Two Dolls and Buttons

Walking a little further, the scenery in front of you is no longer quiet and secluded, but clean and tidy streets and tall buildings. People come and go, and the traffic is busy. The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the rippling lake, painting a mirror of the sky.

The sun was warm and the water was shimmering. I tried my best to suppress my curiosity, but the curious baby's eyes still revealed that I was a newcomer. People who saw it couldn't help but chuckle - probably another tourist. Yokohama has simple folk customs and beautiful scenery. It is a very suitable place for travel. Some people only need to come once to remember this place deeply, and they will never forget it. There is no need to come again for a second time.

In my eyes, this place is not very conspicuous but it is also a dangerous place. Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, not to mention that they are not ordinary people. The real world of death is much scarier than ghost stories.

Anyway, I am just an ordinary tourist who likes unique things. I have nothing to do with the extraordinary during the day. Today is particularly peaceful, so there is no need for "Vivian" to appear.

"Next stop, the five tallest buildings in Yokohama. The silver-grey buildings rise from the ground and reach the sky. It is an absolute must-see when visiting Yokohama... Hey, don't they have a name? Why are they called the five buildings?" I studied the Yokohama tourist diary in my hand and was surprised by the simplicity of its description. It was not until I flipped through the entire diary that I realized that it seemed that only the description of it was vague, as if it carried a hint of mystery.

Oops, my unique curiosity as a horror novelist urged me to find out!

"Yuan Fang, what do you think?"

I played a little joke for my own amusement, looking at the sky which was about to darken. Before I could make a decision, I heard giggling sounds in my ears.

"Strange! Strange! Weird! Weird!"

I don't know when a rag doll sat on my shoulder, shaking its head and kicking its legs, twitching continuously, its broken buttonholes stained with a frightening blood red, and it giggled strangely, and its linen braids hit my face, bringing a blunt pain.

This puppet seemed to have been on my shoulder for a long time.

Before I could react, a scream that shook the sky suddenly rang out from the side.

"ah!!!"

The boy with side-swept bangs and wearing overalls screamed miserably, and immediately ran a long way away, hiding behind the corner of the wall. He only dared to show his trembling head, and said to me tremblingly: "Miss...your shoulder...that doll...seemed to be talking just now...I must have heard it wrongly, hahaha..."

Perhaps he suspected that what he had just seen was not real, or he was embarrassed for having such a big reaction. He scratched his head and smiled awkwardly. Just as he was about to walk out, the puppet started laughing weirdly again.

"Doll! Doll! Speak! Speak!"

As it spoke, it banged on its buttons with its hands, splashing out a few drops of scarlet liquid.

“Ahhhh!!!”

.

"Yes, is that so, miss, your doll is truly unique..."

Nakajima Atsushi leaned against the wall with a pale face, listened to my explanation after racking his brains, and smiled a forced smile as if he was about to die.

"It's high-tech! I bought it when I was traveling. It can repeat and perform simple movements... I didn't expect that there would be someone next to me. I'm so sorry!"

"I think I saw something red..."

"It's an illusion! There's nothing! Look if you don't believe me!" I quickly pulled the puppet off my shoulder, handed it to Nakajima Atsushi who dodged consciously, and pulled its button for him to take a closer look. Although I was also shocked, my screams were already finished by the boy in front of me - he must be very afraid of ghosts, because he still hasn't calmed down until now, and his whole face has lost color. Oh, it's my fault. But if I wasn't reminded, I wouldn't realize what happened at all, let alone consciously cover it up.

Although the button was stained with red, it could not be wiped off. The fabric under the button was also clean, as if the blood that had just splashed out was just an illusion. The puppet was no longer moving, like a lifeless object.

I took back the doll and said to the poor boy with a sincere face: "Please let me do something for you to express my apology."

"No, it doesn't matter, I just haven't seen it..." Nakajima Atsushi took another deep breath and opened his palm with forced composure, revealing a few ruby-colored buttons.

"This belongs to you, young lady. It looks very valuable, but it fell to the ground. I was just about to tell you..."

If it were an ordinary button, Nakajima Atsushi would not have gone out of his way to look for the owner, but the colors of the buttons in his hand were too beautiful, with a moist red glow. Although there were gaps, each gap was the same size, like a deliberately polished work of art. It didn't look like an ordinary object.

I didn't expect this lady to have such a unique hobby... But would anyone buy such a scary puppet? The sound it made was also very clear, and it didn't seem like it was copied by a machine.

After hearing what he said, I felt even more ashamed. Look at such a little angel, what have I done!

What made me feel even more embarrassed was that before I had time to look around, the ghost story had already started. [The Dropped Button] had also appeared.

Although I would subconsciously ignore the weirdness around me, once I noticed it, I could roughly understand how this ghost story became a reality.

[“Vivian…I’m so scared…”

Little Anna choked and covered her mouth with her hands to stop her sobbing. Her elbows and clothes were covered in blood, and she was holding a doll in her arms that looked like it had been pulled out of blood.

The puppet kept leaking liquid, which hit the floor with a dripping sound, and the whole world was echoing with the clicking sound.

