Toys and Puppets

Seedy began panicking somewhat, letting out concerned guttural screams as its vines flopped around, and its petals flapped in concern. Its originally green body became filled with bulging red veins as its body increased in size several times over. In the end, it couldn't remain on top of Jack's shoulders, falling off and crashing into a few seats behind it.

The vines grew rather rapidly, increasing both in size and quantity. Soon, it just became a swirling mass of greenery. On the other hand, the petals grew in size and became bright red. The various petals extended outwards, revealing the teeth. While trembling ever so slightly, they began expanding, while the teeth became longer and sharper.

Eventually, it seemed to shed skin as a layer of what looked like translucent skin fell off.

Then, it was silent for a little while. With how still Seedy was, it almost seemed like it had died. However, Seedy suddenly jumped up to life, now looking hardly different from the plant monsters from the first surprise game Jack played.

Seedy brought up its own vines, looking at what it had become. Then, it flailed them about in joy, opening and closing its mouth.

Without waiting for long, Seedy rushed over to Jack and wrapped its vines around him. While it wasn't able to rest on his shoulder anymore, it still put its closed-up petals on his shoulder.

Stanley smiled upon seeing this display before clearing his throat.

"Anyways, we now move on to our final game, and this time everyone has now become a contestant!"

Though before he got any further in explaining the rules, his body suddenly went limp and his eyes became dull.

However, he did not fall to the ground. His elbows hung up as though there were strings attached to them, while the metal finger-like rods on his back began moving. As for the doll on his shoulder, she rocked back and forth with her hands raised up in the air, causing her pigtails to swing along with it.

"Now I, Naya, will take over to announce our final, and my favorite game!"

The voice was rather high-pitched but sounded unnaturally soft. While it did sound like a little girl's voice, the tone was rather off-putting, making it sound like someone was actually just doing a really good impression.

"As our other host Stanley said, now everyone will become a contestant, including Stanley himself! Though, he will be bound by different rules."

On top of that, it sounded like it was coming from every direction at once, or more accurately like the voice was inside one's head. The fact that the doll's mouth didn't move as she spoke made it feel even more ethereal.

"To start, let me introduce you all to our new contestants that will be joining us for this game."

Blake furrowed his brows with one hand lightly over his chest.

"New contestants?"

With a loud snap, a cluster of spotlights in the center turned on. However, all of the lights pointed outwards, revealing the very edges of the room in the distance. And in those pockets of darkness were countless humanoid figures in the distance that looked vaguely familiar.

Elise cursed under her breath.

"What... What are those things?"

Some of them looked like giant stuffed animals, while others looked like slightly bloated people.

It was hard to tell from the distance, but closer inspection would show that the giant stuffed animals had faint bloodstains, and at sections where the seams burst, revealed that they were stuffed with human organs. As for the ones that outwardly looked human, they were instead full of stuffing, the yellow cotton revealed in all of the orifices.

After this reveal, Mike's corpse was ripped in two, before the two halves seemed to magically regenerate into an inverted human and stuffed animal duo. From there, both plopped onto the ground with a smack, but they soon stood up once more, reanimated just like zombies.

Myra covered her face in fear.

"This is too much!"

The doll let out a giggle while excitedly rocking back and forth in one smooth motion.

"Stanley and the rest of our meticulously made toys will be hunting our ex-audience members and previous contestants! If you die, then they will be the winners!"

Stanley's head slowly raised, though it was still resting on the side of his shoulder. Still, there was a needlessly wide smile on his face. As for Jessica and Mia, they were brought over and lowered until they were dangling near Jack and the others. Then, their bindings suddenly released as they slammed into the floor, slightly disoriented.

Mia grit her teeth while holding onto the side of her head.

"Fuck, this nightmare still isn't over?"

Jessica got up with a pained expression. She let out a small sigh.

"Well, at least it's the final game..."

The doll let out a teasing hum.

"However, so long as you are able to escape with your life intact, then you will be the winner! Once the game itself starts, all of the lights will go out, but do not fret as each of you will be given flashlights! Unfortunately, there's going to be a limited time."

She raised a finger, putting it above her lips as though shushing.

"The amount of time you get is determined by the total value of all the cards you drew. Using the values from blackjack, the total number determines how many seconds you have on your flashlights. For those that had an active participation, rejoice! And for those that didn't... you can only blame yourself."

Blake's blood ran cold. It took him a second to find the words.

"Motherfucker. Of course they made a goddamn rule like that."

Myra shivered and hugged herself to warm up.

"Are we doomed?"

Elise narrowed her eyes.

"There's no way that the flashlights are that important... right? Besides, the time you can use them would be short regardless."

The doll let out a laugh that echoed throughout the place.

"For our hiders that can use the flashlights, I'd advise you not to use it recklessly. A tiny little secret about us is that we lurk only in the shadows, and disappear in the light. Sometimes all you have to do to escape a nightmare is wake up! But if you don't, naturally you'll remain asleep forever."

The corner of Mia's lip twitched.

"...I guess we were lucky to have at least something with us. Though, we definitely aren't nearly as well off as some people."

Jessica let out an awkward laugh.

"S-Speaking of, what is your name, sir?"

Jack tilted his head to the side and chuckled.

"My name is Jack! Don't you know that?"

Jessica's eyes widened.

"Eh? Really? What a coincidence, I'm also looking for someone that we lost, also called Jack."

Jack scratched the side of his head, not connecting the dots that the person she was talking about was actually him.

"Hahaha, that's cool! Are you also excited to play the game together?"

Jessica furrowed her brows slightly.

"I-I guess."

As for Mia, she had her eyes dead on the plant monster that was hugging Jack, clearly not trusting it. Blake looked over at the three and spoke up.

"If it's alright with you, then can we partner up with you?"

He seemed to realize that there was a very small chance of the three of them surviving on their own. But before any response could be made, the doll spoke up once more.

"Now, don't worry about the open space, as we will make a perfectly small and enclosed set of rooms for you all to run about in! The exit will be placed somewhere random, so just run until you find it. But that is optional. If you so wish, you can simply stand still and let our other contestants capture you! Don't worry, you will be made into a toy as beautiful as the rest should you get caught."

The doll clapped its hands together.

"And with that, let our final game, Hide-and-Seek, begin!"

When she said that, all the spotlights shut off with a snap. On top of that, the cards that had been drawn suddenly combined into each other and changed color, morphing into a strange striped black and red flashlight. At the same time, the chairs suddenly morphed and expanded, growing to become a large series of walls, making a variety of strange rooms.

A ceiling formed just above the room Jack was in, while the room was essentially just a tiny box. There was only one doorway out, which took him to Jessica and Mia, where their room's ceiling was incredibly far up, and the room itself was incredibly long, like a hallway that seemed to continue on forever.

Although it was very hard to see, it was still possible for Jessica and Mia to see a few meters forward.

Along with that, there were also faint sounds of grating metal that were slowly approaching.

Jack giggled.

"This is going to be so fun!"