Volume II

Chapter 16

Revelations

The room was silent and foreboding, the expression of disbelief and shock present on Blaire’s face as she had finally awakened after being knocked out by a distrusting Jinshin. After coming back home upon learning the gravity of the missing persons that she had been researching at the library, it was uncanny to say the least when Blaire returned home to find two shrunken strangers on her coffee table, and a sword wielding Asian woman of whom she had never met a day in her life.

“Well?” Jinshin said sternly. “Will you answer my questions? Or not? Time is not a commodity of which I possess at the moment.”

“I… What is going on?” Blaire was still disoriented, especially after the bizarre nightmare she had prior to waking up. Unable to remember the details of the dream, however, the redhead turned her gaze towards the two shrunken individuals still sitting upon the surface of her coffee table.

Her eyes opened wide upon recognizing them both, in fact, it perturbed her to say the least. “No way… Elizabeth Sanchez? Benjamin…?”

Unable to believe that this woman had recognized them, Benjamin and Liz exchanged a glance before the young man stood to his feet and held a hand up to his chin in thought.

“You know us?” Ben asked curiously.

“You are both residents of Valdez,” Blaire explained. “I just researched the both of you at the library, I was trying to understand why so many people were going missing without a trace here… This is very strange, what are you all doing here? Why are you two so… Small!”

“I said I’d be asking the questions,” Jinshin interrupted.

“Jinshin,” Benjamin inserted. “With all due respect, can’t you see she is as innocent as myself? I know that look in her eyes, I can tell she is not involved with the organization. Let her understand the situation, I beg of you!”

“Ben, we must be careful…” Jinshin was hesitant, but ultimately she felt the same feeling that Ben did. It was clear that Blaire was innocent, she wasn’t a fool not to see it. However, this woman was close to Jacob, and this little detail was something Jinshin hoped to take advantage of.

“Who is Jacob to you?” Jinshin asked, and Benjamin decided to cooperate for the time being.

“I met him a little over a month ago,” Blaire revealed, getting the sense that perhaps these strangers could clue her into whatever it was that Jacob had gotten involved with. She was not an idiot, the lack of information on Jacob was disturbing to her. Whether he was a good person or not, Blaire simply had to find out who she had welcomed into her home, and her bed. It was gnawing at her soul.

“Where?” Jinshin asked.

“At a food wagon he worked at,” Blaire revealed. “He was very charming, we seemed to click rather quickly. However, that woman right there!” Blaire gestured towards Elizabeth using her gaze, and the tiny woman stared up at her with a sorrowful expression. “That’s Elizabeth Sanchez! I met her father not long ago, actually! She went missing, but she’s here! She’s alive! Benjamin too, I read about both of you in the archives at the library! What the hell happened to you two!?”

Suddenly Liz became angry, tears filling her eyes as she stormed to her feet and began signing with her hands furiously at everyone. Jinshin and Benjamin looked at her with heavy hearts, but ultimately were unable to understand her.

“Hey!” Blaire suddenly chirped. “You can sign? I know how to read sign language!”

“No way! Seriously!?” Ben smiled, this was actually fantastic news. It killed him being unable to communicate with Liz, but if Blaire could be her voice, then perhaps he could finally learn more about her specific circumstances. “Jinshin, we should let Blaire be Liz’s voice! This is great! Especially if she knew Jacob and worked with him, don’t you agree?”

“What if she lies to us?” Jinshin was hesitant to trust Blaire so soon, it was in her nature after all.

“Then Liz will shake her head at us, right?” Benjamin turned and smiled at Liz. Returning a smile, the tiny woman nodded frantically. Never had Benjamin seen her so excited, it was a relief after all the trauma she had endured under the torment of Deita. “See? No harm, no foul!”

Jinshin sighed, perhaps she was keeping her guard up too much. Nodding silently, she permitted Blaire to communicate with Elizabeth.

“Go ahead,” Blaire faced Elizabeth. “Tell me what happened to you!”

