Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary!

Chapter 824: The House [7]

The old woman moved closer to the chairs, the floor creaking slightly under her steps.

I watched her slippers stop beside the man’s feet. A tense silence followed right after. One that felt incredibly suffocating, each little sound heightened around me.

Then the hem of her cardigan moved as she leaned towards them.

“Hm? Were you two talking again?”

There was no answer.

“I know the doctor is coming. Just wait a little longer. When he comes, all of this will pass.”

“…..”

My fingers stopped pressing against my nose.

‘Doctor…’

That word again.

I stared at the slippers, my mind returning to everything that happened before coming here.

The victims feeling unwell.

Them supposedly waiting for someone…

‘Doctor’s appointment…?’

My chest tightened. Thinking about it, the system did tell me I had already interacted with it. No matter how hard I tried to think about it, I couldn’t think of when, but looking back… It was right after I met a certain doctor.

My breath grew heavier.

‘…But I even used the sunglasses. There was nothing wrong.’

The thought made my entire body grow cold.

Could it be that the doctors that I saw weren’t real people and it was all just in my mind…? In that case, maybe…

Ba… Thump!

My heart struck against my chest.

Ba… Thump!

“Hmm?”

The slippers stopped moving.

I immediately pressed myself closer to the floor.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t hear anything besides my heartbeat. It felt so loud that I was certain she could hear it too.

Slowly, the slippers turned my way.

“…..”

I slid my phone into my pocket as carefully as possible, then brought my hand closer to my chest.

The old woman didn’t approach.

She simply remained there.

Waiting.

I watched her feet, trying to work out whether she was looking at the bed or something else.

Then—

“I see.”

My fingers curled.

“I see.”

‘See what?’

The slippers moved closer.

I slowly pulled my knees towards me, making sure nothing was caught beneath the frame. There wasn’t much room, but if I pushed towards the foot of the bed…

Her cardigan appeared.

Then her hand.

The fingers rested against the floor beside the bed, one at a time.

“I see you!”

Her face dropped into view.

“….!?”

I pushed myself backwards immediately.

My shoes scraped against the floor as I slid out at the foot of the bed, catching the frame with one hand before pulling myself upright.

The room tilted.

I gripped the mattress, struggling to keep my balance.

Then I looked towards the chairs.

They were empty.

“…..!?”

The man and woman were standing.

Both faced me, their arms resting straight against their sides. Their eyes were as wide as before, and neither smile seemed to change when I moved.

I couldn’t remember hearing them get up.

The old woman slowly straightened beside the bed.

“You’ve come back again.”

I looked towards the door.

The two stood between me and it.

“You shouldn’t have.”

My nose started itching.

I tried to lift my hand, but—

“Achoo!”

My head dipped.

The floor seemed to move closer within my vision, and I pressed harder against the mattress.

“Achoo!”

The second sneeze left me struggling to draw a proper breath.

‘Fuck.’

I reached towards my nodes.

Good, I could still feel them. But when I tried to use it, the feeling slipped away before I could properly grasp it.

I tried again, but it was just like before…

I couldn’t feel them properly.

Fuck.

The man took a step forward.

I immediately moved back.

His foot dragged across the floor as he took a step forward. The woman followed a moment later, her head remaining perfectly straight despite the movement.

Neither looked towards the old woman.

Both of them looked right at me.

“Are you the one the doctor is waiting for?”

Her lips parted as she looked at me. But as I looked back at her, I could see she wasn’t truly looking at me.

“You should wait too. That way, we can meet him faster.”

“…I’m good.”

My voice came out a little hoarse.

The old woman looked at my face and then she smiled.

“No, you aren’t.”

I couldn’t quite argue with that.

Actually, I did need to go see the doctor. But not this doctor.

“You look very unwell.”

The man’s fingers twitched. I stared at him in silence before looking towards the space beside him.

Not enough.

The woman stood closer to the wall, leaving very little room for me to get past without touching one of them.

“There’s room for you here.”

The old woman suddenly offered, putting on a kind smile.

“You can stay with us to wait for the doctor. That’ll be good. That way, we can all get this done quickly.”

“…I’m good.”

