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I think convincing my roommate to get some counselling was a good idea. Sunny started to make friends in the sorting room at the mailing company. I was glad that Max and I weren’t the only people he had to talk to. A big day arrived, and Sunny’s mood dropped. I hated the fact I needed to work that day and offered to stay home for him. Sunny refused and helped me get ready.
He got in contact with a group of the same creatures from his species. I encouraged him to meet with them because no matter how hard I tried, I would never understand what he needed to deal with in his day-to-day life. I was human. He wasn’t. He didn’t want to meet the others feeling a little bit of something like survivor’s guilt. He gained his freedom before he was bought and sold to be used. Some of the slime creatures in the group hadn’t been so lucky. Sunny didn’t feel as if he had any right talking with them, but I gently forced him to try a single meeting. I hated how he refused to let me stay to see how it went. But I understood he didn’t want me to hover. He needed to deal with some issues on his own.
I double-checked I had everything in my pockets. Snack for myself, snack for Max, and the Sunlight from Trin I forgot to bring it most days. Sunny let me give him an encouraging hug and I was off to work. The Zero room was oddly busy. I’ve never seen so many people inside it at once. All of them wore the same mailing uniform. Most looked almost entirely human aside from some odd features here and there. I found Max in the small crowd and asked him what was going on.
“Oh, we all have an easy job but it can be dangerous. There are going to be a few groups to finish delivering supplies and-”
Max got cut off by someone requesting some help to lift a very heavy box from the pile on the other side of the room. I nodded and let him hurry off to work. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on so a creature that stood nearby started to fill me in. He had a mouth that went from his forehead to his chin with countless teeth showing and no other features. His long black hair was tied back in a bun, and I wondered how he did his hair so well without any eyes.
“We’ll be delivering goods to a Corporation training ground.” He explained as I followed to help him pick up some wooden boxes.
“Training?” I asked trying to think back to what The Corporation was.
“Yeah. There is a cave where the worlds are thin. The cave connects to a world of creatures that devour everything, but they go feral for magic. If there is too much in the cave, they can break through the seal to pour through to this world. That’s why all the weaker mailmen are doing the delivery today.” He explained as we stacked boxes near the open doorway.
I found it hard to tell which creatures were stronger than others. I didn’t have a clue just how much magic the creature that just spoke to me held. Apparently, Rufus was a bit of a big deal, but he never gave off those kinds of vibes. I opened my mouth to ask more questions but got cut off.
“Tulip, can you come over here?” A new voice called off to the side
The creature turned his head at the request. He then got ready to leave to find the person that called him over. I wasn’t expecting his name to be something so cute. He stopped just long enough to tell me something.
“You’re the human, right? A lot of us want to thank you for doing this job. We never felt strong enough but if a weak human could do this, we all figured we could. This might not have even been considered as an option until you lived for so long.”
I never thought about that. I looked around the busy room wondering how many of these creatures applied to the job because they saw I was doing so well. It did help the company out a lot. Max and I normally picked up the easy jobs to free up the stronger workers for harder delivery jobs. Sunny working in the sorting room meant one more delivery person could work in the field. I gave the creature a nod unsure of how to respond. His odd mouth widened into an unnerving smile. Tulip left to find his partner leaving me alone.
I wasn’t sure what else to do besides help move more boxes near the door. I spotted another deliveryman having issues picking up a box. I went over to him and bent down to take the other end of the box for him.
“Need a hand?” I offered and immediately wanted to kick myself.
“Actually, I do.” He said in a kind tone.
When we both straightened up, I saw the left jacket sleeve empty. His lips were also torn on his left side revealing some teeth. It looked like he lived through some sort of rough attack. I panicked wondering how to save myself from what I just said. He smiled in a way that would endear him to anyone. He had the same kind of charm Max held.
His hair was a light cream color and tied back. His left eye a light blue while the other a deep coffee brown. I’ve never heard a person with such a calm tone to their voice. I rarely liked a person as quickly as I did with him.
“You’re Toby, right? We’ll be partners for this job. My name is Jackalope.” He introduced himself.
With the box in his arm, he wasn’t able to shake my hand. At least I didn’t extend my hand for one that wasn’t there. Max came over glad to see I had already found the person I was working with that day. Since I was the one without any magic, I was the safest option to go to the bottom floor of the cave. Jackalope was picked as my partner because he was strong, but currently recovering from an injury, which I assumed to be his missing arm. If something happened, he could help me get to a safer floor.
We let Max go. He was on the stronger side of the creatures in the room, so he was going to be on the first floor of the cave. At least Jackalope was extremely easy to get along with. The boxes were heavy, but we got to work getting them to where they needed to go.
