CHAPTER 9: NEW EYES
“Sweetheart…”
Mrs. Lan’s voice came from outside the door.
“Get up and come get your Day 2 gift.”
I sat motionless in the middle of the room.
Both arms were still wrapped tightly around the twelve pairs of sandals.
I didn’t dare answer.
Outside the door, Mrs. Lan gave a soft little laugh.
“I have a new pair of eyes for you…”
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Three knocks.
I looked at the clock.
3:01 a.m.
Only one minute had passed since Mission 1 ended.
I swallowed.
The phone in my hand vibrated.
The screen lit up.
“DAY 2 RULES.”
I stared at it.
A new line of text appeared.
“Don’t look into the eyes of the dead.”
Before I could read further, another line appeared on the screen.
“MISSION 2: FIND VY’S EYES.”
A chill ran down my spine.
A third message appeared.
“Time limit: before 3:15 a.m.”
I looked at the clock.
3:02.
Only thirteen minutes left.
I jumped to my feet.
“No…”
I didn’t want to play anymore.
I wanted to leave.
Right now.
I ran to the door.
But the moment my hand touched the doorknob…
Click.
It turned on its own.
The door swung open.
The hallway outside was completely different.
The old walls were gone.
So was the yellow light.
On both sides of the hallway were identical doors.
Number 1.
Number 2.
Number 3.
I walked down the hallway.
At the very end…
Room 13.
I turned around.
The number on the door behind me had changed to…
0.
I stood frozen.
My phone vibrated.
“DON’T TURN AROUND.”
I remembered the rule from Day 1.
Don’t turn around when you hear someone call your name.
But this time…
I heard a voice calling me.
“Linh…”
My whole body went rigid.
That voice was so familiar.
It was my mother’s voice.
“Linh…”
I closed my eyes.
Don’t turn around.
“Linh…”
Her voice was closer.
I bit my lip until it bled.
Don’t turn around.
Behind me…
came the sound of sandals.
Scuff…
scrape…
scuff…
scrape…
A hand settled on my shoulder.
Ice-cold.
“I’ve missed you so much…”
I burst into tears.
But I didn’t turn around.
The hand tightened.
“Won’t you look at me?”
I shook my head.
“I won’t look…”
A soft laugh rang out.
It was no longer my mother’s voice.
It was Vy’s.
“Good.”
The hand disappeared.
I opened my eyes.
In front of me was a small room.
There was an iron bed against the wall.
Beside it stood a table.
And on the table…
was a glass jar.
Inside was a pool of pitch-black liquid.
I moved closer.
Something was floating in the liquid.
I shone my phone’s flashlight down into it.
Two cloudy white spheres.
I caught my breath.
Two eyes.
A left eye.
A right eye.
Both were wide open.
And both were looking at me.
I backed away.
The jar rattled.
Rattle.
Rattle.
The two eyes inside turned in whatever direction I moved.
I didn’t dare look anymore.
My phone vibrated.
“EYES FOUND.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
But another line appeared immediately.
“NOT ENOUGH.”
I went still.
“The right eye must remain intact.”
“The left eye must be returned to its owner.”
I looked at the jar.
“Owner?”
A drop of water fell behind me.
Plink.
I slowly turned my head.
A woman was standing in the corner of the room.
A blue raincoat.
Long hair.
Her entire body was soaked.
Vy.
But this time…
her face had eyes.
Two pitch-black sockets.
No whites.
No pupils.
Just two deep, bottomless voids.
She raised a hand to cover her right eye.
Then pointed at her left eye.
“Give me that.”
I looked at the jar.
“These are your eyes?”
Vy nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Then where’s the other one?”
She didn’t answer.
I looked down.
A drop of black water ran from beneath her raincoat onto the floor.
Plink.
Plink.
Plink.
Then Vy slowly pointed behind me.
“Over there.”
I didn’t turn around.
I remembered the rule.
Don’t turn around.
But in the small mirror on the table…
I could see what was behind me.
Someone was standing there.
It was me.
But not me as I was now.
The person in the mirror was wearing the blue raincoat.
And on her face…
there was only one eye.
The other side was a black, empty void.
I turned my face away in panic.
The mirror immediately cracked.
Crack!
A fracture ran across the glass.
