บท 9: Chapter 8

"That's not enough ya black son of a bitch!" There he goes again. Why does he have to be so difficult. I mean, the price seems fine to me. More than enough for all of us I think.

"I won't go any higher. And I doubt you'll find anyone else who's willing to take the chance. Now, you either take the money. Or get the fuck out you white mother fucker."

Fuck he scares the shit out of me. What the hell is Jim thinking? Why's he giving them such a hard time. I don't want to die for this. "Hey Jim, why don't we just acc-", he spins around and gives me a hard look. I quickly avert my eyes and try to make myself as small as possible.

They continue their conversation as if I wasn't there. Fuck man, I just want to get this over with. Just take the money so we can leave. I sneakily glance around the room and spot some of the women just lounging around. My god they look good.

Jim, that racist dickhead. I mean, we are out of our depth here. And most importantly, they have more men and guns. I don't know about him but I sure as fuck don't want to get blasted. I can't die here because he can't read the mood.

Fuck, why did I even agree to this? Jim said it would be easy. In and out, no questions asked. Oh who am I kidding, I need the money. Ever since that bitch gave me that damn child support crap money has been tight. I mean I love my little girl, but shit I gotta live too. And besides, her mother has a better job than I do.

I jump at the sudden shout. Is this dickhead really trying to die? "Now you listen to me, I won't accept any lower than fifty! Don't fuck with me Dwane! I need this and you owe me. How often do you get something like this huh? Not anyone can say they got themselves an Atlantean."

The man we're dealing with, Dwane, is a big boss around here. He runs all of south side and O Block. He's known for his brutality and Jim is actually giving him a hard time.

"Why should I pay so much? The boy looks like he's at death's door." "Don't play stupid with me! You know damn well that you can sell his corpse for a decent amount! Now, either you pay up at least fifty. Or I walk out of here and find somebody else with the clout to actually get into contact with the right people."

"Ant what makes you think I'd just let you go?" To my absolute horror, Jim pulls out a gun and aims at Dwane. When did he even get a gun? Okay I've decided. If shit starts going bad which it will. I'm just gonna surrender and say I had no idea what he was planning. I am most definitely not a ride or die man.

The room is deadly quiet. All eyes on Jim, Dwane and myself. What the hell! Don't look at me! I have nothing to do with this next level stupidity! "Put the damn gun down Jim. I'll overlook this but if you don't get that gun out of my face, you will die a slow and painful death."

After a tense moment Jim lowers his gun and I take a deep breath. After some time they strike a deal and we head towards the spot where we have the kid stored.

We placed him in some cage close to the docks. Jim thought it would be a great idea to hire some hoodrats to watch over the kid. They seemed untrustworthy but Jim wasn't up for a debate.

As we approached the abandoned building I couldn't help but feel anxious. Is this all really going to work out? We pulled up into the parking lot and got out the car. I just noticed how many people Dwane had brought along. Looks like thirty men.

I was in the back as we started making our way to the building. I know it's a bit premature, but I couldn't help think of what I was going to spend my share on. I'd get a nice little apartment. Get a decent but cheap car. Good enough to get me where I need to go and find a better job. Maybe try to patch things up with Sarah.

As I was lost in my thoughts a huge explosion went off sending us all tumbling. I was the farthest away so I came out okay. But what the hell was that? I look up to see the entire front of the building blown away.

Everyone was slowly getting up. I tried to stand but a sharp pain in my leg kept me from moving. I looked down and saw that my knee looked like it was shattered. Fuck me! What the hell is going on? Thankfully the adrenaline is keeping me from feeling this or I'd be screaming my face off.

From the ruble we could hear footsteps. All of Dwane's men pulled out their guns and aimed on the oncoming threat. From the smoke a boy emerged. The same boy we found at sea. But something was off about him. He looked different.

He still had that emaciated look but his eyes were different. They glowed a bright bluish green. And five floating orbs of water I think levitate behind him. Two on either side of him and one above his head.

Before anyone could even make sense of this crazy situation one of the hoodrats that Jim hired apparently survived the explosion. He got up slowly and tried to run away from the boy.

He didn't make it five steps before the most horrible thing I've ever seen happened. One of the floating orbs behind the boy moved forward a bit and fired a beam of pressurized water that cut the hoodrat in half. It was so fast and clean that the hoodrat managed to take a few more steps before his upper body finally realized that it was no longer connected to its lower half and fell to the floor.

The hoodrat's entrails spilled out over the pavement. I had to fight the rising bile from escaping and emptying onto the pavement. Then it happened, the blood from the hoodrat was sucked up into one of the orbs. It couldn't have only been blood as what was left of the hoodrat was a mummified corpse.

One of Dwane's men fired his gun at the boy but one of the orbs moved faster than I could follow. It made minute movements that I could only assume was it catching every bullet.

Two orbs flew towards the group and completely decimated anything they came into contact with. It was chaos, the orbs would fire upon some or create tentacles that would lash out at others.

I sat there frozen. The screams became a dull distant reminder of the carnage before me. I look down and see the puddle of piss and shit that I'm sitting in. Each body that fell was mummified in short order. I closed my eyes in a vain attempt to remove myself from it all. But the screams, they wouldn't go away.

Eventually it became quiet. So quiet that the sound of my own breathing was like the engines of a fighter jet. My body shook uncontrollably but I willed my eyes to open. He stood above me, looking down upon me with those cold glowing eyes.

I had no words, no screams escaped my lips. But my heart, it pounded loudly. It was all I could hear. The strength of it shook my entire body and my mind came to a screeching halt. Nothing else registered in my mind, nothing else mattered. My entire world centered on me and the boy, no, the monster.

He looked down at me with his cold eyes, and walked away towards the ocean. I dared not move. Not even breath as I watched his small back as he ambled towards the sea.

Once his feet touched the water and he continued on I relaxed. As his head was fully submerged I took giant mouthfuls of air. I became fully aware of my surroundings. The smell of piss and shit finally hit my nose and the pain from my knee made itself known. But through all that I was glad. I survived.

"Hahahaha. I won't waste this opportunity, I'll get a real job and even go back to school. I need to see my baby girl." As I was in my thoughts a blue orb that I hadn't noticed before pulsed slightly with a blue light. I turned my head and saw it a few inches from my face.

I smiled at my reflection. "Guess not huh." I felt pressure, then I knew nothing.