Vivian looked at the blood-stained puppet in fear and swallowed dryly, her teeth trembling and chattering with fear.

God, why is this happening! What is wrong with this world? A plastic doll is holding a knife and is trying to kill people! Am I still alive? Is this really not a dream?

"Anna, listen to me, put it down, it's bleeding, it will be exposed, it will be discovered..."

She lowered her voice very softly, as if she didn't want to be heard. But even so, it still startled the blood clot in little Anna's hand. The puppet raised its limbs and twitched. With a click, the red button on its eyes fell off and hit the ground, splashing a little blood, as if crying.

On the puppet's face are two button eyes with gaps, half red and half black. 】

I remembered that buttons can fall off puppets. In other words, the red button in the boy's hand was probably dropped from the puppet's eye.

Nakajima Atsushi looked at the puppet's red eyes and had some bad guesses about the purpose of the button he picked up. He was so scared that his fingers started to tremble and he had an expression that looked like he wanted to cry but couldn't.

"Little Miss, your things..."

This is so scary! What kind of doll has blood-red buttons as eyes? Aren’t they afraid of scaring children?

I hurriedly took the button from his hand, fearing that he would be shocked. Although I felt that his reaction was a bit excessive, I was still considerate and did not expose the boy's sensitive and fragile heart.

Come to think of it, he's the only person I've seen in all these days who's scared of weird scenes. It would be fun to drag someone like him into a haunted house to play with us.

I was thinking something in my mind, but I said anxiously, "Please tell me your name. I'm really a big help, but I'm also giving you a scare."

"Nakajima Atsushi."

His speech was still a little halting, probably because he still hadn't recovered from his shock.

"Okay, Atsushi-kun." I changed my words and said, "If that's not possible, please let me treat Atsushi-kun to a meal. In fact, Atsushi-kun is the first person I met in Yokohama."

"Oh, no thanks, Miss, you are here for tourism, right..."

This was actually quite obvious, since I hadn't put away the Yokohama travel diary yet. I flipped to the page with the five buildings and showed it to Nakajima Atsushi.

"That's it. I was just about to go for a walk when I ran into Atsushi-kun. By the way, is there anything special about this building? The book says it's a must-see attraction when you come to Yokohama."

If it's so famous, he must know it. I stared at Nakajima Atsushi and pretended to listen carefully.

"!!!"

A strange look appeared on Nakajima Atsushi's face. He twitched his lips and suddenly lowered his voice: "Miss, I suggest you don't go to this place."

Why is the building of the Port Mafia considered a must-see attraction in Yokohama? Miss, where did you get this harmful book?

"Why?"

I cooperated with him and asked carefully in a low voice. I thought to myself that this guy was really interesting. Even asking for directions acted like a secret agent.

"Because... because..." Nakajima Atsushi looked at the expectant girl in front of him and was too embarrassed to say that Yokohama was indeed a place where the Mafia had built five buildings. He just stammered and replied, "That place... is very dangerous... there are ghosts, yes, there are ghosts!"

Thinking of Akutagawa, he became more certain of what he said.

Akutagawa is a person who is scarier than ghosts.

Is there a ghost?

Let’s make arrangements for it tonight.

I thought secretly and nodded vigorously.

"I know. I'm most afraid of ghosts."

There is absolutely no contradiction between my fear of ghosts and my love of writing ghost stories. If I were not afraid, no matter how scary the stories I wrote were, it would be meaningless. How can I scare others if I don't scare myself?

Of course, even so, the previous "arrangement" was just a joke. Although I roughly understood after seeing this puppet, I should have a secret to escape. But who would risk danger to have fun? I am not Lily now, and what I will face is not my special ability. Although his words are vague, it should be for my own good. I am willing to experience the feeling of my heart stopping, but it does not mean that I like my heart to stop all the time.

"I agreed to treat you to dinner." I put the doll back on my shoulder with a smile, facing Nakajima Atsushi's deathly look.

"Let's go?"

I had already started to dream about taking him to experience a haunted house, but everything was interrupted so suddenly.

Before Nakajima Atsushi could say a word, a sharp black object quickly tore through the air, penetrated his back in an instant, and pierced his entire body.

!!!

With the sound of muscles tearing, warm blood dripped onto my expressionless face, and the puppet beside my shoulder was also stained with blood.

Even though I have written before that “blood gushed out like a fountain” and “there was a nauseating fishy smell at the tip of my nose”, this time I truly experienced these feelings without any affectation or falsehood.

Why is there so much blood? Is he dead?

Is this an everyday occurrence or an extraordinary one?

Write it down! Write it down... Damn it! It's a matter of life and death. We'll talk about it later!

I stood there blankly watching the scene in front of me, holding back a scream out of habit, listening to my heartbeat that was about to jump out of my chest.

"Renhu, I've told you before, next time we meet I won't let you escape again."

A man in black with graying temples walked towards me from a distance and looked at me without any emotion.

To be more precise, it was next to me. A plastic doll suddenly appeared, with ugly scars on its face and blood clots on its hair, looking at him with resentful eyes.