by Peter Fang
The gunman stood momentarily in suspense, then collapsed facedown next to Koda's feet.
Koda checked himself for any injuries and felt the wetness of blood streaming down his face. He pried away the shotgun from the body and pulled the mask off. He then pulled the mask off the other gunman, and the story was the same––no one matched his memory.
He took the shotgun and pumped a round in the chamber—someone could still be inside the cafe, so he wasn’t going to take any chances.
He struggled out of the bathroom, limping in pain. Gingerly, he moved into the dining area, checking the corners as he cleared the room. As he reached the register, he heard movements behind him. He pivoted and heard a shot ring off about ten feet away, and a jarring force hit him in the leg. Vaguely acknowledging the direction of the gunfire, he pointed his shotgun and pulled the trigger. A loud bang echoed inside the cafe, and the slug hit the gunman in the face, painting the nearby doorframe with streaks of brain matters.
Koda collapsed and lay on the ground. He felt two different heartbeats inside the cafe, and one of them was growing weaker; it soon trickled to a weak pulse, and then it stopped. He tried to move but he felt exhausted. Something inside his mind was shutting him down, and he dozed off.
Silence hung in the air until the cafe’s door opened with a whine.
Someone put a dark mask over Koda’s face, then grabbed him by the leg and slowly dragged him out the door.
Koda tried to turn but couldn't see the person's face. He cried in pain but realized he could not move his muscles; even his vocal cord was shut tight. The last thing he felt was getting pushed into a van and the rotten smell inside the dark space.
When Koda awoke, he was staring at the ceiling. Koda's eyes wandered and searched for a focus. First, there was only a blur of red and dark spots, but slowly, the picture came into view. The red and dark swiveled, came into focus, and a large canvas of red ceiling made of bricks appeared. Koda realized he was lying down, and he tried to get up, but his arms were tied down. He attempted to speak but felt his mouth was also blocked by something moving. Koda heard someone talking, but he could only pick out certain things from the conversation. It was not in English, but somehow he could comprehend.
“Why did we have to save him?”
“It doesn't matter. Queen wants him alive.”
“Did you make sure you cleaned the restaurant?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course!” a slimy voice responded.
“You know the queen is not going to be happy if we don't do a clean-up job well.”
“Yes, I know. I did the job well. What are we going to do with him? Eat him?”
“Eat him? Why would I call you if we should eat him? I would have eaten him myself. No, we have to help him and wipe his brain.”
“Save this human? He looks delicious to me, rather than someone of importance.”
“Queen's orders. I don't ask questions. You should not either.”
“Queen is getting weak; she can't even hear us down here now, and soon her spells will be useless against us. I say we get rid of this guy and eat his brain.”
There was a pause, then the other voice said, “Perhaps you are right. You want to do the honor?”
“It would be my pleasure—” the voice vibrated with excitement. “There is only one way to eat humans: you crack open their brain first, but you want to keep them alive so their adrenaline from the pain is still flowing. The juice gives the brain a sweet taste.” The voice moved closer to Koda and opened its mouth. Before it could touch Koda, it let out a loud grunt and its head was sliced in half. Part of the head rolled to a stop next to Koda.
Koda saw it was a toad’s face with a still, surprised stare frozen in time.
The other voice grunted in a low tone, “Always hated dealing with the toads. This one was the worst.” It slithered away from the shadow and showed its face, and it looked like a half-man, half-snake.
“I’m Yhawri, leader of the snake clan inside Lão Chóng. We are all Queen's servants. Who are you and why were you in the cafe?”
“What?” Koda’s voice cracked. He was surprised he got his voice back, but he didn’t sound like himself. It was not even English. “I was supposed to meet with my friend, Matt. He was the killer of my wife and kid. Someone at the stadium told me, this man in a cloak. He showed me the vision. I called Matt, asking him to meet me at the Old-Wrinkles cafe. When I arrived, all hell broke loose.”
