Chapter 27

After all the blurry incidents of last night, I am not surprised I slept in my attire, what I am surprised about was where I had slept.

The light from the morning sun pierces through my lids and I squeeze my face to control the uncomfortable inflow of bright light. I put my hands over my eyes and open them, Tony’s arms are crossed over my chest and I can feel his moving chest from under my head

I sit up and look around, we are not in the hotel! I tap tony on his shoulder and he yawns himself awake

“where are we?” I asked, jittery by the situation I just woke up to. He hums in response and yawns again, running his hand through his hair, and then his eyes clear, he squats up and looks around

“We were looking for your lighter,” he says searching through his pocket, then he slips it out “we found it, at least that one was not a dream” he jokes

I am still looking at him, lost for words, he clicks his tongue and continues “we were too tired but I didn’t know we would end up asleep in the middle of nowhere”

he looks at me and smiles, pulling at a dry leave on gold strands of my hair “you might want to do something about your hair – let's go before they start to worry” next thing we are on our feet and trying to find out way back to the hotel

“They must have worried all night” I say as I work at my messy hair and manage to detangle the knots with my hands, how is it that Rose had managed to keep her hair sleek without heat and even Thelma doesn’t seem to be struggling like me, for what it is worth, she even still spares time for a good lipstick and her breaking foundation – and here I am looking like my own shit

I hiss at myself and force my hair into a bun, holding it in place with my shoelace and effectively ignoring the awe on Tony’s face.

My glowing days are definitely coming to a pause until I figure out this mess I just jumped into

We get to the hotel and surprisingly there is a cluster of people in the compound, more villagers stroll towards the hotel and Thelma is shouting some words at the top of her voice, I cannot pinpoint exactly what she is saying.

Excitement grows within me and I hurry to the front door dragging Tony along with me

“Bella, I thought you died” Thelma's voice is mixed with a high-pitched shriek. She turns to me with a smile I had never seen and as I had suspected, her lips are glowing deep red and her red strands is in a high ponytail.

Rose is posing beside her with her sleek black hair hanging on both sides of her head and Olivia packs her hair into a loose bun on top of her head exposing the beautiful side of her that I had never seen before

“What about Tony?” Rose teased after her

“he probably would have returned without her,” Thelma says. I am seriously hoping she is joking and she might not just be a little bitter towards me

“we are here aren’t we?” Tony raises his brow at her and walks past her to face the villagers “I didn’t know they were this number” he says

"guess what? Apparently, they don’t speak our language. Only a few” Rose announces

“I have given up on asking questions and I just want to leave this place. To hell with answers” I say and Rose nods along with me.

I look at Olivia but she seems lost so I tap her shoulder and she jerks “Sorry” she whispers softly

“you don’t have to apologize, you were just a bit absent-minded” I say with the kindness that doesn't fit me. Thelma roll her eyes at me

“oh..” she lingers her hand on the back of her neck with an awkward smile and I shift my focus to the villagers, they all were murmuring and waiting for someone to address them

The puzzle here was that, it doesn’t seem to be much after sunrise – the question is –

“How did he gather all the villagers in such a short time?” I ask them

“he hasn’t left” Thelma waves me off with her hand and places it back over her belly “wait…” her eyes widen “why are the villagers here again?”

I immediately walk past her to the front of the hotel where Tony was and pick a stick which I use to slam the door so I can get their attention

“listen up everyone!” the place grows quiet and all eyes are on me. I swallow and clear my throat trying to look confidence – real or not “what brings you all here?” I say trying to use signs to related the words to them but they all just stare at me.

Tony raises his brow at me, he must have thought the villager we saved had convinced them as I did, but I reassure him with a locking gaze and a little lift of my brows

“the beaded hut asked us to come here, that you would protect us” an old man says with an accent. staggers from the crowd, he is clutching onto a long wooden stick with no hair on his head but instead a huge long beard. His leopard skin-colored gown stretched to his feet. He repeats the answer to them in a language

“the beaded hut?” Tony asks no one in particular but looks at Thelma who shrugs.

The hoody man must have decided to work with us seeing how strong we turned out to be against the shadows – how dare he insult my capabilities? I gloat. He will have to apologize for that one

“I want to join you in this fight” his voice grows from the crowd, funny… I cannot wait to actually meet him to the extent that I have started hearing his voice already – my lids break open when I see him stepping out from the crowd towards me, next thing I know, Tony had blocked him off from reaching me

“we have met” he stretches his hands for a handshake but Tony looked from the hands to his face and back to the hand “great. Talk to him please” Willow gestures at me, rising to his toes to get a glimpse of me

“T, I think we should hear him out, he is the one that called the villagers here” I say

“what do you mean?” Tony tilts a little but still doesn't face me

“he is the owner of the beaded hut” I continue

“Technically, it is not mine… I found it shortly after I ran away from the hotel” he says

“wait… what?” I ask in unison with Tony. I know his clothes were extra modern but I just happen to not believe that he might have ended up just the same way I and my friends did. “You also registered for the game?”

Tony doesn’t wait for his answer “what do you mean? He owns the house with all the information we found” he asks me, this time facing me completely, giving hoody man the leisure to circle around him and end up beside me

“yes, I have been investigating this place since I lost my friends” he says before I could answer

“See? We need him on our team if we want to get the hell out of here” I say

Tony face him “why were you eavesdropping on us?” Tony is right, some questions need to be asked

“and what did you do with that villager?” I rest my weight on one leg crossing my hand over my belly

“easy” he raises his hands in defeat “I was looking for her too… she is working for the men behind this shadow scheme” he says

“What?” is it the absurdity of his excuse or is it the fact that we have been so caught up in this shadow web that we just skip the part of humans actually being involved in this shitty game

Whatever it is, I am officially flabbergasted. Tony steps back an inch and the rest closes up on us – it seems the story was not worth listening to from a distance

“yes, somehow… someone cooked up this whole scenario and succeeded in bringing us here for reasons I cannot figure out and is taking us one by one and killing us. I started following her a few days ago and I noticed she went to a certain place at times so I wanted to take her and question her and for some reason, she convulses to death right before my eyes” Willow narrates while we nod in disbelief, I suddenly am believing in ghosts

“even if what you are saying is true, you have been so good on your own so tell me why you feel the need to work as a team all of a sudden?” Thelma says with a glare at him and he flinches a little

“because I love what you are doing for the villagers and I want to help. We can work together”

“wow… this whole sick situation just got sicker” Thelma blurts in her typical shrill voice to no one in particular

“I am only letting you in because you know a lot and the earlier we get out of here, the better for all of us” Tony warns and he breaks into a grin

“in essence, you guys need me just as much” he smiled at Tony and stretches his hands out again and Tony just walks past him to face the villagers “why does it seem like he hates me?” he whispers to me

“because he does. I would if I chased you that long on empty stomach” I smile and shake his hand “it's nice you accepted my offer”

“it is strange you offered it to me in the first place”

“I like to give people the benefit of the doubt” I respond

“What is your name, new guy?” Thelma’s shrill voice makes me cringe a little. Can she not? – but then again, even I don’t know his name

“its willow, you?” he asks me and I am shocked. more so is Thelma, given that she was the one that asked

“I am Bella, this is Rose, Olivia –”

“And I am Thelma” she cuts me off

“nice to meet you all” willow replies

“We need to settle the villagers down” Tony disrupts the awkward atmosphere and we all spring into action