Episode 9 - Chapter 85

 For a moment, Fiona feels like she's just hanging there, bathed in light, not moving at all despite the apparent force she'd used to leap forward. Before she can question her situation, however, her outstretched hand feels a brush of hair dance across her fingertips, followed by a different sensation altogether. Her hands feels like they've been plunged into jelly, and quite disorientating it is too. A wave of disgust washes through her, but before she can react her arms sink further into the sticky gloop. “Eurrgh,” she shudders to herself, “There's got to be a better way,” but the stuff keeps coming, racing up her arms. For a moment of blind panic, she's unsure if she's diving into it or it it's sucking her in. “Not turning back now,” she says to herself as the strange mire reaches her face, leaving her only a moment to take a deep breath before she's plunged in.

Episode 9 - Chapter 84

 Having adjusted Fiona's reclining posture, Raven reaches forward to tuck a stray wisp of her hair behind her ear, stroking her brow as he does. He pauses then, seemingly lost in thought, only to be stirred by a brief movement in her lips, followed by her throat showing a shallow swallow.

“Not long now,” he says, directing his comment at Oak.

Oak, for his part, stands tense and wary, watchful of Raven, branch held purposefully pointed in his direction.

Once finished with Fiona, Raven turns to Robert, adjusting his form in a similar way. As his body is turned, a few mumbled sounds escape his lips. Raven leans closer to try to hear, but his actions are halted by Oak's cough and a twitching of the branch.

“Not too close,” he commands.

Raven sighs frustratedly in reply. “You really have no idea what you're dealing with,” he says, almost to himself, “No idea at all.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 83

 I took a step backwards, then grasped Mary's arm to pull her close to me.

“That's better.” Oak said, turning his attention to Raven. “Do what you must,” he commanded, “But understand, I am watching your every move.”

Raven approached Fiona's sleeping body, touching her neck with his right hand to check her pulse. After a moment he grunted to himself, obviously satisfied with the result. He then moved her arms, folding them over her chest before reaching behind her to grasp her neck from behind.

“Careful,” Oak warned hawkishly, causing Raven to raise his eyebrows and tut quietly. He rolled Fiona in her seat, repositioning her on her side with her weight resting on her shoulder and hips.

“Returning from the Weave can be quite traumatic for the body,” he told Oak, “This will help to minimise any undesired side effects.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 82

 Fiona groaned again, her head turning slightly to one side.

“I told you to step back,” Oak commanded, brandishing his stick at the three of us. “All of you, move away from the girl.”

None of us moved. “What is that twig?” I asked, “And why do you keep waving it in our faces.”

“You don't want to know, Mary,” Raven said, moving to position himself between Oak and myself.

“I don't expect you to trust me,” he said to Oak, “But you've got the advantage here, let me help these two.”

Oak contemplated his request for a moment, clearly sizing up the situation. “You two,” he said, pointing at my husband and myself, “Stand back. I wont hesitate to use this,” he shook his branch, “If I feel it's necessary.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 81

 Despite the irritating distraction, Fiona tries to force her eyes to stay wide open as she reaches forward. Her best effort comes to nothing, however, as instinct takes over, forcing her to blink, feeling her own out-size lashes brushing against her fingertips. Her hand recoils quickly, nestling into her chest as a tingle of shock passes through her.

She shakes herself to recover, using her own spasmodic movement to release the tension in her body. The eyelid before her flashes up and down as she blinks uncontrollably, feeling water begin to gather in the corners. Resisting the temptation to wipe the liquid away with the back of her hand, she manoeuvres herself to face her pupil straight on.

“Just dive in,” she whispers to herself, “You can't decapitate yourself, that wouldn't make any sense.” With that thought fresh in her mind, she tenses her limbs for a second then forces herself to leap forward.

Episode 9 - Chapter 80

Tug the string in his hand twitches between Robert's fingers, Tug, Tug.

