Chương 263: 6.40

Downtimes sucked. The silent ones, especially. They gave me an opportunity to think, to realize how little I planned for shit. Much better to jump into action and improvise later. That was my strong suit. Like, how do I fucking destroy Red Island? There were no guides online. I pictured an action hero, attacking the enemy base, plowing through grunts to take on the final boss. Victorious, the hero leaves the building as everything explodes. The end. So… just stomp everything?

There was also the question of what'd happen afterward. The consequences of my actions, I was used to ignoring those. In movies, after the enemies were wiped out, the police would arrive to clean up things. The action hero rides into the sunset scot-free, despite killing a buttload of people, with the leading lady in his arms. No more problems as the credits rolled. I already had a leading lady available—Deen was more than a match for any actress—though I wasn't going to carry her.

But super doubtful that everything would end after the credits rolled. Big Marcy told me about other criminal organizations at the Supplier's disposal. Not to mention Dario and the Professor would be there. The Corebrings, the BID… so many to think about. Returning to a peaceful life, my supposed goal, was impossible. I expected all that crap, really. I wasn't naïve to assume this would turn out like a movie, with everything wrapping up neat and tidy after I killed Mark and Big Marcy.

I was just being bitchy because of how much of a crap this mission turned out to be. Was this worth the trouble of leaving the cruise that I paid for? Shouldn't I enjoy every moment of respite I get instead of diving into danger? Why did I want to destroy Red Island again? I tilted my head, pointing my right ear up to listen to the chatter and laughter on the deck of the fishing boat. More people had come out, the rich clientele of the 2Ms presumably.

They ate fancy snacks and drank wine served by the guards while marveling at the cave of a stomach they found themselves in. Weird hearing them talk like they were on a safari tour. How out of touch these people were to willingly become monsters for one reason or another? Though I wasn't one to judge. It was fun being a monster. Free from constraints of society and morality—this was why I loved using the Adumbrae excuse. I remembered now. I could do whatever without going against the face I wore because…

I was a monster. What did people expect? It was essentially a license to kill. Wasn't there a movie with that title? Add in the superstrength and other powers of being an Adumbrae; a very addictive icing on the cake. I wondered how many of the people above just wanted to feel invincible; with no frills about fear of death or evil motives. I'd totally get them. The most important point of attacking Red Island—I was bothering people who bothered me. Now that was the license to kill. It'd be a freaking theme park!

Yep, all this inconvenience would be worth it once I got there, I thought, feeling giddy with excitement. These were feelings rare to me. As always, the consequences were out of my mind until they became actual problems. Worked out well so far.

"Are you cold?" Deen asked in a whisper.

"Not really," I replied. She probably felt me giggling.

"Just shifting around because I'm bored. How many hours do you think have passed? Two?" Deen bought a waterproof watch yesterday; it should be inside her bag. However, turning it on to check the time would light up the inside of this blanket of darkness and blow our cover.

"Not sure," she replied. Her shoulders rubbed against mine as she shrugged.

"This shouldn't take too long. I think another couple of hours or so."

"How do figure that?"

"If the destination was far—the middle of the Pacific, for example—the 2Ms would've figured out better transport for their clients. This boat isn't too big inside, plus there's cargo. They can't expect socialites to endure less-than-stellar accommodations for long. They could've transferred the jumping-off point to Hawaii or other islands in the Pacific."

"Right, right. The artificial Adumbrae also needs to regularly return to the Red Island for maintenance and stuff. I think the question here is how fast this whale monster can swim." I just went with Deen's term for this big guy.

"I bet it is way faster than the cruise ship or these boats. It might get very far."

"We wait here quietly," Jubjub said with a steel to her voice. She must be pissed repeatedly telling us off from chatting. I continued talking but in a softer voice.

"What should we do at Red Island?"

"Yo-you're asking me?" Jubjub stammered. I felt her jolt in surprise.

"I, uh, what're you planning to do there? I'm merely going to scout and gather information. That's not what you have in mind, is it? You're going to—""Attack the place, yes," I said.

"But what do you think?" She was the leader of the Las Vegas group, and sort of second-in-command to Dario, but not really. I figured I should pretend to respect her authority. Make her lower her guard.

