Chapter 11

The rain was falling violently on the cobblestones of the street. As Guilhermina had said, a storm came. Both Ravens were at the counter with the old woman, watching through the door as torrents of water poured from the sky.

The day had darkened considerably due to the dense clouds covering the sky, and despite that, people were still walking in the streets, in much smaller numbers, but still walking. Gabriel kept looking at them, who were all wearing raincoats of various colors. A boy running in the middle caught his attention, wearing a light yellow raincoat. The child was running next to something floating in the water near the curb.

"Stupid boy," he whispered to himself. "He'll fall into a drain and disappear."

"Hey?" Naomi said without taking her eyes off the water that was washing over the entire city.

"Nothing," he replied, seeing that the boy had disappeared. He continued, "Raincoats are pretty cool. They're like overcoats, but for the rain."

"I don't know where you get these ideas," Naomi commented, leaning against the counter.

"Would you like one to borrow?" Guilhermina asked the young man.

"A raincoat?" Seeing that the old woman agreed to his question, Gabriel continued, "Sure!"

With a smile, Guilhermina began rummaging around under the counter, looking for what she had offered. Gabriel couldn't control his excitement, making his heel tap the floor frantically. The sound of the rain was so loud that it was only possible to talk to someone by getting very close to them and even then, shouting a little.

"Are you planning to go out?" Naomi asked, adding, "In this weather?"

"Of course!" Seeing that the young woman hadn't understood because of the noise, he leaned closer to her ear. "Of course! I won't miss an opportunity like this."

"Gabriel, you're crazy!"

"Who isn't?!" he retorted, while watching the old woman stand up.

Guilhermina placed a yellow raincoat on the counter, just like the one the boy had worn earlier, Gabriel noticed. The hotel owner gestured with her hands for the young man to feel at ease, and without wasting time, Gabriel grabbed the plastic garment. It was cold, he noted, and long, reaching down to his calves.

With some difficulty, he flipped the coat, which resembled a dress due to its length, and slipped it over his body, sliding inside the plastic. He easily got his head through the collar but had to contort himself to get his arms through. Seeing her companion's struggle, Naomi went over to help him, smiling at the ridiculous scene of a Raven struggling to put on a yellow raincoat. With her help, Gabriel finally managed to get the raincoat on.

"How do I look?" Gabriel asked, pulling the hood over his head.

"You look like a banana," Naomi replied, and Guilhermina agreed.

"Perfect!" – standing in front of the door, he looked at the two of them. "I'll be back shortly!"

He didn't wait for a response and leaped into the storm. The first thing he noticed was the weight of the raindrops, which fell violently all over his body. Water poured down the walls of the buildings, the windows, and formed small channels at the edges of the street.

Gabriel walked carefully because the cobblestones were slippery, but if it weren't for him, the whole street would likely be overflowing at that moment. Avoiding the puddles, he headed toward the beach. Along with a small group of others who had ventured out in this weather, the Raven saw the parapet before the beach. The people walking with him headed for a corner establishment where the sound of voices and music managed to compete with the storm; the light spilled out of the door and windows of the place. Shivering from the cold, Gabriel dodged a creek in the gutter that carried the city's filth toward the nearest drain, noting the impressive amount of trash.

The establishment opened to him, flooding his senses, dulled by the storm, with something resembling another storm. The shouts and the smell of food and drinks reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything in a long time. He took note of the clientele, feeling a slight shock: the men and women in the place were extremely strong and rugged, many bald. For every ten words they spoke, at least four were curses or something obscene. Gabriel liked the place. The music was just noise amidst the conversations, and everyone stopped for a moment to look at the newcomer. Gabriel felt extremely out of place under their gaze, besides being thin.

"So!" – he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, since he was the center of attention, he would use that to his advantage. "What's the strongest drink you have?"

"That's one of us!" – someone shouted from the crowd.

"Give the banana something strong!" – said a second voice, referring to his raincoat.

Heading toward the bar, Gabriel passed by everyone who was eyeing him casually, some offering drink suggestions. When he reached the woman tending the drinks, he said:

"Send me a shot of your strongest drink."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" – she said, holding back a laugh.

"My lady! I can handle even two."

He ended up receiving two shots. The small glasses were filled with a transparent liquid that resembled water, which he doubted was actually in the establishment. He downed one of the shots, feeling his tongue and throat burn and then go a little numb, grimacing as he drank the second one, and the sensation was even worse.

"What is this distillate made of?" – he managed to say, turning red and nearly coughing.

"Alcohol." – Seeing the boy's face waiting for something more, the woman smiled and added, "Just alcohol."

"Wow." – replied Gabriel, shaking one of the glasses to have it refilled.

At first glance, the atmosphere was intimidating, but now that he paid more attention, he realized it wasn't. Those people, despite looking grim, were actually fun. A table in front of him was playing blackjack, and he was about to join them when someone who smelled of alcohol and fried fish sat next to him.

"You made a good impression, kid!" – said the man.

Next to Gabriel, a bald man with a long, curly brown beard sat down, his large belly preventing him from sitting properly, and his arms were muscular, his forehead full of wrinkles with small eyes. The man made Gabriel think of Will.

"That wasn't the intention!" – Gabriel lied, turning his glass. "Is this place a gathering spot? It seems like everyone here knows each other! Ah! Pleasure to meet you, Gabriel."

"Marcos!" – the man said, giving Gabriel a hard slap on the shoulder, making him shake in his chair. "We're storm tuna fishermen."

"I've never heard of that." – Gabriel admitted, curious.

"You're not from here, are you?" – seeing the boy nod, Marcos continued. "It's a delicacy, but it can only be caught in storms."

"Like the one happening now?"

Marcos froze, looking at the boy, then started laughing violently, shaking in his chair and spilling his drink. He stood up, shouting for everyone to hear.

