I Explore Urban Legends - Chapter 170: The Ability to See Through Secrets (Patreon)

After sorting things out with Marcus and his father, Liam drove toward Canton with a mind full of questions.

He spent the journey wondering what those strange devils were really trying to accomplish.

He had originally assumed they wanted to enter the human world, but the fellow he had met today was little more than a middleman.

If they intended to seize control of human society like the Reptilians, their behavior made no sense. And if they were conducting some sort of experiment, the items’ effects were so bizarre that he couldn’t discern the purpose of spreading them.

Then there was Janice, whose powers came from the same source yet were not quite the same.

Perhaps devils had already found their way into every corner of society.

No wonder Hell remained an S-level incident, even though its inhabitants had trouble appearing in the human world.

The thought made Liam sigh.

Just then, Lily appeared on his lap. Liam was driving with his left hand on the wheel, leaving very little space. Lily was small enough to sit cross-legged on his lap anyway.

“Little One, what are you thinking about? You look a little worried.”

She leaned forward and bobbed her head in front of his face, trying to block his view entirely.

Liam pushed down her cat ears to clear his line of sight and explained,

“I’m trying to figure out what those devils are up to. They hide better than Reptilians and run faster than Vampires.”

Her answer caught him off guard. “Oh, those strange red things? I’ve seen them before.”

Liam was a bit surprised.

“You’ve seen them before?”

Lily nodded. “My power is Stealth, so of course I can find things that are hidden. You can see him too, can’t you?”

It finally clicked. Liam had wondered why he was the only person who could see the Hell Merchant without being a customer. It turned out Lily’s ability was at work.

Lily then explained.

“Long ago, I watched a great many white people come to this continent. Those red people followed them in secret.

“They weren’t like the white people at all. They didn’t care about power or treasure, and most of the time they behaved like lunatics.

“I saw them at every bloody war, too. But they brought some fun little inventions with them.”

“Like what?”

Lily thought for a moment before naming two things that surprised him.

“Your mount, for one. That thing called a car. And the lamps people use to light their homes. The red people brought those.”

Well, that was something. Apparently, devils were responsible for the Second Industrial Revolution. Now he had even less idea what they were actually here to do.

Seeing his frown, Lily reached up and tugged at his cheeks.

“Little One, stop looking so worried. Cheer up!”

Liam smiled. Ever since he met Lily, it had been hard to stay in a bad mood.

“All right, enough about that. We’ll stop in Canton and buy some crafts you like.”

“Yay!”

Delighted, Lily settled back into Liam’s arms and stared eagerly out the windshield.

“Woo! Woo!” Just then, a police siren sounded nearby. A highway patrol officer must have spotted them driving together like that.

Liam pulled the car over to the side of the road. A police officer walked over and tapped on the window.

“You lovebirds have got some nerve, climbing all over each other in the driver’s seat! I’m writing you a ticket for reckless driving...”

As Liam lowered the window, the officer stopped talking. There was only one person inside.

The officer rubbed his eyes and looked again. Still just Liam.

What the hell? Had he been seeing things? Liam leaned toward the window and said pleasantly,

“Good afternoon, Officer. You must be mistaken. There’s nobody else in the car.”

Technically, he wasn’t lying. He was the only human inside.

The officer stammered,

“But I just saw...”

Just then, Liam interrupted him. “Oh, I’m a television host from Boston. You must be a fan and came all this way to stop me. As luck would have it, I have an autographed copy of my latest special right here. It’s yours, free of charge.”

Liam took a videotape from the center console and placed it in the officer’s hand.

The policeman looked down at it and vaguely remembered his child watching this man’s show.

He tucked the tape away and cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Perhaps I did see things. Drive carefully from now on.”

“Goodbye, Officer.”

Liam waved and continued on his way.

The officer remained at the roadside. He still suspected that his eyes hadn’t deceived him, but he no longer cared.

At least he had a little present to surprise his child with when he got home. After Liam had driven a safe distance, Lily and Watson made themselves visible again.

Lily couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Wow. Why do people have to bother us even out on the road?”

...

Two hours later, they arrived in Canton. Canton was tiny, even smaller than Exeter. At least the place had living residents.

Liam saw an elderly white man sitting in front of a house, taking a break.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a Native American community? What was a white man doing here?

He walked up and asked curiously.

“Hello. Do you know where I could buy Native American-style jewelry?”

