Chapter 3: horror
(POV: Anna)
"Are you absolutely sure this place is empty, Joshua?" I asked nervously, casting a wary glance around the room.
Joshua looked at me and replied, "Yes, I've already told you more than three times. Stop being so scared and come in." He began searching the room for valuable items, and I reluctantly joined him, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling creeping over me.
"Hey, look, I found a necklace," Joshua exclaimed with a grin, holding up his discovery. I nodded absentmindedly, my mind preoccupied with various thoughts. Joshua and I had known each other since childhood, growing up together in an orphanage before being forced onto the streets. I despised having to resort to theft, but survival often outweighed morality.
Suddenly, Joshua raised his hand, signaling for me to stop moving. My nerves heightened as I froze in place. "What's wrong?" I whispered anxiously.
"I think I heard something... a door opening," Joshua whispered back, his expression puzzled.
"Didn't you say there was no one in the house?" I whispered fearfully, my nerves on edge. Joshua glanced at me and reassured, "Calm down, maybe it was just the wind. They probably left a window open. Don't be so scared."
Gradually, I began to relax, taking deep breaths to steady myself. Despite Joshua's attempt to calm me, an unsettling feeling lingered in the air, shrouding the house in an eerie atmosphere.
"Come on, let's keep searching," Joshua whispered, urging me forward. I nodded and began rifling through drawers, finding various items including money and photographs. One particular photo caught my eye – it depicted a happy family of three, the image a stark contrast to our current situation.
"It seems like this boy lives happily, doesn't he?" I remarked quietly, studying the photo before setting it aside.
Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass shattered the silence, sending a jolt of fear through me. My heart raced, and cold sweat prickled across my skin. Joshua and I exchanged worried glances, realizing we were not alone in the house.
"Come..." Joshua whispered, motioning for me to follow him as we crept out of the room. Every step was cautious, every breath hushed, as we navigated the tense atmosphere.
As we moved, I noticed something chilling – a broken glass that I remembered distinctly. It couldn't have fallen by mere chance; something or someone had disturbed it deliberately. Fear gnawed at my insides, and I pleaded with Joshua to leave.
"We need the money, Anna," Joshua insisted, his determination outweighing his apprehension.
Torn between fear and necessity, I reluctantly agreed to wait, seeking solace in a nearby room. Alone with my thoughts, I surveyed the room's contents, finding comfort in the familiar figures of beloved superheroes.
"Wow... I've never seen one of you up close," I whispered to the figurine, seeking refuge in the familiarity of heroes amidst the unsettling reality unfolding around me.
The atmosphere around me seemed to constrict as fear gripped me tightly. I scanned the room frantically, searching for any sign of Joshua, but he was nowhere to be found. Panic began to rise within me, threatening to overwhelm my senses.
"Joshua...?" I called out softly, my voice trembling with anxiety. Silence greeted me in return, intensifying the dread that coiled in my chest.
With hesitant steps, I retraced my path through the house, each creak of the floorboards echoing loudly in the oppressive stillness. My heart hammered in my chest as I navigated the darkened corridors, my mind racing with terrifying possibilities.
"Stay calm, Anna... Everything's going to be okay," I whispered to myself, attempting to quell the rising panic. But my reassurances fell short in the face of mounting fear.
A sudden whistle pierced the silence, sending shivers down my spine. My breath caught in my throat as I turned to confront the source of the sound, my eyes widening in horror at the sight before me.
A figure emerged from the shadows, clad in a white jacket with a hood pulled over his head. But it was his twisted smile, etched across his face like a ghoulish mask, that froze me in place.
"Hello, little lamb," he greeted me with chilling amusement, his voice sending a shiver down my spine. I felt a surge of terror grip me as I struggled to find my voice, to scream, to flee, but fear held me captive.
My worst fears were realized when I spotted Joshua's lifeless form at his side, his broken neck a stark testament to the brutality of the situation. The stranger's words sent a wave of revulsion through me, his casual tone contrasting sharply with the horror of his actions.
