My Cthulhu Girlfriend (gl) 5

Chapter 5: The Toy

During lunch break, Xiang Er didn’t eat a single bite, but instead lay slumped on her desk to rest.

Her consciousness drifted hazily, wandering in the thick air. Xiang Er imagined herself as a paramecium, not allowing herself to think about anything, just wanting to simply relax her brain.

Her brain had suffered quite a bit of damage these past few days. Especially before dawn yesterday… from the moment she regained her memories until now, her head was still buzzing.

However, she couldn’t help but think.

Yesterday at dawn, in her dream, she was clearly about to be strangled to pieces by that… “Akhe.” Why was she able to wake up?

The most crucial point was that she woke up in her own bed, and her body seemed completely fine. Even the bruises that had inexplicably appeared on her calves and other places yesterday had completely vanished.

If waking up in bed was thanks to her roommate, then the disappearance of the bruises… who did that?

Xiang Er didn’t want to message her roommate to ask. She was afraid of receiving an answer she couldn’t bear.

That answer was already in her heart; she was just deliberately choosing to ignore it.

It was probably all Akhe’s doing.

Carrying her back to bed, and healing her bruises along the way.

Or lifting her into the air, breaking her into three pieces with angry, sharp tentacles.

All of this was Akhe’s doing.

A capricious, mysterious, and eerie god, whose amusement was perhaps torturing humans.

Xiang Er just didn’t know what about her had attracted “It”, making “It” willing to torture her, then heal her, then torture her again. Just like a cruel child would do to a new toy, repeating the cycle endlessly, day after day, an eternal loop.

Would she… become “It” toy from now on, tortured over and over like this, until finally, either It lost interest, or she completely broke down?

She couldn’t think anymore, her head was about to explode. She pressed her pale fingers against her temples, burying her head in her arms on the desk, letting out a very soft moan.

Suddenly, something touched her fingertips. Xiang Er jumped as if electrocuted, screaming and abruptly lifting her head, her movement so fast she almost hit the back of the chair.

“Ah!”

“It’s me!”

A male voice reached her ears. Xiang Er calmed down slightly, turning to see that it was the new general manager.

The general manager asked with a surprised expression:

“What’s wrong?”

Xiang Er shook her head, unable to speak, looking down at her desk, trying to slow her breathing, telling herself, it wasn’t… it wasn’t that thing.

“I saw you didn’t eat. I happened to order an extra lunch, so here, have it. If you don’t like it, that’s fine.”

The general manager placed a lunchbox on her desk. It was a high-end salad.

“Ah…”

Xiang Er responded dully, glancing at the lunchbox. The half of a cherry tomato on top reminded her of that blood-red eye… She said numbly:

“Thank you, I don’t need it.”

The general manager said:

“You’re already very thin, you don’t need to lose weight. I just joined the company and wanted to show some concern for my employees. Don’t overthink it. You should still eat lunch.”

The feeling of being watched subtly changed, as if the gaze now carried some emotion. Displeasure? Or disgust?

Xiang Er could sense that inexplicable emotion, and she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck, as if being blown by something.

Xiang Er hesitated, then shook her head:

“Thank you, but… really, I don’t need it. I’m not feeling well, I can’t eat.”

The general manager left the lunchbox and walked away. A few female colleagues nearby cast complex glances at her, but Xiang Er didn’t notice.

She focused entirely on the gaze on the back of her neck. That strange, incomprehensible emotion had indeed disappeared after she refused the food. Why? No, she couldn’t overthink… couldn’t overthink…

Xiang Er sat in her chair, her gaze averted from the lunchbox, staring blankly at the computer screen. The pixels on the screen, one by one, resembled the tiny bumps on the tentacle’s skin, so small they were only the size of pores, yet they could leave such a distinct granular sensation on her…

Following her train of thought, goosebumps appeared on her arm again, but she refused to look.

Why, when she had only seen the tentacles a few times, could she remember all the details so clearly? Xiang Er really hated her brain.

The afternoon passed quickly and peacefully. The feeling of being watched remained, but Xiang Er tried her best to ignore it, focusing on her work without looking around. Nothing strange happened again.

She finished her work quickly and, unable to find any other tasks, reluctantly started to goof off, looking at her phone for a while.

Her phone pushed more news notifications. A water pipe explosion in some place injured many people… a suspect escaped in some place, urging citizens to be careful… strange weather phenomena appeared in some place, experts debunking it as normal… all sorts of chaotic news.

There were also some unsafe news locally, suspected thefts, experts reminding people to lock their doors and windows. Xiang Er thought of the window in her room. She habitually left it slightly open for ventilation. Those mushrooms happened to be growing on the exposed wall. She hoped that when she returned, the sun would have dried them up and made them disappear.

It was time to leave work. Her tasks were completed, and there were no sudden meetings or assignments, but Xiang Er remained seated, unwilling to get up.

At the company, in the crowd, she felt safer.

But other people were leaving, and soon there were only a few people left in the office. Someone turned off the lights, and the room suddenly became dark and quiet.

