Mama part 1

WARNING: contains violence and scenes of gore that some people may be sensitive to.

...

"Mamaaaa..."

Stopping in her tracks, Radar's ears perked. She thought she had heard something but...no. No, it couldn't be that. She continued walking on the long, winding forest path. 'Such a Little Red Riding Hood setting,' she thought to herself. 'Better watch out for wolves lurking about.'  She smiled at her joke and took to enjoying the scenery.

"Mamaaaa..."

This time Radar knew she heard something. A child's cry. Growing concerned, she turned in the direction it was coming from. This led her away from her path and deep into the heart of the forest.

"Mamaaaa..."

"Hello?" Radar called. "I-is anyone there?"

She listened for a sound. Anything. There had to be something out here that was the cause of the voices and the cries. Radar could have sworn she'd heard a child whispering for their mama. What unnerved the snow leopard was that the whisper had seemed so close...if Radar had closed her eyes there would have been no doubt in her mind that the child was right next to her.

"Mamaaaa...where aaaare youuuu?"

The whisper had become a whispered song. Radar considered going back to the path but curiosity won her over. It had always been a weakness for her. As a kitten she always had to know what was going on.

"Hello?" she called again.

"Mamaaaa...come out, come out wherever you aaaare..."

Radar's fur stood on end. This was unnatural. The lack of sufficient lighting in this part of the woods was enough to make her uneasy but this whispering was seriously freaking her out. Right as she was about to turn the other way and go back, she spotted something sandy colored. She headed toward it as it opened its mouth.

"Mamaaaa..."

"Aahh," Radar said, advancing warily. "So you're the one calling for your mama. Are you lost, little one?"

The kitten's head was turned away from her.

"Sweetie?" Radar tried again, "Are you...alright?"

"Mamaaaa..."

Then the little cat's head twisted backward with a crunch as she looked at Radar. The leopard was frozen in fear. It appeared that the kitten had a broken neck. There was no other way this was possible. The whole of the little cat's body was sitting perfectly normal, but the neck was literally in an arch, the face of the cat upside down as it stared at Radar with blood red eyes.

"Uuhhh..." Radar wasn't able to say anything else.

"Mamaaaa..."

"Yeah, uhh...I see you're busy, so I'm just gonna...head...back..." Radar turned, eager to get out of there.

"Mamaaaa..."

Radar gasped as she saw the kitten sitting in front of her. Her neck was perfectly fine now, but her eyes were still red. "Come und play..."

'Oh, no,' Radar thought. 'Isis.' Isis was supposed to only be a child's tale, meant to keep the children from going into strange forests. Names after one of the gods, Isis was depicted as a little kitten with red eyes and sandy fur. Her most distinguishing feature was that she spoke a mix of languages. Radar had thought of Isis as pure myth until one of her trusted friends, Onyx, had sworn on her life she had seen her. The cat Radar really needed right now was Cherry. That bitch had a black belt in karate.

"Come...come und play..."

"Uhm...no, Isis, that's alright."

"So you know my name."

Radar had to shake her head in wonder. Now the voice was that of a woman's; not fit for a kitten.

"I thought you were fake..."

"Your first mistake, meine kleine."

"What are you going to do?" Radar almost didn't want to know the answer.

"Oooh, nothing," Isis replied. "But if I were you, I'd turn tail und run as fast as you can in the direction you came."

"You...you're just...letting me go?"

"Laa. I never said that."

"Then what-"

"Go."

"So I just have to run?"

Isis laughed. "Fast as you can, dearie."

...

That's exactly what Radar did. Not looking back, she fled back to her path frantically. Once she reached it, she still didn't slow down. She ran as fast as she could the direction she was originally going. After a few moments, she knew that with the speed she was picking up she would've been at the end already. Now that she focused, the path was not getting any shorter. Radar tripped and fell, her firearm crunching sickeningly underneath her. She screamed in agony.

Above her stood Isis.

"Silly little girl," the kitten cooed. "Du ist so tired. Rest while."

Radar found her eyelids closing against her will. The last thing she could make out was darkness and, softly, a child whispering "mamaaa..."