Being able to finally speak for the first time since she had been shrunk and sold off to the organization, Elizabeth finally began to reveal the details of her living nightmare. Signing hastily, Blaire’s expression slowly became increasingly horrified as the details of Liz’ experience really began to fill her with dread. It took several moments, but eventually Liz had fully divulged the brutal torture and humiliation at the hands of Deita, and the reason she had suffered in the first place… Because of Jacob.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Blaire closed her eyes and began to clench her teeth. Shaking her head in disbelief, the poor woman began to sob uncontrollably. Liz also cried a bit, happy to finally vent to someone who could actually understand her. It was not only a relief, but perhaps now her truth could in turn provide them even more information, since Blaire had appeared to be very close with Jacob at this point.

“Unspeakable…” Blaire murmured with a broken heart. “I… I almost can’t believe it. It all makes sense now, I doubt Jacob lived here his entire life at all. Why… Why would he do such a thing? And to think this entire time… He was… Oh God…”

“We were both deceived by him as well,” Benjamin revealed. “I had been invited to a party myself. I hardly knew him that well, but he seemed like an upbeat guy and I really admired him for that. It wasn’t long afterwards I was blindsided, and ever since I was enslaved in that brutal organization… If it wasn’t for Jinshin, our hero… Liz would be in the belly of a woman, and I’d probably have been disposed of for being too difficult to handle.”

“How is this even possible? How could Jacob have such an ability? It’s straight out of a fiction novel…” Blaire struggled to understand the details, but she knew it was the truth. It was unclear to her, but it almost felt as if she could feel their emotions and thoughts inside of her own spirit, amplifying her own emotions tenfold. Withholding her tears alone was a difficult task.

“From what I know personally, Jacob has supposedly possessed this power since he was a child,” Jinshin clarified for the sake of looping Blaire into the fold. Despite her concerns, she knew true emotional distress when she saw it, and Blaire had earned her trust this way. “There was some kind of experimentation going on then, and Jacob wasn’t the only one… There was another. I don’t know her name, but rumors call her Gullivette. Her abilities appear to be the complete opposite of Jacob’s.”

“Incredible…” Blaire felt her heart pounding violently. Her entire world upended in mere moments, and yet her spirit knew the words of these strangers were the absolute truth. However, despite their disdain for Jacob, something inside of Blaire was telling her that it wasn’t as cut and dry as it may seem. But she wasn’t quite sure what that was, honestly.

Composing herself and trying to accept the situation at hand, Blaire took a deep breath and decided to address the reason these people were here to begin with.

“So what brought you here, then?” Blaire asked. “Something tells me it wasn’t Jacob… So why come here? Wouldn’t it be safer for you three to hide somewhere less obvious?”

“I’m not sure what Liz told you, but I’ll assume you’re smart enough to understand my previous involvement,” Jinshin mentioned.

“Assume to be correct,” Blaire answered, her once bubbly and innocent nature turning into something else entirely. Her heart was breaking, the truth of Jacob’s evil nature hard to process. But Blaire was not one to judge anyone, instead she just wanted to understand the why and how. Her life had always been upended, but this was just absolute insanity.

“After barely escaping with our lives,” Jinshin began, “I received a call from a man of whom I did not know. He directed us here, claiming you to be his daughter. For some reason, he said we needed to use you in order to send a message to this Gullivette person and enlist her help in taking down the organization. That’s the only information I got, and admittedly I assumed you would know more about the details…”

Somehow the shock on Blaire’s face continued to expand to impossible lengths. Unable to wrap her head around this little detail, she shook her head in disbelief.

“No way,” Blaire declared. “I do not know who you spoke with, but it couldn’t have been my father. He wouldn’t know where I am, this much I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt. Even if it were my father, someone else must be involved, I can assure you.”

“And how is that?” Jinshin questioned, crossing her arms and raising her brow.

“A man named Charle’s once harassed me in front of Jacob not long ago,” Blaire revealed. “Long story short, my parents hired him to find me. He never had the chance to inform them of where I had gone, because I just learned today that he never made the flight home. After everything you have told me, I have come to believe that Jacob murdered Charles in order to protect me from my corrupt family. You see, I ran away from them not too far back… My father wouldn’t even know where I live, and if Charles didn’t tell them, who exactly would have known about me other than Jacob himself? Do you understand now why nothing you’re saying to me makes any sense?”

