Angel Hair
Tuesday August 10th, 1999 was an average day in the Ashcroft household. Like too many other days, Linda Ashcroft had arrived home from Heaven’s Field high to find her little sister Marie sobbing in the corner of the living room. Broken glass and overturned furniture painted a picture less than unique to the teen who could only sigh.
“How many times do I have to fucking remind you to—”
“Excuse me?! Don’t you ever fucking talk to me like that!”
Muffled yelling was audible from behind the closed door of the second-floor master bedroom. Once again, the parents of the Ashcroft sisters were at war with one another, and the casualties of their endless battles were the same as always—the sanity of their two children.
Linda pinched the bridge of her nose, the ferocity of her grasp making her feel as though she could peel the flesh from her face if she dared to pull it. “Let’s go,” she whispered, extending her hand to her younger sibling. Marie accepted her sister’s support, and the pair exited through the front door.
The day was overcast, the sun blotted out by clouds so gray and full. A gentle breeze pushed the two girls’ chocolate brown hair into their features, causing them to adjust their locks in near perfect synchronicity more than once. It was an atmosphere equal parts depressing and calming. But more than anything, it was all typical.
Déjà vu was a sensation ironically familiar to the Ashcroft sisters. The situation playing out for them was one that occurred multiple times a week, and each time it happened, the siblings would leave their home and head down to the lake where they would sit, sometimes for hours, waiting until it was safe to return to a home that never quite felt like one.
Linda wasn’t sure why their parents hadn’t gotten a divorce already, but she prayed every night that they would. To her, their relationship was like a sick animal that was crying out to be put down. But like a selfish pet owner, they refused to do what was humane and necessary.
“Sit,” Linda requested as the two reached the lake.
Marie complied and plopped down in the grass beside her older sister. Her eyes were vacant, lost in the scene she had just emerged from. It seemed her soul hadn’t caught up with her body.
The older sister snapped her fingers in front of Marie’s eyes, attempting to, quite literally, snap her out of her trance. “What’s with that look? This happens all the time. You should be used to it by now.”
“I am,” Marie replied, softly. “I just want it to stop.”
“And I want to be a millionaire, but that isn’t going to happen either. So quit sulking every time this happens.”
Marie hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms, seeking shelter from her sister’s harsh sentiment. The teen sighed and dragged her hand across her forehead in response. She hadn’t meant to be so blunt, but to say she was at a razor’s edge was an understatement.
Linda tried to remain mindful of the fact that she was seventeen and Marie was only eleven, but the never-ending responsibility of having to look out for her sister made her resent her a bit. She knew it wasn’t the young girl’s fault, in fact, she blamed her parents more than anyone else for the circumstances, but she couldn’t take reliving the same scenario day in and day out anymore. In just one more year, she would be heading off to college to escape her family. But the thought of abandoning her younger sister filled her with a guilt that made her despise Marie at the worst of times and made her wish the girl had perished from her childhood illness for her own sake at the best of them.
“Marie,” Linda huffed. “I’m sorry, okay? What do you want to do? I didn’t bring a book this time.”
“I don’t care.”
“Do you want to skip rocks?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Okay... Want to climb trees instead?”
“Whatever you want.”
Linda sucked in a breath and repressed the urge to scream at her sister. She understood that she was sad, but Linda wasn’t happy either. Whenever their parents argued, Marie shut down. To Linda, that was almost disrespectful. In her mind, that was the time for them to come together as sisters and find sanctuary in one another. But instead, she felt as though she wasn’t good enough to make her little sister happy. And if she wasn’t good enough, why was she wasting her time trying to comfort her? After all, most days she could barely stand her.
“Fine, then I’ll do something fun, and you can just sit there and cry. Sound good?” Linda grumbled.
“...”
The older Ashcroft sister tossed herself back on the grass and shut her eyes. “Whatever.”
Silence permeated the air for a time before Marie finally spoke, quietly. “I’m missing Pokémon...”
“Oh, now you want to talk? Anyway, they give that dorky show all the time. Next time set the VCR to tape it so you don’t miss it.”
“Why are you being so mean to me?”
“I’m not being mean, you’re irritating me.”
“I—” the younger sibling started to talk, before she flinched. Something had hit her face, causing her to react.
Linda opened an eye, curious about why her sister had interrupted herself. She sat up when she noticed something green on Marie’s nose. “What is that on your face?”
“I dunno, I can’t see...”
“No duh. Come here,” Linda beckoned.
Marie scooted closer to her sister, and the two of them jumped slightly when they felt something begin to hit their bodies from above.
“Rain?” Linda asked, taken off guard. “The forecast didn’t call for rain today. Stupid weatherman never gets it right...”
