The Tragedy of Renya

5.2 Wanting to Know

???, Renya

Something weird was going on in Renya. No, Alice shook her head, weird things going on in Renya were only natural by now. This latest situation was simply something she had not yet seen before. And, as with all strange things happening in the city, nobody cared to admit it. It was as if everyone just shut their eyes; as if they were willing to ignore the truth to protect their peaceful lives.

Which was wrong. Things were going wrong and nobody dared talk about it. Even though talking wouldn't make anything worse. Even though talking was the only way to solve the problem.

At first, Alice'd thought the situation was confined to the Pentel family mansion. And it probably had been too, but then it spread to the whole of the city. People just... stopped randomly. Several people a day, probably even several people an hour. They'd move on with a black spot in their memory and then they'd pretend it was all fine.

That was probably the weirdest thing of all; people pretending it was fine when so clearly it wasn't fine. Nobody could leave the city. Nobody entered the city. And lately when she was near the gates she'd had an odd sense of déjà vu whenever she saw the beggars. This... stopping situation hadn't helped either. Yet nobody spoke about it, as if it was something that didn't exist as long as nobody spoke about it.

And of course both Mr Hendri Pentel and his wife Leandra refused to answer any questions that were asked, no matter how covertly. Alice could not help but feel that Mr Hendri Pentel had more to do with this situation, although of course he covered it up with lies. There wasn't a thing that happened in Renya that he was not aware of, she remembered the words he often used to calm down people.

So it was only natural that he knew more about this as well, she thought as she opened the door to his private study.

Inside, between the many bookshelves that lined the wall, sat Mr Hendri Pentel with a cup raised. He didn't move at all.

It took a few more hours before he started moving again, actually. He woke up and realised his tea had gone cold. He frowned as he looked out the window and saw the setting sun. How long had he been unconscious, he wondered. Several hours, at the least. Had his wife sent someone down to the basement again? Unlikely. He wouldn't be here if that was the case. He noticed the door opened a bit, and realised someone had been in here but left again. How long ago he would never know. Could have been minutes, could have been hours.

As he put down his tea he realised that the situation had grown out of hand.