Yhawri looked at him sideways, measuring him and thinking as it licked its mouth. It curled his tail and then sat down next to a large beam of steel that stuck out from the wall.
The snake scratched his chin with its long, scaly tail. “The guy in the cloak…oh, that thing. Yeah, he used to be our master, but now he is no longer. What you saw was just a replica, and now controlled by our queen. She could make you see him the way she wants. I read your memories, and I see why the queen wanted to save you. You have a lot of qualities that our queen likes.”
“Queen? Who's the queen?”
Yhawri let out a groan in dismay. “Argh, you should know her by now. After Manfred, Queen has been searching for a human servant replacement by her side. It is clear to me that she has picked you to replace Manfred. You will become her main human servant while Queen’s trying to recover her power. Even though she picked you, you don't look special to me––not at all.”
Yhawri tilted his head and inspected Koda closely, shook his head and said, “Nothing special. It is so easy to manipulate human. Sad—sad, indeed.”
Koda still had many questions in his mind. He ignored the condescending comments and pursued answers. “Who attacked me? Were those also the toad's people? The one that you... killed?”
Yhawri looked down on the toad's head and then pointed with his hand. “No, toads are toads. There are a bunch of them around. They don't trust anyone, not even the Queen. They're always looking for an angle to keep their power. They are worth nothing. Those people that attacked you were not us. They were from your friend.”
“My friend? Matt––” Koda didn't know why his voice sounded surprised.
Yhawri shook his head. “Come on, don't look so grim. You still have much more important things to help unwind for us. Queen wants you to finish this job, just like everyone else before you. You have to go back up to the street, but you won't remember a thing. She is getting weaker and this may be her last chance to get out of that prison she lives in. We all need your help down here.”
“Why would I help her? Where is she? I need to speak with her.”
Yhawri let out a deep, throaty chuckle. “It's not up to you now. She will see you when she will see you, but now you must heal. The only reason you survived was because of this worm here that we pulled out of your stomach.” He pulled up a stringy worm about six inches long. It had long spider-like claws near its head, but it was lifeless and dripping in transparent blood.
“I—” Koda gaped at the worm in terror. It was unfathomable to see something that large had come from inside of him.
Yhawri ogled at the worm in appreciation. “I haven't seen anything like this since Manfred was recruited. You must be important to our queen.”
“But why? What does she want?” Koda tried to force himself to wake from this nightmare, but everything in front of him looked and felt extremely real.
Yhawri snickered. “I read your memory––you should know why. You can’t become one of us until you have truly committed to her. Something absolutely dear to you, something uniquely part of you––she needs to see that. It’s like a blueprint of your soul. Once she has that, and if Queen still wants you, you may be in. But—”
“But what?” Koda tried to sit up, but his back was still swollen in pain.
Yhawri shook his head disapprovingly. “There were many like you before this, and all of them failed. Queen saw something in their souls she didn’t like. She is very particular about these things.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?” Koda felt the
re was something he still missed, the bigger picture in all this.
“Because I’m bored. Talking to the rest of the creeps here drives me crazy.”
“What is your job here?”
“Can’t you tell already? I’m the healer. I fix things, such as you, and I am a servant to the queen just like you will be––or maybe. There are other human helpers around the city, and each has its purpose. We move with the queen, but we only live under the ground with our worm.”
“Who was that guy that pulled me out of the cafe?”
Yhawri laughed, but his laugh was more like a breathy fit. It went on for a long time before he was able to stop himself. “Oh, that thing? I made that. It was a zombie. Looked pretty good, right? We grow things and make them look like humans. It’s not quite perfected yet. That thing that pulled you out of the cafe was made from a dead beetle. I’m still trying things out. He looked pretty darn close to a human, except it can’t think on its own. Someone has to control it from down here.”
“You mean you remote-control those things?”