“Linda, look...”
Marie held her hands out, catching the rain in her open palms. Droplets of water splashed onto her skin, leaving miniscule puddles that ran down the sides of her small hands. But interspersed with that were several tiny, green globs. They looked unlike anything either girl had ever seen before.
“What is that?” asked Linda, her brows furrowed.
“I dunno, it’s coming from the sky.”
Linda shielded her face with her hands and looked above. She couldn’t see the globs falling, but she could feel something slightly heavier pelting down upon her that was obviously not rain. She looked back at her sister to find her slipping one of the globs into her mouth.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Linda yelled.
“Tasting it,” Marie replied. “It’s bitter.”
Linda recoiled and declared, “you’re such a weirdo, my god...”
The rain began to intensify quickly, and the siblings started back for their house.
“Of course, I didn’t think to bring an umbrella,” Linda whined as the two ran through the rain. Every few seconds, she swatted some of the globs off her arms. “And this green shit won’t stop coming down, either. I wonder if it’s coming down all over Heaven’s Field...”
“What do you think it is?” Marie asked.
“You think I know the answer to that?”
“Sorry...”
Linda and Marie dashed up the porch steps to their home and stepped inside, their shoes covered in mud and their bodies sopping wet.
The fight was over, it seemed, as their parents were cleaning up their mess in the kitchen and living room. One look made it clear that they were greatly unhappy with their children tracking mud inside the house, but they didn’t dare speak. They were well aware of the reason why they had left the house, and it wasn’t as if the kids could control the weather.
“Go shower,” their mother commanded. Without a word, both sisters removed their shoes and headed upstairs to obey their mother’s order.
***
The Ashcroft family sat gathered at the dinner table, a plate of macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and some broccoli laid before each of them. It was evident the matriarch of the clan hadn’t had the chance to prepare a meal after spending so much time cleaning up the fallout of her and her husband’s heated argument, so she had microwaved something simple for the family to eat.
The façade was in full swing, as Linda and Marie’s parents forced laughter and awkward small talk in an attempt to appeal to their traumatized kids. It wasn’t working, however. Not only because it never did, but also because something more than emotional seemed to be wrong with Marie.
“Honey, are you okay? You haven’t touched your food at all,” the Ashcroft father asked his youngest daughter.
“I don’t feel so good...” she replied, clutching her stomach.
“It’s probably that green shit you ate down by the lake,” Linda hissed.
“Linda, language!” her mother chastised. “But what is this about ‘green stuff’?”
The teen rolled her eyes and explained. “While you two animals were gnawing each other’s heads off again, we went to sit by the lake. It started raining, but there were these green slimy things coming down with the water. Genius over here ate one.”
“Linda, I won’t warn you again. Anyway, Marie, what were you thinking?” their mother fussed.
“...I’m not hungry...” Marie managed through what seemed to be growing pain.
“Come on, let’s get you upstairs.”
Their mother rose from the table and helped her youngest slowly make her way up the stairs and into her room. Back at the table, their father glared at Linda.
“What?” Linda asked.
“Your attitude is getting on my last nerve,” her father said, crossing his arms.
“I learned it from the best~”
“Right. What was this green stuff you mentioned, anyway?”
"I don’t know, why does everyone keep asking me that?” Linda complained.
“Would it kill you to show a little more compassion for your little sister right now?”
“You two idiots are the reason we ended up out there where she ate that gross stuff in the first place. Stop trying to pass the buck like you always do and try falling on your own sword for once,” Linda growled.
“You’re such a disrespectful little brat. Why don’t you try getting a boy to even look at you first before you start judging me and your mother!”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Linda started, slamming her fork down on the plate. “One more year and then none of you will have to see me ever again!”
The furious teenager stormed up the stairs and to her room where she threw the door shut and tossed herself into bed. Tears began to well up in her eyes, not from sadness, but from rage. She was fed up and tired. School had stolen the first part of her day, and now family drama was devouring the second half.
Desperately, Linda retreated into her mind, fantasizing about brighter days ahead. She imagined what her roommates would be like when she moved into her dorm, and what kinds of clubs she would join. Her thoughts formed a cloud of comfort that carried her to sleep.
***
Before she even realized she had passed out, Linda found herself waking up. Loud cracks of thunder and the sound of heavy rain pounding on the roof brought the teen out of her groggy haze. Her room was pitch black now, unlike the dark gray she recalled before she had drifted off. Her alarm clock read “2:00 a.m.“, and she rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“Great,” she mumbled. “Now I’ll never get back to sleep.”
Linda got out of bed and stepped out into the hallway. The rest of the house seemed to be pitch black as well. She’d have sworn the power was out on the property if it hadn’t been for the sound of television static emanating from Marie’s room.
