Chương 86: Eggs

I could feel my chest tightening and my blood running hot just looking at him. Every muscle in my body tightened with a vigor that had laid dormant since my last battle with Brother Gleditsia. But I couldn't attack. This was the most important moment I could witness. If I interrupted it now, on my own, I would lapse again. And I might not be able to contest with both Gleditsia and Hidalgo at the same time, plus whatever was watching me. At minimum I'd lash out, lose control. It was too high risk.

I had to just observe. Fighting to keep my eyes from bulging out of my head, forcing my hands behind my back so they couldn't see my fingers repeatedly tensing and curling with a readiness to tear him limb from limb. And yet, the bastard looked downright bored. As though he was the one being inconvenienced.

"Sequoia, Gleditsia, so glad you could make it!" Hidalgo started, walking towards the screen door on the other end of the meeting room. The older man beside Gleditsia reached out, fingers splayed, and cast both of his arms out in a wide arc. I watched how that motion timed with the front of the room literally peeling open, the wood pulling itself apart and the mesh itself snapping. Was this fucking room made of Wyrdwood? No, there was old chipped paint. And I don't think Hidalgo would risk himself like that.

That left only one option. Master Sequoia could just control wood in general. Not just Wyrdwood like Gleditsia. Great. Gleditsia looked up towards the splitting ceiling, before glancing back at Hidalgo.

"Walker of the night, you forget the primary perception of flora. I know you have another watching. Make them reveal themselves now."

"I don't know what you're talking about, pibe-" Gleditsia took a step forward, his bored stony face starting to turn in frustration.

"I asked once, I will not ask again." As he kept moving forward, Sequoia brought one of his hands up to intercept Gleditsia as he began his own stride.

"Please do not mind Brother Gleditsia," spoke Sequoia. His voice sounded antiquated. Whistly, almost. If I had to estimate his age, probably in his seventies.

"He has been… eager for conflict as of late. But we would appreciate transparency from you. Usually you've made great efforts to keep all cards on the table. It's just us here, after all. You can trust us." The pregnant pause lingering in the air took nearly a full minute to birth out words conceived by the collective stares between both parties.

"Fine, fine," Hidalgo said.

"Hidalga, querida, no te escondás más, porfa." I'd never seen something move in such a way. Above me, hanging on the roof, this creature just leaned into sight. Some collective blind spot. And when the creature leaned out, I could take in their true form. Feminine. Key parts of her appearance was that this was a woman once. Or is trying its best to take on the shape of one. But many details were incorrect, caused by the inhuman parts of her.

Her face was abnormally wide, with clear splits along the cheeks and chin, allowing her lower jaw to open triangularly. Inside was a series of sharper mandibles. Her arms were long, carrying two extra joints that ended in hands with four fingers too many, and an extra thumb on each. The hands clasped onto different protrusions. She had no legs. Well. No. That was the incorrect way to describe it. She had no human legs.

Instead, her lower half was like that of a centipede, with far too many little legs that coiled out of my sight, further onto the rooftop. Her head carried thick tendrils that could almost be mistaken for dreadlocks, if not for the fact I could see some veins glistening from them. Her eyes were like a pair of green billiard balls in both texture and color, with bright blue pupils pointed directly at Gleditsia. She let out this groaning noise, like leather grinding against piano strings.

There was, at no point in my life prior, a moment where I ever felt truly like prey more than I did now. Whatever she was struck a note in me of both disgust and terror. My mouth hung open. I couldn't even articulate my confusion. The other henches were gasping and wheezing. Ted yelled out "What the fuck is that!?" Hidalgo answered.

"That is my fucking wife. And if you say a goddamn word about her, I'll feed you to her." The fat vampire looked back over towards the ADU.

