"Speech"
'Thoughts'
["Speech Through Technology"]
||
…
I found myself standing inside the restaurant, behind the register, with Ashley to my right. We both wore solemn expressions, as Lucas didn't come in today.
"Are you sure we shouldn't try to find him?" Ashley's defeated tone said everything I needed to know.
"He's already gone," I responded after a few seconds of pause. "Looking for him won't do anything. The body in the alleyway is gone as well."
We were forced into an uncomfortable silence. The memory of losing a friend brought a—I'm not sure the right word for it—heavy? Yes, a heavy feeling.
For me, it was much better to have silent conversations with Malo than with Ashley about the difficulties of losing someone.
I let the hours pass by until someone passed through the restaurant doors. My eyes widened at who it was that came through the door.
"Antonio? What are you doing here?" The confusion was clear in my voice. The random appearance didn't make sense with the timeline of things in my head.
Ashley was long gone, as she had to fill Lucas' position. I didn't blame her; the previous atmosphere was filled with moderate resentment and anger toward the situation itself.
"Can't a man come and check on his own restaurant?" Antonio spoke with confidence and a smidge of pride. "I barely work as it is, and coming here is the only time I get to work my legs."
I nodded but chose not to say anything.
Antonio, who was walking to the break room, suddenly stopped.
"By the way, did Lucas come in today? I sent him a message a while ago, but he never responded."
"Huh?" I instinctively responded, "Uhhh, I don't think he showed up today."
Antonio nodded, hand forming into a fist that rested underneath his chin, taking in a few seconds of silence before speaking. "Then I'll need you to do something for me."
"Is this something Lucas was supposed to do?" I asked hesitantly, but ultimately, I was only half bothered by the request.
"No, it's not," Antonio patted both his pockets, his face wrinkling as he realized whatever he wanted wasn't there. "I need you to deliver a pizza. A medium, half pepperoni, and half cheese pizza."
"I don't have a car." Instantly came from my mouth, "How would I deliver it?"
My hand raised, and poised to the side along with my confused expression, seemed to make Antonio do a double-take.
"It's fine, it's fine. The place you're delivering to is only around a block away." Antonio said as he began his quick walk to the break room. "I'll get the address for you, just focus on making the pizza."
As Antonio was about to enter the break room, he suddenly paused. "Wait…"
Turning toward me, he continued. "You do know how to make pizza, right?"
Before I could answer, he sighed.
"If you do, that's fine, and if you don't, just get Ashley or Amelia to help you."
And with that, Antonio disappeared into the break room. I, on the other hand, found myself standing up. I needed to pretend not to know how to make a pizza so Ashley would make it for me.
I put myself into the 'work smarter, not harder,' category. Even still, I didn't want to deliver this at all.
And as I entered the kitchen, I found Ashley. She was sitting down in a seat while on her phone.
It wasn't my first time in here, but as I looked to my right and saw the type of built-in oven every old pizza place has, I ended up reminiscing.
The memory replayed in my head like it had happened a few seconds ago: Lucas had taught me how to make pizza.
It was on one of the days we were just fucking around. He had made what he called "The Log." It was a meat-lover's stuffed-crust pizza with bacon on it.
The reason he called it "The Log" was that, while it tasted good, you'd be shitting your guts out trying to push it out.
Or, in his words, "Because that's what it feels like to push it out."
I'm pretty sure he was just lactose intolerant. I never had any trouble with the pizza whenever I ate it.
Skipping the rest of memory lane, I made my way to Ashley. Her head lifted from her phone view, and she directly locked eyes with me.
"Medium pizza, half cheese, and half pepperoni." The second I finished speaking, Ashley's eyes seemed to widen a bit in what looked to be recognition.
"And this is for...?"
"Ahh, Antonio said something about me delivering a pizza, and that was just the specific order he gave me. I was wondering if you'd make it for me." I gave a smile and two thumbs up as I made my demands known, disguised as a plea.
Ashley, however, seemed to be lost in space—or maybe the moment—as she stopped moving and stared at me for a couple of seconds too long.
She seemed to realize this a second later and immediately tried to respond. "Uhh, yeah, sure. I can make it for you."