“Yeah, it takes a lot of energy to control just one. I’ve heard the Queen in her prime could control an army of them, and they could grow those zombies that last weeks. I have to use some spells, and it’s like a damn workout when it’s done. I always need to take a nap afterward. If I don’t, that thing could run away and wander around like a homeless person. Sometimes they get hungry and will eat a human. Eventually, the spell will wear off, and they die within twenty-four hours. I’m trying to make it last longer, but I cannot get it beyond a full day.”
“Why can’t you just put on a spell and go up to the street yourself?”
He sighed. “We are all cursed down here in the worm’s gut. As long as the spell is in place, we can’t go up to the surface; only the queen and her small group of close human servants and bodyguards can survive, but we can send the zombies up to do the dirty work. They just don’t last long.”
“Which spell? A worm? Who cast the spell?”
The serpent stopped. “You really don’t know anything do you? Don’t worry about it; if you make it through the test, you will know more than I do from the queen herself.”
“What do we do now?”
“I will finish healing you, and then send you back up.”
A voice suddenly boomed around the corner. “Stop the chattering and get him fixed up. Queen is asking about him.”
“Okay, we are just about wrapped up here.”
A tall shadow appeared and it was another snake. He checked out Koda up and down with a slightly disapproving look and then stared at the other snake attending Koda.
“I can see that you have been using my name again, Mei-Mei.”
The snake looked sheepish and did not look up to meet the tall snake’s eyes.
“I apologize for the young snake’s behavior. Her name is Mei-Mei, not Yhawri. I am Yhawri, the leader of the snake clan. Mei-Mei is one of the understudies here. We are a little short-handed because we just had a changing of the guard with the toad clan recently; Mei-Mei will finish you up and she can help you, won't you, Mei-Mei?”
Mei-Mei nodded but didn’t say a word. She took the injured worm from the pan and grabbed a large green ant from nearby. The green ant struggled and bared its stingers. The toad injected the ant’s stinger into the worm. The worm came back to life in a flurry of spasms. Mei-Mei then slid over, opened Koda’s mouth, and forced the worm into his mouth.
“Sorry, this won’t be pleasant, but we need to erase your memory.”
“Wait—” Koda tried to struggle, but his mouth opened involuntarily. He then realized the snake was controlling him with a spell. The worm crawled into his mouth and dug into his stomach. Koda felt a jolt to his body and screamed.
“What do you think his chances are against Matt?” Mei-Mei asked.
“Not good, but you never know,” Yhawri replied. “Koda is stronger, but Matt is more deceitful. It’s easy to deflect an incoming sword, but it is hard to detect hidden arrows.”
“Well, I like him more than that deceptive Matt. I hope he wins.” Mei-Mei looked on wistfully as the giant cockroaches carried Koda away from the table and into a small wooden raft for the journey. The wooden raft was docked near a large canal that led upstream instead of downstream, against the gravity. If you followed the stream, it led to Lão Chóng’s ethereal way up to the human world.
“I like him too, Mei-Mei,” Yhawri agreed.
They watched the cockroaches push the raft away from the dock, and the stream carried it off.
“I wish you good luck,” whispered Mei-Mei.
“Good job fixing him—now let him go.” Yhawri turned and dragged the dead toad’s body away, leaving a streak of blood on the ground. A swarm of roaches and smaller snakes followed the clan leader and disappeared into the sewage.
Mei-Mei spoke after everyone was gone, “You won’t remember this at all. I hope you are successful in defending Maria.”
The incoming train’s blare woke Koda; he raised his hands in a half-awake state, trying to fend off the noise. People around him in the King Street Station pretended that he didn’t exist and moved away from him. He recalled the violence happened in the cafe, and he recalled he was shot in his leg. But when he reached to feel the spots on his right leg, there was no pain. What about the cut on his face? Nothing! Was all that a dream? It was real, but Koda could not figure how there was no trace of it on his body.
