The Unfolding 3

‘Why were they calling you a heretic?’ ‘I’m …a little different from the other people in this village,’ Shida said, averting her eyes. ‘Maybe someday, you’ll find out. Or maybe not. Depends on how much you find out about the village.’ Risa glanced at her sceptically, but she figured that even if she asked what Risa was talking about now, she probably wouldn’t get an answer. So instead, she attentively listened to the things Shida told her about the village - about the small school, about the wall that surrounded it. Eventually Shida stopped in front of a house. ‘You could probably ask Katy some questions,’ she said, and when Risa nodded, she knocked at the door. Katy was an elderly woman who gave Shida a gentle smile. ‘Hello, Shida,’ she greeted her, ‘Were the children bullying you again.?’ ‘Of course, they never stop that.’ Shida replied with a slightly awkward smile. ‘But I’m fine, Katy. Please don’t worry about me.’ Katy raised an eyebrow, but finally she nodded in acknowledgment. ‘Alright then. And who is your guest here? An Outsider?’ Shida nodded. ‘This is Detective Risa. She’s here to investigate because a few people disappeared, and they were last seen near here.’ The elderly woman’s expression darkened a little. ‘That Dear, is something you don’t want to get involved in,’ she said softly. ‘It’s a dangerous topic.’ Risa sighed. ‘Shida told me that, too,’ she replied. ‘But I can’t go home without any results, Katy. If there’s anything you can tell me, then please let me know.’ A frown on her face, Katy whispered something into Shida’s ear. Shida didn’t look very happy, but then she nodded and mumbled something in return. Eventually, they turned back to face Risa again. ‘Shida likes you,’ Katy started, looking a bit amused about the way Shida turned red and looked away in embarrassment. ‘She doesn’t want you to get into any danger. And neither do I; I’ve never been a fan of Outsiders being treated the way they are treated here.’ Risa raised an eyebrow, maybe now she was finally going to get some information. ‘And “OUTSIDERS” are … people who don’t live in the village?’ Katy inclined her head slightly. Yes, ‘There’s something I’d like to show you.’ she declared, glancing at Shida briefly. ‘OR, more correctly …I’d like to go pray for my husband at the temple. Would you girls accompany me?’ A slight feeling of irritation overcame Risa, and she was about to say I’m not here to watch you pray, but then she saw Shida nod slightly.’…alright,’ Risa agreed, albeit still a bit confused. Katy gave her a soft smile and started getting ready to leave the house. She led the way to a small temple near the wall surrounding the village, and Risa realized that this temple, regarding the statues in it and the form of the building, looked quite different from the temples she knew. While the elderly woman was praying, Risa glanced over at Shida. She was pretty sure she wasn’t required to pray here since this seemed like a temple for a religion different from her own, and in addition to that Risa didn’t even live in the village - but even Shida, despite being the mayor’s daughter, stayed a few steps behind Katy and didn’t bother to even bow to the statues or anything similar. ‘Don’t you believe in these gods?’ Risa whispered to her, and the younger woman shook her head slightly…so that’s why those children called her a heretic, Risa thought to herself. Because she doesn’t believe in their gods. ‘Is this religion, something, everyone in the village believes in?’ Risa asked Shida later when they were leaving Katy’s house. The elderly woman had invited them to stay and have a cup of tea with her, which they had done, and now they were on their way to continue the little tour around the village. ‘I guess you can say that,’ Shida replied, and Risa thought to herself that she looked kind of unhappy about that. ‘So what do those gods do?’ ‘They …protect the village, supposedly,’ Shida hesitated briefly, but what she said sounded like the truth. It made sense; even where Risa lived, people prayed to gods asking for protection. As of now, this was nothing special yet. ‘From what?’ Now, the mayor’s daughter looked around as if this was something not everyone was supposed to know. Or maybe everyone did know, and Risa was the one who wasn’t supposed to know. Risa assumed that the latter was the case…’ from people like you,. From Outsiders and their technologies.’ Things were slowly falling into place now: partially, at least. Now it made sense that there were no cars, no cell phones, no Modern things in the village. But there were still things Risa didn’t understand. ‘So that’s why you don’t know what a cell phone is.’ ‘Right. And that inter …something.’ ‘The internet,’ Risa automatically corrected her. Shida nodded and glanced at the houses surrounding them. ‘Don’t talk about it out here,’ she repeated what she had already mentioned on Risa’s first evening with her. ‘People won’t be happy.’ Risa sighed quietly, but decided to obey. Things were going very slowly, but she felt like Shida was willing to help out with her investigation even if she was saying different things. It was obvious by now that the mayor’s daughter wasn’t happy about some things that were happening in the village, and Risa figured that if she did what Shida said, she might get a few more hints. Later, after dinner that day, Risa retreated to the room that the phone was in. She dialed the number of the police station she worked with, and only after a few seconds, someone picked up the call. ‘Hello?’ ‘Hi, Detective Witbooi here,’ Risa started, and the police officer greeted her, joking about how they had already thought that she might have disappeared as well because they hadn’t heard anything from her in the past two days. ‘I Haven’t disappeared,’ Risa retorted calmly. ‘But sadly I have to admit that I haven’t found out much, either.’ She told him about this weird religion, about how the village wanted to be protected from the Modern World and how Shida, the Mayor’s daughter of all people, seemed to want nothing to do with all of that. About how the mayor wasn’t there, and how there were a few locked doors in his house that she still needed to check out. When she hung up, she heard the floorboards of the hallway creaking quietly, as well as light steps on them. ‘Shida!’ she muttered under her breath, but then decided to let the younger woman off with it for now. She’d find a way to get her to admit that she had been eavesdropping the next day - it wasn’t like she had talked about anything Shida hadn’t known yet, anyways. The hallway was empty when Risa stepped out of the small room, but as she was heading towards her room, the younger woman called out for her. ‘Risa?’ ‘Yes?’ ‘Can you … come here for a bit?’ Risa sat on the sofa in the living room when Shida followed her voice. She almost looked a little embarrassed. ‘Could you do me a favour?’ Risa raised an eyebrow. ‘That depends on what kind of favour it is.’ ‘Can you tell me about your world? About what life is like there …the technologies you use, and stuff like that.’ ‘I thought I wasn’t supposed to talk about that kind of thing.’ Shida smiled a bit sheepishly. ‘I locked the door, so even if someone hears us, they can’t do anything. I’m curious, Risa.’ Risa smiled wryly and sat down on the sofa. ‘Alright,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll tell you a few things.’ She didn’t even know why she had agreed to this. She could be spending the evening in her room, trying to figure out the connections between this weird religion and the disappearances, but instead, she felt like telling Shida about her hometown was a nicer idea. The mayor’s daughter listened attentively; she really was curious. She occasionally asked questions, especially when Risa was talking about how the internet made life much easier, but otherwise she didn’t interrupt her. ‘But Shida, actually…’ ‘Meisie.’ This was the first time that Shida interrupted Risa to say something completely unrelated to their topic. ‘Call me Meisie, okay?’ ‘Well…I suppose you can call me Risa, then.’ This had come completely out of nowhere, but weirdly enough it made Risa happy. Meisie smiled brightly and nodded. ‘Okay, Risa. Is there anything else you can tell me?’ ‘There’s still a lot… but aren’t you getting tired?’ A glance at the clock hanging on the wall told Risa that it was getting close to midnight. This time the mayor’s daughter shook her head. ‘Tell me stories until I fall asleep,’ she demanded before realizing what she had just said. ‘Uh, I mean, you can go to bed if you want. I know you still have to investigate tomorrow, after all.’ But there was a slightly lonely expression on her face when she said that, so Risa felt like leaving her alone now was the wrong thing to do. ‘No, it’s okay. Just this once, I’ll do it.’ Meisie smiled thankfully. ‘Thank you.’ With that, she closed her eyes. So Risa started talking again; quieter this time. Meisie didn’t interrupt her anymore. Instead, after a while, Risa felt a weight dropping against her shoulder. A gentle smile spread on her lips when she looked down at Meisie, whose head was now resting against Risa’s shoulder. She’s cute…no, what am I thinking! The Detective mentally scolded herself, but the realization that Meisie was cute when she looked like this still lingered at the back of her mind . Eventually, Risa’s eyes fell closed as well…..