With the downtime of waiting for the pizza to be done, I went to get the address I was delivering to.
Antonio had written down an address on a posted note and handed it to me. Putting my GPS to use for the first time in forever, I was pleasantly surprised that the place I was delivering to was around two blocks away.
When the pizza was finally ready, I got one of those insulated red delivery bags I always saw in advertisements.
Putting the pizza box into the bag, I sealed it and picked it up.
As I walked out of the restaurant, I saw Ashley half-waving at me. Her hand was only around chest level, and I could barely make it out, but I still waved back.
Outside the restaurant, I looked at the directions on my phone with Malo beside me.
Turning to Malo, I said one word. "Ready?" And I received a nod in return as quickly as I asked.
Facing forward, I took my first step toward the destination–
"Dante, wait!"
And heard a shout of my name come from behind me. Almost sighing, I turned around to find Ashley, hand still extended.
"Yeah?" Came from my mouth with the flattest tone I think I've ever used.
All the momentum Ashley seemed to have built fell flat in an instant as she couldn't get out what she was trying to say. She hadn't even said a word, so I couldn't try to hint at what she was trying to say.
"Don't… don't deliver that pizza." Ashley managed to say, as if it were the hardest thing in the world to say.
"Hmm, why not?" I responded in the most oblivious tone I could manage. The type of tone someone would use if they're making a joke about their death before they die.
"Because if you do, you'll–you'll–" Ashley, despite being serious, couldn't get the words out.
"I'll die?" I took the words right out from under her. The surprise on her face said it all. She didn't think I would guess it from my nonchalant demeanor.
"Yes, you'll die." She responded as if it were a fact.
"Oh, I already know."
Pure silence reigned after those words came out of my mouth.
"You know…?" I could hear the disbelief in Ashley's voice. After all, it wasn't every day you gave out life-saving information only to have the other party tell you they knew all along.
"I mean, it was obvious," I said as I rolled my eyes and flicked my hand in the air, "Barely anyone comes to this restaurant. The only ones that show up besides the workers are creatures of nightmares, and you expect me to believe this isn't some sort of human farm?"
Ashley stood there, eyes wide, and her mouth opening and closing, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing but also couldn't respond.
"I'm probably being sent to some unknown creature as a sacrifice, and the whole delivering of this pizza is a cover story.
Actually, nah, I'm definitely being fed to some creature. I wanted to see how far it would go, though." I let a slight smirk rest on my face as I finished speaking.
"If you knew then, why even bother? You could leave at any time!"
Ashley was right; I didn't need money. I didn't need to work here, and I didn't need to put myself in such danger.
I only had one answer to that question.
"Because you knew." And that answer immediately cut Ashley off. "You knew I was going to be sacrificed."
She knew I was going to be sacrificed and told me, and so she must have some insider information for this to be possible. In other words, she has done this before.
And when I said to myself, I only had one answer, I was lying. Truthfully, I can pretend. Pretend that they aren't as competent as I believe, pretend they will allow me to go, and pretend that everything will be fine once I hole up in my house, but none of that is true.
If I don't kill this creature, they will find me once again. I'd rather get the edge and attack first than be unprepared for an attack I know is coming someday.
"But I don't blame you," I said, breaking the silence between us. "It's just how it has to be."
That was the truth. I didn't blame her much. She did tell me at the bare minimum.
Turning around, I made my way to my supposed demise.
…
'Uhhh, is this really the place?' I thought internally, just in case my voice would have alerted anything waiting.
The house had certainly seen better days. It was huge but also very old-looking. The grass was cut, which was weird.
There didn't seem to be anyone in the house. As seen from the windows, there wasn't a single light on in the house.
As I got closer to the front door, I noticed some of the paint near the bottom of the house seemed to be coming off.
Taking soft, basically silent steps to the front door. I softly placed the insulated bag on the floor.
About to knock on the door, my knuckles touched the door softly. Instead of the usual feeling of a closed door, the door softly gave way, opening just slightly.
From that slight gap, I saw pitch black darkness. A slight draft even leaked out, and when I breathed in, I smelt it.
A putrid odor.
Softly, I began backing away. I didn't even look at the bag I came to deliver.
