Redemption
1932 Words
“Akachi, are you alright? Say something!” Girly ran her hands on the boy.
“Do not fret, he is only out of it from the shock,” the voice answered.
A man of hunched stature came out of the darkness. His hairline pushed to the back of his scalp. He waved a curious object in his hand. It had a huge dial with unknown symbols. Three long leads of red, blue and black attached on its body.
No one uttered another word as we walked back to the towering tree house. When we entered through the flap, floral, sweet, and resinous aromas welcomed us. Maneta had plates in hand, filling the table with mouthwatering delights.
“Ah, Mister Haunchi, what brings you here?” Maneta made eye contact with me after acknowledging the mysterious man.
“Nice dinner you have here, Miss Maneta. You would not mind me having a bite of your cheesy banana hearts, would you?” He scoured the food with his dusty hands.
“Harassing the food is going too far. Please be direct,” my eyes watered when I saw him squishing the food.
He threw the mush into my face, “Quiet, you disgusting being! Miss Maneta, I think it is time that we settle things.”
“I told you, I can pay you back in the coming week. My husband will be back from his travels by that time.”
“I heard that excuse like a broken disc already. Do you have anything original? Do not waste my time Maneta or your boy’s time will be wasted.”
“What did you do to my son?”
“Insurance… he is my insurance Maneta. If I do not have my money before sunrise, say goodbye to your little muncher. It was nice meeting you, have a wonderful dinner,” Haunchi helped himself through the flap with a devilish grin on his face.
“What am I to do? If he dies, I will have nothing. I am such an irresponsible mother,” tears streaked down her cheeks.
“I am so sorry, Miss Maneta. If we had gone with him, he couldn’t have faced such a fate.”
“It’s alright. I am to blame because I am his mother.” There was a brief pause, “When his father was with us, he would always spoil Akachi with delicious foods from around the continent. One day, Mister Haunchi and my husband founded that food shop where Akachi frequents.
“When my husband suddenly vanished, Akachi stopped coming to the shop. We have no knowledge as to what occurred. Every day I always await his return. I tried to match Akachi’s expectations, but I failed miserably. That was when he started coming to the shop again.
“I was never good at cooking, but I still tried. Complaints came in like rain pour from Mister Haunchi. I did my best to scold my child, but you know how kids can be.”
“I understand, Miss Maneta. We will save you and your son from that hermit,” Girly swore.
“No, this is my mess. The moment has come for me to face it.”
“We will stand by your side and do what we can to get the antidote,” Kun hopped on the table.
“Our team does not give up, Miss Maneta. We are prepared to fight on your side,” I added.
“Thank you. I think I am ready now,” Maneta stood up.
Akachi rested on my arms as we went down towards Haunchi’s house.
“Haunchi come out of there and face me!” Maneta shouted.
“My beauty sleep must be worth it, Maneta. Are you ready to pay up now?” Haunchi stormed out the door.
“No, but do you remember what my husband did for you? You had nothing, not even a home to sleep in when he found you. Then, after a few weeks of doing business with you, he suddenly stopped coming home.”
“Do you imply that I had something to do with your husband’s disappearance?”
“I am not implying anything because I know that you are behind this.”
“Why would I do that?”
“If money or the management of the business does not pique your interest, I do not know what else does.”
“That is a serious accusation you have there, Maneta. I can sue you for this.”
“Sue me all you want, I did nothing wrong.”
“Hold up, let’s cut this short. Bring the boy back or face punishment worse than the court could order,” Girly stepped in.
“Stay out of this, ponytails. Even if you threaten me, I won’t give the antidote,” Haunchi fiercely replied.
“Okay then, Bombs away!” Kun threw explosives on Haunchi’s house.
“No! My house! You are going to pay for this. I won’t settle for damages.”
“Bring it on, old man!”
Haunchi pulled out his shocking weapon. It cackled as it ignited with striking yellow light. Girly held his weapon like a hammer and punched it towards him, but twin rods intertwined with her weapon, shocking Girly in the process.
With Girly down to the floor, he took her weapon. “Ooh, how do I switch this thing on?”
He flitted with her weapon until missiles spiraled out of control. His eyes glinted as if a child with a new toy in his hands. Kun threw bombs at him, but Haunchi punched each one with the missile launcher. The bombs painted the sky like fireworks.
People peered out from their windows. Children’s screams and cries filled the atmosphere. Haunchi saw someone on the phone, but he electrocuted him before he could even dial for help. My pulse rushed faster. I felt my bone separating from my nails. My eyes locked on the target and shot my claws like a machine gun.
A new skill has been born, Bullet Claws. He got pinned to his burning house. Flames licked his scalp. His scream was louder than a motorcycle. I picked up the hammer and slammed it an inch away from his ear. Our eyes locked. His screams turned into cries for help.
“Where is the antidote, Haunchi? Or do you want to end up in perpetual damnation?”
“No!!! I do not wish to die. Somebody, save me!”
“It will only end once you give me the antidote.”
“Here, take it! Please, let me go.”
