Nightmare Game
Copyright© 2025 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 4
Everyone set their wine glasses down one by one. While the others were still gripped by fear, Albert stared at the red wine in his hand, ran his tongue over his lips, and reluctantly placed it back on the table.
For someone who adored red wine as much as he did, just the color and aroma from Castle were enough to stir his appetite, leaving him with immense anticipation for the taste.
Seeing that the guests had no intention of drinking more, Rosie didn’t press the issue. He carried on with his meal as if nothing had happened, though his gaze occasionally lingered on Ethan.
Before long, the meal wrapped up. Rosie stood, grabbed a napkin, and wiped his hands.
“As I mentioned earlier, there are guest rooms upstairs. Feel free to choose whichever ones you like, but I do expect you to tidy them up each day and keep everything spotless.” He turned to leave, then paused abruptly and glanced back at Ethan with a sly half-smile. “Oh, right. That’s my command as host for today, of course. You’re welcome to refuse if you want.”
With that, he headed up the stairs without another word.
“Enjoy the rest of your evening,” Mrs. Bennett added with a polite nod and a smile, following close behind.
Once the two had gone, Bella seemed to shake off an invisible restraint. Gone was any pretense of ladylike poise; she bounced straight out of her chair and landed lightly on the floor.
“Seven of us, huh?” She eyed the guests and let out a chilling giggle. What had been a sweet face now carried an eerie, shadowy menace. Beneath her wicked grin, two sharp fangs gleamed, and the shadow at her feet swelled rapidly, a vast darkness that swallowed the dining room’s lights entirely. “I wonder how many will be left by tomorrow.”
Some frowned in unease, others went pale as ghosts, and one person clamped a hand over their mouth to stifle a scream.
Bella took in every reaction with relish. Her lips barely moved, yet that devilish, echoing laugh filled the room, laced with cryptic whispers that coiled around their ears like smoke.
“You all should have finished that wine.” The shadows receded into her own silhouette, and the lights flickered back to life, restoring brightness to the dining room. “At least then you wouldn’t feel this despair creeping in.”
Her form melted into the gloom and vanished right before their eyes.
“I’ve had enough of this. I can’t take it anymore!” The short-haired young woman burst into sobs. She was the youngest of the seven and by far the most timid, always the first to panic and duck behind the group when trouble arose.
Her name was Grace Linwood, just a college student with a plain style and a quiet demeanor that made her fade into the background. Now, terror had her wailing uncontrollably, mumbling “Mommy” over and over as her nerves frayed to the breaking point.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Serena’s face was drawn too, but she stepped forward and rested a hand on Grace’s shoulder. “As long as we stick together and work as a team, we’ll find a way out of this.”
“Yeah, exactly.” Albert chimed in from the side, his own skin ashen and his forehead slick with cold sweat. Clearly, he’d been rattled just as badly.
All that sniffling and carrying on. When does it end? Lucas’s icy tone shattered the fragile calm. He sneered at them. “What a sorry bunch, licking your wounds and wasting time on this nonsense.”
“Hey, you. You’ve been nothing but snide since we met. A girl’s suddenly stuck in some creepy hellhole like this; of course she’s going to freak out.”
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