[HOLO HOTEL
A PLACE FULL OF PEERLESS BEAUTIES WITH UNIQUE AND OTHERWORLDLY PERSONALITIES. A PARADISE FOR THOSE WHO ARE LOST AND FAR FROM HOME.
HOWEVER, WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THAT SUCH A PLACE, WHICH MANY WOULD GIVE AWAY EVERYTHING TO BE IN, WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A TOMB FOR THOSE WITH EVEN A MODICUM OF COMMON SENSE?
ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU THE STORY OF AN UNFORTUNATE SOUL, AND THE CHAOTIC WOMEN HE UNINTENTIONALLY SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH.]
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
I stood in front of Ethans house, looking uneasy. With every second that passed, I felt a growing wave of discomfort pass through my body.
I didn't know what the source was, but I had a truly terrible feeling that something bad would happen when I entered this house.
I tried to calm down, reminding myself that I've been here countless times already, but it didn't really work.
After all, the circumstances were different now. I'm not here to play, I'm here to find someone.
As nervousness glued my feet to the floor, I began to recall the chain of events that led to this.
===============
A while ago, Ethan and I went fishing for the first time. Although we didn't have much luck, we still had fun.
After four hours passed by and only one fish caught, we decided to go home.
However, when Ethan reeled in his hook, there was a suspicious red book attached to it.
The moment he tried to remove it from his hook, he froze. A couple seconds passed by, then a couple minutes. Yelling, shaking, hitting, I tried to snap him out of it, but nothing seemed to work.
It was only when I threatened him with an ambulance that he seemed to wake up.
I asked what happened, but he reassured me that he was fine. I wanted to believe him, but it took several more minutes before he could speak without shaking.
Worried, I offered to drive him to the hospital, suggesting he get checked, but Ethan declined.
I couldn't blame him, hospitals bills are fucking crazy these days.
Instead, he expressed a great desire to go home. I stressed to him that his health isn't something he should fuck around with, but he shrugged me off and walked away while holding the book in a death grip.
The sight of his veins bulging as he held onto the book left a deep and unsettling feeling in my stomach.
After that, I didn't see or hear from him for the next five days.
Texts, phone calls, even mutual friends couldn't reach him. It was like he just disappeared.
So obviously, I went looking for him.
===============
Remembering what I was here for, the nerves dissipated slightly, and my feet began to move.
I retrieved Ethans spare key from under the doormat, and took a deep breath.
Ka-chik
The door unlocked, letting out a bloodcurdling screech as I pushed it open.
"Were the hinges always this bad?"
I didn't get to think about it too deeply, since once inside, I saw that the house I once treated like a second home had seemingly changed completely.
The layout of the living room was as I remembered it, and the furniture was the same, yet it somehow looked totally different.
Everything seemed to go together weirdly, like a puzzle made using the correct pieces, but the final image is still distorted.
Nothing was out of place, but at the same time, nothing was familiar. For a second I genuinely thought I entered the wrong house.
"Fuck me man..."
Even though something was very wrong, I couldn't prove it. I had no choice but to assume it was all in my head. Ignoring the mind numbing sensation, I moved forward.
Cautiously exploring the rest of the house, I failed to find anything explaining Ethan's sudden absence.
One by one, I checked the rooms, finding nothing but dust.
"What the hell is all this grey dust on the floor? Did Grandma go for a walk? How did she get out of the urn?"
The closer I got to the center of the house, the stranger the atmosphere got.
Until eventually, I stood in front of his rooms door.
My heart was beating insanely hard, it felt like it was thumping out of my chest. I don't know what I was anticipating, but it seemed like only horror lied beyond this door.
"Ethan, if this is a prank, I'm gonna beat your ass, I swear to god."
Mustering up some courage and a bit of hope, I pushed it open.
"What the hell?"
I froze in place, taking a few seconds to register what I saw.
A completely dark room, with only a bit of light leaking through a crack in the blinds.
The only other light source was the computer, open to a familiar webpage.
But none of that bothered me.
