Chapter 7: 7. Natasha: An Encounter With the Impossible

The family drove through town to the ferry terminal in complete silence. Natasha watched the town’s car dealerships and malls zoom by on the highway. Looking at the mishmash of structures, old timber buildings mixed in with modern shops, it was easy to tell this century old mining was growing too quick to keep up with itself. It was an odd shape, longer than it was wide, as homes clung to the coast where even middle class families could overlook the ocean.

There were two ferries that serviced Nanaimo, one in town and one farther to the south, both of which sailed across the straight to ports near but not in Vancouver proper. It took over two hours to reach one port to the other. The distance from the city and the cost of travel was always what their parents cited for not being able to go to the mainland.

Stephen drove to the Departure Bay terminal, the one in town, and the quickest one to get to. The car turned off the highway and drove down the steep hill towards the coast. Trees and older houses whipped by them as Stephen let the car speed down to the terminal road. It was a blur as Natasha went between staring out the window and the reflection of her dark phone off the glass. No answer from her mom still.

With a sharp halt they stopped at the lights that lead directly into the ferry terminal. There wasn’t much of a line up at the ticket booths. This was one of the less popular sailings—midday, mid week—as middling as you could get. Stephen pulled into one of the booths and paid the woman at the counter. After an exchange of bills and a ticket he drove the car into the lane the counter person had pointed to.

Craning his neck to see the numbers painted on the asphalt he followed the narrow aisle up to a few cars that were already parked. They pulled in behind a large green SUV and were quickly followed by a beaten up truck with a couple large dogs in the back. With their noses pressed up to the window the hounds watched as the Sinclairs got out of their own car and headed to the terminal’s shops.

“Alright kids, we’ve got quite the drive ahead of us,” Stephen said, holding the door into the building open for the three kids to walk in ahead of them. “I’m gonna go till we get there so we need some snacks, some kind of dinner and I need a whole buttload of caffeine.”

“Isn’t that like an eight hour drive?” Aiden asked as he passed Stephen. “Isn’t that dangerous in this weather?”

“I’d say I’m pretty good at driving in the snow.” Stephen replied as he motioned toward the one coffee shop. “Choose what you guys want for snacks and one drink for the road.”

“I’ll have a cheese scone and a caramel Frappuccino,” Natasha said as she looked over the rest of this portion of the building. “I’m just gonna look around while we’re waiting, is that okay dad?”

“‘Course, honey,” he replied, as he was taking the orders from the twins. “Could you also grab a few other chip bags or something and a map booklet from over there?”

Stephen pointed over at the general store next to the coffee shop and handed her thirty dollars. Natasha nodded and wandered off.

The shops were all empty, with only a few people wandering down to the foot passenger waiting area. Natasha made eye contact with a man as she was crossing aisles, stopping to let him go first. The guy looked rough, wearing a beaten up puff vest and worn black pants. His hair clung around his shoulders oddly, like it was attached somehow to his clothes. The edges around his form seemed fuzzy, almost vibrating.

He looked straight at Natasha and his mouth twitched up in an awkward smile—not a pleasant one— thanking her for the courtesy. The look set Natasha on edge. Some deep instinct to flee kicked in.

She heard someone say as though they were right behind her, “ah, there you are.” The voice was deep and guttural yet no more than a whisper. More importantly, it didn’t sound human.

The man didn’t stop or make a move towards Natasha, rather just watched as he passed by—head turning a bit too far. She didn’t take her eyes off him, a deer caught in headlights, even as he shuffled out of the store. Natasha took off and rushed to finish making the purchases and nearly ran back to find her family again.

“You look like you just saw a ghost,” Aiden said as she caught up to them at the pickup sign.

Natahsa wrinkled her nose at Aiden. “Why do people keep saying that to me?”

“Maybe you should look in the mirror and you’ll see.” Damon walked up from the counter and sipped on his caramel frappe.

She huffed at the remark and shifted the snacks to free up a hand when her dad walked up with her drink and scone. She took it with a quick ‘thanks’, and drank from it while she looked around to see if the “man” was still around. Her stomach churned still, uncomfortable from the encounter.

“‘Kay kids, I’m going to head back to the car. Don’t stay out too long and don’t miss the announcement.”

