His eyes were bulging out of his skull- red rimming the iris, slowly spreading around and dyeing the white part completely. From the neck up to his face, his natural skin tint was slowly turning to blue as his oxygen supply got cut off. With the last bit of energy that was swirling in his body he lift shakingly his forearm up to encircle his hand around my shoulder to push me away, but I was not moving as his trembling hand lacked any strength and with a painful grunt he mustered out, “You…” before the light in his eyes diminished away.

With a swift movement, I pulled out the crown, letting the blood that was clogged by it freely gush out- splattering my face and my dress under as I stared brazenly in his eyes that resembled the ones of a dead fish. His body swayed to the side; landing limply on the ground, letting the blood that refused to stop flowing turn the floor into a sea of blood.

With the crown still in my grasp, I used my other arm to propel me off the ground. Half in a daze, I fixed my dress, using my hands to smooth the wrinkles down. They came to a prompt halt when I noticed I was creating a long red smudged trail on the skirt.

Blinking obtuse, I muttered, “Huh?” and brought my hands closer to my face to inspect them, turning them around. My pupils shrunk into small dots and shook, viewing the palms that were painted in blood that turned sticky.

As if waking up from a long nightmare just to be put in to a new one, I couldn’t stop the turbulence that occurred in my body. My vision kept blurring and unblurring as I hesitantly turned my head to stare down at the empty husk that was just a few seconds ago full of life.

The feelings in my fingers got lost and the crown slide out of my hold, landing with a splash on the blood-soaked floor. Not being able to support my body weight from shock my legs gave out letting me slump down on the floor as I stared blankly at the dead body in front of me and when the information what had happened finally registered in my mind I had to cover my mouth with my hands to stifle down the angst filled scream.

Tears threatened to come out as my mind got warred with utter confusion and guilt. “W-What happened?” My hands glide up the side of my face, weaving themselves up in my hair, clutching a handful of it- coating the strands with the red thick liquid as I felt my heart override the speed limit.

Did I do this? I only remembered the man pushing me down and then I saw my stepdad and then everything became hazy; only the feeling of wanting to get rid of him was left, but I never meant to kill him… I… oh God. What have I done?

I took a big gulp of air, closing my eyes before exhaling again. “No.” I muttered to myself. Now is not the time to have a mental breakdown. I reminded myself as I opened my eyes into a pair of small cracks, peering down at the lifeless body before closing them shut again- letting my nose inhale the iron scented air before exhaling it out through my mouth. Repeating that action a few times with my eyes still closed, I said under my breath, “Okay.” before opening my eyes; forcing back the nauseous feeling at the sight of the corpse and instead glanced around to room as I rose back up on my feet.

I need to get out of this room before those misogyny pieces of craps will fill this room. But I can’t just run out of the room. If this man made it all the way here, then it means that the others must be near too and I still don’t have something to protect myself with.

Cursing under my breath while nibbling on my thumb, I was anxiously pacing through the room mazing my brain around for any ideas, before my eyes landed on the gun that was resting inside the holster of its now dead owner who was lying on its side.

My feet carried me towards the body until I stood in front of it, casting my eyes down at the side profile of it. Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I grimaced as I viewed the horrified-stricken face of the masked man, as if he was frozen in time. Ripping my eyes away from his face, I aimed my focus back on the goal, his gun and crouched down on the floor, placing my hand shakily on the gun.

I will not get cursed by doing this, right? I wondered before pulling the gun out of its holster. As soon as I gained the gun, I stood up and swiftly backed away from the corpse, breathing rapidly and shallow as I clutched the weapon against my chest. Trying to regulate my breathing back to normal, I took a deep breath.

Okay, I’ve got something to protect myself with so now I just need to get out of the room, but then I am still stuck with the problem that there is a high chance of bump in to another masked person. What if I meet them in a group by accident? I may have a gun, but I don’t even know how many bullets I got left- heck, I don’t even know how to use a gun! They can easily overpower me if they all gang up on me with their own weapons. But staying here means another unlucky confrontation that may end up even worse than the one that I just went through, so no matter what, I have to get out.

