Ch. 4.15

15. 

“Mom! Mom!” Santi yelled as he walked through the house. He had no reason to yell, his mom could hear him just fine from down the block if he spoke in a whisper. There was a familiarity to yelling for her that was comforting too. The chancla that came flying from the second story to bounce harmlessly off his head was also comforting in its own way. 

Gabriella shoved her head over the balcony and glared down at him. Fruity citrus smells filled the house and mom had a rag in one hand and a second sandal in the other. She glared at him for a minute before shaking her head.

“Pass me the sandal,” she called down to him as ran the rag over the bannister, erasing whatever thin layer of dirt or grime that had accumulated. Santi grabbed the sandal and walked up to hand it over, smiling as he did so. Gabriella took it without a word and put it back on and Santi took a second to look at his mom. 

She looked fit. She had never been fat per se, but there had been a bit of comfort weight there as they got older. Bits of gray creeping into her dark hair and wrinkles appearing. Now, none of that was there. Her training with Torin had left her muscular and fit, her hair was dark and vibrant and those few wrinkles had disappeared. Adding points to one’s stats didn’t make you muscular or lose weight, but they could help as you worked out. 

“You look good,” Santi said. Mom stopped what she was doing and glared up at him.

“I always look good, Santiago. Now, are you going to help or stand there acting like a pendejo.” 

“I can help out for a few minutes. Where’s Yessenia?” 

“She’s mopping the kitchen. Are you leaving finally?”

Santi took his shoes off and grabbed a broom and started sweeping the entryway. The new home they had gotten was nicer than their original home and the home by Homebase where Abraham had assaulted them. There was almost nothing to sweep off the white tiled floors, the bristles moved around a few motes of dust and that was all there was. 

“Yessi!” Santi yelled at his younger sister. She poked her head around from the corner, a bandanna having been used to tie up her hair. Stained overalls covered in a mix of paint and other, less pleasant, fluids covered up the majority of a band T-shirt. 

“Don’t yell!” Yessi yelled at him. Mom clucked her tongue but continued to clean the bannister. 

“I’m taking off. Just grabbing some supplies and checking up on you guys before I leave.”

“How long are you going to be gone for?” Yessi asked. There was a bit of nervousness in her voice. She wasn’t fully recovered from the trauma of her kidnapping, but she was slowly regaining some of her confidence and hints of her old personality occasionally peeked out. 

“About a week. Hopefully less. We go and do that rift down in Nevada and then get back up here by the time the others show up. I need you to help me out though. I found a woman, she’s strong as hell but not quite all there. Need you to make her a comfortable place to live that can keep her contained if she snaps.” 

“Santiago! Are you asking your sister to build a jail for a woman?” Mom asked. 

“Yeah. She’s not crazy crazy, just a little delusional. And not a direct combatant. If we can keep her on our side, then we can have a powerful indirect defender in case something goes wrong.”

“What’s her class?” Yessi asked.

“She’s a [Mortician] but it’s closer to a puppeteer. Any corpse that she dissects and reassembles can be turned into like a zombie,” Santi explained. Yessi shuddered but Mom stopped dusting to look down at him.

“Why’s she crazy?”

“She doesn’t realize what’s going on. Think the doctor she worked for is coming back and was just doing autopsy stuff constantly. Also, I have no clue how she got her evolution.”

“I have a few rituals that can keep someone contained, but nothing that would be permanent. I’m guessing she’s in the forties?”

“No. Sixties.” 

“Santi. I can’t control someone that powerful,” Yessi said. A bit of fear was in her eyes while Mom had grown silent and stared down at him. 

“You can. If you have the right ingredients. Which you should. She’s not directly dangerous, it’s her puppets that are fighters. We’ll get a house for her, away from town, and lay down some rituals that can be designed against the undead.” 

“And by we, you mean me,” Yessi put her hands on her hip.

“Yes. I mean you and mom. We need this strength here. I doubt that this new announcement is going to lead to making things better and Kristen can help with that.”

“Santi, is she dangerous?” Mom asked. 

“She had the potential to be very dangerous. But with some time and kid gloves we can use her to protect ourselves.”

“If she’s dangerous, then she should be put down,” Mom said. There was steel in her eyes and her body language indicated she was more than willing to be the one to do it.

“Mom! You can’t just go around and kill sick people,” Yessi yelled at her. She shook her head and sighed. 

