Dirt kicked up behind him as he sprinted away from the cursed little house, not even caring which direction he was running in.
Jin didn't stop until he was meters away, and even then, he only paused to glance over his shoulder. His breath came in ragged pants as he scanned the darkness behind him.
Nothing.
Just the still, crooked silhouette of the playhouse fading into shadow.
Jin exhaled sharply, wiping a cold sheen of sweat from his brow with his sleeve. "Okay… Not the playhouse. Not Nurse Mimi. Got it." He spoke to the chat, though mostly to himself.
He then took a moment to pan the cursed phone around.
When he heard a sound....
Creeaak… Creeaak…
The sound of rusted metal made his neck prickle.
He then slowly turned to the side and saw the merry-go-round behind him… spinning.
It was slow… groaning as it whirled around in a full circle by itself.
No wind.
No hands pushing it.
Just spinning.
"…Xiao Hei – " Jin whispered through gritted teeth, as he started backing up…
And then he froze.
From the shadows of the trees, just beyond the merry-go-round.
Came a laugh.
A child's giggle that was high-pitched, grainy, and just wrong.
Hihihihi~
A small figure emerged from the darkness behind like a smudge coming into focus.
It was small…
Barefoot…
Wore a white frilled dress….
Had messily braided hair…..
A little girl with no eyes, grinning too widely.
Jin's entire body seized, and the hair on his neck stood on end at the sight for a few seconds.
✦ Sanity: 69% –> 67% - Functionally Frightened
"NOPE!!! NU UH!!! NOOOO!!!!" He screamed out as he turned and bolted.
[🧸BloodyBeanie: RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN]
[🔥DeathByDrama: THIS STREAM IS INSANE]
"XIAO HEI!! XIAO HEI–!!! COME OUT!!!!" Heart hammering as the sound of giggling echoed behind him.
And then, as if summoned by his panic, Xiao Hei popped into existence mid-air beside him, floating sideways like a relaxed balloon.
"Hoooo~ Looks like you made a friend, Qiang-ge!~" the ghost boy giggled, hands behind his head.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, FRIEND?!!" Jin shrieked, nearly tripping over a root.
"UGH – XIAO HEI SHE HAS NO FREAKING EYES—!"
"Aw, that's just Mengmeng! She died here back in 1895, and now likes to play with new friends." Xiao Hei said cheerfully, hovering lazily beside him like this was normal. "She's a sweetheart. Just humor her, okay?"
"Humor her?! I don't want to play with a ghost child!"
Mengmeng giggled again, closer this time.
"Well, she's playing with you…" Xiao Hei said, still grinning. "Sooo~ Either keep running, or go somewhere else to play. She'll get tired eventually."
Hihihihi~
Little Mengmeng was skipping behind him, giggling.
But her footsteps didn't touch the ground.
"Oh Right!~ Just don't say Mengmeng's real name. She becomes sensitive if you do."
"I DON'T KNOW HER REAL NAME!!" Jin screamed.
"Right! Hahaha… I don't either~ hahaha~ Okay, have fun then Qiang-ge~"
"Wha—WAIT DON'T LEAVE—!!!"
"Good~ luuuuck~" Xiao Hei's voice trailed off as he vanished again, waving.
"AHHH – YOU F*C – MMPH!!!"
Jin then tripped over his own two feet, causing him to stumble and hit the ground hard.
(AH SH*T! HURTS AS HELL!!!)
Jin was in pain, but he heard Mengmeng's giggle very near him, and then he noticed from his peripheral view the little girl's floating feet at his side.
He trembled as he slowly lifted and turned his head to take a peek at her.
Mengmeng then crouched beside him, and tilted her head sideways until it cracked, showing a second mouth opening under her chin.
"Play… with me… gege~" She whispered.
Jin Qiang scrambled to his feet, turned, and took off running across the cracked pavement, past the seesaw, and toward a faded 'just ahead' wooden sign.
It swayed in the windless cold air, and the vines curled across its lettering-like fingers, trying to hold on.
Jin didn't think or check any further where he was heading.
He just spun on instinct straight towards it.
With footsteps echoing louder than they should.
