Ch.123Ch.8 – And Then There Was Nothing (8)

# 1929. 6. 23. AM 9:32

Hideout

Arkham

While Aurora was washing up, I made a phone call. Fortunately, Crayfield answered. There was a lot of static on the line, possibly due to connection issues, so I only managed to convey that “thanks to Aurora, we were able to secure the remaining brick fragment with the snake-man drawing.”

“Watch out for snakes. They keep appearing in Pollard. I think those damn fragments are the problem—they’re causing trouble even when separated, so I can’t imagine what would happen if they were joined together. I’ve been in constant communication with Father Michael, so come back in one piece.”

Father Michael? But he hasn’t shown anything beyond sprinkling alum on the ground.

“I find it a bit amusing that a priest would be called ‘superstitious,’ but he’s a trustworthy man. From what I’ve gathered, he seems to have had some complicated issues with the priests of Yig. So he won’t hesitate when it comes to this matter.”

I told him I understood and hung up. The bathroom door opened, and Aurora walked out wrapped in a towel, drying her hair.

“Who were you talking to?”

I honestly told her about my conversation with Crayfield and mentioned that Father Michael was having trouble with the snake problem. Aurora gave me a sidelong glance.

“Father Michael is the head priest at the Southern Cathedral. Ha. We’ll be tangled up with our ‘lovely’ nun again, won’t we?”

I simply said that for supernatural problems like this, seeking supernatural help might not be a bad idea. Aurora laughed as she dried her hair with the towel.

“I wonder? In my experience, saying more prayers doesn’t solve problems. A gun that fits my hand and one more bullet have been more effective. If a problem isn’t being solved, maybe it’s not that you need more prayers, but that you need more bullets?”

Aurora brushed past me. The split heart necklace around her neck glinted. Now it was my turn to get ready.

* * * * *

# 1929. 6. 23. AM 11:32

Northern Arkham Bank

Arkham

The bank was already bustling. People were lined up, and the tellers were busy. Behind the desk was a large grandfather clock, its second hand ticking loudly enough to be heard from ten paces away.

Emma was sitting on a sofa in the waiting area, expecting us. She wore a fedora and a thin coat. With her hair tucked up under her hat, she could easily be mistaken for a delicate-looking man at first glance.

“My goodness. Herman did quite a job.”

Aurora gritted her teeth. I asked what she meant.

“That outfit. It’s not ordinary clothing. Remember the bulletproof vest I wore? It’s similar, but the vest has a bag-like compartment in the front.

When you wear a coat over it, you can smuggle items without anyone noticing. All that German chatter yesterday was about getting her fitted for that.”

We approached Emma.

Aurora knew better than anyone that with us being followed, we needed Emma’s help to safely retrieve the item. She must have specifically spoken to Dr. Herman about it. That didn’t mean Aurora had hidden her hostility, though.

“Dressing like that doesn’t make you look like a man. Or a federal agent either.”

Given her argument with Catherine Scully, this reaction was to be expected. Emma was less rigid than Catherine, but more cunning.

“You don’t look particularly wealthy either. What’s with that necklace? Is it gold-plated, or just painted yellow?”

Strangely, Aurora didn’t get angry. She just lifted her chin haughtily.

“This necklace is heavier than it looks. It weighs about as much as your body weight plus one bullet.”

“Then let’s add a bracelet to that.”

Emma raised her left arm. It was the snake-shaped gold bracelet I had seen yesterday.

“What do you think? This might be enough to buy a brick fragment, if not that necklace of yours.”

“Add your sister’s weight and one more bullet, and we’ll talk.”

Emma chuckled, then burst into full laughter—loud enough to make people in the teller line turn and look.

“Sorry, but that won’t work. The burdens I carry aren’t exactly light either. You don’t even know what you’ve bought.”

“Just know that I didn’t save you for free. And I certainly didn’t pay for it because you’re pretty.”

A shadow fell across Emma’s face.

“You can’t handle it, pretty girl. A thousand, ten thousand snakes will tear your heart to pieces. They’ll squeeze your wrists, coil around your ankles, bite those pretty lips of yours bit by bit, crawl over your body and peel your skin layer by layer with their scaly bodies. Like the wind finally eroding rock into sand. How do you think it would feel to have snakes crawling along your esophagus?”

“That would be even more problematic then.”

Aurora traced Emma’s chin with her finger.

“Because I plan to skin you myself. I couldn’t possibly leave that to mere snakes.”

Fortunately, a bald man with a white beard reaching down to his chest arrived. He was a trustworthy-looking lawyer with thick glasses, made more so by the briefcases he carried in each hand. It was lucky he arrived before the women’s words grew harsher.

“The procedure is complete. And these people are…?”

The lawyer looked back and forth between Emma and me. Aurora gave him a look. The lawyer asked no further questions.

“Follow me. Both of you. I was taught to share the good things.”

We approached the bank counter. Before the teller could stop us, the bank manager rushed out from behind and opened a security door leading to a more private area. He was a plump man with black hair, holding a clipboard and pen. His hair was so shiny that it looked like black ink might drip from it if pulled slightly.

“Eh-hehehe. Of course we’ve kept it safe. Of course. Of course.”

