Lucius stared down at the small mythical creature for a few moments, as the message it had just sent him tumbled around in his head, before the meaning of the words finally clicked.

"What?"

He turned to face the darkness, casting his gaze in the same direction as his tiny companion, only to see a sudden purple glow growing in the corner of his vision. Looking down, he saw that the bat's eyes were emitting an eerie purple glow, and at the same time the shadows around him began to stir like creatures awakening from a deep sleep. Before he could blink, a half dozen shadows slithered out of their resting places, taking off into the darkness of the cabin. The sudden movement jolted Lucius' mind out of its temporary stupor, allowing him to grasp the situation properly. His eyes narrowing as he looked down at the mythical creature.

"Don't hurt the child... Just bring it here."

The purple light in the creature's eyes flickered for a moment at the order. It scrunched up its nose with a frown and let out a quiet grumble, that quickly disappeared when it saw the frown spread over Lucius' face. The purple light in its eyes continued to dim until it was barely visible, then the bat waved one hand casually in the direction the shadows had moved, before slumping back down grumpily into the warm pile of clothes beneath it.

"Please no! Mommy, Daddy! Help!"

Lucius heard the desperate cries of the small child, accompanied by the sound of scuffling as something was dragged across the cabin floor. Soon, he saw a small figure covered in ropes of shadow, struggling fruitlessly to escape, as it was dragged inevitably into the light. Now that she was close enough, Lucius could see it was the same small girl from the pictures decorating the cabin. She looked thin and disheveled, with thick black bags drooping down heavily under the eyes of her youthful face. Appearing no older than five or six, her hair was a tangled mess of neglect, and the clothes on her body looked as if they'd been worn for over a month. The girl screamed and bit at the shadows binding her as she tried desperately to regain her freedom, but she could barely muster the energy to fight. Her movements were slow and clumsy, she was clearly suffering from severe malnourishment and neglect.

The shadows dragged the distraught child into the warmth of the fire. Her small teeth bared aggressively at Lucius as her tears carved rivers through the dirt and dust on her face.

"Hey, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you."

Lucius held his hands up and tried his best to appear nonthreatening. The girl stopped trying to bite at the shadows and looked up at him, her body shuddering every few seconds from the hiccups, a common side effect of such intense crying. Her gaze wandered warily from Lucius to the tiny creature near the fire, then her face stiffened as her eyes locked onto the can of food sitting on the floor in front of him. Her mouth hung open as she stared at the can like a hypnotized snake, her chest rising and falling heavily with each breath.

"Let her go."

Lucius picked up the can of beef stew and slowly moved it toward the girl as the shadows retreated from her figure. When she flinched away from his outstretched hand, he placed the can on the floor in front of her before returning to his seat. The small child wiped the wetness from her eyes as she stared at the treasure before her, sniffing at the air a few time as the scent of the hot meal drifted over, before taking one last wary look at Lucius as she rested a hand over her stomach. Surrendering to her hunger, she sat down next to the can and began spooning large portions of stew into her mouth, struggling to chew through the oversized bites as the hiccups caused her to choke on her food. She coughed violently but the choking did not slow her down as she scooped up the next bite, shoving the hot food into her mouth between gasps of breath.

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"What's your name, girl?"

"Ma... hic Mar—" She coughed, a small chunk of potato flying out of her mouth. "—Maryanne," she spat the word out quickly, trying to avoid another interruption.

"Nice to meet you Maryanne. My name is Lucius, and this is..." He looked down at the small bat for a prolonged moment. "What is your name, by the way?"

"You never gave me one, Father."

Maryanne looked up from her meal, wide-eyed at the shiny purple creature.

Noticing her expression, Lucius asked curiously, "Can you hear him too?"

The girl nodded slowly, her fear slowly being replaced by a more natural childlike curiosity as she continued staring at the bat.

"That's interesting. I wasn't sure if other people would be able to communicate with him, but I guess that question is answered. Would you like to help me give him a name?"

Maryanne turned to look up at Lucius eagerly when she heard the suggestion. She nodded quickly, then scraped the last drops of stew from the can and licked her fingers clean. Leaving the empty can behind, she moved closer to the bat and began to slowly and gently stroke the soft puff of fur wrapped around its neck. The trio sat silently like that for a short while, the only sound that could be heard was the soft chirping of insects that drifted in from the forest around them. With the warmth of the woodstove, the hot food in her belly, and the cute purple animal beneath her fingers, Maryanne’s body finally relaxed. Her breathing steadied, and the lingering hiccups subsided. The silence was only broken when Maryanne decided on a name.

"His voice sounds soft in my head, like a whisper. I'll call him that." Maryanne smiled as the bat rolled onto its back, urging her to rub its soft belly. "Hello, Whisper."

The bat rolled its head lazily in Lucius' direction as it enjoyed the massage. "Is that my name, Father?"

"Well done, Maryanne. It's a fitting name." Lucius gave Whisper a nod as he pulled a bottle of water out of his storage ring and handed it to the child, before asking the hard question that had been at the forefront of his thoughts since they discovered Maryanne, "Can you tell me how you ended up here all alone, Maryanne? Where are your mom and dad?"

Maryanne’s smile slowly faded away as a fresh pool wetness begun to glisten under her eyes. She quickly wiped it away with her dirty sleeve and continued to stroke Whisper’s fur as she spoke.

"Mom and Dad were here with me when the monsters started hurting people. We stayed inside to stay safe, but we ran out of food. Dad went out to look for something to eat, and when he never came back, Mom went to look for him."

"How long ago did your father and mother leave?"

"Um..." Maryanne raised the fingers on her free hand, carefully counting. "I think six days since Mom left. I don't know how many since Dad left. Will you help find them?"

Lucius carefully hid his clenching fist from the young girl’s view, as he fought to keep the sudden flood of emotions from showing up on his face.

"Yeah... I’ll help." Lucius stood up and turned away from the stove's light, stealthily wiping the moisture from his eyes. He let out a cough and cleared his throat. "I need to use the bathroom. Wait here for me, okay?"

The color drained from Maryanne’s face when she saw him walking away, and she scrambled to her feet after him, her calm façade crumbling to reveal the traumatized desperation lingering just below the surface.

"Please don’t leave me!"

Lucius turned towards the sudden shout, clearly taken aback by her outburst, as the child ran towards him on wobbly legs before collapsing into him and clinging to his pants, her small body trembling with fear as she shivered. He crouched down and wrapped his arms around Maryanne, unable to hold back the emotions that had been threatening to overwhelm him since the moment he saw her. Tears spilled out of his eyes as the sorrow inside him became too much to contain, and he let it out.

"Okay, Maryanne. I won’t go."