when you were my father

into the woods - brian pov

"Mom?" I say as I open my eyes, finding her pacing around in front of me. I guess I fell asleep on the couch, with Isla, Mai and Brian all around me.

"Micah... I have to go." She whispers to me, careful not to wake the sister sleeping against me.

"What do you mean?"

"I have to go. Stay here with your siblings and... him." She tells me in an urgent whisper. I nod, unsure what else to say.

Like a flash, my mom leaves the house. Knowing I can't let her go out in the world alone, her current state makes me think she's mentally ill, I get up and head after her.

Out the door, down the street and into the woods right by our house.

~~~~~~~~~~

"VALENTINA!" My mom yells over and over again in the middle of a clearing, while I watch from behind a bush. Thinking I'm alone.

"Who's she looking for?" A voice from beside me asks, almost making me jump ten feet in shock.

Turning to my side, I find that Isla is sitting, crouched down next to me.

"Isla? What are you doing here?"

"I was waking up and saw you leaving." She tells me plainly.

"Right, well do you know why mom came here?"

"Nope. But I feel good." She tells me, and I find myself smiling. She genuinely seems normal for the first time in what seems like forever, though it's really only been like two or three days.

"That's good," I tell her, hugging the little girl as tight as I can without choking her. Her not seeming like a crazy psychopath is a good little thing in all of this craziness. Only person left crazy now is the woman I followed here.

"VALENTINA! Come out honey! It's okay! I'm your mommy!" Our mom yells louder and louder, but it seems that we are the only people with her.

"Who's she yelling for?" Isla asks me again and I just shrug.

"GRRRR!" Comes a sound from the other side of the clearing, it's hidden from my view, but from it's roar I can tell that I do not want to get near it.

~~~~~~~~~~

A giant wolf jumps out from behind the bushes and strides close to our mother. She cowers back from the large predator, regretting the loud noises she was previously making. It's strange. I've studied animals like this one in school. I may not be a good student, but I do enjoy reading and this wolf does not belong in our ecosystem.

The foreign animal slowly creeps closer and closer to my mother, who's frozen like a deer in headlights. I hear a ruffle in the bushes behind them, but decide not to pay any attention to it. I'm still trying to figure out how I can help my poor mother. Just as the giant animal is about to attack, I hear a snap and it falls to the ground.

It moves around slightly for a second, but soon it falls completely still. My mom seems to have fainted under the pressure of her attacker, but wakes up, realizing she's not dead or even injured.

A teenage girl stands on the other side of the clearing. Wearing jeans and an old looking t-shirt with her dirty blonde hair hanging in a tangled mass around her shoulders, she looks very familiar to me.

To my mom as well I'm assuming, because she gets up and uncontrollably runs to the girl. "VALENTINA!" She cries in an exasperated yell.

The girl looks at her and smiles. Before returning to her serious face. "Hi." And my mom reaches her, hugging the blonde tightly. Like she never wants to let go. Reluctantly, the girl hugs back. Leaving Isla and I more confused than ever.

"My baby," Our mother whispers, hugging tighter than before.

"Mom, I have to breathe." The girl tells her and my mom quickly lets go. "Thank you,"

"Well, where have you been? Are you okay? Did you get fed well?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." She says to her, creating a large smile on my mom's face.

"Mommy?" A voice from beside me suddenly says out loud, causing both of the people in the clear to turn to us. "Who is this?"

"Isla?" Our mother calls, noticing her youngest child standing here. "What are you doing here?"

"I followed you here, with Micah." She announces, pulling me up from my crouching position.

"MICAH! I told you to stay home and watch your siblings."

"I'm watching the one that needs watching?" I triy to worm my way out of this, but she just shakes her head with disappointment. "Besides, who are you here with?" I ask her and her face quickly calms down.

"This is...this is Valentina." She told me, breathing and reluctantly smiling. "She's my-"