Const Orphanage 20

"I—" Elvira rubbed his ears, pretending to be confused, "It's strange, the world seems different somehow."

"Are you playing some kind of haunted house game?" Elvira pointed at the creepy, dark shadows surrounding them.

"Before drinking, I didn't notice anything odd about this place," Elvira said with a puzzled look, remarking to Altair.

"The alcohol," Altair didn't divulge the truth to Elvira, simply agreeing with him.

The blood of supernatural beings can temporarily allow humans to see the world of mutated Human-beasts. Since the blood and the power of supernatural beings are closely linked, every drop is precious.

"Head to the infirmary?" Elvira, lacking any enthusiasm, walked a few steps, "What's there to see? I don't want to go."

Altair didn't speak, merely followed the crowd into the main building on the first floor.

Elvira purposefully crouched down, rolled on the ground when no one was paying attention, and hid inside a classroom on the first floor.

He huddled in a corner, holding his breath and concentrating, feeling unnoticed. He took off his mask and put it in his pocket, then touched the doll's head in his pocket. Pulling out an orange he had grabbed from the apartment, he began to peel and eat it.

The refreshing scent of orange wafted over, and Elvira popped three or four orange segments into his mouth at once.

The voices of the investors faded away, and the surroundings gradually quieted down. Elvira could hear the second hands of all the clocks on the first floor moving in unison, like drumming. In the distance, there were many soft scraping sounds, as if something was brushing against the floor.

KACHA-

Suddenly, he heard the sound of bones breaking, as if right beside his ear.

He stopped chewing, and looked around, but found no clues. Peeking outside, the corridor was still devoid of any movement.

KACHA-KACHA-KACHA-KACHA-KACHA-

The sounds grew closer and more frequent as if something was stretching its limbs. Elvira couldn't help but tighten his grip on the orange.

The hallway lights were dim, casting just enough light into the classroom to make out the neatly arranged desks and chairs.

KACHA-KACHA-KACHA-KACHA-

Hesitantly, Elvira looked up at the classroom's ceiling. At that moment, about a dozen children were hanging from the ceiling, looking down at him with smiles.

They were translucent white all over, their eyes flickering with pain, yet their mouths were smiling.

The children's bones made cracking noises, and their bodies visibly grew rapidly, like wheat ripening in fast forward.

Pain! Intense pain!

KACHA-KACHA-KACHA-

The children were bound with chains, hanging as if they were cured meats swaying in the wind.

Their bodies grew, gradually taking the form of adults. The expressions of agony on their faces faded away, replaced by stares fixed on the wall clock as if bewitched by time.

Finally, the chains on their hands were loosened, and these "adults" stepped down from the table, their eyes landing on Elvira, who was crouching in a corner with half an orange.

They seemed unable to control their bodies properly, moving awkwardly and stumbling, like invertebrates without a spine.

Their eyes were filled with intense malice, fixated on the orange in his hand. Elvira suddenly felt as though the orange in his grasp became unbearably hot, and he symbolically tossed a segment to those adults.

One of them bent down to sniff it, attempting to pick it up and eat, but as soon as his hand touched the orange, it rotted away.

He couldn't eat the orange.

He turned to look at his companions, eyes shimmering with envy and greed as if they were conspiring. Suddenly, they all turned and ran towards Elvira!

Not good! Run!

Elvira immediately got up, stuffing the remaining orange into his mouth, and started running towards the second floor with all his might.

Those children must have mistaken him for a child!

Holding the doll's head could evade the hostel management, but it couldn't hide him from these children!

He needed a new identity!

Elvira put the mask back on his face and, with a swift turn, stared down his frenzied pursuers.

These "adults" were scrambling up the stairs, crawling like hundreds of fleshworms. They looked up at Elvira with hungry eyes, as if he were a piece of succulent meat.

Suddenly, Elvira turned around with his mask on, his silver half-face mask lending him an air of nobility and mystery.

The actions of these "adults" halted momentarily, as if shocked. Then, hatred flickered in their eyes, and they shook their heads, emitting high-pitched childlike screams before suddenly speeding up. They surged up the stairs like mad worms.

Elvira couldn't help but cover his ears, turning to climb the stairs more quickly.

This was bad!

The mask was useless! The identity of an investor only made them angrier!

Elvira could feel several hands already touching his ankles, about to pull him into their mass of fleshworms.

He was nearly at the second floor, but just couldn't make it.

What to do!

Elvira pulled the doll's head from his pocket and threw it forcefully towards the staircase leading from the second to the third floor.

Without the doll's head, he was now just an intruder!

Elvira's pants were suddenly grabbed by those "adults," and he felt a strong force pulling him backward.

He quickly held onto his pants; these little maniacs! He couldn't let these "adults" strip him of his trousers.

He turned to look at the writhing "adults" below, mentally counting down.

3—

Elvira gripped the handrail tightly, kicking fiercely at the heads of those "adults." He felt numerous cold hands touching his ankles.

2—

He felt a wave of disgust. How could they do this? Just coming up and touching someone's legs! What were those teachers teaching? Elvira saw endless hands reaching for him, tugging at his clothes.

1—

A long-missed dripping sound came from above, sticky saliva flowing down from above Elvira's head.

Elvira looked up and saw the "Hostel management" with a human face and a dog's body. The three human faces were grotesquely twisted, gaping at Elvira with gaping maws and cold, dripping fangs.

Elvira smiled and waved at it.

Just as it lunged at Elvira, he ducked low and darted beneath the "Hostel management." The group of "adults" behind him swarmed forward in pursuit, and the "Hostel management" was engulfed by the mass of fleshworms.

For a moment, the dog's barks of "Hostel management" and the children's shrill screams of the "adults" intertwined, forming a chaotic mix. It was as if the worms had overrun a dog's body, with the three twisted human faces becoming even more distorted, their six eyes bursting with intense malice towards Elvira.

Standing at the second-floor stairwell, Elvira's gaze revealed a hint of schadenfreude. He gestured invitingly towards the "Hostel management."

Then, he turned and ascended to the third floor, retrieving the doll's head he had tossed up earlier. Elvira reached the third floor and pushed open the door to room 302.

The moonlight filtered through the curtains, casting light on the floor, and the air was filled with the scent of decay. The room was in disarray.

In his haste the day before, he hadn't taken a good look at this infirmary. During the chase with the creature, he had knocked over several chairs and cabinets.

He remembered there was a medicine cabinet here, filled with bottles and jars of various medications. Some of the pills were colorful, and often mistaken by the children for candy beans. Consequently, Teacher Ginger tasked Elvira with a specific duty: to ensure that the children did not indiscriminately consume medication in the infirmary. Whenever a child needed to visit the infirmary, Elvira would stand by, vigilant against any temptation a greedy little one might have to gobble down the pills unwittingly.

He picked up the medicine cabinet that had fallen to the ground, but found it had already been emptied, leaving behind nothing but bare shelves.

However, he felt something was off the moment he lifted the cabinet.