[REND] 13.4 - How to Train Your Monster

“Wha-what? An actual Adumbrae cult?” I was surprised because this didn’t come up in our research.

Deen and I thought that trauma from the car crash affected Kelsey as she grew up. She could’ve dearly wished for a stronger body never to get hurt again, attracting an Adumbrae from beyond the veil. This cult thing didn’t seem to be a story that anyone, even Reo, would joke about.

Well, I’d probably do it to develop a face. Or just for kicks. I’d use this next time.

“Yep,” Myra said. “Their name—or our name, since Kelsey and I were part of the commune for a year—was Heart’s Divine Unity. It was something stupid like that. The cult’s full name was long, but you’ll find info on the internet by searching Heart’s Divine Unity. The commune was in Waco, Texas, inside a farm owned by the leader.”

“This leader… Is he an Adumbrae?” Deen asked.

“Yep, yep. He wanted to merge us all into a Purple Bloom. Most of his preachings were about how it was the pinnacle of human evolution to be connected with one another. Divine Unity. Going by what I know about Adumbrae now, I don’t think he had the remotest of chances to make a Purple Bloom. The commune’s not that big, and I don’t think there’s enough people in Waco to be brain-linked to sustain a Purple Bloom’s growth.”

This was a wild development! Deen and I had no inkling about this part of Myra’s past.

My second thought was to be jealous of Myra’s interesting backstory. The most I could squeeze from my past was Dad’s supposed death; the joining-the-Corebring-Hive part wasn’t confirmed. I had difficulties marketing it as a sad story because I wasn’t sad at all. Super hassle though that I had to pretend that I was, or else Mom and all our relatives would think I was weird. I really didn’t care whether Dad was there or not because Mom had enough income to sustain our comfortable lives. Though, part of me was annoyed back then that he’d prioritize saving the world over working to buy me stuff.

With Red Hood, I had a chance to weave a tragic backstory. I’d be a sympathetic, morally gray character, instead of a black-versus-white type of villain. I could use Myra’s backstory as my own. Like, I could’ve been raised in a—Wait! My mind was wandering again. The awesome view, plus the breeze was conducive to backstory-weaving.

Also, having a cult sounded cool. Maybe I should start one? But I didn’t look like a charismatic leader. Would anyone follow cute me?

“You mentioned that you and Kelsey stayed there for only a year,” I said. “Where were you before that? You weren’t with your parents?” I covered my mouth. Signature move. “Oh! Um, so sorry if I’m asking too many questions.” I gave her an apologetic grin. “I was just curious. It’s alright if you don’t answer.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Myra grimly chuckled. Her eyes glazed over. “Our aunt, my mother’s sister, took care of Kelsey and me when our parents started going cuckoo over their newfound religion. When that wacko Waco commune was established, our parents kidnapped us from our aunt’s house. It was our aunt who brought the commune to the attention of the authorities.”

“Did the BID get involved?” Deen asked.

“Eventually, yeah. Raided the place and killed the cult leader who revealed his monster form. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the bastard get exterminated. I just heard the gunfire and explosions as my father drove us away from the place with the BID and police on our tail. One thing led to another, and our car jumped off a cliff.”

Deen gasped, “Oh my gosh!”  

“My parents were sitting in front of the car,” Myra continued. “They instantly died. Good riddance. I couldn’t remember much of them because they were always busy with cult duties.”

“Fortunately, you and Kelsey survived,” Deen said.

“Very, yeah. I don’t know how it happened. A real guardian angel must’ve been watching over us.” Myra chuckled as she nodded at the space where Deen’s prescient pet should be floating. “Police rescued us from the crushed car. Got some broken limbs, gashes, but overall fine. Still alive, anyway.”

“The BID would’ve checked you and Kelsey,” I said. “That means there was nothing wrong with Kelsey at that time. Wrong, erm. Sorry. I meant to say Kelsey was, uh, normal back then.”

“Her body was normal,” Myra said. “But her mind wasn’t. She wouldn’t tell me what rituals the cultist trash did with her. I don’t know why they picked her over me.” Myra balled her fist as if she were crumpling the skulls of her enemies. “It’s their fault she became an Adumbrae.”

