Outlaws and Origins

by Eric S Kim

  “I just don’t want anyone to screw up. This could make us famous, but either in a good or bad way. Sometimes, people don’t think of the consequences until it actually happens.”

  Preston leaned over. “Man, you just like to be a downer, don’t you?”

  “Well, I can’t make mistakes when I’m starting from the bottom.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Jerome answered that question without putting his tablet away. “He wants to stay with Mystic Lightning.”

  Preston understood. “Ah, so the Zadith isn’t so enticing to you. Something really is wrong with you.”

  Bryce didn’t raise his voice at all. “I’m just not interested. I’d be stuck in a position where I’d be pining to be something else. That sort of life would really suck. You know what I mean, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I guess. But what makes you think that joining Gorvex’s family wouldn’t make your life complete? I mean, I’d sign up for that as soon as possible.”

  “It’s complicated. You won’t understand.”

  “At least try to explain yourself.”

  Rebecca intervened. “Hey, it’s his decision. He wants to be the CEO of Mystic Lightning when he grows up, and I’d say that he’s got the right stuff for it. I mean, you can see him as the boss when he’s forty, can you?”

  Preston only took a few seconds to think about it. “Actually, Woodrow would be the perfect fit. Sorry, I’m just being honest.”

  Bryce didn’t take offense. “Whatever. I already made my decision and I’m keeping it this way.”

  “What if I told you there’d be an endless supply of hookers? Would you join?”

  “Don’t tempt me like that.”

  Rebecca leaned over and patted Bryce on the shoulder. “Forget him. At least you’ve got my support on this.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  The light on Jerome’s earpiece began to flash. He heard something from the other end.

  After several moments of silence, he said, “Got it.”

  He turned to Bryce and said, “Take us to Fountain Valley. Elliott’s getting dangerously close to finding a Nevinoth there.”

  Bryce replied, “We’re already on our way.”

  He took a right turn on an intersection and followed the road in front of him.

  2:35 PM

  The green fluid had done its job after its prolonged length of time. Edward and Dennis had held on to the black metal bars to make sure that none of them would fall off and make a noise when it dropped to the hardwood floor. When the liquid had finished dissolving certain sections of the bars, the two young agents carefully placed them on the floor of the birdcage while evading any unnecessary rackets that could reach the kitchen.

  Dennis put away his syringe and became the first to squeeze through the open space on the side of the cage. Edward went through next and joined his partner on the coffee table. He checked the height between the floor and the table. He couldn’t be sure if he could survive the fall even when he was four inches tall. A mouse would survive the fall, but a shrunken human being could have a different outcome. Physics felt like an anomaly.

  Edward pulled out something from his utility belt. A four-clawed grappling hook had been attached to a thin wire. It had been small enough to hide in one of the pockets. Florencia and Loretta would never suspect it.

  “This is our only chance. You go first.”

  He handed Dennis a spare hook. Both agents used the edge of the birdcage as support. As soon as Dennis wrapped the other end of the grappling hook around his belt, the two of them prepared for a steep descent.

  Dennis asked, “Are you sure that the wire’s long enough?”

  “If it’s not, then we better hope our legs don’t break when we jump.”

  Dennis rolled his eyes. “Oh, that’s so reassuring.”

  The two agents replicated the acts of a mountain climber. They made their descent in front of one of the wooden legs on the table. They grabbed hold of the wires and took backward steps across the leg. Edward kept a slow and steady pace. He had only done this twice before, and the inexperience when dealing with a higher altitude had followed him. Dennis, on the other hand, had demonstrated his expertise as he didn’t show any concern for a potential mishap.

  With a playful tone of voice, he joked, “I have a barf bag that you can use.”

  Edward faked a chuckle. “I’ll be fine.”

  He had to wipe off the sweat that formed on his palms on a few occasions. He turned around and felt relieved that the entryway in the living room remained empty. Florencia and Loretta must have enjoyed a decent conversation if they didn’t check on their victims all this time.

