NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: Broken Nuts
“Max!”
Max couldn’t believe his eyes when the mayor opened his front door. There was a mob of villagers waiting outside for him just beyond the gates. Even though it was the middle of the day, they were carrying torches and brandishing weapons. Their eyes were focused on the ancient mayor next to him. He was even more perplexed by the situation. For years, he had loyally served this community, even if it was for his own personal gain from completing his story and laziness to change thereafter. Now the mob seemed ready to spill his blood.
“There you are!” Adelaide continued to holler. “You should come over here quickly before the mayor gets one of the knights to string you up.” She had a wide grin on her face.
Story Name:
A Fatal Romance
Genre:
Horror
Description:
After experiencing multiple rejections, the village darling has snapped.
Goal:
Help Adelaide find peace.
Difficulty:
★★☆☆☆
How to Start:
Reject Adelaide’s advances.
A shrill whistle sounded behind them. “Wow, Dad. What did you do to cause this?” The mayor’s son seemed amused by the situation. Almost as if he were convinced that the villagers were never going to seriously hurt his father. There was a lot of evidence to suggest otherwise. The butcher had brought his knives, the hunter had his guns, and old Bernadette struggled to hold her most aggressive cat.
“Are you sure you didn’t start a story?” The mayor whispered in disbelief causing a bit of drool to leak from the corner of his mouth.
“No, but the system has given me a prompt.”
“Right.” The mayor took a deep breath before he began shouting. “Fucking, right bunch of ungrateful cunts.” The mayor cursed aloud causing the whole village to jump. It wasn’t the reaction anyone had expected. With shaky steps from a weak hip, the mayor hobbled forward while continuing his slurs. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing surrounding my home?” All eyes were on him. “For seventy years I have served this community, and this is how bitches think to thank me?” They were all wondering if this was it. The final stages of his life? Max watched the mayor before noticing he was occasionally sending hand signals behind his hunched back.
“You better come back inside,” the mayor’s son whispered. Max complied, and as the door closed behind them, he wondered if the cursing mayor was going to survive the mob before he remembered. The bastard had another seventeen years left to live as long as his fate hadn’t changed. “It’s been a while since I saw the village worked-up like this.”
“When was the last time everyone gathered in front of your dad’s house?”
“Hmm…” The mayor’s son led Max through room after room of aesthetically pleasing rooms. First a reception room, then a sitting room, then a hallway, then another sitting room, then a dining room, then a third sitting room, before arriving at a narrow bathroom; confirming the mayor’s experience in a more modern world. The bathroom had a seaside feel from all the decorations. It was a real shame. The guy could have made a fortune being an interior designer. “I guess when he began enforcing a fine if someone shat on the streets?”
Max had almost forgotten he had asked a question. “…People used to shit on the streets?”
The mayor’s son was surprised at Max’s reaction. “I know you don’t have any memories, being an amnesiac and all, but you must be from the city if that seems odd to you.”
“Maybe I am?” Max was waiting for the conversation to end and for the mayor’s son to lead him into another room. It was a bit unnerving staying in a small bathroom with another man for so long.
“Perhaps it would be worth going to the city? You could remember something.” Max nodded politely to acknowledge the suggestion. “Anyway, the lot of them all calmed down about it after a few months when they noticed how much nicer the village became. I suppose it’ll be the same this time.”
“Maybe.”
Max was still waiting, but the mayor’s son seemed to have forgotten the original assignment. “My old man might be a strange one, but he is good at putting the community first.” Wanting to build a pyramid-like tomb with money swindled from the villagers’ pockets didn’t sound like putting them first. “Always bringing in these amazing ideas.”
“Yeah... Are we supposed to be going somewhere?”
“Ah, that’s right!” He finally remembered. The mayor’s son opened up the tiny bathroom window before presenting it proudly. “You should climb out this window and escape the mob.”
It had been a long time since Max had climbed out of a window. In his head, he began grumbling about how he was too old to be doing things like this. It took him a second to remember he didn’t have that excuse anymore. The blessing and curse of having a younger body in this lifetime. “I can’t climb out of a bigger window?”
“Look, you can see this window is surrounded by thick bushes. It’s easier for you to slip out and figure out a path with the least amount of people.”
“Right.” Max stuck his head out of the small window to see the mayor’s son was telling the truth. To the left and right of the window was a thick layer of bushes, making a narrow corridor with one thinner bush at the end. Just beyond the last bush was the fence surrounding the mansion.
“Think you can fit?”
“I’m not sure,” Max admitted as he began trying to climb out. Seeing him struggle, the mayor’s son tried to help shove him through, but he was making the situation worse rather than better. “You don’t have to push so-” His words were caught in his throat as the mayor’s son’s hand slipped, hitting his most sensitive area.
“Sorry! Sorry!”
It took Max a moment to recover a bit before he spat out, “Why don’t you go check on your dad? I’ll get out eventually.”
“On it!” The mayor’s son was relieved to be able to escape the situation and the embarrassment. Once Max had caught his breath again, he managed to wriggle his way out of the bathroom window and landed, winded, on the garden floor.
Hopping the fence was a lot easier than clambering out of the window. But the moment he landed on the other side, he heard someone calling out his name.
“Max!”