"This is the central hall," Mei said as we stood before a massive sculptured statue. The room was dark and eerie, the kind of place where your footsteps echoed as if there were unseen eyes watching from the shadows.
I looked up at the statue, a towering figure carved with intricate details. "Ah, this statue... isn't it the Queen who purged the nightshades a hundred years ago?"
"You recognize her?" Mei asked, her curiosity piqued.
I nodded. "I saw her pictures in some of the books I read when I was a child."
"Is that so?" Mei replied, her voice softening.
"Yes, she's the Queen who saved humanity when the imperial kingdom was cloaked in darkness," I added, recalling the stories of her heroic deeds.
As I admired the statue, someone approached us. "Mei, you are being summoned," said the new arrival, a short girl with a nondescript appearance.
Summoned? It was a strong word, suggesting a level of formality that made me uneasy.
Mei glanced at me with an apologetic look. "Sorry, I have to go. I guess this is where we end the tour." And with that, she left, leaving me alone in the dimly lit hall.
I returned my gaze to the statue, but it felt different now. A sense of discomfort washed over me, as if the stone figure was watching my every move.
"I saw this in a book, but it didn't make me feel uneasy like this," I thought to myself, inching closer. The closer I got, the more I felt a strange warmth emanating from the statue.
"Is it always like this?" I wondered, reaching out to touch it. Just as my fingers were about to make contact, a wave of dizziness hit me.
I closed my eyes, trying to steady myself, but when I opened them, I was no longer in the central hall.
I was sitting in the middle of a cloaked darkness. The air was heavy, and I couldn't move my hands from the arms of the chair I was in. Panic welled up inside me. "What is this?" I asked, my voice cracking with fear.
Then, out of the gloom, a spotlight illuminated the space, revealing a strange theatre-like setting. Toys lined the walls—rabbits, playing cards, and crowns. It was eerie, like a distorted version of a child's playroom.
My chest clenched as fear coursed through my veins. This wasn't right; this wasn't where I was supposed to be.
"What's happening?" I muttered, my voice barely a whisper.
Suddenly, a figure appeared, walking toward me. It was a small girl with blonde hair, her face hidden behind long bangs.
She held a white rabbit stuffed toy in her arms as she walked toward me, her movements slow and deliberate.
"Who are you?" she asked in a cold, emotionless tone. "Why are you sitting in his throne?" she added.
"Throne?" I repeated, puzzled and scared.
What throne? Who was she talking about? I tried to move, but the chair held me in place. The room felt like it was closing in, the walls filled with unsettling images of rabbits and other strange toys. I couldn't understand what was happening or why I was here.
The girl's cold stare bore into me, and I could feel my body shaking. I had to find a way out, but I didn't know how. The darkness seemed endless, and I was trapped in its grasp. Who was this girl, and what did she want from me?
The questions swirled in my mind, but I had no answers. All I could do was sit there, helpless and afraid, hoping to find a way back to the light.
"That chair only belongs to him. You're not supposed to sit there." The girl's voice was calm, but it carried a weight that sent a shiver down my spine.
"A-ahh... him? Ah, I borrowed the chair for a while. My legs were kind of stiff from standing," I stammered, trying to sound casual. She seemed to relax a bit, tilting her head as if she found my excuse somewhat plausible.
"I see. Then you can sit there for a while," she replied, her tone unexpectedly kind. It was almost as if she found my presence amusing.
After saying that, she sat on the floor, her eyes fixed on me as if she were a cat watching a mouse. The way she sat cross-legged, her posture relaxed yet watchful, made me uneasy.
"So, when are we gonna start playing?" she asked with a chilling smile. At those words, my heart started to throb, not with anticipation but with a sharp, stabbing pain. I clutched my chest, trying to breathe through the discomfort.
"Acck..." I groaned, my voice strained. It felt like something was squeezing my heart, and each beat sent a jolt of pain through my body.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?" she asked, her voice almost too sweet.
She leaned in closer, her small hands resting on my legs as she crawled onto my lap. My breathing became shallow, my anxiety skyrocketing as I saw her eyes darken behind her bangs.
They reflected an unsettling mix of innocence and malice.
Then I saw my reflection in her eyes—and my head was gone. I was a headless figure in her gaze.
"Aaahhh!" I screamed, the shock of the realization sending me into a spiral of terror.
I could still feel my body, my limbs, but the image in her eyes was clear—I was headless, a grotesque shape bound to a chair. The darkness around me seemed to close in, growing colder and more oppressive with each passing second.
The girl in my lap seemed unfazed by my reaction. Her small hands gently caressed my arms, her expression shifting to one of pity.
"Why are you screaming? Don't you know the rules of this game?" Her voice was almost playful, yet I could feel the threat lingering beneath her words.
I couldn't move, couldn't escape. I was trapped in this dark space with a child who seemed to hold all the power.
And as the pain in my chest grew more intense, I knew that this was no ordinary game. This was a nightmare, and I was right in the center of it, with no way out.