Stephen took the things from Natasha and walked down the corridor to the car. Letting out a sigh Natasha looked back to her brothers. Damon leaned against a tall table that ran the length of the corridor and. Aiden poked Natasha in the side with his elbow.

“Seriously though, what’s wrong? You’ve looked off the entire day.”

“I don’t know, just a lot of weird—” she scrunched up her nose wondering what she should say. “None of this feels right, you know? Like, why are we leaving the island now, why didn’t mom and dad tell us? Where’s mom?”

The twins nodded in sync looking at each other, almost conspiratorially. Damon spoke up, “You don’t think mom and dad are fighting do you?”

Aiden scoffed, “mom and dad are always fighting, I doubt dad would just up and kidnap us.”

“I messaged mom earlier.” Natasha pulled out her phone to check for any notifications. Still none. “She still hasn’t answered yet.”

“She’s at work though, maybe she’s just busy?” Damon said.

All the kids looked at each other, doubt hanging thick in the air between them. Damon sighed and let his shoulders fall. Aiden opened his mouth as if to say something, but in reply Damon held up a hand.

“I know—she always answers right away.” He said before anyone could object.

Natasha chewed her lip, unsure if she should bring up the other oddities of her day. It had to be all in her head right? There was a chance though, even just a small one, it wasn’t a coincidence.

Before she could say anything else, Aiden put down his drink on the table. With a look at Damon he said, “hey, so you were up really early this morning right Sasha? I heard Tucker whining at your door.”

Natasha nodded replying, “yeah, probably around four or five? He wanted to go out to the yard.”

Another glance was thrown at his brother. “Did you happen to see anything out there?”

Damon rolled his eyes. “You’re such a baby.”

“Come on Damon, you can't say anything.” Aiden crossed his arms and looked at Natasha. “I saw something this morning and Damon refuses to talk about it.”

“Because you were dreaming—”

“Yeah, I did,” Natasha interrupted after thinking for a moment how best it was to explain the thing in the yard. “I’ve actually seen a lot of weird things today. That's why I’m so worried.”

Aiden gave Natasha an encouraging nod and hand wave. “Go on, what’d you see?”

“Ugh I dunno—it was like a bear or something in that big tree out back. Tucker went out there to try and bark at it, but when he got up to it… it was just really big. Even for a grizzly. And it—you know when you see a cat in the dark staring at you with the eye shine they’ve got?” Natasha was struggling to explain the deep unsettling discomfort she’d felt when she’d noticed the eyes. A hunger, like a starved wolf that found a trapped rabbit, was evident in that stare. She could tell even from across the dark yard. “Well it had that but there were three clustered really close together.”

Damon scoffed again. “Right, now it’s monsters in the woods. I mean were rainbow colours lighting up the sky not enough? You’re all crazy.”

Aiden made to say something back at Damon but was interrupted by an intercom sound picking up around the terminal. “The ferry to Vancouver–Horseshoe Bay, is getting ready to board. Would all passengers make their way to their vehicles and foot passengers make their way to the boarding location. Again, Vancouver–Horseshoe Bay passengers please get ready to board.”

Natasha looked up as if she would see the person making the announcement. “Guess that’s us, let's not make dad mad with us. Come on.”

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Her brothers nodded and as they walked off Natasha heard Aiden saying to Damon angrily, “I know what I saw.”

What her brothers were talking about she didn’t know but she agreed with Aiden. She saw what she saw, there was no doubt now, even as her rational brain tried to fight her. She knew now too that something in her gut was screaming at her. Mom always told her to never ignore her intuition and now more than ever it told Natasha to not trust anything. To run.

Actually, as she stood in the mostly empty building it felt like she was burning. Her hands felt as though they were buzzing. She looked down and saw how they trembled. Shaking them she tried to no avail to relieve the pins and needles.

Out of the corner of her vision something darted out of sight. It was a slight movement like a shadow dancing around with the light of a flickering candle. Natasha whipped her head around to track the movement. Nothing was there. The chocolate store across from her remained empty.

She frowned and hurried after her brothers suddenly feeling in danger in this silence.

The same announcement echoed in the parking lot as she made it to their car. Stephen stood outside of the car watching Natasha speed walk over then climbed in the car with her.

