Only Skeletons Remain

Chapter 28: Harper's First Glimpse

March 2016

Harper ran across the beach, her twin brother giggling and running right behind her. Their footsteps splashed through the tide of the beach, and Harper stopped when she saw a shell. She bent down to pick it up, and her brother couldn't stop in time, and he collided into her. The two twins fell into the wet sand, and Harper rolled Liam off of her.

"Get off me!" She yelled in Spanish, glaring at her brother.

"Why'd you stop all of a sudden?" Liam snapped back, splashing water at her.

"Found a shell." Harper picked up the large shell.

"Oh wow! As if you can't find them everywhere!" He rolled his eyes.

Harper hissed at him before she gently washed the shell in the warm ocean water. She held it up, being surprised when she saw a hermit crab poking out of it. Her eyes widened, and a grin grew on her face.

"But wait! There's more inside!" Harper said.

"Careful! Don't bother it! Crabs can pinch you!" Liam cautioned, eyeing the crab nervously.

"Easy, I just want to observe it up close." She waved her brother off before gently putting the crab down in her hand, watching as it crawled around on her hand. She gently put the crab back down where she found it before trotting down the beach with Liam. The twins spoke quietly to each other, looking over their shoulders as their younger brothers ran after them.

The youngest brother Andrew reached them, and he walked next to them. "Wait up, y'all-!" He complained.

Harper let out a chuckle. "Look who's speaking English like an American!" She joked, causing Andrew to roll his eyes and weakly attempt to shove her to the side.

"Yeah Andrew, it sounds like you've been living in America your whole life." Liam poked fun at their brother.

"Oh please! I'm practicing!" Andrew rolled his eyes again.

Micah walked behind them, throwing rocks into the ocean as he walked. "Practice or not, you still have an accent."

Andrew hissed before running ahead and walking by himself. Harper let out a soft laugh. Andrew had always been sensitive to a lot of their teasing, but he knew it was all in good fun. The four of them made their way back to their house in San Juan, right as the sun was setting. Their house was a single story with brightly painted walls in shades of blue and yellow with a red-tiled roof. The front porch was adorned with hanging plants that her mother, María, tended to, and comfortable chairs where her father, Javier, was often sitting reading his Bible.

The four siblings made their way into the house which was constantly filled with natural light, with wooden furniture and colorful decorations scattered around the house. She walked into the living room, smelling the food her mother was cooking in the kitchen. She weaved her way to her room, where she had a tank full of saltwater fish. She dropped some fish pellets into the tank before she heard her mother calling them for dinner. Harper slid out of her room, walking over to the dining room, where Micah and Liam were chasing each other around the table in a fit of giggles.

"Oh Harper, you're covered in sand!" Her mother fretted. "Go shower. You're getting sand all over my floor!"

"Yes Mamí." Harper said before she quickly went to grab some clothes and shower.

After her shower, she came back to the dining room, and she sat down in her unassigned-assigned chair next to Liam. María served everyone their plate of food before she made her own, and then she sat down across from Javier.

"Liam, say grace." María told him.

Everyone folded their heads and closed their eyes as Liam prayed. "Lord thank you for this food, thank you for this family. Thank you for all the things You've given us. Bless those who have less than we do. In Your Name we pray, amèn."

"Amèn." Everyone else said in unison.

Harper began to dig in, taking a spoonful of rice. They didn't always have much, but she was grateful for what she did have. She couldn't have asked for a better family.

"So, Liam told me you found a crab?" Javier said, looking over at his daughter.

Harper sent Liam a side eye before looking at her father. "I found a huge conch shell, and when I picked it up, it came out to look at me."

Javier chuckled a bit. "Must've sensed the animal lover in you."

Harper stuck her tongue at Liam before she turned back to her father. "I almost brought it home with me. It would've been a good pet."

"No more pets," María warmly replied. "We have enough fish in this house as it is."

Harper giggled at that. She regularly went out and caught fish for the family. It was how she made a little extra money for them, but sometimes, some of the prettier fish, she kept. She had a lot of multi-colored fish in her tank, and she took good care of them. When Harper finished her food, she went to the sink, putting her plate in. She knew it was Liam's week for the dishes, so she didn't bother to clean.

She went to her room, pulling out one of the books from her shelf, and she got into bed. She curled up under her blanket and began to read the book. It was one of the books her father had brought from the library. Some of the books he brought were strange, but they had cool pictures. She didn't fully understand some of the legends, but she figured it was because they were just old books. Her fingers brushed over a picture of a deer skull, narrowing her eyes a bit before she put the book on her nightstand. She closed her eyes and found herself drifting off to sleep quickly.

When Harper woke up, she was in a lush green countryside. She looked around, feeling a sense of anxiety washing over her. She turned around and saw a city with nine towers jutting up into the sky, like jagged teeth. Where was she? This was a weird dream.

"Harper." A low voice rumbled through her body, and she turned around to see a large deer creature staring at her. He smelled like rotting flesh, and he had coarse gray fur with thick darker gray neck fur. His eyes glowed a bright yellow. "Don't be alarmed. I will not harm you."

"Who are you?" Harper asked, staying where she was, watching as the creature approached her. She had seen the creature in the books her father had brought, but she had never seen the thing in her dreams before. She was surprised that it knew Spanish, though, she figured it was because that was the first language she spoke.

"My name is Fenrir." The creature greeted, lowering his head to get nose-to-nose with her. "Welcome to Trench." Something about the deer seemed... off. Like he was from the place with the nine towers.

"Trench..?" Harper asked, her voice barely coming out more than a whisper. She took one more look around. This was such a weird place...

"I told you this was a bad idea. She cannot fight in the Great War." A large gray creature with glowing blue marks said, padding over to Fenrir. "She's just a child, Fenrir. You can't--"

"This is who I've chosen, Runeheart. In time, you will choose your host." Fenrir said calmly, looking over at the other creature and resting his nose against Runeheart's head.

Harper's head spun. Host? Who were these animals? She must've had some bad rice for dinner. Yeah... that must've been it. It was then a large furry green moth-like creature landed next to them, and something along the line of an orca mixed with an alligator appeared on Fenrir's other side. What were these things?

Harper began to back away, terror running through her, though she stopped as Fenrir nuzzled each of the creatures. 'They must be friends,' she decided. She was caught off guard by Fenrir putting a gentle hand on her head, and she was surprised by the warmth that came off of it. The deer had calloused hands, just like Javier did.

"Don't worry Harper. All will be made clear to you. From this day forward, you will be known as Foreseer. Oculi tui aperti sint ad ea quae videre debes." Fenrir spoke the last part in a language she didn't understand, but as he gently wiped his thick calloused thumb over her eyes, she felt light, and everything went dark.