It's dark outside. The only indication of this given to Teri is the stillness that had fallen over the hotel room, the cricket song outside her window and her father's soft snores from across the hall. Everyone was worn out from the day’s activities; swimming, making sandcastles, fighting with Mother again over the way she walked.

It's peaceful, and on a normal night, the sounds should have soothed her to sleep. But she couldn't help but lie awake, focusing on the emptiness of her blindness. That and the sound of her mother's sobs about said blindness.

It's the 3rd time during this trip she's done this. She leaves her room when she thinks everyone is asleep, goes down to the living room and whispers aloud to the Lord Almighty to save her daughter from her afflictions.

"Oh Lord of Heaven, please heal my child, for she is in pain. She can't suffer like this, being both blind and mentally challenged."

And Teri listens to her mother's complaints about her existence, about her brain being different, about her eyes failing, about being a burden to her mother. It used to be worse at home

She's gotten used to it at this point, not being able to see colour or shapes or anything. She can't really recall what her family looks like as a whole anymore, only a few details like the colour of skin, shape of noses and whether teeth were straight. But the range of the colour blue will stay with her for the rest of her life. Especially at the point where the evening sun had slowly slipped behind the hills to make way for the moon. With the backdrop of the midnight blue, the stars that peeked out looked like tiny diamonds on a dark blanket.

Teri is fine with being blind. Though she misses looking at the night sky, she's gotten used to it. In fact, she's reasoned that she gained a superpower like a hero from a show she used to watch when watching TV. No one could ever sneak up on her again. She could tell if someone was lying to her by listening to their pulse. Well, most of the time she could. She saw it as a blessing, even though some may not have seen it as so

The issues with her brain were still giving her trouble, however. Sometimes she couldn't process sensations properly. She could have sounds playing from the radio beside her and not be able to hear it. Or worse hear things that weren’t there. She wasn’t dull, however. Most people who were experts at chess weren’t dull. She could never understand why most of her mother’s friends saw her as a “retard”, then. According to Ken, it’s because she doesn’t talk much or smile much or say thank you much. But Ken thinks that’s dumb and doesn’t care if Teri went mute for the rest of her life. They both cared for each other, and she was wicked smart with board games. Ken didn't need words to prove either of those things.

She could never understand why it bothered her mother. She wasn't the autistic one. She wasn't the one who got hot oil splashed across her face while learning how to cook for her “future husband”. She wasn't the one who had to deal with the pain of surgery, the pain of healing, the loss of feeling on her face.

Yet she acts as if the world is on her shoulders as if the burden of these issues were hers. She treats Teri as if her Mother's care was a favour, like being allowed to live was a privilege and she should be grateful for that every day of her “pitiful” life.

She wished for once that her mother knew what it was like. At the very least she knew what it was like for her brain to not be in tune with her body. Or what it was like to lose your eyes.

Tomorrow they would go back home. She could lock her room door and not deal with her Mother for a while. Maybe an afternoon, maybe an hour.

Or maybe forever.

***

The first thing that Teri noticed when she got out of the car was the smell. It wasn't just the lingering smell of chemicals she was expecting. Rather, the smell was mixed with another, one that reminded her of when she forgot a plate of isi ewu on her study table for a week. She knew she didn't leave anything on her table before heading to Blue Ray, as the last time she did. That theory was immediately crossed off.

It was also a very strong smell. It was as if several plates of rotting isi ewu had been left behind the front door. That and a lot of blood.

"What's that smell?" Teri clamped her nose and leaned onto Ken for support, the strong smell nearly knocking her out.

"It's probably the Obinna's dog again" Mother’s muffled voice suggested hurriedly, house keys jingling in her unclamped hand.

That's not what dog poo smells like. Not even close. Teri would know, after stepping in it a lot.

The second thing Teri noticed was the sound. It was like hundreds of ...wings were buzzing in the house. Like flies. Or cockroaches. But that's impossible, Teri thought, they’d have to be dead. The fumigators would have killed any insect.

Unless...

Teri thought about Father’s hesitation to fumigation. She thought about his reaction to the single cockroach in the living room. She thought about the sound of Ken’s shoe smashing the creature. The alarm bells in the back of her mind were so painfully loud.