“Did the Adumbrae cultists put something in her brain that later turned her into an Adumbrae?” I asked. “Like the 2Ms with their parasites?”

“Not like that. The BID would’ve spotted it during the check-up. I meant that the cult messed up Kelsey's mind badly. We’ll never know the actual cause of her infection, but I’m sure it’s connected to that god-forsaken, blasted scam of a cult. I’m going to blame my parents for joining it, too. They’re just the worst.”

“Maybe they were tricked,” Deen said. I didn’t expect her to defend someone else’s parents when she regularly piled on her own. “Most members don’t think they’re joining a cult. They genuinely believe in the religion.”

“It was my parents’ choice to get converted,” Myra harshly replied. “They fucking brought us along into their stupidity! Our aunt’s the real hero. I even call her ‘Mom’, instead of my own mother.”

“When did Kelsey start showing… symptoms?” I asked.

“Almost two years ago. The time that Kelsey got into hiking. Her co-workers invited her along.”

“Did she get into an accident and—?”

“She suddenly became extremely fit out of nowhere. She didn’t break a sweat while her friends were pooped from the climb. She’d brag to me about it, but I didn’t think there was anything wrong at that time. One day, she convinced me to come hiking with her. Just the two of us up a mountain. I messed up and fell off a ledge coated with slippery moss. I grabbed onto Kelsey, dragging her with me. She shielded me as we tumbled over rocks and… yeah.”

“Kelsey got injured and healed super fast,” I guessed.

“Yep,” Myra curtly said as she looked away.

Silence followed. Was Myra done with storytelling? Did she think she had said too much? She kind of did. She probably didn’t expect to tell us this story when she planned our training. We weren’t close at all.

A bit more push. “How did you meet Dario? I’m assuming it had something to do with Kelsey?”

“A long story about how he found out about Kelsey. He contacted me, offering help to manage her… condition.”

Also, sprinkled in some threats, I added in my head. I could imagine how their first meeting went.

Though I wanted to learn how Dario went about discovering an Adumbrae, I prioritized a different question since Myra was becoming hesitant to continue our little interview. “Can the Professor’s organization stop the Adumbrae infection?” I didn’t add that it sounded awfully like what the 2Ms were doing to their monster clients. Was there a connection here?

“I can’t say with certainty that they can stop it,” Myra said. “Fucking hell, I don’t even know if the pills slowed down anything because Kelsey wasn’t upfront with me about her condition. If she had abnormal growths on her body, she hid them well.” In a much smaller voice, almost mumbling to herself, Myra added, “Maybe that’s why she left our apartment.”

These were enough questions for now. I didn’t want to come off as too nosy about such an emotional topic for Myra. She might even start to wonder why I was too interested in Kelsey. And I also couldn’t get a clear read on Myra. She had an agenda in talking with us up here—I could feel it.

I was about to say that we should go down when Myra continued talking. “I’m relieved that Kelsey is out there,” she said. “No one knows where she is.”

Okay…? Such a bizarre thing to say about her sister. Maybe Myra meant something else, and her words came out wrong.

“Kelsey has a reason why she continues to hide,” I said. “She might think it’s safer for you this way. Yeah, that’s probably it. You won’t be investigated by the police if she’s presumed dead, right? We just have to find her before the authorities or the 2Ms do. Can you think of any lead that—?”

“It’s probably for the best that Dario can’t find her,” Myra wistfully said. She then shook her head. “Forget I said that.”

Oho! There was something I could use here.

But what if Myra wanted us to join her breakaway from Dario? She could be sending out feelers by ‘accidentally’ mentioning these random emotional things.

Myra joined Dario’s group out of desperation and coercion—she had that last part in common with Deen and me. With Kelsey missing, Dario didn’t have a hold over Myra other than the threat of the Professor’s organization killing her to preserve their secret. If there were three of us, Myra had a much better chance of… I didn’t know what her plan could be.  

Too muddy. I wasn’t prepared to trust Myra with anything. For all we know, she could be testing our loyalty with this bit. At least, I learned of another possible way to stop my Adumbrae infection. But the 2Ms’ stuff remained my strongest bet.

