Chapter 5.6: Security Camera Captures the...VI
Anyone would be astounded when an object unexpectedly dropped in a quiet space, in the absence of anyone, without anyone touching it. Tonight, all kinds of strange things kept arising. Or perhaps I was simply exhausted. What fell was a cup of noodles on the center display shelf. It was roughly in the same position as where the shadow had been.
The thought of it instilled an overwhelming sense of foreboding, nevertheless, I couldnt pretend to not notice, so I picked up the noodle cup and stepped out from the counter. Nothing looked out of the usual despite my inspection of the display shelves, leaving me puzzled as to why it had fallen out.
That was uncanny. With trepidation, I picked up the fallen cup noodle and attempted to replace it on the shelf.
What
A slippery sensation was felt. I was so shocked that I detached my hand from the cup noodle. My left hand was stained with what looked like muddy water.
Why was this What was taking place? How could there be muddy water in a cup of noodles?
Aah Aah Aah Aah
Without warning, a voice resounded in my ear, bringing my thoughts to a halt. It was more like a low, muffled moan than a voice that sounded as if it were in distress. I wasnt mishearing or anything, it was a subdued voice that spoke in my ear, yet I could distinctly recognize it as a human voice.
It was not that of a normal human being, nonetheless. I intuitively thought so.
[That place is seriously dangerous.]
[Stop it.]
[Its screwed up there.]
[Things frequently broke out.]
[You might get possessed or start seeing things.]
The posts I had viewed on the Internet during the day flashed back to me in a flash. My shoulders began trembling uncontrollably, and this time I felt a bit of coldness.
Something was placed on my shoulder.
That awakened my eyes.
When I turned to look around with a start, I found that I was not in the store, but in the small back room that I had become so accustomed to. There I was, seated in a round chair. The cigarette I had placed in the ashtray had burned out and turned to ash.
I came to the realization that I had been dreaming all along thanks to it.
Involuntarily, a sigh of relief was released. Perspiration was beading on my forehead. Apparently, after smoking a cigarette in the back room, I had fallen asleep against the wall.
That was why I had a nightmare. Even after wiping the sweat from my forehead, the memory of that sickening nightmare could not be easily dispelled. It was vividly present in my mind.
What would happen this time at the time I wondered that
The face of the man screaming in lamentation flooded the screen.
[Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh]
My eardrums were pounded by the mans shrill, wailful voice.
Hie
Even though my body was immobile, my heart skipped a beat and I felt a layer of tears forming over my eyes from an unprecedented terror. It was then that the firm spirit I had retained within me collapsed and burst all at once.
The TV displayed the mans face for several seconds before reverting to a sandstorm.
A-Ah
Please no more.
Stop it.
I didnt want to see it. I didnt want to hear it.
Not anymore.
Somebody, please save me. Even as I struggled to articulate these words, nothing but faint breaths escaped my mouth.
Even so, the terror was not over yet. Panic overcame me as if to hunt me down. Tsu. The ringing in my ears had been replaced by a mysterious noise that sounded like a piano wire strained to its limits.
It was nauseating.
The sound was so insistent that it lulled me into the illusion that my brain was being constricted.
It was discomforting.
Then, accompanied by the sound of water, I felt a small shock on my right shoulder.
Something landed on me.
If only I had fainted there, how fortunate I would have been. The coldnes spreading to my shoulder kept me absolutely conscious.
The coldness sweeping over my shoulders was something I never wanted to see. Something crawled up, and the next moment, it came into my sight.
Fingernails, discolored to an unbelievable shade of color. Blistered, soft, and thick fingers.
On my right shoulder was a pale, soaked hand that no longer seemed to belong to a human being.