"I've told you it's dangerous. But I'll also understand if you push through with it. What they did to you was horrible, and I sympathize." Jubjub sounded so wooden when she spoke.

"You sympathize with my situation?" I asked.

"So, you're not going to stop me?"

"I can't stop you even if I wanted to," she uncommittedly replied. Time for a little more push.

"Are you going to help me? Us? Deen's with me on this one." I was certain I could bully Jubjub around, though I also shouldn't forget that she has no hesitation in killing innocent civilians to keep her and Imani's identity secret.

"Even if it's extremely dangerous," Deen said, "I won't leave Erind on her own."

"I… I'll help as much as I can," Jubjub said, bowing to peer pressure. Wasn't like she could say otherwise.

"Let's continue our discussion later." And so, we returned to listening to rich people talk and eat. The smell of food wafted down to us. Annoying. I became the bored type of hungry, wanting to eat to pass the time. Deen had packed some food, granola bars, and other high-energy rations. Could I ask her for those? Probably too noisy to unwrap them. I closed my eyes and leaned on Deen's shoulder. Sleeping was a time machine. The next I opened my eyes, I hoped we would've arrived at our destination.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Trembling ground jogged me awake. Earthy rumbling reverberated throughout the stomach cave.

"Wha-what's happening?" Adrenaline rushed through my body. Jubjub and Deen weren't jumping into action.

"Are we there?"

"Most probably, yes," Deen said. The boats turned on all their lights, illuminating the muscles of the cavern that appeared to be contracting. The three of us slinked further into the shadows. Chatters and thuds of footsteps on the decks above retreated; people aboard were returning indoors.

"Are we just going to stay here?" I asked.

"We'll probably get caught climbing back up, with all these lights."

"We wait for now," said Deen.

"Gabe will get us out of here safely."

"Just a thought—what if your Guardian Angel makes us stay here? Like, trick us into staying until this big guy goes back to the ocean and away from the Red Island."

"We'll stick to the boats," Deen replied.

"They have to float out again, the same way they got in."

"That means," said Jubjub, "water will come in."

"I can hear it rushing." I wanted to point out to Jubjub that she could leave me and Deen behind, turn into her shadow form, and sneak aboard the ship to be safe. But I doubted she'd do that even if she had thoughts of betraying us. Too early. Soon, the water was up to our waist. Still too shallow to make us float, much more the ship. The whale monster continued to gulp tons of water. Tons? What was the measurement of water? Cubic whatever? The water was up to our chin after several more seconds.

As we started to float, we gathered Jubjub's blanket of darkness around us.

"Grab onto the side of the boat," Deen said.

"Gently. Be careful not to make noise warping the metal. Don't poke your fingers through." I chuckled.

"The people inside would be really surprised if it starts flooding." Higher and higher the water level went. The boats swayed on the water while we clung on. Quakes again. Waves sloshed around the cavern like we were in a wave pool. Speaking of theme parks, we were about to get our first ride arriving on Red Island. With a thunderous groan and a powerful heave, the boats and water were sent through the tunnel that was the esophagus of the whale monster. That was the tube connecting the mouth and the stomach, right?

A strong suction force combined with contracting muscles pulled the water back out of the giant creature. Winds and water wouldn't allow our hidey blanket to stay on. It got dissipated; we were exposed.

"Don't bother summoning it back," I told Jubjub.

"Our boat's last in line. No danger of getting seen."

"Be ready to jump off the boat when I say so," Deen said.

"On the count of ten. Ten…"

"You could've started with a smaller number," I said.

"Like three or—""Eight. You made me skip. Seven…" The water leveled off and became calm. The boat drifted lazily to what must be the monster's mouth. It was night outside, so we couldn't see the actual exit until the boat before us illuminated the edge of the mouth above as it passed through. The monster's teeth were compacted bristles, almost like a hedge. Very similar to a whale. Maybe an Adumbrae forced one to mutate?

"Two… and one," Deen said.

"Let go." We followed her instructions and splashed down into the water. In the dim light, I saw Deen swim past me and head to the walls of the mouth. The cheek, duh. Jubjub and I followed Deen's lead. It became darker as the last boat left the mouth. Good thing we didn't remain attached to the boat because people came out and busied themselves, probably preparing for disembarkation. We stayed close to the whale monster's cheek as we swam to the exit. The mouth was beginning to close. Deen stopped swimming.

