The reservation was quiet under the dark storm clouds that moved slowly, inch after inch, across the sky, and not a single person dared to watch the storm roll in. Come sundown, they were all indoors until the first rays of light peaked back over the horizon, a routine done by the reservation only in the winter. Every other season, they were safe, but not winter – never winter. From the comfort of her bedroom, Koda Rivers paced the floor anxiously, feeling rather cold despite the warmth her home provided. Many people that night mirrored her action as the thunder beat its drum miles away to signal its fast approach. The clouds would send rain and ice across the reservation and create a slick layer upon the earth, but worst of all, the roar of the thunder would hide its approach. “You look nervous.”
The sudden voice in her doorway nearly sent Koda out of her skin. Standing there, stoic and sullen, was her older brother Inali. His long, dark hair looked recently braided and Koda could faintly hear a movie playing in the living room, where Inali had likely just been with their parents. “God,” Koda huffed. “You don’t need to scare me shitless like that.” Inali repeated his statement, and this made Koda roll her eyes. “Of course I’m nervous. It’s out there, Inali. Waiting for some poor, non-believing bastard to stumble outside so we can find his body tomorrow. Or worse, a kid who doesn’t know any better.” Her brother hummed, nodding at her as she talked. He always listened intently – so much so, that Koda thought he was listening to her soul instead. It was the way his dark brown eyes bore into her own that made her think that he could see her spirit but, in a way, it was comforting. If anyone could understand how she felt, it was her brother. When he crossed the room to sit on her bed, she joined him, picking up one of the many stuffed animals she kept there to use as extra pillows. It was a white rabbit, soft and less plump than it had been a year ago when she got it. From her peripheral, she could see that Inali was looking at the photos along the walls of her online friend group, each of them in their day-to-day life, amongst printouts of artwork they all created on late night calls. Koda wanted to talk to her brother about what was on her mind, but her heart was pounding as she fiddled with the stuffed rabbit’s ears. If there was one thing, she could count on Inali for, though, it was to chat. She could always count on him to stay up late with her and talk when she needed it, whether it be on a school night or a weekend while she was drawing on her tablet. It was the one thing she would miss the most one day when they began their lives as adults and away from the reservation.
Koda was once more lost in her thoughts, unaware that she had become focused on the window just across the room, watching for any sign of lightning behind the curtain. The storm was nearing. She could tell from the growing intensity of the wind and the glimpses of lightning. Koda nearly didn’t catch her brother’s question. “If you aren’t in danger, then why are you scared, Koda?” Thunder boomed overhead like a war drum readying for battle. Inali was looking at the window with interest now as Koda pondered, and the lightning flashed again. The fall of ice from the sky began to hit their roof and from the living room, the tv’s volume raised to hide the noise.
Still playing with the rabbit’s ears, Koda’s first thought was that she loved the way her older brother said her name. It reminded her of her grandpa in the way that they spoke deeply, their syllables slightly elongated. His voice was comforting. Secondly, she thought of why she should fear something that did not have a face to its name. Why did it bother her so much? She was safe if she remained inside and ignored the sounds of the world around her but still, her heart raced, and her fingers trembled at the very thought of what it could look like out in the darkness, whispering outside of the windows. Third, there were rumors that it had gotten bolder that year. More coherent voices outside of windows, taps on the glass – it was no longer waiting for chance but actively invoking fear and curiosity. Finally, Koda realized and admitted to Inali that she, too, was curious. She wanted to know the face of the monster that hunted on their land and was the killer of their people, but most of all, she wanted to know if it really was a monster like everyone said or if it existed at all. That curiosity alone terrified her beyond belief. Inali shook his head at the revelation. “You don’t want to see it and you’re crazy for wanting to.” He told her with a very rare, yet stern look. “Same reason why we don’t say the name or even acknowledge when it comes knocking. It knows, Koda, and it will kill to get rid of its hunger. If our ancestors and elders never found a way to be rid of it, what makes you think we can if it knows you saw it or let alone, called out to it?”
His dark brows had come together in a frown, and Koda couldn’t help but argue her case as the rain and sleet crashed down harder against the house. The wind had picked up and amongst that noise, she thought she could hear her parents beginning to argue about their movie. “What if it’s not as scary as the stories, Inali?” Koda squeezed the rabbit into her stomach. “What if it’s little and pretending to be big? What then? We could probably kill it or banish it from the land. Hell, maybe we can coexist if we learn more about it. If it’s even real.” Inali gave her a shocked look that fell to incredulousness. “Learn more about it? If it’s real? Koda, that’s talk that’ll kill you. That thing wouldn’t want anything to do with talking. It’s a cold-blooded and very real monster.” “It has a name.” Koda said abruptly.