What made me step back was a large magic circle ripped straight from an anime in the center of the room, drawn with a red liquid that stood out even in the dark.
A thought crossed my mind, drawing multiple guesses on what this crimson liquid could be.
But the moment the tenth second passed, a vile smell filled my nostrils, confirming my worst suspicion.
Blood.
There was no mistaking it.
I suddenly felt sick to my stomach, covering my nose as the disgusting scent assaulted my senses.
However the smell wasn't what made me feel sick, it's what it implied.
I didn't know who's blood it was, and part of me didn't want to know. However, if this blood belonged to Ethan, then...
I shook my head, there's no way to confirm that right now. I should look for traces of him first before I mark him off as dead.
But even though I said that, looking through the room revealed absolutely nothing. His drawers had nothing in them, his closet was, for some reason, empty, and any papers I found were blank.
It was like any identifying information was stripped from the room.
"Did this fucker get hit with the existence erasure gun? Why is there nothing?"
Eventually, my attention turned to the PC.
I tried to ignore it since going through another mans computer is a crime worthy of death, but the jackass suddenly decided to go missing, so that's on him.
When I finally got a good look at the computer, the first thing I noticed was that it was opened to a YouTube page.
"Ah..."
The official Hololive channel.
"Deadass?"
=========
"Vtubers? Aren't they just old men acting like anime girls?"
"No! Well... Yes, sometimes. Anyway that's not the point!"
"Then what is the point? With how you're describing em, they just sound like regular streamers but for weebs."
"You take that back!"
=========
Recalling that memory, I chuckled. I never really got into the whole Japanese anime girl thing, some of it just seemed rather corny, like watching a dubbed anime.
Although there were a few indie vtubers I liked, I only ever watched clips Ethan would send me.
"Maybe I should have taken more interest in his hobbies. He was always raving about the newest anime."
Me personally, I was more of a Chinese web novel kind of guy, which Ethan made sure to clown on me for relentlessly.
As I looked around the room, relishing in old memories, I suddenly stumbled upon one from all the way back in high school.
=============
"If you had to hide a dirty magazine from your mom, where would you put it?"
"What kinda fuckass question is that?"
"Answer the question bro."
"Uh, I guess under the mattress?"
"... Shit, that's genius! Thanks man you're a life saver!"
"Hey, wait!"
"Huh?"
"You're not gonna let me see it?"
====================
The old book under the mattress trick. There's absolutely no way Ethan hid anything under his mattress though, I don't think he even remembers that conversation.
Still, it's the only place I haven't checked, so I should look just to make sure.
I stood up from the chair and made my way to the bed, making sure to step around the blood circle.
"Still don't know what that's about..."
Standing before the bed, I haphazardly lifted the mattress, and saw a worn red book marked with mysterious brown stains.
"No way..."
It's the exact same book he fished out of the lake.
I reached out to grab it, before pausing.
When I remembered what happened the moment Ethan touched the book, an extreme sense of dread fell upon my entire body.
I slammed the mattress down and backed away slowly, my heart beating out of my chest.
My entire body was warning me that touching that book would lead to a fate worse than death.
It wasn't a suspicion, it was conviction.
If I touched it, I'd die.
The appearance of the book was carved into my mind.
From its weirdly aged cover, to the brown shit stains that looked suspiciously like old blood.
Even weirder was it's title. I had seen the words before, but I refuse to believe that the situation and that name is connected.
"The Crawling Chaos? Please stop fucking with me. There's no way that shit is rea-"
*DOOOM*
When the last words left my mouth, an unsettling feeling suddenly washed over me.
I looked around anxiously as goosebumps rose along my arms. My eyes dilated and shook uncontrollably.
My head began to throb with a dull ache, and my vision began to blur. I began seeing double, then triple, until the surroundings became almost completely incomprehensible.
Falling to my hands and knees, I could only endure as excruciating pain wracked my very being.
"... The blood circle..."
And to add on top of that, the ritualistic looking circle now had an ominous red glow, further driving home the fact that things are quickly going to shit.