“No, I insist.”

She smiled.

The same warm smile she gave me when she brought the tea.

Only that it felt incredibly unsettling.

My shoulder touched the wall, and I stopped.

“…..”

The man moved closer.

His smile was wet near the corners, with a thin line of saliva slipping towards his chin. He didn’t wipe it away.

The woman’s eyes remained fixed on mine.

Even when she stepped around the edge of the bed, her gaze continued to remain fixed on me.

‘Calm down.’

I pressed my palm against the wall and tried to reach my nodes again.

But…

The moment I did so, my head started to spin. My thoughts were becoming difficult to hold onto. Every time I tried to focus, the room tilted, forcing me to concentrate on keeping myself from falling.

“You don’t need to be frightened.”

The old woman said, her voice gentle.

“We only want you to stay.”

The man lifted his hand, prompting me to look at it. But then, my attention turned to the door behind him.

There was a small gap beside the old woman, but reaching it meant getting past the two in front of me.

With my body like this…

‘Think.’

The man drew closer.

I moved to the side, keeping my back against the wall as the floor creaked with each one of his steps.

The woman moved with me.

She was making sure there was no space for me to move.

“…..”

The old woman watched, her hands resting neatly in front of her cardigan. Sweat trickled down the side of my face as I looked around, struggling to find a way out of this situation.

“There. Just stay still.”

Her voice grew more confident as they drew nearer and nearer to me, my stomach flipping as I had the sudden urge to puke.

But not of fear like in the past.

I truly just felt sick.

Still, I wasn’t completely hopeless. Reaching for my pocket, I was just about to take something out when a soft creaking sound filtered across the room.

Creaaaak!

The door moved behind her.

At once, everyone stopped.

A small figure stood in the opening.

That’s…

With one hand resting against the door, his bare feet visible beneath his trousers, the young boy stared at us in silence.

Eventually, the old woman turned.

“Roy? What are you—”

‘Now.’

I moved before she could finish.

My mind was still dizzy, but this was the best opportunity for me to move.

I targeted the woman first, driving my shoulder against her as she was pushed back a couple of steps. A small gap appeared as a result as I immediately made a dash for the old woman. Despite the two of them present, she was the one I was most apprehensive about.

Especially when I thought back to her strength.

Still, with her distracted, I took the moment to drive my shoulder against her as she turned her attention back towards me.

“Huek!”

Her body staggered back a couple of steps as I pushed past her.

At the same time I did that, a hand reached towards my neck, catching the back of my shirt, suffocating me before a soft ripping sound sounded and the back of my shirt ripped.

For a moment, I struggled to breathe.

But I ignored it.

Roy stood just outside the room, staring at all of this in silence.

For a moment, our eyes met.

He was looking straight at me.

There was no surprise on his face.

No confusion either.

He just… stared without a single emotion shown on his face. I understood that there was something special about the boy, but I didn’t have time think about him as I moved past him and ran.

“Stop him!”

The old woman’s shrill voice rose behind me.

“S-stop him!”

Footsteps followed.

They were quick.

Much quicker than the slow dragging movements inside the room.

I caught the wall as I turned into the corridor of the house, my shoes slipping against the wooden floor. The living room appeared on the left, the lamp still beside the sofa.

I could still see my team from before.

I rushed past it.

The footsteps grew louder.

Something struck the wall behind me.

BANG!

I didn’t look.

The front door was right there.

I grabbed the handle, but it didn’t open.

Click! Click!

My fingers fumbled against it as a shadow stretched across the floor beside my feet.

‘Come on!’

Something clicked.

I pulled the door open and stumbled outside.

Cold air struck my face.

I turned just long enough to grab the door and throw it shut.

BANG!

Something hit it from the other side almost immediately.

The handle jerked.

I was already moving.

My foot caught the edge of the step, sending me forward onto the path. I caught myself with one hand, pain travelling through my wrist as gravel scraped beneath my palm.

‘Fuck! And it was healing too!’

Then I pushed myself up and rushed to the main road. Behind me, the front door opened.

I shoved the small gate aside and ran towards the street.

This time, I didn’t think about returning back to that place. All I thought about was leaving this darned place.