My Cthulhu Girlfriend (gl) 15

Chapter 15: Torment

In the subway station, people came and went, their tired faces reflected in the glass beyond the dark train tracks.

Many passersby noticed the woman in the red dress on the platform. She was so beautiful, so striking, that anyone who saw her couldn’t look away. Some even missed their trains because of her.

The woman in the red dress stood still, holding a black and red gradient umbrella of unusual material, her beautiful face expressionless as she watched the departing train.

After a while, she walked towards the end of the platform, her long hair swaying without a breeze, her steps light and languid, the hem of her dress blooming like a camellia, revealing her fair, delicate ankles.

A man followed her, his gaze fixated on her slender ankles, mesmerized. The thought of holding those ankles in his hands involuntarily filled his mind…

“Aaaaaaa!!!”

He suddenly fell to his knees, screaming, clutching his right wrist with his left hand, blood gushing from between his fingers! His right hand hung limply, as if all the tendons had been severed in an instant, completely useless!

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

“Holy crap, there’s blood! Someone call for help! Someone’s injured!”

“Who hurt you? Who was it?”

Passersby immediately crowded around, some screaming, some crying in fear, the scene descending into chaos.

The man screamed and writhed in pain. When he looked up again, the woman in the red dress was gone.

Ahead was the enclosed glass wall of the platform, with no other exits, no hidden doors.

His eyes bloodshot, he cried out tremblingly:

“That woman in the red dress… she’s a ghost! A ghost, there’s a ghost, aaaaa!”

But the passersby seemed to have forgotten something, looking at each other in confusion:

“What woman in red? Where?”

“Yeah, I’ve been here for ten minutes and haven’t seen anyone like that.”

“Sir, are you mentally ill?”

“No one wears a dress in this weather…”

Until she opened the door to her apartment, Xiang Er’s mood remained light and airy, as if she were floating on a cloud, unable to perceive the heavy reality before her, only willing to look towards the fluffy, cotton-candy-like world of her imagination.

Shen, Yu, He.

*Shen Yu He (沈遇鹤) suggests a person destined for good fortune, elegance, and a long, meaningful life*

Such a beautiful name, so perfectly suited to her.

Her tongue danced nimbly, savoring the three syllables, their meaning rich and subtle. Xiang Er repeated the name silently, all the way home.

Key in the lock, Xiang Er pushed open the door and looked inside.

With a “bang,” those vibrant imaginings, that light and joyful mood, instantly plummeted, crashing down into the heavy reality, her brows furrowing deeply.

She saw it. Right there in the living room, on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, were countless shimmering trails, layer upon layer, strand upon strand, as if giant snails had crawled all over the apartment.

It was… “It”.

It had released Its tentacles in this living room!

Why? What was “It” trying to do?

The trails shimmered, like a thick, viscous coating, covering the living room floor and walls, even the sofa. They reflected the light like countless twinkling stars.

A sweet fragrance filled the room, mingled with a faint fishy smell. Even though the windows were open, the smell lingered.

She didn’t know when it had happened… Had these trails been here when she left this morning? Xiang Er tried hard to remember, but she couldn’t.

“Yo, you’re back.”

A thin man emerged from the master bedroom. He wore only an undershirt and pajama pants, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He shuffled out in his slippers and, seeing Xiang Er, grinned, his face wrinkling.

Xiang Er ignored him, looking down to change her shoes.

“You go to work so early and come back so late every day. Are you fooling around outside after work?”

The man leaned closer, continuing to speak.

Xiang Er didn’t answer. The smell of cigarettes mixed with the sweet fragrance made her nauseous. She quickly changed her shoes and tried to go to her room.

But the man blocked her path, grinning at her:

“Let’s chat, little sister. What, are you afraid your roommate will get jealous?”

Xiang Er turned her face away and muttered:

“Excuse me.”

“Don’t be so nervous. She still has an hour before she gets off work. We have plenty of time to chat… I’m very interested in you…”

The man continued to smile, the pungent smell of cigarette smoke wafting towards her, as if trying to trap her within a wall of odor.

“You…”

Xiang Er frowned. She wanted to push him away, but she felt it would be too dirty to touch him with her hands, and… what would happen afterwards? Could she afford to move? If she angered him, she might be in danger…

Years of enduring such situations made Xiang Er hesitate to resist, even though she wanted to. She couldn’t think of a foolproof solution, so she took a step back.

This seemed to please the man. He exhaled a cloud of foul-smelling cigarette smoke and grinned at her, taking two steps forward, closing the distance between them, his undershirt almost brushing against her clothes.

