Rainer
Mama always said it’s easy to become comfortable and complacent, and it will most certainly lead to your death. This world that the monsters created has left no room for a comfortable, peaceful life.
There was definitely magic in the anti-venom I was injected with a week ago. I’ve seen more people than I can count die from injuries far less critical than mine.
I might have been convinced that the poison being the only actual “injury” might make the situation different, but the puncture wound itself is completely healed. I’m not sure it’s even going to scar.
It was as wide as a small child’s fist, and it was deep. When I pulled it from my leg, I saw it had been embedded at least two inches.
My ankle feels fine. There’s no more pain at all. I was probably good to leave yesterday, but I decided to err on the side of caution and give it another day.
That meant one more day of warmth, showers, hot food, shelter, and safety. It meant I could spend some time in their decked-out gym. I haven’t seen a gym in years. I’ve only been in one with electricity a handful of times.
If there was anything that could tempt me to stay in the same place, this underground shelter is it. I’m away from everyone, everything. I don’t have to fight for the basic necessities of life.
But that very temptation is the reason I’m leaving today. And because Kaida can’t find me down here. We’ve been separated many times before, and she’s always found me. I’m not sure she’d succeed underground though.
I wait to get dressed until after I prepare a hearty morning meal. I’m not sure when I’ll have the next opportunity to eat like this again, so I’m going to enjoy it while I can.
The atmosphere hasn’t changed much since I arrived. Notto is still a damn creep, staring at me all the time. There’s an entirely different vibe from his stare than there is from either Drystan or Keary. It’s not comfortable, and he obviously finds my unease amusing.
Keary… I’m confident he only wants to fuck. His suggestions are almost always innuendoes concerning touching me in some way. If they weren’t monsters, I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed. It’s been a while since I got off with another person, and my hand is only so exciting.
But they are monsters, and that’s a level of vulnerability I’m not sure I’m willing to expose. Though, if I’m being honest, they somehow become more appealing, more attractive, every day. My resolve fades a bit with every night I go to bed horny and every aching erection I wake with.
Just another sign that I’m becoming far too trusting. Another reason to leave before I make a stupid decision and end up dead, or worse—enslaved.
The mornings have become routine. I cook whatever food they retrieved in the night, usually splitting it between two meals.
This morning, I prepare all the perishable items. I’ve never seen them cook except the day they brought me here.
I’m not sure heating canned goods and opening a package of freeze-dried food is considered cooking, but when fresh meat and produce are so hard to come by, it’s stupid to let it go to waste.
The monsters gather around as they have every morning. Drystan sits on the table behind me with Keary sitting in a chair beside him. Notto stays in the next room but always in a chair where he can watch us.
I can feel their eyes on me, their gazes burning into my back.
I began wearing only a towel because I wanted my clothes to dry after I washed them.
However, I might have enjoyed the way they looked at me a little too much.
I totally could have put my clothes on days ago, but I opted to stick with a towel instead.
Clearly, my survival instincts have peaked, right?
Most mornings, I ask questions. Most of the time, they answer outright, but there are times I’m sure they don’t tell me the entire truth. There are times when they haven’t actually answered the question even after a long, rambling, sometimes interesting response.
We eat in silence too. I make sure the dishes get washed so whoever uses the underground shelter next doesn’t have crusty dishes, then I head for the shower. One more hot shower before I head back out into the world.
I finally put my clothes back on, and while they’re stained and torn and a little stiff from how they dried, I’m pleased that they’re clean. It feels weird putting them on after a week of wearing little more than a loin cloth.
It appears that my first stop is going to be finding new socks and sneakers.
My sock is torn and saturated from where the quill went through it.
My sneaker is covered in blood. I did my best to wash it out, but between the pain I’d been in that morning and the fact that you can never truly get blood out of fabric, I know it’s only going to attract more predators.
For now, it’ll have to do.
The monsters are in the room they’re always in with all the seating. Keary immediately frowns when he sees that I’m dressed.
