The eerie silence that followed the polite knock dragged on, stretching the seconds into an unbearable eternity.
Ashen and his small group were trapped behind the barricaded door, hearts pounding in terrified anticipation.
The guttural growls of her "pets" still echoed faintly beyond, a chilling reminder of what awaited outside.
Then, the voice returned—light, teasing, almost painfully cheerful, dripping with insincere sweetness.
"Oh, dearest guests," she crooned through the cracked door, "why would you keep me out? I thought you wanted to have some fun. Let me in, won't you? I promise I'm quite harmless… most of the time."
Her words twisted like a serpent's tongue, half an invitation, half a threat.
Ashen's fingers tightened instinctively on his rifle, his eyes narrowing as he peered toward the door.
The absurdity of her tone grated on his nerves, but there was something chilling about how casual she was—like a child offering candy laced with poison.
"Don't believe a word she says," Rill whispered, her voice taut with unease. "That voice… it's definitely a trap."
The voice chuckled, a high, tinkling sound that skittered under their skin.
"I know you're scared. I'm hurt, really hurt, that you'd keep a poor girl like me outside," she teased, tapping rhythmically on the door. "I thought maybe you'd see me for who I really am. Someone fun, someone who just wants to play."
Ashen's mind raced, struggling to shut out the maddeningly playful tone that sounded terrifyingly inviting.
Ashen shot a mental glare at the damn parasite who didn't know when to shut the hell up.
'Just shut up and try to be useful for once,' he silently snapped.
Ashen clenched his jaw, irritation bubbling.
'That's not helpful right now.'
The voice returned dipped lower, thick with mock sincerity.
"Really, I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to play a little game. Would you be such terrible guests as to refuse your host?"
The sarcasm dripped from her words like poison, but the uncertainty it sowed was real enough.
Then suddenly—the laughter stopped.
A heavy silence settled, unnatural and suffocating.
Ashen felt every hair on his body stand on end.
Something was wrong.
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances, the now silent room feeling heavier than when the voice crept in.
They all held their breaths in quiet anticipation, hoping that by some miracle she grew bored and left.
Even though that was very unlikely.
After minutes of tense silence , when everyone was beginning to relax a bit, a brutal BAM! shook the room.
The door quivered violently under a brutal assault.
The barricade trembled, dust showering from the crumbling ceiling.
The voice returned, ringing out cold and sharp, no longer playful.
"I think it's better if we skip the pleasantries."
BAM!
Chaos exploded immediately inside the cramped room.
"Barricade's not holding!" Max shouted.
"We need to find a way out now!" Rill cried.
Ashen's heart pounded as adrenaline surged through his veins.
Jax sprinted toward the only window—a narrow pane too high to reach. "Too high! We can't get out this way!" he yelled.
Panic rippled through the group as they scrambled to find anything to fortify the door—or another way out.
Amid the frantic search, Nexis's voice pierced Ashen's mind, annoyingly persistent.
Ashen ignored him and kept on finding things to stack to try and reach the window.
Ashen stopped dead in his tracks, his mind replaying the last line he just heard.
'What escape route?' he asked slowly, his fingers twitching.
Ashen closed his eyes, forcing in a deep breath. 'And you didn't think to tell me this earlier?'
"…"
A bitter laugh escaped Ashen's lips, but he forced himself to focus.
'Okay, how do I open it?'
Ashen nodded grimly, not bothering to ask how the parasite knew any of that.
He moved toward the wall, heart hammering in his chest.
His fingers found the faint emblem carved into the peeling concrete.
"Uhm, what are you doing, Ashen?" Rill asked when she noticed him leaning on an empty wall.
"I have no idea." He pressed it and waited, barely daring to breathe.
The wall groaned, then a section slid inward with a reluctant hiss, revealing a narrow stairwell descending into darkness.
"No time to explain. Let's go!" Ashen commanded, diving into the shadowy passage.
The others hesitated a moment, exchanging glances heavy with fear and uncertainty.
Then one by one, they followed.
Behind them, the barricaded door creaked as the relentless pounding resumed.
"No one's leaving without saying hello to the host." A mad scream followed them as they went deeper into the passage.