She grabbed me and Jubjub. The monster expelled the last of the water in its mouth, spurting us out along with it. Deen hugged us tight as we tumbled in the water. Vortexes spread, left behind by the whale monster retreating into the ocean. Deen, likely guided by her Guardian Angel, dragged us to shore. I stood up and scanned our surroundings, relying only on the fairly bright not-so-full moon and stars. The sky was clear.

This was far from the cruise ship's location, which was supposed to be covered by clouds, blocking the satellites from tracking it. We seemed to be at the mouth of a river. The waters reflected the sky above. I caught the red eyes of our monster ride sinking into the darkness of the open seas. Ocean. If it noticed us inside its mouth, it didn't appear to care. Turning left, I spotted the last fake fishing boat disappear behind the curve of the river flowing inland. A dense jungle surrounded us. Or forest.

Though I watched Animal Planet a lot as a kid, I had no idea the difference between a jungle and a forest. The wind was cool and the insects were loud.

"We're probably somewhere to the south," I said.

"It's a bit too humid. How far could the whale monster have traveled? Past Mexico? Guatemala? El Salvador?" Deen gasped.

"You know what countries are next to Mexico? Did you gain geography superpowers?"

"Ha, ha, and ha. Typical American joke. You're the one not taking this seriously."

"I understand what you were doing earlier," Deen said.

"Talking about random stuff. The nerves are getting to me."

"If you want a distracting topic, here's one: should we remove our wetsuits or not? Getting uncomfy."

"Insects might bite us," Deen replied.

"No way they can bite through our skin," I said.

"But I'm thinking that our clothes might get ruined traversing this jungle. Or forest. The suit stays on."

"We should start moving," Jubjub said.

"We have to trail the boats closely. It'll be a problem if they drop their passengers in an inconspicuous location without us knowing."

"We'll catch up to them." Deen waded through the waist-high grass, following Jubjub. Her waist height. Not mine.

"It'll take them time to unload their mutant experiments cargo."

"Can we turn on some lights, or is that too dangerous?" I asked, following the two shadows taller than me. This wasn't like forests in movies where there was 'movie light' so viewers could see what was going on. It was freaking dark in reality, even with the moon out.

"Gabe is warning me not to," said Deen.

"Danger must be nearby."

"I'll scout," Jubjub said. One of the dark forms ahead of me sunk into the ground.

"Let's not talk, Erind," Deen whispered to me. I wasn't sure if she meant to be careful because Jubjub might be listening, or in general, as in being careful of enemies. She found my hands and placed them around her waist, guiding me through the thicket as we followed the riverbanks. The bag she slung on her shoulder kept hitting me. Deen couldn't see well in the dark either, but her Guardian Angel was guiding her. As for Jubjub, I bet the shadows were like daytime for her.

I sorely wanted to transform into Blanchette. With my enhanced senses, I could navigate this darkness. I could even sniff out enemies. And there was a much more important reason I wanted to transform on top of seeing my path—I didn't want to be barefoot. Rough rocks couldn't cut my soles. That wasn't the issue. I preferred stepping on stones rather than the soil because there might be animal poop there. However, I didn't want to reveal to Jubjub what my transformation looked like.

Having to summon a mask to put on was quite a weakness. I distracted myself with planning. What should be my first act? Should I destroy the boats when they leave? It'd be fun playing a monster in a jungle. Probably too early. When I start to make a move, I should take advantage of the element of surprise. A few minutes later, we rounded the bend of the river's curve and found more zigzagging paths farther inland. We wordlessly hurried, crouching among the tall grass until we glimpsed the last boat. Deen stopped.

She was tensed. I squeezed her waist. She tapped the back of my hand, confirming that there was an enemy. Funny how we understood each other. Deen directed me back to where we came from. I was going to protest but decided to trust her. There was rustling in the bushes.

"What's the intel, Jubilee?" Deen asked. Jubjub emerged from the shadows.

"Three bends from where you stood before turning around, one enemy is perched on the tree right next to the river."