#complete writing

Lucy rolls into the room, where Cooper is lying, Richard and Dorothy sit beside him. Richard looks like he has aged a century, Dorothy gets up and comes over to embrace Lucy. Margie parks Lucy beside Richard, he squeezes her hand as they all turn to Cooper. The man is covered in blankets, IVs, hookups, tubes, wire, and a bank of monitors. His eyes are closed, and he is covered in bruises, cuts, and marks, Lucy is positive that if she removed the blanket she’d see cut wounds across his chest. 

“He’s breathing on his own now. It’s just a matter of time before he wakes up.” Dorothy says, her hand gripping her sons. “You saved his life, all of theirs.”

Lucy swallows, she would rather they were angry with her. They should be angry with her, she had led them into the woods with a creature that was more powerful than anyone could explain. As close to a God as Lucy had ever been to, one that was tangle-able, real, and was now living inside her. Was she still a threat to them? Would they ever be safe? 

“I don’t remember getting them out,” Lucy says quietly, “I remember John getting into the ambulance, but it’s a blur.” 

It was a lie, a calculated one, but there wasn’t really room for truth right now. The morning interview with the Psychologist was frustrating enough, she was not staying here any longer than she needed. 

“You don’t remember?” Dorothy looks at her son, her face scrunched up like she ate something sour. “You dragged them out of there. Don’t know how you got them onto the four-wheeler, but you did.”

Lucy shakes her head, “I remember being in the back of the ambulance and waking up here. Not much else. I was so surprised they were all here.” 

“Can’t blame you for that, it was a horror show what the cougar did,” Richard states, Lucy turning towards him, something passing between them. A knowledge that they both knew more than they were letting on, but to keep it quiet for now. 

“If it wasn’t for you, there’be four dead bodies instead of one,” Harris states, squeezing her shoulder.  She feels comfort in knowing that her Uncle had her back, what had actually happened would be discussed away from prying ears. 

Lucy isn’t sure how long she sits there, everyone coming and going, nurses constantly checking. She desperately wants to hear Cooper speak, to know that he is going to wake up, but he still lies there. Breathing and heartbeat stable, Doctors are still without answers until he awakens. 

“Heard you were awake,” A gruff raspy voice rumbles in, Lucy looks towards the door to see John rolling in. He looks chipper considering his state, his hair now braided into two neat rows, a several-days beard covering his tanned face. Despite everything a sly smile covered his face

“John,” Lucy says, moving her own wheels towards his. “I am so happy to see you.”

John gives a weak grin, as he moves over to her, Lucy scooting so there is room for him. She squeezes his hand, hoping to provide some comfort. 

“Cooper still out?” He asks as he looks Cooper over, "It never gets easier to see someone hooked up to everything."

“They said he could wake up anytime,” Lucy says, reaching to hold one of Cooper’s hands. “If he isn’t up tomorrow they are going to do more scans.”

“He’ll wake up,” John says, his hand rubbing at the top of his legs. Lucy watches him closely, unsure of what to say. “They figure it’ll be a few weeks before prosthetics are fitted, they have been showing me how to get in and out of the chair. Can pee by myself now.”

They both chuckle at the comment, Lucy feels her stomach twist. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through, Lucy had walked away with nothing but a few bruises and scratches. Whereas John's life would be forever changed by their small journey into the forest.

“I am sorry John,” Lucy finally says, though it feels so hollow compared to what he is going through. But what else was there to say? She couldn’t bring back his legs, even with Virol now hanging out inside her. Reattaching legs was even outside this deity's abilities.

“You saved my hide, Lucy,” John says, “Whatever-” He looks towards the door, Lucy happy they were on their own. “Whatever was in there, you had no sway over it. That thing, what was that thing?”

Lucy swallows, trying to come up with the simplest explanation. “Something old, it was so angry. The creature calls itself Virol.” She closes her eyes, knowing how ridiculous this all sounds even to her. “Tim, knew about it but didn’t tell any of us. I should have told you, stopped us from going.”

John shifts in his chair, fingers gripping onto the wheels. “Did you know it would have attacked us?”

“I am not sure,” Lucy sighs, her fingers rubbing together. In truth, she probably should have known that it would attack them and try to kill them. There had been enough warning signs. "I wanted to believe it wouldn't, that we had more time to figure out what was happening."   

“Then the cow goes missing,” John states, staring at the door. “ Lucy, you weren't the only one dealing with weird happenings. Things started gettin' weird when your Grandad got sick. I didn’t put it together until now.” 

“Like what?” Lucy asks, trying to get her mind to pull up anything odd from the last year. It had all been a blur, Lucy had been too new to really notice anything, and her uncle had kept things to himself. It was so hard to know what was normal and what wasn’t. 

