Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary! Chapter 820: The House [3]

I took a slow breath, trying to take the information in stride.

The scraping stopped again, but I could still hear the old woman’s voice coming from inside. The young boy said something in reply, although it was too muffled for me to make out.

"....."

There was no way the compass would lead me somewhere useless.

In truth, this wasn’t the first time I tried looking for something related to VILE-1048. The previous attempts didn’t get me anywhere.

This was the first time in a while that the needle gave me something to follow.

I had no choice but to make the most of the situation. Who knew when the next opportunity came?

I moved away from the window, carefully placing my foot between the leaves gathered beside the wall.

Crunch.

My lips pressed together.

Even despite my best efforts, the leaves crunched. Although their sound was incredibly subtle, they still felt loud within the quiet around me.

I waited until the sound settled before moving again.

The ground rose towards the back of the house. I followed the fence up, keeping one hand near it for balance as the window above gradually came within reach.

The light inside went out before I got there.

I stopped.

For a while, I could only see my own outline against the glass. Then, as my eyes adjusted, a gap between the curtains revealed part of the room.

A bed stood against the wall.

The young boy lay beneath the blanket, his face turned towards the window. His mouth was slightly open, and one hand rested beside his cheek.

He seemed to be sleeping.

I watched the blanket rise and fall before looking around.

There was a small desk beside the bed, along with a chair and a shelf covered in books.

But what caught my attention were the papers.

They were everywhere.

Pinned to the wall, scattered over the desk, and stacked beneath a box of markers. Several were close enough to the window that I could make out the thick lines drawn across them.

Two people.

I leaned a little closer.

They were seated in every picture I could see. Some were coloured, while others were nothing more than dark outlines, but the position remained the same.

Straight backs.

Hands on their knees.

I looked towards the young boy.

He didn’t move.

I took out my phone, lowering the brightness before opening the camera. After making sure the flash was off, I held it near the gap between the curtains and took several pictures to get a closer look at each drawing.

I moved slightly to get a clearer view of the drawings on the desk, careful not to let the phone touch the glass.

Roy’s blanket moved slightly, and I stopped.

For a moment, I stared at him.

He pulled his knees a little closer beneath the blanket and then turned.

"....."

I slowly lowered the phone.

There were more drawings beneath the ones I could see. Perhaps one of them showed something different.

I reached towards the window.

My gaze lowered towards my bracelet.

Then I let go of the frame.

No.

Unless it was necessary, I would rather not use my nodes. I wasn’t in a particularly good state for it.

Pasture could help once it was established, but placing the markings was another matter. I remembered how much that hurt.

Doing it here, when I wasn’t even certain what was happening, seemed rather rushed. I also didn’t want to aggravate my nodes. I had to be extremely careful when using them.

I put the phone away and stepped back.

’I’ll just make do with the pictures for now.’

I worked my way down the slope, keeping close to the wall, trying to get a look at the insides of the house from another angle.

The surroundings were eerily quiet.

I was approaching the next corner when a thin line of light appeared ahead.

My steps slowed.

It came from a window farther along the lower floor. Several strips of yellow stretched across the leaves beneath it, broken by thick shadows.

I moved closer before realising why.

’What...?’

The window was covered with wooden boards, not curtains.

Several planks crossed the opening, overlapping in places and leaving only narrow gaps between them. I could see light through those gaps, but very little else.

"....."

I looked towards the front of the house.

Then back at the window.

’How strange.’

I was just about to lean closer when something squeaked inside.

A shadow passed across the light.

I immediately moved aside, pressing my back against the wall.

"Here I am. Here I am."

My breath stopped.

Without a doubt, it was the old woman’s voice.

"I know the two of you are hungry. I’m here to give you some food."

"....."

Two?

I remained still, listening as something was placed on a hard surface.

A small clink followed.

"I brought a little more this time. You barely touched anything earlier."

Her voice sounded exactly as it did when she offered me tea.

"Careful with that. It’s still hot."