The last thing she noticed before all hell broke loose was the feeling. Before Mother had opened the door, before her scream was dragged into the halls of the house, before a sea of motion had tried to reach for her, Teri already knew what awaited them. The hundreds of little legs that shifted across the walls, the floors, the ceilings. Those legs latched on and dragged while wings buzzed

She felt Father's arms grab her and Ken, and thrust them into his Jeep. She heard the vehicle doors shut. She heard running towards the front door, and then a slam.

Then she heard nothing at all.

***

Teri had lost track of time as she lay under the seat of the Jeep. She could have been lying there for hours or even whole days. It was horribly quiet, save for the sound of her and Ken’s hearts hammering in fear.

For the first time since her accident, she felt truly helpless, even though her brother was next to her, using his body to shield her. All she could do was think about how and why.

While Father never really spoke about what he did for a living, Teri knew he was a professor and he taught some form of biology. He was called to the military for “medical assistance” at one of their primary bases. Or so she was told.

Then he came back from the war only to meet him afraid of an insect. Apologizing to it. But why? Did he have something to do with that? And why did they take Mother? Was she alright? Was Father suffering the same fate at the legs of those monsters?

She couldn’t take it anymore. She had to know what had happened to her father.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ken whispered as he tried to hold her back from reaching for the door.

"We have to do something! We can't stay here!"

"Shhh! They'll hear you!"

"If they heard me they would have found us already."

"Well, what do you plan to do? March in there and step on them? I know you could feel them, but those things looked...they-" Teri felt him pause and shake. Once again proving that being blind isn't such a bad thing

"They were waiting for us. Before we got in. Then they attacked. And now they aren't doing anything. They might not want anything with us, because if they did, they would have taken us by now."

"Ok. So..."

"So we can go look for Father. I know whether they are around or not because I can feel them move. If there's too many, then we run and -"

"Look for help." Ken finished. She heard him swallow and sigh.

"Alright. We're doing this."

They pushed the door and moved along with their suicidal plan

***

Teri felt nothing near the steps of the house. She felt nothing beside her, except Ken's panting. There were no birds, no crickets, no dog barks, no nothing.

It was completely silent and Teri shuddered.

What is going on?

All of a sudden, an angry voice came from the garden house behind the house

"Kendrick! Theresa! Help me now!"

"Mom!" Ken rushed forward and then fell flat to the ground with Teri's weight on him.

"Something's not right. Think, when does Mother ever use your full name?"

Teri felt his struggling halt beneath her as he came to the same realization as she had.

"Why would she call us in anger?" Teri gave him a hand as he stood up.

"Those things did something to her. Or maybe they can mimic her."

"But then how would they know our names?"

"I don't know or care. Right now we have to figure out if Father is there"

"Maybe we should just run."

"We haven't even tried yet."

Ken sighed as he followed his sister through the obscured path to the back.

The gate to the garden was swung open. Teri noticed this when she had gotten halfway there. She could also feel the legs again. They swarmed around an object and moved along with it. Except, that wasn't just an object. It felt human. Teri could feel it's heartbeat and-

Is that...Mother? Inside of them?

She dug her nails into the walls to stop herself from falling. Maybe she should have listened to Ken. Maybe they should have run.

She heard the sound of a muffled voice and weight being dragged across wooden floors. She felt a heartbeat from the weight. A disembodied litany of mechanical voices spoke.

"You tried to betray the Order. You will pay for your crimezz"

Teri clamped her mouth shut as she heard the sounds of flesh ripping and bones breaking. She could feel struggling and hear suppressed screams of pain. She felt her tears hot on her cheeks and her brothers swallowed sobs beside her as the struggling had come to a stop. Their father was dying and they had to listen to it happen.

"Oh, Theresa, Kendrick! I know you're there!" They both froze at the sound of their mother's voice. Teri felt movement heading their way.

"Move!" She grabbed Ken and yanked him along.

They began to run when Teri felt the figure jump. Ken pushed her to the wall and was pinned down against the floor by the weight of the creatures. Ken screamed in horror as the swarm figure came over him. Teri could hear her mother breathing outside of the swarm. She ran up, kicked what she hoped was Mother's face. The monster let out an ungodly screech and released Ken. Teri helped him up and the twins ran for the front of the house as the insects gave them chase.

They were so close, and yet so far, from getting away from the monsters.