The Second Moonrise Part 4: Vinebound

For the next day, Soil shepherded us through the overgrown landscape of the Dark Forest. She was constantly talking, and we got to know her a bit during that time. As I'd suspected, the initial face she'd put on was just an act. She kept trying to keep going, but every now and then we would see her slip back into her usual sweary self. She was especially cold towards Ron, probably because he had tried to stab her. Towards me and Karen, she would try to be nicer. Eventually, when neither me or Karen had much to say, she talked just to fill the air. "Look at all these trees! It's all we get here. Big, dark, tall, looming trees. Sometimes we get smaller ones, but I've never seen a sapling. Just giant oaks and redwoods. You know, I don't think I've ever tried to climb one. Too many things up there. Less of the big monsters, but there's these giant crabs, spiders and these weird one-eyed things that move like... uh..." She paused, clearly having trouble finding the word.   "Monkeys?" Ron supplied.   "Yes! Monkeys! They swing from the branches."   "We call them crawlers. They're not bad eating, if you don't mind needing to crack the shell. A lot like lobsters." Ron smiled to himself. "Been a long time since I've had lobster."   "Lobster? What are those?" Soil looked back at Ron, confused.   "You've never seen or heard of lobsters?" Ron leaned on the branch he'd found to help him keep up, clearly grateful Soil had stopped for a moment. "They're kind of like the crabs you mentioned, but they have tails and bigger claws. They're longer too."   Soil turned to Ron, her face unreadable. She stared at him a moment, silent. As she turned back to the path, a root knocked Ron's stick out from under him and he fell with heavy "Oof." It was hard to tell, but I thought I saw Soil smiling slightly. "You should watch where you put your feet old man. We need to keep moving. The guardians are starting to move."   I helped Ron up and Karen shouted at Soil "That wasn't nice! You big furry bully!"   Soil just kept walking.   And so it continued. Every now and then Ron would try to get to know Soil. It always ended with Soil abruptly ending the conversation, even though she started most of them. Usually there was some sort of prank involving the plants of the Forest, and I was never quite sure it was Soil's doing, or something else we didn't know about the Forest.   After the fifth attempt, Ron stopped trying. Soil had ceased chattering, and so it came as a surprise when she stopped the group suddenly.   "There's something ahead that I don't know." Her moonlight eyes narrowed against the gloom. "Sniff the air. Even you lostlings should be able to smell it." I did. There was something there alright. Like burning flesh. I hadn't smelled that since...   I tugged at Ron's sleeve. When he turned his shaggy head to me, I whispered in his ear, "It's the same as Lostling's Hope!"   Ron nodded and beckoned Karen over. "I remember too. Stay close to me. And watch her." He jerked his thumb at Soil, who was too busy watching the gloom to notice.   Then I heard something filled my head with hope and fog.   "Howie! Karie! Where are you? I've been searching all night!" It was mom's voice.   "Mom!" Karen and I screamed in unison. We ran off into the Forest but were stopped when a wall of roots sprang up in front of us.   Soil dashed over to Karen and grabbed her. "That's not your mom!" she hissed. When she continued to struggle, Soil plucked a Moonflower from the the earth and pressed it to Karen's face. "I don't have time for this." She pushed Karen's sleeping form into Ron's arms just as he struggled over to us. "Hold this. I have a debt to pay." She knelt low and then sprang over the wall. As she did, a latice of green vines quickly grew from the ground and thickened to form a wooden cage around the three of us.   "Karen? Is that you? I was so worried! Where are you honeydrop, Jerry wants to see you too." Of course that was mom! Only she called Karen honeydrop.   "Ron, we have to get out of this! Mom's out there, we have to get back -- " Ron was holding Karen and simply stared ahead, glassy eyed. "Ron! Help me break this cage!"   Ron startled, then looked down at me. "That's not Susanna." He paused, then rephrased. "That's not Susanna anymore." He gently laid Karen on the ground, making sure to keep her flat. The cage was actually quite large, despite its intended purpose. "What do you remember about the night Lostling's Hope was lost?"   "Karen sweety, where are you! We managed to fight off the vine, Lostling's Hope is safe again! Come home!" That was mom. There was no doubt about it.   I shook my head. "That's mom, it has to be!"   Ron grabbed me by the shoulders. "It's not. That vine that attacked us was no mere plant. It grew into people's bodies. It turned them into puppets that could perfectly mimic their old selves." He shuddered even as he spoke the words. "And when the mask is seen through all that's left is hate. Your mom, your dad, and everyone else in Lostlings Hope are all lost to us now. That thing out there?"   As if on cue, the call came again. "Where are you? Do you have Howie too? I miss you so much! Everyone's waiting for you both to come back!"   "That's an impostor. It's trying to lure you to the plant so that you can join it." Ron's words began to sink in. I remembered the vines wrapping around my parents and them becking me to join them.   "I'm going to cut the vine then. We can free them! They're still alive." I grabbed a rock and started to smash it against the cage bars.   "What's going on? You're not my daugh-" A scream echoed through the forest, followed by caws of ravens overhead in the canopy.   The rock fell from my hand as the Forest once more fell silent.