It’s so quiet…

She used to be afraid of the dark. 

Amidst the darkness and the quietness in the hallway, she walked lifelessly to the bathroom. 

Open the lights, and washed her face in the middle of the night, stared into the middle. No one else was there, just her reflection in the mirror. 

Anyone… 

But no one would answer her call yet. 

She would have to go back to her room on the other end of the hallway. 

To someone who was supposed to be afraid of the dark, the path seemed to be endless and filled with hidden dangers that were harmless. 

She even hoped a creature from the Abyss could befriend her… 

But no one would come. 

Even here… 

Even in her room, where she is supposed to feel most comfortable, nothing has really changed. It’s just the lifeless silence surrounding her, all the way from the hallway into the room. 

It’d be nice if there’s some noise… Let it be a thief who wanted to test their luck with this house of mine… Or let it be the neighbor’s dog… 

But nothing would have happened, in the end, she is still alone. 

“Hey, time to sleep.” 

The man called the girl after he had asked her to brush her teeth minutes ago. 

“...” 

He led her into a bedroom, which seemed luxurious enough to keep up with the other rooms. The bed is filled with some plushies, cute ones to be exact. And strangely enough, although this is a strange bedroom she just had seen for the very first time, she senses a bit of comfort. 

“Now go to sleep. It’s nearly 10 pm now, you’ll have to get up early tomorrow to see someone.” 

The man said before he left the room, leaving the girl standing there in the middle of the bedroom. 

The girl walked around in her new bedroom.

She opened the lockers, and there weren’t any clothes inside, as expected. 

She went over to the desk placed next to the window. 

The windows seem to be locked. But the desk has something on it, some blank papers and a pen, seemingly new. 

She opened the draws out of curiosity, but there was nothing inside. 

After a short search, she found basically nothing, only the bed had the plushies, something special on it. And then she finally went to sleep, but of course not before she had turned the lights off. 

After the lights turned off, she heard someone giggling. 

“...?” 

It sounds identical to the man, as if he was standing outside. 

“... Ah…” 

She knew what was coming. 

The emptiness of the room reminded her of her fate… The fate that awaits. 

I was kidnapped… of course, for this… I can’t blame him… 

She would sit down on the side of the bed, directing her eyes at the door. Awaiting for the thing that’s about to happen to her. 

“...hahahaha…”

The laughing voice outside of the man gets creepier every second. 

“HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!” 

Until at a point, it sounds like the laugh of a close friend that you have, whose laughs is the creepiest out of the group. 

“...” 

How long is he gonna laugh…

She kept on waiting, 10 minutes passed but nothing happened. The man kept laughing for around 10 seconds before stopping for a minute, then it repeated for the whole time. 

“...”

She had no other choice but to try and lie down. 

Maybe he knew that she was still up, waiting for him? Maybe that wasn’t his taste at all? 

She was wrong, even after getting sleepy by laying on bed, the man hasn’t done anything yet. 

“...”

She had to get up and slowly approached the door. The closer she gets, the louder the giggling becomes. She held the doorknob and carefully spun it. opening the door. 

But as soon as the weight of the door depended on her wrist, she felt the door was heavier than it was supposed to be by its looks. 

“...?” 

She was surprised, and was pushed back a little bit, but she saw a shadow behind the door. 

It was the man, who looked at the girl, just as confused as she was, while holding a phone, he was watching a video… about Tom and Jerry? 

“...Why are you still awake?” 

The man asked, confusingly.

“..... Uhm… What are you-” 

But the man would interrupt the girl before she asked the question. 

“Now now, go back to sleep.” 

He held the doorknob and tried to close it as fast as he could. 

“But…” 

But seeing that the girl wanted to ask him about his strange behavior, he sighed and decided to answer her question .

“Alright… Since you want to know it… I shall tell you.” 

He put his phone in his pocket and turned his body back, facing the girl. His shadow covered the girl completely, posing a serious threat to her existence now, as if he could do anything he likes to her now. 

“I said that you’d get a horrible life from now on, right? How else do you think you’re gonna take a goodnight’s rest? I am not going to allow you to sleep that easily!” 

“..... Eh?”

“Now go back to your room!! There shall be nothing that can help you to sleep that easily once I’m still standing out here and laughing! Hahaha!! You shall suffer more!” 

He said then he closed the door gently, after that, he continued laughing. 

“...” 

……

Yeah I dunno what to say too.

Maybe I should try and sleep…

Although it is indeed hard for her to fall asleep due to the laughter, she actually felt very comfortable that night… And slept very well for the first time in many nights…

After an hour, when the girl is fully asleep. The man turned off the video.

"That should be enough… now …"

He called someone, and the person on the other end picked it up immediately.

"It's me, yeah, about tomorrow's deal…" 

End of Chapter 3.

(hiatus for about a month, might take longer)