Our Mother the Mountain

31. Binding Ritual

Autumn afternoon transitions to sunset were abrupt; Ethan always forgot how early the darkness fell on the haunted mountain valley. When they exited the home, he exhaled at the sight of a blazing orange sky, and shivered in his thin hoodie. Cold hadn't affected Ethan since his change, but seeing his breath caused the reflexive reaction.

A human reaction. One that his DNA now only remembered as being appropriate. An echo, an empty hollow noise of a living creature. He wasn't like Zoe. She walked beside him, and his arm was around her shoulders. Zoe had only been crystallized once, had never fully transformed or felt a human death–she was truly an infected human. Ethan was something else. Was the supportive arm on her shoulders for her, or for him?

This piercing thought bothered him greatly until his approach of Donna and Evie. The group had exited their vehicle, with Jochen opening the women's doors like a footman. Ethan's gaze flickered from Heisenberg's twin to Eveline, who stood on the gravel and seemed to be looking down. Or at someone? She was nodding, but looked scared.

A pull came into Ethan's chest; like a magnetic field of his own, he found himself drawn to...something. He blinked his eyes closed, and when he opened them again, he was in the liminal space. Immediately Ethan knew why he-or the thing within, more likely-was drawn here. Godric was on one knee beside the girl, his voice too low for Ethan to hear. But he was speaking rapidly, one large arm over her small frame.

Ethan muttered to Zoe, "Give her a minute," and Godric managed a wink in his direction as he returned to the realm with the blazing sunset. Zoe looked dubious, and her breath was ragged as her thoughts filtered into Ethan, like osmosis of consciousness.

Jesus, she's so small. She looks even younger. How old was she when....? Three, Chris said....they artificially aged her up. Looks so fragile, too. Ah hell, I can't imagine her having to —

Evie, it appeared, was ready to speak. Her eyes were wide, though, and her lip trembled before setting into a harsh, stern line. "I'm really sorry," she said, and then halted. "About..."

That seemed to be all she could muster; Donna's hands were on Eveline's shoulders, and she looked hopefully at the Baker daughter. Jochen, as usual, hung back. Joe, however, had appeared on Zoe's other side.

Zoe's voice was small and thin. "Do you remember....?"

Evie seemed jolted by this question, as if it pulled her out of some otherness. It seemed she, too, dissociated, Ethan realized. He felt guilty.

"Sometimes," the girl responded, and her hands clasped together. "I'm more in control now than I was then. Everything is different now." She finally attempted to look at Zoe, but her eyes quickly averted. It reminded Ethan of Mia. It occurred to him he'd never told Zoe about the girl's DNA origin, but maybe he didn't need to. Zoe had a lot of access to information thanks to her job.

Zoe right now, however, looked defeated. At Ethan's quizzical glance at the question, she shrugged. "Well I mean. I don't know if you remember but.... My piece of shit brother was workin'...well...with...them."

Evie shifted uncomfortably. Ethan's stare turned into a confused scowl, and Joe stroked his beard, seeming to hold back his own thoughts. Zoe shook her head, hugging herself through the coat. "The people from Munich. That lab. When you were at our house, they reached out to him and instead of helping any of us, he just fed them information. Hell, they helped him cover up all of his own murders. For no reason. Just saw all of us–me, you, Mama, Daddy, those other people–as a sick experiment. If there's anybody to blame, it's them...and him. He was supposed to protect-" she paused, swallowed, and continued when Joe crossed his arms, "-his family, an' he just sold us out, kept us trapped, kept the media an' police out...for years on end."