  After a meticulous descent, Edward’s feet could finally reach the small carpet around the coffee table. Both he and Dennis let go of the wires and examined their surroundings. The living room had been inflated in their line of vision. It would take much longer for them to reach the open entryway.

  Dennis asked, “What are we even going to do when we’re out of here? We’ll be eaten by raccoons because we can’t reverse our sizes.”

  Edward fully realized their dilemma. “Only the witches can bring us back to our normal sizes.”

  “We’re going to have to trick them into using their powers somehow.”

  “And how do we do that?”

  Dennis blurted, “I don’t know! Trying to come up with a good idea isn’t going to be easy when we’re this tall.”

  He brought his palm up to his forehead.

  Edward opened his mouth to say something, but he closed it when he heard the first faint footsteps that originated from the hallway.

  He quickly whispered, “They’ll find us here. Quick. Hide somewhere!”

  Both agents separated. Dennis made a dash for the potted plant in the corner. Edward sprinted as fast as he could toward the closed curtains. He fled in the partial darkness and hid behind the thick purple fabric. He almost had trouble pushing through his hiding spot, but he relented and found a comfortable place from within the confined territory.

  Florencia’s black skirt appeared at the entryway. She would have noticed the damage done to the birdcage by now. She stepped closer to the coffee table before coming to a full stop at her tracks. Edward kept his mouth shut as he thought of ways to make an official escape out of this house.

  Florencia’s voice had boomed across the room. The enhanced vocals were a feature that the shrunken man had to endure.

  “Now where did you guys go? Please tell me that you’re still here.”

  She sounded rather patient as she took careful steps around the living room.

  “Come on, Edward. Show yourself. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Edward still didn’t say anything as he made sure that she couldn’t see him below the closed curtain. He pressed his back against the wall and just gazed at the curtain in front of him.

  Florencia didn’t give up. “Don’t make this hard on yourself, Edward. You don’t have to make this a lot worse than it should be. I’m not going to be like Loretta. I’ll be the gentle one.”

  Edward took a peek underneath the curtain. Florencia had black socks on her two feet, which had moved from left to right all around the living room.

  Her tranquil tone of voice didn’t change. “Come on out, Edward. It’s going to be okay. Listen, I know being four inches tall is something that you have to get used to. But if you behave, we’ll let you go. Loretta may want to be a little…well, a little naughty. But I’m the exact opposite. I’ll make sure that you and your friend will get out of this place alive when everything is done.”

  She sounded so sincere. But Edward refused to believe that should be the exact same woman that he knew one year ago. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of fulfilling the supposed deception. He got down on his knees and took a peek from underneath the curtain. The giant woman crouched down and tried to search for her captives in the fireplace.

  “Are you in here?”

&nb
sp; She sounded slightly more ecstatic to play this game of hide-and-seek. A spirited resonance had been added into her tone of voice. A playful mood that reminded Edward of their previous sessions.

  “No, you’re not in here.”

  She stood back up and moved toward the potted plant. Edward could hear a few leaves rustling for several seconds.

  “Are you in here?”

  So far, there was no indication of Dennis being found. She stepped away from the potted plant.

  “Please, Edward, just show yourself. I’m getting very worried.”

  This time, Edward actually wanted to reveal his location. He couldn’t say anything, but Florencia’s concern made him remember the things that the two of them had gone through before their separation. He tightened his fists. He tried to resist breaking the silence, even if he was spellbound by her voice.

  She drew closer to the closed curtains. “Edward, please. I didn’t mean for this to happen. You just showed up. I never expected to see you again. Listen, you’ll be safe with me. I don’t want Loretta to hurt you. She’ll try to tear you apart, but I won’t let her. As long as we have a truce, you and Dennis will be fine.”

