Bloody, Brawling Business CH6

 

Newton would’ve jumped out of the moving car if it meant he'd get away with the skull. But the drive was short and Tiro had made sure to keep it out of Newton’s reach the whole way. It moved from Tiro’s hands to Yara’s as he started to drive, then to the floor of the front passenger seat when she’d gotten tired of holding it. 

  “Can I hold the skull,” Newton asked after Tiro had parked the car.

  “It’s best I keep it concealed for now,” Tiro said, as Yara passed it to him. He stuffed it in his coat and got out of the car.

  Newt followed suit. They were parked in front of a wide brick building with a slightly slanted metal roof. Above the glass sliding doors at the front was a sign in silver letters reading ‘Kale’s Funerals’.

  The glass doors parted automatically for Tiro and Yara as they approached. 

  “Don’t fall behind,” Tiro called back to Newton. “You can easily get lost in here.”

  Newt followed them in, making sure to keep them in sight as Tiro led them through the building. It was as if he owned the place, pushing open doors as he pleased, and prioritising the ones that said staff only.

  Towards the back of the building was a massive elevator which immediately opened when Tiro called it. They all hopped in, Tiro pressed one of the only two buttons on the wall, and It lowered them slowly. If the lift was the only way out, it’d be impossible for Newt to get away with the skull. 

  The doors opened into a bright room with two rows of what looked like bulky metal cabinets on either side of a long, cloth covered bench which stretched down the center of the space. On the bench lay a man whose long grey hair dangled off its sides. Tiro and Yara approached him. Newton copied.

  The man seemed to have aged to death. The grey skin on his cheek was folded over itself and his bony hands lay still over his belly. Tiro lifted one of his arms by the wrist and dropped it. The man’s lengthy fingernails clattered on the benchtop as his arm fell to his side. 

  Tiro knelt down until his face was level with the side of the man’s head. “Kale!” he shouted and the man sat right up. 

  “He’s not dead?” Newton said.

  “No,” said Tiro.

  He drew his eyes open and he let out a cough. “What is it?” Kale wheezed.

  “Can you open the freezer?” Tiro responded.

  The man looked at Tiro, blinking rapidly as if trying to jumpstart his eyes. “Tiro? When did you come through?”

  “Earlier tonight. You saw me on my way out, remember?”

  “Not at all,” said Kale.

  Tiro chuckled which caused Yara to smile. “Didn’t expect you to,” he said. “Can you open the freezer?”

  Kale dangled his legs off the side of the bench and Tiro supported him as he slowly lowered himself to the floor. “Which one was it?” Kale asked.

  “Over here. This one,” Tiro said as he moved over to one of the cabinets, his finger pointing directly at it.

  Tiro started to remove his coat while Kale hobbled towards the freezer and took a key from around his neck. 

  “Put this on,” Tiro said, tossing it to Newt. “And tie it tight.”

  Newt looked inside the coat for the skull but couldn’t find it. 

  “Quickly,” Tiro said, tossing the skull in the air and catching it.

  “Be careful!” Newt growled.

  Tiro’s face twisted into a sinister, smug look. He raised the skull into the air and threw it down to the floor. Newton felt air from the skull brush his face as it hit the solid ground with a massive, BANG! that reverberated through the room. Kale looked like he was about to have a heart attack. He stopped exactly where, key extended towards the freezer door. Tiro copped a glare from Yara, and rushed to recover the skull.

  Newt threw Tiro’s coat onto the ground and stepped on it, on his way to its owner. Just as he was about to leap at the man, Tiro picked up the skull and raised it up towards Newt. 

  “Here,” Tiro said. He was met with silence from Newt who quickly swiped the skull out of his hand. 

  Newt inspected it for damage, turning it over and observing it and every angle. He couldn’t find a single blemish. He was about to turn his back and walk off, but Tiro grabbed his elbow and snatched the skull back. 

  “I’ll let you hold on to it after you put the coat on and do as I say,” He said, then turned to Kale. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Oh, yes,” said Kale.

  Newton did as he was told, and was mesmerised by the quality of the coat. He tied it so tight, it wrapped completely around his body, shoulders to feet. Even so, the coat allowed him to move with complete freedom, and it provided a cozy, airy warmth, unlike any of the jumpers he’d owned, which would trap boiling heat and keep it pressed against his skin. It was more like a robe than a coat, he thought.

  The coat’s enchantment broke when Newt looked up and was caught under the stare of familiar dark yellow eyes, the colour that he’d only ever seen on one body, the one in Scarlet’s basement. The body that lay on the freezer tray was covered in a white cloth, from belly to feet. It looked similar to the one in Scarlet’s trunk, but older. This one had facial hair and more muscle while the one at Scarlet’s had a clean shaven face and was noticeably skinnier. Newt didn’t want to mention Scarlet’s one, just in case Tiro used it as an excuse to go back to her house, so instead he asked, “Who is that?”

  “Why? Have you seen him before?” Tiro asked.

  “No, but why is he out of the freezer?”

  “You’ll see. Touch him.”

  “What?” Newton took a few steps back.

  “C’mon, Touch him,” Tiro repeated.

  “No.”

  “Do as I say or I’ll have to keep holding onto the skull.”

