by Eric S Kim
She wouldn’t tolerate failure on her part. She followed the squirrel and made absolutely certain that she would never lose its tracks. She entered the kitchen and followed it into the hallway. She could see it taking a sharp turn and making a dash up the stairs. She took the same direction, but her attempts to follow the suspect experienced a sudden complication. The elderly couple was already making their way up the stairs, and when Rebecca had found them, they brought their hands up and made a desperate plea.
The old woman began to sob. “Please don’t kill us!”
Rebecca tried to calm them down. “No! I’m a Blackjack Trooper! I’m looking for something.”
The old man didn’t listen. “Take my wife! She can give you all the organs you want!”
The wife screamed as she tried to slap her husband, who thwarted every hand with his own arms.
“Don’t take it out on me! You’re not the one with kidney stones!”
Rebecca groaned. She had no time for a personal conflict. She pushed both of the out of the way as she hurried herself up the steps.
She found herself in another hallway with two doors, one open and the other closed. She chose the open door and entered what must have been the master bedroom. The windows remained closed, so the squirrel would have no chance of escaping this place.
“Come on out! You’ve got no chance!”
Rebecca could still hear the elderly couple arguing from downstairs. She ignored them and tried to concentrate on any hiding spot that the squirrel would have chosen in such a short time. She checked the closet and took a peek under the bed. The squirrel was still nowhere to be found.
Rebecca whispered, “Where the hell are you?”
She hoped to find at least a small trace in the bathroom. She stepped inside and noticed the bathtub partially shrouded by the shower curtains.
“Oh, please be in there.”
She grabbed the shower curtains and pushed it aside. The squirrel was hiding in the corner. Rebecca didn’t have time to react as the small rodent made a flying leap and landed right the young woman’s face. The attack had been so unexpected that Rebecca screamed and dropped her rifle. She flew back and fell to the carpeted floor on her back. The squirrel let go of her face just as she desperately tried to pull it off. The squirrel scurried out of the bedroom.
Rebecca cried out, “I’m gonna remember that, you asshole!”
She retrieved her FN FS2000 from the bathroom and ran out of the bedroom. After coming down the stairs, she wanted to ask the elderly couple if they had seen the squirrel leaving the building. But they were too busy hugging each other near the front door. They must have reconciled after being so ridiculous to each other.
The old woman whispered, “Leave us alone. We want some quiet time.”
Aggravated by their refusal to cooperate, Rebecca followed her command. She ran into the living room and had enough time to see the squirrel leaping out of the open window. She couldn’t afford to let it escape after so much work put into this pursuit. She opened the front door and ran out of the house. The squirrel was about to leave the empty driveway and disappear into the street.
But a certain Blackjack Trooper ran out of the bushes from the opposite end of the driveway and made a flying leap toward the squirrel. Oswald howled as he landed on the pavement and grabbed the squirrel by the tail. It no longer had the freedom to run from its predators. Oswald got up from the driveway and lifted the squirrel up in the air by its tail. It tried to fight back by trying to reach for Oswald’s arm with its claws, but the grinning Blackjack just pushed the claws away with his index finger.
“Naughty, naughty.”
Rebecca had to catch her breath after a strenuous exercise made possible by a dragon in disguise.
She asked her teammate, “How did you know?”
Oswald greatly exaggerated a masculine giggle. “I solved the equation. That’s all.”
Bryce appeared from the sidewalk and ran up to his teammates. “I hope this little guy was easy to get to.”
Rebecca replied, “It’s a lot more interesting if you saw it from my perspective.”
The squirrel didn’t squeak like it would usually do. Instead, it relied on the English language to communicate. It spoke like an adult human with a slightly high-pitched tone.
“Let go of me or you’ll suffer the consequences!”
Rebecca was stunned to hear such a clear sentence from a small rodent. She had already grown full aware of the Nevinoth Dragons’ capability to speak a human language, but she had never heard it from one in real life.
The squirrel hissed at the three Blackjacks. “I’m going to make you regret your decision to take me down!”
Oswald still held it by the tail. He faked the worried look on his face. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to fear for my life.”
Bryce pointed his AUG rifle at the squirrel’s head. “We’re going to turn you in. If you want to stay alive, then don’t try to provoke us.”
The squirrel growled. “What makes you think you’ve done a good job?”
“What makes you think you’ll do just fine in your true form? There are Silver Skins all around Orange County waiting for you to turn back into a dragon. They have no sympathy. They’ll tear you apart right away. Staying as a squirrel is the better option.”
“I don’t think I’ll do well as a squirrel.”
“Really?”
“Really. I’ll do a lot better as I originally was.”
The squirrel tightened its fists and let out a particular roar that wouldn’t have come from a rodent at all. The squirrel’s entire body started to change. It grew larger in size, its fur growing thicker with a browner hue. Oswald let go of its tail. The squirrel landed on its feet during its transformation. Bryce and Rebecca had to step back as its new height exceeded theirs. The Nevinoth Dragon was no longer a squirrel. It stood on its two feet and showed its true animal form. The grizzly bear roared at the Blackjacks and raised its arm to attack.
