[REND] B2. 5.2 - The Three Bs

“I didn’t expect my visitors to be ninja ladies.” Enrico was quite tall and oddly V-shaped, with very broad shoulders and an extremely thin waist. He carried himself like a male model and dressed the part, too. Though I bet that most of what he wore were fake luxury items.

“Ninja ladies? Ah, cause we’re wearing masks,” Myra said. “Makes us more conspicuous, doesn’t it? But we also don’t want you to get a good look at our faces.”

Enrico spread his arms as he gave a flourishing bow. “How may I be of assistance? We have a recently arrived shipment of Class A items. Even an expert will have a hard time spotting—”

“You know why we’re here,” Myra cut in. “We need information on—”

Enrico raised a finger. “Ah-ah! Not here. Upstairs, we go, ninja ladies.”

We followed him to the second floor with no worry because Deen was with us. The workers unpacking boxes didn’t mind us. Every square inch of the second floor was piled high with various goods, from bags to sandals, to collectible plushies. There were mountains of clothes here and there, and even lingerie. It was an impressive sight that made part of me want to try dealing in fake goods.

“Is it fine if we step on your stuff?” Myra said, carefully looking for an empty spot to stand on.

“Over here, over here.” Enrico swept aside boxes of leather shoes to open a path for us to a small office at the end of the floor. It was cramped for the four of us, plus a table and chair. Enrico sat on the left edge of the table and twirled his fingers. “Now, let us continue our conversation. The quite abrasive guy, Johann, told me to share what I know of Red Hood with you.”

Myra looked at us—Deen didn’t say anything—before facing Enrico again. “That’s what we’re here for.”

Enrico looked us over. His eyes skimmed past me, pausing longer on Deen, and rested on Myra with a scrutinizing gaze. “Before that, who are you three ninja ladies supposed to be? And why are you so interested in Red Hood?”

“I’m looking for my sister,” Myra said. “And Red Hood might know where she is.”

“How would an Adumbrae…?” Enrico snapped his fingers. “I see now! This sister of yours. Missing sister, I take it? She’s an Adumbrae.”

Myra shifted her feet. Her right hand balled into a fist. “I, uh, no. That’s not…”

“Hmmm?” Enrico tilted his head.

“Did Johann tell you that?” Myra asked in almost a whisper. “Did he let it slip?”

“Nothing of the sort. I guessed it myself. Why else would you go to an Adumbrae to look for your sister? It doesn’t seem like your sister was eaten by Red Hood. You want to talk to Red Hood to ask where your sister, a possible Adumbrae, could be.”

That’s good logic, I thought. I was starting to like this Enrico guy. He wasn’t weirded out by us or tried to intimidate us. If I didn’t know what was going on, I’d think he was a flamboyant store owner. Well, he was running a store. Technically. Just an illegal one.

“Let’s say that’s my story,” Myra said, folding her arms across her chest. “You believe me?”

“Yes, I think… I do,” Enrico replied. “You aren’t cops. Not BID either. They wouldn’t go through the hoops to interrogate me about what I know about Red Hood. When Johann reached out to me, connecting through a friend, I had a feeling there was a personal reason behind… his request for a meeting. I wasn’t scared of being raided, mind you. The cops have enough on their plate right now instead of going after small fry like me.”

“You agreed to meet us,” Deen said, “because you wanted to help us.”

“One point for you, pretty ninja lady,” Enrico said, tapping his nose. “It might be a hard sell, but I consider myself a genuinely helpful person. Not a humble one. But a real one.”

I peeked from behind Deen, genuinely curious about Enrico. I sort of wanted him to be a main minion because he seemed trustworthy. Spooky Erind told me to make lots of friends, after all. “You’re not afraid that we’re working for the bad, bad guys? Like we’re sent by enemy gangs or something?”

“Not at all, not-ninja lady,” Enrico said with a smile. “If you were, you’d be large, scary men, pointing guns at my head instead of—” he gestured at us “—whatever this is you think you’re doing. And I believe that Red Hood can take care of herself if people are looking for her.”

“So, you do know where she is?” Myra eagerly asked.

“Right now? No. But it might not be so difficult to find her. You see, Red Hood has taken the position of our leader.”

