Amentia

Chapter 34 - Just like home

They entered the park —though they stayed clear of the murder scene— and kept walking north, towards the river. When Zoe asked why they were leaving the town, Nati said, "We're not going far; I just want to check something."

So they followed Nati out of town and back to the path by the river that they had walked the day before in the opposite direction. They walked near the trees lining the river for about twenty minutes, Nati with her eyes locked on the forest as if she were searching for something.

"If you want to find the bodies, you can ask me and I'll tell you where they are," said Zoe, understanding Nati's intentions.

"I didn't want to make you feel corpses again," said Nati.

"I would've felt them anyway once we got close to them," she replied, showing Nati a smile for her consideration, and then proceeded to search the ground attentively as they walked.

"Do you think there will be something different there?" Anna asked.

"I think we'll find the body of the park murderer," said Nati with a heavy voice.

When they found the spot where they'd discovered the pile of corpses the previous day, they saw the earth had been removed recently; Zoe said it couldn't have been more than four hours ago, not long after the murderer had been taken away.

"Can you tell how many bodies there are down there or should we dig?" Nati asked Zoe.

"We'll have to dig anyway, if we want to know if it's the right body. It's fine, I'll do it."

And so she did. With focused eyes, Zoe moved her feet on the ground and, slowly, the earth began spreading, gradually revealing the bodies and their foul smell. Most of them were in the same position Zoe had left them the day before, one lying next to the other. But there was a new one that lay atop one of them. They didn't have to look at it too long to know it was the right one; the lines of the mouth were frozen in the same disturbing smile, and the eyes were wide open like a horrific doll. It seemed even upon death the madman was still enjoying himself. Nina had to look away.

"What made you think the body would be there?" Anna asked after Zoe reburied the bodies and the group started walking back towards the town.

They walked slowly, the events of the day weighing them down.

"Or that he would be dead in the first place," added Zoe.

"It was something Meira told me when we went to the Market Plaza," said Nati. "She told me the Seers were responsible for keeping everyone safe; they detect the crimes and call the Enforcers to bring them to justice."

"The Seers?" repeated Meiko. "The people that were attacked when we arrived?"

"The ones that said were now blind?" added Anna.

Nati nodded, and realization sank in across everyone's faces.

"If the Seers can't see crime, it means the Enforcers don't have the authority to arrest anyone, especially when they haven't witnessed the crime themselves. They don't have the little piece of paper to prove it," Nati explained. "They can't take anyone to trial without that magic paper."

"So the crimes they do witness, they deal with on their own," said Anna.

"Hence the five corpses buried twenty minutes outside of town. And now the sixth one," added Nati.

"That is why the Keeper never mentioned that part of the incident in the news," said Meiko.

"The entire population would panic if they knew," agreed Anna.

"They'll notice eventually," said Nina. "And I'd be more worried about a crime wave than of general panic. If people know there are no consequences to their actions, the whole world will be up in flames in no time."

"Sounds just like home, doesn't it?" said Nati bitterly.

They walked in silence for a little while, thinking about their conversation and what the next step could be. They still couldn't leave Amentia, and leaving the troupe would be a big risk: if everyone in Amentia had animosity towards humans, finding other places to stay would be close to impossible, and living in the woods was not even a remote possibility.

As they arrived to the caravan about an hour later, the girls found the troupe all there, Ruvyn working in the kitchen with Almar and Meira to make dinner, even though it was close to midnight. The elven couple moved in wonderful synchronization and seemed to make progress quickly. The girls used the excuse of having to clear their heads after the burial to explain their late arrival, and no one questioned it.

There was a gloomy air in the caravan. These had clearly been events that no one in Amentia had been prepared for. The only voices came from the kitchen, because it was impossible to cook in a group without communicating. The rest were sitting around the living room or had left for their rooms upstairs.

"This is more or less what Earth is like, if any of you were ever wondering," Nati commented grimly, breaking the silence of the room. "From time to time, someone walks into a place and starts killing people for no reason."

"That explains why you all stay here, then," replied Meira.

"Maybe the reason for all the bad things that happen here is because we are here..." said Zoe, more to herself than to the rest, thinking about all the pollution on Earth and how Amentia was on a similar path.

"I agree," said Nina, remembering the shrieks of the victims of the park. She had to cover her face with her hands and force herself to put nicer pictures in her mind. She was about to call forth Angel to embrace her in her wings, but Adam beat her to it: he sat next to her on the couch and put his arm around her. She leaned on him and let him comfort her in silence.

"You're not all bad," said Maylin with striking ease. "Some of you, at least, are kind creatures capable of very nice things."

There was a moment of silence that let Maylin's words spread around the entire room, filling it with warmth.

"That might be the highest compliment I have ever heard you give to a human creature," said Az, mesmerized.

"These five little girls are making me soft," she said, covering her face with a hand and lowering her head.

"In just two days? What about me?" said Adam, turning around to look at Maylin with playful eyes and a hand on his chest.

"You are barely human at this point, Ahlit," replied Maylin. "You've been living here practically since you were born. You're an Amentian creature in my eyes."

Adam smiled at her and said he loved it when she called him "Ahlit". Nina asked him what it meant and he explained it was an animal that could blend in with its surroundings, like the Amentian version of a chameleon, which is what Maylin thought of every time she saw him use his shape-shifting power. Maylin only used that nickname when she was feeling particularly fond of him, which didn't happen too often, so he greatly enjoyed it when it did.

Nina watched them talk with a tender smile, thinking that this family brought her more comfort than she thought possible. Even though they were on the verge of chaos and everything that had happened to them had been nothing but tragic, Nina found herself feeling happy to have found these people. Because despite the clear hurt they were all in, they still found ways to cheer each other up and be kind to one another. She held on to that feeling as hard as she could, hoping it would be enough to keep the nightmares at bay.

It wasn't.