Bryce had enough time to brandish his Paralyzer Pistol, but not enough to actually use it. The grizzly bear swatted it away from his hand. It struck Bryce’s shoulder with its paws and made him collapse onto the floor. Rebecca raised up her rifle, but the bear grabbed it with its teeth and pulled it right out of her grasp. It pushed its entire head against Rebecca’s abdomen and knocked her backwards.
The grizzly bear roared as it turned around and swatted Oswald away. It made a dash onto the street. A pedestrian screamed as she hid behind a parked car on the curb. Bryce picked up his Paralyzer Pistol and opened fire. But the bear transformed back into a squirrel. The dart missed its target by just a few inches. The squirrel sped away and climbed up the roof of a one-story house. It disappeared from view in just a few seconds.
Bryce, Oswald, and Rebecca got back up from the floor and ran in the direction of wherever the squirrel had run off to. Rebecca could feel a mild soreness in her abdomen, but she tried to concentrate on her duties instead. Bryce opened the gate beside the one-story house and entered the backyard behind the house with his two teammates following from behind.
The three of them had found nothing in the backyard. They couldn’t find a trace of the squirrel. They checked the rooftops of every house that surrounded the backyard. Unfortunately, they faced the reality. The squirrel was gone.
Bryce silently cursed.
Oswald growled. “Bad luck.”
Rebecca checked for injuries on Bryce’s body. She eyed him from top to bottom as she asked, “You’re not hurt, are you?”
Bryce didn’t express any pain. “My shoulder hurts, but I’ll live. Oswald, what about you?”
Oswald widened his grin and his eyes. “I’ve become a miracle.”
Bryce and Rebecca acknowledged his health silently as the three of them left the backyard and returned to the street.
Bryce informed his teammates, “I already gave Lionel a call about our situation. I’m going to tell him that we need some assistance down here.”
Re
becca inspected her rifle to see if she could find any teeth marks. She was lucky to have her weapon undamaged by an animal’s aggression. Just a few ounces of saliva had clung to the surface.
“I think we’ll need a lot more than a Paralyzer to bring this guy down.”
Bryce put on his earpiece. “That’s what we’re all hoping for.”
1:32 PM
Florencia had stopped her car in front of an abandoned commercial building. Edward and Dennis waited for her to exit her vehicle as they hid behind a different building situated beside the one that was currently deserted. Edward took a peek from behind the wall. He only had a few seconds to see Florencia using her smartphone in front of her steering wheel. She had already hung up as she exited her sedan and entered the building.
Edward slowly slid his fingers across his hair. “Alright, there will be no tricks. We go inside and arrest her. That’s all.”
Dennis brought his pistol out of its holster. “And what about the witches?”
Edward couldn’t find an analysis for that one. “We’ll just have to improvise.”
Dennis rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes. Just stand there while they wave a magic wand and turn us into microscopic worms.”
“You have a very vivid imagination.”
With their pistols in their hands, the two young agents crept out of their hiding spot and headed for the abandoned building. This small and particular section of the city’s commercial district had been devoid of employees and pedestrians. Nobody else would suspect Florencia and the two agents to be present at this location. Edward and Dennis had grown silent as they reached the front entrance. The door had been left partially open. Its glass surface had several small cracks after being disregarded for so long. Edward pushed open the door without adding an increase in volume. He took a peek inside the building, and spotted a front lobby on the left and a hallway on the right.
He whispered to Dennis, “She’s already in the office.”
The two agents entered the building. They made sure that their footsteps would never give off an accidental signal of their presence. They checked the front lobby for possible clues, but only found graffiti on the wall and pieces of paper scattered all around the carpeted floor. They made it to the hallway and listened for distant voices. They only heard silence.
Dennis would check the rooms on the first floor, while Edward would check the ones on the second. The two of them separated. Edward crept up the stairs and checked the rooms on the second floor. There were several rooms with empty wooden desks and overturned cabinets. With the curtains being half-open on the windows, partial sunlight had seeped into the rooms and revealed an absolute mess left behind by hapless employees. Edward didn’t find anyone else in the building just yet. He checked half of the rooms on the second floor, and only found emptiness. He never surrendered his search, however. He kept their footsteps in a safe vibration without producing any sound. He had one room left before he could move on to the third and final floor.
He reached the far end of the hallway. He took a peek inside the last room. Its appearance was just like the rest of the rooms in the building. However, it did have one small feature that differentiated it from the other rooms. Florencia had her back turned as she gazed out the window. Edward stepped inside the room. Florencia didn’t suspect him. She still concentrated on whatever appeared on the other side of the window.
Edward stopped in the middle of the room. “Nice to see you again, Florencia.”
She turned around and was shocked to see a familiar face. “It’s you.”
Edward felt relieved that nothing had ever changed about Florencia. The forty-one-year-old Colombian woman had retained her natural beauty and evaded every misgiving that could have affected her body even in the most humiliating ways. In fact, she looked just as gorgeous as she had been two years ago, back when they had first met. Her body received the same treatment that Sepulveda had undergone. Her long brown hair, her tall stature, and her overall slim figure had stayed the same. Edward couldn’t help but give her a little smile.
