I am the Queen

The line in the Horror House thinned, and it was nearing Evangeline, and the others turn in time that they finished their snacks.

"What's this?" Evangeline asked the staff of the Horror House. Inspecting the headgear, the woman handed to her.

Smiling, the staff lady answered in a friendly tone, "Our Maze of Terror uses one of a kind four-dimensional augment reality to ensure our visitors enjoy the experience to its maximum."

"Hmm . . ." Evangeline inspected the helmet. The metal gear covered the ears and eyes while the nose, lips, and lower parts of the cheeks were visible.

"I didn't know they had upgraded this horror house that much," Eric mumbled while he put on the headgear.

Evangeline's head snapped towards the man beside her, and asked, voice strained, "Y-you've been in this horror house before?"

"Yes," Eric answered without care.

Gritting her teeth, Evangeline snarled, "With who?"

Peeking an eye at her, Eric chuckled before he answered, "With no one. When I was still staying here in Everland, I had worked part-time here."

"Oh . . ." Evangeline's stiff shoulders relax, and the tension left her body. She casually put on the headgear before she and Eric walked deeper inside the horror house while Lilybella and Daniel followed after ten minutes.

Much to their amazement, even though they knew the haunted house was dark, they still could see four meters ahead due to the headgear displaying night visions in black and white, which was pretty cool.

As they went deeper inside, the air gradually turned cold, and eerie music kept ringing in their ears. Along the way, they entered many forks, but there was still no sign of any ghosts nor anyone for that matter. But Evangeline felt that something or someone was following them, and it felt like eyes were looking at her from the empty, dilapidated rooms along the corridor.

Her body froze mid-movement when something caught her eyes. It was a woman with only half of her head with strands of hair that was visible. Her whole head was burned, raw blood covered her face. Some dry, and some were fresh while flakes of her skin were red and peeling. Puss and fresh blood seeping from her cracked skin.

It was looking at her from a window on one of the empty rooms, and she swore it smiled when its bloodshot eyes squinted at her.

Recoiling her gaze from the source, her hands gripped Eric's arm. Her heart was thudding in her chest from the sudden scare.

It's an illusion. An illusion. Ghosts aren't real. They aren't real. She recited this mantra as they resume their walk. Her body was sticking close to Eric.

Whooosh!

A chilling air blew past them and followed by bouncing sounds that grew louder and louder towards their direction.

An uncontrollable shudder seeped through her body, and the temperature dropped. She forced herself to look beyond the darkness deeper in the corridor they were in. Shuddering, she asked, "W-what . . . w-what's that?"

No one answered. And before Evangeline could look at Eric, the bouncing sounds grew louder and louder, and she could feel it was just meters away from them until the noise stopped.

Evangeline took slow intakes of uneven breathes, wanting to look away from the source of the noise but was afraid if she did, she would miss something.

After a minute that nothing happened, her body gradually loosened. "I-it's probably the sound effects. This horror house is something––"

Her words dried mid-sentence when a rolling sound crept towards them until it stopped when something hard hit her shoes.

Her pupils slowly traveled down. What she saw was a blurry bead of hair sticking out from a head attached to a neck. The bone and neck muscles were visible like something sharp had sliced it. Tissues and raw blood dripping all over its trail.

Evangeline sharply gasped for air. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She even forgot how to scream as she stood their frozen, unable to look away.

"This way!"

Luckily, Eric pulled her away from the scene, and they ran towards an empty room. Evangeline hadn't had the chance to look inside the room when Eric shoved themselves inside the closet before closing the cabinet tight.

"Are you okay?"

Evangeline was still shaken and couldn't form words, so she nodded without thinking.

A sigh of relief filled the tight space before a question rang in Evangeline's ears.

"By the way . . . have you seen my head?"

". . ."

Evangeline froze. Her eyes wide as it could stretch before her head moved slowly towards Eric. It was very dark inside the cabinet and a bit stuffy, but thanks to the headgear, she could still somewhat see beyond the dark.

For a moment, she stopped breathing, and her brain shut down when she saw a figure of a man beside her. His limbs were twisted in odd angle while his neck was missing some parts, and his head was nowhere to be seen.

Aaaarrgghh!!