“I think I know a place. I can get her set up and going, lay down some powerful enough rituals and I can reduce the threat she poses.”

“What rituals?” Santi asked. He had a few he was thinking of but wanted to see what his sister had in mind.

“Hmm. A binding ritual to keep her penned into the house and the property until we can verify she’s safe. Then an energy conversion ritual.”

“A wall and a bomb?” Santi said. He was impressed with the ruthlessness Yessi was showing. 

“Yeah. I have a few small treasures that I can use to power both. Maybe get someone to run one of the small rifts off the coast for me and use that. But, Santi, I’m not taking risks. I’m not going to kill her,” she stopped and shot a glare up at mom. 

“But, we’ve played with chance before and it got us all hurt. If she strays out of line, I’ll end the threat.” Yessenia folded a bit on herself as she said it, that earlier glimmer of her old self winking away. 

“Thank you. Have Chad or Daniel or someone bring her bodies. Let’s see if she can do some animals up for us and patrol. She might also need supplies. Mom, there’s going to be a big group of people coming in from the bay. Could you tell Helen and Marisol?”

“You don’t want to tell them yourself?” Mom asked, a fake smile plastered across her face. 

“No, no I don’t. I’m sorry, but I am in a rush. I need to grab some gear and set up the pillars correctly to be used while I’m gone. Mom, I’m leaving you and Yessi as the only authorized users while I’m gone. People will be able to trade and buy, but only you can use the other functions, ok?”

“That’s fine. Just make sure to keep yourself safe and come home in one piece, ok?” Mom looked at him with only a hint of worry in her eyes. Santi nodded and helped them finish their cleaning. It didn’t take long using his full speed and strength to quickly sweep. [Air Manipulation] brought a focused breeze that sent out a small cloud of dust and dirt out the door and left the house smelling fresh and clean. 

“Alright, I’ll see you guys in awhile. Just stay safe, continue fortifying the area.” Santi gave his goodbyes after grabbing his pack and the last of the gear he had stored in his room. Hugs were given and mom planted a kiss on his cheek before attempting to crush the life out of him with a hug. Yessi was more restrained, just giving a quick side hug before shooing him out of the house.

It hadn’t been more than an hour since he had arrived at Homebase, the sun was still creeping up and over the horizon and there was plenty of time before he was supposed to be back. He settled his pack down better and started off at a sedate pace, looking for his scout duo. 

Daniel and Hana should be in town and he wanted at least one of them to join him in the expedition. They had started to become a bit more recalcitrant about some of the missions Santi ran, preferring to run their own small ranger teams with Chad and Tristan. 

Still, he didn't want to go all the way to Vegas without at least one scout to lead the way. He found them on the edge of town, enjoying a plate of breakfast with a few of their rangers lounging about. There was an air of comfort here, of fitting in, that Santi hadn’t seen on the pair before. 

“Hey, I’m taking off to Vegas. Want to go?” Santi said, dropping into an empty seat next to them. Daniel looked up and over at his girlfriend and Hana frowned. 

“You can go, I can hold the fort,” Daniel said softly. Santi looked between them as the couple communicated silently with a handful of small gestures and head nods. 

“Alright. Let me get my stuff,” Hana said. She bolted upright and ran back into a house while Daniel leaned into his chair. That air of comfort had dissolved and he looked on edge. 

“Try to keep her safe. Please? She’s all I got,” Daniel whispered, the faint edge of his British accent nearly impossible to hear. 

“I can try, but I can’t make that promise. I won’t put her in anymore danger than I would myself,” Santi said. 

“That’s the problem. You throw yourself into fights you shouldn’t. Then you win and gain massive rewards and the rest want to be like you. I wanted to be like you too. But, I like this. Being a ranger. It’s dangerous, but not suicidal.” Daniel had withdrawn since the battle with the cursed. The sheer carnage of the fight had scarred the man. 

“Daniel. We’ve been fighting together since day one. The only true safety is strength. Your own personal strength. You can’t just take your foot off the pedal and hope for a better outcome.”

“I know that, Santi. I’m just…tired. Let me recover a bit and I’ll be right back with you in the carnage. It’s nice building something here, with them.” Hana came back out with a bag on her shoulders. Daniel received a tender look and a gentle kiss on the cheek. They whispered goodbye to each other so softly that Santi barely heard it. Then they were off and headed back to the hills to grab the others and start their trip to Vegas.