Malefic Society

11. The Warehouse

"This would be trespassing, wouldn't it?" asked Chris. However, his tone was not that of concern, but excitement.

The siblings had walked back to the warehouse to look for objects that Crane could use to make a puppet of some sort. As per their expectation, the door was locked, so they couldn't get in easily. On top of that, it was not a wooden door, but a heavy steel door, so they wouldn't be able to easily break it. The door was the size double the size of a normal door, and it looked to be very thick.

"You sound excited," Catherine teased.

"No, I am very worried about my siblings well being. What if we got caught and got thrown in jail?" Chris's face was contorted comically.

"Knowing you, I'm sure you'll be able to escape easily," Catherine replied, "So make sure you save this sister of yours too,"

"Why not me too?" Crane protested.

"Because I'm sure you'll be fine on your own," she shrugged, "Anyway, I don't suppose we can force open this door. Chris, do you think you can find another opening?"

Crane, who was crouching, stood up and pointed at the other side of the warehouse, "I saw an open roof window there... well, it was just slightly open, but I'm sure you can squeeze through."

"I don't know if I can even get up there," Chris raised his eyebrows.

"I'm sure you can. Maybe you can find a way for us to enter from the inside. If we're lucky, this door might have just been bolted shut from the other side, or you can find a way to open that roll-up door." with his thumb, he pointed at the door next to the one they were trying to open.

The siblings walked to the small alley next to the warehouse, to the spot that Crane mentioned. The roof window was located at the side that was closer to the street, so it was visible from there, but not eye-catching enough for passersby to notice. Crane, who had a habit of observing and remembering his surroundings, had noticed the opening.

There were stacked crates on that side, which has most likely been left by the warehouse workers. Coming down the roof was a steel pipe used to let rainwater drain from the roofline. However, the pipe was broken midway, so it didn't reach all the way to the ground.

"You can try climbing those crates and up the pipe. With your skills, it should be easy enough," Crane pointed at the stack of crates.

"That will work. Let's move those crates then. Crane, can you use your Puppet Control to move the crates?" 

"Nope. You know I can't. Those crates have no limbs, so even if I control them, I cannot make them move," 

"Can't you make them roll around?" asked Catherine.

"If there was a protruding part on the crate, I'd be able to. But once it got rolled over to the other side, I wouldn't be able to do anything else. Unless the crates were much smaller, then I would be able to at least yank them up shortly."

"What a useless ability," Chris joked.

"You can die and I will control your dead body. That way, you can work without protesting too much," Crane shot a glare at his brother.

"I know you can't. You can only control dead monsters or animals at best," Chris grinned playfully.

The trio stopped annoying each other and got back to work. The crates were filled, so they were much heavier than anticipated. Each crate was more than half their height, so unstacking them and moving them one by one was too much work. Their only choice was to push the stack all in one go, so the three of them had to give it all their strength.

"Urgghhh!!" Crane groaned.

"Cath, keep pushing! Push! Push! I can see the head!" Chris yelled.

"Shut up...! I'm not... giving birth!" Catherine replied, her breathing heavy.

Drag...

Slowly, the stack of crates was moved a few meters from its original position, and now an adult could reach the pipe by standing on the top of the crates.

"Phew... Luckily this street is deserted. We would surely get in trouble if it wasn't" Chris commented. 

"Yeah... *pant*... right..." Crane was resting on the ground, catching his breath.

Catherine also looked as tired as her brother; only Chris looked fine.

"I'll go now. You two stay put. I'll find a way for you to get in. If there's none, I'll just get what Crane needs and get out the same way," he said, stretching his body.

Skillfully, Chris climbed up the crates and scaled the wall with the help of the steel pipe. Since half of it was broken, he had to test its structural integrity first before climbing. To his surprise, the steel pipe was really sturdy.

I wonder what could have broken this pipe. I thought it was due to age.

Chris walked along the metal roof of the warehouse towards the only open roof window. The size looked to be big enough for him to get through, but he was not sure if he would be able to enter safely, since there might not be any footing for him inside. The warehouse was small, probably only around 6-7 meters tall, but falling from that height could still injure him.

The young blonde man reached out to the window and looked inside.

The inside of the warehouse was expectedly cramped with random crates and shelves filled with random objects. It was dark and Chris could smell the musty stench from his position. The only source of light was the sunlight coming from the open roof window; luckily, he had his night vision.

Crap. There is nothing I can use to climb down safely. 

Right below the window was just an empty space since it was closer to the door. The tall shelves and stacks of crates were located further in the back of the warehouse. There weren't any pipes or beams that he could use for climbing down either.

Why is this window even here then, Chris wondered.

He steeled his heart and held on to the ledge, letting his body hang with his hands supporting his weight.

Okay, here goes...

Drop...

"Ease Pain!"

Thud!

He landed with his knees bent and quickly rolled forward to release the momentum.

"Fuck!" he yelled.

Chris noticed that although the ability reduced the pain he felt, it was still there. Also, the ability only eased the pain; it didn't actually heal physical injuries, so he could feel that he had injured his knees during the landing. Luckily, it was not severe and with his boosted healing as a Votary, his knees would recover soon.