My heart was beating rapidly in my chest, so much so that I tried to get Malo to lift me, but I could barely articulate what I wanted without speaking.
In the end, she ended up grabbing me the wrong way. I once more tried to articulate moving me quickly, but the second she lifted me and I was fully turned away, I felt something grab—wrap—around my stomach.
Looking down, I found myself looking at a large tendril of some kind wrapped around my stomach.
'You're joking.' That was the only thought I had before pain instantly assaulted me.
"UHGHHH! Let go! Let go!" I screamed to Malo as the tendril fought to pull me against her impossible strength.
It felt like I was being ripped in two, like—'Ahh, she let go.'
*CRASH*
My body hit something that felt like a wooden table. Breaking through the table, my body rolled until I slammed against a wall.
I coughed, my lungs barely working due to the force I was slammed with. I hadn't even had time to recognize myself being pulled into the house.
Opening my eyes, I quickly closed them and felt the putrid air fly past my face. Or rather, I was the thing moving.
I heard the sound of heavy thuds in places I was, but wasn't anymore. I couldn't make sense of up, down, left, or right. I just kept my eyes closed as Malo pulled me around.
'Ok, think! You can't see, but you have ideas.' I thought in my head as the air and sounds of thuds grew sporadic. 'The creature you're fighting should be a range type. It has long tendrils that it uses to fight.'
I knew it had to be multiple tendrils due to how the thuds in the room sounded. They were too fast for them to be retracted like a spear, so it had to be that the creature had multiple.
The sounds of the thuds and the feeling of wind brushing against me grew closer. This creature was trying to learn Malo's movement patterns throughout the room.
In other words, it was intelligent, maybe highly intelligent. If I didn't do something soon, it would land a strike soon.
But what could I do? The room is pitch black, and I have no idea where the main body of the creature could be.
Maybe I could open my eyes, get used to the darkness, or use my phone's flashlight?
It's all risky. My luck was never the greatest. If anything, I would align with a Lancer's E-Rank luck.
'You've got this! Open your eyes, flashlight, and run.' I thought to myself as I held my phone in my hand.
3.
2.
1.
I opened my eyes and quickly—
*BANG*
*Click*
...…
..s..df…..
d....f.fg.g.....
("You seem so perfect in my mind—")
....wh...at...
Bl..ack..out??
("—fect like the tide—")
…Think…
Re..call?
Can…t..
("Oh, how I've tried—")
Pho…memo..ry..?.?
("Hey, oh, what'd you say—")
…m…music…
…
The creature looked rather proud of itself. This was the first time prey that was brought was so slippery.
Its triangular-shaped head opened four ways like a blooming flower. Multiple tendril-like tongues retracted into its split maw.
From its back, multiple tendrils retreated into the holes along its spine. The creature was quadrupedal but was currently standing on its hind legs.
The tall ceiling of this particular house allowed it to stay hidden and attack from unknown locations.
Each of its legs held five finger-like digits. The spine was vivid, even through the skin, causing the creature to look emaciated. It rubbed its hands together while cleaning the tendrils it used to attack.
However, something suddenly caught its attention, causing the creature to pause.
The human it had so painstakingly chased had gotten up. Not gotten up as in, 'I still have a bit of fight left!' But more so as if he were fully fine. He had been jerking around on the floor for a while, but that didn't seem to change much.
And he began dancing?
Weirdly intrigued, the creature allowed the display to continue.
'Some kind of mating ritual?' The creature thought skeptically. 'I haven't tried mixing genes with a human male before.'
The dance, from the creature's perspective, felt incomplete; It was like watching one half of a display without being able to see the other.
So, without hesitation, the creature opened its mouth and struck out with its tongue. The barbed tongue quickly flew towards Dante.
And when it was about to hit, Dante shimmied to the side. His dance seemed undisturbed by the attempted assault.
The creature's eyes widened, and a large number of tendrils from its back immediately surged forward.
However, every single one of them was dodged using a dance move. Each step, each tilt of the head, each move of his waist was somehow dodging the onslaught.
'That's enough!' The creature thought as it pulled all its tendrils back and prepared for one attack that would be sure to end the farce in front of it.
