Mask of blood

Chapter 1

Stella





𝕿here it was. The same old road, the same old house. And the same old

words. "Do not come near the border"

But why?

My curiosity was taking control over my body as I started moving toward the purplish wall. The border to the other world. A new world.

"Stella!"

I quickly turned around half expecting it to be aunt Maria. No-one. It came again.

"Stella!"

This time I got my dagger out of my pocket and got ready to hit the attacker. I don't care who it is. Everyone is for themselves here.

I took one more look at the wall and started to head back. When I got back the front door was open. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘈 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘺? 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘈 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯 2059? 𝘏𝘈𝘏! 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭... 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 3𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

I took out my AK-47 and got ready to shoot. I circled the house and peeked inside the window. No one. I waited for a little and when I was sure no one is inside, I entered. Slowly but on full guard, I checked under the table and inside the cabinets. Deserted. But then a little silver box caught my eye. Panicked overflowed within me as I walked over to it. As I expected, it was gone. GONE. My only treasure was gone. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. I felt my breathing get heavy as I thought of the bitch that did it. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵. I went towards the couch and lifted the first pillow. Phew. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. I picked up the wooden box and put it gently on the table. I opened it half scared of the reality that is about to hit me. Relief overflowed over me as soon as I saw the napkin. It's still here. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. I continued scanning the house. Not that there was something important, but just in case.

                                                                              ***

I woke up at a warehouse. At least that's what I thought. What is going on? Where am I?

"Stella."

I turned around in confusion, looking around.

"Stella come here."

Suddenly I saw a black figure approaching.

"1 more step and ill shoot" I warned. The figure didn't seem to care. It took another step.

"Stella honey don't shoot."

My hands started trembling. "Mom?" I asked, confused.

"Who else dear?" The figure finally came out to the light. A tall woman with long black hair and an emerald dress. Mom.

"Mom" I cried, tears falling down my cheeks as I ran into her arms.

"oh honey, I finally get to see you again. Sorry for leaving you alone in this cruel world."

"It's okay mom, I promise." Something feels wrong. My mom is dead. They killed my mom. How come she is here?

"Weren't you dead?" I asked.

"No?"

"Hey, mom... What's my favourite colour?"

"Wasn't it lavender?"

At that moment, without a second thought, I took out my gun and shot her straight in the stomach.
6

"Wrong," I said "Black."

I had 50 seconds before she died so I tried to be as fast as possible.

"My real mom never confused my favourite colours. You are a simulation, aren't you? They sent you to kill me, didn't they? They wanted to kill me just the way they killed..." I couldn't finish the sentence. I looked at the figure. She was already dead.

"You are smart aren't you."

𝘏𝘶𝘩? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? I turned around.

"There is only 1 way out. And you know it."

My heart is beating fast. A little too fast. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯? "𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵." The words echoed in my brain as I got out of bed and changed into yesterday's clothes. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯?