“Thaaaaat said…” Calypso quickly hopped out of the way of Sal opening her trunk, making sure to get as close as possible without disturbing her loading of supplies into the car. “Are you sure—what with… Having your special package in the trunk with all these people and police around--?”
“1) Never—EVER—call my shotgun a ‘special’ package in my trunk again—‘suppose that it’s better than ‘special package in my chest—'’
“Remind me to never be concerned for you ever again,” Calypso dryly interjected.
“An’ 2) I got better gun safety lessons than most of the feds here~ Nothin’ ta’ worry over, Cal. Ya’ big baby—”
“Even so…” Calypso trailed her eyes down. Seeing the very noticeable case that was in the very back of the truck, now surrounded in white bags and gear. “You’ve seen how precious little that it did during the bout. I’m thinking anything less than… I don’t know. I feel like you have to learn enchantments of some sort to even stand a chance…”
“That right?”
After putting the final bag into the trunk, Sal stepped backward and wiggled her arms in a wave.
“OoooOOOoooOoooOOOh,” Sal said in a mocking, haunted drone. “Give me the otherworldly power ta’ ice these fools of the niiiiight, I beg of ya’~!”
Sal stepped forward, looking at Calypso, using one of her arms to slam the trunk closed with a cheeky grin plastered on her tan face. “Solved that problem, eh?”
“I’m letting them take you, I hope you understand that—” Calypso just squinted at her cousin. “Letting the Subsumed take you and do whatever—because it’s honestly an improvement at this stage—”
“Not gonna lie. You two going at it both makes me bummed AND relieved that I’m an only child…”
Natalie walked up to the cousins, arms crossed with a slight, awkward smirk.
Calypso chuckled, stifling it a tad. Then her face shifted into the usual stoney formation. “So?”
Natalie shifted her body language in turn, and unlocked her arms to rub her hands pensively as she explained.
“It was a bitch to tell who’s who from who’s who, I’ll tell you that… But after careful consideration—and hiding in the alleys and allegedly behind a dumpster or two—I managed to find our guys. And from there… I used our secret weapon to seal the deal.”
Natalie looked over her shoulder. Looked back at Calypso and cocked her head toward the direction she was looking in, to guide the skeletal monster’s gaze.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Calypso’s gaze was concentrated and filled with the sight of Gale, merrily chatting with two people from afar. Even without context, the bounce in her step, her hands acting every odd second… Despite knowing full well what these people are, she treats them no differently.
As if on cue, Gale turned to Calypso’s group and waved with an open, wide smile. Turned on her heels back at the duo, she gestured over to Calypso’s location, and they all walked towards them.
One of the duo was a girl, clearly a cashier to a market of sorts with her black smock wrapped around her rather tall body. As they all got closer, Calypso could clearly see that she also wore a plain dress shirt, and black slacks, and wore her brown hair in a short cut. Opposite of her was a man in a green jumper with deep stains splattered across with a cap on, clearly some janitor with thin facial hair and curly hair brimming from the cap.
Both of them, wearing the same… Unwavering… Content smiles on their way too waxy faces.
The Better People, indeed.
“Guess what, guys?!” Gale chirped with her hands on her colorful, tie-dyed jeans-covered hips. “We don’t have to work too hard about finding Richard anymore!”
She offered the floor towards the duo, stepping back with a groove in her motion as they stepped forward.
“Our leader’s been awaiting you all, actually~” The cashier cheerily waved her raised hand in an arc. “With the timetable that we’ve been given, he was sure that you all were willing to meet again~”
“In fact…” the janitor chimed in, as he was writing something on a piece of paper with a marker. “He told us all where he’s stationed in wait for you all.”
He handed the parchment with an uncanny smile. Of course, Sal reacted with a tightened glare, yet still took it without losing the duo out of her sight.
“Pleasure doing business with you all! Hope you have a nice rest of the day, barring all the circumstances~”
And with that, the duo walked off. In step, in sync, without sharing a word or look with each other.
“…For God’s sake,” Sal clearly couldn’t hide her disgust. “Ya’ weren’t kiddin’. They’re practically livin’ corpses…”
“Mm,” Calypso agreed. “There’s a reason why we’re so wary about meeting him again… But there’s really no choice, when any normal person could ambush us and force us to meet him anyways. So let’s get this over with…”
***
As the girls pulled up at the campsite, the scene had been clearly set.
The very ground around the Better People was silver with a sand-like texture. The natural foliage, the flora—it was as if all of it was pushed outwards, away from this manufactured circle. And yet, the trees around them dipped and overlapped in such a way that it created a very deep, nice shade despite it being two hours away from nightfall. Logs circled the roaring flames, with two sitting together per log… Sans one.
Richard, wearing his scarecrow mask, was sat in the middle. Behind the roaring flame, tugging his leathery gloves as he was idle.
Calypso sighed in the passenger's seat, letting her cloak manifest. “I still can’t believe we made it here in one piece while you wore… That.”
Sal silently turned to her cousin. The one-dollar clown mask, which had a tear painted on, greeted Calypso’s pout. Sal then gave a thumbs up, to sell the absurdity of this situation.
Calypso shook her head, then tightened her focus.
“Like I brought up before the ride here… It’s help, what Richard’s giving us… But we cannot be lax about anything regarding him. Be on edge, but bury it.”
Despite the trepidation, the anxiety, and the dread--the girls exited the car, all of them obscured as they walked forward into the darkness.
"Aah..." Richard's soft tone whistled and bounced within his hideous mask. "Welcome, girls, welcome...! As we get into the nitty gritty, I ask of you to lend me each of your hair."