They waited in silence as the boarding procedure went along. There weren't too many cars to be loaded on, mostly trucks delivering goods. Stephen started the car and followed the one in front of them as soon as they began to drive up the ramp to the car deck.

“Haven’t done this since before I met your mom.” Stephen said, mostly to himself, smiling at the memory. “These ferries are a heck of a lot better than the ones in the 80’s. Wow, jeez these are huge.”

Natasha unlocked her phone and typed a message in the group chat with Darby and Nick. ‘headed on the ferry now. Dad’s saying we’re gonna drive till we get there.’

Then she added ‘Weird’.

Derby was quick to reply as she must’ve been in computer class. Nick didn’t answer, he’d be in theatre class then and probably wouldn’t answer til period change.

Her messages came in quick succession, ‘its exciting though~ your first big trip!’

‘Just enjoy it for us. Whatever you end up doing.’

‘Soooo jealous. Send pictures k?’

Natasha bit at her lip then typed out, ‘I'll try. maybe tomorrow I’ll be feeling more up to it. I mean, vacation who wouldn’t be excited right?’

After a breath she quickly added, ‘i'll make sure to send pictures’

A second later came, ‘you'd better lots and lots.♥️’

And before Natasha could reply Derby sent, ‘ohp, gotta go back to work. Ttyl.’

Natasha put down her phone and watched as they pulled into the ferry's cavernous hull. The inside was split into three lanes with solid walls between them. It was gray and metal, with a cold draft passing through it. The wind whipped in from the windows that lined the exterior walls, making it even colder.

The family exited the Honda as soon as they and the other cars around them were stopped. Natasha was hit with the smell of salt and vehicle engines. It took a second for them to orient themselves and find the door that led up to the next deck. The cold hit her skin like ice though she still felt like she was burning up.

Natasha hesitated at the thick gate-like door. Something tugged at her mind. Her hair raised on her arms; someone was watching her. One last look behind her the only thing she was greeted with was the two dogs sitting contentedly in the bed of the truck which pulled in behind their sedan. One of the pups' tongues lolled out as an ear perked up when their eyes made contact. Natasha couldn’t help but smile at them, the feeling of fear wiping clear from her mind. Suddenly she felt safe, the same as she did when Tucker came up to her when she was feeling overwhelmed, maybe because the dogs looked so similar to him.

“Hey! Come on, let’s go see what the rest of the ship looks like!” Damon’s voice pulled her away from the dogs.

“Oh uh, you guys go on ahead, I’m just gonna check things out at my own pace.” Natasha replied, shooing them along.

“Sasha, you doing okay? You don’t look so hot.” Stephen said as they all made their way up the stairs.

“I’m actually way too hot, just feel like I’m burning up a little.” She said to her dad rubbing her hands together with that buzzing back in her finger tips.

Natasha could tell it was cold outside, but even now the heat inside her was making her feel dizzy. She had a fuzzy memory of this same sensation. Like it was part of a dream she’d forgotten that her body still remembered. Keep it down, ignore it and it will go away. Eventually. It did before. Natasha folded her arms, hugging herself.

“I’ll be fine though, maybe I should just stay in the car? I’ll grab one of the blankets and take a nap.” She said just as they reached the stairs up.

Stephen held a hand out to her forehead to test her temperature. “Oh, jeez Sasha, yeah, you’re really burning up. A nap will do you some good. I’ll see what food they have upstairs and bring it down for you okay.”

Natasha nodded and took the keys Stephen offered. “Thanks, dad.”

She smiled at the people who passed on their way up the stairs as they each greeted her or gave her a friendly nod. Natasha wouldn’t normally mind the pleasantries, actually appreciating the human connection but right then she rocked on the balls of her feet impatiently. As soon as the way was clear she ran down and back towards the car.

Back in the car Natasha curled up in the back. She wasn’t necessarily in pain though her breathing became laboured as she held up her knees to her chest. Her muscles strained against some unseen force expanding within her. She imagined if she didn’t hold on she would explode and the ferry would catch fire.

That impression brought her back to when she was a kid. Back then never held back, rather used this prickling to fuel her unending supply of energy. Those memories she’d made in the forest, alone with no friends skipping along the broken logs and running across streams for hours, had faded like any other dream.

Always playing alone the other kids used to try and make fun of her in school but she never minded. Natasha knew she was weird; she saw things they didn’t. She’d had friends in the forest, they just couldn’t be seen by other kids, and they never liked being around the other humans. It was silly really.

