DONT LISTEN TO THEM.- Chapter: ???

Instructions

The laughter of children echoed throughout the brightly lit hallways of Passion Joy, a place where happiness and wonder never seemed to end. For the ten children, ages ranging from seven to twelve, the days spent in the vibrant world of mascots and games felt like a dream. They ran in packs, skipping past the plush figures in oversized suits—each character was a friend, a protector, a guide through the magic of the emporium. The smell of candy, fruit, and popcorn was in the air, sweet and quickly filling the air.. But there was something darker beneath the surface, something none of them could see. Ayoi, an employee, watched from the shadows, her eyes glinting with a cruel satisfaction. She had been there for months, slowly making her way into the fabric of the establishment. Her presence was like a sickness—insidious, creeping into the hearts of the innocent, until all that was left was despair. Ayoi had watched them all: the giggling girls in their colorful dresses, the boys daring each other to ride the spinning teacups. They were perfect..unlike her. She had waited long enough. It was time. Without warning, the lights flickered and the music died. The children paused, looking around with confusion. Then came the sharp, guttural sound of a door slamming shut—an unnatural noise in the quiet of the arcade. The lights went out completely. Darkness consumed everything. Before they could even scream, the children were pulled one-by-one by a pair of agile arms, into a cold, unfamiliar room.. It smelled faintly of old fabric and looked like something metallic, as though blood had once stained the floor and never quite left. Ayoi was there, her face hidden beneath a mask and features obscured by the intricate patterns. She spoke softly, almost lovingly-but she was too cruel. "You’re special, you know," she whispered, her voice a sweet, venomous hum. "But special things need to be preserved for better use." The children tried to back away, but there was nowhere to run. Ayoi’s hands moved like lightning, ripping them from their childhood innocence. She picked them off one by one, leaving them unrecognizable. Realizing that she needed to hide the bodies, she then shoved them into the mascots, stuffing them into the empty suits like dolls—wrapping them in the cold fabric, stitching them into the lifeless bodies. Their fl3sh and b0n3s got tangled in the wiring and the cold base of the mascots, but she didn’t care. It was an easy fix. Ayoi didn’t care that what she did was wrong. She was relentless and cruel. One by one, they were silenced, their bodies no longer their own. Their souls—their essence—were trapped, forced to live on within the bright, grotesque smiles of the mascots. And then, just as quickly as it had all begun, it was over. Ayoi stood over them, her lips curling into a wicked smile. "Now you’ll never be lonely again," she whispered, her words a cold promise. She then remembered that she forgot to fully stuff one of the mascots. She then started to walk over to the last mascot with the final piece in between her arms. Finally stopping, she placed the last thing she needed into the suit, the h3. “There we go, now you're complete.” she whispered. “It’s always good to end off with the star of the show, isn't it?” She said, cackling as she spoke to the lifeless children. The mascots, now inhabited by the spirits of the children, layed perfectly still, their now bl00d stained glassy eyes staring blankly ahead. The room was eerily quiet, perfectly secure for the faint sound of the red liquid dripping off of her and the mascots. Ayoi took one last look around, savoring the final moments before turning and disappearing into the dark, leaving behind nothing but the shadows, the mascots, and the souls of the children that would never be free: instead, they’d be trapped inside the horrifying costumes, from now until eternity. 01001001 01010100 00100000 01001000 01010101 01010010 01010100 01010011