Frightened Boy

Chapter Twelve - Reptiles

We walked through miles of identical service tunnels, through hundreds of evenly spaced lights. Five small pipes were spaced out in parallel lines on the ceiling, and I had the odd notion we were notes marching through sheets of music—only I had no idea what song we were playing.

“We’re here,” Sam said finally as he stopped in front of a door that looked very much identical to the dozens of others we passed.

Escher banged once on the door with such force that it sounded like someone had struck a very deep gong.

Moments later, it opened up to reveal a small group of oddly dressed men and women that I could only guess were Strangers. I noticed the man with the quotation marks tattooed on his forehead, as well as Grundel far behind him.

As I followed our small group into the room, I realized it was a much larger area than I had first assumed. It appeared as though we were in the basement area of an office building. Storage crates and loading palettes covered the floor, and as I followed Escher through the space, I noticed there were many more Strangers inside.

Not knowing what else to do, I followed closely behind Whisper. I’d long since lost sight of Sam, which was not unexpected; any time I walked into a crowded space, he became invisible again.

I followed the two of them up a flight of stairs and into the unlit, unkempt lobby of an aging office building. I guessed we were somewhere on the outskirts of the city, in an older tower that no one had bothered to tear down. With the rate at which downtown Banlo Bay had expanded, shrunk, was built and then rebuilt atop itself, many such structures were left to decay.

Escher let himself into an office on the first floor. I heard a woman’s voice from inside the room, a voice I already knew. I followed Escher into the office.

“Erika!” I exclaimed.

“Eureka,” Escher said.

“Clark!” she appeared from behind the door and hugged me close. “I’m glad you’re okay. I saw you on the news. You were the most frightened terrorist I’ve ever seen,” she said. Then her voice dropped. “I heard what happened to Guts. I’m so sorry I never…”

Her eyes moistened as she hugged me. I couldn’t say a word.

“See?” Escher said. “She’s fine. Yay.”

I noticed a long chain connecting Erika’s foot to the large wooden desk that took up most of the space in the small office.

“She’s a troublemaker,” Whisper said. “We had to chain her up.”

“Well, can’t you unchain her now?”

“Don’t bother,” Erika said, grinning. She bent over and opened up the lock she had apparently picked in Escher’s absence.

He clucked his tongue, then sat down behind the desk and propped his feet up on it. “Well, we’re all back together now. Frightened Boy, you may be curious as to why I’ve decided to let you live. It’s because I have plans for you… or rather, I have plans, and someone must carry them out, and I’d rather risk you than someone I care about.”

“Okay,” I said, apprehensive. I didn’t really want anymore adventure. I felt lucky enough to still be alive, and I had Erika, and that was enough. I was already thinking about exits.

“First,” Escher said, “we have this for you. It was Sam’s idea, really, but I like it. Hats are a necessity. They protect us from Little Brother’s all seeing eyes. Not to mention, it’ll help distract people from your face, which recently has become fairly famous—or infamous, as the case may be.”