deltrittennovels Chapter 55 "They're chewing on my voice, it's so noisy..."
Chapter 55 "They're chewing on my voice, it's so noisy..."
"I...I did everything, I just stood by the sink and didn't move."
Aple's reply came from the direction of the washbasin, and it was equally tense.
Thomas said "Oh," forcing himself to calm down.
Perhaps it was just a mouse, or the sound of the pipes? He tried to find a plausible explanation.
However, the "scratching" sound rang out clearly again, more urgent and closer than before, as if it were right next to his ear! This time, he could even feel the partition vibrating slightly.
Fear and a morbid curiosity, like cold vines, instantly entwined his heart, tightening ever tighter.
What is scratching?
There was no sound of anyone coming in from next door!
Or... that thing has always been inside?
The rule screamed in my mind—never read the words on the door!
But another thought, like a venomous snake, burrowed into his mind:
Just glance at your feet, only look at the ground, to make sure there are no shadows, and never look up at the partition!
As long as you don't see the words, it's not considered a violation of the rules, right?
Once this idea takes root, it spreads wildly like weeds, becoming impossible to stop.
He opened his tightly closed eyes, almost as if possessed, very slowly.
My vision was initially blurry, then focused, and I cautiously peered into the gap where the partition met the ground on the right—
There was nothing there; there were no feet, and no shadow.
His tense nerves relaxed slightly for a moment, and he almost felt fortunate for his "wit" and "caution".
But in that moment of relaxation—
"Shhhhhh—!!"
The scraping sound suddenly rang out again, almost right next to his ear!
It carried an impatient urging, a malicious seduction!
Almost instinctively, completely beyond his conscious control, his peripheral vision, driven by that damned curiosity, caused him to glance upwards almost uncontrollably—
It was only for a moment!
It didn't even last a tenth of a second!
Several lines of distorted, blurry, scarlet writing, as if written with congealed blood, were branded into the edge of his vision like a red-hot iron!
He didn't have time to see what was written on it, and he was left with only the terrifying impression that "there were words"!
"I didn't see it! I didn't see it clearly! I couldn't make out anything!"
Thomas abruptly closed his eyes again, his mind screaming and defending itself.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
Suddenly, a voice, like a whisper, rang directly in his left ear; it was cold, sticky, and seemed to echo with a dampness.
"You've already seen it... why close your eyes and deceive yourself?"
Thomas froze and shook his head frantically.
The whisper continued its seductive tone, with a persuasive and enticing quality:
"Aren't you curious? The contents of these words... concern your life or death..."
"No...the rules...the rules say I can't look..." Thomas struggled internally.
"Rules are just for show... Actually, what's written here is a very important clue... Are you sure you want to miss it?"
"If you miss this opportunity, you might be the next one to die..."
Thomas's breathing became heavy as the warnings of the rules and the desire to survive clashed fiercely in his mind.
The whisper delivered the final blow, carrying a malicious intent to sow discord:
"Actually... Apul has already seen it... but he won't tell you..."
"He'll abandon you and go play the game by himself..."
"And you are nothing more than a tool he uses, a pawn he can discard at any time..."
"April...he..." Thomas's mental defenses crumbled instantly.
The anger of betrayal and the fear of the unknown, combined with the persistent seduction of that eerie voice, completely overwhelmed his last shred of reason.
He abruptly opened his eyes again, this time not with a subconscious glance, but with a reckless madness, staring straight at the few lines of clear, distorted scarlet writing on the partition to his right:
I'm so cold... but the steamer in the cafeteria is so hot...
They're chewing on my voice, it's so noisy...
Now, it's your turn.
Feel my slime dripping down from the ceiling... is it dripping onto your face?
The handwriting seemed to have a life of its own, wriggling slightly in the dim light.
Thomas's mind went blank; he hadn't fully grasped the terrifying meaning of the words, nor even had time to feel fear—
"Clatter".
A drop of cold, viscous, translucent liquid, carrying a fishy smell like seaweed, dripped from a crack in the ceiling and landed right between his eyebrows.
The moment the mucus touched the skin, a bone-chilling cold instantly spread throughout the body, as if even the blood would freeze.
"Ugh..." He tried to exclaim, but found that his voice was unusually muffled and hoarse.
Immediately afterwards, an unprecedented and eerie numbness and heaviness spread rapidly from the spot where the drops had been applied.
His skin began to lose its color, turning sallow and damp, and at a visible speed, it became... soft and sticky.
He tried to raise his hand to wipe away the disgusting stuff, but found his arm unusually heavy, his joints feeling rusty and difficult to bend.
No, it's not that it's hard to bend, it's that the shape of my arm is changing!
They are shortening and becoming rounded, and their skin is secreting more and more transparent mucus that resembles dripping fluid.
"Thomas... are you alright? What's that sound coming from inside?"
Aple heard strange whimpers coming from inside, as well as the sound of something... sticky rubbing against the ground, and asked in fear.
no answer.
Only a more eerie, slow "gurgling...gurgling..." sound, and the "crackling" sound of the shell rubbing against the wooden partition, came from inside.
Apul's ominous premonition reached its peak. Trembling, he mustered the greatest courage of his life and suddenly pulled open the unlocked cubicle door.
The sight before him terrified him, leaving his mind blank for a moment.
Thomas was no longer in the cubicle.
Instead, there was a huge, grayish-white snail that almost filled the entire compartment!
Its soft body was covered in mucus and slowly wriggled, while where the snail's head should have been, a distorted, pained, but still vaguely recognizable face belonging to Thomas was embedded there!
The face's eyes were wide open, filled with endless fear and despair. Its mouth opened and closed silently, as if trying to scream, but could only spew out thick foam.
On its back lies a heavy, enormous snail shell covered with irregular spiral patterns.
This snail with a human face is using Thomas's face to awkwardly and slowly try to crawl outwards, facing the direction of Apple.
"ah--!!!!!"
Apulle let out a heart-wrenching scream, scrambling out of the bathroom and practically crawling back to room 414, where she incoherently yelled at her two stunned roommates:
"Monster... monster! Thomas... snail! Toilet!!!"