The Game Had Begun.
We sat in the darkness.
No sound.
No movement.
Not even a whisper.
I didn't move.
I didn't breathe more than I had to.
It felt like even the air had grown heavy—afraid to enter my lungs in case it made a sound that shattered the deadly silence cloaking us.
Inside me, a simple question kept repeating—
Simple, yet maddening:
Does blinking count as breaking the rules of the game?
An involuntary urge took over me.
My eyelids grew heavier than I could resist, and my eyes started burning from the effort of holding them open.
I couldn't take it anymore, so...
I blinked.
Then, I closed my eyes for a second longer.
Not because I wanted to rest or sleep—
But because I didn't want to see what would happen if blinking was, in fact, a violation.
I waited.
One second...
Another...
A third...
Nothing happened.
I slowly opened my eyes, breathed just a little, and began to process what was around me.
Nothing had changed.
No punishment.
No sound.
No strange movements.
The darkness remained the same—dense, suffocating, hiding every shape and detail.
The doll was still holding my hand in her small, cold grip.
And I could still hear the sound of my breathing—and Cairo's.
Both still audible.
Both still… normal.
Apparently, she didn't mind breathing or blinking.
That surprised me.
I hadn't expected... fairness from the doll.
Maybe because I had always assumed nightmares didn't follow logic—
That they'd shock us with arbitrary rules and cruel twists.
But she—
At least for now—
Was sticking to what she said.
She was playing—
But she was playing by the rules.
I heard Cairo's breath.
I couldn't see him—
But I could hear him.
And it was clear from the way he exhaled that he was terrified.
Every breath was broken, shallow, like his lungs were rejecting normal function.
I wished I could say something—
Reassure him,
Touch his shoulder maybe...
But I was bound by silence.
And by my own fear.
I just wanted us to get out.
To win.
To make the doll keep her promise, if we succeeded.
Maybe she's not lying.
Maybe—just maybe—there's a way out.
Seconds passed like hours.
Minutes crept forward on their fingertips, like hidden beasts.
All we could hear was silence.
But it wasn't peaceful silence.
It was the kind that crackles like dry twigs in a forest—
Just before it catches fire.
And with time, my limbs began to stiffen.
My knees hurt from sitting.
My back started to cramp under the weight of tension.
But I didn't move.
I didn't let my body betray me.
Then suddenly—
"Ding...ding."
A metallic sound.
Soft.
Like the chime of an old clock.
But it came from the doll's mouth.
The sound was deliberate, composed—
As if she was officially announcing the beginning of a new phase.
She spoke in her usual voice—
A mix of childhood and madness:
"Ten minutes have passed. Now... it is time for the person the bug fell on.. to make us laugh."
My heart stopped for a moment.
She's speaking?!
But... it made sense.
Cairo and I couldn't track time in this darkness.
We had no way of knowing when it would be okay to move.
But her...?
Her abilities were unknown.
She could have a watch—
Or maybe she could count time in her head with terrifying precision.
I took a deep breath—quietly, so it wouldn't seem like a violation—
And began to think:
Who did the bug fall on?
Me...?
But I didn't feel anything.
Nothing touched my body.
I didn't hear a buzz or sense any movement.
So… Cairo?
Or… the doll?
Was Cairo the one it fell on?
Is he the one who's supposed to move now?
Is he the one who has to make us laugh—or rather, make her laugh?
A dual fear took hold of me.
Fear that Cairo might fail.
And fear that this round was a test for all of us… in another way.
I started to wonder:
What if he doesn't move?
What if he doesn't realize he's the one chosen?
What if he takes too long?
The doll doesn't like delays.
While my mind spun with questions, everything around us remained still.
We didn't know yet who had been chosen—
But the game had truly begun now.
---
Silence still dominated the room.
Heavy silence—
As if even the walls had stopped breathing.
As if time itself had paused, awaiting an unknown verdict.
I searched for a sound, a signal, anything to break the stillness—
And then, in the midst of that suffocating quiet, his voice came.
Trembling.
Fragile, like the breath of a sick child.
Weak—
But real:
"I… I'm the one the bug fell on."
It was Cairo.
The air around me froze.
It's him…?
He was chosen first?
I hadn't heard a thing.
Hadn't sensed a single movement.
How did that bug reach him without us noticing?
I didn't have time to think.
The doll's voice came immediately—
The same cold calm as ever, as though she'd just been waiting for his confession:
"Then... try to make me laugh."
She said it like a command, not a suggestion.
She was still holding my hand.
Her little grip was still cold, still firm.
And by that same dreadful logic, she was definitely holding Cairo's hand too.
It was like a locked circle.
A ring of fear we couldn't escape from.
Then she continued—
Her tone heavier now, like she was relishing the control:
"As for the other player..."
She paused for a moment—
As if letting her words sink into my bones.
"…Do not forget.
You must not move.
Do not laugh.
Do not speak.
Do not make a sound."
A shiver shot down my spine.
My throat suddenly dried up.
"Or else... you will lose."
She said it sharply this time.
Definitive.
Final.
Then added, with chilling indifference:
"Your friend here only has to make me laugh. If he fails... he loses too."
I froze completely.
I could barely hear my own breathing.
Her words were like a hammer—
Smashing any remaining sense of safety I was holding onto.
To be forced not to laugh—
While listening to your friend attempt something funny—
With his life on the line?
The irony was cruel.
My hand trembled slightly inside hers—
But I tried to stay composed.
I breathed deeply—silently—trying to ease the weight on my chest.
Then suddenly, the doll continued.
Her tone now dripping with chaos—
Oozing madness:
"So then... try to make me laugh now, oh bug-bitten one."
And she laughed.
A short, sharp laugh—
Loud, mocking—
Closer to the screech of a rusted wheel than any human joy:
"Hehehehehehe."
It was terrifying.
I thought she had finally lost her mind—
Assuming she had one to begin with.
I expected Cairo to start immediately—
But instead, his voice came… hesitant, confused:
"S-So… does this mean I… won this round?"
I froze again.
What is he doing?!
Is he joking?
Does he think that will make her laugh?
The doll's voice came quickly—
And this time, she sounded genuinely confused:
"You won? Are you joking with me?"
There was a mix of anger and surprise in her tone—
As if she'd never experienced someone using "logic" with her inside her own game.
But Cairo, despite the tension in his voice, continued:
"N-No… b-but you… you laughed just now."
The doll went silent.
One second.
Then another.
I thought she would explode—
That she'd scream, or drag Cairo into the darkness and do something unspeakable.
But what happened… was unexpected.
She spoke, suddenly calm—
Like she was thinking out loud:
"…very well."
She paused, then added:
"I suppose... you won this round."
A moment of victory?
Is this real?!
Then she continued—
Her tone returning to what it was before: cold, ominous.
"But... I will not laugh that easily next time."
Silence returned.
But inside me, it wasn't silent at all.
Cairo had succeeded—
In a strange way, yes—
But it worked.
Yet at the same time…
He'd opened a dark door.
Because in the next round—
There would be no mercy.
Darn…
This is only the beginning.