Crane will have to compensate me... and it smells bad in here...

Limping, Chris started scanning his surroundings while bearing with the stale air.

The metal door was to his far left, while the roll-up door looked to be locked shut with a padlock. 

"This should do it," Chris muttered, sliding the latch to the side to unlock the metal door. 

Drag...

The rusty metal was slid with slight resistance, and before long, the door was unlocked. He pulled the door open and got out of the unventilated area with slight difficulty.

"Yo guys, the door's all good now!" he shouted.

"We heard a noise just now, like something fell. Was that you?!" Catherine asked, walking with Crane out of the alley next to the warehouse.

"Yep, don't worry, I'm all good," he smiled cheekily. He couldn't completely hide his limp, but his siblings knew he would be fine, so they didn't pursue the matter.

"Did you find anything inside?" Crane asked.

"Nope, didn't check yet. I'm getting you guys in first. And you will know best what you need anyway," he shrugged nonchalantly.

The trio entered the warehouse, closing the door behind them to be safe. The musty atmosphere hit their noses and the dust in the air embraced them. Rows of shelves and wooden crates also welcomed them.

"So I need anything that can be made into a puppet of some sort for my performance. Let's split up," Crane suggested.

"You sure it's safe? We're in a foreign world and we don't know what might happen," Catherine doubted.

"It's true, but I haven't felt any malice so far, so there shouldn't be any danger. We don't have any weapon, though, so, be careful."

The warehouse was more like an antique shop with all the junk and random objects lying around. Crane felt like he was in a playground and wanted to touch and check everything. However, he didn't know if the owner of the warehouse placed any security there, so he still had to hold back.

Taking the rows on the left, he looked around and found interesting things inside boxes like metal screws, bolts, nails, and other building materials. If nothing worked, he might consider selling those things, since they would usually fetch some price at least.

Further in, he found more building materials, but none was useful for what he had in mind, so he kept on walking.

Chris, who took the middle aisle, found household items such as photo frames, strangely designed mugs, and folded rugs, but nothing that looked like a doll or puppet yet. He walked further and found himself between shelves of kitchen utensils. Every group of items was placed crudely inside dusty boxes, which could easily be opened.

"This place looks like a convenience store warehouse!" he shouted so his siblings could hear him.

"I think so too. Mr. Veerkop probably has something similar back home!" Crane replied, thinking about one of the townsfolks who managed a small 'convenience' store.

They kept on rummaging through the boxes to find useful stuff, but none of the objects could be of any direct use to them. Chris, however, managed to find some kitchen knives that he liked, so he took one. It looked to be a well-made knife with a sturdy wooden handle. On top of that, it had a sheath, so he could carry it easily in his person without injuring himself.

"Guys, there is something! Come here quick!" Catherine suddenly shouted from one of the corners of the warehouse.

!!

Quickly, Crane ran towards his sister's voice, while Chris walked as fast as he could while limping. There, they found Catherine staring at an exposed wall between two shelves. The wall looked just like others in that warehouse, and its placement wasn't anything strange either, since each gap between shelves would look the same.

"What is it?" Crane asked. He knew his sister had the best spiritual sense among them, so he trusted her instinct.

"I feel something from behind this wall. There is something emitting spiritual energy there," Catherine replied.

Chris tried touching the wall, but nothing happened. It was just a solid object, and there didn't seem to be a hidden switch either.

"Did you think I didn't try that?" Catherine frowned.

"Well, just in case, haha" he laughed cheekily, "It's just a wall. Maybe the thing is in the other building?"

"There is no other building. It's the alley behind this wall, remember? And I didn't feel anything when we were out there," Catherine explained.

"Try injecting spirituality into the wall," Crane suggested.

"Nope, tried that as well, didn't work," she shook her head, "I'm sure it's not that simple, otherwise, any random person could access whatever it is."

"You mean any random spiritual person,"

"Yeah, whatever..."

"Maybe I can try using Puppet Control on it. Let me just hope this doesn't extend to the whole wall of this warehouse, or my spirituality will be drained," Crane stepped forward.

Placing his right palm on the wall, Crane didn't feel anything at first. Slowly, however, he began feeling slight spiritual energy being emitted from directly behind the wall. It didn't feel like it was coming from a room behind it, but more like directly from the back of the surface he was touching.

"I think this thing just covers this area, so it should be good," he informed his siblings.

Crane began concentrating and focused his spirituality on his palm. He then pushed the spirituality that he had gathered gently into the object he was touching. That was the way he could gain control of the object. Slowly, his spirituality spread into the wall in front of him and formed a space that was just a little bigger than their size.

"Okay, done," he said.

"But it has no limbs. Can you control it?" Chris teased.

"I'm not controlling it. I'm just yanking it," he grinned.

With a sudden pull from his hand, the 'door' made a movement. However, it wasn't completely open yet.

"Again!" Crane said.

Another strong pull came, and this time, the 'door' was dragged out before falling onto the shelf next to it, leaving a strange hole in the wall. However, what they saw was not the alleyway as it should have been.