"No! Get out, get out!"
Mia scread, her hands directly knocking the computer off the desk. It slamd hard against the floor with a loud crash, the screen shattering into countless fragnts, flickering nonstop. Yet instead of dimming, its light seed to grow even brighter, spilling out in an even wider array of colors.
Mia kept backing away until her back hit the bedfra. She trembled slightly, then completely slumped against it, instinctively letting out a breath when she saw nothing else unusual.
But the calm was destined not to last. Just as she had begun to relax, a sudden knock echoed from the door.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
The sound was soft and yielding, as if it wasn’t sothing solid knocking, but rather a bundle of cotton or a mass of limp cloth wrapped together, repeatedly throwing itself against the door.
Mia jolted violently, her breathing already beginning to turn labored. From the strange computer to the knocking in the dead of night, she felt as though she had been chosen—forced—to face her own death.
She instinctively hugged her knees tightly, her body rigid, unable to hide the waves of trembling.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
The knocking continued without pause, showing no sign of stopping.
Stop, stop, stop, stop!
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
Mia still rembered the butler’s warning. Though rage surged within her to the point of madness, she didn’t dare make a single sound.
At that mont, after what felt like an endless stretch of knocking—at least, that was how ti passed for Mia—the sound from outside suddenly stopped.
Just as Mia was about to exhale in relief, a familiar yet strange voice suddenly ca from behind the door.
"Miss Mia? Are you asleep? Please open the door. There is sothing unclean in your room. If it isn’t eliminated as soon as possible, I’m afraid sothing will happen to you."
The butler’s voice rang out. At the sa ti, Mia sensed the weakening computer off to one side suddenly flicker with light again, as if it were ready to "co back to life" at any mont.
Mia shuddered. Almost without hesitation, she stood up and walked toward the door. "Butler? Why didn’t you say sothing earlier? You scared to death—hurry..."
As she spoke, her hand had already reached the doorknob—but at that very mont, she froze.
It was as if her own words had snapped her back to her senses.
That’s right... if it really was the butler, why hadn’t he spoken up from the very beginning? Could he have been trying to scare her?
Moreover, it was the butler himself who had warned them not to go out or make noise at night. So why was he now doing the exact opposite of what he had said?
"Mia, open the door now. Do you want to die?"
The butler’s voice sounded again, colder and clearer than ever.
No... of course I don’t want to die...
Mia thought in alarm. At that sa mont, a sound suddenly rose from behind her—like countless fingers tapping rapidly, skittering nonstop across the floor.
Mia held her breath. She didn’t even dare to turn around to confirm what exactly was behind her. She began to waver—what if it really was the butler outside? At the very least, that computer was undeniably strange. If this went on, she feared she would die...
At that mont, Mia’s gaze suddenly dropped to the peephole on the door. Her heart pounded so violently it felt as though the sound alone could rupture her eardrums.
She swallowed, lowering her head. She wanted to confirm that the one outside really was the butler—and not so bizarre existence. Although she had never been superstitious, everything that had happened, along with that strange computer, was forcing her to see things differently...
Pitch black.
All she saw was a stretch of absolute darkness, not a single trace of light.
Then, just at that mont—as if a curtain had been drawn aside—through countless strands of swaying hair, a scene finally erged, bathed in a faint, moonlike glow.
Strands of hair writhed everywhere, like countless thin hair-worms. Then, a long neck swaying unnaturally suddenly entered Mia’s field of vision.
Mia’s pupils contracted sharply. Before she could even react, the head of that grotesque creature abruptly pressed close. Under the dim light, it was still enough for her to see that hollow eye lunging near—a bottomless black pit that seed capable of swallowing her at any mont!
"Thud! Bang!"
Mia collapsed onto the floor, scrambling backward with both hands and feet, incoherent sounds spilling from her throat as if choked out. She had clearly tried to keep silent, but her body no longer obeyed her.
Salty tears stread into her mouth, but she could barely think anymore as the door began to shake violently with thunderous impacts, the strange creature outside slamming against it again and again.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
"Boom boom boom!"
Now that it had been discovered, it didn’t even bother pretending to be the butler anymore. A sound like howling wind echoed—distant, yet filled with deep resentnt:
"Open the door! You’re not asleep! Open it!!! AAAA—!"
Its scream rang out so loudly—surely the others must have heard it too, so why was no one coming to save her?
At this point, Mia no longer cared about the rules. She abandoned all restraint, following pure instinct as she scread: "Help ! Help ! Please save ! Help !"
She cried and scread, unaware that with each shout, more cracks spread across the door, and the tapping of fingers skittering across the floor grew more nurous.
Until the hand she had been blindly dragging backward suddenly touched sothing—soft, slick, unmistakably the texture of human skin.
Mia jolted, instinctively turning her head back.
Behind her, the ground was now covered with countless hands. Fingers twitched and searched ceaselessly, like a mass of headless worms. And behind them, arms stretched out from the shattered remains of the computer—countless limp arms, so many that they seed ready to burst the screen fra apart at any mont.
In the blink of an eye, Mia’s hand was seized. The grip was crushing, as if it wanted to shatter her bones.
"Aaaaa—!"
Her body was dragged away in an instant, leaving behind only a scream that never had the chance to fully echo...
Reviews
All reviews (0)