"It's also possible that the 'disaster' was too weak... just one axe blow and it was completely killed," Grace Stone suggested another possibility.
Richard Stone didn't respond. He gazed at the figure in the pool of blood for a long time, then turned and grabbed a kitchen knife from the kitchen.
"What are you going to do?"
"Cut open its chest and see if the heart is still there," Richard Stone rasped. "At least I need to know... whether I killed a monster or God's redemption."
He half-knelt beside Evan Stone's body, using the knife to laboriously slice open the chest. Grace Stone, pale-faced, turned and ran into the kitchen, vomiting violently.
A few minutes later, Richard Stone stood up slowly.
"Well?" Grace Stone asked.
"Empty," Richard Stone said, looking at the empty cavity inside the chest, as if relieved. "He has no heart."
"No heart? Then how...?"
"I don't know."
Richard Stone paused. "Whatever it was... it's dead now."
"What should we do with the body?"
"Hide it in the cellar... the authorities are all outside, we can't send it anywhere."
Richard Stone dragged the corner of the living room table, opening the heavy wooden panel on the floor beneath it, revealing a dim and narrow underground space.
In this time before refrigerators, using the natural insulation of the cellar to store food was the best choice. He was about to throw Evan Stone's body inside when he saw the ghastly wound on the neck, and paused.
"Go get Maxe's stage costume," Richard Stone said. "No matter what it was, this is Ev's body... It may not have a coffin, but at least give him some decent clothes."
Mentioning the stage costume, Grace Stone shuddered.
"But last night... he came back wearing that costume..."
"It's just a costume." Richard Stone was about to argue, but then recalled the terrifying scene when Evan Stone returned home last night, and didn't insist further. "Forget it, let's do it this way."
Richard Stone threw Evan Stone's body into the cellar, covered the wooden panel, and then pressed the table on top of it, sealing it completely.
Afterward, Grace Stone began to clean up the bloodstains in the house. Although the sight of it made her gag, she pinched her nose and continued.
Knock, knock, knock—
Sudden, hurried knocking on the door!
Grace Stone, who was cleaning the room, froze with her heart skipping a beat. She whipped her head around to look at Richard Stone.
"Someone's here?"
"Don't worry about it, just pretend we're not home."
Grace Stone nodded, and the two of them held their breath in the living room, only the dull knocking echoing through the room.
But the knocking didn't stop; instead, it grew louder. Then, a deep voice came from the doorway:
"Law enforcement questioning! Open the door immediately!"
Upon hearing "law enforcement," both of them turned as white as ghosts. Richard Stone hesitated for a moment, then gave Grace Stone a look, quickly changed into an outer jacket, not bothering to button it up, and walked toward the door.
Creak—
The door opened slightly.
Richard Stone stepped outside and closed the door behind him, "Master Lawman, what is it?"
Light rain was falling from the overcast sky, and two figures in black and red uniforms stood outside the door, their expressions grim.
"Why didn't you open the door after such a long time?"
"I was sleeping, took some time to get dressed," he said with an awkward smile.
The two law enforcement officers looked at his unbuttoned jacket and relaxed slightly. "Is this Evan Stone's house?"
"…Yes."
"Where is he?"
"He left early this morning and hasn't returned yet."
"When he comes back, give him this notice." One of the officers took out a document from his coat and handed it to Richard Stone. "Currently, the entire Districts 2 and 3 are locked down. We are temporarily recruiting all pre-qualified law enforcement candidates. He is on the call-up list.
At 7 AM tomorrow, report to the Law Enforcement Headquarters in District 3. If he doesn't show up, it will be considered as voluntarily forfeiting the position."
Richard Stone's heart skipped a beat, but he remained expressionless as he took the notice and nodded.
"Okay, I'll make sure to pass it on."
The two officers turned and left. Richard Stone sighed in relief and quickly returned inside.
Clink—clink—
As soon as he entered the house, an ear-piercing metallic scraping sound reached his ears, like someone dragging sharp nails across a chalkboard. Richard Stone immediately felt a chill down his spine.
At that moment, Grace Stone was huddled in the corner, shaking uncontrollably.
She looked up at Richard Stone, her eyes nearly breaking as she raised one hand, pointing toward the kitchen...
In the kitchen, a red figure stood with its back to them, head lowered, as if chewing something.
Seeing that figure, Richard Stone's mind went blank!
It was a boy whose neck had been nearly severed, his crimson flesh visibly healing at a rapid pace. In his left hand, he held a kitchen knife, and in his right, a bloodstained axe, both being shoved into his mouth...
Seemingly sensing that Richard Stone had opened the door, the figure in the bright red costume slowly turned around.
It was Evan Stone, the Evan Stone who had lost his heart and been nearly decapitated.
His cheeks bulged slightly as he chewed on the metal and wood debris. His vacant eyes resembled those of a beast—strange and ominous.
"Dad."
A voice came from behind him. "I'm hungry..."
...
Evan Stone had a dream.
It was an afternoon under a dark cloud,
Just like usual, he had gone to the training ground in the outskirts to exercise, sweating profusely as he pushed open the door to his home.
It wasn't his birthday, but on the dining table, there was a cream cake... The orange candlelight flickered in the dim living room, two figures sitting at the table with slightly red eyes.
A cream cake, worth 200 copper coins, was something their family could never afford on a normal day.
He was confused. He asked what day it was,
His parents told him that it was the day Maxe would undergo surgery.
He was happy to hear this. Maxe's congenital heart disease had been the nightmare of their family. His parents and he had traveled everywhere, seeking help, but all the clinics had been helpless.
A few days ago, his parents said they had found a hospital in District 2, and they were confident they could cure him.
Hearing this good news, he happily finished the cake. But soon, his consciousness began to fade, and he collapsed onto the table. The last thing he saw was his mother, Grace Stone, covering her mouth, crying uncontrollably.
"Sorry... I'm so sorry." He heard his father whisper, "Maxe's illness needs a heart... You'll be willing, won't you?"
He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to respond, but fell unconscious.
Then, he felt himself being shoved into a bag, the rain hitting the surface of the bag. After a long time, he was finally lifted onto a table.
He felt his chest being cut open, something was taken from it.
Then, he was dressed in clothes, transferred to some place in the heavy rain. Thick soil slowly buried his body, and everything around him fell into darkness and silence...
...
In the darkness, Evan Stone's eyes suddenly opened.
Spotlights flickered above him, illuminating the figure in red lying at the center of the stage. After a moment of confusion, Evan Stone pushed himself up with his hands, swaying unsteadily.
"D*mn it... why am I back again?"
Evan Stone's face turned pale. His gaze instinctively landed on the screen in the center of the stage, and his pupils contracted.
[Audience Expectation +1]
[Audience Expectation +1]
[Current Expectation: 67%]
[Connection to Actor lost, performance interrupted]
[Audience Expectation -50]
[Current Expectation: 17%]
[Warning! Warning!]
[Audience begins to intervene in the performance!]