Evangeline pounded the cabinet doors in full strength as her throat never stopped screaming. However, no matter how hard she pushed, the cabinet didn't open. It was locked from the other side.

To make matters worse, in her line of vision, the man was leaning towards her, and she pounded even harder.

When the cabinet door finally opened, she bolted out of the room and rushed towards the dark corridor with no destination in mind, screaming nonstop.

In her haste, she tripped on something and fell on the ground. Good thing, her arms softened her fall. With raspy breath, bulging eyes streaming with uncontrollable tears, she peered behind her and found the object that tripped her.

It rolled and rolled, but instead of rolling backward, it rolled towards her until it stopped just inches from her horror-stricken face.

It was the burnt woman who she saw peeking at her on the window. It was so close to her she could even smell the burnt flesh, which made her stomach tightened. Puss and dried blood peeling her skin, and tiny worms feasted on her wounds. Its bloodshot eyes were almost detaching from its socket. Its lips then formed a creepy smile which stretched across its chalky cheeks, almost taking all the space of her face causing her dry skin to crack, and fresh blood seeped through the new wounds.

Then it spoke with a grating, throaty croaked voice like that of an older woman.

"Where are you going?"

Aaaarrgghh!!

Evangeline screams, pierced the roof. She crawled and stood to her feet, backing away in quick, jerky steps and bolted deeper in the darkness.

----

Meanwhile, Eric, who lost sight of Evangeline when they entered a fork, was still lost finding her. He was full of worry for her that he had no room to entertain fear at the moment. Evangeline is a very beautiful girl, and with this darkness, some malicious people might try something funny to her.

Then he heard an ear-piercing scream and knew it was Evangeline's voice.

"EVE!"

He didn't waste any more time and dashed to where the sound was. He didn't even pause when a nun crossed in front of him.

"Move!"

Without an ounce of warmth nor guilt, he pushed her to the side and bolted to the screaming sounds until the sound gradually stopped.

He doubled in speed, searching every room for her nonstop until he finally found her curled on her knees in the crevice of a wall in the corridor. Her head was hidden on her knees, arms embracing her legs tight while her body was trembling.

He removed his headgear and slowly bent down to inspect her. His outstretched hand stopped midway, hesitating before he gradually touched her to remove her helmet.

"NO! No! Get away!"

The moment his fingers touched her, Evangeline let out scream after scream while her body responded violently, trashing and kicking, wanting to get away from him.

Eric had to use some force to hold her down. Grabbing her hand, he pulled it towards his cheek, pacifying her along the way.

"Eve! Eve! It's me. It's Eric!"

Still screaming and trashing, Evangeline continued to close her eyes until her fingers felt a familiar scar on the man's cheek. Gradually, she stopped her violent movement and opened her teary eyes.

Taking the opportunity, Eric quickly removed her headgear.

"Eric . . ."

Evangeline choked when she saw Eric's face. Tears welled in her eyes, and she flung herself to him. Her head was digging in the comfort of his chest. Her arms were circling tightly around his neck, wanting to feel his body heat, wanting to feel the safety in his embrace.

"Shhh . . . everything is alright now . . . I'm here . . . I'm here . . . ," Eric cooed while his hands gently stroked her back to soothe her. His head lowered, and he brushed his cheek on hers.

Evangeline was trembling so bad even his body vibrated. Her suppressed fear manifested as tears fell on her cheeks. Her eyes screwed shut, mouth open as she dry heave.

This Horror house is too much! She must have been so scared to the point she was even crying out in the open.

"Eve . . . can you stand?" Eric questioned after a moment Evangeline had somewhat calmed down in his embrace.

Hiding her face in Eric's chest, Evangeline didn't answer and shook her head. She was still shaken, and her strength hadn't returned to her.

"It's fine. Come, let's get out of here." Eric lifted her in bridal style while the latter continued to hide her face in his chest. Her arms stayed glued around his neck.

Still unable to form words, Evangeline didn't as much as squeak, and if not for the sudden jolting of her shoulders, hiccupping again and again in his chest, Eric might think she had fallen asleep. Not minding her weight, Eric sauntered the creepy corridor in silence. And since they had removed their headgears, the place had turned to a normal dark, creepy looking corridor while the people posing as ghosts scurried away when they saw the man carrying a woman in his arms was scarier than them.