The next step was to lower her foot and land it behind the mannequin.
Behind it, yet before her.
The two of them—one human and one... 'Mai Mingle truly couldn't say what on earth the mannequin was'—remained in a motionless standoff in the dead silence for a dozen or so seconds.
Slowly, Mai Mingle lowered her foot, stepping on the part of the toilet connected to the wall.
The mannequin's eyes rolled down to look at Mai Mingle's foot, revealing mostly their whites. Because even though she—no, *it*—had lowered its gaze, its eyelids remained stretched wide, as if they couldn't move at all.
Also unmoving was its smiling, vividly red mouth, a row of teeth half-hidden within.
'This is sickening. This thing is way too close...'
However, this wasn't the closest they would be.