“Got it!” Kun announced.
“One more thing. Where is Akachi’s father?” I asked.
“I swear, I do not know! He just vanished like a ghost,” his voice shook violently.
“That is enough, Vampire. Let him go. We got what we needed from him,” Girly’s warm touch knocked me back to my senses.
“I cannot let him go until I know Akachi is okay,” I replied sternly.
“His eyes have opened! Oh, my son!” Tears streamed down Maneta’s cheeks once more.
“Mommy? Where am I?”
“You are fine, son. You were sleepwalking when I found you here.”
“Where are my friends?”
“Uhm, let’s go inside the house and have dinner. Your friends will follow after they are done here,” Maneta eyed me again, then buried Akachi’s face in her chest.
“Speaking of dinner, my stomach has been talking,” Kun gestured to the source of the sound.
“What do we do about him? Girly, are you alright?” I caught Girly’s falling shoulder.
“I am fine. We should get the authorities involved,” she winced.
“You don’t look fine to me.”
Suddenly, Haunchi’s body squirmed like crazy. His body jumped repetitively and his mouth bubbled. Moments later, he vanished like dust. His clothes were the only ones left in place. Then the authorities arrived seconds later.
“Raise your hands! You are under arrest!” Smoothened twigs pointed at us.
“What did we do?” Kun asked.
“You have caused severe public disturbance and damage of property.”
“Mommy, where are they taking them?” I heard Akachi’s distant voice.
“Go to sleep, Akachi. From now on, you cannot get out of the house without my permission. Do you understand?”
People threw sticks and stones at us as the authorities led us to their station. They bound our hands with burning light. It brushed my skin, making the itch unbearable. Kun and Girly’s weapons got confiscated. Luckily, I have claws.
The station looked odd because it was the only place that was created out of metal. They hastily pushed us in our solid cell. The prisoners hissed and snarled at us. An officer paced back and forth, running his stick along the bars. The echoing sound chattered my teeth.
“Listen up, criminals! I am your attending officer. Let me explain to you the rules again…” a stout guy suddenly froze.
“What is happening?” Girly asked.
“I can’t move my body,” Kun struggled to stand up.
“Me too,” I added.
“Attempting to reconnect to server. Please wait a moment,” a loading message flashed before my eyes.
“Aw man, the connection got busted,” Kun sighed.
“Psst. Hey, come here,” a low whisper called to us.
“Who are you?”
“I will explain shortly, you must hurry before anyone sees you.”
“Why are you helping us?”
“No more questions! Jump in.”
A dark hole opened at the center of the cell. It ate us whole. Before the hole closed in on us, the message read, “Connection successful! You may resume the game.”
The dark vortex spat us out into the forest. A single house stood at the middle. It was not a house carved into a tree, but made from it. It was a single-storey house with multiple rooms. A man in silky green clothing appeared from one of them.
His face looked gentle. His hair matched the length of his head—it reached behind his chest. His eyes were silvery white. He averaged the height of an ordinary man. He gestured us to one of the rooms. Of course, we followed him.
“Take a seat. My apologies, I only have beds instead of chairs and tables.”
“Why did you bring us here?” I asked.
“Ah yes, questions… First of all, I would like to sincerely express my gratitude for saving my wife and son by doing the same in return. I am Chikmi, The Continent Walker, and this is my safe place.”
“We only did what we could, but why did you leave your wife and child if I may ask?” Girly did not hesitate to ask.
“When my business grew, so did my debts. People placed a lot of claims against us, Haunchi said that we should just settle them outside of the court to save ourselves from prosecution. Then I realized that this was all his doing.
“I saw him one time infuse poison to my recipes while no one was looking. I called him out for this, but he turned the tables on me. A number of people died and the evidence all pointed towards me. I was so ashamed, so I hid myself where no one can reach me.”
“By doing that, your wife and son suffered with you,” Girly pointed out.
“I did not mean to do that. I was glad that you beat him and instilled fear in him. I cannot thank you enough.”
“What are your plans now?”
“I plan to take my family with me and live peacefully in silence, but I need your help.”
“Can’t you use that power earlier to get to them?” I looked at him suspiciously.
“I do not wish to be detected. The trees speak louder than human thought. We believe them to be our ancestors speaking to our minds.”
“You want us to take them out of there without rousing suspicion?”
“Precisely my thoughts. Here is the plan. When night meets the morning halfway, you empty the house with my family.”
“Sounds easy. Mind if we crash in for today?” Kun cut in.
“Sure, I will get the food ready,” Chikmi stood up and walked out of the room.
“Boy, am I bushed!”
“I wonder how Keita is doing. Do you think he lost the map and began wandering on his own?” Girly asked me.
“He is a man, he has survival instincts.”
“I hope he can find us soon.”
“Don’t tell me you miss him.”
“Would I be lying if I said I didn’t?”
“Keita sure is lucky. Maybe he has found another woman along the way.”
“I don’t think he would do that.”
“Like I said, he is a man. Sleep tight, Girly.”
“Yeah, you too.”
- Writer
