The dust in the clock tower swirled like ghosts waking from old sleep. Lily held her grandfather's journal tightly against her chest, her small fingers trembling—not with fear, but with a fierce determination that didn't match her age. William was still catching his breath, and #@&# was lying on the floor, questioning every life decision that led him to fighting unknown masked people in a collapsing tower.
The room felt different now—colder, darker, like the shadows had become living creatures watching every move they made.
William: "That… thing… wasn't a normal thief."
#@&#: "No kidding. Normal thieves don't flip out windows like bats on caffeine."
Lily: "He was here for the journal. Which means Grandpa was right. They found us."
That sentence sent a chill through the room.
#@&# stood up, brushing dust from his hair that somehow made him look even more chaotic than usual.
#@&#: "Okay, Lily. You need to explain. Who are they?"
Lily swallowed.
Lily: "I… I don't know their name. Grandpa never told me. He only said… that once I got the key, bad people would come for the truth."
And then she opened the journal.
The pages were filled with maps, codes, sketches of strange symbols, drawings of underground passages, and notes written in a rushed, panicked hand.
One page made all three freeze.
A picture of the clock tower…
And beneath it a sentence:
"If they reach the tower, run. They will kill without hesitation."
A sound echoed from below.
Footsteps.
Heavy.
Multiple.
William's eyes widened.
William: "Someone else is here."
#@&#: "Correction: many someones."
Lily: "We have to hide!"
Before they could move, the entire tower shuddered.
The old wooden stairs groaned like something enormous had begun climbing.
#@&#: "WHY ARE THERE ALWAYS STAIRS IN HORROR SITUATIONS?!"
William: "Shh!"
#@&#: "I'M NOT GOOD AT SHH!"
They backed away from the staircase as the footsteps grew louder… louder… until shadows appeared against the wall.
Not one.
Not two.
But five tall figures—each dressed in black coats, faces hidden behind metallic masks shaped like animal skulls: a wolf, a raven, a serpent, a boar, and a horned beast.
They looked like nightmares pulled from a storybook meant to traumatize children.
The leader, the one wearing the wolf skull, spoke with a voice that sounded scraped by gravel.
Wolf Mask: "Hand over the journal. Now."
Lily stepped back, clutching the book as if her life depended on it.
Maybe it did.
William whispered urgently:
William: "They're armed."
#@&#: "How do you know?"
William: "Because criminals don't bring nothing to a break-in, genius!"
#@&#: "BE CALM."
William: "YOU BE CALM!"
The wolf masked man raised his hand.
Four figures spread across the room, surrounding them like predators closing in on prey.
Lily: "I won't give it to you."
Her voice cracked, but she kept standing.
The serpent mask tilted his head.
Serpent Mask: "Children should not play with dangerous things."
Lily: "Neither should grown men who hide behind masks!"
#@&# whispered to William:
#@&#: "I like her."
William: "Please don't encourage the child."
The raven masked figure suddenly lunged forward.
William grabbed Lily and stepped back.
#@&# instinctively grabbed the nearest object he could find—a heavy metal gear from the clock mechanism.
#@&#: "Back off, you decorative Halloween rejects!"
The boar mask swung at him.
#@&# barely ducked, swinging the gear like a frying pan.
It hit the floor instead, making a sound that echoed through the tower like a death bell.
The wolf mask sighed.
Wolf Mask: "Enough games."
He signaled.
Two masked figures moved toward Lily.
Lily trembled—not with fear, but with rage.
Her voice shook as she shouted:
Lily: "My grandfather fought you until his last breath! I won't let you take what he protected!"
Wolf Mask froze.
Wolf Mask: "…So the old man told her."
Raven Mask: "Kill them. Take the journal."
The air tightened.
The shadows closed in.
William grabbed a rusty pipe.
#@&# lifted the gear again.
Lily clutched the journal.
The fight was brutal.
The masked figures moved with trained precision—sharp, fast strikes that forced #@&# and William back. A chair shattered. A window cracked. Dust exploded in clouds. Lily hid behind a cabinet, shaking as she protected the journal with her whole body.
#@&# took a punch to the stomach.
William grabbed the serpent mask from behind.
Raven mask slammed #@&# into a wall.
The cat (from earlier chapters) suddenly appeared, hissed, and scratched the boar mask's face, buying them seconds.
Then—
The mirror.
That cursed, enchanted, living mirror from the previous chapter began to glow.
Its surface rippled like water in a storm.
And then—
It showed something.
Not a reflection.
Not a vision.
A message, written backwards:
"HE IS NOT DEAD."
Lily gasped so loudly the masked men all turned.
Lily: "Grandpa… Grandpa is ALIVE?!"
Wolf Mask snarled.
Wolf Mask: "Stop looking at the mirror!"
Too late.
The mirror brightened more—shaking, humming, cracking—revealing another message:
"BEHIND YOU."
Everyone turned instantly.
A sixth masked figure stood in the doorway.
Unlike the others, this one wore no skull mask—just a black hood.
But his hands…
His gloves…
The stains on them—dark red—were unmistakable.
Lily whispered,
Lily: "That's… that's the man who took Grandpa…!"
The hooded man stepped forward.
Hooded Man: "Give me the journal, Lily… and I'll take you to him."
Her breath caught.
#@&# moved between them.
#@&#: "No deal. Back off."
The hooded man raised a knife.
The wolf mask signaled his men to close in.
And then—
A sound thundered through the tower.
A gunshot.
The entire room froze.
Someone had been hit.
But the chapter ends right there.
No explanation.
No reveal.
Just the shock, the fear, the chaos.
The journal fell from Lily's hand.
The mirror cracked.
The cat hissed and fled.
Shadows shifted like they were alive.
And in the middle of the chaos…
A single drop of blood fell onto the floor.
—— つづく ——
The truth is closer.
The danger is greater.
And the night… is far from over.