Chapter 109 - Toothy

**Hopes pov**

This is absolutely crazy! I don’t know whether to laugh or run back to the lake in terror and try to get home. The woman in the garden in front of us is clearly Zandra. But not our Zandra, this version is much much older. Her gaze meets mine and for a few seconds we just stand there.
“Guests! We have guests!” Her face breaks into a smile, revealing a mouth that could use some more teeth. This version fits better with the name, The hag, I think to my self.
“Besides, two-legged! I haven’t met another two-legged since...it doesn’t matter...welcome, come, come! Don’t be afraid, I’m just an old lady, come, come!” She waddled towards us while pointing towards the porch of the house.
“You must have traveled far, you must be hungry and thirsty!” She continued to move but very slowly.
“Brenda!...BRENDA!”
“What?!” A brown bear’s head popped out of the kitchen window.
“Look, we have guests! Two Legs! Lemonade, scrambled eggs and if you can warm up some of the blueberry pie from yesterday, you’re a sweetheart”
“Two Legs?...” I felt a little uncomfortable when Brenda the bear gave me the look.. The look that showed her day was perfect until we showed up.
“What the fuck are we going to do?” I whispered as quietly as I could and hoped he could hear me.
“Play along I suppose, we’ll check her mental state before we…give it a cold shower I guess?”
“Hi!..Yes, that’s right..we have..hrm, traveled a bit. My name is Hope, this gentleman is Ambrogio.” I watch her closely to see if she reacts to the names, but if she does, she doesn’t show it.
“Ambrogio…” She blinks a few times and smiles a tooth poor smile , is she trying to flirt with him?
“Yes, that’s right, it’s very nice to meet you miss...?” Ambrogio takes her hand and kisses it as he waits for her answer.
“Toothy Two-leg at your service, but you can call me Toothy.” Again she showed off her toothless smile.
While the old odd version of Zandra was talking to the bear whose name apparently was Brenda, I pulled Ambrogio closer to me and whispered.
“Do you think she seems like she has a healthy brain we can wake up? This is completely crazy! She doesn’t recognize us and she herself doesn’t seem to know who she is!” While I felt a mixture of frustration and fear, Ambrogio looked calm and fascinated as he watched Zandra. I pinched his arm hard to get his attention.
“Did you hear what I said? She doesn’t remember us!”
“I recognize this...during one of our nightly walks before...you know…anyway, Zandra used to tell me about her childhood fantasies, about how she lived in a world with talking animals. There were the hares Harry and Harriet and their mischievous cubs, Brenda the bear, Colette the cow, Simon the snake..he was apparently a tricky one...but anyway, she beamed with happiness when she talked about them.”
“Okay?..and how is that helpful now you mean?..she has built up her happy childhood fantasy and allowed herself to age in it...lived a lifetime and forgot our world! How can we get her to want to leave this? To believe us when we tell her it’s not real?”
“We have to remind her of something that isn’t here...something her child self hadn’t experienced when she created this world...something our Zandra, on the other hand, is very familiar with.” I could see the sadness and pain in his eyes as he spoke, just for a little while before he he gritted his teeth and the warm golden eyes turned cold and determined.
“How?”
“Leave it to me…”
We watched Zandra as she instructed Brenda how to set the table. Glasses and plates, juice, pie, eggs and a large jug of milk.
“Go on, dig in!”
“Thank you so much…Toothy…by the way, that can’t be your real name can it? The name your parents gave you?” I started.
“That’s the name I listen to when one of these oddballs calls out to me” She chuckled.
“Hmm..okay...how come you’re the only..two-legged one here? There must have been others? Your parents?”
“I was born from the lake”
“From the lake? As in, the lake is your parent”
“Correct!”
“I see...hrm, are there more...I mean, what other residents are there? Besides Brenda and the hares?
“Oh, Colette lives here, she’s the one who contributed this delicious milk, try it! It’s so good! I think it’s because I always make sure she has fresh early summer hay, it has more sugar in it you see, so the milk is sweeter.”
“I’ll definitely try it, it sounds refreshing...anyone else? Could there maybe be…wolves?”
“Wolves?”
“Yes, maybe in the woods? Or in a neighboring village?” She looked a little unsure. “I don’t really understand...I don’t know what wolves are.” I could feel my heart ache...she had deleted us.
“Toothy…I know your real name…It’s Zandra and you are one of my best friends…”
“Really?”
“Yes, really!”
“Okay, so, what do you think?”
“What do I think?…About what?”
“About the milk of course! Isn’t it great?”
“Please, forget about the milk, listen to me! You are Zandra! Not Toothy! You don’t live here, this world is not real! You live with me and our other friends, our family, our pack! You are a witch! A very powerful one! And there are vampires and hunters and a lot of shit is going on”
“If you say so dear..Brenda! Is there any whipped cream to the pie?”
“Please Zandra! I don’t care about the milk and the pie, listen to me!..”
“NO! Sweet girl, you must be exhausted and you are more then welcome to rest and eat, but I am not interested in stories. And you, Ambrogio was it? You must try Brendas pie!” Again, she smiled a little extra to charm the man in front of her as Brenda brought the whipped cream to the table. Everything happened so fast, even if Brenda was a chubby brown bear, she didnt stood a chance as he came to his feet and grabbed her from behind. He sunk his teeth in her broad neck and even on an animal he knew exactly where to find the vein he was looking for. He didn’t bite to drink, he did it for effect, when he pulled out his teeth, the blood sprayed straight into Zandra’s face. Brenda soon fell to the the board floor of the porch and we looked at each other in silence all three of us for a few seconds. Ambrogio slowly approached Zandra, his teeth still very visible, as was the blood dripping from them. He leaned over her, at the same time locking her hands with his on the arms of the chair.
“You know me Zandra, you know how far I’m willing to go when it’s something I really want to accomplish…how far are you going to make me go?” His face was next to hers now and he was talking into her ear..it was only now that I realized what he was doing..the smell of blood in a panting breath, limbs locked and the threat of something much worse...The cave, he’s trying to get her to remember the cave. What did he say? *something her child self hadn’t experienced when she created this world...* *something our Zandra,* *on the other hand,* *is very familiar with...* He tries to scare her memories back.
“Ambrogio! That’s enough! Stop it!” I raised my voice and stood up
“Well Zandra, do you want me to stop?” He pulls her to her feet, her arms still locked in his grip and pushes her up against the house wall, with one leg he separates hers and presses against her, making it impossible for her to move.
“Ambrogio!!! Stop it please!!! You’re scaring her!” Panic rose in me and I felt tears begin to roll down my cheeks. I looked at Zandra, the old woman’s blood splattered face, her wide terrified eyes..and then I saw it. Her skin became tighter, her body leaner and more muscular, her gray hair now lay in shiny silver curls over her shoulders, her mouth was not missing a single tooth. I wasn’t prepared for Luna to surface and shift, she attacked Ambrogio in less than a second, digging her teeth into his shoulder as she tore him away from Zandra and threw him off the porch. She stood still with her back to her frightened friend and a roar louder than I had heard before left her throat as she bared her fangs at the man on the ground, she was pissed! Ambrogio on the other hand didn’t look angry or scared at all. He stood up and casually brushed off his pants before putting his hands in his pockets. When he looked up the cold eyes were gone, he had a warm smile on his face and the gray lines in his eyes were very visible as he looked past Luna. “Welcome back beautiful...”