As questions about the situation increased, my condition worsened. I couldn't move, I could barely breath, and consciousness was slipping from me with each passing second.
Cold sweats enveloped my entire body as I began to realize that the situation wasnt normal, and I didn't know how to escape.
The mind splitting headache pushed me further and further towards the edge, and I could tell what happens when I slip.
It would be the end of me.
Blood slowly dripped from my nose as that reality dawned upon me.
Is this it? Am I gonna die?
...
Yeah, not fucking happening.
The moment that thought entered my head, a crisis signal was sent to my brain, and desperate strength began to fill my body.
"No fucking way!! I just got a promotion! I won't let you take this from me!!!''
After busting my ass at that shitty company for nearly 4 years, I finally got a pay raise in the form of a promotion! If I get sucked off into the afterlife, what the hell did I struggle so much for!?
Veins on my forehead bulged as I redirected all of my mental energy into getting up. I Staggered up onto my feet with immense effort, and shakily took a step towards the door.
Shock, your mind reeling.
Suddenly, i felt like I got hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer.
I blacked out for a moment, but I remained standing.
More blood leaked from my nose like a broken faucet as I took another shakey step forward.
Your body is overwhelmed with pain.
I freeze in place as the sensation of thousands of hypodermic needles press into my body. My skin turned red and swollen with pain and I nearly blacked out from the feeling of my organs twisting and churning.
A fountain of crimson erupts from my mouth, staining the floor and my shirt.
Still, I take another step forward, my desire for money driving my actions instead of conscious thought.
Otherworldy voices whisper around you.
A voice whispers in my ear, then another, then another. Before long, dozens of them fill my head.
Maddening whispers of the past, present and future begin defiling my thoughts.
I can feel my brain leaking out of my ears as forbidden knowledge tears apart my psyche.
"B... Bastard..."
But I refuse to let it win.
In a final burst of indignation, I take one more step.
Impending doom approaches...
And then, everything stops.
No more pain, no more headache.
The unsettling atmosphere vanishes, and I'm overwhelmed with a chilling sense of normalcy.
I stand there in a daze, not quite knowing what to say or think.
The way it just disappeared... Was it even real? Was all of that pain just a dream?
Or the calm before the storm?
I looked around briefly, before turning my attention to the door in front of me.
I reach out and open it, confused. Is this really the exit to this nightmare?
However, when that door opened, I didn't see a familiar/unfamiliar hallway.
"Void...?"
I saw a vast, black emptiness. Like the house was ripped from its roots and thrown into space.
No, space would be inaccurate, because space at least had stars. I was looking at a pitch black abyss
I stood there, eyes widened in confusion, before falling onto my back.
'Oh, is that how it is?'
It seems I wasn't dreaming after all. My skin was still red and swollen, my organs were still crushed, and blood still leaked from every orifice.
Despite it being painless, the rapidly dwindling strength in my body told me that this is the end. A realization that shook me less than I thought it would.
Of course, had I the capacity for it, I would have screamed and cried, begging whatever cosmic entity to save me.
But unfortunately, no such thing would appear.
So as I lay there, slowly succumbing to my injuries, my life began to flash through my eyes.
And man, what a shit life, honestly.
I don't even know how I lived for this long.
I dazedly stared at the ceiling, contemplating my life choices.
And, somehow, the ceiling stared back?
I blinked, and a large mass of writhing red tentacles entered my vision.
They shifted and churned in incomprehensible ways, combining into each other and melting away into nothingness.
The sight completely brought my brain to a halt.
And as my mind began to unravel at the sight of this Eldritch being, I only had one last thought before succumbing to my wounds.
"For all this suffering, I better see some big titty angels when I wake up."
The last of my life force eventually burned out, and I disappeared from this world.
Gone, but not dead.
.....
....
...
..
.
[THREE IN NUMBER, THE BLESSINGS BESTOWED. THE PRICE OF LIFE, THREE CURSES OWED.]
[BE SURE TO ENTERTAIN ME WELL.]
×Chapter 1: Unwanted Attention×