"Ohh..." Faceless winced, rubbing her hands to her behind as she followed behind Bubble. "He really does a number, doesn't he?"

"It's times like these that I'm glad I don't have a mouth!" Bubble growled, stomping along the creaky floorboards of the hotel. "No wonder all those others left. They might have guns, but I'm betting that's their blood on their lips!"

"I heard they got their teeth knocked out," Arcade murmured, clinging to the edge of Faceless' dress. "I wish Fukuro was here... She'd know what to do..."

Bubble shook her head. "She might've gotten away from Red, but she still got caught by Valtiel." The three hobbled along, wincing and moaning in pain through the hotel. "The exit has to be somewhere around here... We didn't walk that far in..." Bubble abruptly stopped several feet from a door, Faceless bumping into her. Arcade peeked around the two, her hair falling across her face as she listened intently to the noises in front of them. Heavy footsteps. Not just that, but a metallic scraping noise. Bubble backed up a step, pushing the other two nurses back as well. A red glow seeped out from the crack under the door, steadily growing more intense.

"Is that..." Faceless whined. "Oh, come on, not again!"

A soft thump sounded from behind the door. After a long moment of more scraping noises, the door suddenly shattered from the driving force of an oversized combat knife to its center. The nurses gasped, raising their arms protectively as a rain of splinters fell upon them. As the splinters finally subsided, the three looked back to the door. There he was! The Bogeyman! Bubble clasped her hands in front of her chest, nearly wilting to the floor. "Bogey! You're back!"

The Bogeyman slowly directed his attention to the three, moving little more than to breathe. The three nurses stood waiting for him to say something. Anything! Arcade quivered against Faceless. He had come back. Her message had gotten to him! She gazed up and down his body, taking him in. Her gaze fell to his left hand, realizing it held firm to a tight bunch of terrycloth wrapped around a... blond girl. Arcade stared at the girl, whose eyes darted about at the nurses, seeming frightened. Arcade looked back up at the girl's captor. "Bogey..." Arcade stepped out from behind Faceless, inching towards the metal-headed man. "Bogey, who is that? What are you doing?"

He grunted in irritation, shifting the point of his helmet to the side, pointing away from her. "Arcade, maybe we should leave him alone," Faceless warned. "He doesn't seem to be um... Normal right now."

"Why won't you say anything?" Arcade stumbled a bit, edging closer to him. She had never gotten to be this close before. Usually, he would have tried to run off. He was shy like that. Not only had he stayed put, however, but he had also not even spoken a word. Why wasn't he even telling her to go away? "Bogey..."

"Arcade, come back here. Let's leave him be." Bubble reached out for Arcade's wrist, only to pull back as Arcade slapped her away. At the sound of the strike, the Bogeyman reached out, grabbing Arcade by the throat, lifting her up an inch from the floor and throwing her against the wall.

Arcade struck the wall hard, laying still for a moment. "Bogey... Are you like him now?" She sat up, propped up by her arms. "Are you like Red?" The Bogeyman paused for a moment, then continued on his trudge away from the nurses. Arcade reached out again for him, but Faceless grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her back. The shy nurse whimpered as her beloved Bogeyman rounded the corner of the hall, heading for the basement.


Maybe he hadn't done the right thing.

James lingered on outside the Historical Society building, his brows pinching together above his nose. He still had nightmares about that place. The endlessly confusing corridors, the smell... God, the smell. He had gotten through it, though. Surely this younger guy would get through it just as well. Still, perhaps he had assumed wrong. Sure, there were similarities in their stories, but was he really guilty of such a thing? He seemed like a good enough guy. Young, too. James lounged a while longer in the seat of his car, his head lolling to the side from the headrest to relax on the seat belt. What caught his eyes next was more startling, more horrifying than anything he had seen thus far in his life. Not even that pyramid-headed monster could compare to the horror outside his window.

Maria smiled wide, waving to him. "James!"

James smiled weakly, waving slightly in return. As she made a rotating gesture with her hand, he painfully rolled his window down, trying to hide his displeasure. "Maria! Hey..." He glanced back to the Historical Society, then back to the woman outside his car. "How did you find me here?"

"Well..." She tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling. "To be honest, I was worried about you, so... I hired someone to find you."


Alex cautiously stepped into the darkness of the building, switching on his flashlight. To his left he found a glass case filled with small artifacts, many of them arrowheads and other primitive tools sitting alongside yellowed photographs. He traced his fingertips along the glass, peering down at the items. There was something in this building that guy, the one named James, wanted him to find. But what? Why did he have to come in here? Alex lifted his gaze from the case, peering into the room beyond. A small gallery of paintings greeted him in the next room, some of them appearing to be almost photographs. It was impossible, though. Why would there be photographs of corpses hanging in boxes around a figure wielding a spear and wearing an angular bucket on his head? Either they were paintings or the town had an even more morbid history than he thought.

Shortly after discovering the paintings, however, he turned his head at the sound of running and struggling with the door. Before he could react, James rushed in, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him along through the gallery, bursting through double doors into another gallery. "What the hell?" Alex managed as he was dragged along.

"No time!" James pulled the man further into the room, sprinting down a rough set of stairs that had seemingly broken their way into the building, leading deep below the ground. "Gotta get away!"

"From what?" Alex yanked his arm away, keeping up with James as the man flew down the stairs.

"Ex! Evil ex! Just run!"