He bowed several times. Our items were well-preserved in a private vault. Through the bars, we could see a steel safe. When the bank manager turned the dial and opened the door, the stone that Aurora had bid on was revealed.

The bank manager brought a small table, and the lawyer opened his briefcases on it. Both cases were empty inside. While the bank manager and lawyer turned toward the wall, Aurora pretended to put the stone in the right briefcase but passed it to Emma instead. Emma quickly opened her coat, tucked the stone into the front pocket of her bulletproof vest, and closed her coat again. Aurora calmly closed the briefcase.

“Done.”

She kept one briefcase and handed the other to me.

The lawyer presented a check and signed the bank manager’s documents. The bank manager also signed. As if on cue, the lawyer pulled out a thin bundle of high-denomination bills from his pocket. The bank manager bowed deeply, accepted it with both hands, and neatly tucked it into his inner jacket pocket.

“Secrets must always be kept, of course.”

The bank manager winked at me.

Needless to say, there were no secret passages or back doors here. We had to exit through the lobby the same way we came in. The problem was that just as we were about to pass through the corridor into the lobby, masked individuals burst in.

Bang!

One of them, carrying a shotgun, fired at the ceiling. People screamed and ducked down. The security guard didn’t even have time to draw his pistol before being shot down by another intruder with a submachine gun. There were four masked individuals in total, all carrying heavy weapons. Aurora and I drew our pistols.

“Stay here.”

Aurora pushed the lawyer and bank manager deeper into the corridor.

“Talk about timing. A bank robbery in the middle of all this?”

Aurora whispered, raising her pistol. The masked figures threw empty bags at the bank tellers. The tellers frantically swept money into them. One robber stood on a table surveying the bank interior, two were shouting at the tellers, and the remaining one was taking hostages one by one and heading toward the vault corridor—the very passage where we were hiding.

“These aren’t ordinary robbers.”

Emma raised her left hand.

“They’re the ones from yesterday. And one of them isn’t even human.”

“What on earth do you—”

“Look carefully, pretty girl. And don’t scream.”

Emma raised her left hand high. The golden snake opened its eyes and stretched long and straight, as if climbing an invisible vine. Soon it became an elongated golden staff. Emma whispered rapidly:

“Listen to me. Both of you put your guns down. Remove the drums. Hurry!”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Damn it, just do it!”

The intruders were getting closer. Emma jumped in front of them. With a swishing sound, the golden snake extended like a whip.

The masked figure in front pushed away his hostage. Then he caught the golden snake with his hand. The snake, its neck caught, thrashed its head trying to bite the mask. The hostage who had fallen to the floor screamed, covering his face with his hands. A bizarre voice came from the mouth of the masked figure holding the snake.

“Blessed be the one who reveals the secret of the king’s death.”

“Death is all that remains for the exile of Hyperborea!”

Emma countered. The snake screamed, “Kiyat!”

“Filthy priestess. You live a tenacious life. How long will you continue to transfer bodies and spread your vile poison?”

The masked figure laughed. There was something strange about the mask. It wasn’t a mask covering a face, but rather seemed like a skin itself. When it opened its mouth, the mouth part of the mask sank in and out repeatedly. When it blinked, the part where the eyelids should be moved accordingly. The mask looked at me. Despite having neither eyeballs nor eye holes.

“…?”

The masked face convulsed. It suddenly released the snake. Emma lost her balance and tumbled backward, but the mask didn’t take its eyes off me. Soon it nodded and smiled.

“Ah. The Usurper. The Usurper. Are you enjoying the game? Is everything in the world just a dream to you…”

“Shut up!”

Emma stretched out her hand. The golden snake hissed and strangled the mask’s neck. The neck of the mask contracted sharply, like squeezing a pastry bag.

“Are you enjoying the thousand and one days of amusement, Usurper? Could not even Scheherazade’s tales appease you? Or…”

“I said shut up!”

Emma waved her hand violently. The snake bit the mask repeatedly in different places. But all that came out was black dust. As if the mask had been formed by gathering dust.

“Folly! Folly! Endless folly, iya-iya-iya! Do not worry. It comes. It will surely come. A faithful stage has been set, but not all the actors have arrived, and the director in the yellow cloak has not come! Ah, Yig, oh Yig! My god, my innocent god… your role on this stage!”

The mask cackled. The dust scattered in all directions and stuck to the walls. They stretched like stains and extended their bodies like shadows mocking the sunlight. Soon they transformed into tiny black snakes. As the dust spread, the masked body gradually shrank and became frail.

“I understand! I understand! I offer this humble body to amuse you, so please, release your anger toward my god! I apologize in advance for the sins my god will inflict upon your son! If this amusement is sufficient!”

The masked figure knelt down. Then collapsed with a thud. The mask shattered and scattered as if it had been made of soot, and sand poured out from inside the body. Like sand slipping through fingers, all that remained were clothes and sand.

“Both of you.”

Emma gripped the snake staff with both hands. As if it were a torch against evil.

“Don’t be fooled. It’s an illusion. It’s all fake.”

I looked up at the bank ceiling. Baby snakes were crawling down the walls.