The Ultimatum

Text from Jason (SMS): I love you, little sister. Take care of Tom when I’m gone.

My heart stopped beating. Warning bells sang in my head like a church choir, echoing and reverberating through my bones. I quickly dialed my older brother’s number and awaited his answer with bated breath.

"Jason, what are you talking about?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Just what I said, sis," he replied, his voice flat, devoid of its usual warmth. "I need you to look after Tom."

"No, Jason. Don't say that. Where are you? I'm coming to you." My mind raced, trying to process his words, the unsettling calm in his voice.

"It's too late, sis. I've already made up my mind."

"No, it's not! Jason, please! Think about Tom! Think about Mom and Dad! Think about me!" Tears welled in my eyes, blurring my vision. "We need you, Jason. I need you. You're my big brother. Don't leave me."

A long silence stretched between us, punctuated only by my ragged breaths. "Jason? Are you still there?" I pleaded, my voice breaking.

"I love you, sis," he whispered, and then the line went dead.

Mary grasped the steering wheel with white knuckles. She rammed the car into reverse and sped out of the James White’s Fort parking lot. Hot tears blinding her vision, she desperately called her father over the bluetooth speakers.

"Dad, you have to help me! It's Jason! He... he said goodbye." Her voice was a raw, choked sob.

Her father's calm, steady voice, usually a comforting anchor, now felt miles away. "Mary, slow down. What are you talking about? Where's Jason?"

"He texted me... and then he called. He said he loves me and that I need to take care of Tom, and then he hung up! Dad, I think he's going to hurt himself!" The words tumbled out, each one sharper than the last, piercing the fragile calm. "You have to stop him! Please, Dad! You're the only one who can talk to him!"

A pause, thick with dread, hung in the air. "Mary, honey, calm down. Where are you? What did he say exactly?" His voice was firmer now, a hint of alarm seeping in.

"He said it's too late, that he's made up his mind! I'm on my way to his apartment, but I don't know if I'll be fast enough. Please, Dad, call him! Talk to him! Tell him we need him! Tell him Tom needs him!" Mary's breath hitched, her chest tight with panic. "He can't leave us, Dad. He just can't." The last words were a desperate plea, a fragile whisper against the roar of her fear.

Her dad hung up abruptly, ending Mary’s frantic prayer. She swerved in and out of traffic, not caring if she pissed a few drivers off right now. Her mother’s name popped up on her car’s screen, but Mary ignored it. The last thing Jason needed right now was her mother’s temperamental, nervous, delusional ramblings. Mary’s thoughts began to wander down a dark path- What had the raven mocker said to him? What did it make Jason do to make him contemplate ending his life? The incessant ringing of her phone drove Mary mad.

Mary finally answered the phone, dreading the conversation.

"Mary! Oh, Mary, what's happening? Your father just called me, he said... he said Jason... Is it true? Is he really...?" Her mother's voice was a high-pitched, shaky whisper, teetering on the edge of hysteria. "I knew it! I knew something was wrong! It's that... that thing, Mary! The one that's been watching him! It's finally got him, hasn't it? It's taken his mind! Oh, my poor boy! He's not himself, Mary! It's possessed him! I told your father, I told him we needed to get him help, a priest, someone! But he never listens! No, he just says I'm imagining things, that I'm being dramatic! But I know, Mary! I know! It's real! It's going to take all of us! It's going to take Tom next! We have to stop it! We have to!"

Mary squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the deluge of her mother's terror. "Mom, please! Calm down! We don't know anything yet! Dad's calling him, I'm on my way to his apartment. We just need to find him."

"Find him? Find him?! He's gone, Mary! It's taken him! It's in the walls, Mary! It's been whispering to him, I heard it! You don't believe me, do you? No one ever believes me! But I see it, Mary! I see the shadows! It wants to destroy us! It's a demon! A terrible, evil demon! And now it has my Jason! My beautiful boy!" Her mother's voice dissolved into a ragged sob, then a gasping, whimpering sound.

"Mom, please!" Mary pleaded, her own patience fraying. "This isn't helping! We need to focus on finding him! Don't you dare give up on him!"

"Give up? Give up?!" Her mother's voice rose again, infused with a fresh wave of panic. "How can I not give up when it's already taken him?! It's feeding on his despair, Mary! It's getting stronger! It's going to come for us! For Tom! It's already here, I can feel it! It's breathing down my neck!"

Mary wanted to scream. She wanted to throw the phone out the window. Every word her mother uttered twisted the knife of her own fear, turning it into something dark and irrational. She knew her mother's mental state was fragile, prone to these fantastical leaps, especially under stress. But right now, she couldn't handle it. She had to stay rational for Jason, for Tom, for herself.

"Mom, I have to go," Mary said, her voice tight with forced calm. "I'm almost at his apartment. I'll call you back as soon as I know anything."

"Don't go in there alone, Mary! It's waiting for you! It's a trap! Oh, Mary, my sweet girl, be careful! It will trick you! It will make you see things! It will..."

Her mother's voice continued its desperate, paranoid litany, but Mary had already pressed the end call button. She gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles white, and tried to focus on the road, on getting to Jason before it was too late. Before her mother's dark imaginings became a horrific reality. Mary closed her eyes tightly, trying to control her breathing, attempting furtively to stay calm amidst all the chaos. Another shrill chorus broke Mary from her trance. It was Jason.

"Jason?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Sis... please." His voice was raw, choked with unshed tears. "Please talk to me. Tell me... tell me I'm not doing this."

"Jason, where are you? What's going on?" Mary's own voice trembled, hope and terror warring within her. "Tell me everything. We can fix this, whatever it is."

"No, you don't understand," he rasped, a sound of pure agony. "I... I've done things, Mary. Terrible things. It made me. The raven mocker. It... it won't let me go." A gasping sob tore from him. "I can't face you. I can't face Dad. And Tom... Tom can't know. He can't ever know what I've become."

"Jason, no! Don't you dare say that!" Mary felt a fresh surge of tears, but this time, they were tears of fierce determination. "Whatever it is, we'll face it together. We're family. We love you. Tom loves you more than anything. He needs you. I need you. Don't let that... that thing win. Fight it, Jason! Fight for us!"

The dead air of the call spread a new form of terror in Mary’s turbulent soul. She remembered the threat that the raven mocker had made- If you don’t sacrifice yourself willingly, I will move on to another plaything. Perhaps your mother. Or your brother. Or dear, sweet, innocent Tom. But I will never cease my revenge, Mary Williams. Not until your family knows a fraction of the suffering my ancestors have carried. Guilt gnawed at Mary’s heart. This isn’t what she wanted. She just wanted to be free. So selfish, the raven mocker purred sadistically in her mind, just like your uncle.