“Resist or surrender!” Without prompting, the challenge presents itself in his mind.

“What?” he asks himself, quickly followed by his own reply. “I can resist that pulling, or follow it and surrender. The choice is all mine.”

“How do I know that?” he wonders.

Tug the string twitches, ever more insistent. Tug, tug.

“I shouldn't worry about it,” he tells himself, “Just make a choice: follow the string or let it go.”

“I think I might be finally going mad,” he thinks, even as a decision is made in the recesses of his mind. “Oh well, here goes...” he says, grasping the string with his other hand to pull himself forward.

Episode 9 - Chapter 79

 Edward and Mary turn their attention away from the confrontation in the doorway to the reclining figure of their daughter-in-law. Fiona's arms twitch again, then fold themselves over her chest as she seemingly shuffles in her seat.

“What is it?” Mary asks alarmed, “What's happening to her?”

Edward steps forward, reaching out to touch Fiona's brow with the back of his hand.

“There's no temperature,” he says after a moment, “She feels normal.”

“Well she would,” Raven suggests, “Just give her some space, give her room to breathe.”

“Why, what's happening?” Mary asks again, “What's going on?”

“She's coming back,” he replies, approaching the body, “Waking up after a long journey deep into the Weave.”

“Step back,” Oak commands, brandishing his branch once more.

“By all that grows, put that thing away,” Raven responds harshly. He points at Fiona and Robert's incumbent bodies. “You don't have to trust me,” he says, “Just let me help these two return safely.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 78

 “You...?” Oak began, stumbling over his own words. “You did what?”

“I did what any Agent of the Forest would do,” Raven replied, “I tried to learn as much as I could about the imbalance.”

“You abandoned this house and its' occupants,” Oak accused, “Left them to their fate, to whatever the Weave might do...”

“I followed the information,” Raven countered, “Which led away from this house.”

“Exactly!” Oak declared triumphantly, “You abandoned the very situation you were sent to deal with.”

“No,” Raven said with a quiet, patient calm, “I followed the imbalance to its' core. That led away from the house, yes, but the house is not at the centre of this.”

Oak began to reply but was silenced as Raven continued. “This is something new,” he said, “Something the Forest has not encountered before....”

At that moment, Raven himself was silenced by a long, low moan that came from Fiona as her arms moved.

Episode 9 - Chapter 77

 “Oh for goodness' sake,” I said, brushing Oak's arm with my hand, “It's obviously Raven, I mean, just look at him.”

“Obviously looks like Raven,” Oak replied, “But looks can be deceiving.”

“We don't have time for this,” Raven said, taking a step forward towards Oak and the living room.

“I told you to hold it right there,” Oak commanded, brandishing his stick at Raven once more.

Raven stopped moving, raising his hands to shoulder level. “Easy,” he said, “Let's not be doing anything rash.”

“Rash?” Oak demanded, “You suggest I might do something rash. You? You who deserted your post, if you are Raven at all.”

“Deserted my post? I...” For a moment I think Raven was lost for words. “I did no such thing.”

“If you are Raven,” Oak replied contemptuously, “You left this house in the middle of a massive imbalance.”

“I followed the first rule,” Raven spat in reply, “I gathered information.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 76

 Despite the distracting presence in her eye, Fiona concentrates on not trying to brush it away with her hand, accepting the irritating twitching as a consequence. The giant eye-lid before her flashes back and forth before her, often fluttering neither open nor closed.

“I'm not actually touching the eye,” she says, before correcting herself to “MY eye. But I do seem to be causing all this activity. And if I'm still in the Weave,” she looks around her at a world of bright light, “Which I do believe I am, then none of this is real anyway.”

She pauses for a moment, trying to concentrate on her thoughts. “If I need to get into my own eye,” she ruminates, “Maybe the key is to just do it. Don't think about it, or dwell on the possible consequences, like getting decapitated by my own eye-lashes, but just step into myself.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 75

 Reluctantly, Mary takes a step backwards, leaving Raven and Oak to face each other.