“Last year's crops just didn’t grow as well. More calves died, cows died, lost a bull. Most of us just chalked it up to a bad year, climate change, whatever.” John shrugs, hands running over his knees. “Now, I am not so sure anymore. After seeing that thing, Virol, like the old gods my elders talked about.”

Cooper is suddenly coughing, and sputtering, his hand grabbing onto Lucy’s, eyes opening as he wakes up. Lucy moves to hit the call button, while reaching to grab water, she brings it over to Cooper who takes several large gulps. He coughs some more, before leaning back against the pillow. A swarm of nurses enters the room, John and Lucy wheeling themselves backward so the nurses have all the room they need.

A doctor comes in shortly after, Cooper coughing some more as they look him over. His eyes dart around the room, searching for something, his mouth opening and closing as the nurse checks how his pupils dilate. They uncover his chest to look at the bandages. Another IV bag is hung, Cooper grumbling about the attention. His voice is raspy as he tries to get their attention.  

“M’fine, can I get some space?” Cooper huffs, as the nurse puts another blanket on him. His eyes glance over to Lucy and John, a small smile cracking across his face grumpy face. 

“Sorry, Mr. Howard, but we need to make sure everything is working as it should,” The Doctor replies, “Can you move your toes for me?”

Cooper squints at him, brow scrunching, “Yeah I can-”

The room goes silent as everyone moves as they look at his toes, at first they don’t move. Lucy feels bile burn her throat as she watches carefully. Then they move, Cooper flexing them, and bending his legs. He groans as they snap and pop, but they are moving.

“Well, that is the best news we could ask for,” The Doctor writes a few things down on his tablet. “Was hoping for a good outcome after surgery, we will have your surgeon come down. Go over a few things,”

“Can someone tell me what happened?” Cooper asks, the Doctor chuckles at the question, glancing over at Lucy and John.

“I am sure your friends will be able to fill you in,” Doctor replies before exiting. The nurses fuss for a little longer, making sure he is comfortable, showing him how to adjust his bed and where the call button is. 

Watching them leave Lucy then directs her chair toward the bed, John following suit. Cooper watches both of them, his eyes still squinted as he tries to focus. Lucy grabs the cup of ice and hands it to Cooper, who pops a few ice cubes in to crunch on.

“What happened to your legs, John?” Cooper asks, a glint sparkling in his eye,  Lucy covering her mouth at how forward the comment is.

John chuckles, not even flinching at the comment. “Didn’t I tell yah? New weight loss program. They take my legs and in exchange, they don’t pester me to cut out beef.” 

Lucy can’t help the snort that escapes her, the three chuckling at the ludicrous situation they are all sitting in. How had they all ended up here? It had all seemed so simple, go find a missing cow. Now here they were sitting in a hospital, grateful to be alive.

Lucy laces her fingers with Cooper's, “I am so glad we made it out of there. I was sure we were going to survive.”

“I don’t remember much,” Cooper rubbing at his jaw with his free hand, several days of stubble evident. “I remember Bert calling for us. On the radio, going to his location-” Cooper’s eyes fall, his jaw clicking as he clenches it. “It was leading us to it, was it that the thing we were reading about in the book? What Tim was feeding?” 

“I am not sure, I don’t know how to explain it.” Lucy licks her lips, watching as Richard and Dorthoy come in. The three of them exchange glances to keep the weird under wraps for now.

Now that Cooper is awake there is a lot of fanfair, as well as a video call with the kids. Hearing Janey and Matthias so enthusiastically ask when Dad would be home, made Lucy feel sick. She would be able to go home tomorrow, Cooper was another matter.  He’d need physical therapy, along with a lot of rest. The surgery saved his ability to move his legs, but if he pushed himself it could all be undone. There would be ample follow-up visits and more that Lucy was surely forgetting. 

If he was able to walk on his own with limited assistance and his scans came back clear they were hopeful he would be discharged tomorrow afternoon. Lucy had no plans of leaving without him. Saying she’d sleep in the chair if she had to, Cooper was not exactly impressed with her statements. That said Lucy had always been a bit bullheaded and was not going to let this go.

As for John, well that was a whole other matter. The doctors would be holding him for at least another three days. He would also need extensive physical therapy, this would be an ongoing process for the foreseeable future. Lucy had already talked with Harris and Margie about helping the Roths out. Dorothy had also offered help, between the three families and their community friends things would get done and covered. Lucy had already decided to cover as much of John’s physical therapy and prosthetics. It would probably wipe out her savings, but she didn’t care. John being able to get back to life as much as possible came before anything, money didn’t seem like much after what they had been through. 