"She's here to watch. That's all she does. Leave her be." The conversation drew some of my gaze back to Gleditsia and Sequoia, but I refused to let Hidalga out of my peripheral view. I swore that occasionally one of her eyes would flick over to glance at me, but it could've just been the lighting. Sequoia seemed unbothered. Gleditsia, meanwhile, looked excited. He was grinning ear-to-ear, the same as he did when we fought.

"Tell me, walker of the night, is she immortal like you?" he asked.

"If you fucking touch her, you sure won't be." Gleditsia let out an exaggerated sigh, his shoulders sagging.

"Fine. Master Sequoia, I'll wait while you handle your business. Can't have any fun with these people…" he trailed off as he said that, his gaze moving along the group before fixing on me. Our eyes locked. My throat clenched. And then he simply kept looking around, strolling a ways away to overlook the horizon and the moonlight. Master Sequoia began speaking, hands clasped behind his back.

"I would just like to confirm that you have made your payment to us already for the supply?" Hidalgo nodded, crossing his arms.

"You can ask your boys to call. The merchandise is right where I told you. I put the damn thing there myself. Wanted to have Motor-Runner handle this drop-off but the son of a bitch went and got his stupid ass arrested." Merchandise. People. Needed to figure out where it was.

"Would you like for us to arrange for our mutual contact to get him out?" This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Mutual contact? That might be the governor. Who else could even have that kind of pull?

"Hell no. I hate owing that forro any favors." Hidalgo spat, and Sequoia nodded.

"I see. I will not lay doubt against you. You have been consistent in holding your end of our agreements." He turns to the cloaked men behind him.

"Deliver our end." The cloaked men approach the torn-open portion of wall carrying a set of cases that are slammed down on the table. One of them is open. Bags of brown and white powders. Jesus Christ, I didn't think it'd all come together like this.

"And you've always been good on your supply," Hidalgo noted as two of the henches slid the cases over to him nervously. Hidalga leaned closer as their arms came near Hidalgo.

"I almost want to know how, but I know better than to look at a gifted horse's teeth."

"Poppies are trivial for us to grow, and the henchmen you recommended to us have made great work of procuring for us processing areas." My stomach churned. They weren't just dealing. They weren't just terrorizing people for protection rackets. My skin was frigid. My fingers tensing and curling even more. I could feel the joints popping from the tension. The ADU members turned to return to Master Sequoia, but one stopped for a moment, glancing at the small box.

He then caught up with the group, whispering something to Sequoia, who then spoke aloud.

"Ah, before we go, Hidalgo. One of my adherents was curious as to the boxes. They noticed a strange smell. Would you perhaps tell us what they are, or are you maintaining some confidentiality with your other clients?" Hidalgo waved that off, laughing.

"Oh that's for the cash these boys are getting paid. Some rich fat-cats from Trinity are going to stop by for some very quality delicacies."

"I see. Nothing that would hinder your business with us, yes?"

"Absolutely not. But with things still being the way they are, I need scratch. You understand." Sequoia nodded. The entire time, I just felt unnerved by him. Gleditsia drew out rage in me and Hidalga terrified me in a primal way. But those two both had tangible feelings I could understand. Gleditsia is a psychopath. Hidalga's apparently paramours with Hidalgo. I could understand them. There was nothing behind Master Sequoia's eyes. He seemed placid about all of this. It was nothing to him.

It was in that moment I knew there was no restrained way of dealing with him in particular. There would need to be far more severe measures than even with Gleditsia. That was a tangible evil I could not stomach the idea of lasting much longer in this world. But I was still surrounded. I'd be the odd one out if I did anything, and I'd be going up against two people I can't kill and one I know not a goddamn thing about. My pieces hadn't even hit the board yet and I was already in checkmate.

As I dwelled in those thoughts, Sequoia closed the room back to its original form and the roots coiled around and collected the ADU. Hidalga leaned back into that unseeable angle she was lingering in before, but now I couldn't just ignore that empty space by the roof. I was stuck stewing in the dead of night, impotent to stop what just occurred. I wouldn't even know where to start to find whatever that "merchandise was."

