Nightmare Game
Copyright© 2025 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 2
“Hmm?” Butler caught sight of the corpse on the floor and seemed genuinely startled. He placed a hand over his chest and bowed deeply in apology. “Please forgive my rudeness. I never meant for such distinguished guests to witness something so foul.”
He clapped his hands sharply, and moments later, two pale-faced maids emerged from the side entrance. Unlike Butler, they looked entirely human, with no unusual features to mark them. They showed no reaction at all to the body, as if this were just another routine chore. They unfurled a body bag with practiced efficiency, slid the mangled remains inside, wiped away the bloodstains on the floor, and hoisted the bag before slipping away as quietly as they’d arrived.
“Allow me to apologize once more. I’m not making excuses, but we usually keep things spotless around here. Nothing like this ever lingers.”
Ethan couldn’t help frowning as he listened. Butler’s behavior had struck him as off from the start. At first, he’d assumed the man had simply lost control in a fit of rage, killed without thinking, and now carried the weight of regret for it.
But that didn’t fit anymore. It seemed more like Butler had blacked out completely, erasing every memory from his initial introduction right up to the murder. That would explain the repetitive pleasantries and his assumption that the “foulness” was just some overlooked mess from an earlier cleanup.
“B-but...” Lily Summers, the woman with the wavy hair, clearly picked up on the strangeness too. “That man, wasn’t he the one you just—”
“No, come on, don’t be ridiculous.” Ethan cut her off quickly, forcing a light tone. “Why go picking fights? Butler didn’t mean any harm.”
“Huh?” Lily blinked in confusion, sensing the shift in the air. She glanced at Butler and froze. His slitted pupils were flushing red, his mouth gaping open in what looked like raw terror, a dead ringer for the warning signs of his earlier frenzy. She dropped into a crouch on instinct, clapping a hand over her mouth as silent tears streamed down her face.
Her skin prickled with dread; she knew all too well she’d just danced on the edge of disaster. She shot Ethan a quick, grateful look.
He barely noticed, too busy piecing things together in those few tense seconds.
From what he’d seen, the tall guy must have tripped some hidden trigger in Butler’s psyche, sparking the kill without the butler even realizing it. The memories got wiped clean afterward, leaving him oblivious.
And Lily’s careless slip of the tongue? That could have jolted those memories back to life, potentially setting off the whole deadly cycle again.
It lined up with the early signs of Butler’s outburst too. He was settling down now, bit by bit, but only because they’d nipped it in the bud fast enough.
What really intrigued Ethan, though, was the disconnect in how Butler treated them: hailing the group as “wayward honored guests” with all the courtesy in the world, yet dismissing the dead body as mere “foulness.” It felt jarringly off-kilter.
The maids were odd in their own way, too. Silent from start to finish, not a flicker of surprise at the corpse, body bag at the ready like they’d known a death was coming. Or maybe, in a place like this castle, it was just business as usual?
[Enter the castle, survive for seven days, and uncover the secrets it hides.]
The mission flashed through Ethan’s mind, and his stomach tightened. If survival was the goal, that meant the castle brimmed with threats. Butler had just proven it by dropping someone without a second thought.
Still, danger didn’t lurk around every corner, or Butler alone could have wiped them all out in seconds flat with his strength.
No, something held him in check. That was Ethan’s takeaway: as long as they steered clear of whatever rules set him off, they were probably in the clear for now.
“If you’ll follow me, honored guests, my master has prepared a feast in your honor.”
Butler led the way, but the group hung back, still shaken from the shock. Most hadn’t quite shaken off the horror yet.
Lucas ignored the hesitation, a mocking smirk playing on his lips as he sized up the others like a pack of cowards. He sauntered after Butler without a backward glance.
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