Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Morning, Lasik! You're looking much better. Have you been enjoying yourself these past couple of days?"

Though it was barely past morning, the air already held a scorching heat. Mrs. Mary raised a hand to her forehead to shade her eyes, watching the convertible pull up slowly to the curb.

"It's been great! I feel completely unwound."

From inside the impeccably maintained car, a woman with thick brown hair adjusted her wide-brimmed hat and returned Mrs. Mary's greeting.

She looked no older than thirty, with a mature, striking allure, though her posture right now was languid and her face bare of makeup—the very picture of someone on vacation.

"My only problem is that now that I've relaxed, I seem to have lost interest in all the plans I'd made."

"At least you got what you came here for, didn't you?"

Mrs. Mary smiled, looking as though she understood the feeling completely.

"Want to come in for some iced lemonade?"

Lasik tilted her head, thought it over for a second, and gladly accepted.

She opened the car door, stepped out into Mrs. Mary's yard, and waved to Jones as he was getting into his own car.

"Sheriff Jones, aren't you running late?"

"I'm an old man. For me, this is standard time."

Jones sounded entirely unapologetic. He waved back and started the engine.

Mrs. Mary had clearly stepped out only to see her husband off to work, yet throughout their exchange, Jones had stood waiting patiently, seemingly lingering just to say hello to Lasik before leaving.

"Have you had breakfast?"

Watching Sheriff Jones's car drive off, Mrs. Mary warmly asked as she led Lasik inside.

"Not yet."

Lasik didn't stand on ceremony, smiling as she hung her hat on the rack.

"Then this really is your lucky day. I happen to have an extra portion of breakfast ready."

Mrs. Mary spoke in a tone that suggested she had anticipated as much, quickly bringing a plate over to the table.

"An extra portion?"

Looking down to sniff the fried egg in front of her, Lasik frowned almost imperceptibly.

"As if you'd let me know in advance."

Mrs. Mary chuckled.

"Jones had no appetite today. That's his share."

"You certainly couldn't tell by looking at him."

Hearing this, Lasik seemed to relax and picked up her utensils naturally.

"The sheriff doesn't look like the type to let anything spoil his appetite."

"It really is rare for him."

Mrs. Mary sighed softly, then hesitated for a moment as another thought crossed her mind.

"Speaking of which, you should be careful these days. Don't go wandering off to secluded spots by yourself."

"Oh?"

Lasik, who was in the middle of shoveling fried egg into her mouth, looked up.

"Did something happen?"

"I really shouldn't be telling you this, but it's not like you have anyone to leak it to."

Mrs. Mary gave a small smile and went back to bustling around.

"A town resident has gone missing."

"Ah! When?"

Lasik seemed indifferent; her surprised tone was purely to play along.

"The very night you arrived."

"That was two days ago... and I haven't heard a single whisper about it?"

Lasik finally sounded a bit more serious.

"That's because before long, the victim's family vanished too."

Mrs. Mary shook her head with a sigh.

"Less than a day after Mrs. Harold went missing, her husband disappeared without a trace."

"That does sound odd."

"Still, two missing-person cases shouldn't be enough to make a sheriff lose his appetite, should they?"

Lasik's mind remained remarkably sharp.

"That's because..."

Mrs. Mary paused, lowering her voice.

"They found Mrs. Harold. Just last night."

"...Isn't that a good thing?"

"She was already dead."

"I see."

Lasik seemed at a loss for words and went back to focusing on her egg.

"So her husband is the prime suspect now?"

"I know you're not fond of men right now."

Mrs. Mary gave a helpless smile.

"Even if Harold is the main suspect, you can't afford to be careless."

"Hmm?"

"The scene where they found Mrs. Harold was gruesome beyond belief."

"Gruesome?"

Lasik frowned, her expression suggesting that dead was dead, and there was no need to dwell on the details.

"...They say it looked like a slaughterhouse. She wasn't just disemboweled—her body was arranged in some grotesque pose."

Mrs. Mary spoke as if telling a ghost story to scare a child.

"It's hard to imagine what kind of hatred could drive someone to do that."

"Isn't that an exaggeration? Did you see it yourself?"

"Jones told me with his own mouth."

Mrs. Mary let out a slow breath.

"He never talks about his work, but when he came home this time, he went over it twice in a row."

"You could tell that even he needed someone to help carry the weight of that memory."

"Really... Well, either way, it shouldn't have much to do with an outsider like me, right?"

"Why does everyone take these things for granted!"

Hearing Lasik brush it off, Mrs. Mary grew a little indignant.

"My nephew is the exact same way. I told him it was safer down here, but he refused to listen and insisted on staying up on The Mountain with his classmates."

"Do you know, they say the corpse even had its head split open? Everything inside had been scooped out clean, like the killer was looking for something."

"Is that so? Could it be—"

Lasik's expression finally shifted into cold sobriety. Mid-sentence, she glanced up at the wall clock.

"—that the killer really was looking for something?"

"What do you mean?"

Setting a steaming bowl of corn porridge in front of Lasik, Mrs. Mary looked confused by the remark.

In the next instant, accompanied by a sudden rush of air, a heavy ashtray struck her temple. She collapsed to the floor without making a sound.

Haha... hahaha!

Setting the ashtray down gently, Lasik caught sight of a single droplet of blood that had splashed into the corn porridge and actually burst out laughing.

She picked up the scalding bowl and, as though numb to the heat, gulped the contents down in one go.

Setting the empty bowl down softly, she looked at Mrs. Mary on the floor and finally spoke, her voice raspy.

"I'm sorry..."

...

"Why? Why don't you have it either!"

A short while later, in a living room turned slaughterhouse, Lasik stood amidst a floor of blood and gore, looking utterly deranged.

"Impossible! You're the last person from that family in this town! The key has to be on you!"

"I searched everywhere, ruled out every suspicious item—so the problem has to be with the people! It's in the bloodline! I can't be wrong!"

"So how could there be nothing inside your body—"

Tearing frantically at the opened skull, Lasik eventually turned toward the wall clock and buried her face in her hands in torment.

"I'm sorry—"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!