For: BRS_BRS_BRS
Fandom or OC?: OC
Idea: Since Kiri has no background, it seemed the best way to start was from her beginning. It's my own interpretation of her character from a photo. Hope you enjoy!
...
When she was first born, the doctor was surprised to see that rather than that first, ear-shattering cry of newborns, the infant gave a hiccuping laugh. “A fluke,” she told the new mother once the infant was freed, cleaned and handed over. “Children this young don't know how to express something as complex as joy, or even smile on purpose. It's a reflex of their muscles.”
Still, when the new mother held her daughter for the first time, looked down at the small face and saw thin, peach lips turn up into a smile, her heart was lost. The girl was beautiful, pale hair and pale skin and chubby cheeks that just begged for kisses. “Kiri,” the woman said when the doctor approached some time later, asking about a name. “She's Kiri. She's perfect.” The woman brushed a kiss to one rounded cheek and Kiri gave one of those short, hiccuping not-laughs, seemingly pleased. “Just pefect.”
~.~.~.~.~
When Kiri was a baby, her father worked double shifts to provide for the family while her mother stayed to watch after her. Kiri always seemed to be smiling, hands failing an legs rising but not yet strong enough to kick, eyes beautifully dark against her pale features. Many times Kiri's mother would stand in the doorway of the nursery and simply watch her daughter, going from sleeping to giggling to the soft, confused snuffles that meant she was hungry. The new mother was beside herself with happiness, most at ease in the rare moments her husband came home and their little family was all together and she found herself wishing that things could be as they were, always. There was nothing that she wished to change when the three of them were together.
Not at that time.
~.~.~.~.~
“Come on, little one. Say 'Mama. You can do that, right? Maaa-maaa.”
Kiri giggled, clapping her hands before her as her mum held her at the waist. She was getting bigger, as babies tended to do, showing signs of starting to speak. Kiri was still the happy, smiling baby that her mother grew to know though she was hoping to get the little one to speak her first words.
“Deh!”
“Maaaa-maaa,” the mother tried again, grinning. Her husband wasn't around to try and influence the 'Dada' out of Kiri so she wasn't giving up.
Kiri squealed, little legs stepping on the older woman's thighs and head shaking. “Deeehh!”
“Oh Kiri, are you teasing Mama?” Three quick kisses – one to her forehead and one to each cheek – were pressed to the girl who flailed and giggled. “Come on, the girls are gonna rule, right? Say, 'Maaa-maa.'”
The baby gurgled, blowing bubbles as she clapped her hands. With dark eyes fixing on the woman Kiri reached out, pressing soft hands to either side of her mother's cheeks.
“Deh-Ma.”
“Maaa-maa,” the older woman tried again. Kiri's little fingers were curling, trying to hold on to her cheeks, nails digging in slightly.
“Deh-Ma. Deh-Ma. Deh-Ma.”
The older woman frowned, something inside of her going cold. Eyes widening slightly she swallowed, keeping the hold on her daughter steady as the thin, short nails dug into her cheeks. “Are – are you saying 'dead Ma?'”
“Dead-Ma!” Kiri squealed, hands slapping at her cheeks. “Dead-Ma! Dead-Ma! Dead-Ma!”
Rising from the rocker in the nursery Kiri's mother moved to lay the girl back down, leaving the room with cries of 'dead-Ma!' following her. When she got into the bathroom and flicked on the light she stood over the sink, hands trembling.
Five red, crescent-shaped cuts stood out on each of her cheeks, spots of blood standing out like a cry in the night.
~.~.~.~.~
As a toddler, Kiri got into everything. Her mother was constantly chasing the little one around, grabbing her before she could pull out drawers or tumble down steps. There was never an incident like that from the day she tried teacher Kiri to speak so she brought it down to a fluke, a trick in her own hearing.
