What the hell is happening

Mask the Truth

I'm in a white room I don't recognize. Not surprising at this point. There's a man with a gun standing by double doors. I'm still in my dress, but someone put on my heels and mask. Their hands are so nimble, I didn't even feel them strap me to a chair.

"You're up," the man with the gun speaks.

"It appears so," I sigh. My hands are trembling but luckily he can't see them. He signals something behind me, and my ties become undone. I look behind me, and see another man with a knife.

Man with gun places a hand on the door. "Are you ready?"

I stand up as gracefully as possible. I'm still a little dizzy, and I haven't eaten. I smooth out the material and walk to the foot of the door.  "Ready," I breathe out. He knocks on the door, and both of them open.

"House Leader number 1, Lilith," a man booms, introducing me. An orchestra plays, and I take my first step. There are stairs in front of me, and I send a silent prayer not to trip. Too many eyes are on me. I can't even tell if my friends are down there. After what feels like an eternity, I make it to safe ground. People are still staring at me. I make my way through the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face. 

"Psst Lily," someone calls out. A see a group of people surrounding a cocktail table. A lamb, gem, blade, and shield mask. I sigh in relief and walk towards them.

"I'm so glad you're okay," a lamb masked Dani says.

Noah nods. "We were all here and couldn't find you."

"What the hell is all this?" I look around me.

"Pretty crazy right?" Ribera scoffs.

"And look at the servers," Julie whispers. My eyes focus on each of the masked servers walking around. There's something similar about all of them. My eyes widen. "They're all Rye."

Julie nods. "Yup."

As if on cue, a Rye pops in beside us. "Would any of you care for a drink?"

"Holy shit, she's English!" Noah gasps.

She gestures to the tray she's carrying. There's a number on her wrist. I grab a drink which I'm pretty sure is alcoholic.  It's brown and there's ice in it.

"Before you go," I grab her wrist. Metallic. "Can you bring us something to eat?"

"It would be my pleasure." She walks away and a few seconds later, another Rye comes in with shrimp puffs and crab rolls on a tray. Noah snatches it away. "Thank you Rye."

"Who?" She answers.

We all laugh. We named Rye, or more specifically Haniel did.

"Where's Haniel?" I blurt out. With all the craziness, I didn't notice him missing. Noah shrugs while shoving food in his mouth. There are already stains on his mask.

"I'm going to look for him." I turn to leave when I bump someone's chest. "Sorry," he says. I know that voice. I met the eyes behind the flacon mask. "Tony?"

He smiles, and somehow it matches his voice. His skin is a little darker than mine. He's taller and bulkier than I imagined. Dani whistles from behind me, and Julie gasps. Even Noah hoots a little.

"So that's the face behind the mask," I pun.

He laughs, "Yeah I guess. I was pretty impressed by your entrance."

"Did you get one?"

"Yeah. All the others did too. Apparently, I'm house leader number two."

"Where are the others?" I look behind him.