And behind him…The creaking carousel kept spinning.
Jin ran panting, shaking, and was still being followed by something that smiled without eyes.
After a few minutes of running at full speed, Jin's hands were on his knees, he was out of breath, coughing, and was wheezing for air, like a fish out of water.
He had never run so hard like this since a bulldog had chased him when he was a kid, and gained a fear of dogs.
Jin had stopped running once he had gotten to another area of the playground.
For some reason, Mengmeng's giggles stopped once he had gotten off the main path.
Once Jin Qiang had caught his breath. He straightened his stance and scouted the area he was in.
His flashlights beamed around him, and revealed that he was in a garden-like area with a crooked set of colorful parasols, child-sized teacups, and long-abandoned play tables.
Jin then noticed he was standing on a cracked stone path. He then carefully beamed towards path's end and found that it led to an old white concrete gazebo placed at the far center of the abandoned garden, tucked under a gnarled tree, nearly swallowed by overgrown vines and the thick fog curling at its base.
Above its entrance was a weatherworn sign, faded and half-fallen.
"Tea Party Pavilion"
Jin froze.
"...Nope," he said to the darkness. "Absolutely not."
The chats then responded almost instantly.
[Alive – Live Chat]
[🫖TeaBaggedMe: I paused my movie for this. Don't be a coward now.]
[🎥streamsncream: Is it bad that I want him to go in? Like... for science]
[🍰Cakeylicious: You gonna get served in there. Hahaha~]
[Dead – Live Chat]
[🫧bloodbrew: Heehee~ They saved you a seat, streamer boy.]
[🧷stitchedsugar: You gonna get served in there. Hahaha~]
[📜forgottenrulez: The last time someone RSVP'd to ghost tea, their teeth RSVP'd too.]
"Ha – NO! I am not going in there…"
Giggle~
Ghosts Nearby: 1 –> 3
Jin then heard a giggle behind him as he saw that the counter had changed.
He turned around, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.
But there at the far entrance of the garden where he had come from was little Mengmeng standing at the middle, grinning and waving at him.
"So….. It's her vs. whatever's… waiting in that gazebo, huh?" he slowly muttered.
Jin took a hesitant step and then walked towards the gazebo.
Inside the gazebo, the gloom gave way to something… almost pristine.
A round table sat in the center, covered with a pink lace cloth too clean to belong here. Delicate porcelain teacups sat neatly around the edges, all full. A half-rotted cake leaned dangerously to one side, decorated with paper roses and plastic pearls.
Five chairs surrounded the table.
And four of them were already occupied.
By dolls….
Their tiny frames were perfectly still, propped up on cushions, each with painted eyes and porcelain skin. Dresses of silk and lace, matted and discolored with age. Some with long, yarn hair, others with wigs that looked too… human.
But at the head of the table, Jin hesitantly beamed his flashlight…
Just by the silhouette, it was enough for him to know that whatever was seated there was different from the others.
As his light unsteadily made its way to the head of the table, it showed another doll in a frilly red party dress.
But she was larger than the others, nearly the size of a toddler.
Her dress was extravagantly puffed, lace-trimmed sleeves ending in dainty, black, gloved hands. A velvet black choker circled her neck like a noose. Her hair was made out of thin, dark yarn, pinned with tiny crystal clips.
Her porcelain face had a faint painted make-up, one of her glass eyes had a crack running through it like a spiderweb, and one arm was resting on the table like it was mid-conversation.
A weathered tag sat on her plate like a place card. Handwritten in a child's script.
[LADY VICTORIA – Hostess]
[Shall we have some tea and cake?]
Jin didn't dare blink.
Because her head was turned just slightly... watching him.
He looked from the tea set lying on the round table and then back to the child-sized doll.
"I don't like tea…." Jin whispered, but he already knew it wasn't about the tea.
Then the tea set rattled, every porcelain cup trembled, one fell and cracked, spilling what looked like dust and… was that hair?
Then the chat began to spike with urgency.
Alive – Live Chat]
[💀YeetMeNow: Just take the tea and bolt. Politely. Like a gentleman fugitive.]