Setting Kiri down for a nap in baby's room the mother went to tend to nature's call, leaving the door open just in case. After a while she could hear the babbles of toddler talk, the words muffled due to distance. Talking to herself again, the older woman mused as she finished up, coming out after washing her hands to head back to the baby's room. When she peeked inside Kiri was sitting up in her bed, hands moving and staring at the empty space near the foot of her bed. “Kiri sweetie, it's nap time,” the older woman said gently. “Lay down, please.”
“Okay Mama.” The little girl was quick to comply, yawning and wiggling down under the covers. “Goodnight, Mama.”
“Goodnight, sweetie.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Ash.”
Frowning curiously at that the other woman paused in closing the door, stepping back inside to look at her daughter in the bed. “Kiri? Who's Mr. Ash?”
Kiri yawned, snuggling down into the covers. “The burnt man,” she mumbled sleepily. “At the end of the bed.”
Blinking at the response the mother shook her head, moving into the bedroom to fix the covers so they were better over her daughter and pressing a kiss to her temple. Sometimes I wonder about you, she thought as she drew back, walking alongside the bed to head to the door. A toy frog near the foot of the bed stopped her and the woman bend to pick ti up, a hand splaying flat on the covered mattress for support. She froze.
The spot was warm.
~.~.~.~.~
'Mr. Ash' came up many times, a disturbing figure that gave Kiri's mother chills. When she brought it up to her husband that night as well as days later he laughed, an arm wrapping around her waist.
“You know how children are,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her hair. “She's about that age for an imaginary friend. Once she gets into school and starts making friends with other children she'll forget all about this Ash character.”
The woman sighed and fretted and reluctantly agreed though her urge to watch over Kiri grew. She would creep along the hallway leading to her room when she heard her daughter's voice, light and happy and care-free. She would stand at the top of the stairs leading down from the upper level, peering down to the sitting room below where Kiri was watching shows, though not so much watching the TV as playing with her toys, building with her blocks and chattering away at no one in particular.
That in itself wouldn't have bothered her if it weren't for the way that she spoke. It wasn't like a child rambling just to ramble. Kiri would speak, pause as if listening then speak again as if replying to a question.
“Oh, and this is Lala,” the girl was saying, holding up one of her dolls. It was early afternoon on a Thursday, the last summer before Kiri would be going to school. Kiri's mother was just outside the bedroom door, leaning against the wall, able to see Kiri's back from where she knelt on the carpeted floor. “Even though she's not very good at it.”
The girl paused, head tilting and looking up at a corner of the room. “Well, no, I don't think so.”
Pushing away from the wall the older woman moved to step inside, doing her best to smile. “What was that, sweetie?”
Kiri glanced over at her mum before turning her attention back to the dolls. “That Lala practices singing. It's something she just likes to do,” she finished with a nod, holding the dark-haired 'Lala' doll and another with wavy red hair. “Like coloring, or eating.”
That pulled a genuine smile from the older woman, a tension she didn't realize was in her shoulders relaxing. “Oh, I see.”
“Mama?”
“Hm?”
Kiri lowered her hands and the dolls, her back to the older woman as she sat in silence. The older woman opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when her daughter turned. Her dark eyes were solemn, expression sad. “Mr. Ash doesn't like it when you watch.”
All the moisture seemed to dry out in her mouth.
Then Kiri grinned, holding up the red-haired doll to wave. “Want to play, Mama? Lala and Ruby are going to have a singing contest!”
Forcing her mouth closed and swallowing several times to get her throat to work again the older woman nodded, stepping shakily into the room. Children and their imaginations, she thought as she moved to settle down on the ground with her daughter. Even so, the older woman couldn't bring herself to place her back to the corner that Kiri had been talking at, nor could she seem to rid herself of the goosebumps that broke out over her skin one within those four walls.
~.~.~.~.~
Things seemed to go to 'normal' once Kiri started school. The girl, bright and happy and personable, soon made many friends and neither parent heard anything about 'Mr. Ash' or any other imaginary creatures once that happened. Even so, curiosity nibbled at the older woman and she continued to carefully watch her daughter, though not as lingeringly as she had at first.
