I edge my body out of the alleyway, careful to stay in the shadows and not be seen. I have to get either someplace safe, or if possible, home, so I can get help.
I always carry two spare masks, just in case of emergency. I am glad I have kept that practice up, as I need one now. I pull out my flesh-colored, life-like mask, and quickly put it on. Good, now I won't scare anyone who doesn't already know what I really look like. I start to run, slowly and softly at first, so as not to make a noise. I don't know why I should worry about noise, as normally my footfalls make not a sound… Once I have put a city block between them, and me ii start running full out as fast as I can to put distance between them, and me and also to reach the safety of my home.
I stop on a corner near my home to catch my breath. Did they really not notice me getting away, or am I once again wandering into a trap? I wonder…
Slowly, sticking to the shadows, I make my way home. It would be too obvious and dangerous to use the front gate, I think to myself. I shall use the little-known secret entrance that is not even used by anyone but the members of my family going back generations.
The entrance looks just like the rest of the wall, so anyone who has no need to use it would never find it. I look around to make sure the alleyway is completely empty. Easy to do since there is very little space between the walls of the estates surrounding the path. In fact, very few people even know about the passage itself, as it is practically hidden by some vegetation that was planted to hide the blot on the street's beauty. Anyways, there is no one. I find the trick stone, activate it, and the false wall opens to reveal a slim descending staircase of stone. As I step inside and head down, the hidden door closes automatically. The stairs lead down to a secret tunnel to the house… and other areas.
"Maria!" I cry out us I burst out of the library. A girl comes running up to me.
"Yes?" She asks.
"I have called the cops and asked for them to send over some protection. Now when they come I want you to tell them to stand guard at my bedroom door, but not to come in. Give them this," I hand over a sheet of paper that explains what has happened to me. "But make sure they are real. Ask them this: 'The sky is what color?' If they answer 'Red.', let them in. Any other colors, especially blue, refuse them entry. Goodnight."