The night was warm and yet Chief Irons shivered as he continued to sweat, dragging the body out of the trunk of a borrowed police car and toward the water. It was quiet and the sea calm and he didn't like that, every noise amplified.
This wasn't his fault. The idiot PI shouldn't have stuck his nose into his business, what choice did Irons have but to kill him? He'd gotten too close, figuratively and literally as Irons had caught him snooping around the tunnels under the RPD.
The waves lapped gently against the shore, a soft, soothing sound akin to the sea itself breathing in and out, in and out.
Irons could only hope the currents were just as calm, give the fish time to eat most of the bastard before his remains inevitably came floating back in…
"I don't think that's the most efficient form of body disposal."
Irons whirled around, his hand whipping out his pistol, and looked for the owner of the voice.
"Show yourself!" he snarled, but he was answered by an non-threatened sigh.
"If I meant you harm or exposure do you think I would have said anything?"
There, movement and a form out…out in the water? The figure slid forward, dunking down slightly to the shoulders before rising out of the water again up to his waist. It was definitely a man.
"I know who you are," the man said, "I have been watching you. I know you've done this before, of how close they came to finding you once…"
"Go to hell!" Irons hissed, wanting to pull the trigger but the night's quiet stayed his finger. This close to the water the sound would carry for miles. He could wait, let this late-night swimmer come in closer.
"I have an offer for you."
"I don't make deals with people I can't see."
The man came closer, his movement not like any swimming Irons had seen, and stopped right in the surf, something coiling beneath him under the waves. His eyes glowed and a golden frill lifted slightly from his back.
Irons stumbled backwards. "Oh my god…you're…they aren't real!"
"Yes yes, the horror of learning you as a species aren't alone. Your kind don't handle that well. Anyway, I have an offer."
"What…what the hell could you offer me? You're a goddamn fish."
The glowing eyes rolled but he continued anyway. "I will take that body and ensure it is never found. Any bodies, should you wish. Your human crimes are no concern of mine. Moreover, there is much you humans value in the depths. I offer you riches."
Irons was shaking, tempted to pull the trigger, noise be damned, and show off his magnificent kill. No one would care about the tossed body then. And yet he didn't get where he was by not at least hearing out opportunities.
"And what do I have to do in return?"
The water churned around the not-man's waist as the sinewy, shimmering tail beneath him coiled and uncoiled. "Allow one of our own into your force. No questions asked. We will cause no disruption and will server for as long as our game needs to be played."
Irons chuckled and then the ridiculousness of the situation caught up to him and he outright guffawed. "Even if I agreed, I think people will notice! Just how would a fish-merman-thing work in the force?"
"We have our ways. You just need to get us in."
"And why do you want into the police force?"
"No questions. However, as a token of our good will," the merman slid closer, almost crawling as the water became too shallow, and deposited something onto the rocks. Irons peered down and saw gold coins and goddamn jewels. Before he could move the sea monster shot back into the waves.
"I will also take that body now, if you want."
"So…I just gotta let you in? You think one of you can handle the job?"
"I am well trained. A position of influence would also be preferable."
"No harm will come to me?"
"None at all."
Irons wasn't so sure on that answer, and yet…
He bent down and scooped up the small pile of treasure. "I'll see what I can do. Get rid of that," he pointed to the body, "and I'll think about it."
Again the creature came forward, fast and powerful, coiling itself around the dead man. It was monstrous and beautiful and made Irons shiver. It observed the body and then reached into a pocket of the jeans, withdrawing a pair of shades. It smiled, it had too many sharp teeth, and slid them onto his face.
"I'll be waiting for you answer," it said, then, like a striking serpent, it retreated back into the water with the corpse and disappeared, leaving the chief of police staggering back to the car in a panic.
"Okay, I have to ask."
"What?"
"The welcome sign outside town."
"Oh no, did it fall over again?"
"What? No, no I mean, I don't get it. Umbrella people?"
Chris Redfield came to Raccoon City to join the Special Tactics and Rescue Service, or STARS. His old Air Force buddy Barry Burton had called him some months ago with an opportunity and Chris was in no position to say no. It had been ridiculously easy, Barry's word enough to get him hired after an interview and background check, granted part of the interview had been conducted in the firing range, and Chris didn't feel it was boasting when he said he was one of the best marksmen around. That was weeks ago and yet the drive into the coastal city and it's peculiar sign still niggled at him.