This particular body reaction had only happened once before. Natasha hadn’t known then to keep it down. After that mom hadn’t allowed her to go visit her friends in the forest anymore. A few months after she’d made new friends, weird ones still, but human. Her magical childhood faded with time.

Natasha snapped up from the car seat pulled from the thought by a sound. She wiped sweat out her eyes and looked around the grey interior of the car deck. Panic welled up in her as she noticed that it was much darker out there than it should be. It looked as if dusk had settled in much too early and in the din the air swirled about buffeting the car.

A dark shape fell from the pipes above landing heavily on the hood of the car. Natasha let out a strangled scream kicking back as far away as she could. Realizing that sound would draw attention to her she covered her mouth as she peeked out trying to see what had happened. The windshield had cracked from the force and the frame groaned from the weight of whatever dropped down but it was too dark to see anything. Natasha ducked behind the drivers seat squeezing herself in the foot space, breath heaving in fear.

A low rumbling like a truck with a busted muffler came from outside; Natasha felt the vibrations of the sound. A creak from above on the roof told Natasha that whatever it was out there was stalking around. Two drawn out, faltering, inhales and a grating sound that could only be called a growl made Natasha glance behind her.

The shape was vaguely dog-like with a short muzzle, sleek, bald neck and sharp jaw. It was black, too black, like the shadows had been drawn together to create it. It undulated and Natasha could make out something swirling just below the surface of its skin. Natasha was scrutinizing its shape as its huge head stretched over the car in an effort to look in from above. She could see one glinting eye, round as a plate and big as her palm. Its mouth opened to bare long, bright purple fang; Its esophagus glowing like a fire had burned down to embers. A black sticky tongue licked along its lips going a little further than it should. The breath of the creature fogged the window up. Small swirling ice patterns quickly froze over the glass.

Natasha fought the urge to scream again. Rather she curled up further, willing with all her mind that she could just disappear. Another groan of metal. Two more drawn out sniffs as the creature made its way to the back of the car. The growling never ceased.

Several steps alerted her that there was something walking on the other side of the car too. Natasha pried her eyes from the hound she was watching and looked to the other side. A dark shape covered the window and she could make out the sickening movement of swirls that told her that there was another creature passing by. It pushed along the car, the frame groaning as the car shifted, and it dipped its head to sniff the undercarriage.

Natasha couldn’t tell what they were doing. The car twisted and leaned over as it picked up the passenger side a few inches. With a thud the car dropped back down as the thing snorted with displeasure. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she shut them. She didn’t want to believe this was happening.

Needing to ground herself in something she knew was real Natasha unlocked her phone and went to her messages.

Her first instinct was to text her dad so she opened their messages and tapped a quick text to him, ‘thinfs god uo there’. Her fingers were trembling so hard she couldn’t type properly but she thanked her anxious self for keeping her phone on silent.

The chat bubble turned blue but the small ‘delivered’ signal didn’t appear. Her eyes flicked up to the corner of the screen. No reception. Great.

She needed to get out of there. The sudden worry of her family being upstairs with no idea these things were stalking around their car hit her. Natasha had to warn them before they came back down. What if dad came to check on her?

Taking several deep breaths to center herself she tried to get her limbs to unfurl from her tight ball. Natasha had to move despite the fear. With a shaky hand she, as quietly as she could, sat up enough to look over to the windshield. The black hounds were nearly as long as the car and just about as squat. A stiff tail trailed behind them, curving upwards and then disappearing into the dark of the corridor. They looked almost incorporeal, like Natasha’s hand could pass right through them. Though at least it seemed like they couldn’t pass through objects themselves.

A few seconds of taking them in Natasha turned her attention to the car. What could she do? If she just opened the door, those things would see her right away. The back seats however could be lowered quietly and gave her access to the trunk. Once in there she could use the emergency release to open it up and slip out. There was luggage in there though. It was a tight fit. Her dad did keep a pretty heavy metal ice scraper in the back. It was the closest thing to a weapon she had access to for now. Her face contorted into a grimace. She was gonna die trying to fight off nasty smoke monsters with an ice scraper. Fantastic.

She grabbed it, tested the weight, and readied herself.