“How can I get away without being spotted on their radar?” I questioned myself before my eyes landed on something which brought laughter to my lips. “Haha!” I guess lady luck has decided to come back to me. My eyes were trained at the grill vent that was next to the bookcase in the corner. The size of it seems big enough for someone of my stature to crawl through. Nobody will think that I am in the vent and even if they would, they wouldn’t fit inside anyway and with this I can reach Mark easier and safer!

Wanting to go to the vent, I stride excitedly, but quickly stopped mid-step and glanced down at my feet that felt sticky from the blood. Frowning, I raised up one of my foot and inspected thoughtfully.

‘They will know that I went through the vent by following my bloody footprints.’ Placing my foot back down, I twirled around, trying to find something that I could use to wipe off the blood under my feet. Nothing that could help caught my eyes and instead shifted my attention to my gown, taking the skirt in my hands.

Letting my eyes roam around it, I mumbled, “This should work.” And in a swift movement ripped the skirt part of my dress and used the fabric of it to wipe my feet and, while I was at it, also my hands and face. Tossing the bloodied cloth on the ground, I finally made my way to the grill vent and crouched in front of it. Latching my finger under the edge, I tried to pry it off, pulling on it with all my strength as I pressed the sole of my feet against the wall as support.

“Urgh…!” I groaned through gritted teeth as I felt no movement in the grill. Huffing, I let it go. “Why wouldn’t it budge?” I said between each breath and groaned, annoyed when I noticed the screws that were on each corner.

Face-palming my myself at the one-sided tug-and-war game I exasperate, “Of course.”

‘What now? There're no tools in this room to open this-’ My mind trailed off when I realized that there was a tool that I could use. My eyes widen and I snapped my head around, staring intensely at the object laying on the ground and my lips pulled into a grin.

My crown that I used to stab the man with had sharp points- sharp enough perhaps to loosen the screws and remove the grill of the vent. Not wasting anymore seconds, I reached for the crown and immediately unscrewed the screws to hear the bolts clatter as they fell down on the other side of the lid. I exhaled, relieved seeing that it worked.

Placing the crown on the floor, I pried off the lid of the vent and went on all fours, my head already going inside the vent. Peering inside, I was met with a dark void, making it seem like the depths of the vent were endless, creating an unsettling, dooming feeling in the pits of my stomach. Gulping back a lump in my throat I crawled inside taking the crown with me, begging with a wobbly voice like a broken record as the darkness slowly enveloped me, “Please let there be no spiders, please let there be no spider, please let there be no spiders,”

After what felt like hours and after many squealing and wincing moments whenever a thin, invincible spider thread would weave around my fingers, I finally made it to the basement area.

I patted myself down and smiled, relieved when the gun was still inside the tool belt I had found in one of the storage room together with something else on my way here. That something else was mine secret weapon in case shit turns into an even bigger shit.

I crawled again and winced as I felt a pain shot through my hands and knees from the blisters that have been forming on them. The strain exerted on my arms was only getting heavier and heavier as they were reaching their limits- fatigue trying to take reign over them.

Wanting everything to be over already and go home, I whispered under my breath, frustrated, “Where the hell are you, Mark?”

And as soon as I said that a gunshot followed by a bloodcurdling scream could be heard, making me flinch on the spot. The noise came from the vent where a bright light shone through the cracks of the grills a bit further down the shaft.

‘W-What’s going on?’ I wondered, confused and alarmed by the sudden yell. Is Casper torturing people in the basement? My eyes went wide when something else popped up in my mind. Is he torturing Mark? But it hasn’t been an hour yet, and he’s already torturing him? It may really be some poor person who’s being tortured, but at the same time I have never heard Mark shriek before… it may be worth checking it out.

I slowly crawled to the grill vent like a moth attracted to the flame and another scream erupted.

“Where the hell is she!?” a familiar voice boomed in anger.

“I-I don’t know plea-AAAAAH!” the sound of something being broken was loud and clear.