Then another.
Crack!
I heard Vy laugh.
“Don’t look.”
I turned toward her.
“You’re the one who told me to find the eyes!”
Vy fell silent.
“Then why are you telling me not to look?”
She lowered her head.
“Because those eyes…”
She looked up.
“…aren’t meant for seeing.”
I didn’t understand.
My phone vibrated again.
“MISSION 2 HAS AN ADDITIONAL RULE.”
“DO NOT ACCEPT A GIFT FROM MRS. LAN.”
Right then…
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
The knocking came from the door.
I turned toward it.
Mrs. Lan was standing outside.
In her hand was a small wooden box.
She smiled.
“Sweetheart.”
“I brought your new eyes.”
I backed away.
“No.”
Mrs. Lan tilted her head.
“You don’t want them?”
“No.”
“Then shall I open it and show you?”
I didn’t answer.
She slowly lifted the lid.
Inside…
was a pair of eyes.
But they weren’t human eyes.
Both still had their vivid red optic nerves attached.
They rolled back and forth.
Staring straight at me.
Mrs. Lan smiled.
“Aren’t they beautiful?”
I tremblingly shook my head.
Mrs. Lan took one of the eyes out.
It was still blinking.
“I know you’re scared.”
She brought it close to the gap in the door.
“But you need it.”
I backed away.
“What for?”
Mrs. Lan smiled.
“To see the people standing behind you.”
I froze.
Behind me…
breathing began.
One.
Two.
Three.
So many breaths.
I didn’t dare turn around.
Mrs. Lan spoke softly:
“Don’t you want to know who they are?”
I closed my eyes.
“No.”
“You don’t want to know…”
Her voice became warped.
“…whether your mother is standing right behind you?”
I burst into tears.
“You’re not Mrs. Lan…”
She fell silent.
After a while…
she laughed.
“So you finally figured it out.”
The door to the room slowly opened wider.
Creak…
There was no hallway outside anymore.
There was a black lake.
Water flooded into the room.
Freezing cold.
I backed away.
The water rose to my ankles.
Then my knees.
Vy stood in the middle of the room.
Her blue raincoat fluttered even though there was no wind.
She looked at me.
“Don’t trust her.”
I looked at her.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
Vy pointed at the glass jar.
“Smash it.”
“But your eyes…”
“They’re not my eyes.”
I stood frozen.
“Then whose are they?”
Vy didn’t answer.
A sob rose from beneath the water.
Then a second.
A third.
Twelve voices sobbing at once.
I looked down.
Beneath the black water…
twelve faces were looking up at me.
None of them had eyes.
I screamed.
Mrs. Lan laughed loudly outside the door.
“Smash it!”
“Smash it, and you’ll find out…”
“Whose eyes those are.”
I looked at the jar.
Then at Vy.
Finally…
I picked up the iron chair beside me.
Putting all my strength into it…
SMASH!
Wham!
The jar shattered.
Black water splattered everywhere.
The two eyes fell to the floor.
But the instant they touched the ground…
they both opened wide.
A voice rang out inside my head.
Not Vy’s voice.
Not Mrs. Lan’s voice.
My own voice.
“Thank you…”
I stood frozen.
The two eyes began crawling across the floor.
Slowly.
Little by little.
They crawled toward my feet.
Then stopped.
One eye looked up.
The other turned toward Vy.
Vy backed away.
For the first time…
I saw fear in her eyes.
“No…”
she whispered.
“Don’t let it see me.”
Before I could understand…
the two eyes turned toward me at the same time.
And an image appeared in my mind.
A room.
A young girl.
A man.
A blue raincoat.
A lake.
And…
Mrs. Lan.
Mrs. Lan was standing on the lakeshore.
In her hand was…
a pair of red sandals.
I opened my eyes.
My breath caught.
I had seen it.
Not Vy’s memory.
But…
the night Vy died.
My phone vibrated.
“MISSION 2: 50% COMPLETE.”
“REMAINING CONDITION: FIND THE PERSON WHO PUSHED VY INTO THE LAKE.”
I looked toward Mrs. Lan.
She was still smiling.
But this time…
she was no longer holding the box.
She was holding a knife.
And she said:
“You saw it…”
“Then don’t expect to live to see the third day.”