…
Do you hear that? I swear, in this moment, I can hear music.
The pitch-black darkness that encompassed me disappeared. Yet, for some reason, I can't help but keep my vision on her.
My heart beat rapidly; our heights were no longer far apart. Both of us, the exact same height, were moving in sync.
At first, it was small movements. Somehow, we both did the same movements, almost as if knowing what the other would do.
And quickly, it transformed into a linked dance of both of our movements as one. Even as the wind blew past me multiple times, I just kept my eyes locked with hers.
It was as if I could feel her voice in my head and feel her feelings press against my heart. Every move I made, no matter how complex or fluid, she made without error.
Being right in front of each other, our pelvises nearly touching, I did the only thing I could do at this moment. Break it down.
My arms became fluid, stopping just as abruptly and continuing down my body. Bringing it down to my legs, I froze and turned my body.
My head stayed locked in her direction as she copied my movements. Kicking one of my legs in one fluid movement, I paused and began moonwalking.
Spinning at the end of the moonwalk, I threw out my right hand. My hand interlocked with hers as we spun, swapping positions. The wind whipped past my face as we did so.
Turning back towards her fully, we pressed together tightly. Her face was almost touching mine due to the closeness.
However, both of my hands came in front of my chest. Pushing my hands down softly, I moved my chest back as if my hands were a wave. The lower my hands got, the more parts of my body moved back.
My hair brushes against my face as I fully move back. Only then did reality cut back in.
Between us was a tendril that neither of us could see before. The whisper of whatever music was playing in my ear was getting louder.
My heartbeat accelerated as I realized what Malo wanted to do. My feelings fed into hers, and hers fed into mine.
Rushing through the tendril, Malo grabbed me, spun me, and immediately threw me up the tendril. The second my feet touched the tendril in question, I felt my body moving abnormally fast as I rushed the ugly creature in question.
Its face split like a horrid flower, multiple tendrils rushing towards me at a pace I could barely react to. Though it seemed I didn't need to react to it, as my body moved by itself.
Each tendril dodged, jumped over, or ducked, and I continued climbing one after another toward the creature.
As I got up to the large main body of the creature, I felt an idea press against me. My heartbeat accelerated, and I immediately tried bringing the idea to reality.
Jumping much farther than I could normally, I lashed out with a kick. Without blinking, I was displaced, the light only reaching my eyes as I lashed out with a second kick to the other side of its face.
Once more, my vision was displaced, and lashing out with a third kick, I blinked and was completely behind the creature. With both of my feet off the ground, I turned my head to see the creature try to move.
In other words, it flinched.
And my kicks immediately took effect. Massive amounts of air were displaced, and that's when I knew I did it.
The third stance! I landed it!
A smile of raw emotion practically split my face. I was slow; that wasn't the true version of the move, and I could barely even react to what I was doing.
*click*
The only way to fix this problem? Land it again! Do it better! I need more experience!
Running back over to the creature, it quickly turned around.
*EUUGHHHHHAHHH!!*
A disgusting cry tore from its throat as it began trying to lash out at me.
With my accelerated movement, I jumped over the flurry of attacks. Bringing my leg up, I brought it down hard.
The tendril went from a straight line to almost a right angle. I quickly lashed out with more kicks, all hitting home.
Jumping forward once more, I lashed out with a kick. After that kick, two more quickly joined it before I reappeared in the air behind the creature.
This time I could actually see what I was doing!
The creature, not understanding the martial art, flinched once more.
*BANG*
The wind displaced harder than the first time. I could even hear the sound of cracking.
'Once more! I need one more!' I thought in a focus craze.
This time, however, I was shot through the air without landing or touching anything. Pulling back my leg, I lashed out with all my might.
I borderline slid past the creature mid-air as I delivered the three kicks.
*WOOSH*
The air flying past me from the kicks I landed, I heard the sound of cracking. Looking back, the creature's skull had fully fractured and fallen off.
Pieces of its grey matter hit the floor as I began calming down. The body fully fell over, hitting the ground.
The putrid eldritch creature had died.
Falling to the ground, I slowly turned around. Finding Malo standing behind me like I knew she was, we fell back into that comfortable dance of dual movement.
