A long time ago, Neil had found a dead animal on the street. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence where he was from, critters were dumb and drivers even more so. He had nothing else to do and nowhere to be, so he decided he’d do the kind if unflattering duty of disposing of it. Walking over to the road, triple checking to see if any cars were coming, he picked up the carcass and headed to the woods. The poor creature was like nothing he had laid eyes on before- it was kinda like a rat with white and black splotches around its body but bigger with a triangular face. In the forest he placed the body on the ground, Neil wasn’t religious so he didn’t bother saying a prayer, instead, he just turned and left. Well, he started to leave, but then he heard a scuttering. Looking back the animal had vanished, at first, he thought something must have taken it but then he realized oh, it was playing dead. The boy in the tattered coat now knew the creature he had carried was called a possum, and as he faced the faceless figure in the darkness, he really wished that he too could play dead.
Neil quickly turned to run away but found that his path was blocked by a sturdy Jenny McClain. The boy gulped, picturing all the horrible things that were about to happen to them. Sophia felt her hand being squeezed tighter; she knew that Neil was afraid, but she had no idea what to do. She squeezed back, whatever was about to happen she knew she had to fight it off. Alex’s heart fluttered as the faceless man stepped closer to them. In the man’s hand, there was something long and circular, like a magician’s wand that had expanded two sizes. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to think of the magic words that would get them out of this situation.
Timothy didn’t think about anything, instead, he did what he knew best. “Hello, my name is Timothy!” He said, politely holding out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you Havile!”
The faceless man, to everyone’s surprise, took a step back as if recoiling from the offer. “It’s alright Havile.” Jenny McClain said. “They ain’t armed.”
Timothy’s eyes lit up. “Speaking of which, look!” He waved his arm back and forth. “I can move it again, isn’t that lovely?” Everyone involved gave him a confused stare, even the man without a face somehow.
Tired of the nonsense, Jenny walked over to the man and slapped something that looked like a glass panel in the man’s chest. “Ya know what I’m here for by now.”
The figure reached up and grabbed the thing at his chest, his fingers curling around it slowly but precisely. Methodically the man raised the wand-like thing and walked over to the group. Sophia made sure Neil was behind her as he approached, but it would seem it was for naught as Havile reached out and pulled the boy towards him.
Sophia wanted to protest, wanted to scream and shout, but Jenny’s warning echoed in her ears and she bit her lip. “What are you doing?” Neil exclaimed as the man raised his device to the frightened boy’s head. “Wait, can we talk…” Suddenly a light streamed out of the stick going directly into the boy’s eyes. He winched and tried to block it but by that point, it seemed that Havile had gotten what he wanted.
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“What was that for?” Alex demanded.
Jenny shot him an evil glare. “Shut up before I make you.”
He obliged.
His scan completed, Havile reached up to the side of his head and found his ear- well, that’s what people said it was called anyway. It was only now that the group noticed that along with missing a pair of eyes, nose, mouth, and hair the man was also missing his ears. Instead, he had two small little holes on either side of his head, like a doll waiting to be constructed. Finding his mark, the man inserted two of his fingers inside and then widened them which in turn expanded the hole.
Neil nearly gaged- having a perfect and unexpected view of what the inside of someone’s head looked like tends to elicit that kind of reaction. Alex and Sophia shared a glance that said, ‘what the hell did we just witness?’ Timothy slowly put down his arm, regretting the choice of offering to shake the man’s hand greatly. But the weird wasn’t over quite yet, as it never is. Raising the device, Havile inserted the end of it into the now open hole. I would describe the faces that the group made but I’m pretty sure you can guess.
Suddenly, without warning, Havile took the device out and held it up to Sophia. The light shined over her, and he repeated the same action before moving on and doing the same with Alex. When he got to Timothy, he did it again, scanning him before inserting the device inside his head- but then he stopped. Since he had no face, it was impossible to say for what reason. The man reached out and pulled the boy closer. “Oh, do you need me to be nearer?” Timothy asked, stepping forward- the faceless man pushed him back. “Sorry.”
Again, he scanned Timothy, however this time he seemed satisfied with the result. Havile turned and didn’t face Jenny because he had no face, but his body was in the right spot at least. Raising his arms like a conductor before an orchestra, the faceless man clapped four times.
Jenny scoffed. “Really? Heh.”
“Wait, what did he say?” Alex asked, genuinely curious.
“He say’s you ain’t worth shit!” The pirate captain exclaimed. “Well, I be damned, you scrapers weren’t lying were ya?”
“So that thing he did, he was scanning us to see if we were important, wasn’t he?”
“Or if we had any bounties.” Neil chimed in.
The captain tapped her foot on the ground and shook her head before busting out into a chuckle. It was a sound that only the tired and well-worn could pull off- one of someone so experienced that anything new was worth a laugh. “Well, shit! Here I was half-expecting you lot to be some runaway princesses or some crap, turns out you are exactly what you say you are- not worth a damn!”
The group didn’t know whether or not to be happy or concerned. “So, what now?” Sophia asked. “What are you going to do with us?”
Jenny thought for a moment before replying with a chuckle. “Nothin.’” With a tip of her long-brimmed hat, she pushed passed them and walked through the wall outside. “Good luck.” She called.
There was a moment of stunned silence.
“Wait, what?” Neil wasn’t sure he was hearing correctly. “Did she… did she just let us go?”
“You know, I think she actually did!” Alex couldn’t help but laugh in relief. “Well, that was easy… Sophia, what are you doing?”
What Sophia was doing was pretty obvious as she stormed out of the room, following her now ex-kidnapper. “Getting answers!”
The boys all looked at each other before following quickly after her. Havile didn’t watch as they left, instead he faded deeper into the shadows until his next customer arrived- well, not before Timothy came back in. “Oh sorry, I almost forgot!” He said, apologetically. “Goodbye Havile, it was nice meeting you!” The boy gave him a friendly wave, neglecting the fact that the man had no eyes, and promptly shot back out the door.