“That’s a lot of information to absorb…” Jinshin tried to process everything Blaire had just told her, but she was skeptical. “How do you know for sure that Jacob killed Charles before he told your family about your location?”

“I know my father, and especially my mother,” Blaire defended herself. “I can absolutely assure you, Jinshin. If Charles had told them where I was, they’d have sent a small army to come and collect me. My father wouldn’t call you, someone he doesn’t even know, and have you come hide here unless there was someone else involved. Admittedly this doesn’t make any sense either, but that only proves my point. I’m not sure who exactly told you to come here, but it’s clear that some mysterious party wanted us to meet one another.”

“I can agree with that,” Jinshin admitted. “Apparently they want us to get Gullivette involved too. But why? How would we even know how to get a hold of her? Someone is manipulating us from the shadows, and honestly I’m not too pleased to find this out!”

“Please unbind me,” Blaire began to strain in her restraints. “It hurts! Do you trust me now?”

“Where will you go when I release you?” Jinshin asked.

“I’m assuming you want my help, don’t you?” Blaire was confused. “Jinshin, my entire past was a waste of my life. Before I met Jacob, I wasn’t sure what my purpose in this world even was! But now, it seems very clear to me. I was already on the path of discovery when I tried to understand where the missing people of Valdez had gone, but now I know the truth… I won’t walk away from this! I can’t… Please, I’m not a fighter or soldier like you, but I want to help! At the very least, I can help you return Ben and Liz to their families!”

“In this condition?” Benjamin chuckled. “I appreciate your moral dedication, I really do. However, I don’t think I can face my family at this size. I wonder, whoever may be behind our meeting here, if they want us to unite with Gullivette because of a specific reason…”

Jinshin’s eyes widened, an obvious solution presenting itself in her mind. “Of course! If Jacob can shrink others, then what if Gullivette can grow the shrunken back to normal!?”

“Exactly!” Benjamin smiled, facing Liz who was also shocked to realize that perhaps they weren’t as permanently shrunk as originally thought.

“Wait, so if Jacob shrinks people and objects, you think Gullivette can grow them back to normal?” Blaire still found it hard to believe that such people could possess such powers at all. Yet, in her heart and soul, she somehow knew it was the truth. In fact, something strange was brewing deep inside of her, yet she couldn’t explain it. Shifting the feelings towards the back of her mind, Blaire tried to focus on the current issue.

“Then how do we contact her?” Blaire asked.

“Considering she’s part of a covert government task force, on the deepest and most classified level, I have no fucking idea!” Jinshin shook her head in frustration. “Unless their communications intel is… Wait… That might work…”

“What will work?” Ben asked, as Liz continued to listen but ultimately didn’t have much to say. She looked around the room, as Jinshin walked up to Blaire and began to undo her bindings.

“Blaire, are you certain you want to get involved with us?” Jinshin questioned, freeing Blaire of her restraints as the young woman rubbed her sore wrists. “There’s no telling the danger we’re in… I doubt the organization will just cut us loose. The one behind it all, Avaramix, has deep ties in many places. It wouldn’t shock me if the police are also on the lookout. Even if I returned these two back to their families, Avaramix would easily find out and have them all killed… This is the evil we are dealing with, do you understand?”

“I do,” Blaire stood to her feet and smiled at them all. “Of all the people I could have met, I had to meet Jacob. If it’s not fate that brought us together, then I don't know what did. All I know is that you yourself cannot simply contact this Gullivette, right? But maybe I can!”

“Really? How?” Ben asked.

“Well if it’s true, and this Avaramix person has ties with Valdez Police somehow, they shouldn’t recognize me, then, right?” Blaire asked. “And if I were to enter the department and ask for Gullivette from the government, someone would have to grow curious, right? You think it’d be enough to get their interest and stir the pot a bit?”

“Highly unlikely,” Jinshin doubted the idea. “It could get you killed if the wrong people heard someone like you asking for a high profile agent. However, if they do monitor communications, using a trigger word such as Gullivette could get their sights aimed towards you. It’s risky, and I wouldn’t be able to protect you, but ultimately it’s your decision…”

“Of course it is,” Blaire smiled, though she did feel slightly nervous at the thought of getting involved in this way. “If it means curing Ben and Liz of this… Curse… I want to help! Besides, I was so close to Jacob… All this time and I couldn’t see it… I have to do this. I want to help!”

