Overture of Terror

"I suspected Old Whateley long ago. I once saw him ignite a patch of fire on Sentinel Hill," Mr. Corey said. "Back then, though, I had already bought this land, and with Paul, there was always that sliver of wishful thinking in my heart that maybe life afterwards would all be peaceful."

He helped Mrs. Corey up onto the horse. Mrs. Corey was still somewhat disgruntled from being woken up, and she looked at Hope. "Little Hope hasn't come to our house to play for a long time."

"Yeah, yeah," Hope awkwardly chimed in.

"Did Wilbur do something to you? I heard from Paul..."

Mr. Corey raised a hand to block Mrs. Corey, and he looked at Hope. "You aren't an ordinary person either, are you? I checked the house just now—the windows and doors were all locked, but you managed to sneak inside."

Mr. Corey didn't need anyone to help him as he swung himself up onto the horse.

He patted Hope's shoulder. "As you can see, I can barely hold a gun anymore, otherwise I'd still go try to see if I could put a bullet in Old Whateley."

Hope smiled and nodded, showing that he could tell this guy not being able to hold a gun was sheer nonsense, especially since he had held it so steady just now, yet he still understood the old cowboy's desire to turn over a new leaf and pursue peace and quiet now that he had a family.

But you didn't have to say it out loud, he thought. I took the risk of being discovered by Wilbur to come and tip you off, and forget about you not saying thank you—what is that supposed to mean, saying you are powerless to help and I have to walk my own path?

It's not like I don't know that myself.

"Are you coming with us?" Mr. Corey asked.

"What?" Hope froze.

"Come with us. Look, we have three horses... It doesn't matter if you don't know how to ride, you can share one with me. Jenny is a great horse."

If Hope guessed correctly, this horse was called Jenny.

He had thought Mr. Corey was a good family man just a moment ago, but now what he meant seemed to be that he was preparing to leave and never return. With a house this big and land this big, the two of them hadn't brought almost any luggage... Hope remembered Paul saying that Mr. Corey survived a shipwreck when he was young, being the only one of the family to live through it.

He looked at Mr. Corey with a sudden realization. He hadn't noticed it all this time, but this middle-aged man seemed to be trembling slightly.

"Don't be nervous. I'm someone who once survived under a monster." When he spoke to Hope like that, Hope had thought Mr. Corey was comforting him, but it turned out he was saying it to himself.

"No." Hope shook his head. He said, half seriously and half jokingly, "I still have some unfinished business with them."

Spoken like that, it sounded just like he was preparing to be a lone hero to destroy Whateley House.

Yet he knew himself that he didn't have this ability at all. He still didn't understand how Wilbur had knocked him out the other day. He was unwilling to leave simply because he feared Wilbur's mutual destruction.

Besides, no matter what... Hope thought with lingering hope... someone will still come to save me, even though the time I've waited is a bit long.

Mr. Corey nodded. "Everyone has their own path to walk."

He had finally said it, though it didn't sound half bad...

Just as Hope's mind was wandering wildly, Mr. Corey's tone suddenly shifted, and he pressed something into Hope's embrace. "But being good at accepting help from others is also a kind of virtue."

It was an iron-gray heart-shaped padlock with a key inserted in it.

Hope felt a sense of familiarity; it seemed to be the one from the front door of the Corey house.

"An interesting little gadget," Mr. Corey said. "I happened to stumble upon it. Hang it on the door of a room and carry the key with you, and when someone wants to enter that room, you'll feel it."

Mr. Corey and Mrs. Corey had already ridden their horses onto the trail, and Jenny snorted, ready for a long-distance gallop.

The rest of what Mr. Corey said was shouted out: "But as long as you carry the key, you'll grow weaker and weaker after leaving that room—you must watch out for that! Also, don't let the room be too big, or it won't be sensitive!"

So that's how he knew I entered the room? Hope thought thoughtfully. If what Mr. Corey said was true, this lock was far too useful for him.

Hope closed his eyes. Since the Corey couple had already left, he also prepared to return to the utility room.

"Ha-ur-ee-ya-ya-ah-"

A deep, hoarse sound like rolling thunder rang out from the distance.

Hope opened his eyes and saw two figures stop in the distance—it was the Corey couple who had just set off. Here, one could hear the uneasy neighing of the horses and Mr. Corey's angry rebukes at the mounts.

The sky seemed to grow even gloomier. Something absorbed the last remaining light here, and angry hound barks rang out from the back yard of Paul's house, but these sounds quickly turned into frightened whimpers until no more sounds were emitted.

Like a tsunami, the Transparent Monster surged rapidly from the direction of Whateley House.

Wilbur hadn't been able to catch up to it.

It was faster than Hope had estimated, arriving here ahead of time.

Without the restriction of a room, this fellow finally revealed its full appearance. It was larger than any creature Hope knew, and it didn't conform to any biological knowledge Hope knew either—perhaps it wasn't a biological organism at all. In Hope's blurred vision, it crossed a mound of earth, and the plants along its path all turned from bright green to pitch black—like a natural disaster.

Hope trembled violently, realizing he had made a mistake. He should have used Uncertainty to teleport the Corey couple away directly instead of waiting for them to ride off.

He wanted to make amends, so he closed his eyes, only to find that Uncertainty could no longer be used. He wanted to open his eyes, and then discovered that he could no longer move at all.

He heard the dull, hoarse sound getting closer and closer, and he felt a gentle breeze brush across his body.

He heard Mr. Corey stop berating his beloved horse Jenny, and instead curse the Transparent Monster. The voice was loud and angry at first, finally turning into weakness and despair.

Stop, Hope thought.

Stop!

He felt his muscles tense up, and out of fear and self-reproach, anger welled up. The anger accumulated in his brain, scattering away some things before immediately rushing through his entire body.

He felt himself clench his fists, his fingernails—bitten jagged like canine teeth—digging painfully into his palms.

"Stop!" Hope shouted.

He broke free from the control the Transparent Monster inflicted on him, breaking free for just a single instant, which allowed him to make a fierce and terrifying expression.

He could only emit this single sound, but the sound was a command.

After this command was issued, the dull, hoarse sound like rolling thunder vanished.

The only sounds left in the world were Mr. Corey's weak, scolding shouts.

And then...

After just a single instant...

Hope, still unable to open his eyes, felt a gentle breeze.

The breeze stopped quickly, disappearing along with Mr. Corey's scoldings.

The monster that Wilbur couldn't stop ultimately didn't obey Hope's command either.