Chapter 9: Chapter 5: A Long Walk Home

Philip awoke to find himself wrapped in the coils of the Naga again. While he couldn't complain too much, the girl had kept him warm during the chilly mountain night in the damp cave, the idea of remaining in his current circumstance repulsed the boy, and he squirmed out of her embrace and slid back away from her until his back was against the wall furthest from her. He drew his legs up as tightly against his chest as he could hugging his knees and rocking himself gently in an attempt to keep from hyperventilating.

His emotions were at war with themselves. Something had happened during the forced sexual encounter that drew him to the Naga as much as his brain told him to flee from the cave and get as many miles between himself and his molester as possible. Logical though superseded both of those emotions, though. There was no telling where he was, or what was lurking out in the area, just waiting to repeat the experience he'd just endured, or even worse, decided it was hungrier than horny and just ate him instead. The Naga was his best bet for protection, for now, he'd just have to bide his time until he could escape to civilization.

The naga stirred, and he compressed himself more tightly into himself as she began to move around. He didn't bother to look up as he heard the telltale sounds of her slithering closer to him. "Are… are you okay?" The snake girl gently asked him, and he just nodded his head without looking up. A hesitant touch, which he flinched away from despite telling himself he wouldn't, and then there was silence for a moment.

"Can you build a fire? I can go hunt us something to eat so we have energy for the journey back." He finally raised his head, his eyes meeting hers, and he saw shame, regret, and resignation in her expression. "yeah…" he said, "I, uh, I've been camping with my folks a lot. I can build a fire." The girl nodded, her eyes downcast. "Okay, well, it should be safe for you to gather firewood right around the cave, so you do that, and I'll go hunt." The girl quickly left the cave, and Philip was left to his own thoughts. He finally uncurled himself and stood up, gathering his clothes from the pile the naga had left them in and getting dressed before heading out to gather wood.

As He exited the cave and began gathering small downed branches for firewood, he thought about his current circumstance and what he would, or even could do. He could make a break for it, but he'd already dissuaded himself from that course of action. He could accept his current companion for the desperate but sweet girl she seemed to be. He didn't know what this "feral" condition was, or why it needed, well, that to be kept at bay, but if she was so worried about it that she'd resort to kidnapping and less than consensual sex to alleviate the possibility of it, then it must be horrible in its own right.

He made sure to be on the lookout for any sort of landmarks that could tell him if he were near civilization in any way, but the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountain ranges were densely forested areas that were easy to get lost in if you wandered away from the trails. He picked up another branch and kept moving. It wouldn't do to stay idle for too long, he'd be overwhelmed by his thoughts if he did.

The only option he could see, in the long run, was to get so strong that this could not happen again. He'd played video games and card games that used monsters, collecting them to gain power, using them as teams, syncing their powersets to be able to take on all comers, and he wondered if these monster girls were in some way similar. The two he'd met that hadn't outright tried to kill him seemed desperate to attach themselves to a human, as though they depended on one for survival in much the same way as the human would depend on them so they wouldn't get abducted or become a meal for an especially aggressive breed. A symbiotic relationship, as it were.

Philip mulled this all over in his head as he worked. The naga seemed willing and even wanting to stay with him, and as conflicted as his emotions were, he felt a bit of the same. Something had happened beyond the physical last night, like a part of his soul felt wrapped up in the snake girl, even as his emotions and brain warred with the connection. It was like an internal storm that was going to turn into a natural disaster of mental anguish if he didn't clamp down on it soon. Of course, the phenomenon was hardly unknown, even without some mystical bond working in the background. Stockholm syndrome was a thing, he remembered seeing a movie on Netflix that told the story that coined the phrase. Charismatic bad guys could do a number on the psyche just by force of personality. And victims all too often remained attached to their abusers until it was almost too late to get to safety.

Philip didn't think the Naga was necessarily a bad person, and strangely he did see her as a person first, she was just thrust into a chaotic and horrible situation. Everything she knew had been torn away from her, including her human and family, and she was desperately trying to reconnect in a strange world while some unknown (to him) affliction caused her to need physical intimacy to combat it.

He didn't know if he was rationalizing his situation to stave off insanity, or if he really was as sympathetic to the girl's plight as it seemed, but this line of thought did much to assuage the roiling storm of emotions in his head and provided a bit of clarity to both of their situations. She needed a human, and he could use that to his advantage without feeling as though he were manipulating her for his own needs. Two wrongs didn't make a right, after all. Even if three rights made a left. He groaned audibly at that last thought, it seemed he couldn't escape his dad's humor even while many miles apart.

Philip was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice that all sounds in the area had died away. He didn't hear the cracking of branches coming closer as he walked, mumbling to himself as he went along in his task. He almost missed the movement out of the corner of his eye. He did not miss the furious roar that came from his left, though. It startled him so bad that he dropped his load of firewood and turned, quaking at what he saw.