“Oak,” Raven says by way of greeting, “I can only assume that events have taken on a truly strange aspect for the Forest to have sent you.”

Oak almost smiles: a thin, officious line that cuts across his face. “Shall we save the pleasantries for later?” he asks, “Can you prove who you are?”

“You know I can not,” Raven replies sourly, “While you also know exactly who I am.”

“Suspect,” Oak corrects him, “I suspect I know who you are, but I have no way to be certain.”

“Then we are at an impasse,” Raven states, “Any suggestions as to how we might proceed?”

Episode 9 - Chapter 74

 Everything was quiet for a moment. I was stood behind Oak, so I couldn't see his face, but the tension in his shoulders told me everything I needed to know about his attitude.

“What is this?” my wife asked, “What's going on?”

“Step out of the way, Mary,” Oak commanded.

“What?” she asked, then “Why? It's only Raven.”

“We can't be sure of that,” Oak replied.

“Of course it's Raven,” she said, looking from one to the other, “I mean, look at him! Who else could it be?”

“It looks like him,” Oak said, “I'll not dispute that. But looks can be deceiving, so let's just make sure before we get too comfortable.”

Raven sighed. “He's right, Mary,” he said wearily, “You have no proof who I am, step aside and let him do what he must.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 73

 “It is you, isn't it?” Raven asked, looking straight at me. “May I come in?”

I have to admit, seeing him there took me by surprise. I don't know what I had been expecting, but it wasn't him. I could feel my mouth hanging open with surprise, then realisation slowly dawned, and with it a sense of mild relief. I pulled the door open feeling a smile settle on my face.

“Yes, of course, of course it's me,” I said, “Do come in.”

Raven stepped forward, into the hallway, shaking himself a little as he did. He was about to say something more when Oak's voice filled the hall. “Hold it right there,” he commanded, “Don't take another step.”

“I beg your pardon?” Raven asked, still looking at me.

“I said stop right there,” Oak said, standing in the living room doorway. He was holding a twig or branch of some kind, which he was pointing at Raven. “Do not move another muscle.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 72

 Fiona can still feel something in her eye, taunting her at the edge of her vision. She blinks again, somehow unsurprised when the giant eyelid before flashes closed for a moment, but the irritant is still there. That blink is followed by several more, each of which is mirrored in front of her. She's about to rub her face with her right hand when she suddenly stops herself, left hand grabbing right. “Let's not be foolish,” she whispers to herself between clenched teeth, “I could easily make this ridiculous situation much worse.”

The more time passes, the more aware she is of the speck in her eye, her blinking becoming almost uncontrollable, the eyelid before her flashing back and forth, a giant guillotine with lashes.

“If I am the speck in my own eye,” she starts to reason, “Then the eye before me is me.” She pauses, almost confused by her own train of thought. “I sound like one of those bloody self-help zen manuals,” she says, “When all I really need is to get inside myself.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 71

 Raven cautiously pushes the door open. It doesn't simply glide open as he's almost expecting, something beyond is controlling its movement. Raven pushes again, alert and tense, ready for almost anything to be revealed. He's more surprised than he's have expected when he hears an almost familiar voice gasp “Oh, it's you,” and he finds Mary standing before him.

“Mary,” he says, “Thank the rivers.” He pauses, looking her up and down for a moment. “It is you, isn't it?” he enquires. “May I come in?”

Mary stands frozen for a moment, surprised to see Raven before her, but also a little relieved. She pulls the door wide open, feeling a half smile make its home of her face.

“Yes, of course,” she says, “Of course it's me, do come in.”

Raven steps forward, into the hallway, only to be confronted by a deeper, ancient voice. “Hold it right there,” Oak says, “Don't take another step.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 70

 Robert lays back on the bed of grass, allowing Mo's pudgy hand to brush his eyes shut.

“What will I...?” he begins to ask, but is unable to finish as Mo lays a finger across his lips.

