Chapter 7: First Challenge Completed

The monster was at me again. For some reason, she found out where I was, so I had to run. I entered the bathroom once more, and surprisingly, Mark was there too. He looked terrible! I wondered why he had so much blood stains on his clothes. Was he injured?

“Is everything ok, Mark?” I asked, concerned.

“Looks like another monster has showed herself in this house,” he replied.

“WHAT? Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, I’m sure. There’s this woman in the queen-sized bedroom. She looked very attractive, but suspicious. Surprisingly, I’ve met her when we were young, and it looks like she still remembers those days…”

“Go straight to the point, Mark. Is this ‘woman’ a monster or not?” 

I was getting irritated… and confused. Mark was always straightforward. This was the first time I’ve seen him beat around the bush.

“I– I don’t know. She definitely looked like a human, but when she began coughing blood, and her eyes turned red, and her hand was on fire when she started crying. I left her out of fear... and obvious stupidity. She must’ve hated her monstrous state,” he bent his head down in disappointment.

“I don’t think that was her monstrous state, Mark. I think that was sort of a punishment. What did you even talk about with her?”

“She couldn’t say anything about her life, so I told mine. It must’ve been because she felt pity towards me as I told my story… but monsters don’t show pity to humans,” he sighed and rubbed his forehead. He definitely did something embarrassing there, judging by his gestures.

“Now, now, Mark, this isn't the time to panic. We should find out where the monster plays most of the time so that we can find the second whiteboard and find a way to get out of this cursed house.”

Mark lit up, “You’re right. Let’s go!”

When he opened that door, a woman came in. I knew this was the woman Mark talked about. My, she was gorgeous! I couldn’t resist looking away, she could catch someone’s attention without even uttering a word. When she looked at me, I turned red.

There was just one thing that baffled me: why didn't she have blood stains on her? Mark told me she coughed blood... where was the blood? I looked at Mark in confusion. He was flabbergasted.

“Excuse me, but, who are you? Are you one of them as well?” she asked.

I looked back at her. Such a sweet voice, I thought. 

Then, something struck me. Could she be… no, it's not possible. If Joy was cursed and turned into a monster (there’s a big chance she was already killed by the monster), it was impossible for her to grow up into a woman… right? And besides, this woman has no idea who I am.

“Ah, I’m May, and yes, I’m one of them. You are?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say that. You can say I’m living under a curse–” her eyes widened. She immediately composed herself and cleared her throat, “Um, you said you wanted to know where E- I mean, the monster plays with her dolls, right? I know where that place is.” 

“PLEASE, tell us where that might be!” I insisted.

“Come with me then. I’ll show you.”

We eventually left the room and followed the woman’s lead. After a few steps, she stopped and pointed down. “There it is, that’s the place you’re looking for.”

“THE HALL?" Mark and I exclaimed.

“Yes. The hall. She always goes there since it's her favorite place to stay in. That’s where she plays with her dolls... then leaves them there to rot.”

I snorted. That definitely wasn’t a joke, but it was just so funny I couldn’t resist. Mark and the woman looked at me, each with different reactions. The latter chuckled, and the former glared at me. 

As we went down the stairs, we did see the monster playing with her dolls. I guess the woman was right. The monster, sensing our presence, stopped and looked up. I leaned over the rails and discreetly grabbed my knife, thinking she was going to go wild and attack us for the 100th time. She didn’t. Her face looked so calm, even if her eyes screamed danger. She played with her dolls again. 

I was utterly confused. Why didn’t the monster attack us? Why didn’t her face change to that beastly look she had when she attacked me? Questions swarmed my mind, and the woman noticed. Again, with those alluring eyes, she attracted my attention once more. 

Reader, I'm reminding you that I am not in love with this woman. I mean it.

The woman pointed to the dolls the monster was playing with, “Those dolls she holds right now are ordinary ones.” 

She picked up a doll lying down on the floor and handed it over to me. I looked at the doll, disgusted by the dirt it had all over it. 

She continued, this time in a whisper, “It won't be easy to just grab these dolls. She usually gets angry and goes in her monstrous state if she loses one. If you break it, she'll attack you. She knows when a doll breaks even if she's not here. You better scatter these dolls around the house without her knowing. That way, you won't need to run when she sees you. Get two of them when she leaves.”

Goodness, that was the longest speech that she ever did during the mission.

Mark nudged me and joked, “You need something like those dolls. You're always angry.” 

I glared at him. He makes the meanest jokes, and they're not even funny.

Seeing how angry I was, he looked at the woman instead. "Can she hear us?" he asked.

She whispered, "No, she's deaf. But someone else can hear in this house."

My eyes widened, "Who?"

Before she could answer my question, we heard footsteps and shrieks coming from the hall. It was obviously Anthony and Aurora, but why were they running? The monster was confused as we were as they entered the hall.

Aurora belted, “ANTHONY, CAN YOU JUST STOP RUNNING? IT’S JUST A CURSED DO- oh no…”

When me, the woman, and Mark came to their aid, the monster was gone. No one noticed her leave, not even Anthony or Aurora, who were just in front of her. All of us except her (you know what, I’m going to call her “Beauty” instead) looked at each other, fearing what the monster might do next.

I looked back at Beauty, who was holding the dolls the monster played. I asked her what she was doing. She didn’t reply. I called her, but she still wouldn’t reply. I called her again, shaking her shoulders.

She looked at me with such anger! Her eyes turned bloody red, her eyebrows furrowed intensely, and her mouth twitched. I stepped back in shock. Seconds after, though, she stopped, looking down at the doll that just broke since she clenched it too tight. Everyone just went silent for a whole 7 minutes.

Mark was right. She was a monster.

“Oh, I found something here. It’s a whiteboard,” Beauty stated after the eerie silence. 

Finally! Our first challenge was completed!

Before we could even celebrate, we heard a deafening roar, shaking the whole house.