Puzzled, Linda approached her younger sister’s bedroom door, and peeked through the crack. She saw Marie wrapped in blankets, sitting in of front the TV. Her room was dark, but the circle around her sister was lit brightly by the screen which repeated static without pause. Linda pushed the door open and entered the room.
“What are you doing, Marie?” Linda asked. “It’s after midnight, you should be asleep.”
Her sister said nothing. Instead, she turned slowly to look at Linda, her face pale and her eyes nearly lifeless.
“Jesus, Marie. You look terrible. Are you okay? Why are you staring at static?”
“Mom and dad started fighting again,” the younger sibling said, breaking her silence. Her voice was almost too quiet for Linda to hear.
“You mean while I was asleep? What else is new?”
“...And I heard you fighting with dad earlier, too.”
“And?” Linda growled, steadily losing her patience.
“You told him that we wouldn’t see you ever again after next year. Is that really true?”
Linda felt a pang of guilt resound in her chest for a moment but fell back upon her frustration to ward it off. “Yes, it is. I’m tired of all of this, and I know you are too. When you make it to college, you’ll do the same thing too.”
“I don’t want to lose you, Linda,” Marie cried. Her pitch was low but her tone was desperate.
“I’m sorry Marie, but we all have to go our own way eventually. You’ll understand when you get older.”
Marie’s eyes locked with Linda’s, and she spoke vacantly. “I told them to stop fighting, and they yelled at me.”
“Marie—”
“But then I fell asleep too, and I had a dream that I made the fighting stop. I made us a happy family, and it felt good.”
Linda sighed. “Marie, you need to let this go. Go back to bed and shut the TV off.”
“It wasn’t a dream, Linda...”
Marie’s body moved in a manner that suggested she was about to rise to her feet, but she surpassed her height. She kept growing beyond that until her head scraped against the ceiling, and Linda fell back on the floor in shock.
The blanket had fallen from Marie’s body, revealing a slimy, pulsating, slug-like mass that emerged from the young girl’s lower half. The fleshy growth secreted green, globby pus from several open holes, and in the veiny mess, Linda could see the imprint of her parents’ screaming expressions.
“You don’t have to leave, Linda. We can still be a happy family,” pleaded the thing that Marie had become.
A flash of lightning illuminated the monstrosity in front of Linda, before killing the power and the teenager’s vision. Linda screamed, and the sound of her own terror scared her even more than the hideous sight of Marie.
Blinded, Linda spun around and ran out of the room, relying on the memorization of her home’s layout to navigate in the dark. She was in the hallway now, making her way toward the stairs.
“Come back, Linda. I can hear them in my head—mommy and daddy,” Marie cried. Her voice was labored and growing more distorted with every word. “They’re finally happy, and you can be happy too. We can all be happy.”
“No!” Linda shouted. Another bolt of lightning briefly lit the hall through a window. To Linda’s terror, she could see that Marie was inching toward her. She was slow, but the mind-bending length of her form ensured she was closer to her than she was comfortable with.
Linda shrieked and took a step down the stairs, but due to a combination of her panic and the surrounding darkness, her foot never made steady contact with the stairs. She tumbled down the wooden steps violently, and upon reaching the bottom with a thud, a loud crack and shooting pain alerted Linda that she had broken her right leg. The scream that followed was earsplitting.
“Linda, please stop running. I just want to make my big sister happy...”
Marie’s voice was completely unrecognizable now, and the disgusting sound of the thing fast approaching her heightened Linda’s adrenaline. The severely injured teenager crawled the short distance to her front door and strained her body to reach high enough to open it. She let herself fall onto her stomach and began to push herself over the threshold and into the storm outside when she felt herself being pulled backwards.
“I caught you, Linda.”
The older Ashcroft screamed and flailed as she tried her best to wriggle out of the creature’s grasp. But her efforts were in vain, and she watched the world that existed beyond the doorframe slip further into darkness as her fingernails bent back against the wood she tried desperately to anchor herself to.
Linda’s mind went blank as her body was slowly absorbed into the monstrous mass that was Marie. Eventually, she could hear it—the sound of her parents screaming in terror, begging for someone to help them. But she could see nothing, her vision was dark. That’s when the revelation hit Linda.
This was her new forever, a formless limbo where her consciousness prevailed, but nothing else did. Only the screams of the people she wanted nothing more than to be away from. She felt no pain. In fact, she felt nothing. She would never feel anything ever again.
On the outside, Marie stroked the imprint of her sister’s face that protruded from her bloated body and said, “now we’re a happy family. I love you, Linda.”