[👀imjustwatching: Why is this scarier than Nurse Mimi omg.]
[🍰CakeOrCorpse: Bet she's serving regret for dessert.]
[Dead – Live Chat]
[🥄deathbyspoon: Oops. She poured you the bitter blend.]
[💌porcelainenvy: One cup for you. One for her. One for what you forgot.]
[🧸raggedrules: Pinky fingers up, darling. It's time for manners.]
Jin reluctantly sat in the unoccupied seat beside her with a sigh. His trembling hand hovered over Lady Victoria's porcelain fingers.
And the moment he touched her….
Creeeak – CLICK.
Her head twitched, and her mouth opened, not too wide…. But just enough for a tiny phonograph speaker inside to start crackling.
A music box melody played in reverse, hauntingly slow.
Then, her voice came.
🎵 "Welcome… My dear guest~"
🎵 "I'm glad you could join us. Please, have a sip."
One of the smaller dolls sitting beside him creaked as it lifted a teacup toward him.
Jin looked into it.
The liquid inside shimmered unnaturally, like oil and ink had been stirred together.
He swallowed hard, took the cup, and pretended to sip.
It smelled like moldy sugar and metal. Like childhood turned sour.
"Mm – mmh… Tha – Thank you. This… tea tastes good…" Jin said, stuttering as he placed the teacup down in front of him.
The cup clicked back into place and Lady Victoria's head turned slightly more toward him.
Her mouth opened again.
🎵 "I'm glad you like it~ Shall we play a game, My dear guest?"
"Uhh… Su – sure?"
🎵 "Great!~ It's simple... Just answer 3 questions and do not lie. I hate liars, my dear guest~"
"O – okay…"
🎵 "Do you believe in ghosts, My dear guest?"
"Ye – Yes… I do…"
🎵 "Good. It is rude to deny your hosts."
Her smile didn't move, but something behind her eyes seemed to twitch.
🎵 "Next question…"
🎵 "What was your first lie?"
He froze.
(Wait, first ever lie? Who even remembers that?!)
Jin was silent for a few minutes when static hissed from the phonograph, which made him flinch from his seat. His fear then rose as he couldn't think of what to say, and he just blurted out an answer from his memory.
"I-I-I don't remember my first lie, but when I was younger, I once said I didn't break the glass… but I did…" he quickly said as he had closed his eyes and his arms were clenched into a fist.
The dolls around the table then moved.
Their heads turned, and their eyes focused on him.
🎵 "Truth tastes sweet. Just like tea~"
🎵 "Final question, My dear guest~"
🎵 "Are you lonely?"
Suddenly, a fog began to appear from the floor, and Jin could feel the cold rising through the soles of his shoes.
"I-I-I don't know?"
Then, the doll didn't speak.
Not right away.
Instead, the teacup nearest him shattered. Porcelain shards spilled into his lap.
Then, Lady Victoria's head jerked forward as if nodding, and something slid from beneath her skirt, a small, sealed envelope with frilly corners and a wax seal pressed with a doll's silhouette.
🎵 "Take this… but only open it when you are ready… and don't forget…"
Jin cautiously took it.
DING!
[System Notification]
[You have completed: Lady Victoria's Tea Party – My dear guest is not a liar.]
[Reward: Clue #2/3 – The Forgotten Doll cannot remember its name.]
POP!
All four dolls slumped down in unison.
The phonograph stopped.
No music…
No giggles…..
No whispers…..
Only the pounding of his heart.
Jin then shot out of his seat like it was on fire, nearly knocking over the table, and didn't turn his back until he'd stepped onto the main path again.
He clutched the envelope in his hand, and it was cold, as if it had been buried in snow.
"…Okay," he whispered.
"Tea time's over – …." He murmured as he glanced back at the gazebo.
Lady Victoria and her entourage stood in a row by the steps of the gazebo, facing him.
".... Or not…."
Lady Victoria was at the center, and she creaked a curtsy. The others then soon followed her gesture.
And Jin was already running far away, as usual.
✦ Sanity: 67% –> 66% - Functionally Frightened
Time Limit: 01:18:19