Scammer

"Good afternoon, stranger!" Said the woman. "Oh no! You don't have to be on guard. We're not suspicious at all. See?" Then she turned around to show she carried nothing. But of course, it was just her. The man beside her carried three bags. Three large bags, to be exact.

Diego cleared his throat. "State your names," he demanded. He made his voice a tad lower and just a bit bigger to appear intimidating.

"Aha! We're getting to know each other, huh? Great! I'm Lucia. And the kid you were with these past days was my nephew." Lucia introduced herself. "While this is my other nephew. Owen. Nice meeting you, stranger!"

Owen just shook his head. As if he had enough of all his aunt's bullshits already.

"Oh, uh, nice meeting you too. I guess." Diego replied. He was, for better words, astounded by her. So astounded he had forgotten he was pretending to be a big guy. She speaks weirdly and acts like they've known each other for a very long time.

'But wait! Did she just say nephew? Was she referring to George?' Then he started to panic. 'But George has been kidnapped!'

"Stranger. Will you come with us?" The woman asked him. And he panicked even more. He could almost feel his chest about to burst and the overthinking began.

'What should I do? I technically kidnapped George for not being completely honest about the treasure and what if she knew about it and she's here for my life? No, that's not quite right. I'm technically dead so I can't really die but spending ten years in the void is terrible. But what if—'

"Are you listening, stranger?" Lucia asked when Diego wasn't answering her.

"Huh?"

"Can you put me down now?" Mawmaw interjected.

"No. You're coming with us too." Lucia said. "You're Mawmaw, aren't you? What a cute little turtle you are." Then she tried to reach her hand to pet his head.

"Aunt Lucia, that's a tortoise."

"Oh! Sorry little guy. What a cute tortoise you are." She corrected herself.

"I'm forty five." Mawmaw objected.

***

"By the way, Marco. Aurore said we should get Kadita. Kadita has the manual." It was Tifati. She stared at herself in the mirror next to the door on the left. There were five mirrors in that hexagonal room. The space where the sixth was supposed to be was where the door was located.

"What about the others? We had nine members last time I remember." Marco asked. He had a deep voice but it sounded wet and gurgly. As if he had a phlegm stuck in his throat.

Tifati didn't answer. She was busy squeezing her saggy breast up. She frowned even more the more she did that.

She remembered when she was still in her prime. Men would gawk at her wherever she went. But now that she was old, her breasts didn't hold their shape anymore. It had become wrinkled and had a lot of stretch marks too.

Unlike the conservative Aurore, Tifati was quite liberated. She valued her appearance quite a bit. And becoming old stresses her a lot.

"Seriously. Aren't the other members slacking more and more these days?" Marco complained. "What is wrong with them? Tsk! I should be on vacation today so why the heck am I working?"

Marco placed the third sacrifice next to George who was still pretending to be asleep. Then he turned around and walked in Tifati's direction. Grabbed her by her elbow and dragged her to the door.

"Can't you be more gentle, Marco?" Tifati hissed.

"Shut up! I'm not in a mood," said Marco. "Where's Kadita?" He asked. Not noticing how Tifati's face became crestfallen.

"At the forest near the Hunter's Academia." She responded weakly.

And then they left. Slamming the door behind them as they got out. And George finally opened his eyes.

"What the heck was that?" He muttered. But most of all, he didn't like how fast things were progressing.

He tried to wriggle out of the rope again but it was bound so tightly.

"Tina," he called. "Wake up, Tina. C'mon." But she ain't waking up. Understandable. After all, she hadn't eaten anything the past two days and she was stuck in an uncomfortable position.

So he turned to the other side where the third sacrifice lay.

"Hey! Wake up!" It was no use. So he rolled to bump on the guy purposely and hopefully wake him up. But in the process of doing so, something black caught his attention.

Just below the stone platform was a rat bigger than any rat he had ever seen. It had red eyes, about the size of a marble, looking at him. Standing on its hind legs. George couldn't get his eyes off of it.

Then it opened its mouth. "Human. The rat god is giving you a chance. He said that if you ask forgiveness now and make a pact with him then he will help you get out of here alive including the woman." Said the rat in its squeaky voice.

"I ain't going there. I'm not going to Aznarok." George replied. "And just me and the woman? What about this guy?" He was referring to the sleeping man beside him.

The rat was silent for a while. As if it was deliberating what to say next. "The rat god only said to save you and the woman. He didn't mention another person. But you can pray to the rat god to include him. You just have to be sincere in your prayers and he might answer you."

George frowned. The rat god reminded him of someone in the past. That one person handing out pamphlets in the market. The pamphlet contained information about a certain medicine that can supposedly heal and prevent most diseases. Diabetes, arthritis, high blood, and even skin conditions.

The way he speaks made it hard not to believe him. Obviously, it was a scam. The medicine didn't exist. It was a 'pay first' type of thing where people have to pay in advance. And only then would he be able to order it from his supplier. And you probably guessed it. He disappeared after he took the money. Never to be seen again. His landlord, Willy Stroker was one of the victims.

Right. The rat god reminded him of a scammer.

George smiled at the rat before saying, "No, thank you. Just please tell your god not to make my life miserable for refusing his offer. I appreciate the thought but no. We'll get out of here somehow."

The rat nodded. "I see. I'll deliver your message."