“A little emergency,” Deen said. She had been oddly quiet for a while now. “My Guardian Angel’s telling us to leave the building.” She grabbed Myra’s arm and mine, dragging us back to the lower floors.

“Why are we—?” A sharp crack stopped me from finishing my question. “Ah, I get it.”

“Hurry!” Myra grabbed us by the waist—Deen by her right, and I was by her left—and jumped out the window. We landed safely and rushed back to the car.

The building groaned and wobbled as Myra reversed her car onto the unfinished road. She parked the next block over as we watched the building collapse on itself. Dust clouds rolled, and debris flew in every direction. Some chunks whizzed dangerously close to us.

Myra drove away in a panic. She grumbled about not finishing her payments yet, and something about claiming insurance being a pain.

So that’s why Deen was silent, I thought, catching Deen’s eyes reflected in the rearview mirror. Using the best friend telepathic network, I confirmed that Deen was warned by her Guardian Angel several minutes beforehand. But Deen didn’t immediately tell us because she’d reveal to Myra how far her Guardian Angel could see into the future.

She probably didn’t talk because she was focused on listening to her Guardian Angel. She told me that it could speak more urgently the more immediate the threat. It supposedly used a sterner tone during Deen’s fight with Dario. She must’ve waited until the Guardian Angel’s instructions became too persistent before alerting us.

Good thinking, Deen, I thought, nodding at her in the rearview mirror. She’d be a really useful ally. Judging by her reaction to Kelsey, Deen wasn’t a full-on Adumbrae hater. Would she be able to accept me as an Adumbrae? Or would she think I was in cahoots with the 2Ms, plotting to kidnap her or something?

During the ride to Poblacion Verde Hills, Myra gave us pointers about fighting and which videos to watch. The topic of Kelsey or anything about Myra’s past didn’t surface again. I found it too awkward to bring up, and Deen probably did too.

“See you around at Eloyce!” Myra waved at us after we exited her car.   

As soon as Myra drove away, I asked Deen, “Do you think what she said about Kelsey was true? Did your Guardian Angel say anything?”

“Why would Gabe say anything about Myra’s story? ‘Gabe’ is what I decided to call this invisible creature.” She pointed above her right shoulder. “A sort of nickname. Saying Guardian Angel all the time is too unwieldy. Gabe is short for Angel Gabriel, the quintessential guardian angel. It looks like a Gabe to me.”

“I can’t agree with you because I can’t see anything. When will the ghost-hunting equipment arrive? Oh, there are boxes next to the door. That’s probably—”

“Erind, was what you said true?” Deen asked. “About your dad dying in a car accident?”

“Oh, that. Yeah… It happened like ten years ago.” Should I tell her about the Corebring thing? Next time. I’d reveal it as a sort of proof that I trusted her. She’d be so touched someday. “Anyway, let’s bring the boxes in.”

Deen hesitated for a moment, probably wanting to know more about my past. “O-okay. I’m always available to talk if you need to share anything.”  

I pretended to ignore what she said, implying that it was a touchy topic. It’d make it tempting to bring it up next time. “I can’t wait to see if they’d see Gabe,” I said, forcefully laughing as if covering pain. “See what I did there? Ah, it’s a lame pun. Is that even a pun? A word play? I don’t know what to call it.”

Deen giggled. “You’re adorable when you go off on a tangent like that.”

“I’m always adorable,” I said, sticking my tongue out at her.

The boxes were huge, but we didn’t have any problems pushing them into the house. Once inside, we picked them up with next to no effort, as if they were full of balloons.

“I can’t tell if this box is heavy or light for a normal person,” Deen said, tossing a box large enough to fit her up and down as if it were a beach ball. “So… uncanny. I don’t think I’ll get used to this. We’re supposed to become stronger as time goes by, right? If only we knew how to fight, to make use of this strength to defend ourselves.” It goes without saying that she meant to defend against the 2Ms and Dario’s group.

“We can train ourselves,” I said. “No need to wait for Myra and Dario.”

Deen nodded. “And we’ll disguise how much we’ve improved on our own. Where do we train?”

“We could go up the mountain to smash rocks,” I said. “But it’s way easier to train at New Hope. We go there around midday, so we’re sure that Dario’s group isn’t there since they have jobs. And we’ll pick a different building.”