The World Below (ON BREAK)

Chapter 15

Central park, NY

The convention center was a bustling center of social activity, with people in extravagant costumes from anime shows, movies, and as expected, comics. There was no way that a monster would stand out from all the color. Tanner and Caspian knew this, but just as a precaution were in human form.

Caspian was at ease, having lived among or near humans for his entire life. Either he had been to one of these before, or he was just really calm for no reason. Tanner was nervous, he had never been this near humans before. He'd only been out of Sanctuary for that one day.

The cervitaur ushered him onward, trying to keep Tanner moving in case any humans got suspicious, which likely wouldn't happen, but still.

Caspian took Tanner aside for a moment to ask him something.

"Tanner, would it be alright if I changed back? It's not very fun for me to be a human for long."

Tanner gave him a nervous look.

"Are you sure? If anyone looks closely enough, we'll be noticed."

"I'll do it if you do it too."

"Fine. Let me get the Switch."

Tanner reached into his bag and tried to find the Switch to no avail. He opened it up fully and peered inside, using the bright lights to his advantage. Still no Switch. On the carpeted floor nearby, Tanner noticed a glint of black metal. It had somehow fallen out, but no one had noticed, fortunately. He quickly stepped toward it, but a person stepped out of the crowd first and reached for the Switch.

He looked to be a teen, but Tanner couldn't really tell, as in living in a city full of monsters, looks could be deceiving. He wore a black face mask, covering his nose and mouth. Tanner assumed he was sick. He was also wearing a gray hoodie and acid washed jeans with rips on the knees.

Tanner stood in shock, his eyes wide as the stranger held the only thing that tethered him to the human world. The boy turned it over in his hand, studying the contraption. He looked up and met Tanner's gaze. His eyes widened, and he took off at a sprint. Tanner, stuck in Naga form, slithered as fast as he could, which to say wasn't fast enough.

He stood, defeated, in front of a large staircase leading up to a second floor of the convention center. Snakes cannot go up stairs. Caspian stood behind him, able to go up.

"Yeah, I think I'm screwed," whispered Tanner.

Caspian whispered back, "I can chase him. I'm pretty fast."

"Sounds good."

Caspian vaulted up the stairwell after the thief, leaving Tanner below. With more or less nothing to do except twiddle his thumbs, he sat at the base of the stairs, praying no one would recognize what he was.

After a moment, Tanner heard Caspian shouting, along with his hooves hitting the linoleum floor. Still unable to join them, he resumed his sitting position on the floor. While scanning his surroundings, he noticed a dark shape on the wall nearby. An elevator! There were a few of those in Sanctuary, for the same use as ramps. He got up from the floor and slithered toward it.

After pressing the "up" button and waiting a minute or so, the elevator opened and he went inside. But before the doors could close, another person stepped in. He was dressed as some sort of robot, but Tanner had know way of knowing where it was from. It did have wheels, which explained why he couldn't use the stairs.

The situation in the elevator was awkward.

The robot guy tried breaking the ice and said, "Nice costume."

Tanner was silent for a moment, then replied, "Uh. Thanks?"

"No problem. It's well made."

"I... had help from a professional."

Thank goodness the robot costume had a visor, or else Tanner would've been noticed.

The doors dinged open, and Tanner slithered out as quickly as he could without looking behind him. Being stuck in his monster form in the human world was nerve wracking, especially when surrounded by so many.

He turned a corner and saw Caspian staring down the boy in the mask, his mop of black hair hiding most of his face. Tanner noticed something new: his eyes weren't human. They had slit pupils and no iris, which contrasted greatly with Caspian's green eyes.

Caspian turned his head and saw Tanner approaching.

"Hey, Tanner! I got your Switch back! He won't tell me why he took it, though."

The boy seemed frozen, having realized they weren't wearing costumes. Caspian tossed the Switch to Tanner, and he swiftly pressed the button and reverted to his human form.

"Caspian, did he tell you anything?"

The boy remained frozen in shock. He was entirely aware of what was going on. Caspian stepped away from him, and the boy released a sigh of relief.

"Oh man, I thought you guys were going to hurt me."

His words caught Tanner off guard. He turned to the boy and said, "Wait. What do you mean?"

"My name's Ray. And I mean, I know now you guys aren't normal. Neither am I."

Caspian cut in. "Wait, what? You look like a human to me."

Tanner nudged him with his elbow. "Look at his eyes, Caspian."

The cervitaur leaned in a bit to look, then took a step back.

"Huh. I guess you're telling the truth."

"I won't take off my mask, because of all the people, but I'm not sick, like you probably assumed." He glanced at Tanner. "I'm using it to hide."

"Wait, how did you know..."

"I just assumed. Most people think that. Could we go outside? I'll show you out there."

Tanner and Caspian agreed.

But in the shadows, on one of the buildings outside overlooking the Convention center, someone was watching.

Jack had found them.