Shrunken perspective - Part 3

Bennet bumped on his seat, up and down, sitting in the jeep, with three unknown men who saved him from demise by his big sister’s sneaker. He became somewhat nervous when the guy with the honeyed voice next to him kept gawking at him with a warm smile. Bennet felt the need to respond in a way that was socially acceptable, so he gave a curt smile in return and quickly glanced the other way. 

Contemplating his surroundings, Bennet was overwhelmed by it all. Being this incredible small, the world suddenly looks like an other-earthly place. Everything was so vast and intimidating. It was also quite fascinating to see such profound detail on trivial objects littering about, like a screw or a rivet. He recalled the times when he came here visiting his father while working on one of his inventions. He never would have known that someday, he would crawl upon this dusty, crumbled floor like an ant’s snack. 

“Once in a fuckin lifetime opportunity and the scrawny brother decides to show up.” The driver suddenly sliced the silence with his raspy voice.  

“Don’t worry, we have use for him.” curly-mustache added. His dignified voice was in sheer contrast with the chainsaw babbling from the driver, Bennet concluded. He deemed it wise to keep that opinion to himself.  

“You bet. His baby face can feed my bony knuckles.” Bennet almost peed his pants when the driver gave him a glare of death. “Aaargh!! I hate that bitch!” the driver added.

 Bennet leapt up like an ambushed cat when the driver punched the wheel with his pulpy fist.  Honeyed-voice next to him looked at Bennet. 

“Durante here has a special bond with your sister. Don’t you Durante?” Bennet went airborne again, when Durante gave the wheel another punch.  “You’re damn lucky we found you." honeyed voice continued. "Or you might have ended up as a splotched blood ball printed on your sister’s sole. Or worse, be plunged into The depths.  

Bennet got startled when Durante grunted by the mentioning of The depths, this time not punching.  

“What’s this depth thing?” Bennet asked.  

“The tribute city to the overlord.”  

“Overlord?”  Bennet suddenly heard a grunt of frustration coming from his gigantic sister, shaking him out of his contemplation. He spun his neck to check the rear and saw his now enormous sister, in the distance, crouching down in her cut off denim shorts, scanning the ground with strained eyes. The car shook violently when one of Taylor’s knees crashed upon the floor. It made him remind how interminable small he was.  

“Queen brat is foraging.” honeyed-voice said.  

“Let her.” curly-mustache replied. Bennet saw only a glimpse of Taylor scanning the floor when they got submerged in total darkness. He realized they must have entered some sort of narrow slit in the wall and were riding through it. The only illuminations he saw were the headlights right in front of them, when they popped open, expelling darkness into a brief retreat. They drove for what felt like an eternity, through a narrow dark corridor within the walls.
He heard Taylor’s muffled voice, punctuated with frustration, calling out his usual nickname. Being among three peculiar gentlemen, driving towards an unknown destination was not quite a comfortable prospect. However, hearing Taylor's direful anger made Bennet glad he wasn’t standing, minuscule small, in the palm of her extensive hand at the moment. A cold shiver ran along his spine by the thought of it. He would be completely at the mercy of his bitchy powerful sister.
He wouldn’t mind being found by Serenity though, to be forced to crane his neck, painfully, in an attempt to look her in the eyes when she loomed over him. Suddenly, Bennet saw a small dot of light at the end of the narrow tunnel beaming up, becoming bigger with every driven yard. A great clearing opened up before him, containing rows of ram shackled homes encircled around a lively bonfire, crackling loudly, granting a strong source of brightness. Throngs of people stood loitering around it, their faces adorned with flickering hues of orange. Some heads looked their way when the sound of the jeep’s engine came within hearing distance.
Bennet was ushered out of the vehicle and stood there, forlorn. He saw a woman approaching him, examining him with curiosity. Then, a spring of recognition seemed to spat on her face.
 

“It’s the boy! They have the boy!” She shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. Slews of people came strutting by with haste. They all watched him, recognition filling their facial expression. An indistinct hubbub erupted all around him. He could distinguish the words ‘depths’ and ‘Taylor’ several times. 

 
What the hell did I get mixed up with here? Bennet pondered with distraught. He saw dozens of people, all frantic, pointing at him, talking about him, except one girl. She stood out in the crowd, with a salmon colored dress, which was a bit tattered. She observed him intensely, with languid eyes, as if she already had lived several lifetimes of sorrow despite her young appearance. She looked about the same age as Bennet. He could have sworn he knew her from somewhere.
Just when he was about to approach her, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder. He looked up and saw curly-mustache looking down upon him, with a triumphant smile.  “Dilworth junior everyone!” He called out, holding up Bennet’s arm like showing off a trophy. Some cheers rose up out of the crowd, but not everyone seemed pleased. Bennet quickly turned his head to see if the girl was still there, but she was gone. He saw a glimpse of her salmon dress disappearing among the thick crowd.
 

“You announce him like you got hold of the golden grail.” a man scowled out of the crowd. Sounds of approval went up from various locations. 

“He is the road to our golden trophy.” curly-mustache said.  “He’s just a dirty wanker. Like his old man. Busting nuts on arabian porn and filthy feet.” An old crone screeched.
 

Honeyed-voice whispered in Bennet’s ears. “Being this small does have its benefits. We can see and hear, without being seen and heard.”
 

Oh my God. Bennet thought. What more do these people know about me?  

“You should see the gathering bunch when that sister of yours is wrecking her shaved juicy cunt. A stadium full of ogling eyes, Im telling ya.” He sniggered.  

Bennet looked at him with disgust. Seeing strong sensorial images in his head of Taylor laying hand on herself with dozens of microscopic spectators was too much to bear. 

 “Frankly, I don’t understand the fuss over this girl.” honeyed-voice added. “too juvenile if you ask me. Your mother however. Now that’s a woman. God! You should have see...”
 

“Okay stop!... please…” Bennet broke off his speech. He could not bear to see images of his mother also. This mental picture of Taylor’s activities during her private time was already more than he could handle right now.
Honeyed-voice gave him an reassuring smile and a wink.
 

“What about The depths?” A woman called out, bringing Bennet’s attention back to the collective conversation again. “my boys are still out there, plowing their backs to damnation while laboring for one useless project after the other in the name of that wench. You said we could save them. Could save them all.”
 

“And we will.” Curly mustache added determined. “Hear me out, I know you were expecting someone else than soft-skin over her.” He pointed at Bennet. “Unfortunately, things went sideways and now were stuck with him instead of Taylor. And that sucks like hell. I know.” He dropped a few seconds of silence before picking up his speech again. “you all want Taylor…” A murmur of approval was heard from various mouths “you all want to settle the score.” More sounds of approval joined in. “and we will. Soft-skin here will be our ticket to redemption and that’s a humble promise from a fellow sufferer!” 

Cheers were heard now, praising curly-mustache’s words. All were joining, except one. Bennet noticed one man, with a sullen glare, looking at curly-mustache before he pivoted and vanished among the elated crowd. It was the same man who announced his disapproval at the start. Bennet let all these recent impressions sank in and pondered deeply. All these people seemed to know Taylor and they all hate her for some reason. And what is this depth thing they keep talking about?