Skrr! Skrrr—!
Although I tried my best to keep the noise to a minimum, the sound of my finger scraping against the wall was loud enough to be heard, and my entire body tensed at the realization.
“Stop! I don’t want to play anymore!”
Mirelle’s voice echoed in the background, her voice sounding panicked.
I knew that I had to hurry up.
The moment she was gone was also the moment I had to stop.
Skrrr!
I proceeded to scrape harder, my finger gliding across the wall as sweat poured down the side of my face.
Scraping the wall, I could feel my hand tremble with each motion.
“Stop! Stop!”
Mirelle’s screams echoed louder and louder, prompting my body to tense further, but I had to keep going.
’Just hold on a little longer.’
I focused even more on the poem in front of me.
A couple of verses.
That was all I needed to add.
It wasn’t hard, but I needed to be as quiet as possible.
I was almost done.
Just a little more.
Just a—
“Ahhh!”
A blood-curdling scream suddenly echoed across the room, and I stopped immediately, my breath pausing alongside my actions as my head started to hurt again. This time, it was a lot more painful than before, causing my vision to turn white for a brief moment as a white marking appeared on my arm.
Standing still, I didn’t dare breathe.
Because…
I knew something else was listening.
Creaak!
Once more, the floor creaked, the tapping of the water in the kitchen echoing once more.
My lips trembled, and my mind was exhausted, but I kept firm.
’It… still doesn’t know that I’m alive. I d…on’t think it sees me.’
Staring ahead, I looked at the poem in front of me.
It was almost done.
I was just missing a little bit.
’No, it doesn’t matter if I don’t finish. This is good enough.’
Creaak!
The floor creaked behind me, the moonlight flickering into the room, as I saw a large shadow appear right behind me.
I almost choked up, nearly slipping and making a sound. I just barely managed to keep myself from doing so as I hastily covered my mouth with both hands.
Embraced by the darkness, I tried to drown out all distracting thoughts.
The Twisted Man was right behind me.
He was looking at the poem.
Was he going to react? Was he going to finally speak? What was he going to do?
I stood anxiously, hoping for something to happen. Hoping to hear some sort of noise coming from its mouth.
And soon…
It did.
“H-how dare…”
Almost every hair on my body rose the moment I heard the voice, deep and growling.
Creaaak Creaaak!
The window in the distance started to visibly creak, moving back and forth as I opened my eyes to see the Twisted Man place its finger on the wall, tracing it across the poem on the wall.
“Who… dares… to.”
I could practically feel the anger from its voice.
It was vivid enough for me to hear.
However, that no longer mattered to me.
’It spoke! It finally spoke in its own voice!’
I could now end the game!
If my hypothesis was correct, then I could, at this very moment, reveal the fact that I was still alive to the Twisted Man and end its twisted game.
I had beaten the game.
I had beaten the twisted man.
I—
’No, I didn’t.’
I paused a few seconds after, staring at the fading shadow before me as the moonlight faded and the room faded into the darkness once more.
’…What is there to say that this is its real voice?’
This…
What if this was, in fact, another trap set up by the Twisted Man?
’The anomaly isn’t stupid. Although it thinks that I’m dead, I’m sure it felt that something was odd when it felt Mirelle and the Dreamwalker. Although it is aware of the fact that they aren’t human, it might still think that something was wrong, purposely baiting me to speak by exposing his ’weakness’ when in reality it wasn’t even his own voice.’
Perhaps I was thinking too much about it, but at the same time, I knew that the Twisted Man was smart enough to pull something like this off.
No, in fact…
I believed this was exactly what it was trying to pull.
“Not. Acceptable.’
As the Twisted Man’s deep and growling voice echoed once more, it brought its finger over to the wall, its eyes falling on the last line that was missing the last part.
Its long and lanky body moved forward, appearing right next to me as I suddenly held my breath, afraid of making any noise.
But..
Ba… Thump! Ba… Thump!
Although I could keep my breath in check, the same couldn’t be said for my heart.
It drummed so loudly inside my mind that I feared for a moment the Twisted Man could hear it.
My stomach was also starting to act up, forcing something up my throat.
’No, not now. Just a little bit more. Resist…’
I had to bite my lips so hard that they started to bleed in order to regain my calm.
The only thing I could do was stand in silence.
Waiting for the Twisted Man to slip up.
This was a game of patience. It was either me or the Twisted Man.
Who was going to slip up?
Who was—
“Who… Dares… to… write this?”
“…..!”
I felt it then. Although subtle, I felt it! A slight change in the tone of the Twisted Man. It was a mix between its deep and growly voice, with another, more grounded, but eerie one.
’It’s angry.’
Yes, I could feel the anger in its voice.
That was also the reason it started to slip up.
The anger was finally taking over its calmness, and its original voice was starting to slip out.
“How…dare. They. Mock… me like this?”
More and more of its original voice started to slip out. That was also the moment that I felt sure about my original plan and idea.
The key to solving this scenario was its voice.
I had managed to piss it off enough to make its real voice slip.
’I’ll wait just a little bit longer.’
My toes curled inward as my lips trembled. I really wanted to speak, but I knew I had to remain calm. I couldn’t rush it.
I needed to hear it make a full sentence with its own voice.
I needed the Twisted Man to completely lower its guard.
’Soon. It should be soon.’
..And indeed, the moment came not long after.
“I should’ve killed them!”
BANG!
The twisted man leaned back and swiped at the wall, leaving claw marks all over it as it tried to erase the poem from existence.
“I will kill them!”
The anger in its voice was palpable as it raised its hand to swipe at the wall once more, but it was also in that moment that I finally opened my mouth.
“I will—”
“You will what, exactly?”
The Twisted Man froze on the spot, its entire body freezing on the spot like a statue.
Eventually, it turned its head in my direction as it faced me directly.
I felt shivers while meeting its gaze, but I kept firm.
Opening my mouth again, I looked toward the wall and spoke once again.
“Your voice. It counts, doesn’t it?”
I covered my lips to hide my smile.
“…This twisted game of yours. I’ve won, didn’t I?”