"A village?" Daniel stared in awe.
"Is it possible for one to be here?"
Daniel walked out of the bush towards the concrete fence. Upon arrival, what seemed like a small village instantly turned into a towering castle. It was at that moment something seemed to shift in Daniel's pupils. However, he didn't notice and just walked further. Daniel arrived at the entrance and surprisingly, there were no gates.
"Whoa" Daniel exclaimed calmly.
"It's an actual village"
He turned his gaze around, scanning the neatly arranged houses and lined up buildings.
"Why are the these buildings so massive?"
Daniel thought as he gazed at them.
Of course, it was natural for Daniel to react that way. These houses weren't just massive, they didn't look anything like the modern type houses back on earth. The buildings were huge. Like the regular museums back on earth and they had an ancient feel to them.
"Is this...the eighties" Daniel questioned.
"No young one. You are in lost village" an old voice said to him.
Daniel instantly turned around and took up a defensive stance. His eyes narrowing as he questioned a hunched-over old man.
"You....Who are you?"
Thoughts swirled as he stared cautiously.
"Who is this old man? I didn't hear any footsteps"
"There's no need for you to be so tensed up" the old man said, cutting into his thoughts.
"I come in peace." he concluded.
Daniel narrowed his eyes, to be sure he wasn't being deceived—since he used to fall for tricks like that back on earth during his younger days.
"Um.. okay" he said, loosening up a little.
"Why don't you come with me? You should get some rest before continuing your journey" the old man said to Daniel.
"Okay" Daniel accepted.
It was strange. Normally Daniel, growing up to be a cautious person, would first throw in a few questions. But this time, he involuntarily just went with the flow.
Daniel of course, noticed that slight change in his personality.
"I feel strange in my head...." he said grabbing his forehead with his right palm.
"What is this odd feeling"
Daniel brainstormed his mind, searching his memory to pinpoint what went wrong.
"You look troubled" the old man said to him, his face written with worry.
"Huh?" Daniel thought, staring at the old man.
"How did he know that? Ah!"
"I guess my face sold me out"
He remained silent on the outside, before involuntarily speaking.
"Ah! It's just....I noticed the village is so silent"
Daniel's thoughts sprung up.
"What! Did I just speak?"
"But that wasn't what I was thinking abo–"
The old man interrupted his thoughts, saying.
"Lost village indeed is always quiet. However, we do that to protect ourselves from them"
"Them?" Daniel asked.
"MONSTERS" the old man said in a deep serious tone
"Monsters?" Daniel gasped.
"It's a long story. Why don't we go say hello to the others. I can tell you on the way if you don't mind" he smiled.
"Ah..right" Daniel replied.
As both of them walked down the quiet, stone-paved street of lost village, the old man started a conversation, saying.
"Lost village is our hometown. But a hometown infested with monsters"
There was a moment of silence before Daniel asked.
"Will one come running right at us now?"
"There's no need to be on the alert now" the old man calmed him.
"They only show up at night"
He paused as both of them walked for a while, then continued.
"They actually don't attack you at night" he said.
Surprised, Daniel exclaimed.
"They don't?!!"
"Hobo. Calm down now" the old man chuckled.
"Of course they don't. They only react to noise" the old man said pointing his index finger upward, as if stating a fact.
"As long as you remain silent at all times, you're rest assured to be safe."
"Ah...okay" Daniel replied involuntarily.
"We're here" the old man said, stopping in front of a massive building.
"Weird" Daniel was finally able to voluntarily think again.
"It's not that the buildings are huge" he widened his eyes, then narrowed them as he continued.
"It's just that the compartments are massive"
He turned around and looked at the buildings they had passed while on their way here.
"The same goes for every other building" he concluded his thoughts.
Indeed, the compartments—the windows, walls, and roofs—were extremely large. It was as if the building belonged to giants.
"Let's go in" the old man said.
"Right" Daniel replied involuntarily again, without questioning the old man about the odd structure of the village.
Inside, people welcomed Daniel with warm smiles and hugs. There were old men and women, young and adult men and women. But no babies or little kids. That oddness again instantly disappeared from Daniel's mind as soon as it almost caught his attention, rendering him helpless in questioning the villagers again.
A young woman dressed in a black long skirt and a white T-shirt wore an apron and walked up to Daniel after the whole welcoming. She said to him.
"Come. I'll take you to your room"
"Okay" Daniel replied involuntarily as he got up and followed her through a massive passageway.
As they walked, their shoes echoed through the vast lamp-lit passageway. During that moment, Daniel's mind brooded aimlessly over things he couldn't piece together for some reason.
"Mis–"
"...mist..er"
"Mister?" the woman called out to him. This last call snapped him back to his senses.
"Yes!!" Daniel jolted.
"Do you mind telling me your name? Let's get acquainted, so that we can talk informally?" she asked.
Embarrassed, Daniel replied.
"Ye-YES!"
"My name's Daniel. Daniel Watchman" he turned away his gaze to avoid awkward eye contact.
"Daniel huh. A good name!" the lady said with a warm smile.
"It actually fits your skin tone"
"Re-really?" Daniel hesitated in uttering his words.
At that sheer second, something finally clicked. And Daniel, for the first time since he entered the village, was able to strongly question something odd that really bothered him as they walked.
"I've been wanting to ask" Daniel stopped and asked the lady.
Instantly, the whole atmosphere changed.
"This house....why are there no doors in this building?"
The woman remained silent for a while, then turned around and stared at Daniel with a hostile gaze.