Leo.

A woman steps out from the shattered airplane cabin, through a gaping hole where the doors should have been. She is a small, brown-haired woman with a bright smile and dark eyes. Leo, she says again.

“Mom?” Chase whispers.

“Elena!” Gries cries out. He begins to shove shattered steel out of his way in his quest toward her. “Elena, I’m so sorry…”

“Are you, Leo?” the woman asks sharply. “Are you truly sorry for everything you’ve done? Were you sorry when that poor man killed himself? Did you feel guilty when you fired people just because you could?”

She wavers, disappearing—and then steps out of the shadows from behind Gries. “Are you sorry for all the drinking? All the cheating? The nerve of you to claim that Chase wasn’t your child? That young actress you threatened? Your other ultimatums to take full custody of our son and leave me with nothing?”

“Yes.” Leo Gries is openly weeping. “Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to leave me. I should have never used Chase against you. Forgive me. I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

You must pay, Elena Gries says. Her features warp; the black of her eyes protrude, and her mouth purses, twists, and then opens far too widely. Something long slithers out past her charred, bark-like lips. She opens her arms.

Leo Gries, oblivious, stumbles into them.

“No!” Chase shouts.

The creature that calls itself Elena Gries straightens, and she is human again, smiling, pleased. Chase, she says. I miss you, Chase. I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you. Come and hug me, love. We can be together.

She drifts closer to Chase. From underneath her dress more roots slither out.

Let me be your true parent, she says. Care for you the way I care for my Alon.

“No!” I plant myself between them. Not one to be outdone, Askal leaps in front of me, barking.

The mother hovers. He misses his mother, she coos. Let me be that for him the way I have been for you. I gave you my blessing. I know he will be happy here. With us. You want that as well.

“You frightened him. This isn’t how you should be treating people you say you care for.”

I deeply regret it. I was curious why you were interested in him. But his father is guilty. He deserves a better family. We could be a better family for him.

“Please,” Chase chokes out. “Please let Dad go. I know he screwed up, and I know he hurt so many people, including my mom…but please. If you say you care for me, please let him go. He’s all I have left.”

Then stay with me. Stay with me and Alon. The woman’s voice changes. It’s more than Elena’s now—there is an undercurrent to it, darker and harsher, as if something else is using her mouth to speak. I will be a better parent. We can be family. We are family.

“No!” I step forward and seize the woman’s wrist. Underneath her flesh-like exterior, it feels like I’m holding a tangle of worms that shift and move in my grip. Elena Gries smiles past me, at Chase. We can be family.