Fear overwhelmed the doll as she clasped her hands over her mouth, trembling. Hans grabbed her arm and leaned in menacingly. "Speak! Who are you, and what is this madness I've stumbled into?"
The doll shut her eyes tightly as Hans inspected her disfigured, broken face. He threatened, "If you don't talk, I'll kill you."
She tried to scream, but Hans shoved his fingers into her mouth again, his tone sharp and unforgiving:
"I've been tricked by a fool, robbed by a cursed thief, and now I'm trapped in the house of a dead family. My problems keep piling up, and adding your death to the list would be no big deal."
Finally, in a trembling voice, the doll managed to say, "I'll speak…"
Hans stepped back slightly, smirking coldly. "Finally. Speak up. What kind of madness is happening here?"
The doll sat down, struggling to keep her damaged body together, and began to explain:
"We're from the village of Wampri. Three months ago, a man claiming to be part of the Wampri family came to us. He wore a red hood and a white mask. He showered us with wealth, drowning us in riches, and then made an old house in the village his home."
Taking a deep breath, she continued:
"The elders started worshipping him, calling him the protector of the village. He ordered us to draw those symbols on the walls and… one day, a child was born in the village. When he saw the child, he grabbed it by the head and smashed it against the ground until its body was flattened. He shouted that the child was an offering to something greater than us. We were forced to bow around the child's corpse."
Hans, shocked by what he heard, demanded, "And why did you follow him?"
The doll, still trembling, replied, "We don't know. After he gave us so much money, it was like we lost all emotion. Everything he said felt like a command we couldn't refuse."
Hans leaned closer and asked coldly, "And your bodies—why are they like this?"
The doll tried to hold back tears as she explained:
"I don't know how it happened. One night, he gathered us all. His friends, whom he called the 'Brothers of the Oath,' arrived, and they summoned every villager under the moonlight. He pulled out a small book and began writing in it, mumbling words we couldn't understand. Then… we fell into a deep sleep. When we woke up, he said we'd been asleep for ten days. Our bodies had changed. Since that day, he ordered us to be his followers, to capture people for him at night and sleep during the day."
Hans was stunned. "Why would he do this to you? And how could you accept it?"
The doll's tone became one of resigned hopelessness. "We wanted to resist, but… the elders served him like he was a true god. We can't escape. He watches everything. Anyone who tries to run is killed."
Hans swallowed hard, his voice shaky. "Is… is he here now?"
The doll's voice turned ominous. "Yes, he's here. He knows you're here. I pity you, little boy… You're going to meet the devil soon."
"Is there a way out?" Hans asked quickly.
The doll replied, "The main gate is heavily guarded, but there's a small crack that someone your size might be able to squeeze through."
Hans left the room, muttering curses under his breath. The place was dark, its hallways long and filled with a palpable sense of dread. As he walked, he heard noises coming from a nearby room. He tried to ignore them and move on, but the door suddenly opened, and Bella appeared, surrounded by a group of dolls.
Hans sneered. "You cursed thief! What are you doing here?"
Bella screamed, terrified. "Stay back! They're going to kill me!"
She rushed forward as Hans tossed a piece of paper from his notebook into the air, igniting it and burning the dolls to the ground. When he looked back at Bella, he found her lying on the floor, bleeding from doll-inflicted arrows. He laughed bitterly.
"You look so amusing when you're in pain."
Bella glared at him weakly and said, "Leave… if you have nothing better to do."
Hans smirked. "Oh, you pathetic wretch. I'll help you, not because I'm kind, but so you'll remember that your survival is thanks to a wretch like you."
He threw a salve onto the ground near her and mocked, "Oops! It fell. Use it to clean your filthy body if you want to heal." Then he left the room, leaving Bella to tend to herself.
Fear returned to Hans as he reveled in his small victory. He entered a large dining hall and sat down, bewildered by everything he had experienced. He muttered to himself,
"What a wild tale… If I told this at a tavern, I'd become a famous adventurer. But first, I need to survive before that devil worshipper finds me!"
As he spoke, the door opened again, and Bella appeared, this time wielding a long spear with fury burning in her eyes. She attacked him fiercely, but Hans dodged her strikes with ease.
He smirked. "You've tricked me twice, nearly gotten me killed, and now you want to murder me after I saved you?"
Hans hurled an explosive stone to distract her, landing several punches. When she lunged at him again, he quickly wrote on another piece of paper and stuck it to her stomach. The resulting explosion sent her crashing to the ground.
Standing over her, Hans laughed mockingly. "You think someone like you could beat me? I'm the Green writer! Now, I'll leave you here with the dolls. Enjoy your time. Oh, and maybe the devil worshipper will find you. I hear they eat human flesh. Farewell."
Hans left the room, humming to himself, as he ventured further down the dark corridor. He eventually arrived at a grand door, adorned with strange symbols. Slowly, he pushed it open, and what lay beyond was the very thing he had feared encountering since entering the mansion.