  Edward’s quick peek from behind the curtain prompted him to turn back. Florencia had just gotten down on her knees and bent over to examine the floor below the curtains. Edward moved deeper into the confined space between the wall and the fabric. He stayed put just as Florencia reached in with her hand. Being the prey in such an enclosed space didn’t bring any refuge to his motivation. An uncertain outcome was the only menace haunting his thoughts without remorse.

  Florencia could almost reach Edward’s body with her fingertips. She brought her arm deeper into the partial darkness. Edward was trapped at the far end of the wall. The curtain moved toward his direction. Florencia’s slow movement caused the purple drapes to get caught in her forward propulsion.

  Her fingers could now reach around the leg. Edward couldn’t move in the corner. He had no chance in escaping through the window from above. He had already abandoned his grappling hook, a decision that he instantly regretted. Florencia’s fingers could now barely touch him.

  She whispered, “Show yourself. I want to see you again.”

  Her arm had been revealed between the curtains and the wall. The tip of her index finger came in contact with Edward’s left arm. She didn’t push him. She moved her gigantic finger up and down, caressing Edward’s arm without pain. Having a piece of her body rubbing against his own skin brought a bit of relief to this game of hide-and-seek. He let out a slow sigh as her touch made him feel weak.

  Florencia didn’t stop caressing his arm. “Please. Just let me see your face again.”

  Edward wanted to do it. He wanted to surrender to her, to bring him out of the darkness and hold him in her hand. He was almost willing to obey her command.

  Dennis came out of nowhere and shouted, “Get away from him!”

  He wielded a small knife as he charged right for Florencia’s fingers. He raised his knife high and brought it down on her skin. The knife pierced through it. Florencia, startled by the sudden stabbing, jumped up and pulled her arm out of Edward’s point of view.

  “Ow!”

  Edward’s trance had ended.

  Dennis yelled, “Let’s get out of here!”

  He and Edward rolled away from the curtain. Florencia would be able to see the two of them running away from her and making their way toward the open entryway. They exited safely from the compact space in the shadows. The Shadow Service Agents couldn’t look behind them as they made their escape the primary focus of their new mission.

  Edward had to catch his breath when he said, “We’ll try to find a way out in the vents!”

  They had made it into the hallway without trouble. Florencia would have stood up from the floor by now.

  She called out, “Wait! Come back!”

  Both agents didn’t listen. They just made a run for it. They would have forgotten about Loretta had she didn’t block their route. The gigantic woman raised her hand at the two little agents and forced them to stop running. Edward could feel an invisible forcefield stopping their legs from moving. Loretta pointed her index finger upward. This resulted in Edward and Dennis being lifted up into the air without anyone carrying them. Edward’s feet no longer touched the floor. He and his acquaintance hovered above the ground and stopped when they reached the witch’s shoulder height. They floated alongside each other in the hallway.

  Loretta stepped closer and shook her head in disappointment. “I knew we’d have to do better than a birdcage.”

  Florencia entered from the opposite end of the hallway. “Now you promised that you wouldn’t hurt them.”

  “Oh, of course.”

  Loretta reached out and wrapped her fingers around their bodies once again.

  “This time, there would be something better than a birdcage to keep them around.”

  The witch brought them back into the living room and held them above the mantelpiece for the fireplace.

  “This’ll do just fine.”

  When she let go of them, Edward and Dennis stood on the mantelpiece. Loretta whispered a phrase complete with foreign words. An exotic vernacular that only witches like her could perfect. An invisible forcefield brought his tightened fists together. A pair of iron manacles appeared from thin air and clung themselves on his fists. The manacles had been connected to a chain, complete with a black iron ball. Edward tried to pry his hands away from the manacles, but they were too strong. He also couldn’t move the iron ball at all. He tried to pick it up, but it stuck to the mantelpiece like superglue. The witch’s power must have made it so. A simple demonstration of her sorcery prolonged Edward and Dennis’s imprisonment just a little longer.

  She seemed pleased with the result. “Yes, that’s much better.”