With a surge of adrenaline, I bolted towards the nearest room, desperate to escape the nightmare unfolding before me. I slammed the door shut and hastily barricaded myself inside, seeking refuge in the darkness of the closet.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I huddled among the clothes, trembling with fear and uncertainty. "No, no, no..." I whispered hoarsely, the weight of the situation pressing down on me like a suffocating blanket. Locked away in my makeshift sanctuary, I could only pray for safety, my mind consumed by the terror of the unknown.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, sending a shiver down my spine. I clamped my hands over my mouth, desperately trying to silence my ragged breathing. Footsteps echoed ominously in the darkness, drawing closer with each passing moment.
"Hmmmmm...where are you, little lamb...?" The voice, dry and rasping, sliced through the silence like a knife. My heart hammered in my chest as I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for the nightmare to end.
"How boring..." The voice trailed off, footsteps receding into the distance. Tentatively, I opened my eyes, peering cautiously from my hiding place. There was no sign of the sinister intruder, but the terror lingered like a suffocating fog.
"Joshua..." I whispered, tears streaming down my cheeks as I mourned the loss of my friend. The weight of grief pressed down on me, threatening to crush me beneath its unbearable burden.
"Why...?" The question hung in the air, unanswered and unanswerable. But dwelling on it would only lead to madness. I had to focus on survival, on finding a way out of this living nightmare.
As I scanned the dimly lit hallway, my gaze fell upon a small flashlight lying on the ground. With trembling hands, I snatched it up, relief flooding through me at the sight of its feeble glow.
Navigating the shadowy corridors with trepidation, I strained to keep my fear at bay. But the darkness seemed to press in on all sides, suffocating and oppressive.
"Hey..." The voice, faint and menacing, sent a shiver down my spine. I darted down another hallway, desperate to evade the unseen threat that lurked in the shadows.
Locking myself in yet another room, I listened in terror as the voice taunted me from the other side of the door. "Haha...you're scared, aren't you...? Poor girl...you shouldn't have entered this place..."
Tears blurred my vision as I huddled in the darkness, the laughter echoing in my ears like a cruel mockery of my fear.
Summoning every ounce of courage I possessed, I ventured back into the hallway, my hands trembling as I clutched the flashlight tightly.
But as I reached for the window, a voice whispered ominously behind me, sending a jolt of terror coursing through my veins. Before I could react, something struck my hand, sending the flashlight spinning through the air.
"No, no, no, no!!" I cried out in despair, scrambling to retrieve the fallen light. But it was too late. Darkness descended like a suffocating shroud, enveloping me in its icy embrace.
"End of the game, little lamb...you're lucky I didn't make you collect 8 notes...hahaha..." The voice, tinged with malice, echoed through the void. I reached out blindly, but there was nothing left to grasp.
As the darkness closed in around me, I knew that I had lost.
The world faded away into an abyss of darkness as I felt a vice-like grip clamp down over my mouth. Panic surged through me, but my screams were stifled, swallowed by the suffocating grip of fear.
"End of the game, see you on the other side," a chilling voice whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. And then, with a sickening crunch, my neck twisted unnaturally, pain shooting through me like a bolt of lightning.
Darkness swallowed me whole, consuming me in its cold embrace. It was the end of the line, the final chapter in a nightmare from which there would be no awakening.
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(POV; noah)
Well, that was the last one. I looked at the body lying dead on the floor and muttered, "Well, that's what happens if you come into my house. But I think it would be funnier if it were Slenderman. Hell, it would probably be more fun..."
I reached out and grabbed the girl's lifeless body, seizing her hair and also grabbing the other guy. I went to the kitchen and grabbed black bags. Then, I grabbed the guy and broke his bones to try to make him smaller. It took me a while, but I finally finished.
"It's not bad, although I'm a beginner at this," I said while looking at the guy called Joshua. He looked like a human cube, his limbs broken and joined together. I also tried to sink his neck inward; it worked more or less.
I put the guy inside a rather large black bag. I did the same with the girl and put her in another black bag. I grabbed my phone and used my hacker skills. Damn, I'm a pro. I hacked the cameras of the entire neighborhood, leaving them in a static image. Quite useful. After a while, I grabbed the two bags and slowly left my house through a window that leads to the patio, well, I don't know whether to call it a patio since my mother doesn't give much importance to the back of the house.