“So how’ve you been?”
Florencia’s shock had faded from her face. “What are you doing here?”
Edward took a few more steps forward. “I think you already know the answer to that one.”
“Stay away from here. You shouldn’t be here when they’re about to arrive.”
Edward kept his pistol in his hand. “I’m sorry, but I can’t leave. I have a job to do. You just happen to be involved.”
Florencia shook her head. “This can’t be happening. Don’t do this. They won’t be happy when they find you here.”
“They won’t be happy when they’re about to have their day ruined by me.”
“Why? Why do you have to be here?”
“You don’t think I’ll be up to it?”
“It’s not that. I don’t want to see what they can do to you.”
“I’m prepared to take a little damage.”
Florencia seemed impressed by his willpower. “Nothing’s changed about you. I like it.”
Edward almost didn’t want to apprehend her. “I’m sorry, but you’re under arrest.”
A different voice arose from the room. “Oh, I’m afraid you can’t do that.”
Edward instantly recognized it as a woman’s deep voice from the construction site. He turned around and raised his pistol at Loretta, who stood at the open entryway. She raised her hand and made a swatting motion with it. Through the use of witchcraft, she smacked the pistol right out of Edward’s hand without even touching it. She used her other hand to push a trail of purple mist right at him. It happened in just a couple of seconds. The mist swirled around Edward and made him feel dizzy. He had trouble standing straight. His vision grew blurry and his muscles became weak.
“What…what’s happening?”
And then, it appeared as if the two women began to grow larger in size. Everything around him had undergone an expansion. He reached out to Florencia, but she couldn’t do anything as she, as well as everything else in the room, was now tall enough to tower over him.
He could hear Loretta say, “It’s one of my favorite tricks.”
The purple mist that surrounded Edward had dissipated. His vision and his mental state returned to normal. But everything around him had become different. He looked up to see that both Florencia and Loretta had become giants. He couldn’t comprehend it just yet. He was confused by what Loretta had initiated. He never expected everything around him to grow with such an excess.
Loretta stepped closer and crouched down in front of Edward. The blonde-haired witch whispered, “Poor little thing.”
Edward finally realized what had happened to him. Loretta had shrunk him down to a considerably smaller size. He now could have been at least four to five inches tall. He had become a miniature version of himself, like a puny servant stuck between two giant goddesses. He looked up at Loretta and was stunned by her towering stature.
He had to yell so the two women could hear him properly. “Hey, bring me back to normal!”
He was rather surprised that his voice wasn’t modified into a higher pitch, as it would have been typically represented in the media.
Loretta replied, “I’d rather not take orders from you.”
The witch reached down and closed her fingers around Edward’s body. The swift fingers that squeezed him almost made him wince. Loretta lifted him up off of the ground. She stood up straight and raised him up to her face. Edward tried to push the fingers away, but he knew it would be hopeless to fight against a strong grip. He looked straight into Loretta’s massive eyes. He had become a captive in her right hand.
“Put me down!”
Loretta’s chuckle made him tremble. “Oh, your fate has changed. You’re now under our control.”
Her deep and ominous voice filled Edward with dread. “What’re you going to do to me?”
She laughed. “Behave yourself. If you try to do something stupid, then you’ll have to see wha
t I can be capable of. Don’t try to annoy me.”
Florencia’s voice came from behind Edward. “Come on, now. Don’t try to hurt him. He’s not going to do anything.”
Loretta replied, “Don’t underestimate a Shadow Service Agent. They can be cunning little creatures when they want to be.”
Edward could see his pistol which had been thrown in the corner of the room. He yearned for it, as he had nothing else to defend himself with. He hoped that Dennis would find him.
Loretta narrowed her eyes at him. “Let’s see what happens when I crush you.”
Edward could feel her fingers squeezing him just a little more. He groaned and flinched at her tightened hold. His desperation led to him trying to push away Loretta’s fingers once again. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if every bone in his body had been crushed.
He tried to speak through the pain. “Please…don’t do this to me!”
The witch whispered, “Oh, how does it feel to be so helpless?”
Florencia cried out, “Stop it! Leave him alone. I know him very well. Don’t hurt him!”
Loretta stopped squeezing him. Edward had to take a few deep breaths after such a strenuous squeeze. He wanted to thank Florencia for preventing a catastrophic event.
The Colombian woman said, “Let’s just send him to my place. He’ll stay out of trouble.”
Loretta still didn’t let Edward go. She gave him a sly little smile. “You’re going to have to join us.”
She turned around and brought out a large green vase with a lid from the hallway. She opened the lid and picked up the vase with her other hand.
Edward yelled, “You’re not going to drown me, are you?!”
Loretta put the vase in a diagonal stance in the air. “You’re just going to join your friend down there. That’s all.”
She brought him down in the vase and released him from her grip. Edward slid down into the partial darkness. The surface almost scraped the back of his shirt and pants, he didn’t feel any damage as a result. It wasn’t a steep incline, so his entire body didn’t experience a strong impact when his feet touched the floor. He could feel the vase moving to an upright position. He stepped away from the wall and bumped into another young man who was stuck in the bottom.
