The Monster's Room - Chapter 32
Click.
The team aimed their weapons, trying to guess which of the dancers was the troupe leader.
<Marionette, Marionette, Mariririririri>
As the gramophone’s voice dragged on in a broken manner, the dancers twisted their bodies grotesquely and leaped.
Thud. Thud. Thud!
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
The team’s reaction was swift. As gunfire erupted and someone tried to pull the pin on a grenade, a man, hanging upside down from the ceiling like a spider, snatched the grenade and severed the head of the team member holding it.
<You mustn’t destroy the theater.>
The gramophone’s voice remained aloof, as if it had always been this way. The large hat that had been on the head of the man with the sewn-up mouth fell away, revealing his face.
With a straight nose, delicate green eyes, and long flowing hair, the man would have been considered handsome if not for the sewn-up mouth. He dropped the harvested head among the team members.
<It has to be perfect when the young lady returns.>
“……Retreat! Retreat!!”
<Oh, running away is not allowed!>
The marionette troupe leader, with a sewn-up mouth, lifted a headless corpse. Creeeak, crackle, creak. The body, like a toy with a winding mechanism, bounced uncontrollably, stretching and contracting, and a new face began to form on the empty neck.
A head with living wood grain, featuring contours but lacking distinct features.
<Uninvited guests always become our members!>
The new marionette twisted its body grotesquely and then took a stance.
Click.
With its body retaining memories of its past life, it expertly handled a weapon and aimed.
Rat-a-tat!
<This is the Astonishing, Delightful, Chilling Marionette Show!!>
The gramophone announced energetically.
The marionette troupe leader, standing on solid ground, picked up the fallen hat and put it on.
<It only opens on Friday nights, so you must be careful!>
Rat-tat! Ahhh! Rat-a-tat-tat!
<What if you come before then? You will be considered an uninvited guest!>
Rat-a-tat-tat! Click! Crunch. Rat-a-tat!
<What happens if you become an uninvited guest? Don’t worry!>
Click. Bang. Click. Click.
<You’ll simply become a member, and there’s no problem!>
Creek. Crackle. Creak.
<This has been the astonishing, delightful, and chilling!>
The troupe leader, wearing the hat, approached the brightly lit containment door. Turning around, he elegantly bowed to the fallen team members before saying.
<Marionette Show.>
Click. Click.
Turning once more, the marionette troupe leader walked towards the door. Behind him, marionettes dressed in special forces uniforms followed.
* * *
The intruders in the room with shattered mirrors were armed with spray cans. The method for dealing with this anomalous entity involved covering and breaking all the mirrors to prevent reflections.
The goal was to break all the mirrors before the entity asked three questions; if successful, they would win.
– My
Queen
cried
because of
you
As soon as they entered the mirror room, they saw letters written in what appeared to be blood.
And in the mirrors, which should only reflect the special forces, stood the woman they had seen earlier, glaring at them with tears of blood. The woman, who was supposed to be a target for the team leader, looked like a fallen witch rather than the angel or fairy they had expected.
– No questions.
The team sensed something was wrong, but it was already too late. With their reflections in the mirrors, the control had shifted to the entity beyond the surface.
– All must die.
The reflections of the special forces in the mirrors twisted their own heads. Along with that—
Thud.
Their heads in reality twisted as well.
* * *
Screams and blood were raining down from all sides. Kevin considered the worst-case scenario. Perhaps he would need to blow up the entire base. If it came to that, he would have to extract Marie according to higher-ups’ orders.
It was at this moment, as he searched for the containment target, that he saw—
“……!”
His barely maintained composure shattered.
Marie Garcia.
She lay on the ground, clutching her blood-soaked abdomen. Beyond her, a team member, trembling, had stabbed Marie with a knife.
“D, die. Die. Because of this, I, ahhh!”
A pale iron spike pierced the team member’s head. The source of the spike was Marie’s ring finger. The ring wrapped around it had transformed into the spike that killed the team member.
Kevin.
No, everyone present.
They all sensed the air around them changing instantly.
A plush, cotton doll stood silently beyond the containment door. At the end of its gaze was Marie.
<Young Lady?>
The man with a sewn-up mouth, leading the marionettes in special forces uniforms, made a noise that sounded like it was malfunctioning. The sound seemed to come from afar, as if from the containment space he had been in, but strangely, it was clearly audible in the ear.
<That won’t do, Young Lady. Didn’t you say we’d meet again? Oh, my. You’re losing so much blood. How can this be?>
<Your lips, the ones that should give a kiss, oh, those once delicate and rose-like lips. Lips that should exhale sweet breaths!>
Too much blood was flowing.
As a faint image reflected in the puddle of blood, a being in agony could be seen within it.
Soon.
Crash!!!
The iron horse knight, who had slaughtered the team members who had invaded the containment space, appeared. Clad in armor, wielding weapons, and riding a headless horse, it exhaled a chilling breath as it stared at Marie.
Then, the iron knight’s breath stopped.
As if it had completely ceased.
As if it were dead.