Thunder shook the house as she spoke the name, causing her to flinch and snap her eyes to her window. Inali was mouth had fallen open and for the first time in her life, she saw fear cross his face. He drew in a breath, and she began to clench and unclench the rabbit against her. She wondered if she had just made the biggest mistake of her life due to the way Inali stood and began to shake his head back and forth while backing away from her bed. He was afraid. “Koda,” Inali warned. “We need to go tell mom and dad. We need to get some sort of protection on you. Ward it off.” “If it does exist then maybe we could study it… Figure out where it came from and how. We can learn what our ancestors couldn’t.” In that moment, Inali thought about how his sister looked so small at the edge of her bed, just like the toddler who used to cry to him when her room was too dark. He couldn’t believe that the same little girl had become so morbidly curious that she would risk her own life and suddenly not trust the stories of their ancestors, trust in their heritage. “It came from the old days and it’s a cannibal, Koda, the elders told us. We don’t need to study what we already know.” “What if they’re wrong?” Koda got up now, the rabbit falling to her feet. “What if we just misunderstood or what if they were cast out and need to be saved? We don’t know, Inali. We must figure it out. It’s our duty as the ones passing on our culture to continue growing and we stopped when we began to fear something we haven’t seen.”
Inali nearly threw his hands up in disbelief but the thunder that roared outside momentarily distracted him. Koda even paused for a moment to listen to the storm. For a moment, she thought she could hear her parents bantering again but only the storm filled her ears and seconds later, the warm smell of soup that her mother had been cooking. She must have just opened the lid to check it. When Inali spoke next, his voice was low and more serious than she had ever heard. “Our ancestors and our elders are not wrong. What they did back then and what our elders do today is to keep us safe. They saw it, they know what it looks like and that’s knowledge for them to pass down, not us. So, I’m going to tell mom and dad that you said its name and whether you believe in it or not, they need to know to protect you. So, stay here and do not get near the window.” With that warning, Inali turned to hurry out of her room and to the other side of his house where their parents were. Koda listened to storm.
It had been three hours since the sun set and three hours since she had said its name first. There had been no tapping on the glass and no voices outside, yet her nerves had been at an all-time high. What made her the most anxious now was whether she would get any response from it or if it really was a tall tale. Her friends online all said that the creature hunting on her reservation was just a made-up story to stop people from being out past curfew, and Koda was beginning to believe it. They said it was just like the boogeyman that was created as a lesson and a means to reign children in. There had been other nations that had it too, from the South to the North and throughout all of Appalachia so what made it real? Her friends had even argued that people said the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot were real, but they were nothing more than a cryptic myth created by men for money and a good story. Koda wondered if her ancestors had created their own myth to stop children and teenagers from running off into the night. That wouldn’t explain the two-three deaths every winter but there were many ways someone could die. She wouldn’t doubt it if half the people that died had been alcoholics and either had their organs fail or get into a hunting accident while still drunk from the night before.
Koda took a deep breath and started towards the window. She needed to know once and for all if there was anything outside that would harm her, save for a massive ball of hail, or if she had been lied to her whole life. Locked away indoors in the winter where she was never able to go out or allowed to attend sleepovers where her parents could not protect her. Lightning flickered behind the curtain, making her feel suddenly nervous all over again. On the off chance that her friends were wrong, then she could die – murdered by a beast that no one (supposedly) could kill. If they were wrong, then she would open the curtain and see the face of the devil staring back. Her friends would never know why she died but would they think it was real then? If she died the same night that she had told them about uttering its name, would they be struck with the same fear that many tribes had felt for centuries? Or would they chalk it up to a coincidence and nothing more than that? Her fingers twitched at her side. Koda was beginning to doubt whether she wanted to pull back the curtain.
From the other side of the house, she could hear her parents yelling suddenly. Inali must have just relayed the news. That meant she was running out of time before they came with their turtle shell rattlers and red cedar to ward off evil. Her father could even go as far as wearing his traditional, painted mask made from a hornet nest and dance to the rattlers to save her life. Koda doubted that any of the ways in which her people attempted to ward off evil were truly effective, since she had begun to doubt if any of it were real at all. Finally feeling a new strength and resolve, Koda raised her hand and gripped the edge of the curtain. She listened to the roar of the storm, trying to find any voices outside. Her parents were still talking loudly with Inali as they raced towards her room. “There are no monsters outside.” Koda reassured herself with a deep inhale, feeling both hungry and comforted by the scent of soup. “Only stories.”
As her parents came crashing into her room, as Inali held the burning red cedar, Koda pulled aside the curtain. “No!” Her mother cried out in a piercing wail. Koda simply blinked as she peered into the darkness, watching tiny beads of ice hit the window and bounce off with a tink! She sighed with relief, her pounding heart beginning to calm almost immediately. There was nothing outside except the storm and her reflection staring back at her.
Then the lightning flashed, and Koda let out a shrill scream.
submitted by /u/Crusaderhearts
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