Let’s go to the Garden of Stares

Let’s go to the Garden of Stares

Three girls who have passed the seventh grade decide to enter a garden to hide and seek.

The girls, whose names were not identified, walked calmly through the streets at night. Celebrating another year of effort that had paid off. They were also eating meat skewers and drinking soda.

- The holidays have finally arrived. I can't wait to dedicate myself to my new video game.

- You only think about video games, by the time our classes start again I'll already have a boyfriend, making all the girls jealous!

- Well, I think I'll travel with the family, I don't know yet... There's so much to do.

- What do you imagine the eighth year to be like? – Said the girl we will call “A”, who in this case talks about video games.

- I really don't know... - Says girl “B” with the summer goal of finding someone who has a romantic interest.

- I would like to see the options that the school offers for high school... – Comments girl “C”, the one who does not have fixed goals for the summer.

And so it goes on with the most diverse topics, until they finish eating and need some rubbish. They walk to an area far from the city.

- Where are we? – Girl “C” comments nervously.

- In a remote part of the city, it is sinister. – Say “A”.

- It even looks like a horror movie set. I'm getting a little scared. – “B” completes.

- There! A trash! – She exclaims “A” pointing to a can next to a small counter, lit by a single and rare lamp post.

- Don't run like that! Wait! – She exclaims “B” when running after her friend.

“C” gets closer and closer to accompany her friends. But be cautious, as it had a high chance of being a point of sale for illicit items or even worse. When the three finally dispose of the trash, a salesman who appears to be in his final years appears.

- Hello, welcome to my hide-and-seek maze, where whoever is found loses, and whoever is not finds a prize.

The old man had a hoarse and sinister voice, but he got along well with words.

- I didn't know there were hide-and-seek mazes. – “A” puzzled amendment.

- Yes yes. It's an older thing. I played when I was a kid, my childhood days are so far away...

- How much money should we pay to enter? – “A” she comments excitedly.

- One coin for each, we accept any type.

“A” then takes the change left over from the food and then pays him.

- Great! Now you can enter! – The man gives the three lanterns and says goodbye happily – Have fun!

“B”, who was a little apprehensive at the beginning, was infected by “A’s” enthusiasm, so the only one who still thought about consequences was “C”.

She thought it must all be a front for human traffic, but she didn't have enough courage to alert her friends.

- Girls... – “C” only sees the two walking away in the darkness. – Wait! Girls!

She runs after them in a desperate effort, but when she turns left of the maze, there is no one left. She tries to go back the way she came, but the path seemed to have changed. She was too scared to reason and the only thing she could do was move forward.

...

“A” always ran ahead, so he soon lost track of “B”. “A” didn’t like being alone, but she had no choice. She turned on the flashlight and considered climbing into the bushes, but they had tremendously sharp thorns, so it wasn't a path.

She also shouted her friends' names, but nothing responded.

Until she saw “B’s” ponytail with golden curls. She called her and ran after her like there was no tomorrow. But when she turned for the last time, she saw only a dead end.

She called out to her friend again, and the only thing she saw was a pair of eyes staring at her from behind. She tried to break away and scream. But there was no longer any way out.

...

“B” was a little scared, but she liked the feeling of danger, just as she always liked taking risks. She courageously explored every corner. She passed the flashlight through the bushes, seeing the details of the leaves and enjoying the walk.

Until she gets tangled up in the bushes of a dead end.

- There! That hurt! My uniform will be torn...

She looks away from her outfit to the wall and sees roses growing and blooming. At first she finds the unusual event strange, but soon becomes enchanted by the beautiful movement and scent of the flowers.

She gets closer to smell them more and more, as if she is drawn by that mesmerizing smell. Already having its skin cut by the thorns, going deeper and deeper.

- I would like to stay here forever...

Thus, she is pulled by a network of thorns.

...

“C” was going into pure despair, she was shouting the names of her friends so loudly that she would certainly be able to make someone dizzy. She begins to smell a terrible smell of blood, and heads towards the smell, which becomes so strong that it makes her feel nauseous.

As soon as she turns left, she finds an alley. But, that's not what she paid attention to. The grotesque thing she had ever seen was in front of her.

“A” was lifeless on the floor, surrounded by blood and roses. She was in a position as if she had been thrown around like a rag doll. It was possible to see her bones, as if they had been broken in every possible position. However, her eyes watched her carefully.

“C” she started running, wailing and crying in panic. Looking for “B” and again shouting her name. Until she finally arrives at another alley. And she shines her flashlight, only to see another lifeless friend.

She could be mistaken for a goddess if it weren't for the fact that her uniform was full of blood and that the thorns went through several vital points and pierced her violently.

She was smiling and her hair, now loose, was covered in a tiara of roses. Another rose, in this case bigger than the others and perhaps the most beautiful, grew in blood where her heart should have been. As if the rose now took his place. Her eyes opened and turned to “C”.

Now she was in a state of shock, her legs only obeyed her primitive survival instincts. She couldn't think anymore. She could only cry, run, barely breathing.

Until finally, she finds the light of the lamp and the counter again. The old man welcomes her wearing a Venetian-style mask.

- Congratulations, you did it. Here's your prize.

He fetches her a kitsune mask.

- What's going to happen to my friends.

- They're already dead, there's no need to worry. The rules are under the table, I'm already old. Your prize is to live longer. I'm no longer of use to them. Goodbye.

- He...?

So, she can't even finish the question, when the old man comes out from the counter, a thorn arrow shot at her head, another at her heart. As blood begins to stain the arrow's thorns, a rose grows at the end of it.

The girl, knowing there is no escape, puts on her mask, sits on the chair at the counter and reads the rules.

Everyone who pays with a coin will fall victim to the demons of the Garden of Stares. The prize is only given when the clerk has no more time to live.

END