Amentia

Chapter 32 - Horror show

Not long before it was time to head to the park for the play, Zoe and Maylin went back downstairs and announced they had finished making the room and furniture. Zoe was very proud of herself because she'd built one of the beds all by herself with minimal oversight from Maylin and it was just as solid as the other two. They hadn't had time or enough wood to make nightstands for each bed, so for now they'd use one of the tables from the other room, and both would have very dim lighting until then. And later on, they'd try to build them dressers, but that wasn't a big priority, given they all shared most of the clothes.

The girls gave Zoe and Maylin endless compliments for doing so much so quickly, and made themselves at home in the rooms. There were beds for everyone, but there were only two rooms, which meant they would have to share. Anna immediately said raised her hand and said she wanted to share with Meiko, who had to cover her face to hide the blushing... but she didn't decline Anna's request. Because they didn't have a preference like those two, the rest of the girls decided via coin-flipping (conjured by Nina; it was a coin almost as big as her palm with a lion's head on one side, and its hind legs on the other). So, as the coin dictated, Nina would be in the same room with Anna and Meiko, and Nati and Zoe would sleep in the other one.

After they were all settled in, they followed the rest of the troupe to the park, where the crowd was already starting to gather. Nina was fidgety, hoping she'd remember everything they had practiced earlier and that her power wouldn't fail her or cause her to faint before the play ended. Adam gave her a pep talk before he went backstage, telling her she was amazing and talented and everything was going to be alright. It didn't help, she was still worried, but it had been nice to hear him say those things.

"Do you feel that?" Zoe asked Anna in a whisper as they walked among the crowd to find a good place to sit.

Anna nodded, matching Zoe's grim expression. Something similar to what had happened in the human village and to Meiko the night before was about to happen now. It was in the air and in the earth, slithering, building up. Zoe looked around, sliding her feet in the ground and trying to find the source of the poison. While it was true the poison had been present the entire time they'd spent in the town, right now it was stronger, more concise, thicker; it had been the same with Meiko, so Zoe could recognize it now, the turning point. But there were too many people around, and they all had some of it, so it was hard to pinpoint someone in particular. Zoe thought about asking the girls to go back to the caravan, but this was important for Nina and they should be there for her. And there was still a chance this wouldn't happen in this particular place of the town.

The sun set after Az finished collecting the payments. The audience was sitting comfortably on the ground, eager to see tonight's performance; they still seemed uneasy about having a group of humans sitting with them, but if they were part of the Theater now, they would just have to learn to get used to them.

Nina was standing in the far back, where she had a good view of both the stage and the audience; she located the girls easily, and their presence made her feel a little better. She wished she had brought her sketches with her to use as a cheat sheet, though, but it was too late for that now. Az was already on the stage presenting the play and Omylia was standing by the far right ready to begin her narration. Nina realized Omylia didn't read off anything, she knew all the plays by memory. Nina couldn't help but wonder how she'd done on her very first performance, if she'd forgotten any lines. Now she looked like she could narrate it in her sleep, like a teacher who could recite entire passages of the books they taught every year.

There was barely time for it, though. Just as Nina was about to bring forth the gargoyle that guarded the door to where the secret of the world was hidden, there was a scream coming from behind the audience, to Nina's left. In the silence of the park, the scream echoed and startled everyone. The actors on stage froze and all heads turned around to look at where such frightened shriek had come from; some even thought this might be part of the play. Zoe and Anna looked at each other with worry across their eyes.

It all happened in just a minute or two.

Before anyone could react, there was a second scream from a different voice and this one was accompanied by a call for help. A lean woman with cat features ran out of a side street into the park, yelling desperately and pressing her hands on the side of her furry neck. As she got closer, the crowd saw the blood slipping through her fingers and staining her gray fur red. A few people got up to reach her, but she was only able to take a couple of steps inside the park before collapsing to the ground, blood still spilling out of her neck. Just a second later, before anyone could reach her to see if she was still alive, an Ahlevian man appeared from the same street, running frantically. He was covered in blood, but he wasn't hurt. The look in his eyes, wide open and unblinking, was that of a madman, and the big knife he was holding caused immediate panic among the crowd, which began dispersing in complete and absolute chaos.

"He left me!!" the madman screamed as he grabbed the closest person he could find, pushed them down and shoved the knife deep in their belly, a second shriek filling the air of the park. "We're all alone, we don't matter, nothing matters, the world is horrible and we should die!" He made a stab with each pause in his speech, splashing blood all over his face, his victim groaning and whimpering. And then he got up from the ground and ran towards somebody else, whoever wasn't fast enough to get away.

The girls relived the episode of the village as they heard the screams of people being murdered ruthlessly, except this was worse somehow because it wasn't a fight of everyone with everyone; it was innocent people running for their lives from a single killer. As the crowd bumped into each other trying to get away, the girls were holding onto each other by the arm and trying to find Nina, who was yet again the only one that was separated from the group in such an emergency. They moved away from the stage and hoped Nina hadn't moved from where she was before the commotion started so they could find her easily.

The screams, the sound of the knife plunging into people's bodies, split flesh splurging blood, moans of pain, gargling sounds as blood filled throats and lungs, the constant cry for help. It was a horror show. The madman didn't stop. He just kept running around and stabbing whatever body was near, without second thought or remorse, screaming that this was the right thing to do, that nothing made sense and we should all die. He was drenched in the blood of his neighbors, smiling but with tears of desperation in his eyes. Nina would have nightmares about that smile.

No one did anything but run away. No one was trying to stop him. No one could think anything other than I don't want to die. Panic was the only emotion, spreading around like smoke, blinding and unconquerable.

The girls finally found Nina hiding behind a thick tree, making herself as small as possible, trembling violently and praying no one stabbed her this time. The murderer had been walking towards the north side of the park, away from where she was, so she'd never been in danger. Sadly, she'd had a good view of the blood bath from beginning to end, and it would be an image that would never leave her.

The man killed twenty-two people in the one or two minutes it took for two Enforcers to show up and restrain him. He put up a fight and landed several blows and cuts on his arresting officers before he was put in chains and dragged away from the park. He was still smiling and screaming incoherently as the big bears pulled him away onto the street and disappeared.

What was left in the park was a scene out of a warzone. Sobs going around, dead bodies scattered, the quiet of the aftermath. For a while, there was barely any movement. People just sat on the ground, crying for their loss or from the shock. Meiko thought about going around and ask if anyone was hurt and needed healing, but all the victims had died, the madman had stabbed only to death.

The girls held onto each other, relieved that they were all there. They looked around as well, and saw several troupe members sitting nearby. Everyone was okay.

"I was so happy to have found a portal to a magical land," said Nina in the weakest voice, looking at her own hands. "But all we've seen since we arrived is tragedy. Everywhere we go, bad things happen."

There were no replies, but they all felt the same way. Nina started crying, and Nati squeezed her more tightly and caressed her head as she wept, shedding some tears herself from the nerves. Anna and Zoe looked at each other, knowing in their guts that this would only get worse.