Just after midnight the older woman found herself blinking into darkness, brows drawn together. It wasn't until she laid for some minutes that she realized the muffled thump, thump, thump, coming from the hall wasn't a typical nighttime sound, pushing back the covers and casting a glance at the empty side of the bed before making her way out into the hall.
The nightlight across from the stairway lit the way enough for the mother to see what the cause of the sound was; Kiri, in her long pyjama shirt and bare feet, stood in front of the bathroom door, banging her head against the wood. Thump, thump, thump. “Kiri!” Rushing over to the girl the older woman darted her hand out to block the next blow, turning the girl away and staring with growing horror.
Kiri's eyes were open, pupils seeming to take up the entirety of the sockets. She had been hitting her forehead long enough to break skin and blood ran down over her nose and down her cheeks, splattered across her forehead and brow from the continuous pounding She looked like a ghost, with her skin all but translucent under the white glow of the nightlight.
“Kiri...” She felt helpless, seeing her daughter in such a state, the sleepwalking hurting her without her knowledge. “Kiri, baby, can you hear me? Can you wake up for Mama?”
The girl's head had stopped moving in its back-and-forth pounding when the older woman pulled her away, dark eyes blank and unblinking. Kiri's head rolled as if too weak to support her neck, pale hair brushing against the fingers at her shoulders before righting again, the darkness of her pupils seeming to bore into the older woman's soul. “Goodnight, Mama.”
“Ki-” Frowning she gave the girl a light shake, trying to bring her around. “Kiri!”
The girl wobbled, blinked, seemed to come back to herself. There was a frown of confusion and a small, pale hand rose, aiming for her forehead. “Mama? My head-”
“Shh, don't touch it sweetie.” Gently pushing her hand aside the older woman rose, opening the bathroom door and flicking the light on. “You had a bad dream. Come, let Mama clean you up and then it's back to bed.”
Less than ten minutes later the woman was watching her little one settle down for sleep, a hand stroking her hair. Oh Kiri. It's always the oddest thing with you, isn't it? Though the girl herself took little time to fall back to sleep her mother stayed away for over an hour afterwards, the image of her daughter's face streaked with blood and staring at her with black, blank eyes burning in her memory.
~.~.~.~
“Mama? Can we watch a movie?”
It was the getting late in the day but it was also the start of the weekend. Kiri had finished her schoolwork with determination after getting her after school snack and a bath and was standing beside her mum as he looked over the work – basic spelling and math. When the older woman looked up she got a hopeful grin in return, the girl all but bouncing on her feet.
“Hmm, well, you know your father won't be in until tomorrow.” The man had been working himself to the bone but it was finally paying off; he'd gotten promoted three times in the last two years and was on his way to becoming partner to the business.
“That's okay! I want to spend time with you, Mama.”
The mother couldn't help the slow, warm smile that tugged at the corners of her lips, nodding. “Alright, then. Go pick something out.”
Kiri squealed and ran off before she finished and the older woman shook her head, heart swelling with fondness. Kiri had been insisting that they do things together for weeks, as if she thought that her mother would suddenly disappear. Going back to work had been a thought growing in the back of her mind as Kiri grew but she wasn't quite ready to let go of the time she got to spend with her little one; not yet.
When the woman left the dinning room to follow her daughter Kiri was resting on her heels, going through the movie cases from the compartment under the TV. “I say we make a party of it. Would you like to get a pizza?”
“PIZZA!”
In a half an hour the two had pizza, cheezy bread, soda and a movie (Princess Pony and the Horrid Horse of Huntsville, one that they had both seen at least a dozen times and was a favorite of Kiri's). Settled on the couch underneath the navy blue throw they ate and drank, the girl shouting at the television ('No Princess Pony! It's a trap!') while her mother watched her daughter in amusement, making use of a damp cloth to wipe their hands once they had finished eating. By the end of the movie Kiri was leaning against her mum, full and mostly asleep.