The door in the Zero room opened out to a cliffside with a dark opening set into the rocks. We carried our delivery inside, Jackalope leading the way to an old mining elevator. A few of our co-workers piled on with their goods and got let off on different floors. There were four levels in total. The air got heavy as we went down further on the creaking steel cage of an elevator. I needed to zip up my jacket to try and keep out the chill of the air. This cave just felt wrong. There was no other way to describe it. I suppressed a shudder the moment the elevator opened to the final floor.
Instead of lamps, or some sort of magic light source, countless glowsticks were placed along the cave. It was enough light to see by. My stomach turned from staring off into the massive cavern that felt like it went on forever.
“There are a few rooms on the bottom floor we need to drop off some supplies inside for the Agents to use as they train. I’ve used the training grounds before, so I know the way.” Jackalope said, his voice slightly echoing off the walls.
“Oh, were you an Agent?” I asked unable to help myself.
We started walking, burdens in hand. My eyes landed on an odd dark stain on the walls, and it took my brain far too long to clue into what it was. The walls and floors were also covered with weapon and claw marks. The Agents who used this area to train fought the monsters that came through from the other world. I realized after seeing so many of those dark red stains that not everyone made it out in one piece. This wasn’t some simple training like doing laps or pushups. These caves were trial by fire. Jackalope’s smile didn’t fade but I heard a slight strain in his voice.
“I was one, but I got fired.” He admitted.
I pressed my lips together regretting another thing I said to him. I didn’t really know much about The Corporation. I heard they protected humans from monsters and hired creatures to do so. The Hunters sort of did the same thing. But they hated all creatures and only used humans to hunt them down to slaughter everyone they came across, regardless If they were dangerous to humans or not. From what I could tell, Agents were respected in the supernatural community even if they killed their own kind. Getting fired must be a black spot that followed around Jackalope. He didn’t let it show how much it bothered him.
We worked in silence for a while. He let me collect some boxes that people on the upper floors sent down. I organized them and he brought them deeper into the caves. He needed some help with heavier boxes, so we both took one end and ended up pretty far into a room hidden off to the side. He set down the wooden crate we just hauled and told me we could take a break. We were close to finishing the job and everyone else above us should be taking a break around that time. I sat on the box with him and offered the snack Sunny packed for Max. My friend would forgive me for giving away the snack of the day.
“This… is a rude question but could I ask you something? You don’t need to answer.” I started.
He turned his head, the kind smile showing he would answer any question I had no matter what it was. I know I shouldn’t pry when it came to something so sensitive, but after seeing his missing arm I wanted to know why he didn’t have a replacement.
“Your arm… I lost mine and they replaced it quickly. I’m just not sure why they didn’t do the same with you.” I asked.
He appeared surprised for half a second. He held out his hand and quietly asked to see my replacement arm. I let him take my left hand and turn it over in his.
“The replacements haven’t stuck with me. Yours is very well made. It seems as if you have some sort of defense magic inside this one.” He commented and let me take my hand back.
“What do you mean?” I asked looking over my own hand in the dim green light.
“Most arms can activate and turn into a weapon if your life is in danger. It’s insurance to make sure you don’t lose another one. But because you’re human, the arm doesn’t have any magic to feed off to transform. It may have absorbed some power just by being around creatures though. I doubt anyone has told you about this because of the slim chances of it working, and they want you to stay safe. I bet you might be more reckless if you knew your false arm could become a weapon.” Jackalope explained.
That made sense. After everything I’ve been through my arm didn’t show any sign of becoming a weapon. It was just a normal arm that would feel stiff if I didn’t play fetch with Max every week. At least he was glad to spend a few hours with me in the park. Even after finding out this information, I didn’t plan on relying on a weapon that I might not have.
“I hope losing it wasn’t too traumatizing for you. You seem to be doing well after what happened.” My co-worker added.
I hadn’t thought about that in a while. I did hurt a lot when I chopped it off. But I was lucky that the mailing company healed me with magic, so the recovery process went by quickly.
“I cut it off to save my friend’s life. I think because I became friends with who ate it really helped me get over the entire thing.” I said now fully realizing how lucky I was.
Jackalope’s face turned into such a kind expression it made my heart skip a beat. I wasn’t interested in him, but this guy could win over anyone. He stood from the box as a signal our break was over, but he didn’t start walking just yet.
“I feel the same. I was ready to sacrifice my life to save a man I just met. He didn’t see himself as much, however… he wanted to live, and I wanted him to carry on. By some luck, I only lost my arm and some other minor injuries.” He said but trailed off making me think the injuries weren’t as minor as he wanted to play them off as.
“Are… you alright with the outcome?” I asked him, feeling the air heavy between us.