"Hey, everyone! The kid says we catch them in storms like this!!"

Gabriel didn't know how to react as the entire place erupted in laughter, even the musician stopped playing to join in. The woman serving drinks was shaking her head negatively, laughing.

"In times like this, Gabriel," – Marcos said, sitting back down. – "This is nothing but a drizzle."

The doors suddenly opened, causing the whole place to stop. At the entrance, a skinny young man with patchy facial hair, completely soaked, was standing, breathing heavily, as if he had been running.

"Whales!" – he shouted suddenly. "A group of them is passing by!"

At once, the people stood up from their tables, leaving the place without any protection from the torrential rain. Gabriel was left confused when the woman who had been serving drinks also left.

"What's going on?"

"You won't want to miss this!" – said Marcos, standing up and running toward the exit.

Curiosity piqued, Gabriel followed the crowd, who was running toward the parapet before the beach. He felt the warmth of the drink in his stomach spreading through the rest of his body, feeling grateful, when he saw it. Even though he wasn't with the group that left earlier, he saw, rising toward the stormy sky, a colossal fin, almost twenty meters long. He froze for a moment while watching the tail rise and then descend, making a wave. When the image disappeared from his sight, he ran toward the group, who was watching the waters ahead. Reaching the railing, he saw several fins, similar in size to the first one, rising from the choppy waters, animals over seventy meters long swimming. Even though they were far from the beach, it was still possible to perceive the magnitude of the creatures.

"Do you think any will get stranded this time?" shouted someone amid the sounds of the storm.

"With a beauty like that, it could feed the whole city for a month!" shouted another voice.

Gabriel barely paid attention to what was happening around him; the spectacle before him completely captivated him when the waters broke like a giant bubble, and a triangular head rose into the sky. One of the whales lifted itself from the sea, as if showing off to the group watching. Even though it weighed tons, the animal rose toward the clouds as if desiring them, and then its body, which had come almost fifty meters out of the ocean, came crashing back into the water, creating a wave. The wave hit the crowd at the parapet, forcing them to hold on tightly to avoid being thrown backward. Completely soaked and without the hood, Gabriel threw half his body over the iron bar he was holding with both hands, while shouting toward the ocean.

"That was amazing!!!"

"Loved to see that!" shouted someone, and others began shouting their words toward the ocean.

"Were they that big?" someone in the group asked.

"Not in the time of the Ancients," answered another voice. "Radiation had a hand in this."

"Of course, it did," the first voice replied again.

"Why don't you come with us?" shouted Marcos to Gabriel.

"What?"

"Why don't you come with us to fish the Storm Tuna? You seem crazy enough for it."

Before Gabriel could say anything, the streets became busy, people running and shouting as if fleeing from something. An older woman leaned against a wall, vomiting, while others ran desperately.

"What happened?" shouted Marcos to a young man who was pale.

"It happened again!" he said, not stopping. "Another abduction, and this time there were victims!"

Gabriel felt his stomach drop for a moment, and without answering Marcos's question, he dashed in the opposite direction of the panic. Not before noticing something, though. Near where he had just been, a military boat from the time of the Ancients was anchored on the beach, half of the ship was on the sand, and the other half, facing the ocean, was supported by numerous iron beams on the sand to keep the vessel from being carried away.

A wooden bridge led from the beach to the vessel, and several rusted cannons appeared through small openings in the hull. Just ahead of the bridge was a raven, about a meter and a half tall; that was one of the Nests.

Gabriel only paid attention to this because a thought crossed his mind—despite being near a Nest, the kidnappers had the courage to commit their crime. Without wasting time, he passed by other desperate pedestrians, and when he arrived at the location, he understood why. Some Ravens had already arrived and were trying to push the curious away, but if the barbaric scene before them didn't make them leave, a group of Ravens wouldn't either.

Lying on the ground, a woman was bathed in a pool of water and her blood. One of her arms had been completely crushed, almost torn off, as if she had been trying to hold something. Two cuts began at her neck and ran down to her abdomen; the blow was so strong that her intestines ruptured, spilling her waste and blood across her body. A few meters away, a child lay with the back of their head caved in from a blow, two similar cuts to the woman's on the small body, where organs were spilling out.

A little further ahead, another body, and judging by the size, it was another child. From the distance, Gabriel assumed the child had tried to escape whatever it was, but without success. The only apparent injury was that the head had been decapitated and disappeared.

"I've already told you!" cried a woman, as she was interrogated by a Raven. "A creature came out of nowhere and took the baby, killing the mother who tried to resist and then the children!!"

"Creature," Gabriel whispered to himself.

"It was terrible! It looked like a person, but it had parts of its body made of machines!!" the woman continued crying while shaking violently.

"Ma'am," the Raven spoke again, but was not having any success.

Gabriel looked at the scene, searching for some meaning behind it, knowing that Jonas had said: it was animalistic, the state of some bodies left no doubt. But this was far beyond what any animal could do, and a person would never be able to inflict such wounds. He searched around for anything that might help when he noticed a familiar figure in the corner.

Mateus was still hiding his face completely with his hood, which was wet as well. The young man was leaning against one of the already-lit posts. Seeing an opportunity, Gabriel sneaked up to him, who didn't seem to notice his approach, and if he did, he didn't say anything.

"They didn't tell us that the kidnappings were this violent," Gabriel murmured.

"Supposedly, we weren't supposed to talk," Mateus replied, but continued anyway. "They never were, at least not to this extent."

Gabriel quickly distanced himself from his companion to avoid suspicion. His head was spinning from the images he had seen, and he needed to get back as soon as possible to tell Naomi, but those bodies were in an abnormal state. He felt the cold creeping up his spine again. He no longer remembered the whales.