Lakeside Ghost Story 12

At that critical moment, someone turned the bedroom doorknob.

"Allie, why did you lock the door?"

Mayor Marcus's voice came from outside. He knocked, but Mrs. Allie, long since unconscious, couldn't hear him. Realizing something was wrong, he immediately stopped knocking and began throwing himself against the door.

Soon, the pounding stopped as well. The mayor had gone to get the key.

"I'm out of grid spaces. Take all the files with you!" Zhuo Yu gripped the edge of the window and lifted himself on his upper arms. There was no time to climb down bit by bit. With a boost from Liu Jingyun, his whole body tipped over the sill.

He was falling.

Fortunately, they were only on the second floor. The worst-case scenario was a broken bone, and given the way he was falling, it would most likely be one of his legs. That was even less cause for concern. He had no feeling in either leg; even if he shattered them both, it wouldn't affect much. At worst, the blood loss would leave him weak and dizzy. But his character couldn't possibly be that useless. Someone who had already died once wouldn't die again so easily.

In that split second, Zhuo Yu had already considered the worst possible outcome and how he would deal with it. But just as he was about to curl into a ball to lessen the impact, what met him wasn't hard stone pavement, but a broad, burning-hot chest.

The boss had caught him.

The crocodile-headed man's arms tightened around him as though he were something fragile, a lost treasure finally recovered.

"That hurts..." Zhuo Yu felt as if the embrace were about to crush his shoulders. He couldn't help hissing in pain.

The boss's hands loosened instantly. He glanced at the building, unwilling to linger. Then he seated Zhuo Yu in the crook of one arm, picked up the wheelchair with the other, and prepared to leave with him.

Liu Jingyun had landed too. She hit the ground face-first, and before she could even stand and rub the aching spot, she found a mountain looming before her.

Her entire body went rigid.

"Don't hurt her!" Zhuo Yu blurted. He could feel the boss's muscles tense, as though he were about to attack Liu Jingyun. The girl was too slight to survive even a single blow from him. It could kill her on the spot.

The boss was plainly reluctant, but he abandoned the attack, sparing Liu Jingyun's life.

He no longer spared the puny human a glance. Turning toward the road out of town, he took off. Only then did Zhuo Yu understand why the man was called a monster. In speed alone, the boss was already far beyond anything normal.

For all his enormous size, he wasn't lumbering in the slightest. On the contrary, his agility was terrifying. No matter how difficult the terrain, he crossed it as easily as level ground. He ran so fast Zhuo Yu could almost hear the air splitting around them.

No wonder Zhou Wu hadn't been able to shake the boss even in a car.

Left behind, Liu Jingyun stretched out both hands in vain and stared, dumbfounded, as the boss abducted her ray of light, her hope, her wonderful teammate!

At that inhuman speed, all Liu Jingyun felt was a blast of wind in her face. She hadn't even had time to speak.

But she couldn't afford to stand around in a daze. The mayor had already entered the bedroom.

Liu Jingyun hurried out of sight of the window and raced toward the RV.

On the outskirts of Springwater Town, Zhuo Yu had the peculiar experience of discovering the joy of horseback riding. Sitting on the boss's arm with the wind battering his head soon became painful, so he put his arms around the boss's neck and hung from his back instead. The boss carried him onward without a word, like a silent, swift steed.

The scenery flew backward on either side. Zhuo Yu's hair streamed in the wind, the tails of his clothes snapping wildly.

Even if he weren't disabled and could run like anyone else, Zhuo Yu thought, he would never have known a thrill like this. If not for Asha, he might have gone his entire life without learning that when you ran fast enough, the gale stung your face.

Asha really did bring him endless surprises and new experiences.

Zhuo Yu wasn't afraid in the least. Nor did he want to think about where he was being taken. All he wanted was to throw back his head and shout at the top of his lungs, like a young man speeding along in a convertible, his heart brimming with excitement and joy.

[Plot milestone achieved: The four students attacked by the Crocodile-Headed Man flee in all directions. The Traveler seizes the opportunity to reach Springwater Town. In this town steeped in hidden strangeness, the astonished Traveler discovers that he died fifty years ago and that he was once the owner of Golden Lake, having transferred the land to Mayor Marcus shortly before his death. This convinces the Traveler that an evil conspiracy must lie behind it all.]

Zhuo Yu ignored the System announcement. He simply wanted to enjoy the moment.

"So fast! Can you go even faster?"

Zhuo Yu laughed on the boss's back. He was still too reserved to whoop out loud, but he made no effort to hold back his bright, joyous laughter, and Asha heard every bit of it.

The boss's mood lifted with his. He quickened his pace, and sure enough, Zhuo Yu's laughter rang out even brighter and more uninhibited than before.

An actor abducted by a monster ought to have been trembling in terror, yet Zhuo Yu was positively delighted. The monster charged with executing the players not only refrained from doing so, but went out of his way to make an actor happy. Nothing like this had ever happened in the Studios. Even the audience members watching the movie were profoundly shocked by the sight.

[This... isn't right, is it?]

[Does anyone else think the boss really likes Zhuo Yu?]

[Obviously. Haven't you been following the plot? Zhuo Yu's character raised the boss for years. It's understandable that he wouldn't hurt him.]

[I still remember that scene in the third installment when somebody tried talking to the boss and got split open with one swing of his axe... Is this really the same brutal boss?]

[I mean, I came for the gore, but this isn't bad either.]

[+1. Who doesn't love Beauty and the Beast?]

[You've gone off the rails, commenter above. Beauty and the freaking Beast? Zhuo Yu's a man, even if he is gorgeous.]

[This is getting weirder by the second, hahaha. Sorry, but I'm shipping them already.]

[Me too!]