Emerging from the tree line was an abomination worse than any nightmare he had ever confronted in his sleep. It was at least twelve feet tall, towering over the boy, a woman's torso on a massive spider body, with four arms, the lower two ending in blades that might slice him in two. The thing had skin darker than night, with a giant red hourglass prominent on its belly. It seemed covered by some sort of armor, as well, he didn't think any improvised weapon he could find would do more than annoy the already rage-fueled horror. And the face of the monster, oh god, that face. Multiple blood-red eyes surrounded its head, seemingly looking in all directions at once, though he knew its focus was squarely on him. Some sort of green liquid dripped from the fangs in its mouth, and Philip was pretty sure he did not want to come in contact with it. Its mouth opened to roar again, and the lower jaw split open at the chin, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth with fangs on top, and behind that, some sort of sacs near the throat.

Philip turned and ran. He ran harder than he'd ever run in his life. He knew the abomination had the advantage here, being almost three times his size, but it was bulky, and hopefully not as agile as he was. He bobbed and weaved through the trees and undergrowth, his breath as measured as he could make it, and he focused on keeping both his speed and footing as he went.

Not that it seemed to matter if the cacophony of crashes behind him were any indication. It seemed the thing preferred to just bulldoze its way through the forest in its pursuit of him, and it sounded as though it was gaining. He panicked slightly as a huge spray of green stuff flew past him to the right, followed by another guttural roar. Philip saw bushes ahead of him and waited until he was right up on them to suddenly switch directions, pivoting to his left and skirting them. He risked a backward glance, horrified at the proximity of the beast, who reached out for him and just missed him, the thing unable to pivot in time as it went crashing into the bushes and then suddenly disappeared from sight as it plummeted down the embankment the undergrowth had hidden from view. Philip sped up, hoping against hope that the drop-off was steep enough to keep the monster from easily re-engaging him.

From the sounds of it, it was trying to pace him from below now, and he switched directions again, trying to get as far from the area as he could before it found a way back up. He was running so hard that he was nearly given whiplash when he was suddenly wrapped in the coils of his abductor, who then took off at a speed quite a bit faster than he himself could muster. "Thank Mew, you're alive!" the naga exclaimed, a panicked look on her face as they fled the ever more distant crashes and roars of the raging widow.

Philip looked up at her as he recovered his senses. "What the hell was that thing?" he asked, glancing back, relieved at seeing no sign of the monster yet. "Widow. No one seems to know where they come from, and if anyone knows what they evolve from, they're not saying." Philip scoffed. "I'm gonna guess another spider breed, just putting that out there. So y'all are basically pokemon, huh?" The girl didn't bother to answer him, so he just kept a lookout behind them as they ran.

The pair ran for what felt like hours. Philip hoped the naga knew where she was going because he damn sure didn't at this point. She had adjusted course a couple of times as they fled the ever more distant noises of the widow, and now there were no noises at all. He hoped that the abomination had given up the pursuit in favor of a more easily acquired meal.

Eventually, they came upon signs of civilization, and the naga didn't bother to skirt the area, heading directly toward what looked like the main drag of a small town. She finally set Philip down so he could walk beside her, and he forced himself to grab her hand and lean into her a bit in a show of gratitude. The girl blushed and looked away in a way that made Philip's heart beat faster in his chest, and he stayed leaning against her as they made their way downtown, looking for a business that might have a phone so he could at least call his parents and let them know he was still alive. The naga hesitantly agreed with his plan, so he began looking in the windows.

There was a barber shop that was closed, a small hardware store, also closed, and a small barbeque restaurant with its blinds drawn. Other businesses seemed in much the same condition. Guess an invasion of monsters was cause for a day off, which was fair. The naga pointed out a person walking down the street, but they stopped and ran after he called out to them. He was starting to think that having a monster girl at his side might not be conducive to getting help.

Philip and the naga stopped in front of an electronics store that looked open. He was about to try the door when the TV in the window caught his attention. There was a news broadcast playing on the screen, and his eyes widened as he took in the displayed images. The news anchor, a prominent national star who was known for being very buttoned down was speaking over scenes of major cities in various states of calamity, his voice an octave higher than average.

You are reading story The Thin Places at novel35.com

"… and as you can see, New York city is in flames, with rioting and many worse things this anchor cannot describe adequately overtaking the Burroughs. Manhattan is overrun with these monster\human hybrids. LA, Chicago, and St Louis have gone dark, with no communications coming from those locations for many hours. San Francisco bay is in ruins, with reports of a leviathan emerging from the water and laying waste to large swaths of the surrounding neighborhoods. Seattle is in a similar shape, with reports of fantastical creatures abducting people left and right.

Since the first appearance of these portals, The US has lost communication with most other nations. Sporadic reports from London and Paris indicated similar events in Europe. An Australian government official spoke on condition of anonymity, confirming similar events there, but calling it 'par for the course, mate.' We are apparently in the middle of a global invasion of monsters, all of whom so far have been female in appearance."

The station switched to the studio. The anchor looked to be in a state of shock that was tinged with panic. Banging could be heard in the background and muffled yells indicated that the location was likely being assaulted by monster girls. The anchor continued.

