The Hunter and The Watcher
Part 2: A Friend in Need
I had no luck with women tonight, but I did get drunk enough to numb the pain. I stumbled to the park, where I planned to pitch my tent among the homeless. The park was a grim place, full of crime and misery. I followed the cobblestone street until I reached the fountain with the statue of Governor Keefe. He founded Latif Town, a city that had gone downhill since his death. Behind him were six rows of trees leading to the park’s green heart, a four-mile area with flower gardens, bushes, and mausoleums. The largest one belonged to Rajam Latif, the first governor and Keefe’s rival. He had built it with two floors and underground tunnels, but now it was occupied by Jaradeen, the homeless leader. I had never seen him but heard he was ruthless and powerful. I didn’t want to get close to his territory, so I stayed on the outskirts of the tent city.
I passed the first mile and saw small fires surrounded by tents. Some were single-occupancy, and others housed families or friends. Survival was easier in groups than alone. The tents lined the hill that ascended to Rajam’s mausoleum, where Jaradeen lived.
As I continued toward tent city, I began thinking about Sarah. I can’t believe she just left this town. She loved Latif and that inn she owned. I know that Elf must have done something to her. Tomorrow I will return to the inn and demand answers from Rue. I liked Sarah; we had grown up together.
I set up my tent near the edge and started a fire. I had to be careful with my food; hungry eyes were everywhere. I took some chicken from my last hunt and prepared to cook it.
“Speak of the devil,” I thought when I saw the tall man in the shabby suit, carrying a ten-pound bag and sporting greasy hair. It was Dr. Stine, the creep from the inn. He was doing his rounds, offering free healthcare to the homeless. Sponsored by the governor, he said in his goofy voice. But I knew he was up to something sinister. I saw him as he approached a mini encampment. He was examining a young boy while the older people watched suspiciously.
“The boy is sick. I must take him back to my office to treat him,” Dr. Stine said in his broken English accent.
I saw him put something on the boy’s back that crawled under his shirt.
“He’s fine,” a woman said. She looked like his mother. “He just fell while playing with his friends from school.”
The boy moaned in pain.
“Look! His legs are turning purple. I must take him to the inn. I have proper medicine there.”
Time to ruin this man’s day, I thought as I shouted, “That’s bull crap! I saw you put something on him! Pull his shirt up! Look!”
They initially ignored me; I was a drunk stranger, after all. But I persisted and pulled up the boy’s shirt myself.
“Look!” I said as I exposed the green leech on his back. It had caused a red rash that spread to his leg.
“Yes, a leech! See! Very dirty and infectious! This leech must have given him an infection that attacked his injured leg! I can cure this at my office!” Dr. Stine tried to save face as the crowd glared at him.
This is good, I thought. They’re going to tear him apart.
Then I saw Rue run up. Sarah had disappeared three weeks ago, and Rue suspected Dr. Stine of being involved.
“Hey!” I yelled at her. “I know you did something to Sarah! Where is she?”
Dr. Stine looked nervous and angry.
“I’m tired of these accusations! I don’t need this! I’m a doctor! I provide free healthcare to these people!” he shouted before leaving the boy behind.
“Wait! I was talking to… “ I tried to follow him, but Rue grabbed me by the arm and dragged me back to my tent.
As we arrived, some homeless people who had stolen my chicken and rummaged through my stuff ran away like rats.
“Mother F-”
“Shut up,” she snapped as she pushed me down. “I didn’t do anything to Sarah. Dr. Stine was the last person who saw her three weeks ago. I’ve been following him to find out what he did with her. But you just messed it all up! He may never come back!”
“Good! He’s a jerk!”
“Listen, Rotos. I know you are friends with Sarah. So am I. But we need him to return to find her,” Rue explained. “That’s why I’ve been following him. That was a good catch with the leech, by the way.”
“Wait, where were you? I’m a hunter, and I didn’t even see you.”
Rue smiled smugly.
“You’re not that good of a hunter.”
Two weeks earlier.
I couldn’t believe it! Dr. Stine was a mad scientist! I couldn’t remember what happened after I passed out on the third floor of the inn. But now I was tied up in a flooded cave full of plants and fungi. Some were glowing mushrooms and fireflies that lit up the place; others were ordinary mushrooms and plants like Venus flytraps, ferns with huge leaves, and bugs — too many bugs.
When I woke up, I saw the other prisoners Dr. Stine had kidnapped: the two women from the inn when I got captured, and some others that I had seen him bring to the inn in the past. The young girl was Julianna, and the older woman was Sandranette. They told me they were in the park when Dr. Stine told Sandra, that Julianna was sick and needed medical attention. Julianna wasn’t her daughter, but Sandra pretended she was because she didn’t trust Dr. Stine. She wouldn’t let him take Julianna alone, especially when she saw a green rash on her skin. So she went with them to the inn, where they were attacked by leeches and knocked out.
God, I wish we could get out of here! If only Rue had come with me to his room! We could have saved them! She could fight; she could have stopped this! Now we were trapped here for his experiments!
There were also strange creatures: bears with human arms, frogs with flowers growing on them, and sentient vine clusters shaped like dogs… And now and then, Dr.Stine would take one of us into another section of the cave and never bring them back.
Dr. Stine worked in the middle of the cavern that we were locked in, he had a stone workstation where he’d create potions from plants and fungi, he collected from around us.
The water in the cave, where he worked, reached above his ankles; we could see leeches crawling on his legs and disappearing under his coat. Was he infested with them? Was he one of them?
He turned around and looked at me with cold eyes.
“It is most unfortunate, Sarah, that you got involved. I would never have chosen you as an experiment,” he said in his creepy voice. “But since you are here, I have a good new project that I want to test on you.”
I felt a surge of fear. What was he going to do? “No! What are you going to do? What about Julianna and Sandranette? What are you going to do with them? Please, give me the bad one and let them go!”
Dr.Stine chuckled. “There is no letting you go. Once you are here, you are mine. And as for the others, they have their experiments. Julianna’s is almost complete and ready for testing.”
Julianna tried to be brave, but she looked terrible. Mushrooms and flowers had sprouted from her arms and legs. She would pick off the mushrooms and keep the flowers, but they would grow back. We were in this together, and we wouldn’t abandon her.
As for me and Sandranette, we hadn’t changed yet. But we knew it was only a matter of time.
