Chapter 20 Return of The Providers
Xiaoyu
My ears are still ringing from all the screaming. Both the tree-man and Sunny’s screams.
As Datu buries his friend’s charred body, I can’t shake the feeling of wrongness in the situation. Datu—I know for certain—did not want to kill that Terra. Lakan, he’d called him. Lakan who’d been torn open and burnt before he could fuse himself together again.
It has been a while since I last heard Datu “speak” and I worry the food may have worn off again. My stomach growls, reminding me.
“Some of the males came alive,” Sunny whispers, her eyelashes still wet from the tears. “Climbed out the dirt like corpses and just started taking us.”
I still feel awful for treating her the way I did so I hug her tighter to me. Her name reflects her attitude so I’m sad to see her optimism snuffed out like this. She looks haunted. Miserable.
I’m not sure how to appropriately maneuver the situation. How to empathize, even sympathize. For one, I need to look at it not from a scientist’s perspective, but the other—just a human who cares. But like the terrible bitch I am, I flip my notebook open and click the pen.
My mother’s voice echoes in my ears, “You’re a waste of investment, Xiaoyu.” In its feral repetition do I find solace in my detachment. I am gonna go home and prove her wrong.
Instead of comforting Sunny, I ask, “What did they look like?”
She gives me a sorrowful look, responding, “Skinny. Mangled. Broken. You can tell they’re Terra. Their eyes glowed weird. Like black and purple chrome.”
I jot this all down on the paper whilst feeling terrible. “How were their teeth? Claws?”
“Not all of them looked the same, but yeah, sharp teeth. Bigger than the female Terra’s. Much, much bigger. Sharper.” Her voice thins, and she is on the verge of tears again.
I can only imagine how traumatized she is after getting kidnapped and almost eaten alive. I pat her shoulder, an attempt to comfort her. Before I can stop her, she sobs and clutches my dress.
“All I wanted was to be okay. I’ve been having such a hard time back home. I thought going to therapy was going to turn me around, but it’s just making it worse.”
Something nudges at the back of my head.
Therapy? I recall one of my weakest moments. A mood questionnaire. A seemingly innocent, innocuous question about dreams, then proceeding to ask if I had thoughts of self-harm. That had only been a few days before Ingar—Moriarty Organics—came to offer me this job. Literally just five days ago.
“Where did you apply for this therapy?”
“Online. I just filled up a form, and someone reached out to me the day after. Asked me if I wanted to join this experimental treatment.” She sniffles.
I feel sick to my stomach. I know I’m missing something important. The silence makes the clawing at the back of my head worse.
One of Datu’s tree guardians sets down a coconut shell filled with water for Sunny. She winces away, but I reassure her he is friendly. Hesitantly, she takes it and gulps it all down. I had not even thought if she was thirsty or hungry. Speaking of…
“Would the mistresses like some fresh meat or fruits?” The guardian asks, sounding more like a polite butler than a gigantic tree man.
“I miss meat,” Sunny curls herself closer to me. “If that’s alright?”
“Of course, mistress. I shall hunt game for you.” He seems too pleased to cater to Sunny. His eyes find mine. “I will be back, hara.” With that, he happily pounces away, disappearing into the treeline.
Ugh. He didn’t ask me what I wanted, but that’s alright. I reckon in their culture, it’d be disrespectful to Datu if he did.
I rub Sunny’s shoulders, starting to get used to her touch.
“Tell me more about this therapy.” I probe.
She frowns, a line forming between her brows. “I agreed, signed papers and all. I realize now that I’ve been duped, too. It had a hidden page.”
“What did it say?”
Anxiety creeps into her features while she scratches her wrist. Hard. “Can we talk about something else?”
I suck in a calming breath. I’m on the verge of a crisis, but Sunny is not in the right condition to be answering questions like this. “Can you tell me what happened to the other girls?” Palm-on-my-face question. Nothing like rehashing trauma to calm a person down. Brilliant, Xiaoyu.
“I’m pretty sure they were taken by the other males.”
“Where did this happen? The beach?”
She shakes her head. “We were on our way to one of the Terra’s villages.
West village? The tall mushroom woman Gyra…
someone bit her head off. And in the middle of the woods, things just started to come alive.
From the ground, from the trees like that old Return of the Living Dead scene.
