Underland(4)

“It’s insane!” Alpo cried.

“No, she’s drunk. It’s a possible side effect from the chocolate and the high. It only happens to humans—if the person hasn’t eaten in a while.” Kira felt the man look her over again as if judging her. “By the way, Vic. You owe me thirty freedom tokens for that chocolate.”

“What! That’s absurd. It’s sewer-way robbery!”

“Thirty. Because I saved her life, and you wouldn’t have made one freedom token if she was crazy. The zekes don’t like to eat crazies, tends to make them unpredictable.” He was the only one who referred to her as a person.

Vic looked at something metal on his wrist and grimaced. “Uh, I’ll have to pay you back as soon as we sell it.”

Kira bit her lip to keep anymore stupid giggles from escaping her lips. She would not make a fool of herself. When she felt she had finally regained command and her composure, she turned toward where the boat was taking them—and almost lost it again.

An underground city. Alit with various Christmas lights, neon, and what looked to be some old restaurant signs. It must stretch for miles. Kira saw skyscrapers, oddly-shaped buildings, stores all made from rusted, recycled metals and stone.

It was hideously beautiful.

The boat slowed as Alpo maneuvered it towards the dock. The man with the cape jumped out first and secured the tether. When Vic got out, he hauled Kira up after him, but her legs were weak and still bound, and she crashed to the wooden dock. Vic leaned down, unstrapped the belt from her ankles, and demanded she walk.

She got her bearings and watched as the man that had no name gave her one last long look before turning his back and disappearing among the throng of people.

She turned to take in the mass of passersby. No one even considered lending a hand. A large man, probably the harbormaster, came over to speak with Vic. His leathery skin stretched tightly over his odd and otherworldly face. He stopped, staring at her with jaundiced yellow eyes, and then opened his mouth and hissed at her.

She jumped back in surprise, but managed to shoot him an irritated look.

But then it hit her. She studied the harbormaster, looked at the nearest passerby, and realized just what the oddity was. She swallowed and tried to take a step back toward the boat, back to a semblance of safety.

The few sparse feet of dock was the only thing that separated her from a city full of monsters.





Chapter 3

Kira wasn’t sure which oddity truly awakened her to her non-human counterparts first. It could have been the ten-foot troll selling hotdogs, or what she hoped were hotdogs—the toppings looked questionable and nothing like relish. Or maybe it was the manticore pushing a baby carriage full of kittens.

Kira stood frozen. Alpo had to physically lift her and drag her into the city. Maybe she had hit her head harder than she thought. Maybe she was just delusional.

But the farther they walked, the more complex her dream became. There was a small dragon wearing a cap and selling newspapers. A half-man, half-bear was leaning against a dented taxi, waiting for a patron. Did his fares ever ask to go to the surface? There were werewolves, trolls, ogres, and even a few that looked human, like Vic and Alpo. But Kira had to wonder if that was just a ruse. This city didn’t cater to the human kind. The multifaceted monster city thriving under Portland filled her with so many unanswered questions that Kira completely forgot about escape.

She lost her chance when Vic and Alpo took her to Grater, a five-foot rat with long yellowed teeth that jutted over his bottom lip, who immediately started pawing her body in examination.

Her first response was to freeze at the hand reaching for her, but then she shook off her creepy memories and fought. Kira threw her head back and head butted Alpo, who held her from behind.

“Oi, that ’urt,” he grunted and his fingers dug into her arms.

Kira twisted her body and used Alpo to kick the giant rat. He backed off, but not before she spat at him. She had to assume he was the one who was going to buy her, and she wanted to deter him by being as disgusting as she could.

She examined him at the same time. One large round ear was torn, and his tail had seen better days—no tip. The rat wore clothes that looked to have come out of a garbage bin. Kira could respect that because she shopped dumpsters herself.

Grater walked around Kira, his long nose brushing against her shoulder and sniffing her hair. “This one smells of the surface. What slave farm did you say you got it from?”

Vic rolled his shoulders and smiled. “My Uncle’s in San Fran. I had to travel a ways to bring it, and our home tunnel was blocked so we had to take a detour through the surface. But you can tell by looking at it, it’s from down here.” He sounded like a used car salesman.

“He’s lying.” Kira glared at Vic and Alpo.

Vic’s eyes went wide in pretend shock. “How can you say such a thing? We’ve taken such good care of you.” He turned his back and addressed Grater. “That’s what we get for getting too attached to them. You start giving them privileges, feed them, and sooner or later, they turn on you.” He paused and looked at Kira sadly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out what she presumed was forged paperwork, with her fake identity on it.

“I’ve never seen you before in my life. You kidnapped me from outside the Pearl District. I don’t know you.” Kira wasn’t sure what good trying to prove her humanity would do, but she obviously didn’t belong down here.