Chapter 8
907words
The 'hiss…hiss…' sounds closed in—like cold snake tongues licking the back of his neck.
Owen's heart hammered against his ribs! He clutched the brown bear, eyes locked on the small bed just steps away!
The mission! Place the bear 'beside Mom's bed'!
No more hesitation! He hurled the brown bear toward the bed!
The toy arced through the air, landing perfectly beside the pillow!
The instant the bear touched the sheets—
'Wuuuah——！！！'
A soul-shredding scream erupted from the twisted, bloated boy!
Not silent this time—a real wail of endless agony and grief!
The sickly green light flared, then rapidly collapsed inward!
Owen, ears ringing from the shriek, instinctively covered them.
The light vanished.
With a 'click,' the room's light switched on.
Harsh white light made Owen squint.
The room returned to normal.
Scattered blocks, overturned toy box, faded cartoon stickers.
The boy with the gray bear had vanished.
In his place—a little boy in clean pajamas, five or six years old, with a pale but normal face. He curled in the corner, clutching the brown bear, his small body trembling, face streaked with tears.
No longer a monster—just a frightened, crying child.
Owen froze.
The boy looked up with swollen, red-rimmed but clear eyes. His small mouth quivered as he spoke through tears:
'Th-thank you… for finding Teddy… he… he kept Mom company when I couldn't…'
Rule Four: [Direct conversation or emotional exchange with any 'client' is strictly prohibited]!
Warning bells clanged in Owen's mind! But seeing those clear eyes and tear-stained cheeks, the cold warning died in his throat.
'You…' Just one word escaped.
But the boy, mission seemingly complete, hugged his bear as his form began to fade.
'Mom… not afraid of the dark anymore…' he whispered, voice fading away.
Finally, like a soap bubble bursting with a soft 'pop,' the boy and brown bear vanished into nothing.
Only Owen remained in the bright room, with the abandoned one-eyed gray bear on the floor.
Task… completed?
Owen stared at the empty corner, heart churning with emotion. That twisted monster—just a child trapped by fear and obsession? His dying wish—finding a teddy bear to comfort his mother, afraid of the dark, in his absence?
A bitter ache swelled in his chest. The warmth beneath cold rules felt even more cruel.
He remembered the third condition: turn off the lights.
He walked to the door and hit the switch.
'Click.'
Darkness swallowed the room.
The instant darkness fell—
'Hee hee…'
A faint, malicious childlike giggle rose from below!
Owen's gaze shot downward!
The gray bear's remaining glass eye glowed red in the darkness! Its stitched mouth stretched into an impossibly wide grin!
Pure malice—colder than anything from the boy's transformation—coiled around him like a venomous snake!
This thing… no ordinary doll! A 'Residual Entity'? Or something worse?
Rule Six: [Night Patrollers are responsible for clearing out violators and 'Residual Entities']!
Owen's scalp crawled with terror! He'd just broken Rule Four! He'd spoken to Client 077! The contamination warning echoed in his mind!
And this eerie gray bear—unmistakably a 'residual entity' needing clearance!
Time to get the hell out!
He spun and grabbed the doorknob!
'Click.'
The door swung open.
But outside wasn't the hallway.
Just thick, impenetrable darkness!
Air ten times colder than the funeral home—carrying endless death and despair—rushed in from the void!
Owen's heart turned to ice!
This wasn't his hallway! This was… what? Where?
He suddenly remembered Rule One: [At exactly 4:00, regardless of what you're doing, you must immediately drop everything and leave through the staff passage]!
He checked his phone: 3:59:50!
Ten seconds left!
Staff passage! Intern room!
Had to get back!
Ignoring the void beyond the door and the malevolent bear at his feet, he bolted! The intern room—at the other end of the hallway!
He burst into the second-floor corridor!
The lights flickered madly! Oily shadows writhed on the walls!
'Tap… tap… tap…'
Wet footsteps echoed from the stairwell! Multiple sets!
Night Patrollers! Multiple ones! Drawn here by his rule-breaking? Or by that gray bear?
Terror shot through Owen's core! He sprinted for the stairs!
Time: 3:59:55!
He flew down the stairs!
First-floor lights flickered just as wildly! Intern room door just ahead!
'Tap-tap-tap-tap!' The footsteps behind accelerated! Ice-cold aura stabbed his back!
3:59:58!
Owen hurled himself through the intern room door, slamming it shut behind him!
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
Heavy impacts shook the door! Accompanied by teeth-grinding, metal-scraping howls!
The Night Patrollers were ramming the door!
Owen braced against the door, each impact jarring his bones! He frantically checked the wall clock (which hadn't been there before):
The second hand hit 12.
Four o'clock sharp.
[Warning! Extended unauthorized stay! Cleanup protocol initiated!]
The cold voice exploded in his mind!
Simultaneously—
On the right wall, beside the employee locker, the wall slid open! A passage emitting faint white light appeared—just wide enough for one person!
The employee passage!
The impacts and howls intensified! The door groaned, cracks spreading across its surface!
Owen didn't hesitate—he lunged toward the light with his last ounce of strength!
As he dove into the passage, from the corner of his eye he glimpsed—
The door exploding inward!
Twisted shadows in dark uniforms—bringing deathly silence and cold—surged through!
The next moment.
White light swallowed everything.