Damn right, I am! Tingles crept up my flanks from excitement. I was happier hearing this than when I learned I had passed the entrance exams for Cresthorne law. This was the feeling of making it in life. I had lots of pawns to play with!

“Huh? Leader?” Myra leaned forward. “An Adumbrae is establishing a territory here?”

“Not exactly,” Enrico said. “Explaining all the snazzy details of what’s going on in the city is too complicated. I doubt that you would care because it isn’t connected to your sister. Suffice to say, we, and many other denizens of Marsh Row, are under the protection of Red Hood. I don’t know what she’s up to. Frankly, I wouldn’t dare ask her. It’s how things are, and that’s that.”

Myra leaned forward. “Is Red Hood around here right now? Did she set up like a headquarters in Marsh Row?”

“She’s not Marsh Row now,” Enrico said. “But she visits sometimes. I saw her last night myself. The leaders of various groups got a nice, cozy gathering yesterday, and Red Hood showed up.”

“What did she look like?” Deen asked.

Don’t say she looks like me, I thought, scooching behind Deen and making myself small. This was the time to use my introvert camouflage abilities and disappear.

“She wears a Red Hood, as one might expect,” Enrico said with a shrug. “I couldn’t take a good look at her face because she had a face mask.” He pointed at Myra. “Like the one you’re wearing right now.”

 “Can you recall its specific design?” Deen mimed a snout in front of her. “Was it an animal-shaped mask?”

Enrico furrowed his brows. “It’s a mask like yours. What do you not understand? Perhaps you’re thinking that Red Hood has an inhuman appearance? Under her hood and mask, she might have. But I don’t know about that. She was humanoid enough.”

Deen and Myra glanced at each other. I could guess what they were thinking—this was Red Hood’s human form. Deen glanced back at me and nodded. She believed that this was the woman I met at the 2Ms’ warehouse when we were kidnapped.

“Can you tell us any identifying features?” Myra asked. “Like, height, build, whatever?”

“She appears to be short.” Enrico gazed up at the ceiling while scratching his chin.

I should’ve worn heels, I thought. Though I didn’t actually have footwear with significantly high heels, nothing past half an inch. I felt that if I wore too high heels, it’d be admitting that my short height bothered me.

“That said, looks can be deceiving,” continued Enrico. “Red Hood can transform into a huge beast, from what I’ve heard. She has long hair. Black hair, according to my sister. And Red Hood is quite thin. I apologize if these descriptions aren’t much help. They could apply to thousands of women in the city, including your friend over here.” He gestured at me.

“Being the leader of a criminal organization seems fun,” I said with a bored tone. “Much more exciting than my current life.” Enrico didn’t know how close he was to uncovering the truth.

“The descriptions are a start,” Myra said. “Thanks for that. I think our best bet would be to come here when Red Hood’s around. Enrico, will it be fine if you message me when she does? What would you want in return? I don’t have much money or—”

“I’ll do it for free,” Enrico said.

Myra jolted. “Why?”

“Because I empathize with your plight,” he said, drawing a heart in the air. “Love for family. I have a sister, too. If she went missing, I’ll do anything to find her, including talking to an Adumbrae. Fighting one? I’m not too sure about that. Notifying you when Red Hood comes takes next to no effort for me, anyway.”

“Thanks,” Myra said. “You’re a real one for that.” She handed him a piece of paper with the number of a burner phone. “Just message me here. I’ll come as quickly as I can.”

Enrico raised the paper. “That, I will do. However, I doubt if it’ll be a good idea to meet with an Adumbrae. Your sister and Red Hood are very different individuals. Even if Red Hood doesn’t attack you, and I don’t think she will, there’s no guarantee that she’s willing or even able to help you.”

“I know, I know,” Myra said. “But I don’t have any other leads. Where the hell do Adumbrae hide? I can’t search every nook and cranny in the city. Asking an actual Adumbrae is my only option. And… yeah.” Myra probably held back mentioning that she had met Red Hood before.

“I might have something,” said Enrico. “This isn’t less dangerous than meeting Red Hood, but it is… something. There are rumors of an Adumbrae lurking in the city’s depths.”

Myra cocked her head. “What rumors are you talking about?”

“I can’t vouch for their veracity. Likely to be urban legends. I’ve heard that an Adumbrae lurks in the abandoned tunnels and bunkers under the city. If the stories are true, this Adumbrae could be your sister, Red Hood, or someone else. It’s a gamble.”

