Masked ✔

Chapter ten

      
chapter ten
         

My head hurt badly as well as my hand. My body felt stiff and I ached all over. I was as cold as ice. Groaning, I rolled onto my back. I knew I was still on the ship when my hands fell onto the creaky wooden floorboards that I had been living on. I brought myself to sit up and I hastily rubbed the drowsiness from my eyes. I looked around and found myself in a familiar room. It was the room I had first stepped foot in on the ship - the booze storage room, far below deck. It was one of the lowest rooms on the ship. It smelled heavily of, well, booze. I actually didn't mind the smell despite the fact that I hated alcohol. I steadily rose to my feet, supporting myself up off the floor using my hands. Once I was standing straight, a sharp pain immediately began to ping in my head and I felt dizzy. I lost balance and collapsed against a barrel. I remained still, panting for air. I could barely remember what had happened the night before. All I knew was someone was up to no good. Although I had to wonder how the hell I ended up in the booze storage. I couldn't have just walked here, I completely blacked out. But who would have brought me down here? Why not put me in my cabin? What was going on?

I walked, dragging my numb body along by steadying my hands onto barrels as I moved towards the storage room's wooden door.

When I reached the door I tried to turn the knob but to my surprise, it was locked. Somebody had locked me inside storage room. But why? Why? Why would anyone do these things Who could it have been? Did I know the culprit? The entire thing baffled me. Why would someone do this to the Masquerade Messes. The entire crew is always so friendly... so why? What is there to gain? Are they trying to tear the crew apart? Are they targeting someone?

Whatever was going on, I just knew I had to escape.

I began banging my fists against the door. The door rattled from the force but wouldn't budge. "Somebody! Help!"

No response, no footsteps, no nothing. I tried again. I banged my fists up against the door several times and called out desperately in panic. "Somebody! Anybody! Help!"

The outcome was the same. Nobody came for me. Realizing that I could be stuck there for a very long while, I began to hyperventilate. I began to feel paranoid. I was never good at staying calm and at that moment I felt so overwhelmed. I just began to scream and scream. I screamed so much until my throat burned. I choked back tears and swallowed the lump in my throat before banging the door again. Why was nobody hearing me? Was I dreaming? Was everyone... slaughtered?

As the possibilities racked up in my mind I could no longer hold back the beads of tears that welled up in the corners of my eyes. My vision blurred and my tense body numbed to the point I couldn't feel anything. My body slumped against the door as I sobbed, my tears rolling down my cheeks and dripping off my chin. I fell to my knees like I had the night before. I felt so hopeless that for a second I wanted to curl up and die. Of course, second thought, I wasn't going to give up that easily.

I gathered up all the strength I had in me and I rose to my feet once again. I roamed the storage room. There was nothing but barrels. Stacks and stacks of barrels along the walls. Lucky for me, there was one window. It was probably the size of my head, far up on the wall. There was no way I could have reached it but at least I could tell that it was sunset.

Seeing the pink sky, I grew shocked. Had I been out cold for almost twenty-four hours? There was one good part to this though - that night was going to be a Masquerade Party, which meant there would be the Masked Mysterioso. I trusted him and I had a feeling he would rescue me. He saved me once already, he could do it again. He had to. I didn't want to die locked in a booze storage room. I had too many unanswered questions. I had to go on.