45: Chapter 45 There's a Ghost in the Closet

A red mark appeared on Pete's ankle; his fair, cute little foot was suddenly grabbed by an inexplicable force and yanked downward with great strength.

"Ah?!"

Pete's eyes snapped open. He had been lying flat, but now one of his feet was dangling several dozen centimeters off the edge of the bed.

He felt a slight pain in his ankle, as if it had been sprained.

However, he didn't pay it much mind; he rubbed his sleepy eyes and climbed back onto the bed.

Just as he was about to close his eyes, he noticed that the closet directly opposite the bed was slightly ajar.

The closet faced the bed, and it was pitch black inside.

Children have vivid imaginations. Facing that darkness, along with the white pajamas hanging within it, he couldn't help but feel as if someone were hanging there.

When sleeping in the middle of the night, if it wasn't closed properly, he always felt like a monster might be hiding inside.

Pete got out of bed, walked barefoot across the moonlit area, and cautiously approached the closet.

However, Pete didn't notice something.

On the moonlit floor, besides his own shadow moving forward bit by bit, there was actually another person's shadow following behind his.

He pressed his palm against the closet door and slowly closed it.

After closing the closet, Pete turned around, ready to return to bed and continue sleeping.

However, he had only taken two steps forward.

A creaking sound came from behind him.

Pete stood frozen in place, listening to the sound of the closet door opening on its own, his hair standing on end.

He slowly turned his head and saw that the closet door had actually opened itself once again!

"I clearly closed it just now; why is this happening?" Pete felt puzzled.

He walked over again and closed the closet door.

This time, confirming that the closet door was definitely closed, Pete wanted to hurry back into his covers.

However, right before his eyes—even though he hadn't turned around yet—

the closet door slowly opened a crack again, and this time!

Inside that crack, there wasn't just the darkness mixed within; there was a light.

That light flickered, and after moving up and down a few times, a black dot appeared.

Looking closely, it was clear—it was a human eye.

Someone was hiding inside the closet?!

Pete rubbed his eyes and looked at the dark crack again, but the eye was gone.

There was only deep, shifting darkness.

"An illusion... is all of this just my hallucination?" Pete tried to rationalize what he had seen.

He walked over once more.

This time, he didn't intend to close the closet door; he wanted to open it and see.

Was there really someone hiding inside?

Pete's arm trembled slightly as he grabbed the closet door handle.

The handle was very cold. After convincing himself it was just a hallucination the previous few times, his own body temperature was now even colder than the door handle.

Yet, sweat was beading on his palms.

When he grabbed the handle, it felt slippery, as if it were hard to get a grip on.

Swallowing hard, Pete gathered his courage and pulled the closet door open with force.

A neat row of children's clothes hung inside. He reached out and rummaged through the clothes, but didn't touch anything other than fabric.

Pete immediately breathed a sigh of relief. This was an age that valued science; how could monsters possibly exist?

A roller coaster of emotions echoed in his heart, but the final result was good; he had reached the end safely.

"Can you play with me?"

A little girl's voice suddenly came to Pete's ear.

The voice was ethereal and melodious, as if it were coming from inside Pete's own head.

Before Pete had any chance to react,

his back was suddenly shoved by an inexplicable force!

He tumbled directly into the closet, and then, with a "bang," the door slammed shut!

"Hee hee hee! Hee hee hee!"

A spine-chilling giggling sound came from all directions within the completely dark closet.

Pete struggled hard, trying to push the door open, but no matter how much strength he used, the closet door felt as if it had been glued shut; he couldn't open it at all.

The clothes hanging above his head constantly brushed against his skin, feeling like countless human hands grabbing and scratching everywhere.

"Dad! Mom!"

Pete kicked his feet wildly in the narrow space, feeling increasingly nervous, his heart pounding wildly.

His crying and shouting grew louder!

"Pete..."

Suddenly, someone called his name in his ear.

Pete was instantly unable to speak; it felt like a fishbone was stuck in his throat, and he could only sob incessantly.

"Who are you?" Pete managed to force out.

"I am your friend; let's play a game together."

Pete suddenly felt someone—there was another person in the closet, sitting right next to him.

An icy touch brushed against his cheek; someone was touching his face, wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

Then, a pair of eyes suddenly opened in the darkness.

Only a few centimeters away from him, they blinked.

It was the same pair of eyes he had seen earlier and thought were a hallucination!

In the darkness, the other party also revealed a sinister smile.

"Let's play a game together~"

The eyes drew closer and closer to Pete, staring at him without blinking the whole time, devoid of any life.

As if it wanted to push its eyes into Pete's eye sockets, pressing face to face.

"Dad!——"

Pete screamed at the top of his lungs.

The closet was pulled open, and Pete's upper body tumbled out from inside, his face deathly pale.

His whole body was twitching uncontrollably, and there was a dark purple smudge under his eye sockets.

He lay on the floor in a wretched state.

He slowly raised his head and met Alice's gaze.

Alice was hugging her teddy bear, staring at him with a strange look in her eyes.

"What are you doing running into the closet in the middle of the night? Although you like playing hide-and-seek, no one wants to play with you right now."

"It's not that, Alice, there's someone in this closet!" Pete argued.

"Why did you lock yourself in the closet? How did you manage to do that?"

"How could I possibly lock myself in the closet? Am I a Magician? There's a ghost in this closet, you have to believe me, sister!"

"Don't say any more. Tomorrow is Monday, and I have to go to school."

Alice clearly didn't believe Pete's story; being woken up in the middle of the night by her inexplicably acting brother was very annoying.

Because Pete liked to tell her ghost stories on regular days, she had long since stopped believing his nonsense.

Just as the brother and sister were bickering.

The bedroom door was pushed open.

A disheveled Chen Mo and his wife hurried in.

Anna immediately rushed over, picked up Pete who was lying on the floor, and asked worriedly, "Pete, what happened? Why were you screaming in the middle of the night?"

Chen Mo also walked over and stroked Pete's head, trying to calm him down.

He was still inwardly thanking his good son; you called for Dad just in time—if it had been any later...

Your dad's Stamina would have been forced to decrease.

At this moment, a family information prompt popped up before Chen Mo's eyes.

[Pete: Mental Value -50, 50/100]

"Mental Value dropped by half all at once?" Chen Mo suddenly felt that things were becoming troublesome.