Dancing With The Masquerade

CHAPTER EIGHT: DREAMS

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DREAMS

For the first few seconds, neither of us said a word nor steadied our gazes on each other. The atmosphere felt awkward and it would seem neither of us knew what to say.

"So... pastor, huh? H-how did that happen... not that being a pastor is bad or anything of that sort." My attempt at breaking the silence was obviously a wrong move.

"But I look young and nothing like a pastor, right?" He sorts of completed, a light smirk at the side of his face. That, I did not expect.

"Yeah, kind of." Regardless, I replied. I'm not sure what it was, but I always seem to find my voice when I'm around him.

"It's okay. It's not my first time hearing that... on that note, what does a pastor look like?"

I kind of shrugged, not having quite expected the question. "Honestly, I don't know. I guess it's a stereotype thing."

He let out a brief laughter. "Probably." He added, and then the silence was back as he lowered his eyes from me.

"I need to tell you something because, I'm not sure what it means but I'm hoping to understand better from your reply." He started as his eyes lifted back to me, a sense of seriousness now hovering around him.

"Um, okay." I replied anyway.

He hesitated for a minute. "I've seen you before the party, the buffet area."

My brows furrowed for a second at his words. "We've met before? Where?"

"Please don't freak out or be in a haste to judge... In my dream."

My brows furrowed again. "I don't understand. In... your dream? We met?"

"No, we didn't. I meant to say... I saw you. I'd neither met nor seen you before and yet, I dreamt of you. You were in trouble... you cried out to me for help."

On impulse, my eyes widened at his words.

"I did?"

"Not you in person, but you in my dreams... so, when I saw you at the party. I couldn't believe my eyes then, I understood... God directed me to you." He explained, and in the end, I fell completely loss for words.

"Um..." I started, lightly scratching the back of my neck as I lowered my eyes from him, not sure what to say next.

He let out a light sigh, which made me lift my eyes back to him. "I creeped you out, didn't I?"

A brief and unsure laughter left my lips. "Not, not really. I live in Nigeria, you should hear the things people say in the name of religion." My eyes widened at my own words. "I'm not saying you made that up, or that religion is bad... I... I just don't know what to say or think."

He leaned forward. "You don't need to say or think much about the topic. All I'm trying to say is... if you have troubles, as long as I'm here, I'll try my best to help." He explained, and I nodded in understanding. To be honest, it was nice to know someone was ready to catch me if I fall and even though he was a stranger, Cergio was different in a not so scary but nice way.

A smile curled up on his face, and I reciprocated it with a smile of my own. This is nice. This felt nice.

Behind him, a little farther, I saw something familiar. It stood still, like a statue, staring back at me. Gradually, the smile on my face diminished. It's him... The masquerade. Its costume was made of what seemed to be a shade of dark brown straws. Full layered straws, making it hard to tell the original shape of the being possibly wearing it, and on its face, it wore a long faced wooden mask with strange carved shapes, an upside-down frown, and dramatic wide eyes. I could tell because I'd seen it up close in my dream. It was the same, and this was the first time I was seeing it in reality unless... unless, right now, I'm dreaming.