As we danced, I could finally hear the words in the back of my mind.
'Hey, oh, what'd you say?
Oh, what did you say just now?
Watch what you say.
Cause baby, you'll break my heart…' Singing the lyrics of my heart in my head, I continued dancing with Malo.
*click*
Wait, what the fuck am I doing? Why am I dancing? A pulse of pain cut in from the back of my head. Flinching, my hand rubbed the back of my head, and I felt liquid.
Pulling my hand to my face, I saw blood. I'm bleeding and might have a concussion.
Then it cut in. The previous memories of what I was doing—shame, pure shame—washed over me, and it was no better thanks to the fact that I could feel Malo's confusion and now shame burrowing into me.
"Lord, please let nobody know about this."
…
Pushing open the restaurant doors, I was met with the pleasant surprise of Antonio looking in the other direction.
The person in question immediately turned around, and his expression dropped.
"Dante, what are you doing here?" As Antonio spoke, he began taking steps back, as if he saw a ghost.
"Oh, you look surprised to see me?!" I said as I—very angrily—walked over towards Antonio.
"Surprised?! I wouldn't say surprised—" Antonio was promptly lifted by his collar into the air before he could finish speaking.
"You wouldn't say surprised?! I sure as hell would! After trying to feed me to that disgusting thing, who'd think I'd be alive?!" My slight rant shut him up completely, as he couldn't think of anything to refute what I said.
"How did you get out alive? A human shouldn't be able to—"
"Beat a monster?" I cut Antonio off as he struggled against my grasp that held him off the ground. "I did what any other human can do: beat the shit out of it with punches and kicks. It died after I spilled its brains out onto the floor!"
Antonio's reaction held only astonishment and anger. "Do you know what you've done?" He responded immediately without thinking of who he was talking to.
"It was the only thing protecting this restaurant!" The second those words left Antonio's mouth, I dropped his ass to the floor.
"You've doomed us!" He scrambled up to say.
"Doomed? That creature wasn't protecting shit. Lucas died long before that creature moved a step! It was only guarding its territory, and you were dumb enough to feed it!" My rage spilled over as I berated the old, moronic store owner.
"Lucas is dead!?" The information I gave made Antonio freeze.
"Can't believe it, can you? The poor, disgusting creature lied to the poor, defenseless human. 'But we had a deal!' That's probably what you're thinking! Liars exist everywhere, dumb fuck!" I could feel this conversation getting me rationally mad.
"You should consider yourself lucky; I don't feel like hiding another corpse," I said as I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. "So, let me ask you this: arm or leg?"
"What do you mean by that?" Antonio spoke very hesitantly.
"Which one do you want to keep more?" I said as I crouched over his fallen form.
Antonio stayed silent for a long while before finally giving his answer. "My leg."
I immediately kicked him hard in the knee.
"AEEGGHHHHH!" A disgusting whine left his mouth as he grabbed his knee. "Why! Why! I said I wanted to keep my leg!"
"Now that you can no longer run from your problems, you have to actually sit down and think if you want to survive!" I spat aggressively.
"You have 15 seconds to convince me not to break any of your other limbs." It wasn't an ask; it was a matter of fact. If he didn't give me a reason, I would do what I said.
Antonio quickly began looking around the room. He looked unsure as I counted down with my fingers.
"Five."
"Fine! Fine!" Antonio finally spoke, interrupting the countdown. "I'll increase your pay!"
"By how much?"
"Twenty dollars an hour!" A massive grin appeared on his face as he said it.
"Wow, your life is only worth twenty dollars an hour? I'm surprised." The way his face immediately changed into a grim look made me grin.
"Please, this restaurant doesn't even make any money! I'm at a net loss here!" Antonio begged.
"Twenty dollars an hour, full-time pay, and you're covering for all the money taxes take from me." As soon as I finished speaking, Antonio immediately nodded his head in agreement. "Good, this restaurant is under new management."
...
(A/N: Song: Heart Of Glass (feat. Rachie) by Alohaii.)
(A/N(2): The editor made me change some things and my OCD is killing me trying to find errors in my work over and over again. If you see an error then point it out.)