They wake up somewhere in the morning, and all jump up ready to go.

“Blue, got your mask?” April asks.

Blue manages to tie it herself, it’s not perfect but it works. “Yeah!”

April gives a thumbs up to Blue and moves on to Vince. “Great, Vince you put one on as well, alright?”

“Okay!” Vince gets a mask and gives it to April so she can tie it for him.

“Let’s go!” April marches to the door, impatient to see Julie again.

----------------------------------------

They reach the church as soon as they can, but the doors are closed.

“Why haven’t they opened the doors yet? They’re supposed to be open right when morning starts!” April is confused.

“Let’s knock on the door! Then it opens, right!” Vince runs towards the door.

“Oh well.” April sighs and runs after Vince.

Vince slams his fists against the door multiple times.

April stops him. “Not so loud, just a simple knock is enough.”

The door quickly opens, and Kate stands in the door opening. “Oh, it’s you again.”

“We’re here to see our friend, can you let us in?” April smiles.

Kate avoids April’s gaze.

“Did.. Did she die?” April stammers.

Kate sighs. “That’s not it. She’s eh.. Suspected of forming a contract with demons. The watchmen will come later to help with the judging.”

“No way! They won’t judge her at all, they’ll just murder her!” April shouts.

“There’s nothing we can do about it!” Kate desperately responds.

“Just let us take her away then!” April declares.

“They would kill us, for colluding with demons!” Kate reasons.

Blue jumps in the conversation. “Not if we don’t get spotted.”

April thinks about it. “Just because the watchmen aren’t here yet doesn’t mean no one is in there.”

“The priests are all discussing something in their meeting room.. If you’re fast enough you can get in and out before they are done.” Kate gazes down at her feet.

“That’s enough then, lead us to where they keep her.” Blue orders.

“Are you sure? You can still walk away to not risk your life...” Kate suggests.

“At the cost of her life? No thanks.” Blue answers determined.

“Vince, you wait outside. Make sure no one spots you, alright?” April says.

“Ooh, like playing hide and seek?” Vince asks.

April nods. “Sure, just come out if we ask you to.”

Vince runs off to hide somewhere. The others head inside.

Kate nervously stumbles around, looking around every so often. “Should I really help them? I don’t even know them! Risking my whole life and everything I did for some strangers? I’m stupid, right..” She mutters to herself.

“Look, we’ll be gone here before anyone even notices. Like that no one will know you helped us.” April tries to reassure Kate.

Kate murmurs something, clearly not listening to April.

Kate turns to the right and stands in front of a door. She takes a key and puts it in, unlocking the door. “Here, get her and get out.” She sternly says.

“Took you long enough.” Julie teases from inside the room.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Come out then, unless you want to stay here.” April remarks.

Julie strolls out with her hands behind her head. “So, decided you regret dumping me and now come to take me back?”

Kate interrupts. “Just go already. Before they realize that you’re gone.” Kate locks the door again and runs off.

Julie looks annoyed. “Impatient girl, now let’s go, my blanket is waiting on me.”

They hurry to get back to the entrance. “Are you alright though?” April worriedly asks.

“I’m fine, see.” Julie spins around without any problems.

“Just don’t ever do that again, okay.” April sighs.

“Do what?” Julie teases.

“You know what.” April rolls her eyes.

Blue stops them and looks around a corner. “They’re blocking the entrance.”

Julie sighs. “Of course they do. Can’t they just let us leave in peace?”

One of the priests runs towards the guard at the entrance. “Report, did anyone leave?”

The guard replies. “No, Father.”

“Argh. How could she leave the locked room.” The priest sighs.

Another priest joins in. “It just proves she formed a contract with a demon, she just used one of those tricks to get out.”

The first priest reacts worried. “Get word out in the town, they should lock all their windows and doors, and not leave their house unless needed. We need to capture her.”

The guard responds. “Of course, Father.” He runs outside to complete his task.

The first priest talks again. “Let’s get an emergency meeting, dark times are coming with demons on the loose.” Both the priests hurry off into some other direction.

“Is this a game or something? It feels like some cutscene happened just to give us a chance to leave.” Julie laughs.

April laughs as well. “I know what you mean, they’re just coincidentally leaving the door open.”

