Winter Wonderland

Conflicting Natures

Citali

The woods seemed menacing as she drove into town, and she found herself jumping at shadows moving amongst them if she wasn't careful. Citali didn't like this. She didn't like the feeling of paranoia and not trusting herself to be okay. She had not experienced since the early days of her residency and then employment with Knight Corp, when they were fighting an unseen war.

Before today, she couldn't actually say she had believed entirely in the myths of her own people. Sure, she understood the stories and the lessons that the were supposed to convey, but some part of her had just assumed that's what they were. Even when she discovered that humans weren't alone on the planet, she never once bothered to ask if the supernatural beings in her own folklore were real.

Were the supernatural beings of her people monsters? There were a few who were described as such, others were described as tricksters or helpers, sometimes just beings that were reclusive and others who had protected her peoples until they had just... stopped. Had they been eradicated like her own people? Or had they conceded the wild spaces to the new monsters arriving from across the ocean?

Logically thinking about the possibilities helped her work through her caution during that first day, when she picked up the shipment of blood from Liza, as well as some clothing she had ordered for Naiche, and her own groceries. She took the time to wander the streets of the small town, looking at the brightly coloured decorations for Christmas, which was just around the corner. Though she was not religious in that sense, the holiday season had become more of a cultural thing, as it was already an amalgamation of several different cultures and religions.

After making a stop at the local food bank and donating money to help feed any families in need, she finally packed up her car and drove back home. With a couple hours of sunlight still left, she forced herself to work through chores around the property, refusing to let herself feel trapped within the cabin.

Citali didn't go into the woods, even the path between her cabin and Naiche's seemed to be a little too much for that late in the day, but she collected wood, cleared some more snow and just enjoyed the view of the lake as the afternoon waned. There were no monstrous tracks in the snow, and she almost wondered if Naiche was imagining things, until she turned back toward her cabin and her attention was caught by a tree.

The large oak had always been there, but the large claw marks gouging into the bark about twelve feet off the ground certainly had not. No bear in the area could have made those marks. The only thing close could have been a polar bear, and even that would be a stretch. Besides, there were no tracks leading to or from the tree.

Citali shuddered as she realized that the threat was all too real, and far different from any supernatural she had come across. She forced herself to breathe calmly, but turned and immediately went inside, locking the doors and setting the alarm. Once inside, she hesitated, half tempted to turn on every light in the house just to keep the shadows at bay.

"Don't be dumb." She muttered before retrieving one of the guns from the safe that Knight Corp had installed.

Remy had trained her on how to use it and taken her to the range until she was proficient, and though she wasn't a fan of the things, she was now grateful to have it. Then, she grabbed food and several water bottles, before holing herself up in her bedroom. There, she kept the blinds closed and the windows themselves shuttered, her door locked, though she was forced to creep out to the washroom a couple times through the night.

Despite straining her ears to listen for any sounds coming form outside, all she heard was the shifting and creaking of the house. Though those sounds were enough to keep her awake, until she fell into a fitful sleep.