The Mother's Children

Alice wanted to curl in on herself as she sunk into her chair. She tugged her hair out of stress, a bad habit she needed to stop.

People always talk about how moving to a new place was difficult. Alice liked this town, but lately…

Lately she felt as though she were seeing things in the corner of her eye. Things like flowers going from buds to blooms in mere moments, but that was probably the wind. She also felt vines wrapping around her legs when she walked along the sidewalk.

But she was sane! Those things were tricks of the light o-or wind or something.

It was probably what just happened that had her so shaken, they didn’t have any connection. 

Probably.

She shook her head. No.

Those never happened. None of the events had any correlation. She was in her right mind. The man was probably on drugs. Deep breaths, she needed to take deep breaths.

His breaths had been shaky and his eyes were wide.

No, she needs to shake it off.

His hands had gripped her shoulders so tight.

Her hands moved to wear he had gripped, there might be a bruise the next day.

“You need to get out of here.” He said in a raspy voice. 

“Uh?”

“The Mother’s children are calling her.” He muttered looking at the side walk for a moment.. “The Mother’s children are calling her, and I need to stop them.” He repeated louder. His voice was frantic and horrified and determined.

It echoed in her skull. That stupid phrase just kept repeating like a broken record.

The Mother’s children are calling her.

The Mother’s children are calling her.

The Mother’s children are calling her.

She hated it.

The door suddenly slammed open. “Aliceyouwon’tbelievethejerksIhadtodealwithtoday! I-” Rachel stopped her rant when she saw Alice in the chair. “You okay?”

Alice nodded slowly. “Yeah just had a… bad day.”

Rachel frowned. She sat opposite to her on the ground crossing her legs. “What happened?”

“It wasn’t anything important. I was taking a short cut and this guy grabbed me.”

Rachel’s face darkened. “He didn’t-”

“No.” Alice cut her off. “He told me how I shouldn’t be there, that they were there and then began muttering about the ‘Mother’s children’, I think he was on drugs.

Rachel’s eyes widened.“Lucky! I’ve never actually had a confrontation with them.”

Alice furrowed her brows. “Who are they?”

Her jaw dropped. “How do you not-?” Rachel snapped her jaw back up. “Right, I forget you haven’t been here long.”

“Congratulations on remembering.”

“Yeah well, Mother’s Children are this cult that lives in the woods outside of town. They believe that Mother nature is going to wipe out the human race. They’ve been mentioned around here for as long as I can remember, but know one knows how to find them... ” Her face lit up like an expensive christmas tree. “You have to tell me where this guy was, if we can find them we are famous!”

“Find them?” She repeated numbly. “Are you nuts!?”

“People have been searching for them for ages. If we find them in town we’re celebrities.” Rachel was now on her knees pleading.

Alice massaged her forehead. “If they’re so popular how has no one found them?”

“How should I now? I think the police have given up.”

Alice tugged her hair again, sighing. 

The moments blurred as she led Rachel to wear the man had been. It was dark now and the street was lit by yellow lights barely giving enough to see the ground. 

Which was obviously why she saw weeds grow instantly in the cracks of the street.

Tricks of the lack of light.

“This is it.”

Rachel oohed and ahed like some twisted tourist. “Up there.” She said. “There's a window.” She stacked some boxes. “I can’t believe we found them!”

Alice clambered up on the boxes and felt her eyes widen as she looked through the dirty window.

Women, Men, old women and men all of them covered in muddy marks painted around their face and lower body. No clothes. Vines were the only things wrapped around everyone’s waist, the ones closer to the center wearing flowers on the vines. 

Alice needed to bleach her eyes when she got home.

An idol stood high in the middle. A statue of sorts. 

Not at all what one would expect Mother nature to look like. A short woman with an angry scrunched up face and a skirt of snakes. Moss grew on it making the snakes look alive and ready to bite anyone who came near them. The pedestal beneath her was flourishing with vines.

“Mother Coatlicue, wake!” Was chanted over and over.

“What are they saying?”

“Coatlicue is the Aztec mother nature.” Rachel whispered in awe. “They worship her. How were they able to hide this for so long?” The last bit was muttered more to herself.

The  affair inside continued, they stopped the loud chanting that now turned into a murmur. A man walked to the center and sat upon the idol. He stood apart from the rest, upon his head was a crown with exotic flowers.

“Brothers and Sisters,” He started. “A former sibling of ours has been turned a traiter.” He raised his hands with a sparkling smile on his face. The crowds of people cheered in jubilation and…

And the vines wrapped around the idol began to move.

“You see that too?” Alice breathed. Rachel bobbed her head up and down barely thinking.

The vines continued to move with no sense of respect to Alice’s sanity. A figure fell face first out of the bundle of vines. Her heartbeat picked up, that was the same man she saw before.

“Jared here,” The head man said, picking up his wrist. “Did not decide to return, but decided to destroy us.”

There was an amused laughing tittered throughout the crowd. Dread filled Alice as she saw the vines move up the man’s body.

“Now he shall be the key to awakening Mother Coatlicue! His blood shall be split to awaken her”

“Rachel, call the police.” Alice said.

“No! We would lose any recognition for finding them!”

“Rachel.” Alice began calmly. “You saw what just happened, call the police.”

“Just a little longer.”

“Rachel!” She hissed. “This is some Lovecraftian sh*t that neither of us should be caught up in!” 

There was screaming, Alice whipped her head back. The vines had fully wrapped around his throat strangling the man. His limbs were flailing and his fingers were clawing at his face that was now so red it looked like a cherry that was about to burst. 

Sh*t!”

“I think you're right.” Rachel muttered.

“No sh*t!” Alice screamed, finally losing it. “We should make a run for it while you're at it.”

The policemen came and most were carted off. The rest had scattered back to where they lived.

The leader was nuts. The police told her that he had been laughing crazily before he disintegrated to a pile of dirt.

Alice tugged her hair.

She felt like moving towns again.