Chapter 186: Silent Message
"Just stay put," Xiu advised the two remaining conscious Pokémon – the Arbok and the Beedrill – his voice calm but carrying an implicit threat. He flicked his wrist, and the Poké Balls belonging to the five unconscious thugs floated from their belts, hovering before the two Pokémon. "Return."
The Arbok and Beedrill hesitated for only a fraction of a second before obediently touching the buttons with their snouts or stingers, recalling themselves into the balls. The five Poké Balls then floated silently into Xiu's waiting hand. He pocketed them without a glance.
"Let's deal with this mess," he murmured, mostly to himself. He approached the three dead Raticate, his expression unreadable behind the mask. With swift, practiced movements using the bone knife, he extracted their prominent front incisors – potentially useful components for certain concoctions or crafts. A small, gruesome trophy.
Meanwhile, Abra, hovering silently nearby, extended its psychic influence. The faint traces of the brief battle – scuff marks, minor debris, the lingering scent of fear and adrenaline – began to subtly fade, smoothed over by psychic energy, erasing the signs of struggle.
Only the deep gouge in the floor where the Raticate's skull had impacted remained starkly visible. Abra then levitated the five unconscious thugs, plus the two bodies of the bouncers Scizor had dealt with downstairs, bundling them together with invisible force...
Xiu stepped back out into the bar's main hallway, pulling the door to the private room shut behind him. The mask was gone, his expression once again neutral and calm. The earlier intensity vanished as if it had never occurred in the first place.
He moved silently through the still-operating bar, ignoring the patrons, and exited back into the alley the way he came. He didn't immediately leave the area, however. He recalled the gang leader mentioning a girl they'd kidnapped earlier. Locating the correct room on the second floor based on the leader's fragmented memories was simple.
He opened the door quietly. The room inside was small, squalid, smelling sourly of unwashed bodies and stale air. Dirty clothes were piled on a bare mattress. Huddled in the far corner, bound hands and feet, was a young woman. A strip of cloth covered her eyes, and heavy tape sealed her mouth, muffling her terrified whimpers.
She flinched violently at the sound of the door opening, struggling uselessly against what bound her, fear radiating from her small form.
Xiu approached her slowly, deliberately keeping his movements calm, non-threatening. He knelt down beside her, gently pulling the blindfold away. "It's okay," he said softly. "Don't be afraid. I'm here to help."
Their eyes met. Hers were red-rimmed and swollen from crying, filled with terror that slowly gave way to confusion as she saw him – clearly not one of her captors. She stopped struggling momentarily, staring at him. He noted the exhaustion and despair etched onto her young face.
"Don't move," he instructed gently. "I'll untie you." He worked quickly, loosening the ropes binding her wrists and ankles, then carefully peeled the tape away from her mouth.
She gasped, taking ragged breaths, still looking dazed, perhaps not fully believing she was free.
Xiu helped her carefully to her feet. "Can you walk?"
She nodded mutely, still trembling.
"Alright. Follow me closely. Stay quiet." He led her out of the squalid room, back down the stairs, and through the bar's back exit into the relative safety of the dark alley. The pulsing music and drunken shouts from the main bar faded behind them.
"Where do you live?" he asked once they were clear of the immediate vicinity. "I'll take you home."
The girl seemed overwhelmed, looking around at the dark street as if seeing it for the first time, disbelief warring with relief on her face. Xiu's question finally registered. "My... my home is..." she stammered, providing a nearby address.
Xiu already knew the location from the gang leader's memories – they had bragged about where they'd kidnapped her from – but asking was necessary for maintaining the cover. He couldn't simply teleport her home; that would raise too many questions.
They walked in silence through the quiet, tense streets of the Old City district. The girl remained withdrawn, likely traumatized, processing her ordeal. Xiu didn't press her for conversation, allowing her space.
They soon reached her neighborhood – modest, self-built houses, a stark contrast to the affluence near the city center, but seemingly close-knit. This area, far from the main commercial districts, received less official protection, making residents vulnerable targets for gangs like the one operating out of the bar.
They stopped before a small, two-story house with a dim light visible in an upstairs window. "Alright," Xiu said quietly. "You're home." He paused, then added a crucial instruction. "What happened tonight... don't tell anyone about me. Don't mention someone rescued you. Just say... you managed to escape on your own during the confusion. Understand?"
"But..." the girl began, turning towards him, perhaps wanting to thank him, perhaps ask who he was.
"Go home," Xiu interrupted gently but firmly. "Your family must be worried sick."
The mention of her family seemed to break through her shock. Fear and relief washed over her face anew. She turned instinctively towards the dimly lit house, then looked back towards Xiu.
He was gone. Vanished into the shadows as silently as he had appeared. She scanned the empty street, confused, a sense of profound strangeness settling over her. Left alone, the fear surged back. She rushed to the door of her house, pounding on it frantically, calling out for her parents.
The door burst open, revealing a distraught couple. Seeing their daughter, they cried out, pulling her into a fierce embrace. Overwhelmed, the girl finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably in the safety of her parents' arms.
Not far away, concealed in the deep shadows of an alley across the street, Xiu observed the reunion for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then, he turned and melted back into the darkness, a solitary figure moving through the troubled city.
Dawn broke grey and muted, the sky overcast, matching the city's somber mood. Xiu sat alone on a park bench in a deserted suburban cemetery on the outskirts of Viridian, slowly chewing the last piece of dry bread from his emergency rations. He took a long sip of water from his canteen, contemplating the night's events and the day ahead.
Finished, he rose, pocketed his canteen, and walked over to a nondescript motorcycle he took from the grunts earlier. He swung a leg over, kick-started the engine with a low rumble, and drove away, leaving the silent cemetery behind.
In a certain bar.
The morning cleaning crew arrived to find the place mostly empty, save for two low-level gang members nursing hangovers in a booth, bragging crudely about their previous night's exploits.
"...shoulda seen 'em run! Gotta show 'em who's boss!"
"...heard the boss had fun with that girl they snatched yesterday..."
"...yeah, bet he's sleepin' it off now..."
"...we'll get our turn today, gotta make some cash while the city's crazy..."
Their lewd laughter was cut short by a bloodcurdling scream from the second floor, followed by the sound of something heavy falling.
The two thugs exchanged uneasy glances, then cautiously headed upstairs to investigate. They met the cleaner halfway down the stairs, stumbling, face pale with horror, babbling incoherently. "Dead... blood... run..." He shoved past them frantically and fled the building.
Confused and slightly unnerved, the two thugs continued upwards. Halfway down the corridor, they saw it – a dark, sticky trail of semi-dried blood seeping from under the closed door of the boss's private room. Footprints marked the floor nearby.
Hesitantly, they approached the door. The metallic tang of blood hung heavy in the air. Unease prickled their skin. "No way..." one muttered. "Did they party too hard? Kill someone?"
Steeling themselves, they pushed the door open and peered inside.
The scene that greeted them defied description. Raw horror slammed into them, freezing the breath in their lungs, wiping all thought from their minds. Their faces went slack, complexions turning a sickly grey. They stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide, staring into the room, utterly consumed by the gruesome scene left behind.