One Good Turn
Image created on Canva
**Contains Triggers: Mentions of Child Death or Harm**
Sometimes, the darkness of night consumes all the spark of humanity, and the only thing one can do is wait for dawn. For warmth and sanity to resume.
Tonight was that night.
Sitting in the locked cage, I looked at the Christmas tree and grinned. The open window ushered in the cold of winter, but my body still burned from the fires of fear and grief.
I am Lieutenant Lesko of Station House 5, a human population center located in the heart of the Chitid activity. Here we keep a steady watch mounted against these rodent-insect hybrids. We study them and their history here in the limestone of the Dells — a history that some estimate to be hundreds or thousands of years old.
We co-existed peacefully once, with hardly a sighting, but then something happened. The Chitids became aggressive, killing humans en masse — especially targeting our children. We recruited soldiers from the populace and formed squads so the energy workers could better focus on their jobs.
I’d never known how to shoot a gun, but I signed up with the squad anyway. And I learned, fast. The Chitids were relentless. Were, that is, until we captured their leader. We’ve held her here in our Station ever since, this mantis-like creature who nonetheless bears an almost humanoid face, and the rest of the Chitids have gone silent.
For three days now, she’s sat within a strong cage in the center of our main room, motionless as the people of the Station move about. Only her enormous eyes follow us, glittering in the glow of Christmas tree lights and the bright spotlight above her cage.
So, how did I wind up in the cage, you ask? It’s a long story —- hundreds of years long. You might say I felt sorry for the strange creature — awful or not. Who deserves to be locked up on Christmas?
***
It was my watch. The others were in their beds deep in the Station House. I stretched out on the couch in the main room, looking at the Christmas tree. The season overwhelmed my spirit and I began to sing a Christmas carol.
“Peace on Earth. Can it be? Years from now, perhaps we’ll see….”
“Excuse me,” said a raspy voice behind me. “Do you always sing to decorated shrubbery?”
I jumped and turned to see her looking directly at me. “Did — did you speak?”
The Chitid made a deep-throated clicking sound, that I assumed was a laugh, “Well, I don’t see anyone else, unless you think the spirit of the sacred shrubbery spoke just now.”
I faced her, boldly meeting her gaze. “You speak perfect English. Well done. Is that what you Chitids use to lure people to their death?”
“Chitid?” She leaned closer and wrapped a clawed hand around the bar. “What is a Chitid?”
“You. We named you ‘Chitids’ because of the chittering sounds you make,” I said, as I took a step closer to the bars.
“I am Ma’Bot, not a Chitid. That is the name of our species.” She hissed softly, lifting her head in a proud manner. “You do not understand the ‘chittering’ as you call it?”
I pulled a chair closer to the bars and took a seat, while still making sure to stay out of reach of her claws. I crossed my arms and asked, “So. Ma’Bot is your species. What is your name?”
She lifted her eyes to meet mine, then replied, “I am Empress Isa of the Ma’Bot. Ruler of the lower realm. Empress of the rock tunnels.”
I sat upright. “The Ma’Bot built the tunnels under the limestone? Very impressive.” In the past, we’d been using the tunnels as cooling stations for the towns. Odd that I had never seen a Ma’Bot in the tunnels.
Then I remembered — our children had been seen in some of those tunnels. My eyes filled with hot tears. “Why…why did you start the killing spree? Why start dragging off our children to be eaten by your people. Was it a sacrifice?”
A flash of anger flooded her eyes. “Us?! It was you who started the war. You who tortured our Crown Prince! We found him broken, almost dead, but he lived long enough to tell us all.”
I stood. “The Crown Prince, your son?” Our eyes met and in an instant I saw everything.
A vivid scene unfolded before my mind’s eye of a small, armadillo-like creature curled into itself, surrounded by a group of humans wielding baseball bats. It tried and failed to fend off blow after vicious blow, but only when it ceased to move did the humans leave. Without thinking, I reached out and touched her. Not a creature — but a heartbroken mother, just like me.
The Ma’Bot didn’t move. I turned and ran my hand through my short, curly hair —- hair that refuses to stay slicked back. I gazed at the lights on the tree while I processed this new information. After a moment I turned back to the Ma’Bot.
“Can we stop this war?”
The Ma’Bot stared at me as if she was looking into my soul. An explosion of sorrow welled up in me, blinding me for a moment, and I shuddered violently. “You are grieving, woman. Why?”