"As you can likely hear, our studio is being attacked. We'll try to continue broadcasting for as long as possible. Government officials warn citizens to remain indoors, and only leave if they have no other choice. There is no official word from military channels on what response is… AHH!"

Screams filled the room as whatever barricading measures the employees were undertaking crumbled under the assault of the unknown monstergirls. Something blurred into view past the camera, jumping on the anchor's desk, and the camera tipped over, the image jarringly turning into a sideways view of the floor, screams, and wails filled the feed before it suddenly cut out.

Philip put his back to the wall of the store, slowly sliding down it until he was sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, his head in his hands as he started shaking. Soft sobs emanated from the boy as he was overloaded with information. He felt soft hands wrap around him as he was gently pulled into an embrace. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here, it's alright, master." The naga pulled his head to her chest, and her tail lifted him up, wrapping around him protectively. He stiffened for a moment, but then allowed himself to relax into her as she coiled him up in her tail. He sobbed louder, pressing himself into the girl, his head tucked under her chin. They remained that way for quite a while.

After a few minutes, the boy's sobs slowly subsided, and he pulled his head away, looking up at the naga with soft eyes. She smiled down at him gently, her look telling him that he was safe here, wrapped in her embrace, that she would allow no harm to come to him. Philip finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "Y… you know, I don't even know your name. I don't remember giving you mine, either. So, I'm Philip."

"This girl no longer has a name. If you want, You can give me one." The naga looked down at him with sympathy and affection, a gentle smile gracing her countenance. Philip hadn't realized before just how beautiful the girl was. His face reddened slightly and he looked away. He turned his attention to the conundrum of a name.

Philip thought hard. He'd never given anyone a name before. He considered the people near and dear to him, then he considered fictional characters he enjoyed. Well, he's always had a crush on Selena Kyle, Catwoman… wait, that's it! He decided with a resolute nod. "Your name will be Sylene." The girl smiled down at him, her face radiating joy. "Sylene is a wonderful name, Philip. Thank you for my name." He nodded back at her. "Please take care of me." She looked lovingly at him. "Always, master."

After a minute, she uncoiled him from her tail, releasing him from her embrace. Even though the sun was shining down on them, he felt colder without her wrapping him up. He supposed he could get used to that. He glanced back at the shop. An elderly couple was standing at the entrance, studying their interaction. "You okay, son?" the old man asked, glancing nervously at Sylene as he spoke. "Right as rain, sir. Say, do you have a phone I could use to call my folks? They must be awfully worried about me." The man nodded, and his wife gestured them inside.

Philip was guided to the phone, and after offering his thanks to the couple, quickly called his mom's cell phone. It was picked up after only one ring, and his mom's voice came over the line, slightly panicked. "Hello?" Philip grimaced at her tone. She obviously wasn't doing well. "Hi, mom. It's me." Her voice went up an octave, and he nearly had to hold the phone away from his ear. "Philip, sweetie, is that you? Are you safe? Did… did that monster hurt you?"

He took a second to gather himself. "I… I'm okay, mom. I'm not hurt. Sylene is still with me. She's been protecting me. I'm safe and protected." His mom didn't sound convinced as she responded. "Okay, honey. Did… did she do anything to you?" Philip sighed. "Yeah, but mom, please don't freak out about it. She didn't mean any harm. Okay? And she's mine now. She'll protect us, and we're going to need it. Have you been watching the news?"

"Y… yes, I have. It's not good out there. Where are you? We need you home. Your scaled friend has been almost as worried about you as we have, and we've had to keep her from running off to find you." Philip chuckled, and then covered the phone's mic with his hand. "Excuse me, sir, what town is this?"

The man glanced over at him. "Red Bank. You're just on the outskirts of Chattanooga. Though it goes without saying that I wouldn't head into the city right now." He gave an uneasy glance at Sylene. "Thank you," Philip responded. "Mom, I'm in Red Bank, Tennessee. Do you think y'all can make it up here? With the truck, Sylene won't fit in the CRV."

"Of course, honey. Your dad is on his way now. Do you want him to take your friend with him?" Philip started to shake his head before realizing how silly that would look. "No, mom, keep her there with you. That cat creature could still be lurking around, and she would be your only protection. Tell her I'll be there soon and ask her to protect you and the house for me."

"Of course, honey. Dad says he'll be there in two hours."

"Okay, mom. I'm at a store called Grant's Electronics. It's right on the main strip going through town. I'll see you soon." After they exchanged their goodbyes, he hung up the phone. "Do y'all mind if Sylene and I hunker down here until my dad shows up?" The man shook his head. "Not at all, son. It's not safe out there. Some of these creatures aren't as docile as your Sylene is."

Philip chuckled. "Tell me about it. We met one earlier, and it was sheer dumb luck we escaped without becoming lunch for the thing." The man nodded seriously. "It's bad out there. Excuse me, I'm going to go make sure the back door is locked and secured." He moved into the back room at a brisk pace. Philip raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

You can find story with these keywords: The Thin Places, Read The Thin Places, The Thin Places novel, The Thin Places book, The Thin Places story, The Thin Places full, The Thin Places Latest Chapter