“I don’t regret giving up what I did. I see it as an investment. That man started to do a lot trying to feel as if his life was worth it. He’s donated blood and volunteered a lot of his time to help the community. At first, those actions were for stressful reasons but he’s really enjoying living. That’s well worth the cost of my arm.” Jackalope said, his tone brightening a lot.
His words carried hints of pain. I could tell he held onto a great deal of what happened to him in the past I might never know about. But now he could smile freely. I doubted he could have done the same when he worked as an Agent. Giving up an arm might have been the best thing that ever happened to him.
“Are you still friends with him?” I asked, hoping that was the case.
His response was to raise his right hand to show off a black ring I hadn’t noticed before. His expression filled with pride made me happy. I wanted nothing more than for my co-workers to be able to have good lives. Even if we all had a dangerous job. I knew firsthand that nearly getting killed every other day was worth it for the people we met through work.
“We need to get going. We spent too long, and I think people-”
Jackalope started but his words got cut off by terrible ripping and crashing sounds that tore through the cave. He started moving and grabbed my arm to drag me along before the sounds even stopped. I wasn’t sure of what happened but knew this was bad if he acted so frantic. We ran out to the main cavern and the elevator looked too far for comfort. More noise made me look over my shoulder and I wish I hadn’t.
A swarm of creatures started to pour out of a tear appearing into the stone wall. Inside the rip were so many of those creatures they couldn’t fit through. They looked a bit human with pale white skin. They ran on all fours with eyeless faces. Their mouths so large it nearly split their heads in half. Teeth longer than my hand was crammed together in that terrible mouth ready to dig into flesh. I saw ribs and countless scars on the creatures. The rip had only been open for a few seconds and yet at least a hundred, if not more, of them poured through.
Jackalope pushed me ahead of him and he stopped ready to face the monsters. I hesitated for a second, wanting to stay with him. I knew I couldn’t help him and regretted the fact I needed to run away. Since the magic eaters already tore through the world, Jackalope didn’t need to worry about not using magic. He swiftly unzipped his jacket to pull a thin black blade from his chest. The moment the magic eaters got close enough, the blade came down on them, easily slicing their bodies to pieces.
The creatures flew into a frenzy. They fell on their fallen and turned savage against Jackalope trying to eat his magic. Some even bit down on his blade trying to devour it. I reached the elevator, but the doors stayed shut. I guessed it sealed automatically after the rip in the worlds opened to keep the monsters from reaching the top floor. I looked around, fear settling in my stomach. I didn’t know of any other way to get out of this cave.
I turned around to ask Jackalope for help, worried he wouldn’t be able to do so while he fought. He already killed over a hundred of those creatures. Still, more poured through. They crawled over the walls and crowed the ceiling. They were so focused on Jackalope none had tried to make their way toward me just yet.
My co-worker had been an Agent for a reason. His body moved gracefully taking down those monsters almost as fast as they could appear. He didn’t stay still, his footwork perfect as he jumped off creatures to land a killing blow on the others that clawed at him. Even without an arm, Jackalope was strong as hell. As he fought a set of black antlers sprouted from his head. The horns were so dark they absorbed all the light they touched.
Dread started to come to me as I saw his attacks change. He grew messy after the appearance of the antlers. The darkness crept up his neck and his good hand holding the blade turned black as well. His face lost the kind gentle expression. His eyes wide and hungry to kill as many creatures as possible. I knew if he didn’t get control over himself, neither of us would make it out of there.
“Jackie!” I shouted, my voice echoing and alerting the magic eaters.
His expression snapped back to something human. For a moment he paused unaware of where he stood. A monster latched itself onto his arm, but his uniform saved him from any damage.
“The stairs!” He shouted over his shoulder.
With a sharp kick, he broke free of the crowd to run towards an opening I assumed to be another room. I reached it first and saw a set of stairs carved into the rock. I bolted upwards glad that my job required me to run so often. If I did this a year ago, I would have passed out after five steps.
The narrow opening caused fewer creatures to get through. Jackalope took up the rear killing as many as he could. He and the creatures were gaining on us. I feared that we might not make it. And after we died, there was nothing to stop these monsters to attack our co-workers on the other levels. They were only a little bit more powerful than me. None of them would stand a chance against these monsters.
“Toby, turtle maneuver!” Jackalope shouted from below.
I stopped in my tracks and huddled into myself. The delivery workers had a move where we covered ourselves with as much of our uniform as possible making us look like turtles hiding away in our shells. No matter how silly it looked, it worked. I missed what Jackalope did, but a blast of power came from him. It nearly knocked me forwards and into the hard stone steps.
Things grew quiet as the sounds of the magic eaters died down. I pulled my head from the collar of my jacket to look down at a sight that made my heart sink. Jackalope collapsed on the steps, his breathing heavy and ragged. I ran down to him trying to get my new friend back on his feet. Black blood came from his nose, and he could barely keep his eyes open. Whatever he did blew away some of those creatures, but I heard another hoard on the way.
“Go. I’ll slow them down.” He said, his voice a whisper.
I knew what he meant. He wasn’t strong enough to kill that many more creatures. If he let them eat him, he might keep enough away for me to get to the second floor.
“No! I’m not-”
He stumbled on a step and bumped into me. His knee knocked on my pocket and made a bulky object fall out of my jacket. It landed on the steps, and I looked down to see what it was. I’d completely forgotten I had it, and never once used it since I got it. Hope ran through my chest as my hand landed on the gift from a kind, and yet terrifying monster who loved humans.
“You’re fine with sunlight, right?” I asked.
Jackalope appeared confused. He nodded his head. Some creatures couldn’t deal with sunlight all that well. If they weren’t wearing their uniform, it could drain their strength or even kill the weaker ones. Max would get worn out if he didn’t wear his uniform in the daylight. I learned that the hard way when we played fetch in the park, and he forgot his jacket. A swarm of the magic eaters started to fill the stairway interrupting my thoughts.
I wasn’t sure how to use the Sunlight I’d long forgotten about. I pointed it down towards the creatures and flicked the switch, hoping for the best. Whatever I expected, it wasn’t what happened.
Our vision was blinded by light for a few seconds. I heard the screams of all the magic eaters at once as the intense sunlight hit them. I assumed the sunlight would have just been a bright beam. But it filled the entire cave. As the first flash faded, my eyes adjusted to the light. It really looked like daytime inside the cave.
We stared down at where the magic eaters had been to only see scorched black spots against the rocks. I didn’t have any clue how long the sunlight would last, so we moved as fast as the injured Jackalope could up the stairs.
By some miracle, we made it to the top floor with no issues. The cave was empty, which made me a little nervous. Jackalope recovered enough to walk on his own. By the time we left the cave, my Sunlight turned off sending the entire area back into darkness.
We were greeted by a crowd outside. Some of my co-workers looked a bit beat up but all alive. I saw Max standing in the distance with Rufus who held him tight. I bet it was scary for all the family members to hear that we were all in the cave when the tear opened. It was luck that no one died. If Trin hadn’t given me the Sunlight, we would have lost so many people.
Jackalope saw someone who had just arrived. A human with tan skin and dark hair came weaving through the crowd towards us. Jackalope went over to the man and brought him into a hug assuring him he was alright. I looked over the crowd happy to see all the relieved family members and friends embracing my co-workers that made it out of the cave alive. And an ugly emotion came over me. I pushed it down, but it was there for a few seconds.
Unlike everyone else, when I came out of the cave no one had been waiting for me. I shook off the feeling hating myself for it. Max was here. And Rufus. They just saw each other first. Max finally saw me and ran over. But he didn’t scoop me in in a hug as I expected. He pointed to the cave to my confusion.
“Walk in and back out.” He ordered.
I didn’t understand why but I did what I was told. I took a step inside the deadly cave, then walked back to Max. His eyes started to water, and he scooped me up in the hug I expected to start with.
“I was so worried!” He cried.
I realized that he noticed I was the only one who walked out of the cave without someone greeting me. He wanted to fix that. Rufus came over to give up both a crushing hug. It took a very long time to get Max calm enough to let go of me. Even though my uniform, my ribs felt bruised.
“What happened inside?” Rufus asked the most important question.
I wanted to explain how we all made it out alive. But we interrupted when another person came through the open door from the Zero room. Sunny spotted us and rushed over. He jumped and I needed to catch him in my arms so he wouldn’t fall flat on his face. Belizas came after him but didn’t stay. She ran into the cave very excitedly, saying she was a part of the cleanup crew. If there were any more magic eaters, she gladly wanted to punch them.
“I was so worried!” Sunny said sounding a lot like Max at that moment.
He also refused to let me go. I was fine with that. When Sunny got upset, he became what I called wobbly. His body grew a little tacky and he wasn’t able to keep a sharp solid shape. When he cried, he looked more like a wiggling pile of jello with vaguely human features. I worried he may fall apart so I kept a hold of him. Sunny had a rough day. His support group meeting went well. The other creatures of his species loved him. They were all so glad one of them was able to go to a good home before they got forced into certain things. Sunny gave them all hope for the future of their race. On top of dealing with all that, he heard his roommate nearly died. No wonder he got so emotional.
Yet again, I could have died. And I would most likely have a new fear of caves. God, I wished I didn’t gain new nightmare fuel almost every day at work. But on the days I made it out safely I now knew I always had someone waiting for me to make it home safely. We would share a decent meal that chased away some of the fears from the day.