HBWnovel Chapter 695 Stage.
Chapter 695 Stage.
"It seems they've found a way."
Andrew, who had been watching from the sidelines, kept his eyes fixed on the labyrinth and Matthias. For Andrew, the myths of various regions were like old friends; he knew them intimately.
When Andrew saw the maze and the thick woolen scarf his father had wrapped around Matthias's neck, a glint of light flashed in his eyes. He immediately recognized the myth and the solution.
Sure enough, despite the guidance of the yarn, Matthias and his companions would occasionally go astray. However, whenever they strayed onto the wrong path, the yarn lying across them acted as a silent guide, telling them that they had already traversed that path, thus preventing them from getting lost.
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In the game,
After a long and arduous search, they finally found the cabinet mentioned in the rules that led to the outside world. The cabinet was hidden in an inconspicuous corner, covered in dust and cobwebs, as if it had been forgotten for a long time.
Faced with the cabinet, everyone seemed hesitant. After all, no one knew whether the cabinet could truly lead them out of their predicament, or whether it would bring more danger and unknowns.
After a heated discussion, Efron stepped forward and expressed his willingness to give it a try. He believed that as an adult, he should take responsibility for this, rather than letting children like Matthias and Itacuya take the risk.
Despite a deep-seated longing for death, Efron couldn't completely suppress his fear when faced with it. After all, life is so precious, and even for someone who has lost faith in life, the instinct to survive remains.
However, he took a deep breath and told himself he couldn't back down. He resolutely opened the cupboard door and slowly walked inside. The moment he stepped into the cupboard, he felt as if he had entered a completely unfamiliar world; darkness, cold, and silence enveloped him, making his heart beat faster involuntarily.
Although I don't know how this cabinet works, thankfully nothing unexpected happened.
After Efron tested the water, others followed suit and crawled into the cabinet. But when they were teleported out, everyone was dumbfounded. What was this pitch-black place?
Even if they don't know where they are, anyone with a normal mind can understand that they didn't go out at all.
Those who already knew the script beforehand knew that this must be the play Natasha had arranged, right? If that's the case, they had to figure something out...
"Ouch!"
Itakya then pretended to trip over something in the dark because he couldn't see the way. He picked up the thing that had tripped him and was surprised to find that it was a flashlight.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
A scream accompanied the flashlight beam.
It was Percy who let out the scream. To be honest, when Percy saw the play, he felt ashamed that someone his age could be so cowardly in a play. But after some explanation, he accepted the script.
The role of the boy who screamed in fright was originally supposed to be played by Itaquía and Matthias, who were both younger.
But then I thought, wasn't Matthias holding "Louis" in his arms? How could he possibly be frightened by the doll illuminated by the flashlight?
So, how did Itakua, the person who turned on the flashlight, get frightened by the doll?
That sounds plausible, but it's a bit far-fetched. After all, people who turn on a flashlight will have some expectations in mind beforehand. The fear of something terrible suddenly appearing in front of them when something glows in the dark, unknown place, has almost become a human instinct.
Therefore, it's even more impossible for Joker to play the role, since he should be off the stage in this ballet production, or perhaps he came here to find his wife.
When you turn on the lights and see a doll that looks about 70% like your wife, how could you possibly be scared?
Okay, so if none of the above candidates are suitable, then we can only let Bo Xilai play the role of the one who is frightened and falls to the ground. However, this is more in line with the character's personality, since Percy is not a positive character in this play.
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"What the fuck?!"
Efron was startled by Percy's scream, but once his eyes adjusted, the wall frame suddenly appeared, and he could see what was in front of him clearly, he suddenly understood him.
Efron couldn't help but swear. What the hell is that?
What is this place?
With the limited light from the flashlight, it was barely possible to tell that this was a stage, but there were no dancers, only a bunch of puppets dressed in ballet costumes.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Efron originally wanted to turn around and discuss with the others, but he saw Percy sitting on the ground, trembling and not daring to raise his head.
"What's wrong with you?" Efron tried to pull Percy up from the ground, but after comparing their sizes, he quickly gave up the idea; he couldn't lift him.
"I'm telling you, you don't think some kind of ghost has appeared, do you? Calm down, it's just a doll."
That being said, Percy was clearly so frightened that his legs went weak, and he simply couldn't get up from the ground on his own.
"Hey Joker, could you come over here...?"