He deliberately avoided asking whether any Native Americans lived there. That might make it sound as if he had come looking for trouble. The old man opened his eyes slowly and gazed toward the sky, seemingly deep in thought.

“What was that?”

Liam had no choice but to repeat himself.

The old man nodded, opened his mouth to answer,

then promptly shut his eyes and fell back asleep.

Liam woke him a second time and finally got a reply. “There’s some kind of gathering today, I think. Bad timing. You probably won’t be able to buy anything.”

Liam relayed this to Lily.

Rather than looking disappointed, she brightened immediately.

“Then we’re right on time! It must be the planting ceremony. It’ll be lively. Let’s go watch!”

They both enjoyed a good spectacle, so they drove off without hesitation.

After a short drive through town, they spotted dozens of Native Americans in traditional clothing gathered in a clearing beside a pond.

Liam parked some distance away and noticed Lily making no move to approach.

“Are you going over to watch the ceremony?”

Lily shook her head.

“I’m not from their tribe, and I never joined the ceremonies in the old days either. I prefer watching from a distance.”

“Like watching television, then.”

“Pretty much.”

That habit might once have seemed peculiar. In modern society, hardly anyone would find it strange.

Both of them had excellent eyesight and could clearly see what the people were doing from afar.

In the middle stood a man who looked like an elder. He took out a packet of cigarettes.

He opened it and scattered the contents around him.

Next he arranged packaged corn, beans, and pumpkin seeds on an altar and casually poured maple syrup over them.

When he finished, he sat on the ground and began rambling to the people around him.

Liam watched the crude, improvised ceremony and wondered if they were just going through the motions. “Did the people you knew used to do it this way?”

Lily’s excitement had faded. She sounded disappointed.

“The planting ceremonies used to be so lively. This doesn’t feel right at all. What a shame.”

Liam had to agree. There wasn’t even any farmland around the town anymore.

The ceremony ended quickly, and everyone scattered.

As Liam prepared to leave, the elder approached the car, so he kept the engine off. The elder came to the driver’s window and eyed Liam curiously.

“Outsider, what brings you here?”

Just then, he noticed Lily in the passenger seat.

“What tribe are you from, coming to our planting ceremony at a time like this?”

Lily named a tribe she had known long ago.

“I’m from Ponkapoag. I was traveling through. What tribe is this?”

She instinctively spoke in her old language.

The elder caught only fragments of it. He understood the tribal name and answered in English. “All the Ponkapoag people are here. How come I’ve never heard of you?”

Once Lily realized he couldn’t understand her, she lost interest.

“I’ve always lived elsewhere. Maybe it’s been too long, you’ve forgotten me.”

The elder missed her implication entirely and merely said,

“That’s a very old language you speak. Hardly anyone here understands it anymore. You must have kept your traditions alive.”

Liam noticed that Lily wasn’t very interested, so he changed the subject and asked,

“Do you happen to sell any traditional jewelry?”

The elder nodded. “My wife makes a living selling it. Normally we don’t do business on the day of a ceremony, but since you’re one of our people visiting from far away, I can make an exception.”

The elder led them to his house.

Inside, modern household appliances stood alongside traditional decorations and furniture.

An elderly woman sat on a little stool, surrounded by bundles of deerskin.

As they entered, the elder explained,

“We have plenty of ornaments, but most never sell, so they just sit around the house. Ask if you see anything you like.”

Liam nodded and began looking around.

Once they arrived, Lily’s enthusiasm clearly grew.

“Wow, Little One, look at this! And this one, too. I remember them wearing things like that long ago.”

Lily picked out many different styles of deerskin clothing.

Only when it came time to pay did Liam realize how badly the earlier shop had overcharged him. Its prices had been nearly three times as high.

He also spotted pipes and loose tobacco for sale.

“You have tobacco. Why did you use store-bought cigarettes for the ceremony?”

“We save the good tobacco for ourselves, of course. Anything similar will do for a ceremony.” Liam couldn’t argue with that logic.

Then he noticed a stone on the display cabinet that seemed to contain a faint trace of spiritual energy.

“What is this?”

The elder looked it over, struggling to remember.

“Let me think... Oh, right!

“Camping became popular a while back, so I dug out an old flintstone my family had used for generations and put it up for sale. Turns out everyone just talked about camping. When they actually went outdoors, they used lighters instead.”