The afternoon slowly faded over the mountains, the icy wind swept through the streets, winter had begun. The main streets of the city were crowded with tourists and locals celebrating the festival. Thousands of people walked the streets wearing the traditional red cloaks and masks, people arrived from all the subway stations in the city, in small and large groups. That particular day, the use of any type of vehicle was prohibited, so you could only see people walking through the streets. The air of the celebration was exciting and dark; seeing all those horrible masks in a river of people wasn't exactly pretty.
The main streets of the city were adorned with red lanterns hanging from one side to the other. Near the city's main park, a few blocks from the chaotic center, an entire street was filled with hundreds of food stalls, games, and souvenir shops. Everyone cheerfully enjoyed the dishes and hot drinks being served. Further on, on one side of the park, different bands were performing, so you could hear the music and the crowd singing from afar.
Before 6 pm, Noah and Kai had already arrived downtown after having a traumatic experience on the subway. They were crushed like sardines during the journey from the station near Noah's apartment to the station closest to downtown. Noah forgot how to breathe a couple of times, and Kai got very close to many people they shared a car with.
"I told you it would be horrible," Noah said, making a face of disgust.
"It wasn't that bad, consider it a funny anecdote," Kai added, adjusting his cloak.
"I don't see anything funny about being so close to strangers that I could hear their thoughts."
"You're exaggerating," Kai said, putting an arm around Noah as they headed downtown. "What should we eat first?"
"How about a kick in the butt?"
"Tsk... Do you want something to drink?"
"You're paying."
"Of course, my lord."
Little by little, they entered the city center. Along the way, they found some people they knwe they agreed to meet up with later to watch the fireworks. Every time they ventured further into the city, Noah couldn't help but feel anxious. He didn't know if it was because of the number of people on the streets or if it was because everyone was wearing masks, but he felt anxious and watched.
"You're imagining things again, you need to calm down", he thought to himself.
As they walked, he made eye contact with some people several times. When he did, he felt a strange sensation that told him he should run away from there. He immediately remembered his horrible experience in the mansion's forest. The eyes of those people reminded him of the creature that tried to kill him. Why was he thinking about that now? Little by little, anxiety took over his body, little by little, he was forgetting how to breathe.
"Hey, are you okay?" Kai gently took Noah's arm.
"I think so, I think I'm a little dizzy," Noah tried with all his might to hide his anxiety.
"Let's get a drink, come this way," Kai took Noah's arm and guided him down a small street.
"Are you better?" Kai looked genuinely worried.
"Yes, better, sorry," he added, taking a sip of water.
"Okay, let's go somewhere with fewer people."
"We can go get some corn dogs, I think I'm a little hungry now."
"Alright, let's go get those corn dogs."
Noah couldn't calm his nerves. Seeing people dressed alike and wearing those ugly masks made his stomach churn. He didn't know how to keep his composure; his body told him to flee that place, but he didn't want to worry Kai, so he tried with all his might to calm down.
"Maybe if I don't look these people in the face?"
To get out of the city center, they had to walk through hundreds of people. Most of them didn't seem to want to move; they were like a big wall. Kai made his way through the crowd, being taller and bigger than Noah, he could move easily through the throng.
"Having such a huge friend is finally paying off," Noah said jokingly, finally able to breathe after getting a little away from the people.
"I'm not that huge, you're exaggerating," his tone of voice was low; it was obvious he felt embarrassed.
"Aren't those the...?" Noah couldn't even finish the sentence when Kai was already heading quickly towards the corn dog stand. "Corn do..."
They spent more than 20 minutes at the corn dog stand. Kai couldn't decide which ones to eat. Noah chose the plain corn dog; Kai chose one with a bunch of different ingredients and sauces.
"That looks like a guaranteed stomach ache," Noah mentioned.
"Come on, smile, we need a picture of this moment," Kai smiled like a little kid. "We look terrible, don't post it."
"I already posted it," he said, showing his screen to Noah.
"Let's go to the park, the rest of the guys are over there."
"First, eat your corn dog, it's going to fall apart if you walk with it."
"It's delicious, do you want some?" His lips were covered in sauce.
"No, thanks, I'm good. Are those pickles?" Noah couldn't believe what Kai was eating.