Then it came to the discussion of Bert, he hadn’t woken up yet. Steph was understandably beside herself, the man was beaten badly. He had to be stapled and stitched back together, there was brain swelling, which meant he had to be put back on life support. It was still a roll of the dice as to whether he would ever wake up. Lucy promises Steph the same treatment as John, whatever is needed Bert will get. 

***

Lucy is standing in her kitchen, for the first time in months the place feels like home. There had been no more noises, no more dead coyote heads, no more screams that sounded like her Grandfather. Now it was quiet, peaceful almost. Despite Virol occasionally crawling around inside her or scratching at her bones.

Virol was always there, always, just a breath away. Lucy was still struggling with that, and Cooper was too. The thing that had attacked them, torn off John’s legs, and had Bert still laid up in the hospital, was now living inside her. It had been beyond hard for both of them, which now included several weeks of Cooper not communicating with her at all. Lucy was pretty sure this was the end of their relationship, which hurt more than she could really put into words. She had accepted it, he needed to keep himself and his family safe. So, if that meant they couldn’t be anything so be it. Lucy didn’t believe Virol would be harmful, not anymore. It seemed more than content to curl up under her ribs, and occasionally demand offerings.

She had made up calendars of all important lunar events, and how they tied to specific offerings. Tacking them up beside all her other maps, it felt a little insane, yet at the same time comforting. Virol would chime in from time to time, moving her hand or highlighting something important. It was helpful when it wanted to be helpful, the other night Lucy had been pouring over a bible trying to translate phrases and words. She had tried to find it, to wake it up and ask it some questions. Instead, she had gotten a hiss and snarl before it settled back again. The thing was more like a grumpy cat than a god, which she supposed made sense.

Now she walks into the forest with an offering. It felt different, the place was so much brighter, the colors popping like a grey filter had been lifted. It was astounding and so beautiful, Virol was still here too; she could now easily see him, shimmering and moving among the trees tops. The poplar and birch were budding with new leaves, the pine and spruce tips just starting to break through their paper casing.

Standing in front of the stump she wondered not for the first if she was doing the right thing. How could she still be feeding it? Still giving it life?

I will take everything from you. I will burn this world to dust and rebuild on your bones.

The words bounced around her head, she wasn’t sure how much truth was behind those words. Virol loved this forest, loved this land just as much as she did. Every time they walked into the woods she could feel it thrum with excitement. Would it actually throw a fit like a toddler just to prove a point? Lucy had decided not to test the theory, whatever it was, god, deity, or petulant child, it was powerful. 

She shivers, placing a fan of feathers onto the stump, Lucy had spent a good amount of time finding the feather and making them into the little trinket. Reciting a small prayer of thanks, and humility to Virol. Digging into her pocket she pulled out a bag of charcoal from the fireplace, dipping her fingers into it as she continued the prayers. Fingers trace over old carved ruins as the words spill out of her. They don’t always make sense, sometimes they aren’t even in a language she knows. The words flow out of her without thought, but with intention. She continues until the whole stump is marked, come fall Lucy had plans to pull some of the stumps out and recarve them. No matter what, she would do whatever was needed to keep Virol quiet and happy. 

Once the ritual is done Lucy walks out of the forest almost in a haze, Virol wasn't feeding directly off her, but he was still feeding. It had been uncomfortable the first few times, but now it was normal. After some water and a sandwich, she’d feel better.  It shouldn't have been so easy, so simple, yet it kept her and everyone around her safe.

Going up the hill Lucy hears the sound of kids chattering, truck doors closing making her feet pick up. As she crested the hill she saw Cooper’s old truck sitting on the gravel. Her heart stuttered in her chest as the man looked around the place. She lifted her hand up in an awkward wave, not sure what to make of him coming over. 

“Miss Lucy!” Janey calls out, running towards her. Even Matthias has a smile on his face as he follows closely behind his little sister. 

Lucy runs towards them squatting down to wrap her arms around them. Tears form in her eyes as she hugs the kids close, she had missed them so much over the last few weeks. Janey wrapped her arms around Lucy’s neck holding her tightly, Lucy lifts her up squeezing the girl. 

“I missed you guys so much,” Lucy says, looking up to see Cooper a few feet away. In jeans, blue button up shirt, and cowboy hat on. He looked tired but happy. 

“Missed you too miss Lucy,” Matthias says quietly, Lucy reaches down to take his hand, the three walking back towards Cooper. 

Cooper helps detangle Janey from Lucy, despite her very loud protests, so they can walk back to the trailer. Lucy tries to meet Cooper’s eyes but he won’t look at her, she feels her heart drop into her chest, than his fingers tangle with hers and everything comes into focus. She squeezes his hand and walks them all up into the trailer, the kids getting settled onto the couch. A familiar encyclopedia is placed between them.

“I didn’t think you’d want to come over,” Lucy said quietly, digging around the cupboard for glasses. 