Welcome to Raccoon City
Home of the Umbrella People
Jill gave him a quick, surprised look before she grabbed a banana for her tray. The cafeteria line was probably not the best place for this but best to ask before he forgot again.
"You haven't seen the little figurines they sell in the gift shops? Or the cute red and white umbrella keychains?" she asked before sliding up to the register.
"I have," he bought one for Claire, "but I don't know what they are."
She wait for him to pay for his own lunch and found a table before she answered.
"The Umbrella People are kinda the local cryptid. I don't know if it's some old Indian legend or if it's newer. Hell a drunkard probably made it all up and everyone ran with it."
"It's Native," Joseph said, sliding in next to Chris and giving him an elbow to move over, "Wait, what are we talking about?"
"Umbrella People. If you didn't know then how do you know it's Native?"
"Around here everything weird and creepy was already here before the White Man came." Joseph took a bite of what was probably supposed to be spaghetti but had a consistency closer to oatmeal and then waved over the rest of Alpha Team who'd finished getting their food.
Jill rolled her eyes and continued. "Either way, the Umbrella People are basically sea monsters who can take human form. That's how they hunt people." She actually wiggled her fingers at Chris and added a 'spooky' tone to her voice.
"Okay," Chris said slowly, "What do umbrellas have to do with it?"
She grinned very wide, "Legend has it," wow she was getting into this, "that if they get wet, the spell that makes them appear human is broken and they turn back into monsters."
"And it's the coast," Joseph added, "'Tends to rain a lot."
"So they always carry with them umbrellas when they hunt, just in case it rains. The slightest bit of drizzle and up go the umbrellas."
Chris glared at both of them. "Are you messing with me? That's the worst story I ever heard."
Jill just shrugged but Joseph said, "I know, right? Up north they got a giant wolf-bat that harasses campers or something, but we get dudes with sunglasses and umbrellas. We can't even get something obvious like… wereraccoons."
"Oh sunglasses now too?"
Jill sniggered, "The sun bothers their eyes because they are from the deep, dark depths." Again with the fingers.
Barry, who'd sat down and listened to the conversation, finally spoke. "Legends are profitable, especially quirky ones. The umbrella crap was tacked on years ago and is now just kind of a local joke. Something to entice the tourists. The original stories are more like the old mermaid tales, you'll be walking along the beach or the boardwalk and someone will pop up calling for help. If you follow them you don't come back. Your chewed remains may show up some time later."
"So basically Raccoon City sirens?" Chris asked.
"Pretty much. Even today disappearances will be blamed on them."
"No proof though, right?"
"Yeah, people who go missing are usually found, one way or another. Has nothing to do with mermaids or weirdos with umbrellas."
"Well," Brad added, "some bodies still turn up mangled and chewed."
"Those are called sharks. Someone dumps a body and the marine life gets dinner," Jill said, her silly tone gone now that reality had taken over the story.
Barry nodded, "And it's been a while since any bodies have been washed ashore anyway. If there ever were any sea monsters swimming around out there, they've long died out or moved on."
"Like you all should be doing."
And the lighthearted conversation was over. The captain of STARS, Albert Wesker, had come to collect them. Joseph made a dramatic sigh and actually argued:
"Come on, Captain, we just sat down!"
"I said a short lunch today, we have a lot to do. It's not my fault you all wasted time talking about nonsense."
Wesker marched off and with eyerolls and grumbling Alpha Team gathered their uneaten food and followed.
"I bet Bravo gets to eat their meals," Joseph mumbled to Chris.
"At least you guys get to do stuff, I'm still landlocked."
STARS was a special tactical unit officially attached to the RPD to handle terrorist activities and rescue missions, but with their skill sets they often acted as a small coastal force for local problems and as an assist for the actual Coast Guard when they needed to get involved.
Chris had settled into the RPD aspect of things quick enough but he hadn't been cleared yet for the aquatic training, so more often than not he was forced to remain behind while his teammates handled their duties.
"I should be scuba qualified by the end of the week," Chris said, "Technically I got a bit longer for the boat training but I've been fishing for years I know the basics already."
"And today you got your crash-course in capitalizing on local legends."
"I'm not joking, Joseph, that was the stupidest story I ever heard."
"Yeah well, let's you know how exciting things are around here."