Something scraped against the floor. I could feel it clearly, for it was right on the wall opposite me. I felt my fingers curl against the wall.

For a moment, the old woman stopped speaking.

Then she sighed softly.

"There’s no need for that. I’m putting it right here."

I heard another clink as I looked down at the strips of light coming out from the gaps of the window.

A shadow moved over one of them.

"Eat well, alright? I’ll leave the rest in the kitchen. If you need more, call me."

I waited for someone to respond.

But... all she was met with was silence. The old woman continued speaking anyway.

"It’s getting late, so try to settle down afterwards. There’s no reason to keep moving things around all night."

My gaze shifted towards the window.

A faint rustling came from inside, followed by the sound of her footsteps moving away.

Creak.

The door inside closed.

I didn’t move.

Several seconds passed, and then some.

From somewhere farther inside the house, I heard another door open.

Only then did I slowly turn towards the window. The gap between the boards was barely wide enough to see through.

I leaned closer, keeping my face to the side while I tried to make out the room beyond.

There were several things that caught my eye the moment I looked inside.

I could make out what appeared to be part of a table, two bowls, and a beige wall. It seemed normal, but when my gaze lowered, my breathing stopped at the sight of the two outlines sitting in front of the table.

Their backs faced the window.

One wore a dark shirt, while the other’s hair fell loosely over the collar of a faded dress. Both sat upright, their shoulders level and their feet placed neatly beneath their chairs.

Neither moved.

"....."

I drew a small breath, trying to calm my racing heart.

I pressed my hand against the wall and looked again. In particular, I looked at the way their arms rested close to their bodies, their forearms angled towards their knees.

My eyes moved towards the bowls.

The old woman placed them close enough that either person could reach one without leaning forward.

But neither was eating.

They simply sat there, looking towards the closed door.

My fingers pressed harder against the wall.

I couldn’t see their faces.

Perhaps if I moved towards the other gap—

Scrr~

"...!?"

Something made a faint sound inside.

I stopped.

One of the chairs seemed a little closer to the table than before.

Or perhaps it was the angle.

I watched the two backs, waiting for one to move, but neither did. The two backs remained fixed in place, staring at the front without making a single noise.

And as I blinked?

An eye stared back at me.

Right through the gap.

So close that I could see the wet edge of the lower eyelid.

"....!?"

I jumped back.

My shoulder struck the fence, making it shake as I stared at the window.

The eye remained there.

Looking straight at me.

"You should’ve left."

The voice came from the other side of the boards.

"Why are you here?"

BANG!

The wood jolted outwards.

I took another step back as one of the planks split near the edge. Fingers pushed through the opening, scraping against the frame before reaching towards me.

".....!"

I looked down at my wrist.

To be precise, my bracelet.

My fingers caught the clasp, but before I could release it, an itch spread through my nose.

No.

Not—

"Achoo!"

My head dipped.

For a moment, everything tilted.

The window moved sideways. So did the fence beneath my hand, and I tightened my grip before my knees could give out.

A sudden weakness spread through my body.

I tried to take a breath.

It felt like I couldn’t get enough.

BANG!

Another plank moved.

I forced my fingers back towards the clasp and pulled the bracelet free.

It dropped into my palm.

I reached towards my nodes, but...

Nothing.

"....."

I tried again, but when I did, my eye twitched.

Yet again...

They refused to respond to me.

’Fuck. Fuck.’

Why now...?!

My eyes lowered towards the bracelet, taking note of the fact that it was off. I could see the open clasp hanging between my fingers.

No, I understood why.

This wasn’t my nodes acting up.

This was...

VILE - 1048.

BANG! BANG!

The hand forced itself farther through the window.

Wood scraped along its wrist, but it kept reaching, the fingers opening and closing in the space where my face was only moments earlier.

I pushed away from the fence.

"This was rather rude of you. Why don’t you stay a little longer?"

The old woman’s voice came from behind the wooden planks.

BANG!