“I’ll ask you again. Where the fuck is she!? The camera broke and now she’s nowhere to be seen!”

“I really don’t-”

“You have a fucking phone, don’t you? Call Casper and ask him!” He snarled.

Yep, that’s Mark. I have finally found him!

“Please spare-spare m-”

A loud gunshot rung through the basement, silencing the man forever. My heart got stuck in my throat from the shock and I let out a staggering breath, and in that same moment another bullet swiftly made past up the grill vent alongside my face snipping a piece of my hair strand with it, piercing through the other side of the vent.

Not feeling the lively bounciness of my heart anymore, I stared in bewilderment at the piece of hair strand that went rouge from its pack, softly swaying back and forth until it landed soundlessly on the ground.

“Kitten! I swear if didn’t recognize your breathing for one second- what are you doing there anyway!?” Realizing where I was, he stared profoundly at me with an astonished look.

Mark, still dressed in his work tire, seemed unharmed aside from his hair that was now in disarray and his clothes that had blotches of blood on them. But the dead man behind Mark, who was still vocal a few seconds ago, looked anything but okay with stab wounds covering his body.

I smiled wobbly while scratching my head. “It’s a long story. Can you help me down?”

He frowned, not liking the sound of it, but still used a soft voice that was caressing my heart. “Of course, just give me a second.” Dragging the body under the vent where I was, he used it as a stepping stone and with ease opened the grill of the vent with a pocketknife that he swiftly had pulled out. The pair of muscular arms stretched themselves out, ready to receive me. Not caring about how my skirt positioned itself, the layer of frills obscuring my sight, I extended my legs through the gape entrance and pushed myself off the edge in to Mark’s warm embrace.

My arms somehow encircled themselves around his neck as I put my face inside the crook of his neck, feeling the anxiety that had held me hostage finally releasing me as I took in his scent that reminded me of the forest. I felt at ease in the corner of my heart at the sight of this man’s face. Mark stepped off the corpse and lowered me gently on the ground for only my toes to touch it, as he still had me crushed in his arms.

The same could be said about me, as my arms refused to loosen their hold on him. Only the tranquil stillness was present in the room alongside the calming thudding sounds of our hearts, reveling in each other present as we both confirmed one another’s safety.

After what felt like a while, Mark unwrapped his arms, but kept his hands on my hips and I pulled my face from the crook of his neck that I used as a veil to cover my expression that was coated in alleviation. My eyes finally met the deep blue orbs that always drive me to forget how to breathe.

A soft smile played on his face with his brows that were knitted together and he released a voice that didn’t hold its usual mischievousness. “I am so glad that you’re safe. Does it please you to war my heart with worry? Why do you always have to behave so recklessly?” He was clearly displeased at my action of destroying the camera in the study room.

My face caught on fire as his unusual expression caught me off guard. I shifted my eyes away from his face as I tittered, “Sorry I was getting tired of being watch-”

A colossal hand took a hold of my chin, snapping my head to the side with a force that pushed my words back in to my mouth. I squinted from beneath my eyelashes at the exerted force that was displayed on my cheeks. His thick fingers prodding my cheeks and got confronted by Mark’s icy stare that contained fire that was blazing with fury.

My head was snapped back to the other side. Glowering low, I swatted his hand off me. “Why the hell did you do that!?” I yelled, letting my hands rub my cheeks to soothe the skin that was held tightly as I shot him a glare.

Mark’s hand, that was lost in the air for a second, found its way back to his side. He carried a blunt expression, his eyes tracing my body from top to bottom. Bumps were forming on my skin as a shiver went down my spine, feeling the air around me turning stale.

“What-what?” I stammered. Feeling unsafe, my feet shuffled away from him, but he didn’t allow me to get far as he grabbed my wrist swiftly. He raised up my arm and pulled me close to him until my nose touched his chest. With a dangerous glint in his eyes, he narrowed them at me, leaning his face close to mine as his perfect lips parted to utter slowly in an ominous tone,

“Is that your blood?”