“So… Thank you for the rescue,” I say, feeling a bit awkward. “I think I’m going to head out now.”
Drystan’s frown joins Keary’s. Notto remains as disinterested as he usually is, though he’s still staring at me intently.
“To find the monsters who killed your parents,” Keary says.
I nod.
“You’re wearing that?” He pointedly looks at the blood stains and tears in my clothes.
“I’m not going to wear a towel.”
My snark earns me a flash of a wide smile, and when Drystan smirks, I have a feeling I’m not going to like the next words out of Keary’s mouth. “We have a whole room filled with clothes. You can choose what you want.”
I huff. Where was that information a week ago? Instead of getting irritated, I say, “Thanks. Where can I find this room?”
Keary gets up, and I follow him. Drystan follows behind me.
“We enjoyed seeing the hint of your junk,” Drystan says. “And your sexy back unhindered.”
“Don’t forget the plump ass and thick thighs earned by years of walking and physical work,” Keary adds helpfully.
“Glad I could entertain you,” I deadpan.
“If we thought you’d have appreciated it, we’d have walked around naked, too,” Drystan says. “You’re pretty set on keeping a wall between you and us though, so we didn’t bother, but there were lengthy debates on doing so.”
“Uh huh.”
Keary pushes open a door, and overhead lights flicker on. It’s not an enormous room, but it might feel smaller than it is since all walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling cabinets. Keary opens one and pulls out a little strip of cloth. He turns to me with a cheeky grin.
“I’d like to suggest this little number. It was super popular a hundred years ago when the girls liked to air out their undercarriage as they moved through the world.”
He holds the top two ends with his fingers and swishes it from side to side, letting the pleats swish and sway.
“Generous, but I’m looking for something that might protect my body a little more than… that.”
Keary sighs dramatically and tosses it back into the closet.
“You’re looking for this cabinet,” Drystan says, and I turn to find that he’s opened another on a perpendicular wall. “I took the liberty of examining your clothes once you took them off and left them unsupervised, and these will fit you.”
Notto likes to watch me sleep to learn about me, and Drystan chooses to study my clothing. No doubt that includes all the random shit I have in my pockets and what I’d removed from my body. Keary’s method would be a little more physical, I’m sure.
I don’t need to dig through the contents much before I find something similar to what I’m wearing.
Both articles of clothing are brand new.
I’ve only seen a shirt with a tag left on it once in my entire life.
I’d thought that everything truly new had been absorbed into the colonies and monster compounds by this point.
In reality, there are stores right under our feet!
I don’t question my luck. I find a new pair of underwear—still wrapped in plastic!
—then pull the pants on. Socks follow. A brand-new pair of boots comes from another open door that Drystan stands beside, then a shirt.
I spend the next few minutes emptying all the random shit from my pockets into my new pants.
“Thank you,” I say, truly meaning those words. Yes, I was thankful for the life save, but there’s something even more visceral about this.
“Sure,” Keary says. He’s still frowning at me as I head for the door with my discarded clothes in hand. There’s a trash bin in the kitchen.
“What about other things?” Drystan asks. “Like food provisions and water and weapons?”
I shake my head. “I only carry what fits in my pockets.”
“No offense, but that’s dumb,” Keary says. “There are parts of the world where you can go days without finding something to drink, never mind eat.”
I know that personally. Those are difficult days. Again, I shake my head. “It’s too easy to be burdened with things when faced with an adversary. Every second counts, including the seconds I’d need to drop it. And then I’d likely end up abandoning it, so what good is that?”
“I’m not sure which part of that to argue first,” Notto says, disapproval thick in his voice.
“Okay, so, we’re going to prove you wrong,” Keary says. “You can walk around unhindered while we carry packs.”
Why didn’t I see this coming? I rub my eyes, already knowing that attempting to argue is probably going to be useless. Regardless, I try anyway. “You don’t need to come with me.”