Hidalgo and the others were merrily chatting and drinking through the night, finding the entire experience funny. Finally, as the moon sunk closer to the horizon, the repetitive thudding and thudding and thudding of a helicopter's rotors could be heard above. It landed in the yard, its propeller swinging with enough force to send one of the henchmen drunkenly stumbling onto the floor, laughter audible as he clambered back into his seat.

Hidalgo got up and picked up the boxes, handing them to one of the more sober henches and gesturing for us to follow him as he made his way out of the room and into the yard. As we stepped out, I got a better look at the horizon. The same spot Gleditsia was looking at. I could see the water from here. The moon looming over the sea as the rich black-and-blue night began to take in hints of purple and violet. The sun was close. It was surprising that Hidalgo didn't seem concerned about that.

My gaze returned to the helicopter. All black. Not discretely so, however. It was shiny and polished, almost porcelain in its material. Emblazoned on the side was a large letter S with multiple horses circling around it. Wasn't exactly sure what it stood for. I was likely to find out soon enough, however. Stepping out of the helicopter first were a group of men in outfits that reminded me of the agents during the raid. Business suits, rifles, and black masks. They weren't risking any ambushes here, it seemed.

One opened the door for a man probably in his thirties, with dirty blond hair and a khaki-colored vest atop his own dress shirt and pants. I could see by his steps alone he could buy and sell this entire area.

"Always good to see one of the Smythes come directly for their pick-up! I expected one of your attendants! And good timing, sun's coming up soon and I need to get lost fast." The dirty blonde, apparently one of "the Smythes," whoever that could be, wiped some sweat off of his face before speaking.

"Yes, yes. Our attendants are busy preparing for a gala and I wasn't interested in delaying my purchase any further. Your funds are already wired to your account. Is everything in those boxes?"

"Yep. One of the boys here snuck 'em in through a shipping warehouse." My gaze lingered on Ted, he looked as giddy as he was ossified. Not an ounce of remorse on his face.

"Of course," Hidalgo confirmed.

"Want to check for yourself?"

"You open it for me," the man requested. KRRRK Hidalgo ripped the wooden top of the small crate off like it was a plastic lid, splinters flying everywhere. From my position, I could see the contents of the box. Four white spheres. Lumpy. Fleshy. Like a baseball made of fibrous material, perhaps. About the same size. I was downwind enough to catch the smell. Caused my nose to curl up in disgust, like low tide.

"Fascinating," he said.

"You know, I've only ever had these cooked, never saw them raw before. So they really are just… big eggs. I'm not sure why I was so doubtful."

"It's somethin', ain't it?" Hidalgo said excitedly. This was all just some sort of bragging show or event to him. I was growing more repulsed by the second.

"What kind of eggs even are they? I've only just been told they're 'eggs' with no further details."

"Crab eggs, of some kind. Never found the crab who laid them, though. I've got a massive supply at my stash spot, but they're gettin' rarer and rarer to find now, so they're not coming cheap. Might have to raise the prices soon." Crab eggs? They're being this secretive about crab eggs?

"Right," the Smythe stated, gesturing to the box. One of the masked men picked it up, carrying it off to the helicopter while the man slipped his hands into his pockets.

"What do you think the new mark-up's going to be? I'll make sure to relay it to my accountants."

"Twenty percent should be enough for now." He nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Right. That was actually more painless than I expected with how often the help complains about doing these tasks. I bid you a good…" He glanced to the horizon.

"… Morni- What in the ever loving Hell-" That prompted us all to look in the same direction, and at that moment I could see exactly what prompted the question. It stood out on the horizon, the smallest sliver of sunlight illuminating its prominent silhouette. A great beast of immense size. A kaiju on approach. But unlike most kaiju, which was an amalgam of different shapes and forms, this one had the most classical appearance of any creature. Upon the horizon stood…

The biggest crab that I will ever see in my goddamn life.