Kade jumps up steps back and aims his Disabling Device at the things soft toy butt. I'm taking deep rapid breaths to hold my calm, "Quick, disable it – I want this thing off me!"
The sudden sound of handclapping alerts us both and I feel the tree creature relax its grip on my leg.
There's a moments silence, then a voice permeates through the place, "Babies, babies – come to Nanny, quickly." It's a woman's sound, soft and gently caring in tone.
The creature leaps from my leg. The dolls head turns and looks up at me; the plastic face is smeared with dirt and blood. An instinctive yelp shoots from me as I see a long, swollen tongue like appendage emerge from an eye-hole and hungrily mop up my blood – GROSS.
Kade and I watch with shocked, questioning eyes as it, and the second tree creature scurry toward the source of the voice with a scary speed and agility.
......
Kade's first thought is me. He drops to his knees, grabs my foot and examines it, "it looks like it's just a surface wound. But still, we better get you tetanus and antibiotic jabs when we get back."
He looks up at the trees and asks the question that keeps on looping around my head, "What are these things?"
......
The answer that is delivered by the soft voice does little to enlighten us, "They're The Twin's babies. As you can see, they have many babies." The voice emanates from behind us.
Kade and I turn swiftly and aim our disabling devices in the direction of her sound.
"Oh, you don't need those things for me, I'm an old lady, I can't harm you." I gasp when she comes into our view.
She's like a ghostly 'apparition.' Dressed in what looks like an old bridal gown, her face totally obscured by a veil. When she moves, the voluminous white dress gives the appearance of floating.
The two tree creature's grasp the bottom of her dress with their old soft toy paws and drag themselves upwards until they each reach an adjacent hip, where they wrap their legs around her and sit like contented children. It is a sight that is both surreal and horrific.
Kade rubs my shoulder, this is an instinctive gesture that he always does to reassure me, reassure us. He steps forward, "Who are you?" He asks.
She doesn't answer. Instead she lowers her head, "Look at this," she says, caressing her dress with gnarled and aged hands, while the creatures hang onto her, "They make such a terrible mess of my gowns. I like my gowns to be as pure as the driven snow, I take such pleasure in wearing them and the babyies always soil them so..."
Kade talks over her, his impatience rising, "Who are you?" He repeats. Her head is bowed and I notice that the veil is crudely stitched into her scalp and small droplets of blood are seeping into the white lace. She slowly lifts her head. I scrutinize the veil, looking for signs of facial features through it, but it reveals nothing. She moves closer, "I'm The Nanny. I raised The Twins and I still care for them today."
In attempt to keep her on side, I gently engage with her, "Your head is bleeding, do you need medical care?" I ask. She raises her hand to her head, "Oh no. The Twins were in such a hurry to get up there and do their surgical practice that they rushed my stitching. It will be ok, it will scab over soon," she says, dabbing her head with an ancient old hand.
Kade's impatience erupts, "If they're practicing on my sister and her boyfriend, I swear, I'll fucking kill them!" He says.
She glides closer, "Such ugly words from such a beautiful young man," she says, in her strange, sing-songy voice.
I jump backwards as another creature drops from a tree in front of me and scurries toward this ethereal old woman.
She continues to glide toward us as another creature falls from the tree and scurries along side her, "Don't be alarmed by the baby's dropping from the trees, they're hungry and you've arrived at the forever garden in time to witness their breakfast time." She stops and raises an arm, the soft white sleeve fabric billows toward a nearby tree, "A word of advice, I would take baby Belinda away from that hollow, otherwise she'll be gobbled up."
As she says this a creature drops from a tree and darts with great speed toward baby Belinda. Kade responds by sprinting toward it and slamming it into the air with his boot. He grabs Belinda in his arms, comes back to my side and asks again, "What the fuck are these things?"
"I told you what they are, you don't listen, do you Kade," she says, as more creatures fall from the trees and follow her.
Kade and I exchange glances, "How'd you know my name?" He asks.
As she nears us I'm hit by the smell: a stinging assault like rotten meat mixed with stale urine invades our nostrils. Kade and I respond by covering our mouths and noses with our hands.
"I apologize for the odor, but it's necessary to attract the babies to their feeding room. You will soon get used to it."
She passes us, followed by a growing trail of scurrying animals that look like dressed up giant rats.
"How do you know my name? Repeats Kade, with a firm assertion.
"I know your mother, a most brilliant woman." Her veiled head turns toward me, "As was your mother, Tanya. I will be forever grateful to The Surgeon for making me the woman I am today. What you did to her was quite despicable."
Kade takes my hand and we walk along side her, trying our best not to succumb to the smell and barf, "So you know my sister Kelly?" He asks
"Oh yes, I know of your sister. And I know Troy, in fact, I created him in the laboratory. That was a momentous day. He was created especially for you Tanya – but you found Kade instead."
Kade squeezes my hand, "So, don't you think it's wrong that The Twins are joining Kelly and Troy together, can I go up there and stop them," asks Kade.
"Oh, joining those two would be very wrong. The Twins wouldn't do that, they have morals. In fact, Troy and Kelly should never have gotten together. Their romantic union is wrong on so many levels. They will be punished for their crime," she says, with a harsh judgment in her tone.
I can feel a hesitant relief engulf Kade.
As tree creatures continue to fall and follow us, I gently counter her distaste for Troy and Kelly's relationship, "It's not wrong that they're together, they love each other," I say.
She turns her veiled head toward us and her voice rises – "They are brother and sister," she hisses.
"WHAT?" Kade exclaims, through a laugh that masks his shock.
She continues to lead her hungry hoard onwards, "You heard me – Troy is your brother. And your sister is committing a crime with him!"
She continues her processional walk," You two may have destroyed The Surgeon. But her secrets remain and will be revealed – revelations that will destroy you both."
Kade pulls me away from her, "We're outta her granny gruesome," he says, as we begin to run.
Her loud laughter halts us, "But you're in the forever garden. Only The Twins can come and go as they please. We're all here together, forever now."
We watch as more and more creatures fall and follow her, "Besides, don't you want to see what the baby's are having for breakfast – so you can at least say goodbye.
The Surgeon sequel - The Twins:Part 3
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