Never Safe I opened my eyes to the smell of fresh curry, being tossed about in a skillet along with various native vegetables. I pushed my quilt off from my warmly rested body and pulled myself out of bed. "Mother, why are you making curry vegetables so early?" I yawned. "Nara, just because its the morning doesn't mean you can't have some vegetables," I sighed and sat down at the table. I rubbed my dark brown eyes and brushed my fingers through my tangles. I really needed to comb that rat's nest. The curry smelled like spicy heaven in a wok. Ahhh. CLACLUNK!!! My mother fell to the floor in mid-fry. "Mother!" I rushed over to her limp body. She was crumpled on the floor in an unnatural position. "Please! Mother!" my eyes leaked tears that ran down my cheeks. "Mother! I thought it was gone! I thought you made it go away! Please! Mother!" Again, it would all happen again. I would have to babysit her body and protect it from the beast before it got her, like it had my sister, I had been positive she had made it go away. Now it would start all over again. All over again. One month earlier. I stared up at the misty mountain peak, the cold air wrapped around me, if not for my think blue coat, I would have been dead, preserved by the ice and hardened by the pure aridness of the environment. This mountain was not for the faint of heart. I had come here with only my mother and sister. My name is Imad Prasa, and I have just arrived at the Avenyarian Mountain. My stomach dropped as we scaled the massive beast. The temperature dropped incredibly as we got higher. "Mother, I'm cold," my sister Nara shivered. "It's okay Nara, we're almost there, just one more night. Do we want to camp out for the night or continue climbing?" Mother asked. "C-camp out," I said, rubbing my numb hands together. "Okay, Nara, do you agree?" she turned to my sister. "Yes. I-I wanna camp out," she nodded. "Okay, I'll set up the tent, you two start the fire, don't let the snow or ice touch it," Mother smiled a smile that made it all okay. I let my pack slide off of my numb shoulder, lowering down onto my knees and pulled the frozen zipper across the opening of the pack. I dug in the supplies until I grasped the firewood. It's rough surface stuck pleasingly to my thick black gloves. I pulled the logs out of my pack and swiped my hand about in the snow until the dark grey rock underneath was revealed. Arranging the wood on the clearing took only a few minutes. While I made sure that there would be no ice or snow around the fire, mother expertly rubbed to sticks together to create a spark that grew to a bright, warm flame. She scrambled over to the wood pile and carefully lowered the flame to the bark. For the next hour, we all sat around the heat, rubbing our hands together and letting the flame warm our faces. "Mother, what was that?" Nara asked, her voice quivering with what was either cold or fear or both. "Nara, I did not hear anything," mother scanned the dark, icy area. "It was loud. Why did you not hear it?" Nara's face went blank, tilting to the side. Her eyes stuck to Mother's. "Uhm. I'm sorry." Mother sighed. "No Mother." Mother looked at Nara, their eyes met perfectly. I was scared to say anything. "Why did you not hear it?" Nara turned to look at me, slowly swiveling her round face to meet mine. "I did," I lied, to afraid of my sister's uncharacteristic behavior. "Do not lie, Imad. I do not like it when you lie to me. You do not love me. Do not pretend you do. You do not care about me. Do not pretend you do. You do not. Not. Not. Not. No. No. You do NOT," Nara's face was blank and emotionless, completely contrary to her usual grin that spread across her tan cheeks. "Nara... Of course I love you..." I stammered. "No." She lunged at me, Mother screamed and grabbed her feet. Nara turned around to face her, scratching her clutching fingers until she released. "Nara! No! Stop!" she screeched. Nara climbed up to my neck, I pushed my hands up to her collarbone. Trying my best to prevent her from whatever she planned to do. Her lips curled up to reveal a mouth full of needle-like teeth. Her eyes washed completely black. I let out a high pitched scream. "Sister. Your vision is clouded. Your lies are pointless. Your blood is cold and blue," she hissed. As she came closer, her neck gushed a tar-like liquid. Dripping and seething through a giant festering wound that appeared to be where her scar was, the scar from when she fell out of her crib when she was a baby. I pushed harder on her. But she continued to transform. Her skin grew pale and veiny, her hair was shed and her head bloated to a giant transparent globe of arteries and pumping blood. Her fingers grew long, each close to six feet long, a clear webbing stretched between each one. "Nara- what- what are you?!" I strained to utter words as her jaw unhinged and grew longer to reach my neck. CRACK.