Slowly, I walked to the neighbor's house and put the bags behind her house, near her back door. I left the place and went back to my house, noticing that no one saw me.
"Perfect..." I murmured with a smile.
I entered my house again and deactivated the Card. The fog covered me and I disappeared, returning to my normal self. I sat on the bed in my room and sighed. "Well, that didn't feel bad at all. Scaring people is fun..."
[You have leveled up!
Jeff the Killer has reached level 5!
Improvements: slightly improved strength, slightly improved speed!
Jeff the Killer: 5/10]
I looked at the window in front of me and sighed. At least I leveled up, but I feel like I want to do more fun things.
"And if I train...?" I murmured with interest and activated the card. I got up from my bed and saw my wall. Out of curiosity, I punched it with little force, my fist going through the wall. I saw it and muttered, "Shit... I'm sure I'll destroy someone's head if I hit them hard. Epic."
I sighed and decided to train with videos from the internet. I put videos on my cell phone and tried to copy them; a jab, a kick, even some taekwondo. It turned out more or less well. I failed in some things. It seems that I am not a genius in several things. Intelligence varies in different areas. I'll give an example: a character can be a genius in strategies, but if they try a complex mathematical formula, they see it as something complicated, like the average person does.
Although some characters probably have extreme intelligence, I think they could try anything. But that's for when I get more cards.
I stretched a little and decided to stay at home. I'd had enough for today; tomorrow I'd probably hear screams for the corpses. But well, they wanted to rob my house, and I killed them without hesitation. In fact, I felt a little bad, but the card seems to alter my mind slightly. It's as if killing someone no longer seems disgusting or evil to me; it's like something simple, part of everyday life. I sighed and waited until night.
///
I was watching a series when suddenly I noticed a noise. The door opened, and I saw that it was my mother. "Hello, Ma."
She saw me and greeted me, "Hello, Noah!"
Time passed quickly as we talked a little and decided to have dinner.
"Hey, Noah, do you want to go see your uncles...?" my mother said as we ate.
"Well... why not?" I said with a smile.
"It will take a while; they live in New York, a bit far away," my mother said with a smile.
It seems an unexpected and interesting trip is going to happen. It's exciting, going to the big city, even though it's a dangerous place because this is the Marvel world. I might have to fight with heroes or villains, but I definitely thought of something: a lot... a lot of XP.
"But when are we going...?" I said with a smile to my mother.
"If you want, we can go tomorrow," my mother said. I replied with a big smile, "Well, I think it would be better. I haven't seen them in a long time!"
"Well, then tomorrow we'll leave," my mother's words made my mind buzz, not out of fear, but out of excitement. There was an emotion inside me—I wanted to get more cards, I wanted to be stronger, I wanted to fight Spider-Man, even though he's dead. Although I think there will be another. I wanted to fight Iron Man, Thor.
I want to be stronger. It seems that the villain side allows me more freedom. It will be fun. When we arrive in New York, I will unveil a terrifying presence. They will know me.
///
It was night, and I was in my room writing in a notebook while my mother slept soundly. She came in a little tired.
I wrote several things in my notebook, contemplating the first card I received. I pondered several possible cards in the color blue.
"Hmmmm... will they be pure killers with superhuman strength and speed, or also beings with supernatural powers...? I probably think they will be killers... Can I transform into Jason or Michael Myers...?" I murmured with interest, a big smile on my face. It seems that the blue level will be for assassins with great strength, but it seems that it will take a while to see supernatural things. Jeff was a creepypasta.
"So... there will be more, right...? Sonic.exe, Zalgo, there are creepypastas with great power... but there are few that are interesting... Damn, I want more cards... I want more power..." I murmured impatiently as I chewed my pencil a little. The impatience of trying to alter reality, destroy planets, even destroy universes was very tempting. But I knew that it was going to take a long time. Tom told me that he didn't want to get strong quickly. That was boring.
"Damn, he has a point... But I think it's better..." I whispered with interest, a smile on my face. I sighed and put my notebook in a drawer, then went to my bed and decided to sleep. Tomorrow I'll go to New York to see my uncles. Also, at night, I'll decide to go hunting. It's not a bad plan at all. I hope I don't run into strong Marvel characters, or I'll be pretty screwed.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone