Acrophobia

The next morning, Zeroc popped up uninvited while the three of us were eating dried berries for breakfast at the store counter. His outfit hadn’t changed since last night; the scent of sweat and a faint whiff of blood wafted off him.

Ever since he had arrived, his gaze had locked onto me as if I were the only one here. I expected to see traces of fatigue on his face, but he only had his usual enigmatic grin and his jaunty attitude. “Hello, follow me. There’s something interesting afoot.”

“Does Mr. Topaz know about this? I’m contracted to stay in this store.” Why would he need me anyway? Could it be that he needed another bait for some nefarious purpose? I had to refuse in whatever way I could.

An uninvited voice inserted itself into the conversation. “Why don’t you go with the bodyguard? It is a chance to get some fresh air.” Of course, my unwelcome helper was Lyla, with a sincere delight on her face.

“It is as she said. And Mr. Topaz said that assisting me is of the utmost importance.” Zeroc wouldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. And there wasn’t any excuse left for me to throw out. Even if I had another one, it would only delay the inevitable. Zeroc wouldn’t let me escape his grasp. I could only hope that the grasp wouldn’t be a literal one.

“I’ll go with you, but in exchange, you have to provide us with actual meals. Another day of bland, dry food and I’m going insane.”

Zeroc replied with a shrug. “What a shame. You were so eager to eat those dried grapes yesterday.” His words had touched my heart with ice, a sort of unease that I couldn’t explain.

…

My prediction of what we would do today turned out to be not far off. A group of around twenty soldiers was waiting outside for Zeroc and me. The size of the company told me we were about to do something dangerous. I already noticed my breath getting heavier. Zeroc made his way straight to what looked like the commanding officer and spoke with him in a low voice.

Shouldn’t he introduce me to the group first? They must be baffled as to why Zeroc came all the way here to ask a kid to join this mission. I spotted the only soldier who wore a helmet among the sea of human heads, and I instantly knew who that was. That soldier slipped through the crowd to get closer to me.

“Sorry, I fell asleep before you left,” Werly said after he was near enough for me to hear his rough voice through the helmet. There weren’t any words I could verbalize in response, and so the conversation ended before it began. Sorry, Werly, that was probably a form of elderly neglect. The expressions of the other soldiers drew my attention away. They had an unfriendly look towards Werly. All of them did. People with unusual habits frequently become targets of bullying and exclusion, but my intuition told me that his uniqueness wasn’t why they stared at him like this.

The group started moving not long after. The commander led at the front, while Zeroc and I trailed at the back. Werly trekked right in front of us silently. Hopefully, he wasn’t too scarred from being ignored. We roamed the main street for a few blocks, then the command signaled the two closest soldiers to turn into an alley. The rest of the group followed.

I glanced at Zeroc and whispered, “What did you find?”

“Answers.” That was all he gave me.

The alley was as unpleasant as the ones I had visited the day before. The mixed scent of blood and waste still lingered, but it bothered me less; maybe I was getting used to it. No vagrants were sitting at the sides, though I spotted a few in the distance scrambling to run away once our group approached. The soldiers didn’t spare a second glance at them.

“Are you sure you want to let them slip away?” I said to Zeroc.

“They aren’t important.”

The commander stopped at an unassuming door, one of many that granted entry to buildings only accessible through the alleys. One soldier took out his sword and hacked repeatedly at the doorknob. Pieces broke off the door one by one until the handle fell out and the door swung open. The soldiers poured in. Zeroc gestured for me to wait.

“Let them do a sweep first.” He said. And so, only the two of us remained outside. The sounds of pronounced footsteps and occasional yelling were the only clues that informed me of the happenings within. Zeroc’s eyes scanned through the other doors in the alley. “Do you know what the difference was between the main streets and these back streets before the city fell from grace?” I thought for a moment about the hidden meaning behind the sudden question. Was he testing me?

“There are more shops on the main streets.”

“Close. The actual answer is that only the main streets are wide enough for carriages to pass. Look around you. If I stretch out my arms, I can already touch both walls simultaneously. Now the soldiers only care about the main street. They say they are following the royal order, but I don’t remember any royal orders about this. It’s reckless to let part of the city fester, and the result is obvious. The rest of the city becomes infected.”

Before I had time to think of a reply, the commander stepped out of the building and hurried to Zeroc’s side.

“Found anything?” Zeroc said.

The commander nodded in response. I saw Zeroc’s smile widen. No doubt this was what he had expected.

“Anything else to report?”

“No one is acting suspiciously.”

“That’s a relief. And what about the operation? How many people are involved?”

“We caught six.”

“I’ll question them myself.”

Zeroc tapped me on the shoulder, and then he strode to the building with the commander’s lead. I took that as a cue to follow. There was much confusion swirling in my mind after hearing their conversation, but I decided to hold on to them until after the “questioning” that Zeroc would do.

I noticed Werly by the door once we entered. He waved at me. The exclusion by the soldiers seemed to go as far as confining this poor old man to door-watching duty. It brought to mind the four years of humiliation I was subjected to in my past life. Maybe I should talk to Zeroc about this, but then I quickly dismissed the idea. Who knows what that crazy guy will do… An image formed in my head where Zeroc plucked off Werly’s helmet, only to find a headless, withering body within the armor, and blood sprayed off the bottom of the detached helmet. Yes, with Zeroc’s strength, that would definitely be possible. Bullies would be the least of Werly’s concerns.

The interior of the building was barren; you wouldn’t even find doors between rooms. The soldiers were stationed at various corners to stand guard, watching groups of people that sat rigidly, some of them children. They must be vagrants who took shelter here. In the deepest room, the commander indicated an open trapdoor. The topside of the trapdoor was painted in the same texture and color as the floor, hard to notice unless you deliberately sought it.

The adventurer’s spirit within me lit up once I saw a hole under the trapdoor, with a ladder stretching down into the unknown. The scene enhanced the allure of the answers that lay at the bottom. Zeroc gazed down the hole and then hopped in, without using the ladder. I heard a thud right after.

The commander had his hands on his head, mouth gaping open. The hole must be quite deep for that reaction, but I just knew the drop wouldn’t injure Zeroc in the slightest. As much as Zeroc’s demonstration made hopping in look easy, I was sure my kneecaps wouldn’t like the landing very much, and that would always be a risk of squashing someone. Even with Zeroc’s physique, that was reckless of him.

I first grabbed hold of the ladder to test its sturdiness, then I slowly climbed my way down. To avoid scaring myself for no reason, I took my time. My gaze avoided looking down, so I would stay ignorant of the magnitude of the depth.

“I will catch you,” Zeroc’s voice echoed through the hole. Uh Oh. I pretended not to hear him. Then, my nightmare began as the ladder rattled. My descent stopped so I could latch onto the ladder for dear life.

“Stop! Stop! Stop! You will break it!”

“Then, let go. It is that simple.”

“Why do you care?”

“It’s a waste of my time.”

“You brought me here.”

“So, obey what I said. Listen to the adults.”

Why does everyone always treat me as a kid whenever it is convenient? I didn’t intend to submit to his request. My feet slipped and dangled in the air, so I had to tighten my grip on the bar to avoid being flung off. The shaking became more violent. That sadist! He could smash my spine right into the wall of the hole.

“You win! You win! Keep the ladder still so I won’t hit it on the way down.”

Once I surrendered to my tormentor, the personalized earthquake simulation stopped. I had to fulfill my promise, or he would just start the terror again. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and envisioned a pool below me. I will be fine. I will be fine.

I pushed myself off the safety of the rungs.