The gaping maw grew closer as the wet muscle pulled her in, the head at the tip of the creature's tongue still making its infernal cry, the pseudo-flagella lengthening and crawling across her body, trying and failing to penetrate her skin before sliding towards her mouth and nostrils.
Mia's brain screamed at her to move, to fight back, to do something, anything to keep on living, yet her body refused to obey, frozen in place by a fear that came from the buried primal instincts that resided in the genetic code of all human beings. Just as the pseudo-flagella were about to slide into her orifices, Hadin's voice came into her head; a projection of disappointment and her fears. "Pathetic," the voice rang in her head while the tendrils slid up her nostrils and began worming their way towards her brain.
Her throat closed as the voice rang in her head not out of fear or trying to keep the tendrils out, but out of shame as her limbs refused to move. Mentally she screamed at herself to move, to fight, to be anything but scared. Slowly her hand moved towards the tongue-fear giving way to pure rage, hate and determination to prove herself- and grabbed the glutinous slab of muscle and pulled at it, her second hand grasping the other end, and with a grunt of exertion tore the tongue in half, sprays of green ichor coating her body as the creature screeched in pain, clawed hands pawing at its face while Mia dropped to the ground and unwrapped the flailing tongue from her neck and throwing it aside.
Pushing herself to her feet, she shot a glare at the writhing creature on the floor and charged, winding up a kick which she delivered to the skull with enough force to send a car flying, the sound of crunching filling her ears as the creature's head snapped to the side before stomping on its head repeatedly to exorcise her rage. She had been made to feel afraid, made to feel weak, to feel like she was not enough. With each stomp to the head, she reminded herself that she was enough. She was enough for Rozie, she was enough for the family, she was enough for Hadin. She was enough for herself and nothing would make her feel like she wasn't. Her rampage was brought to an abrupt end when a lance of pain tore through her torso and multiple somethings writhed inside her, wrapping around her insides. Breathing was hard, her breath rattled and she coughed out a thick globule of blood.
Looking down, she was greeted by the sight of the agonized baby's face covered in her blood sticking out of her stomach, a piece of meat stuck in its jaws. A piece of her insides, she realized as the head slithered out of her, followed by the rest of the tongue. Coughing up another mouthful of blood, she reached for the tongue in an attempt to tear it out of her, only for her hand to fail in responding to her command. She tried again, willing it to move, yet nothing happened.
Turning her head to look at her arm, she screamed as the situation made itself clear; her arms were missing, cleanly shorn off by the creature's wicked curved talons which now slowly impaled her sides. The fear returned again but different this time; it didn't come as a wave, but as a sickly, grimy thing that slid squeezed past her defenses and painted her with its corrupting touch as she realized that right here and now, she would die.
Tears fell from her eyes as a sob came unbidden from her lips even as she squirmed, kicked and screamed for help even as the talons pierced her skin and slid past her ribs, puncturing what remained of her lungs, drowning her cries with choked gargles as blood and shredded flesh poured from her wounds and mouth. The last thing she saw before her world went dark was the burnt orange of the setting sun above her.
Mia woke up with a scream, her hands gripping the sheets as rivulets of sweat cascaded down her body, soaking the bed. Her eyes darted around, her heavy breathing slowing as she took in the location; she was in her room at the family house; her childish drawings, medals, trophies and band posters decorating the walls of her sanctuary. The creaking of the door caught her attention as it was pushed open slowly, revealing Rozie who had an empty glass in one hand, a full pitcher of water in the other and Hadin who was behind her, the air turning cold with his presence.
The bed sank as Rozie sat and filled the cup with water, putting the cup to Mia's lips, brown compassionate eyes watching the girl she had watched grow up greedily gulp down the water. "Easy child," she soothed, pulling away the empty cup as her hand reaching up to stroke the back of Mia's head, comforting her. "You're okay darling, you're safe now," her honeyed words worming into Mia's ears, chipping away at her fear until Mia's breathing evened out.
"My arms," Miia's voice was soft, meek, broken. "My arms," she slowly raised her arms slowly to look at them, a pit forming in her stomach as the full extent of what she was crashing into her like a freight train.
"I know," Rozie placed Mia's hands in hers, squeezing them softly to comfort her, lifting her hands to her lips to give them a gentle kiss. "It'll be okay, I promise," she reassured once more, pressing her lips to Mia's forehead before standing up and exiting the room, leaving Mia and Hadin alone.
Silence reigned for several agonizing minutes, each second dragging out for what felt like an eternity until Hadin finally spoke, "Explain," the command came without any care for what she was going through.
"I..I was at the stream," she started slowly, her voice hoarse. She paused, refilling the cup with water and emptying it in one go. "I closed my eyes as I was soaking in the stream and then I found myself in the air,"
"Irrelevant. Tell me about your encounter with the creature,"
"Yes sir," she rasped. "Its body didn't have a firm shape. It was fluid, one moment it had wings, the next it had multiple tendrils. Like it didn't know what it wanted to be and was just trying on different forms," she paused, taking a deep breath as she mentally steeled herself for the recollection. "Then all of a sudden I was afraid," she didn't look at him, she couldn't bare to see the disappointment on his face. "I tried to fight back, I swear I tried, but my body refused to move," hot tears ran down her face, her body shaking as choked sobs racked her body. "I fought back; I promise I did. I even killed it. I stomped its head into a paste after I ripped off its baby headed tongue, but it still survived" she sobbed as Hadin watched on impassively.
Mia's cries resounded across the room, her fear and anguish palpable with each sob as she alternated between apologies and incoherent babbling which grated on Hadin's nerves. "Silence!" his voice was firm and snapped her out of her breakdown, his normally flat tone flecked with hints of anger and annoyance. "Do not disgrace yourself any further with tears and incoherent idiotic babbling," he continued, the emotion now completely gone, leaving behind the apathetic voice she'd known all her life. "You survived your first encounter with a blithed," he turned to leave, having said his piece. "Take solace in the fact that you have finally earned the right to the Arkwright name. Rozie will attend to you, and when you have fully recovered, she will begin instructing you in your new duties and the traditions of the family," he took a step to leave, only to pause as he remembered something.
"I have informed Susan that you will be staying here for the time being. Your things will be moved here in time," with that said, he exited the room, closing the door with a solid click that echoed in the silence left in his wake.