We take a left off the main road we’ve been walking on to follow the sounds of the beast. I question this decision, though only silently. I’ve never encountered a beast that I felt comfortable enough to approach, especially when they were in pain. If they’re in pain, that means something else is inflicting that pain.
Anything or anyone in pain is dangerous.
We walk for quite some time. All the while, the howls and snarls get louder. It isn’t until we’re practically on top of it that I realize it’s obviously being terrorized because its pained howls aren’t long and agonized, like they’re dying and crying.
They’re actively being hurt.
Interestingly, there’s only the sound of one beast, which means it’s not fighting with another.
“Is it caught in a trap?” I wonder, mostly to myself, but it ends up being asked out loud.
“Yes, but probably not in the way you mean,” Notto says.
Once again, I wonder why we’re moving toward it instead of away from it.
By the time we begin to see movement, I catch signs of other monsters. The fires. The chain link gate. The voices, though I can’t make out the words. Laughter.
Notto grips my wrist and pulls me behind a rotted-out car. We’re looking through the window with a direct line of sight to the beast. It’s wrapped in chains, and there are monsters surrounding it with weapons.
“Trying to muzzle it?” I ask. I must be seeing that incorrectly.
“The beasts were created by Silence. When they unleashed them into the world, they were controllable," Keary says. “Until the beasts met their kryptonite—a shade named Rue who had created their image in drawings as a child. Her father, a director of Silence, used her drawings to manufacture these creatures, but he gave them a kill switch in an attempt to protect his daughter.”
“I feel like those are notes you took from the margins of a book, and I don’t have the full story,” I say.
Notto laughs quietly. “Rue overrode their loyalty. They no longer answer to anyone, including her, though they still won’t attack her. They’ll move around her as if she’s not there at all. Ifshe throws herself in their path, they’ll make abrupt turns, even if that means running into a stone building. It’s wild and quite hilarious to see.”
“So these monsters here… What’re they doing?”
“That’s a pod,” Keary says. He grips my arm and points.
My heart stops dead in my chest as I stare at the familiar symbol. A sick feeling twists in my gut, threatening to make me vomit. I can’t look away.
“Is this the pod that killed your parents?”
I shake my head. I’m not sure how I know that, but I’m sure. The color in the center must not match what’s hidden deep in my memory. “That’s not them.”
“They’re probably trying to find a way to turn the switch back on,” Keary answers. “If they can control the beasts’ movements, they have massively dangerous weapons at their disposal. They don’t care how they find the switch.”
“We already know they will use whatever brutal methods they need to meet their goals,” Notto says.
I glance at Drystan. I haven’t spoken more than a couple words here and there to Notto or Drystan since the library. Keary has made himself a barrier between us.
“Do we do something?” I ask.
Notto holds up a little remote. “Already sent the coordinates home. It’ll be taken care of.”
My attention remains trained on the remote until he holds it in the palm of his hand. There are half a dozen buttons on it.
“They’re coded with different languages,” Notto tells me, “to report what we’ve found. It’s equipped with tracking, so not only does it send the message of what we’ve found but also where we found it. This button, the one I hit, said to them that in this spot, they’re messing with the beasts.”
“Messing with? Is that the technical term for what we’re seeing?” I ask.
He gives me an amused grin. “What we know is speculation since they don’t come to weekly meetings to report what they’re up to. We don’t really care what they’re up to. All we want is to stop them from doing it.”
Keary takes my hand, and we head back in the direction we came.
“If your base of monsters is actively hunting these pods, how are there still so many that exist?” I ask.
