The Crooked Man

Chapter 6

I went back to the staff room...

...! The basement door's open...

I went down to the basement to search for the monster but no sign of him, but I found something on the boxes. I got a bronze key..

I tried to look for a room that can be unlocked by the bronze key... I ended up in the bar amd used the bronze key and it worked. I found a journal at one of the tables. A journal seemingly written by a staff member. The last page is rambling and sloppily-written...

"O/X

A toast to our owner, who left his employees and fled into the night! We'll drink all the beer we've got - hell, it's the only good thing here! Being out of a job's no good, but at least we don't have to see his mug no more! We were SO sick of that egghead always trying to flaunt his intelligence! Installing weird stuff for the basement door, having a number lock on the food storage... All his silly crap made the place impossible to run! Plus the passcode was this thing with a book which he changed up every month! What the hell do you do if you forget?! Maybe it's good for him, but sure as hell not us! Ah, whatever! Once we're done with the booze, we're outta here! A toast to our bright futures!!"

... The door to the food storage is at the far end of the first floor, right? A passcode on food is pretty crazy...

I went to rhe library to search for the book...

The blackboard in the owner's room said "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"... It'd be on this shelf right? Ah! Here we go. I think I got it.

I went out of the library and heard a frightful growl... The monster appeared with its creepy smile.

...!... N... No way...! T-That monster... Did it really...?!... I-It's coming this way...!! Crap! I gotta escape!!

I ended up being trapped in the room where Sissi almost fell in the big hole on the floor with the crooked monster...

...Aha! If I drop him down here.

I pushed the monster to the hole as it came towards me...

...(pant)... (Gasp)... What is that monster...? So what I saw earlier...! Damn... I can't believe such a thing exists... But there's no way it's coming back now. The room under's locked tight... I should warn Sissi when I see her. I knew it would be dangerous for her...

I went to the locked room with a passcode for "STAFF ONLY". I entered the numbers 3679 because those were the missing chapters I saw in the book. I unlocked the room. Inside was like a service area, with storages of kitchenware and lots of boxes.

I see something shining at the top of the boxes, but it's out of reach. I found a ladder beside the kitchenwares and use it to get to that thing.

I got the key to 210. I went to the room and found something that was badly burnt.

...Was this a photo? Looks like it was a woman... Hm, there's something under the pieces... I got another scrap from a notebook.

"I don't need her memory anymore. I know she won't come back, so I have to forget everything, good or bad."

Ack... My head... Hurts... Whew, it settled down... Sheesh, I'm exhausted... I guess I haven't slept much...

So he burnt this photo to clear his broken heart, huh... I... I know I couldn't do that... I'll never forget... Not ever... According to Paul, that makes me a pansy.

Then Sissi entered the room...

...! Sissi...

"Oh there you are, David!"

"... Did you find the box?"

"No... I can't find it... There are lots of rooms I can't go in, so it might be in one of those... What's wrong, David? You look kinda pale." Sissi said.

"Oh, it's nothing... But Sissi, you should really leave soon."

"Why?" She asked.

"You may not believe me, but... There's some kind of bizzare monster around. I found it in the basement... I was attacked by it earlier. You'd definitely be in danger too... So I think you should go."

"Look, I don't like dark, scary places either... But there's no need to tease me like that. I'm not a kid afraid of the Boogeyman, okay?"

"...Er, sorry. But I'm not trying to tease you! I'm telling the truth!"

"...Heehee. Don't worry, I'm not mad. You don't seem like a dishonest guy, so I'd like to believe you, but... A monster...? Maybe you mistook something in the dark? You could be susceptible to seeing things when you wander around in the dark like this." She said.

"...I'd like to think you're right... All right, if you insist. But be careful! Okay?"

"I know! Well, I'll go looking elsewhere." She said and left.

While I was walking on the hallway, I heard something, like a splash or something... From the hotel bar.

... What?

I entered the room and I saw something at the end of the bar. It's blood I think.

"A message in red...? Was this here before?"

"Leave me alone. Please leave me alone. Come to me. I'm waiting for you."

... Sounds pretty inconsistent. Who could've written this?

The crooked man entered the bar and I was in panic.

!! W-Why...? I dropped you down a pit!! Crap, I gotta do something!

I grabbed some of the bottles to defend myself.

Dammit! This monster doesn't give up... How about some of this?!

I smashed the bottles to the monster and didn't do much damage.

Ugh, I guess that won't do much alone... What else can I do?!

I grabbed my lighter.

...Aha! Now that he's covered in alcohol, he should be plenty flammable!!

I used my lighter to burn him up. He then quickly ran and left.

... He ran away... W-Whew... What the hell is that thing...?! Why is it chasing me? How did it survive before?!... I might need something to defend myself. Now where could I look...

I went back to the storage room, then the fruit knife fell on the fround by itself.

A fruit knife... Maybe I should take it. Just for self-defense...

I walked out of the room and I saw blood on the floor. I followed the blood to find where it was coming from. It leads to a room and I saw Sissi, sitting on the bed.

"Sissi, what are you doing here? !! Your arm's bleeding! So it was your blood... Were you hurt?!"

"... My arm caught on something. It's not that big of a deal... Don't worry about it." She said.

"It's bleeding a lot, though... And you've been resting here, right? What if you have anemia?"

"... I'm just a little tired. I've been walking around a lot... Really, don't worry about it." She said.

"... Give me your hand, Sissi. I have a handkerchief, so I can at least try to wrap it up... I guess this is better than nothing. Doesn't hurt?"

"It's fine... Thank you... You're so kind, David."

---------------------------

Vote.