Cooper leans against the counter watching her, face scrunching a little as he tries to relax his still sore body.  “The kids won’t stop askin’.”

Lucy swallows but hands him a glass of ice, before going to give the kids two glasses and pitcher of juice. She drops a towel on the coffee table, the chance of spillage is high. 

“The kids are welcome anytime,” Lucy replies, it comes out harsher than she intended but she doesn’t correct it. 

Cooper sighs, reaching out to drag Lucy closer to him, Lucy wants to push him away. She wants to tell them that it’s fine, she understands, that their worlds are upside down and sideways. Nothing makes sense, and everything makes sense, and it all is just shit. 

“I just needed some time, Lucy.” Cooper murmurs holding her tightly against his chest. Lucy can’t help but relax against his chest, the strength of him surrounding her making her melt. 

Lucy leans back to look up at him, “ I’d understand if you didn’t want to be here. If you want this to be over between us.”

Cooper snorts leaning down to kiss her, his hands gently holding her face. He pulls away to press his forehead against hers, their eyes closed for a moment. 

“We are in this together, I am still getting used to the idea that this is real. But I can’t let you face it alone.” Cooper says quietly, kissing her again before leaning back against the countertop. “What happened? I know’ya haven’t told us everythin’, but I don’t want secrets. Secrets put us in this mess.” 

Lucy looks back at the kids, who are now currently discussing in detail about the size of wolverines and whether they would actually fight a bear. She nods her head towards her bedroom. The two adults walk over. Lucy leaves the door open enough that the kids can see them, but their voice shouldn’t carry. 

She sits down on the bed, Copper doing the same, taking his hat off to rest it on the bed. Lucy fiddles with her fingers trying to figure out what to say. It still didn’t feel real, even with the feeling of Virol twirling around her stomach. 

“I guess I will start from the beginning,” Lucy sighs, Cooper lacing his fingers with hers. She goes through the memories, trying to be as specific and detailed as possible. Even the gorey ones, the ones no one wants to remember. Then it came time to explain the near psychedelic experience of traveling through Virol’s memories, as well as explain Virol. 

Then there was Virol, which was difficult on a different level. A genderless, ever-shifting, unidentifiable being, that had god-like powers to mimic, and enough power to potentially destroy everything around them. The way Cooper’s eyebrows started to disappear he was also finding this difficult. Considering they both had been non-believers before this incident, finding out a forest god was living in your backyard was eye-opening. Lucy then had to explain that Virol, or at least a part of it, was living inside her. 

“You can feel it?” Cooper asked, looking her up and down. Lucy pulls her shirt aside, grabs Cooper’s hand, and pushes at the scar underneath her collarbone.

“Can you feel that?” Lucy asks, Cooper’s brows furrowing as he feels the knotted skin there. 

“It feels like an old scar,” Cooper says, continuing to press at it, “This was where it pushed its hand into you?”

Lucy nods, Cooper moving his hand away to settle gently on her thigh. “So you can’t get it out?”

“I am not sure,” Lucy replies, feeling Virol move up to scratch her ribs. Wincing she rubs at it, “I don’t think it would go without a fight.”

Cooper sits there for a moment just watching her. “Do you want it out of you?”

Lucy blinks for a moment, she hadn’t thought about that at all. Virol was part of her, yes it was uncomfortable, but she had never really thought about getting rid of it. She’d seen its whole life, and somehow she felt sorry for it. It just wanted to be understood, it wants to keep what it had seen grown. Virol didn’t want to see its whole world flattened, it wanted to see it thrive. Isn’t that what everyone wanted? It was so human, and yet Virol was everything but human. 

“I don’t think so,” Lucy replies, rubbing more soothingly against her ribs. “I think, with it being part of me I can manage what it needs.” She pauses, trying to figure out how to word the next bit. “It’s happy, content. It’s uncomfortable, but not unmanageable.”

Cooper sighs, shoulders dropping, eyes narrowing as he thinks through everything she says. Lucy was half expecting him to get up and leave, instead he shrugs, a small smile flickering across his lips.

“If it was anyone else, Lucy, I would think we’d both lost our minds.” Cooper smirks, his hand tracing patterns on her hand. “But I saw it, and I believe you. I don’t know how but I do.” 

Lucy gives a small smile, “So? Do you want to try and make us work?”

Cooper grinned, leaning in to kiss her again, “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” 

~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~

This was such a challenge and I am not entirely sure how I feel about it ending here. I know there are probably more questions, and honestly, I cut so much out cause it felt like it wasn't lining up. Will I come back to this? Probably. But for now, I am going to let demons sleep.

Anyway let me know your thoughts as always

@toogaytofunctiondangit , @hiddlebatchedloki @whatsorceressisthis @dichromaniac @autumncryptids