“Eh.. What?” Blue responds confused.

Julie runs towards the door. “Don’t worry about it.”

They quickly follow and get out. The guard is nowhere to be seen.

“Vince, let’s go.” April calls out.

“Alright!” Vince jumps up from a bush and runs towards them. “Sis! You’re back!” He hugs Julie.

Julie flinches a bit in pain. “Yeah I’m here, now let go of me so we can get out of here.”

Vince lets go of Julie and they head back to the hideout.

“We’re not going to the hideout.” Julie declares.

“Why not?” Blue asks.

Julie sighs. “They’ll follow us, even if they don’t follow us we’re extremely visible on empty streets.”

April ponders. “Then where are we going?”

“I’m guessing not everyone can swim, so we’ll just head towards the river and stay somewhere around it.” Julie replies.

Blue stares at Julie, not knowing what to do. “And then?”

Julie shrugs. “We’ll wait till the lockdown is over?”

“Or you use one of those demon tricks you got.” April pokes Julie.

“Hmm, let me think about that.” Julie jokingly responds.

----------------------------------------

A lot of noise comes from the river, and a ship is visible in the distance.

“That could be our way out. Let’s hide so they don’t spot us.” Julie ponders.

The four of them hide in some bushes and watch the ship get closer and closer. A small boat comes from their right side, opposite of the ship. It carries some guards and heads towards the ship. When it reaches the ship it stops and waits for a rope to get up. The guards quickly climb aboard to speak with the captain.

After some time passes the guards get out and the ship heads to the shore to stop there. Some big brawny guys get a plank out the ship to get off. Everyone gets off the ship and start setting up camp. The captain and a man in a rich looking outfit head to the guards.

“Sir, the town is closed for now. No one is allowed to enter it, not even merchants.” One of the guards declares firmly.

“Ugh, then what am I supposed to do? I came here to sell my wares and I can’t even get in.” The man responds annoyed.

“Sir, please cooperate with us. We’ll have to check your goods to make sure that there’s no demons hiding there. What are you carrying?” The guard asks.

“Some silver and gold, some hides from exotic animals, some special foreign dishes, the usual you know?” The man replies.

Something makes a noise in the ship, as if something fell.

“Sir, I thought everyone left the ship?” The guards look at him with a threatening gaze.

The man starts sweating. “Uh, we’re carrying some kids for the church. They have a high chance of being a demon so we of course decided to take them here for the safety of the country.”

“And why didn’t you say that before, Sir?” The guard questions.

“I.. uh.. thought you just needed the trading goods, and not the goods for the church.” The man stammers.

“I see. We’ll be taking them to the church then, please lead the way.” The guard states.

With no other option the man leads the guards on board. A while passes before they come off with around 10 children. The guards confiscate them and leave the scene.

The man kicks a stone away with a lot of force. “Ugh, stupid church. Confiscating my goods like that, could’ve made a lot of profit from it. But between this or getting arrested for carrying illegal slaves, I guess this is the better option.” The man mutters to himself.

The captain gathers his crew together and orders them around. “Alright you lads. Since we can’t buy any food in the town for now it’s hunting time. Finish up camp and hunt away.”

The crew excitedly responds with a shout. “AYE, CAPTAIN!” They then head off to complete their tasks.

The captain steps towards the man and starts discussing something.

Julie peeks around, making sure no one is near before talking. “We’re gonna wait till it’s dark to move. We can take that ship and hop off at the next location.”

April seems unsure. “Is it safe though?”

“You have me, what more safety do you need.” Julie teases.

“Uh-huh..” April responds.

----------------------------------------

They wait until it gets dark before slowly moving towards the ship. There’s a few patrols walking around with torches, but with Julie’s guidance they all stay in the dark unnoticed.

“When we get up that plank we’re going to need to find a room immediately, otherwise we’ll get noticed.” Julie advices.

“How do we know which room?” Blue asks.

“We’ll see when we’re up there.” Julie hurriedly says. “Now, come let’s head up.”

They slowly make their way up the plank unnoticed. Julie glances around and rushes to the first door she sees to open it.

A voice comes from nearby, shouting at them. “And who do you think you are?!”