images and sounds vanish, but Hayley’s conscious mind remains awake. Taking deep breaths, she strives to remain calm, knowing instinctively this trip back won’t take as long.

The transition back to reality isn’t noticeable, but Hayley shivers from the chill of the wooden floor that’s suddenly beneath her. Blinking, Hayley sits up. And as the moonlit cabin slowly comes into focus, she chuckles. “No one will believe this,” she whispers.

But she doesn’t care. Hayley doesn’t plan on telling anyone what happened, anyway.

Her flashlight and machete are laying close by, and she scoops them up as she rises.

Making her way back to her truck, Hayley steps over the faded sign that marks the start of the path before she stops to glance down at it. Stooping, she pries the dry cracked wood from the tangle of weeds and props it up against a shrub.

Pursing her lips, she studies the ineligible words that have long since faded. Running to her truck, Hayley grabs a marker from the glove box before heading back to the sign.

Kneeling, Hayley sketches the words she knows belong there. Stepping back, she examines her handiwork. ‘The Gateway. There is no light without darkness.’

Satisfied, Hayley climbs into her truck and makes her way home.

END.