“Why?” I laughed harshly. “You killed my own child! Did you think yours was the only one?” I stare her down — Lieutenant to Empress.
The Ma’Bot Empress smiled broadly, her pointy teeth dripping with rancid saliva. The hair on the back of my neck raised. I had the feeling I would soon see the inside of her stomach, but I refused to back down.
“So, you believe we killed the children?”
Before I could answer, her claws reached out and touched my face. My body jolted as if I had been plugged into the nearest light socket. My head buzzed, and for a brief second, I saw an image of the missing children. They were alive. I gasped.
She dropped her claw, releasing the image from my mind. She clicked her jaw sharply, and shook her head in what looked like fury. “They are alive, save one who jumped off the cliff before we could stop him. It should not have occurred. Several guards received sore punishment. But the children, they understood the chittering. They answered our call.”
I shook my head. “But my child —”
“Is alive,” She said softly. “I call her Isa-le, ‘child of the one who leads’. She is mine now, a Ma’Bot of the second order. Second order means ‘taken not birthed’.”
I stared at her, “But she’s mine. She is human. I birthed her.” My voice trailed off, as I began to understand what was to come.
The Ma’Bot’s black, intelligent eyes glistened. “She is Ma’Bot now. They are all Ma’Bot save a few who still wish for home.”
She glanced at the window. “Shall we stop a war, Sister? I will return the children that do not wish to stay. If Isa-le wishes to return, she can. I will constrain none.”
I sat there studying her for a long while, wondering if I could trust her. My arm began to itch terribly. The air filled with the pungent smell of pine and coffee. Why was it suddenly so strong? The world, it seemed, was opening before me as I breathed in the scent of Ma’Bot. I thought briefly about Christmas and the carol I had recently been singing. “Peace on Earth…”
Finally, I made a decision that would have ramifications in the years to come.
I opened the window!
As I did so, I thought of how many nights in a cell I would be spending for “aiding and abetting” an enemy, but I knew it was the only way to bring my little girl home safely. My Sister would not keep her after the sacrifice I made to bring her and possibly others home. It was my one hope. Our one hope. I walked to the cage, opened it, and stepped inside.
A true act of faith. The Ma’Bot could easily kill me. I had seen their handiwork up close.
Isa wasted no time bringing both hands up to cup my face. She looked very deep into my eyes. The ground beneath my feet began to swim, and I grabbed for the bars. The familiar chittering sound filled my ears. I heard no words — and yet somehow now understood.
“Sister,” The Empress said. “I shall stop this killing. We will be one, the Ma’Bot and the humans. The children that wish for home will be released, and you shall be of royal blood. My words are my bond.”
She leaned closer and whispered, “Your Ma’Bot name is Isa-lea. It means ‘the one who leads with wisdom’.”
With that, she stepped out of the cage and closed the door behind her with a click. Her slight form climbed out of the window to the safety of her swarm in the Dells. I sat there in the cage, my heart hammering. Would she return with our children? Her word was her bond.
***
I look at my hands, which were now claws. I touch my face in amazement and horror, and somehow feel elated and queasy at the same time. Her word is her bond. ‘Sister’ she called me, and it feels right. Lt. Lesko of Station House 5 is now — Empress Isa-lea of the Ma’Bot.
Then I realize the most horrifying thought, we will all be one. The Chitids are venomous creatures. Their claws infect the host. A mere touch and one becomes like them — becomes them. They will devour us in many ways. Our children, our posterity, are now Ma’Bot. Our city will have no choice but to mutate into the Ma’Bot.
I crouch in the cage with nothing on but the torn pieces of clothing, now too small for my slim, Mantis-like frame. I am Ma’Bot. I laugh hard, my eyes catching the light from the Christmas tree. Softly, I began to sing, “Peace on earth…can it be?”
But the only thing the person coming on watch hears is my chittering.
Need more great reads? Check these out!
- The Doll– A Dark Flash Fiction
- Beware the Hungry Child and its Mother– A Dark Flash Fiction
- The Princess and the Pain– A Christmas Fairy Tale
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Sue Cook lives in Freeport, Illinois with her husband Randy and two dogs. Her passions include assistance dogs, rescue dogs, music, acting, theater, poetry, and Doctor Who. She’s been in both film and theater and is a regular cast member of the podcast Doctor Who’s Line is it….Anyway? Sue is an advocate for the use of Service Dogs to assist their disabled handlers to maintain their independence. Quigley’s Quest, her first children’s book, addresses how a dog becomes a Service Dog.