“I want to,” Keary says, grinning. “Besides, let me ask you a question.” He leans in close.
“You may be determined to die to avenge your parents’ deaths, but do you think that’s what they’d want?
I admit I’m not familiar with how humans nurture their young, but if they’re anything like monsters, they’d be furious. ”
Chills break out over my body. No, my parents wouldn’t like it. Yes, they’d be fucking furious with me. They’d kill me again themselves, especially considering I think they did what they did to save me from meeting their fate…
Without answering, I watch the three of them gather shit. When Notto offers me a backpack containing clean clothing, a canteen, a toothbrush, and a first-aid kit, I grudgingly shoulder it.
If they’re coming with me, they’re going to need to be the first line of defense if I carry something with me. Drystan hands me a long blade after I stand in front of the door, pretending to be patient.
I’ve had weapons in the past, and while they can prove to be game changers in some scenarios, they’re also somewhat cumbersome.
Besides, I’ve always had Kaida. She’s far more skilled with her claws and teeth than I am with any weapon. Hopefully, she’s able to find me again. I’ve been hidden far longer than usual.
The idea that I might never see her again makes my chest tight. She’s been my sole companion for ages. Years. Going through the world without her will suck.
Thankfully, I’m stopped from diving down that rabbit hole when the monsters finally join me at the door, ready to leave. With a grin, Drystan hands me a small flashlight.
“Don’t be fooled by its size. Packaging can be truly deceiving.” He winks.
I roll my eyes and step into the black void beyond the door. An impressively bright light comes from behind me, and I turn to see Drystan with a flashlight in his hand. Beside him, Keary pulls his flashlight from end to end, then a wide beam of light comes from the side of it
Drystan wasn’t kidding. That’s some impressive light.
Notto takes mine from me, shows me the button, then pulls it open in length, showing me the same functionality that Keary’s has. He hands it back and walks ahead.
“I think you’re growing on him,” Keary says, knocking his elbow against mine. His skin shimmers strangely in the directional flashlight illumination. I can see how he thinks he’s a god. It’s an almost… ethereal glow.
The tunnel is long with absolutely no light except that which we hold in our hands. There are other doors that we pass. Are these more shelters? Is this a complex of them? Do they all have their start in the cemetery?
Are we still under the cemetery? I feel like we’ve walked long enough that we very well could have passed from under its borders. Which brings me to another question… How far above my head are the dead buried? How deep underground am I?
I’m reminded that I was passed out for the entire trip underground once Keary put me on his back, so I have no idea how far he walked while I was unconscious. The thought makes me wince. Oof. What a first impression.
The thought that they might be leading me somewhere I don’t want to be, maybe with bad intent, also crosses my mind. I’ve lived my entire life with the knowledge that monsters can’t be trusted. They’re responsible for the state of the world. They’re the cause of humans’ near extinction.
While I haven’t brought it up in a bigger discussion, they didn’t deny it when I said something about monsters killing humans. Their only counter was that humans were as bad as monsters.
I’m not sure I’ve seen enough evidence of that in life, but if they’re as old as they say they are, they’ve seen things that I’ve only been told about. None of the accounts I’ve been told are firsthand, either.
There’s a chance that the truth has been exaggerated over the years, with human memory being altered by stories that were passed down verbally.
Then again, if you lived through the events of a hundred years ago, how good is your memory today? I glance at the monsters surrounding me.
Whose history is accurate?
It’s difficult to put much faith in their version of events when I’ve seen something contradictory every day of my life.
It’s not humans living in walled cities.
It’s not humans killing colonies of monsters.
It’s not humans hiding underground shelters filled with resources that could support an entire colony for ages.
A sliver of light comes into view in the distance.
I can’t help but note that these monsters’ first instincts weren’t to kill me. They were to save me.
Maybe that means there’s some leeway in both versions of the truth. Maybe the two histories actually meet in the middle.
I’m not sure I care a lot about the histories though. Bottom line—monsters killed my parents unprovoked.