My job is or was simple; we grow vegetables that look normal at first. We send this smaller shipment of veggies and roots to an unknown vendor. Our job is simple; keep ourselves strapped and keep out any unwanted guest. You'd imagine what kind of people would want our goods and we thought so as well at first.
When first starting it was simple enough with the instructions around watering, planting, etc. However after some of the workers had to call out sick; then the other instructions came in. We had to draw symbols, chant phrases, and burry animal flesh before planting the seeds and watering the plants. You'd think this would send us running for the hills but in reality; I work only four months of the year on a six figure salary on the low end; you do the math. Anyone with a brain would choose my career path and not like I had to shoot anyone, at that point of my career anyways.
It was going all swimmingly until my coworker Josh sold some potatoes to a family. He looked innocent enough, not knowing everything unlike me and him not knowing why these veggies in specific were special. You see at first when in the ground they're normal or connected to the plant but when taken off they slowly transform and become monstrous, beating hearts, breathing and their veggie skin becoming more flesh like.
I'd been swearing up a storm at him, "you dumb fuck! Do you know what our employer will do to us! You don't even realize who were fucking with here!" After him raising his hands in defense. You maybe wondering why I'm scared of my boss, well any sick fuck that has us doing what we did can only be sick in the head. So while Josh calls our boss and me dreading this while I speed off towards the family home.
You might be wondering how or where I'd be going but in reality, I only noticed because after a while you feel an aura coming off these things once you've worked with them long enough. It's not something physical but something outside the body, this may sound very anime but it makes sense if you consider the eastern philosophy and chi; after all, where do you think anime got it's influence?
With that haunting thought I don't even want to know if other Yokai are real. Anyways; it didn't take long to find the home; the place seemed normal with me knocking on the front door and to see an older woman answering the door, with me barging my way in to the kitchen and finding the potatoes being baked; turning off the oven and taking them out, firing away at each potato. I turn to her and say, "look I can explain just give me a moment. However behind her the door locked, my heart drops in my chest as I'm starting to feel that feeling around me, it didn't take long until a knife is put in my left shoulder.
I turn to a teenage boy smiling; the devious smile on his face. I unload the clip into his body only for him to get back up, the bullets slowly pushing out of his body. I'm running towards the window but a small girl is blocking my way; her hands revealing claws as the mother starts to show signs of monstrous body parts with her neck stretching out.
She calmly calls out, "stay for dinner." I'm zipping towards the stairwell going upstairs and finding a bedroom to lock myself in with getting a call, buzzing and opening up to see who it is. I feel the door pounding as it's almost coming off it's hinges. I'm picking up the phone.
The voice is calm and sweet, "Alice did you really think I was going to kill you over one mistake?" My heart sinks in my chest realizing this is my boss I try to speak but he continues, "look I have a friend coming but this is coming out of your pay. Next time call me and I'll get it sorted, okay?" The door pounding harder until it finally comes off it's hinges, sending myself and the door flying as an older man is in front with his family members behind him.
Behind me is a window, to the left is a closet and to the right is bed. I'm sending myself out the window with breaking my leg, trying to hold it together as I'm getting myself away only to feel myself screaming as the man lands on my leg, he's dragging me back inside. I'm screaming for help and he stops dragging me for the kitchen as a car comes pulling up to their property with the humanoid creature wearing a crow mask, it didn't take long for me to feel an overwhelming dread that leaves my skin cold and everything around me sinking in despair. It's a pain that's cutting deep inside me. My voice wanted to scream but some reason I'd couldn't.
The bladed feathers cutting into the family members, quick, clean and graceful as he butchers the family. He picks me up, carrying me to the car, putting me in the passenger seat. He gives a soft smack to my face, making sure I'm not falling asleep as were heading into a back alley with him taking me out of the car, my body too beat up for me to fight against him and allow myself to be dragged into the back area of the building to see other monstrous people.
The damage done to my body is far worse than I realized. After going under I wake up to feel a mask put over my face. The panic that sets in my voice as a man dressed like a scarecrow is at my bedside. He speaks, "man that family really did a number on you; you weren't going to live so they had to take some drastic measures." His words cut deep with me realizing what this means, my blood runs cold and numb; heart not beating. Something he mentions that sounds lovely, "that family; they would make good fertilizer, wouldn't they?" I'm left nodding along in agreement.