  Dennis had been given the same treatment. Loretta and Florencia stood by the fireplace and gazed at the two agents chained above the mantelpiece

  Florencia remarked, “I didn’t think that they’d have the right tools to escape.”

  Loretta replied, “A lesson learned.”

  With one small wave of her finger, Edward’s utility belt unbuckled from his pants and flew toward Loretta. It landed right on her palm. It must have been the size of a tiny worm. Loretta closed her fist around it. Edward heard a slight crunching noise that emerged from it. The witch threw the crumpled pieces into the fireplace.

  “Try to fool us again and we’ll feed you to the pigeons.”

  Edward narrowed his eyes. “I just know that you’re going to regret all of this.”

  “I’m sure I will.”

  Loretta turned to Florencia and said, “You could have failed to retrieve them if something bad ever happened to you.”

  Florencia folded her arms across her chest. “Yes, I know that. I’m not that dumb.”

  “Always remember that a Shadow Service Agent can even break open a birdcage with the right equipment.”

  “I’ve already seen it happen.”

  “When my friends and I are outside, keep these two men here.”

  Loretta handed a small piece of paper to Florencia. “If there ever is an emergency and we are forced to bring these two along, say these words and they will be released from their cuffs.”

  “Understood.”

  Edward stopped his attempt to pull away from the chains. “What makes you think we’d be important? Aren’t we just a little distraction to you?”

  Loretta leaned over and whispered, “The two of you can be quite useful if they ever find out you’ve been kidnapped. If we can’t get what we want, then we’ll force your company to make an exchange.”

  “That’s pretty sneaky.”

  Loretta smiled. “It’ll be a better fate for you if you don’t try anything stupid. So please, just ignore your ego and be a good boy for once.”

  Edward could feel her warm breath all over his body. It made him angrier, but he couldn’t utilize it against his enem
y at all.

  TWENTY-THREE

  2:48 PM

  In the city of Fountain Valley, there is a park that has been constructed in the shape of a perfect square. Each side is one mile long. Four streets surrounded it, with four intersections on each corner. It is called the Golden Mile Park, and it features a sport center, an archery range, and primarily a golf course. The Golden Mile Golf Course, located on the corner of Warner Avenue and Brookhurst Street, was where Elliott had made his next call. Bryce led his teammates closer to the park. Preston kept his FAMAs rifle close, while keeping his Devious EEL firmly on his hand. Everyone else in the SUV did the same. Bryce drove carefully on the street as he reached Warner Avenue. The golf course had been situated on the left side of the street, and an apartment complex on the other. Everyone looked around for a potential stray animal either on the sidewalk or on the telephone poles. Elliott and Oswald still couldn’t be seen.

  Jerome asked, “Where did they find this racoon?”

  Bryce kept on driving. “It should be here by now. Elliott said it tried to hide in the park, and now it should be on this street. But I can’t see it.”

  Preston observed the sidewalks on both sides of the SUV. Only two pedestrians had decided to talk a walk at this time. Birds had become absent on the telephone poles. There was no trace of an animal anywhere.

  Bryce tried to get a hold of Elliott again on his earpiece. The Blackjacks moved closer to the parking lot of the golf course.

  And just when Preston started to ask his own question, Jerome shouted, “Watch out!”

  Bryce stepped hard on the brake, causing the tires to screech when scraping against the pavement. Preston almost bumped his head against the headrest behind him. The four Blackjacks held on just before the SUV had been brought to a complete halt. Suddenly, a horse with white fur ran right past the windshield. It neighed as it scurried away with four loud hooves. Oswald had emerged from the apartment complex and wielded his Denial Dart Gun. He took aim and pulled the trigger. The dart shot right past the SUV and right onto one of the horse’s legs. It didn’t stop. It ran straight for the golf course. The other drivers on the street had to either come to a full stop or swerve in a different direction when the horse blocked their original way.