56: 5s Emma.”
“Shh.”
Emma raised a finger and placed it against her lips.
“The crying is too loud; it’ll ruin the gaming experience.”
She picked up the table knife Esther had dropped earlier and gave it a stylish twirl in her hand.
“Since you don't want to eat dinner and you don't want to tell ghost stories...”
Emma glanced back at Larry.
Larry cooperated by emitting a burst of static that sounded like teeth grinding.
“...then let's play the most classic game of all.”
Emma's eyes became intensely excited, her pupils dilating slightly, like a cat that had spotted a mouse.
“Hide and seek.”
“I'll count to ten.”
“You can hide anywhere. Closets, under beds, the basement, the attic... you can even hide inside the fireplace chimney.”
“If Larry finds you...”
Emma didn't state the consequences.
But Larry timely raised his hand and made a 'shredding' motion.
Bzzzt... 【GAME OVER】 ...Bzzzt...
“One.”
Emma closed her eyes and began to count aloud.
Her voice was crisp and sweet, echoing through the terrifying living room.
Bee and Esther exchanged a glance.
It was the survival instinct of the desperate.
Without a word of communication, the two scrambled up from the floor like madwomen, using both hands and feet to rush toward the stairs.
Since the door wouldn't open, hiding was the only option!
They had to hide well!
This wasn't a game at all!
This was a hunt!
“Two.”
“Three.”
Listening to the panicked footsteps and sounds of stumbling coming from the stairs,
Qin Ming shook his head helplessly.
He picked up a relatively clean slice of pizza from the table and took a bite.
“You're counting too slowly. Are you taking it easy on them?”
“If the cat doesn't give the mice a little hope, how can it have any fun?”
Emma didn't open her eyes; the smile at the corner of her mouth was cruel and pure.
“Four.”
“Five.”
“Six.”
“Seven...”
Emma's unhurried counting drifted up from downstairs.
The sound penetrated the floorboards like a death-dealing pendulum.
Inside the bathroom of the second-floor master bedroom,
Esther had locked the door tight.
Not only that,
she had also struggled to drag a heavy cabinet from under the sink to brace it firmly against the door.
This woman with a 33-year-old soul was currently curled up in the farthest corner of the bathtub.
She was shaking all over.
Not because of the cold,
but because of an unprecedented, bone-deep terror.
She was a hunter.
She was used to using that innocent face to deceive, to sow discord, and to kill.
But tonight,
what she was facing was completely beyond her realm of understanding.
That boy named Qin Ming could burn ghosts to ash with a casual gesture.
That girl named Emma even kept a monster that crawled out of a television.
This was simply not something humans could contend with.
“I have to get out...”
Esther looked at the small ventilation window in the bathroom.
It was too high.
And outside was a vertical wall with nowhere to grip.
Suddenly,
the counting from downstairs stopped.
“Ten.”
“Are you hidden? I'm coming to find you now.”
Immediately following that,
there was a grating, ear-piercing scraping sound.
Skreeee— Skreeee—
It was the sound of a heavy metal object being dragged across the wooden floor.
The sound followed the stairs, inching closer and closer to the second floor.
Every scrape felt like a saw pulling at Esther's nerves.
The footsteps stopped at the bathroom door.
Esther held her breath.
She tightly gripped an eyebrow razor she had snatched from the vanity.
Even though she knew this thing was less than a toothpick in front of those monsters.
Knock, knock, knock.
A soft knocking sound.
It was as polite as a neighbor paying a visit.
“Come out. Come out, wherever you are.”
Emma's voice was right on the other side of the door.
Very soft, very steady.
There wasn't a hint of anger in it; instead, it carried the excitement of playing a game.
“Esther~ open the door.”
“I know you're inside.”
“I can hear your heartbeat, like a frightened little bunny.”
Esther bit her lip hard, not daring to make a sound.
Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn't dare let them fall.
At this moment, she finally understood how the people she had once tortured and killed felt.
Silence reigned outside the door for two seconds.
“Not opening the door?”
Emma sighed, a trace of regret in her tone.
“Do you think you're safe just because you locked the door?”
“How cute.”
BAM!
A massive boom.
The thick oak door vibrated violently.
Wood chips flew.
The sharp tip of a red fire axe blade pierced through the door, carving a hideous gash into the exquisite bathroom door.
Esther recoiled in terror, the eyebrow razor falling into the tub with a sharp clink.
BAM!
Another axe strike.
The original crack widened.
“Little pig, little pig, let me in.”
Emma hummed that famous nursery rhyme while she hacked away.
Her sense of rhythm was excellent.
Every time the axe fell, it landed perfectly on the beat.
“Or else...”
BAM!
The area around the door lock had been completely smashed to pieces.
The cabinet blocking the way was also shoved aside by the massive impact.
“...I'll open the door myself.”
A hole the size of a soccer ball had been hacked into the door.
Emma stopped hacking.
The light in the bathroom was dim.
Esther stared in horror at the hole.
Suddenly,
a face pressed against it.
It was Emma's face.
One of her eyes peered through the hole, staring fixedly at Esther, who was huddled in the bathtub.
There was no human emotion in that eye.
Only a pure pleasure at seeing prey with nowhere left to run.
Emma looked at the shivering 'older sister' inside, the corners of her mouth slowly curling up into a chillingly sweet smile.
“Here’s Emma.”
“Found you, Liar Sister.”
Esther let out a scream.
She grabbed a shampoo bottle and hurled it at the door.
“Get away! You lunatic! Monster!!”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Emma reached her hand through the hole and felt for the interior door handle.
Click.
The long-since shattered lock let out a final groan.
The door opened.
Emma, wearing her pink nightgown, walked in barefoot, dragging the red fire axe that was longer than half her body.
She left faint scratches on the floor as she moved.
She tilted her head, looking at Esther in the bathtub.
“Now, it's your turn to be the ghost.”
“Or...”
Emma raised the axe.
“...to become a ghost.”
...
Meanwhile,
in the basement.
This was the darkest corner of the house.
Only a single dim yellow bulb hung from the center of the ceiling, swaying slightly with the vibrations from above.
Bee was hiding behind a pile of discarded cardboard boxes.
She still tightly gripped her folding knife.
But this cold weapon didn't provide her with the slightest sense of security.
Because her opponent wasn't human.
That elongated monster that had crawled out of the TV...
That thing called Larry.
It had followed her down.
The surroundings were too quiet.
So quiet that she could hear the sound of electricity flowing through the walls.
Bzzzt... Bzzzt...