“Shhh,” the midget says quietly, “Just relax. Relax and breath.”

Robert feels the midget's hand begin to gently stroke his brow. The questions that were racing through his mind begin to evaporate as his breathing becomes deeper. He feels the sun on his skin, warm and reassuring, nearby birds singing distantly.

“Maybe I should have done this before,” he thinks, picturing himself floating in sunlight, “Finally I don't have to worry.”

It's at that moment he feels something in his hand, a string of some kind. He's wants to look, but can't bring himself to open his eyes, even when the string starts to pull in his fingers.

Episode 9 - Chapter 69

 “That's just the question, isn't it?” Oak replied to my question, “If....when the girl wakes up, we really don't know who, or what, will wake up with her.” He looked at the clothesline still in a tangled heap by his feet. “Perhaps it would be wise to restrain her now,” he said, “While it is still us who are in control.”

Before I could reply he's gathered the line in his hands and begun to wrap it round Fiona's left wrist, fastening it tight to the arm of her chair.

“You can't be serious,” I challenged him, “For heaven's sake, she's only a girl.”

“She is, yes,” he said, moving to Fiona's right side to fasten her other arm, “But she may not come back alone, or something may come in her place. Better to be cautious now than regretful later.”

I understood the sense in what he was saying, but somehow it just didn't seem right.

“What do you think, Mary?” I asked my wife, “Does this seem sensible to you?” That's when I realised my wife had gone.

Episode 9 - Chapter 68

 Neither of them were listening to me. Please, don't misunderstand me, I was feeling a mild wash of relief that my daughter-in-law appeared to be emerging from her coma like sleep, even if she wasn't actually regaining consciousness yet. I even stole a glance or two at my boy, in the hope that I might see him display similar signs. But there was something happening at our front door, something definitely unexplained, and neither my husband nor Oak seemed to be the least bit concerned about it.

“What about the door?” I asked once more, but the two if them just continued their bickering over Fiona's body. “Never mind,” I declared, “I'll see to it myself.”

Stepping into the hallway, I immediately spotted the front door handle twisting and turning. I could hear a voice too, shouting somewhere in the distance. “Oh well,” I mumbled to myself, “In for a penny...” and I reached forward to open the door.

Episode 9 - Chapter 67

 Fiona stops all action, pausing to look at the eye before her. Worried she might start to sink in this ocean of light, she starts to make water treading movements, but she suspects they're completely unnecessary. It does, however, somehow make her feel better, a placebo of activity in an environment she doesn't really understand.

The eye itself is just there, right in front of her. A black pupil the size of a beach ball, surrounded by a thick circle of the deepest blue all set in a back drop of ivory, inlaid with the thinnest of red tendrils. Unsure what to do next, Fiona reaches forward to touch it, but her action's cut short as a bushy eyelid descends. At the same time, she feels something in her own eye, an irritant of some sort, and she blinks to wash it away.

Episode 9 - Chapter 66

 Raven hammers at the front door, twisting the handle left and right while he continues to shout. “Edward? Mary? Is there anybody there? Can anybody hear me?”

Curly stands nearby, hands shoved deep into pockets, staring into the distance.

“Blazes,” Raven swears, pausing for a moment, “There has to be a way to get their attention.” He turns to the midget. “Still no suggestions?”

His companion looks at him silently and shrugs once more.

“Why are you here?” Raven demands, “What purpose do you actually fulfil? Because you've been bugger all help to me.

Again Curly shrugs, his head tilting to one side.

“Pah!” Raven spits, turning back to the door. He grabs the handle, turns it and almost gasps with surprise as the door gives way before him.

Episode 9 - Chapter 65

 “Step back now,” Oak commanded forcefully, stepping forward to literally shove me away from my daughter-in-law's unconscious body.

“Steady on,” I responded as I regained my posture, “There's no need to be so rough!”