He took a cab to the lot where he left his car. But when they got near, there was a police crime scene tape around the cafe. Something did happen. He paid the cab driver and walked to this car. Luckily, his car was not inside the cafe’s parking lot where they taped off the area.
He still remembered there was one more debt to collect from Matt, so he got into his car, checked for his sidearm, and found it in the glove compartment. He waited until no one was looking his way before slowly rolling away in his car. After a fifteen-minute drive, he parked his car about a block from Matt’s house. He didn’t see Matt until it was about 7:30 p.m. He was driving a Ford Expedition, and the entire family had just come back from a soccer game. The kids ran into the house, and the wife soon followed. Matt was preoccupied with his phone, and his footsteps slowed to a stop. Koda took the handgun from the glove compartment and got out of the car. Koda approached the SUV carefully, but when he was about ten yards away, he realized the man was not Matt. It was Matt’s brother.
Koda stopped cold and quickly turned back and walked away. He got into this car and sunk into the seat.
“Hi, Koda, long time no see.”
Koda looked up into the mirror and saw Matt wearing a hoodie and a pair of shades. His hands were gloved and holding a dark pistol.
“I knew you were going to be here looking for me. I suggest you start moving.”
Koda started the car, and it got on to the freeway. Matt ordered him to drive on to a narrow street and pulled up next to a deserted house and leave the car running.
Matt leaned in closer and whispered. “So, you found out? I guess you also saw the vision from Manfred?”
“Who is Manfred?”
Matt tilted his head and mused, “Ah, Christ, you still don't know his name yet? The guy you saw at the stadium. That was Manfred in his cloak. When he is in cloak, you will see him in different forms, depending on your state-of-mind. As you know already, he is dead, but we can control him remotely.”
“Why, Matt? Why did you do it?”
“It was more than just your wife and kid. She found out that some of us were dealing with drugs, and you were getting close to the source. She refused to help me to stop you, so I had to take care of the business. I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice!”
“What choice? Would you me go if you had found out? I doubt it.”
“What are you going to do now? Shoot me, then. Let’s get this over with.”
Koda saw a large dump truck approaching on the opposite side of the street. He
waited until it was about ten feet away; then he slammed on the gas and the car lurched forward in sudden acceleration. The car slammed into the dump truck and threw Matt’s arm forward as he pulled the trigger. The gun’s blast hit Koda’s right ear like a fist, deafening his hearing. The bullet shattered the driver’s side window and showered it onto the street.
In reflex, Koda grabbed Matt’s gun and twisted it upward to wrestle it away. He flipped the pistol around in a fluid motion and pulled the trigger. A single round hit Matt’s forehead. Matt’s head kicked back into the seat, and his body collapsed into a heap.
The dump truck driver was yelling at them, but when he heard the gunshot, he got out and fled the scene.
Koda looked out the window and saw that no one else was around. He turned and saw Matt's face starting to contort, and something long crawled out of his nose.
Matt's arms suddenly wrapped around Koda, then he bit down with his jaws that were filled with sharp teeth.
Koda blocked the bite with his pistol.
Matt's teeth bit down again, scraping the metal and just missing Koda's fingers.
Koda knocked Matt back with his left fist, pushing him to the floor.
Matt reached out with his claws at Koda. His fingers suddenly grew longer and dug into Koda's shoulders and pulled him closer to his jaws.
Koda used the chance to angle the pistol at Matt’s face and fired two rounds. The force pushed Matt's head back violently before collapsing into the bloody back seat.
Koda reached for the driver’s side door to pull the handle and rolled out to the ground. An internal voice alerted him. “No, get back into the car and get out of here.”
Without thinking, Koda got back into the car and peeled away.
His thoughts were racing, but he kept driving until he reached the foothill of a nearby mountain. He waited a long time to ensure that no one was following him before exiting the car. He dragged out Matt's body, made a small ditch, and burned it with the car’s gasoline. He then pulled out all the teeth and buried the charred remains in a shallow grave.