He laughed triumphantly, knowing that a recent graduate like Xiang Er, so young and naive, wouldn’t be able to resist him, a man of the world. He hadn’t misjudged her; the girl didn’t even dare to speak, let alone resist, hahaha! It seemed he was in luck today!

“So? Chat with me, and I’ll look after you, treat you to good food and drinks… Come on, let’s sit on the sofa and talk…”

The man extended a skinny arm towards Xiang Er, his hand like a monkey’s paw.

But Xiang Er’s eyes narrowed, her gaze fixed on something behind the man. The fear on her face transformed into… a complex expression the man couldn’t understand.

She stared intently ahead, not even reacting when the man’s hand touched her arm, as if…

As if, in that instant, she could no longer see him, something more important having captured her attention, reducing him to an insignificant ant, unworthy of her gaze.

And indeed, that was the case. Behind the man’s shoulder, Xiang Er saw a thick, dark red tentacle slowly swaying.

The tentacle seemed to be greeting her, its tip dipping slightly downwards, like a human nodding in acknowledgment.

The moment Xiang Er saw the tentacle, a powerful, mysterious consciousness and thought flooded her mind. It wasn’t expressed in any human language, yet it resonated within her brain, allowing her to completely understand, to grasp its meaning in her own words.

She subconsciously translated the thought: Tell me, what do you desire.

Waves of powerful intent surged towards her, repeating the same message.

Tell me, what do you desire.

No sound, no image, no other external stimuli, as natural as a thought arising in her own mind.

Xiang Er understood the tentacle’s meaning, and at the same time… she was terrified.

Truly terrified, a terror that reached the depths of her soul.

Earlier, when the man was harassing her, she had only felt a vague, chaotic annoyance, not true terror. But now, receiving this message from the Evil God, she felt an overwhelming fear.

The Evil God… did It want to make a deal with her?

And making a deal meant paying a price. The memory of that near-miss with the tentacles was still vivid in her mind. She absolutely didn’t want to experience that again!

[Tell me, what do you desire…]

Xiang Er stared intently at the tentacle. The tentacle stood upright, serene and peaceful, taller than the man, its rounded tip covered in small suckers, like tiny eyes, looking back at her.

The tip of the tentacle swayed gently from side to side, like a kitten flicking its tail in the sunlight.

But this wasn’t the time to be charmed by a tentacle!

Was It amused? Was It enjoying her predicament, her helplessness, forcing her to beg?

Indeed, if she responded, then It could probably enjoy its meal tonight…

Xiang Er’s mind raced, her fear so intense she felt like vomiting, her face deathly pale.

The man, angered by her reaction, turned to look behind him. There was nothing there, just the normal, old living room, except for a slight chill on the back of his neck. The balcony window was open; it was normal to feel a draft.

Then… what was this girl looking at?

The man opened his mouth, his breath foul:

“Hey, what are you looking at? What’s so interesting?”

But Xiang Er didn’t answer.

The slender, frail girl in white was curled up in a strange posture, as if something large was looming over her. Her thin arms, clad in the white sweater, wrapped around her upper body. Her face was paler than her exposed wrists, her lips almost bloodless. Like a white daisy, beaten down by the rain.

The man didn’t care about her expression. He reached out and roughly grabbed her pale wrist. Her bones were so delicate; he could almost snap them. He ran his fingers over her smooth skin.

“Don’t be scared, little sister. Whatever you’re seeing, I’ll protect you!”

He said this with a lewd smile, trying to pull her hand.

However… Xiang Er’s gaze, previously fixed on something behind him, suddenly snapped towards him, staring directly into his eyes.

Her pale lips parted, and she whispered:

“I don’t desire anything… I don’t want anything.”

As she said this, her other hand rose, clutching a high heel, its sharp metal heel glinting coldly.

Her face expressionless, she brought the shoe down hard!

“Aaaaaah, owwww!!!” A scream of agony ripped through the air, blood splattering!

The tentacle abruptly straightened, its tip swaying more rapidly. Amidst the smell of blood and the screams, it suddenly lowered its thick body, bringing its tip directly to Xiang Er’s face, its suckers opening and closing, swaying gently.

Xiang Er looked at the tentacle, continuing to strike repeatedly, mechanically repeating:

“I don’t want anything, I don’t want anything… because I can do it myself.”

Blood splattered, the man thrashed and struggled frantically. Xiang Er continued to strike with steady hands, staring at the countless suckers opening and closing on the tentacle, repeating:

“I. Can. Do it. Myself.”

The tentacle, rejected, seemed rather pleased. It swayed, stretching and thinning, coiling around Xiang Er’s wrist.

It used its suckers to inch its way along her skin, absorbing the blood splattered on the back of her hand.

Xiang Er felt it… It was satisfied. Unexpectedly satisfied.