“I believe there is every need,” Oak replied curtly. “Neither you nor your wife seem to grasp the gravitas of this situation. You both blithely ignore my warnings, disregard my instructions and carry on as you bloody well please.”

“I was just checking on Fiona,” I told him, “Making sure she's okay.”

“What about the door?” Mary asked, “I'm sure there's something out there.”

Oak looked me in the eye, a cold dark look bereft of any emotion. “And when the girl wakes up,” he said, “How do you know it will be your daughter-in-law?”

“What?” I asked, surprised by the question. “Who else would it be?”

Oak's eyebrows raced up his forehead as he tutted loudly.

“The door?” my wife asked again. “What are we going to do about the door?”

Episode 9 - Chapter 64

 Before her weak groan was over, my husband had rushed to Fiona's side. First he touched her forehead with the back of his hand, I assume to find out if she had a temperature. The result was obviously inconclusive, because he grunted to himself before touching her left cheek and peeling back her eye lid.

“What are you doing?” Oak asked. I think he was genuinely curious, didn't understand Edward's actions at all.

“I don't know,” Edward replied honestly, “Checking for vital signs. That's what you do when someone's unconscious like this, isn't it?”

I heard the distant knocking once more, followed by the rattle of a door. “I really do think we should be checking outside,” I said, but neither of them was listening.

Edward took Fiona's wrist in his left hand, counting under his breath as he took her pulse.

“I really do think you'd be wise to step back,” Oak said to him, “At least until we know what we're dealing with.”

A look of shock sprang on to his face as Edward dropped Fiona's arm. “Her arm,” he gasped, “I'm sure it just twitched.”

Episode 9 - Chapter 63

 Fiona swims through the bright light, following blue ribbons in the hope of finding their source. At first she found it difficult to achieve any kind of motion: she just hung there, bathed in light, limbs flapping aimlessly. If I was in water, she'd thought, I'd be drowning by now. Slowly, however, she found a way to steady herself, then gradually began to move forward. It's all about grabbing handfuls of light, she thinks, grabbing and pushing them behind her. Now she's moving at a steady pace, pulling herself through the shine, towards something huge, bright and familiar. For a while she can't quite make out what it is, but she knows without thinking that it's where she must go, swimming forward until her destination acquires a little more detail. When it does, she almost gasps, realising she's heading towards a giant eye.

Episode 9 - Chapter 62

 Raven turns the handle and pushes the door, which completely fails to open. He curses to himself as he exhales, though he's unsurprised by the door's lack of movement. He tries to open the door a second time, just to be sure, but the outcome remains the same.

“Think,” he mutters, staring at the handle, “Just think.” His eyes dart around him, soaking in his surroundings, but there's nothing unusual to be seen. Curly stands to one side, oblivious to the events unfolding before him.

“You, Strauss,” Raven demands, “Any suggestions?”

The midget turns slowly to face him, returning his gaze with steady confidence. For a moment, Raven believes he's about to reply, but in the end Curly just raises his eyebrows and shrugs.

“Pah,” Raven spits turning back to the door. He grasps the handle with his left hand, turning it one way then the other, while his right hand knocks furiously.

“Edward! Mary!” he shouts, “Can anyone hear me?”

Episode 9 - Chapter 61

 “What can it be?” Mary asked, “I mean, should we go outside and check on it? Whoever's knocking, it might be important.”

“No,” Oak said firmly, “I don't think so. It's just more...” he struggled to find the right word for a moment, “....more tricksiness. More of the Weave trying to claim this house for its own. Open that door and you'll just be letting it in.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. “Let what in? What are you talking about?”

“Edward,” Oak replied, “This is difficult to explain, and we have little time so please, try to bear with me.”

“Okay,” I replied, nodding cautiously.

Oak stood there for a moment, phrases rushing silently across his lips as he searched for the appropriate words.

Before he had chance to start speaking, however, all of us turned our attention to Fiona when her limp body gave out a feeble groan.