Tattooed Away

Chapter 10

It is dark in the church and I struggle to match the boys quick pace. My ears pick up the sound of a mouse scurrying across the floor. I spot it before it slips away into a hole and giggle at the elephant trunk coming out of its tiny face.

"Shhh...!" Matt turns around with his tentacle pressed to his lips.

We stop at the main door and the four boys turn to face me.

"You haven't been out there at night yet, right?"

"Um, the sun was rising when I got here. But it has only been a few hours, it is still daytime."

"No. It isn't. Time is different here." Kevin explained. "And there is a reason we are so hidden in the back of this church."

Kiko continued for him, "The pig monkeys rule the night and their goal is to collect humans. The reason their pig is so big is because of his human diet."

"That flying pig eats humans? But how, everyone is mostly dead right?" Why can't I just go home.

"Not exactly. Still being in human form means that you have a percentage of life remaining, that is why the Spirit World exists. The small amount of life allows for all this activity. The pig is fueled by that life." Matt is talking now, flapping his tentacle around for emphasis, he seems to really like that thing.

"But I already saw the pig and the monkeys and they just flew on by me and Amy. Maybe they can't smell me or something?" I said hopefully.

"Oh they know you were there; honestly, they are probably actively looking for you right now. Fresh meat and all that." Ameer scanned me up and down then proposed, "We will need to wear some good disguises."

"I got us covered!" We look over to a propped open door down the hallway and Kiko emerges, arms full.

As Kiko is handing out the disguises I try not to breathe in. So far in the Spirit World, good smells overpower my nose with ecstasy and bad smells make me wish the pig monkeys would find me. It permeates my skin and seems to exist as a physical presence in the air. Like disgust manifested. I am choking back my reaction as I slip my feet into a large sheep costume, the source of the smell.

"Guys is there anything we can do about this smell?" The boys all turned with smirks and shake their heads.

Matt comforted me by saying it would waft away as we flew and the stinkier I was, the less likely the monkeys were to find me.

Once all of us were in our costumes we gathered at the door. Five fluffy, stinky sheep.

Matt whispered instructions, "We need to come out hot. Full sprint and then jump into flight. We are going to fly straight out and then big arch to circle back around the church and then just follow me. Ariana, if anything happens to you, scream your hardest. We'll come back and help you. Alright, are we ready?" All of us nodded as he pushed the doors open a crack and we began slipping out into the Spirit Night.