Overdrive had told me about this! I was looking for a place to train hysterical strength, somewhere I’d be free to wreck things without people noticing. The abandoned bunkers were his recommendation. He didn’t mention Adumbrae living in them.

“Bunkers under La Esperanza?” Deen wondered. “This is my first time hearing about it.”

“I don’t know anything about it either,” Myra said.

“They’re there,” Enrico said. “I’ve never visited one, but the bunkers are there, I assure you. Now, if an Adumbrae is lurking under the city? I don’t know. And I don’t recommend that you find out. I probably shouldn’t have told you about the bunkers…”

“It’s alright,” Myra said. “We can take care of ourselves.”

“That’s… good to hear,” Enrico said with narrowed eyes.

I could be wrong, and that did happen sometimes, but I bet that Enrico suspected that at least one of us was an Adumbrae. We weren’t particularly scared of meeting Red Hood. Just an Adumbrae looking for another was what the situation appeared to Enrico.

With our meeting concluded, we left the tiny office and waded through a sea of fake goods. Myra went down first, followed by Deen, and then me. Enrico brought up the rear, trying to sales talk us into buying something from his store. I thought it would be a peaceful end to our mini-mission when I heard a female voice that was oddly familiar.

“Hey, bro! Are you up? Who are you?” Standing at the foot of the cramped stairs was Dulce Maria with her badass piercings.

What wasn’t so badass was the possibility of her recognizing me. It’d ruin my mystique and ‘street cred’ if she saw me as part of the Three Bs. Would ruin the story that I told them, too.

“Yow, beloved sister of mine!” Enrico said. From some angle, I could see their family resemblance. Enrico’s tone slightly changed when talking to Dulce Maria. It was less polished and relaxed. “They’re potential retailers—I told you that we have prospects for expansion. We’ve hatched out some preliminaries, and they’re leaving now.”

Why did Enrico lie about our meeting? I realized the answer to my question—I told Dulce Maria and the other gang leaders to keep mum about me. Dulce Maria couldn’t help telling her brother about Red Hood, with probably a warning not to spread it. He did spread it and didn’t want his sister to know.

“Is that right?” Dulce Maria stepped aside to let us pass. I nodded at her. No change in her expression. If she noticed something familiar about me, she didn’t show it. “Why did you let them come here? You know that things might get dangerous.”

“And that’s why they’re on their way,” Enrico said, making motions between waving and shooing us away. “What brings you around?”

“We need to talk about tonight…” Dulce Maria said in a lower voice.

I wanted to eavesdrop but didn’t have any excuse for staying. And I’d just risk Dulce Maria recognizing me.

“Phew, no one broke into the car,” Myra said, as we got back inside. “I thought I’d owe Johann for repairs.” She looked at Deen and me with sincere eyes. “Thank you both for coming with me, really. I feel like we’re getting closer to finding Kelsey. Two leads now—Red Hood and the bunkers. Maybe Johann knows about those.”

“I’ve heard about the bunkers,” I said, recalling Overdrive’s story. “They were made because of the Purple Bloom that showed up in Hawaii a few decades ago. Though the Corebrings dealt with the Purple Bloom, people here on the West Coast were afraid of leftover Adumbrae Titans roaming the sea floor.”

“They thought Adumbrae Titans would come here all the way from Hawaii?” Myra asked with a scoff. “I guess that’s possible with enough time walking underwater.”

“But no Adumbrae Titan reached the city,” Deen said.

“Nope,” I replied. “And the bunkers were left abandoned.”

“We’re going to search them,” said Myra. “That’s our next target. Let me see if Johann knows—”

“I know of an entrance,” I said. “I, um, researched about it. I wanted a place where we could train.” The truth was that I asked Overdrive about this after we left the meeting. A few hours to go before our attack on the PCM invaders. There was time for the Three Bs to have a small adventure.  

(Author's Notes: Had Kelsey been living underground? Maybe. I'm going to flesh out the city bunkers more because we'll use this in a massive storyline that I wasn't able to pull off in the Prior Cycle. And we really need to meet Kelsey, lol. There are a lot of moving parts to Book 2, and we'll start to entwine them.

Thank you so much for all of your support! I couldn't continue doing this without you.)