Chapter
2 – Working for a Gift
The repair shop along with the town
is deserted just like my neighborhood. This place is filled with different
buildings that hold supplies to repair almost anything including cars and airplanes.
I was a kid in a candy shop in this place. Back in the day, I used to grab all
sorts of things and tried to upgrade and fix cars and airplanes in different
ways. Most of which didn’t work, but the ones that did got me a job in the industry
even though upgrading airplanes is only a small part of my job. This place brings
back good memories. I just wish I was more comfortable while remembering them.
Inside the airplane hanger repair
shop are several planes, some of which are planes I made in case the volcano on
the island blew up. Most of these planes are scattered in easy to reach places,
and I even have one plane near the volcano itself in an underground cave. I
wonder if anyone remembers it. Now, what’s this? It’s some kind of contraption
that has a letter in a bottle at the top with a hole at the bottom. There’s no
way for me to get the letter as is. A set of instructions on top of the contraption
says that I have to make a stick that I will use so I can get the bottle. Okay,
simple enough. I find pieces for the stick and use it to move the contraption.
The bottle goes from one level to the next until it hits the bottom.
Now that I have a better look at
it, the bottle is from one of my favorite drinks. If only I had one to drink. There
are two letters in here, but only one is complete while the other is torn. The complete
letter says, “The letter you need is torn into three pieces. You’ll find the
other two in the engine and in the wing of one of the planes, but both pieces aren’t
in the same plane”.
Okay, so I need to fix more things?
Why? They know I can do it, so what’s the point in doing these mundane things? Since
I can barely make out what the torn letter says, I’ll have to do what the first
one says. First, I start with the wing in one of the planes. I check the planes
that have wings and find one that has a jammed wing. After fixing it, part of a
letter falls out.
Next, I check the planes with
engines. One of them has the last piece of the letter that I need. It takes a
bit of breaking-I mean disassembling to get it. With all the pieces together, I
put the letter together and it says, “If you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re
stalling you so that we can prepare for your celebration. There’s also the fact
that our secret to success has been found out by people who aren’t in the family.
We’re disciplining these people so they will not leak our secret to the world. Do
not talk to any of them if you encounter any even if you’re friends with them.”
Of course they’re stalling me. My
family has also put work in front of me so they can make their surprises. I
remember this one time my brother broke his bike so I could fix it while he ran
to the store to buy me one for my birthday. Oh, there’s another side to this
letter. “There should be someone at the repair shop waiting to take you to
where we are if you haven’t met them already. They might be busy, but they
should be back soon if you don’t find them”.
Okay…huh? I heard a noise in the
hanger.
“Hello? Are you who I’m supposed to
be waiting for?”
…Why does no one say anything when
I call out to them today? I walk around and find a supply closet that someone
could fit in. I open it-gah! Stupid clown looking things. My cousins know that
I hate clowns. They probably put this thing together, but I don’t think this is
what made the noise. Oh. I see what made the noise now. A cat got in the hanger
bay. It’s running away now. It was looking at me then was frightened. Is there
something behind-AHH! It’s one of those people in the white masks! I reactively
smack the mask off the person, which reveals a horrifyingly burnt face that appears
to be in pain. As soon as I see that face, the body of the person turns to ash
and their robes fall to the floor.
Did that really happen? Why the heck
did that person turn to ash when I knocked their mask off? Why did they look
the way they did? Is this who I was supposed to be waiting for? I need to find
answers. Now. I head outside and have a look around the area. In one supply
shop, I find someone rummaging through supplies.
“Hello-”
“Ah! You scared me, birthday boy.”
“What are you doing here?”
“None of your-wait, your folks
haven’t told you?”
“I only have a vague clue about
what’s going on because of all the letters that my family has left behind.”
“Don’t listen to them. I can’t say
it right now, but do you remember what they did when this happened before?”
“No, not really.”
“They put a spell on you to make that
memory hazy. That’s what I found out a secret part of the library. I’ve been
spreading the word to everyone, but I dropped the documents there because your
family is after me. Trust me. It’s better if you leave the island or reject
their secret to success if they catch you.”
“A spell? What are you talking
about?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but you
have to trust me. You’ve seen those people in white robes and masks, right? You’ve
seen how they disappear and appear into nothing as if they were never there?”
“I’ve seen them. I’ve even taken
the mask off one of them. It turned them to ash.”
“Then what the documents say is
true. Your family members that know the secret have to wear that outfit on days
like this or else they will turn to ash and go to Hell.”
“What?!”
“Shh! Be quiet, or else they’ll
hear us. They make some kind of deal with a dragon in the volcano. That’s why
it hasn’t erupted in centuries. I might’ve just said too much. We have to hurry
out of here!”
A knock at the door startles us.
“Don’t-!”
I open the door to find the same
cat from before. It comes in and drinks water from the nearby bowl of water
that looks like it was recently made for it. What’s with these animals trying
to scare me?
“It’s just a cat. There’s nothing
to be…”
That guy is gone. He couldn’t have
gone anywhere since there aren’t any other exits in this shop. Was he kidnapped
like the other guy? I have to get out of here. He said that the library has
documents that are about my family’s secret. Those should have the answers I need.
When I exit the shop, I hear
movement all around me. I think I also hear screaming. There’s also the smell
of something terrible burning in the air. I’m afraid to find out what it is. Maybe
someone just accidentally cooked part of my birthday dinner wrong. Yeah. That’s
what it is…I can’t just stand here any longer.
To avoid anyone seeing me on the
way to the library, I take the long way through the trees. My friends and I use
to explore the island and find long ways and shortcuts to places so that we could
kill time during boring workdays and get home in time to avoid trouble. I
remember this place like the back of my hand so this shouldn’t be too hard. The
only thing I have to worry about are the sounds of something chasing me and the
people in white robes in the corners of my eyes.
What the hell?! I’ve just stumble
upon a clearing with a pile of ash in the center. There are a lot of clothes, watches,
glasses, and things that people would have on them here. Did the screaming come
from here? Is this what happened to the people that disappeared? I find clothes
that look like what the man I saw wore. Oh no…It can’t be. Someone’s behind me!
I turn around to see a group of
people in white masks and robes. Now that I have a better look at them, I see
that black, charred face that looked like it was perpetually screaming peaking
out behind their masks. It’s giving me chills.
“It’s time to go to your party,” one
of them says to me.
“I need answers first,” I demand.
“You’ll get them when you follow
us.”
“How can I trust you after seeing
this? Give me an explanation before we go.”
“You can trust us. We’re your
family after all.”
Several gunshots come from the trees and go through the
people in robes.
“Get out of here, birthday boy!”
I run as people come out from the forest to shoot at the people who are apparently my family. As I run, I don’t look back again as I hear screaming
and smell that terrible burning smell again. I get enough distance from the
fight that I don’t hear or smell anything anymore. My “family” probably doesn’t
know where I’m going. They might have an idea, so I have to be quick. The
answers I find in the library better be comfortable ones, but from what I’ve
seen. I fear the worst possible answers are probably going to be the right
ones.
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