” She starts sobbing again. “Cora fell into a giant pitcher plant! I was taken before we could fish her out.”
I cover my mouth in shock. If Datu is so in tune with Esoterra, why hasn’t he told me?
Why would he even tell you this, Xiaoyu? What are you to him?
I don’t like feeling I can’t trust him. He’s been kind and caring, but earlier, I’d seen another side to him. A vicious, brutal killer who had ripped another Terra in half like he was nothing.
Fear crawls up my spine, coating my body in gooseflesh that refuses to leave.
Softly, Sunny snores, succumbing to the exhaustion. I can’t believe that it’s still fucking dark again. It feels like I haven’t seen the sun in ages. I slowly untangle her arms off me to find Datu. I don’t dare wander into the woods without him. The starfly hovers, flying in circles above my head.
“Xiaoyu.”
“Hey, where are you?”
Out of nowhere, Datu materializes in front of me. There’s a rigid way he’s moving right now, and unlike with Sunny, I know what he needs. I awkwardly wrap my arms around him, laying my cheek against his ribs.
“I’m sorry about what happened. Was he your friend?”
“My brother.”
I had to physically hold my jaw so it doesn’t drop. “Brother brother?”
“He has been dead for so long.” His voice hitches. The incredulity in his voice makes me uncomfortable.
I’m afraid that he isn’t in control of everything like I first thought he’d been.
“He’d been a Provider. He provided several sprouts that did not survive.”
Cold sweat escapes my skin as I shake. There’s a chill in the air that makes my bones rankle and my heart thrum a fast, terrified beat.
“They’re coming alive,” My voice is barely a whisper. I am about to ask a question about the other girls when we hear a rustle behind us. A branch breaks.
“Chow-you?”
It’s Sunny.
“Hey, we’re here.” I call to her, and as she walks toward me, her eyes sweep around the place.
“We? Who are you talking to?”
My heart drops, and I can’t feel my limbs. I turn to Datu, and he watches us with wary focus. He’s told me that only select people can hear him, so it makes sense she’d ask. Sunny cannot hear him, but surely, she can see him, right?
“Datu,” I gesture at him. “He’s the one who helped us with the…creature earlier.”
Sunny starts to tremble, rubbing her arms up and down. She’s not looking at me the same way she did before. The warmth is gone, and it slowly trickles to her face—that look of someone who just realized they’d trusted the wrong person.
“Nobody’s here, Xiaoyu.” Her wide eyes hold a sheen of tears. “Are we all just fucking insane here?” Sunny backs away, hysteria taking over.
I’m looking at her then at Datu. HE’S THERE! I want to scream, but his gaze tells me it won’t help. Something is terribly wrong here.
There’s a punch in my gut, and I tumble back to grab Sunny. I’m growing increasingly upset as I shake her by her arms.
“Look, fucking look! He’s there!” I’m in my own state of panic when I hold her head and force her eyes open to watch where Datu clearly stands—solemnly judging us.
In his Tower of Babel again.
Sunny makes a low groaning sound before she screams, ripping my hands away from her.
“Nononono, please, I don’t want this! I just want to go home! Exit simulation, exit simulation!”
I feel like needles have embedded themselves into my brain.
The crushing headache hits like a tidal wave, but my vision is clear.
I can’t tell why I can still see when there is no sun, no starfly anymore.
I stumble back when Sunny stiffens. Her eyes roll back as she grits her teeth.
Hard enough I see her teeth crack. Before she falls over, Datu catches her, laying her on the ground gently.
I have no idea what to feel as I stand there, frozen in horror. My lungs are struggling to suck in air on time to keep up with my heart.
Sunny is convulsing, foaming at the mouth. It’s quick, but it feels like forever waiting for a person to finally stop seizing.
Heart in my throat, I ask, “Is she alive?”
“She is unharmed. I think it’s best to keep her in the cavern, then we talk.”
“W-what’s happening? I feel like I’m going crazy.”
I look down at my hands, and they are coated in purple goo. The veins on my wrists aren’t bluish green, but they are a horrid black.
“What did you put inside me, Datu?”
“It is best you forget for now, my sweet dreamer.”
I blink hard, but never open my eyes again. It’s not because I don’t want to.
I just can’t.