  “Fine,” Newton said, as he went over and stood to the side of the corpse. “But if I don’t ge-”

  Newt put his hand on the corpse's shoulder and felt every part of his body instantly burn. There was a moment when he felt nothing, then the man’s shoulder under his palm, then a gasp of air filling his mouth and lungs, and finally he could see again.

  He was in the middle of a torchlit, stone room with no one in sight. He looked at his hand and found it still connected to the corpse which was now laying on a wooden table, wearing a yellowing frizzy cloth. Newt broke his touch.

  A few seconds later, Tiro and Yara appeared on the other side of the corpse. Tiro seemed more comfortable touching it, Yara on the other hand spared no second to be in contact with it any longer than she needed.

  “Where are we?” Newton asked.

  To Newt’s surprise, Tiro gave an actual answer. “We’re in a confidential room, located inside the town hall of a city called Bame. And you don’t have to worry, Kale will store your clothes and belongings for when you go back.”  

  Only now had Newt just realised that he was completely naked under the coat.

  “How come you still have your clothes?” Newt asked Tiro.

  “I wouldn’t be able to explain that to you right now,” Tiro replied.

  Newt groaned at the answer. “Anyway, you said I could have the skull back.” Newt held out his hand.

  “I said you could hold onto it, once you did everything I told you to. I’ll only tell you one last thing anyway.”

  “What,” Newton grumbled.

  “Come for a walk with us.”

  Newt let Tiro lead him out of the town hall. Again, he walked through the empty building as if he was its owner, though he didn’t seem to know where he was going this time. He’d led them in circles and entered some doors just to turn right around and go back through them. They didn’t seem to go anywhere important either, mostly hallways and what seemed to be a couple of meeting rooms, and the place was massive, yet they didn’t meet a single person.

  “They leave the place unguarded?” said Newt.

  “No citizen of Bame can enter most of the rooms here without authorization,” Said Tiro.

    “Thieves don’t care about authority, you’re a prime example of that,” Newton said.

  “It’s not that they’re not allowed,” Said Yara. “It’s that they physically can’t.”

  “How does that work?” Newton asked.

  “Another thing I-”

  “Can’t explain,” Newt finished for Tiro. “Ofcourse.”

  “For now.” Said Tiro. “We do have one guard y’know? For those people who aren’t citizens.”

  “And he doesn’t notice us walking through the building?”

  “He knows, but I have the authority to do so, so we’re not a matter for him to deal with.”

  As they found the foyer some minutes later and exited the building, Newt tried to retrace their path in his head, but he couldn’t make it back to the room where the corpse was. He was just going to need to break in when the time came to go back home. He wasn’t a citizen of Bame afterall. He didn’t need authority.

Newton kept at Tiro’s side as they walked through the night coated village streets. It set him off that it was as empty as the town hall had been. The houses they passed were old fashioned, structures with wooden frames, stone foundations, tiled roofs, and bricked chimneys. The street they walked on was cobbled and stretched on as far as Newton could see, probably further at the moment, there weren’t any streetlamps.

  “This may be too complex of a question for you, but where is everyone?” Newton asked.

  “I can answer that one,” Tiro said. “But I won't. We’re turning here.”

    They turned into a street, almost identical to the last except for an orange glow, illuminating the other end. It was a far walk, but as they approached Newton could start to make out the sound of yelling and chatting, he could also see figures passing through the light.

  “What country are we in?” Newt asked.

  “Not one you’d know of.” Tiro replied.

  “Doubt you know either,” Newton shot back.

  “Kholorine.” Tiro said.

  Newton was taken back. “You made that up,” he said.

  The eerie feeling of the town’s vacancy had completely vanished by the time Newton stepped into the light. The street they were now on was filled with shopfronts and stalls. It was packed with people walking up and down, all with distinct faces. 

  Newt got distracted as a heap of green fur brushed past him. Newton jumped away and stared at the strange creature as it passed. It was as tall as him with a meaty body, supported by wide, fatty legs each of which ended in a circular stump. The stumps flopped on the stone as the creature moved, pulling along a massive wagon. Newton watched in awe as its long neck extended from its body, holding its head high above the crowd which parted for it, though it didn’t draw many eyes. We can’t still be earth, Newton thought.

  As a couple rushed by, Newt couldn’t help but catch what they were saying. 

  “Let’s drop these off back home and come back for the rest,” the woman whined.

  “It’s only a few more things,” the man replied.

  They were speaking a rough, throaty language which Newton didn’t recognise. It instantly brought a question to mind. Newton was reluctant, but asked anyway. 

  “How can I understand them?”

  “I can answer you, but there’s something I want to ask you first,” Tiro said.

  “Hurry up then,” said Newt.

  “Your sister led a life that you knew nothing about, and it’s no doubt connected to this place. If you really want to discover more about her, you should remain here with us.” 

  “What do you care about Scarlet’s past?”  

  “She may be a very important factor in understanding some things that have been happening recently, here in Bame. If you do stay, and you should, you’ll want to, You’d need to become a citizen of Bame. If you do, and only if you do, I will let you keep this.” Tiro presented the skull to Newton. “And only then can I answer your questions. So will you stay here for the time being?”