The Monster's Room - Chapter 45
The hallway in the dream seemed like a dilapidated version of the shattered mirror room. However, upon closer inspection, there were differences from reality that created a strange sense of dissonance.
For instance, the sign that should have read F-49 was replaced with unfamiliar symbols:
<<◆-△▼>>
These shapes were almost like symbols but seemed to shift and distort, creating an unsettling feeling akin to the ‘uncanny valley’ effect.
This was not the only anomaly.
The slightly shiny floor tiles, which should have been marble, were now covered in a glossy white finish, while the ceiling that was supposed to be matte white was now made of what looked like living birch wood. The marble’s natural stains and the wood’s knots resembled human faces.
It would have been easier to be on guard if there were actual sounds. Instead, the silence was filled with unspoken screams, glares, envy, wails, pleas, curses, hatred, and criticism.
Slap!
“…That was dangerous.”
Marie slapped herself to snap out of it and swallowed hard.
Truly, this was an SCP site. It was not a place to let one’s guard down. As she tried to avoid looking at the floor and ceiling, her attention was drawn to the doors along the walls.
Naturally, these were also abnormal.
The door to the soft cotton doll and J’s room at the end of the hallway were barely visible. However, the Marionette troupe’s door had been replaced with a circus tent and the Iron Horse Knight’s were now replaced with a vintage wooden door.
Marie conceded that the iron door she had come through was the closest to the original.
Thud.
Startled by the sudden noise, Marie turned her head.
Screams. The sound of knives. Incomprehensible curses. These noises were coming from the room where the Iron Horse Knight had been.
Why?
Marie had a feeling that opening that door would reveal the iron knight.
As the noise grew louder and the hallway echoed with the commotion, Marie, almost in a trance, grabbed the handle of the wooden door and pushed it open, only to be met with a scene she had not expected.
Caw! Caw!
“Ahh! Ughh!”
“It’s the Knight of Death! It’s a specter!”
Hell was right there.
“Help, help me! Please save me!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“Uwaackk!”
The sunset burned the sky, and blood was scattered across the ground. Amidst the place where even screams turned red, Marie found the only blue thing.
The Iron Horse Knight.
He was slaughtering people.
* * *
A headless horse galloped across the battlefield. The Iron Horse Knight’s sword, extending and retracting with ease, harvested the enemies’ heads effortlessly, leaving them rolling on the ground.
In the midst of this, Marie was listening to the screams.
It wasn’t the scream of someone impaled by iron spikes.
They never had a mouth to scream.
It wasn’t the scream of someone with their body split in two.
Their neck had been crushed by the Iron Horse Knight’s hoof.
“Why…”
The screams that echoed from the hallway were not those of people but of the Iron Horse Knight himself.
Marie was stunned. The scream she had never heard before was so terrifying that it froze her in place. While she was paralyzed with fear, the Iron Horse Knight killed everyone around and stood before her.
Flash.
The headless horse raised its front legs to threaten her.
Marie didn’t flinch.
The Iron Horse Knight brought down his long, spear-like sword.
Again, Marie didn’t flinch.
It wasn’t that she didn’t need to avoid it.
It was because he could not kill her.
Rustle, rustle. The headless horse circled Marie irritably, its armor clattering like scales. It seemed enraged that it could not kill her.
“You don’t remember me.”
Rustle!
“And yet, you still love me.”
A bitter smile appeared on Marie’s lips. It was just like with Andrew. Those who came to love her could not harm her. Even if they couldn’t remember her, the curse lingered like a brand, restraining their actions.
“You see.”
Marie extended her hand towards the monster that no longer remembered her. Just as he had done to her once.
“I am Marie.”
The Iron Horse Knight, who had been circling erratically, suddenly stopped. Had he recognized her? Marie looked at him with hope, but when he roughly grabbed her arm, she realized something was wrong.
Riiip!
“…!”
The Iron Horse Knight’s hand tore at Marie’s clothes, exposing her pale skin. Her vulnerable body was roughly handled by his armored gloves.
“Wait, that… ugh!”
As her top was torn, the bra covering her chest was brutally ripped apart. Her pants and panties were pulled down roughly, catching on her thighs, and his fingers clumsily invaded the barely exposed b******s and va–na.
“Ah, oh! Ah, ah!”
There was no trace of tenderness in his actions. The sensation was as cold and hard as the iron itself. The surface that had once softened when touching her skin was now unyielding and harsh.
Marie could only moan at the intrusion of what felt like a metal rod violating her secret flesh.
Scrape.
“Ah…!”
Yet, Marie’s body, conditioned by monsters, responded even to the rough handling. The now dampened interior tightened around the intruder like it was caressing it.
The creature showed fleeting interest, only to be quickly withdrawn. Its focus on Marie oscillated, appearing and disappearing repeatedly.
You lo▉her…
A voice whispered to him. To love the woman before him. To take her flesh, to hold her.
But another voice roughly drowned out that whisper.
