The sound of crows could be heard above the trees as Richy was walking along a very hidden and narrow path. He lowered his head as he remembered the last times he was here. The heavy burden he carried known as guilt, the fear of being caught, and the bad taste in his mouth as he was texting both Jessy and Lia, writing lie after lie while they were chatting.
He walked this path in the past every time he was wearing the mask.
He looked up and saw that his own private hut, which he bought for himself to mellow out from work during a weekend each month, has been his first hideout as the man without a face right after he kidnapped Hannah. While Hannah has been held captive in Micheal Hanson's old house, Richy felt he had to have a different base somewhere else, where he could stash most of his necessities, in case he needed to hide Hannah somewhere else. He initially planned to bring Hannah here, but she visited this place before with Jessy and Lilly once during a summer, two years ago, so it was out of the question. Now this hut, no longer a place for BBQ with his friends once every year, is now a tainted reminder of his sins and crimes.
Richy looked around and saw that his other secret friends have already been waiting for him. He smiled a little as he reached out to greet one of them.
"I haven't seen you for a while. Sorry I have been gone for a while, I got shot you know?" he gestured, showing off where he got shot by Dan.
The friend only eyed him.
Richy smiled and took out a bag with corn.
"Here, I know you like them a lot," he gestured and gently gave a piece of corn away.
The friend immediately took the corn and gave out a low gurgling croak. Richy enjoyed watching the corn immediately disappear.
Richy loves his friends and almost shares everything with them, but even he, after everything that has happened, has still a few secrets he likes to keep for himself, even from Jessy. And that entails his other friends.
His dark feathered friend jumped on his shoulder, and Richy went to unlock the door of the hut. He bought the hut many years ago from a friend of his father who moved out from Duskwood. This hut has been used for hunting, but Richy turned it into a cozy hideout just to relax for a couple of days. It was comfortable, with a bed, a table and two chairs, a cabinet, and a small corner for cooking. It was during a weekend in this place, that he got the idea to scare Amy by posing as the man without a face, not knowing the immense consequences it will unfold.
Richy bent down to pull a wooden box from under the bed and opened it.
After he found out about Amy's death, he ran away and hid there, crying his eyes out from all the guilt, until his sadness turned into fear when he realized Hannah was about to find out what he did to Amy. Thus, he had to put the mask on after swearing he won't ever wear it again...
Richy looked around the hut, touching the furniture, remembering everything. The happy days with his friends, the lonely days befriending his other friends. He knew that since he was a child, he had trouble connecting with other people, the only thing he found out he had in common with Jake.
But he always had Jessy and through her, he was accepted in a circle of friends he never felt he quite deserved. And whenever he retracted to be by himself, to be alone with his demons, he found comfort in the presence of his other friends.
That is why it made his past even more bitter, even after they all have forgiven and accepted him back. No matter what Richy cannot forgive himself. Even if he ends up in jail after what he did to Amy.
He swore after Hannah's kidnapping that he will put down the mask forever and never, ever wear it again. He made a pact to himself, that if he ever is stupid enough to wear it again, he will even accept whatever fate is going to throw at him.
He knew only a stupid person would ever do something again that caused so much hurt in the past.
But Richy loves his friends, more than life itself.
Forgive me Jessy... forgive me, Jake... forgive me Hannah... forgive me, Lia. Because I am a stupid fool. The biggest idiot in the world.
Richy pulled something out of the box and gripped it hard as if he had to fight himself to put the fabric back into the box.
Then he imagined Lia being all by herself, locked up somewhere dark. Richy stood up and lifted the fabric over his head. Seconds later he closed the door of the hut behind him, the crows in the trees watching him walk back along the path. The forest was dense, so Richy was covered in shadows as he walked, wearing the mask, with a raven on his shoulder, letting out a shrill call.