City of Masks (Chapter 5)

“Psst!” I woke up early.

Renei was snoring loudly. She was too comfy asleep on the makeshift bed made of aprons.

“Wake up!”

She didn’t respond.

“RENEI, IT’S THE BIRD-MAN!!!”

Renei jolted awake. ”Wwaahhh!! Bird-man! Get away from me!”

I giggled.

“Flor!”

“Rise and shine, sleepy head” I said. “Breakfast is ready.”

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We finished our meal back at the old restaurant and packed our supplies along with some tools from the kitchen. After the preparation, we head outside and started our journey.

“We can finally go to my hiding spot” Renei said.

“The one back in the forest?”

“Yup.”

Renei kept a close watch of everything around her.

“Just watch out for the bird-man” she said. “We wouldn’t want him following us.”

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We reached a really distant part of the city. The number of masked people we encounter grew less and less the farther we travelled. Here, it seems devoid of anyone else present but us.

“Creepy, huh?” Renei said.

“Yeah.”

“To think even masked people would be afraid to come here.”

We heard the wind howl as the dust was blown prompting us to cover our faces. The wind blew even harder. I blindly struggled to push through. I felt Rene grab my arm and leading me.

The wind died down. There was a cathedral nearby. It was mostly in ruins with roots entangling it.

“Let’s take a break” Renei suggested.

We had our lunch inside the sanctuary. We sat at a pew near the entrance. Having the long bench to ourselves felt liberating. I imagined myself running around this place. A flashback played in my head with mom calmly telling me to behave.

“Mom” I muttered.

“What?”

“Mom used to take us here”

It all looked familiar. The priest would stand on that spot over there. People would fall in line at a certain time. I even recall kneeling.

“That room over there” I pointed. “I always wondered what was in it.”

“Ain’t that where the priest goes to?”

I put down an empty can of food after finishing the last morsel.

“C’mon, Renei. Let’s check it out.”

I rushed towards the door near the altar. Renei quietly followed. I took notice of her rather silent stance.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing” she replied.

“Are you sure?”

“I just remember stuff. That’s all.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“Terrible terrible stuff.”

I stepped away from the door. Renei sat on the steps and I stayed beside her.

“On my first day in the city, I did my best to stay away from the masked people” she narrated. “It was at night when my fears were confirmed. I hid in a chapel. I attempted to hide in the room behind the altar but I found four of them preparing a kid for dinner. I hid behind some furniture and looked on to what they were doing. I saw them without their masks.”

“What did they look like?” I interrupted.

“Monsters. They were monsters. The kid screamed for help under his mask but I couldn’t do anything. Eventually, they walked away but I was left trembling.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Renei” I tried to speak.

The door behind us suddenly flung open.