“Natasha…”
Efron had originally intended to discuss with Joker the possibility of the two of them carrying the terrified Percy together. But as soon as he turned his head, he saw Joker walking towards the pile of eerie dolls without any hesitation.
Efron had no choice but to rush over again and grab Joker's arm tightly to hold him back—no one could say for sure whether these dolls were ordinary objects or not, but in such a creepy place, "don't touch anything" was always the ironclad rule for survival.
Just then, a piece of music started playing without warning. Efron was startled and instinctively let go of his hand. The melody was ethereal and beautiful, as if fairies would come to play music at any moment, but in this eerie atmosphere, it only added a few more chilling horrors.
The next second, Efron's pupils suddenly contracted—the pile of puppets moved, not in a chaotic swaying motion, but in a perfectly precise, stiff ballet movement.
The clicking sounds at the joints were like rusty wires rubbing together. They stretched their arms and drew arcs, but their wooden toes insisted on rising on their tiptoes. Every time they landed, it felt like they were pounding on one's nerves.
What made his scalp tingle the most was the gaze—beneath the pale "skin" on the doll's face, there were no eyeballs, only two bottomless black orbs, but Efron could clearly feel that those two black orbs were "looking" at him. No matter how much he turned his head to try to avoid it, that gaze seemed to be stuck to him, and he couldn't shake it off.
Just then, a puppet suddenly jumped in front of Matthias. The poor child was so frightened that he instinctively wanted to turn around and run away. His eyes were not on the puppet, but the puppet immediately stretched out its sharp claws to grab the child's neck. At the critical moment, Efron turned his head and looked over. The puppet had turned back into a puppet and continued to dance.
"Don't blink!" Efron clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm—in the blink of an eye, the puppet on his left had shifted half an inch, its face, which had been facing left, was now facing him directly!
Ballet pirouettes are supposed to be graceful, but when these puppets turn, their bodies mechanically circle, while their heads remain motionless. The wood grain around their necks cracks, like necks that might break at any moment. When the skirts flutter, you can glimpse half-undone white strips of cloth wrapped around the wooden legs, much like fragments of old dance skirts. But upon closer inspection, the strips of cloth disappear, leaving only cold wood.
He didn't even dare to look down and catch his breath, because out of the corner of his eye, the "fingers" of the rightmost doll were slowly bending, not the joints, but the knuckles were hooking up little by little, as if trying to grab the hem of his drooping clothes—as long as he looked away, he didn't know what these things would do.
The music was still playing, but the clicking sound mixed in with the joints sounded like someone was whispering in my ear.
Efron's back was already soaked with cold sweat. He stared intently at the ballet puppets, not daring to miss a single movement or subtle change—he knew all too well that if he looked away now, unpredictable horrors might await him.
But as the dance progressed, Efron's unease suddenly tightened—he finally realized something was wrong.
With each ballet move the doll completes, the wood grain on its body fades a little: the originally rough "skin" becomes delicate, with a cool whiteness unique to living people; the stiff, wire-like arms can bend slightly into soft arcs; even the way the skirt flutters changes from a mechanical sway to a flowing movement with the drape of fabric, gradually getting closer to the shape of a human.
Until the doll tiptoed and spun around, its profile facing him directly, the curve of its brow bone and the slightly drooping corner of its lips struck Efron's mind like a thunderbolt—even though he had only seen it once in Joker's photo, he recognized it.
“Natasha…”
This time, Efron didn't try to stop him. He watched as Joker stumbled over, wrapping his arms tightly around the doll, pressing his cheek against her cold "shoulder and neck," his knuckles turning white from the force, a suppressed sob escaping his throat: "I've found you..."
As if the call had awakened something, the puppet's mechanical movements suddenly stopped.
In its originally empty, dark eye sockets, a light brown iris slowly appeared in its right eye, and there was even a trace of faint red blood vessels on the white of its eye, just like the appearance of a living person when they are in a daze.
It didn't look at Joker, but instead took advantage of the moment when Joker looked down to quickly glance towards the backstage area—a look of urgency that flashed by in an instant, but was caught by Efron, who was watching closely.
Memories of countless performances flooded back, and Efron's heart skipped a beat: That's right! Every stage has an emergency exit leading directly outside, allowing performers to leave quickly after their show!
"Run backstage!!" he almost roared, grabbing his still-dazed companion and pushing Joker's back with his other hand, and sprinting in the direction the puppet indicated—their only way out.