A rustling sound came from beneath her feet, as if something was crawling across the carpet, a distinct, viscous sound.

Xiang Er’s hair stood on end. She immediately grabbed her bag, not daring to look down, practically sprinting out of the office.

Covered in cold sweat, the moment she stepped out, she couldn’t resist looking back at her workstation.

Through the transparent glass wall of the office, she vaguely saw a dark, columnar object slowly rising, twisting… the darkness distorted along with it, the world becoming chaotic.

Xiang Er had already reached the elevators. She frantically pressed the down button, her lip almost bleeding. The glow of the evening sunset shone on the elevator entrance. The few people waiting for the elevator looked at her in surprise.

Xiang Er looked at the people around her, her voice almost a sob:

“The elevator… why isn’t it coming…”

A well-dressed woman said:

“Young lady, don’t worry, the elevator is almost here. Look, it’s only three floors away.”

Xiang Er turned around trembling. The sense of being watched grew closer, a cold wind blowing through her hair. A thick, black liquid flowed out from the open glass door of the office, emitting that maddening fishy smell.

She turned her head, the bloodshot eyes frightening the people beside her, who stepped back. She finally broke down, crying out:

“Look! Look over there! Those things… those things are flowing out! It’s going to eat us all!”

She rarely lost control like this in front of strangers, but now she couldn’t care less. She just wanted to find companions; she couldn’t face this alone!

The girl in the white sweater, her face paler than her clothes, her lips pale as if seriously ill, only her eyes were blood red, the bloodshot color filling the whites of her eyes, her expression extremely terrified, veins even bulging on her forehead.

Her appearance was… more terrifying than the things she was describing.

The well-dressed woman glanced down the corridor, puzzled:

“What’s flowing out? There’s nothing there.”

A man said:

“Miss, if you’re not feeling well, don’t come to work. Seeing you like this, how can your colleagues work?”

Xiang Er looked at the corridor. In her vision, the corridor was overflowing with black liquid, bubbling, as if there were fish swimming inside, blowing bubbles.

But those weren’t fish. Xiang Er saw clearly that what was swimming in the black water were numerous tentacles, and many eyes, curiously looking at her.

Those eyes… were all blood red, dozens, hundreds of them, all fixated on her.

Xiang Er couldn’t feel her body. She realized that the gaze she felt while working was probably from these eyes.

She wasn’t being watched by one being, one pair of eyes. She was being watched by all these eyes, together.

And these… Xiang Er turned to look at the others again, her eyes pleading, looking at those strangers.

Everyone looked normal, relaxed. They all looked at her with puzzled and disgusted expressions. Some took out their phones to play with, others looked out the window.

No one saw the black river flooding the corridor. No one saw the world in her eyes.

Xiang Er turned her head. The eyes, the black river, the tentacles, the strange, hidden, grotesque body… were about to engulf her ankles.

The well-dressed woman smiled at her and said:

“The elevator’s here, let’s go.”

The elevator doors opened with a “ding,” and the others filed in. The woman held the door open, waiting for Xiang Er to enter.

Xiang Er looked down at her feet. The black river now encircled her, filling the elevator lobby, but… it didn’t enter the elevator.

The black liquid seemed to be waiting for her decision.

Xiang Er raised her head. The pale girl gave a tragic smile, waving to everyone:

“I still have something to do… you go ahead. Thank you.”

The woman said with concern:

“Then… take care.”

Then she released her hand, the elevator doors closed, the black river shut out.

Xiang Er looked at the black river at her feet. The viscous, thick substance had already enveloped her ankles and was climbing upwards.

Like a child finding its beloved toy, wrapping the entire toy in its embrace.

Claiming it as its own.

Xiang Er suddenly let out a low laugh:

“So… it’s only me… you’re here for me… hehehe… hahaha! Ahahaha!”

She laughed shrilly, hysterically, like a madwoman!

The constantly surging black river, the tentacles, the eyeballs, all paused slightly.

She lowered her head, opened her hand, and plunged it into the black river!

As expected, she could feel it. That thick, viscous sensation, tightly wrapping her skin, the frantic and indiscernible whispers exploding in her mind, her sanity instantly teetering, her body on the verge of a mad transformation, as if something was about to grow out of her, like all the prayers in the world were concentrated in her brain.

Xiang Er’s hand grasped an eyeball.

A blood-red eyeball, the size of her palm, its dark red pupil now darting around, as if panicked, no longer looking directly at Xiang Er.

“Akhe, is this what you want…”

Xiang Er murmured, as if in a dream. She raised her hand and, with all her might… squeezed tightly.

A soft “pop” sounded, blood and thick black liquid splattering out, her vision blurring, her ears ringing, the world echoing.

Then… everything disappeared.

Xiang Er leaned on her knees for a moment, her breathing gradually evening out. She looked at her hand.

Clean, pale, no trace of the crushed eyeball, just like the clean, brightly tiled corridor.

Night had fallen, the gentle, soothing darkness washing over the world. Xiang Er stood at the center of the world, weary but exhilarated, the corners of her pale lips curving into a slight smile.

“Heh…”