AB Chapter 32: Fear
Eric’s heart sank abruptly. Countless thoughts exploded in his mind as he stood frozen. Around him, there was no movement at all—only the rush of his blood pounding violently through his ears.
You could hear a pin drop.
With a prominent Adam’s apple bobbing, Eric swallowed hard. Like a madman, he held his breath and stiffly walked toward the person lying ahead. Slowly, he crouched down and reached his fingers toward their neck...
“Bang!”
Just as his nerves stretched to the breaking point, the lights overhead and around him suddenly went out with a loud noise. Eric leapt up, nearly screaming in shock.
Darkness engulfed everything.
The only light came from the cold, eerie reflection of the swimming pool's surface and the pale moonlight streaming through the glass dome overhead.
Fear quickly turned to rage.
Realizing how terrified he had become, Eric exploded with anger. His fists clenched, eyes bloodshot, and he shouted like he was trying to scare off his fear:
“Damn it! DAMN IT!”
“Where the hell is everyone?! Huh?! Where IS everyone?!”
“A bunch of pigs! You DOGS!”
“Who’s there?! Who is it?! When I find you, I swear I’ll gut you, motherf***er!”
He yelled wildly, but the indoor pool only echoed his own voice back. The reverberating sound felt eerie and strange.
No response.
This wasn’t a prank.
A voice in his head whispered that to him, but Eric couldn’t suppress his twitchy, paranoid nerves.
His bloodshot eyes scanned the room violently. Seeing nothing unusual, he quickly turned and bolted toward the sliding glass sensor door separating the living room and the pool.
Only a few steps.
He reached the door quickly.
Just as he thought he was about to escape, the door—powered by a separate circuit that should have been unaffected by the outage—remained shut. It didn’t react at all, like it didn’t detect any living presence nearby.
Eric: “...”
His last thread of sanity snapped.
Cursing wildly, he began kicking and punching the glass door like a madman.
The high-quality, burglar-proof tempered glass reverberated loudly but showed no signs of damage. Its smooth surface reflected Eric’s distorted face twisted with rage and fear.
It seemed to laugh at him.
Mocking him cruelly.
“Bastards! You bastards! Just wait!”
Eric’s once-handsome face contorted like a demon’s as he turned around, determined to find something to smash the door open.
But as he turned—
On the wireless speaker he had paused earlier, the indented pause button suddenly popped up as if an invisible hand had flicked it—click!
A moment later, the room erupted with deafening electronic music!
“AHHHHH——!”
Eric screamed in terror, his blood freezing and his heart about to leap out of his throat!
All around him, the floor was littered with ‘bodies.’
Despite the noise, no one came to check on the villa.
A speaker that restarted on its own in the middle of the night...
Eric was petrified. Ice-cold and trembling, he rushed to the table, picked up his phone with shaking hands, and dialed emergency services.
No signal.
Yes—no signal at all, not even enough to call for help.
“......”
He was cursed.
He flung his phone away in panic, his frenzied, bloodshot eyes darting around. Cold sweat soaked his back, every hair standing on end—
“Whooo~”
Someone blew gently on the back of his damp neck and laughed hoarsely.
“AHHHHH——!”
Eric completely lost it.
He grabbed whatever he could and began smashing the speaker and the sensor door.
Beer bottles shattered. The screeching of glass cutting through the air tore at his sanity.
I need to get out...
I need to get out...
Let me out...
His eyes widened, pupils constricting. He didn't care that broken glass was piercing the unconscious bodies on the floor—or slashing his own shins.
Bright red blood poured out.
But in this terrifying moment, even the pain couldn’t snap him back to reality.
“Crack!”
As if God had shown mercy—or perhaps the devil offered temptation—
While Eric was crazily smashing the door, the thick tempered glass finally cracked. Though its safety coating kept it from exploding, it was now covered in spiderweb-like fractures, enough for him to punch through and crawl out of this haunted place.
“Haha—hahaha—Damn it—finally!” Eric laughed hysterically. Clutching a chair, numb to pain, he stepped over broken glass, leaving bloody footprints as he rushed to the door, wildly smashing it to widen the hole.
The disturbing electronic music howled like ghosts.
His deranged laughter and gasping breaths only added to the horror.
In the darkness, the stench of blood was nauseating.
Before long—
The air let out a subtle whoosh, and a gust brushed across Eric’s back.
The man, hammering away at the door, suddenly froze, arms raised mid-swing, chair in hand. He stared blankly at the shattered glass in front of him.
The door, now fragmented like a mosaic, reflected something...
Maybe because the background was black, the reflections were exceptionally clear.
Dozens of eyes, peering back from those glass shards—
“......”
Eric’s arms trembled.
Behind him, the owner of those eyes let out a distorted laugh, blended with the blaring electronic beat.
And whispered:
“Eric…”
“Eric…”
“Are you afraid… Eric…”
A hand gently landed on Eric’s shoulder.
“URGH—AHHHHHHH——!!!”
...
...
“Splash!”
Eric’s damaged phone hit the pool and sank, splashing water high into the air.
Simon stepped over Eric’s unconscious body and turned off the portable signal jammer. Then, he peeled away the infrared blocker that had disabled the motion sensor.
The bent glass door slowly opened. Simon looked down at the bodies littering the poolside and let out a soft chuckle, stepping on Eric’s face as he walked out.
He went to the villa’s power control room and flipped the switch he'd previously shut off, restoring power and turning on the pool’s ventilation system. After a night of air circulation, no trace of the hallucinogenic gas he had released would remain.
Not even the sharpest police dogs would pick it up.
As for those seemingly lifeless "corpses," they would all wake up by morning, thinking they’d just gotten drunk.
Hm?
You’re wondering about Eric’s injuries? Or whether he’ll call the cops?
Those wounds? Eric gave them to himself. What does that have to do with me? Simon smiled faintly.
Even if he goes to the police, he will be the one locked up. After all, there’s someone barely alive in the bedroom, someone he tortured.
Ah, how pitiful… let’s just say I avenged you. My flower will applaud this act of justice.
In high spirits, the yellow bee whistled cheerfully, wearing a heroic, chiseled expression like a protagonist in an American drama.
As he swiftly removed any trace of his presence from the villa, he wandered among the ‘corpses,’ thoughtfully considering what kind of breakfast to make for his beloved tomorrow morning.
Hmm... How about something Chinese?
It’s supposed to be very healthy.
And Michel seems to really like soy milk and those things called pan-fried dumplings.
Yes, that’s it! He’ll be so happy.
With that decision made, the bumblebee’s cheerful expression faded. Cold and terrifying, he returned to his usual demeanor. His amber eyes gleamed with a cruel light as he glanced at the people on the floor—no different from slabs of meat to him.
“What a waste of time.”
He seemed to lose interest, his tone flat.
Then, without a second glance, the tall and merciless bee turned around and left the scene...
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