“So be it,” Jinshin nodded. “You’ll go to the police and stir up the pot, but how? This plan seems far-fetched, it’s unlikely the government will want to get involved.”

“What if I mentioned something about people being shrunk?” Blaire suggested. “If I made some heinous, supernatural claim, that might be enough to get the interest of a woman who can grow to unimaginable heights, couldn’t it?”

“Of course!” Jinshin was impressed. “That could work! This task force always managed to locate more and more facilities that they dismantled entirely. Perhaps if you gave clues to another facility here in Valdez, it could lure them here. It’s still risky, however, so you must be careful.”

Liz began to sign again, as Blaire turned and noticed her.

“She is saying something,” Blaire interrupted, listening intently. After Liz was finished, Blaire nodded firmly.

“What did she say?” Jinshin asked.

“She’s concerned about whoever it was that called you,” Blaire revealed. “Elizabeth is wondering if it’s a good idea to do the very thing that a stranger wanted us to do. After all, he brought you to me, and in turn wanted you to use me in order to get the attention of Gullivette.”

“Assuming your father wasn’t responsible, I’m inclined to agree with her, but Gullivette may be our only option to restore the size of them both,” Jinshin noted. “So I’ll leave it to you to decide, Blaire.”

“Well…” Blaire swallowed nervously. Her moral innocence pushed her to help them, at whatever cost. However, she was still human, was she not? It was in her nature to be afraid, and afraid Blaire was indeed. Fear is what caused her to flee from her family, from Seattle. Now she was afraid for these three, knowing how far they’d come to hide in her home. Despite how sudden and unexplained this entire situation had been, Blaire knew deep in her soul that this was fate intertwined.

“Fuck it…” Blaire declared, summoning the courage she needed to give Ben and Liz a chance at having a normal life again. 

“I’m not the terrified little girl I used to be… So you know what? Let’s do it!”

“Jacob…”

“Hm?” Jacob couldn’t see, nor could he feel his body. All around him was a dark expanse of nothingness, and yet a voice was seemingly calling out to him.

“Forgive me, child… Had I known what they would do to you, I never would have given you away… I wish I could have been there, and for that, I am truly sorry…”

“Who… Who are you?” Jacob felt the presence of a woman, her voice soothing in nature as he felt his spirit enter a state of pure relaxation and serenity. Reaching out all around him, he couldn’t see his arms or body. It felt like he was floating in a vast void, yet the voice was seemingly all around him and very close also.

“Jacob… You must conquer the monster that has manifested inside of you…”

“I… I don’t know if I can…” Jacob murmured, starting to remember who he was and where he had come from.

“You must protect her, Jacob…” The voice spoke, somehow growing distant but also reverberating throughout his soul. “You must protect Blaire at all costs… You must protect Annie… You must protect… Yourself…”

“I don’t know if I can fight any longer…” Jacob spoke with a weak tone. “I… I just want this pain to come to an end…”

“You must not falter, Jacob… I am so sorry… My child…”

“What…?”

“Wake up.”

“Who… Who are you!?”

“Jacob… Wake… Up!”

The eyes of Jacob shot wide open, his back seizing as he began to cough and sputter sand that had piled over his face. Rolling onto his stomach, he began to vomit uncontrollably. The immediate relief afterwards allowed him to regain his thoughts, as he tried to remember what had happened. Then it all came rushing back to him, the great battle he had entered with Annie and her task force. The carnage that he had committed, how close he came to putting an end to the infamous Gullivette.

“Annie…” Jacob slowly stood to his feet, turning his head and realizing just how far she had thrown him. A smile swept across his battered face, as he stumbled towards the direction he thought he had been flung from.

“I’m sorry, Annie…” Jacob said to himself, limping forward as he made his way back towards the ruins. “I let my anger consume me for too long, haven’t I? And this is where it’s gotten me… What have I become? Annie… Maybe you should have come to finish me off… I don’t know if I have the will to live any longer…”

As Jacob continued onward, his feet slumping through the thick sand at his feet, Jacob began to think of Blaire. Tears began to fill his eyes, the reality of his pathetic and wicked existence becoming all too clear to him now.