“Alright sweetie, time for bed,” the older woman murmured as she pulled back the blanket and unfolded herself from the couch. When Kiri only grumbled she reached down to pick the girl up, the small, pale arms going instantly around her neck to cling. “Aw, my poor sleepy girl.”
Carrying Kiri to her room the older woman tucked the little one in, brushing strands of pale hair away from her face. The gauzy curtains allowed light from the half-moon to filter in, casting part of the bed and room in a pale, hazy glow of light.
“Mama?” Kiri turned her head towards the touch of warm fingers, eyes half-closed and struggling to stay open.
“Shh, I'm right here, sweetie.”
“Mama, can you promise-” Kiri was cut off with a wide yawn and her mother smiled, fingers brushing her forehead. “Promise you'll go right to bed.”
The older woman chuckled. “I'll be going to bed soon.”
“No, sleep now.”
She sounded childish and stubborn and more than halfway to sleep and the woman leaned over to press a kiss to the pale forehead. “Yes, baby, you should sleep now. Goodnight.”
A quiet, almost not-there snore answered her.
Rising from the bed Kiri's mother left the room, closing the door almost fully shut. The lights were still on downstairs and the food still out and unlike sleeping children, she had to clean up at least a little. Stretching as she walked to the stairs the older woman rolled her neck left, then right. I'll have a bath, she mused as she reached the stairs, starting to head down.
“Sorry Mama.”
Starting the woman looked over her shoulder, a hand reaching for the railing. Kiri was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, lips turned down into a frown and instinct made her mother turn to start back up towards her. “Sorry for-”
She flew backwards.
One moment she was at the top of the stairs; the next she was falling through nothingness, for all appearances simply flying backwards several feet. The woman didn't touch a single step, instead landing hard on the waist-high stand that the family used for storing keys, gloves and other odds and ends to be grabbed when heading on the door, head cracking against the edge of it before the rest of her body struck the ground. Pain was brief and blinding before everything went numb, the woman unable to even feel the twitching of her limbs.
The sound of soft, careful footsteps coming down the stairs reached her ears, unable to lift her head to see the owner of the steps. Kiri appeared a moment later, frowning down at her, eyes shadowed. “Mama?”
The woman's mouth moved, opening and closing though no sound came out. Kiri, get help!
“Mama?” Kiri bent beside her, a hand reaching out to shake the prone figure and sending odd tingling through the older woman. “Mama, this isn't your bed. Get up.”
Lips moved but still no words came out and the older woman wanted to cry in frustration, a throbbing pulsing from the back of her head where she'd hit the table. Was she bleeding? Did she break her spine? Kiri, please, help!
“Oh, I see,” Kiri said and she wasn't looking at her mother; she was looking up to the woman's right, as if answering an adult. “A game! Okay.” Kiri? “I'm sleepy, though, so bed for me.” Kiri!
The girl straightened and the angle made her appear to tower over the woman laying crumpled on the ground, fingers twitching even though she was detached for the pain. Kiri's head tilted, the shadows cast by her pale hair hiding dark eyes and her lips pulled up at the corners, splitting apart like a wound over her pale features, impossibly wide. “Goodnight, Mama.”
Kiri!
The girl turned, heading back for the stairs. The sound of her footsteps on the wooden steps grew distant and the woman struggled in vain to move, to call out, to do something.
“Mr. Ash, could you turn off the light? It will help Mama rest.”
The words were followed by a yawn and the sound of a door opening and closing, hot tears sliding unnoticed by the prone mother. There was a heaviness in the air like all the gravity in the world focusing solely on her, keeping her pressed down onto the floor.
There was a creak, a rumbling sound like a sinister chuckle, then the distinctive click of the living room light switch flicking before the world was plunged into darkness.
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