By now, the boss had left Springwater Town behind. He raced through the dense woods beside the highway. If a car had happened to pass by, anyone looking out the window would have seen a black shadow keeping pace beside it.

Zhuo Yu could feel his stamina replenishing in a steady stream. The weakness that came from deep within his soul had receded considerably. The closer the boss drew to their destination, the more of his character's strength returned.

"If you can run this fast, why do you walk so slowly when you're chasing people? You're doing it on purpose, aren't you?" Zhuo Yu called loudly into his ear.

"...Mm." The boss mumbled, his voice hoarse as though he hadn't spoken in decades. "Yes."

It was only a one-word answer, but Zhuo Yu was overjoyed. The boss could communicate with people.

"Why? Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them all?" Zhuo Yu pressed his advantage, tightening his embrace. The early morning air was damp and chilly, but the boss was genuinely warm. Zhuo Yu couldn't help nestling his face against the man's neck like a lazy cat basking in the sun.

The boss resisted the urge to stroke Zhuo Yu's head. He gathered his thoughts for a moment. Some words were rather complicated for someone who hadn't spoken in half a century.

"They... haven't repented... enough." The boss tugged the crocodile mask lower. "I want fear to be their final memory."

Zhuo Yu sucked in a breath.

He hadn't expected the boss to hold such a grudge.

Thinking it over, Zhuo Yu realized that from the perspective of the actors fighting for survival, this movie was a pure, unadulterated horror film. The boss could always catch up to you, but every time you thought you had escaped, you never realized it was all merely part of his hunting game.

He could kill you in an instant if he wanted to, but he deliberately chose not to. He wanted to torment them one by one until the fear of him was branded indelibly on their hearts. How utterly hopeless the final survivor must have felt at the moment of death.

"What did they ever do to make you hate them so much?" Zhuo Yu laughed. "If I weren't playing this character, would you hunt me down like that too? Doesn't sound half bad."

He didn't expect the boss to answer. The boss probably couldn't understand him when he talked about things like characters anyway.

"No. Zhuo Yu is one of a kind." The man finally reached their destination and stopped among a thicket of shrubs. His voice was solemn. "No matter where... you are always... the only one."

The boss spoke slowly, halting over his words, but his manner was utterly serious, as if he were telling Zhuo Yu something vitally important.

"Nonsense," Zhuo Yu murmured. "Once this movie ends, another Traveler will come next time, and you'll have forgotten everything."

The boss suddenly gave a low laugh. For one brief moment, his voice changed. "No. Because... Asha is special too."

Zhuo Yu's eyes flew up. The boss looked no different from before. Had that just been his imagination?

"We're here."

The boss stepped through the trees, and Golden Lake came into view.

After escaping in the middle of the night, Zhuo Yu had somehow been brought back just as dawn broke. Did the boss consider this place his home and lair?

The boss set Zhuo Yu on the cabin sofa, then stared silently at the wrecked living room. He remembered how clean and tidy it had once been, and the man who used to sit beneath the writing desk with a fountain pen in hand.

Thank goodness Zhuo Yu had come back. Thank goodness...

Watching the boss stand there in a daze, Zhuo Yu crooked a finger at him. He treated the vicious monster not with the slightest caution, but as though he were beckoning to an adorable, oversized dog.

And the boss responded just like one. He came close, crouched down, and pressed his face into Zhuo Yu's hand.

Only at such close range did Zhuo Yu notice how many injuries covered the boss's body. He looked as if he had been burned. His skin was split in places, while others were covered in large blisters. A body more perfect than a statue of Apollo was riddled with wounds.

And those recent injuries were hardly the worst of it. Zhuo Yu could see the marks of much older wounds on his skin as well.

"Take off your shirt. Let me see."

The boss hesitated, but ultimately obeyed Zhuo Yu's command. He stripped to the waist, revealing chiseled muscles and a multitude of scars.

"Gunshot wounds. Three to the chest. Cuts, clustered along the spine... and..." Zhuo Yu couldn't bear to continue. He truly felt like the Traveler, an old father aching for his child.

Human beings inevitably had their favorites. Or perhaps it was simply the illusion of love at first sight. Either way, Zhuo Yu thought he really was suited to playing the villain. Instead of feeling sorry for the actors running for their lives, he pitied the far more powerful side.

The feeling was wrong, but Zhuo Yu let it spread unchecked.

"How did you survive injuries this severe?"

Zhuo Yu traced scars that would each have been fatal on their own. His pale, slender fingers wandered over their knotted ridges. He brushed his fingertips across the boss's Adam's apple, then slipped them beneath the edge of the mask.

"Can I see your face?" Zhuo Yu asked.

The boss reacted violently. He shot to his feet and retreated several steps, shaking his head again and again, his fists clenched with tension.

Zhuo Yu understood. Beneath Asha's terrifyingly violent exterior was a wounded heart, just as riddled with self-loathing.

Hadn't Zhuo Yu once been the same...?

He sighed. "I've told you before. You don't have to worry about things like that at home. You can't scare me."

The boss's voice was muffled. "I'm... not the same as before."

That was true, Zhuo Yu supposed. His gaze traveled over the boss. Compared to the Asha in his memories, he had indeed grown considerably. He hadn't remained frozen in that year. His body and his voice were both far more mature.

"I told you, I won't be afraid of you." Zhuo Yu stared steadily at the mask. "Don't you trust me?"

"That's not it..."

"Then come here. In a world full of prejudice and conspiracy, I only want you to have someone you can open your whole heart to and trust." Zhuo Yu seemed to be speaking of Asha and himself at once. "You've survived alone for so long. Haven't you been lonely?"

The boss was shaken to his core. He stood in silence for a long moment, then hesitated no more.

With one swift motion, as though staking everything on this single act, he lifted off the crocodile-head mask.