‘What the hell am I doing?’ Jacob thought to himself miserably. ‘Was it worth it, you damned fool? All this death and hatred… And for what? To teach the world a lesson? What the hell am I doing… What is my purpose…? Am I… Am I so soulless that I’m just an emotionless void of emptiness and evil?’

Feeling a pain shoot up his calf, Jacob hit the ground as he fell to his knees. Tears began to pour down his face, the cruel reality of his evil nature beginning to overwhelm him.

‘What would Blaire think of me, if she ever found out what I’ve done?’ Jacob thought with sorrow and misery. Beginning to hate himself on a whole new level, he leaned forward and buried his head into the sand as he began to sob out loud.

‘Elizabeth… All of those people… Why did I never care? Why did I ever return to the organization at all? What the hell am I even doing with my life? And now I almost killed the only friend I ever made in this cruel world… Oh Annie… You must have been so happy to see me alive, after all those years… And all I could do was blame you for the torment I suffered… That we both suffered…’

Dragging his fingers through the sand and clenching his hands into fists, Jacob slowly lifted himself back up. Anger building up within his heart, the cruel reality of what Jacob was began to ring clear as ever.

“I understand now,” Jacob spoke out loud. “Blaire… What I’ve dragged you into without your knowing is beyond words. You deserved so much better, and I used my charm to deceive you, because I wanted you all for myself… I’m disgusted with my actions… However, I don’t deserve atonement… How… How could I have been so blinded by my own anger to have become this epitome of evil!?”

Standing back to his feet with determination and a newfound realization, Jacob finally began to understand himself. Hatred was all he ever knew, it was all he ever wanted to inflict in this world. To wrong those who he felt were indifferent to his suffering. The fact that people can go about their lives, uncaring and unwilling to stop the evil that plagues this world. The harsh truth was this, that Jacob wanted the world to suffer because he believed that all living people were beyond redemption.

However, he now understood this was a fallacy of his own making, created by the monster that had manifested within his soul.

‘Annie,’ Jacob thought with solace. ‘I blamed you because I was angry you didn’t come back for me, however I never considered that perhaps you were right. You had every reason to think I was dead, and every reason to flee with your life. I saw it in your eyes, the relief when you realized I was indeed still alive. I also watched the disappointment manifest, when you then realized how evil I myself had become. It crushed me, Annie. It made me hate you even more, to think that you believed you were somehow more moral than myself. Yet you defended your people with all of your might. Against all odds, you managed to defeat me, using the last of your strength to put an end to me before I could kill those you loved… Annie…’

Starting to walk forward again, Jacob felt a new mission beginning to manifest within his mind. Using the little strength he had after a harsh defeat, it was clear now what had to be done. The one responsible for the continuation of bloodshed and misfortune in the world that Jacob lived within. It was obvious now, what his purpose had become.

‘I won’t ask to be forgiven,’ Jacob thought. ‘Blaire, I don’t deserve you. Deita, perhaps if I had been more kind, you wouldn’t have turned out to be as evil as I am. Liz, there is a special place in hell for what I put you through. I only hope that somehow, you managed to keep on living… And Annie… I promise you this, Annie. With all of my heart and soul, if I even fucking have one… I swear this!’

“I’m coming for you…” Jacob declared. “Avaramix, this is all you're doing… And I allowed myself to be your weapon… Without me, you and your organization are nothing! Without me, the suffering in this world would plummet immensely! Without you, Avaramix… Perhaps the suffering in this world could be prevented in great multitudes. And that is why…”

Jacob gritted his teeth, scowling as he continued onward with his newfound purpose. Completely unaware of the supernatural experience he had while unconscious, it appeared to have touched his soul whether Jacob knew this or not. After facing the reality of death at the hands of his defeat against Annie, perhaps now he truly began to reflect on the monster had had become. Maybe, in Jacob’s mind, it would take a monster to destroy a monster.

“That is why I’m coming for you… Avaramix!”