Chapter 14 Chapter Eleven Unveiling All Masks

"It's the house," I said. "The house is alive, it feeds." I feel the pulse of life all around me, swaggering at the edge of my heart.It's mocking me.It doesn't need to keep hiding.I looked up at Suzie and saw that she was breathing rapidly, clutching the handle of the gun, her eyes were all over the place, eager to shoot something.Joanna was still standing by the door, but she no longer looked at Cathy.Her pale face is expressionless now, as if she doesn't even recognize me.I turned back to Cathy. "Tell me," I said. "Why, Cathy? Why on earth did you come here of your own free will?"

"This house called me," she said happily. "It opened a door for me into a whole new world. A bright, clear, vibrant world, like a black and white movie suddenly turned into color. This house...needs me. I've never been needed Yes. It feels so good to be needed, so I come here and give myself to it.. Now I don't have to worry about anything. This house gives me joy, it gives me love. It also shares love For you." I wiped the blood from my nose with my hand and said, "It's eating you, Cathy. It's eating everything from you." "I know." She said happily. "Isn't it wonderful? I'm going to be a part of it. It's so big, so important, how can I compare to it? I'll never sigh again, never be lost, never be alone, never be sad. Forever Don’t worry about anything, no worries anymore.”

"That's because you're going to die! It's just trying to trick you by saying the flattery you like to hear. I've seen it for what it is when it attacks my mind. It's hungry, its only purpose is to find food. You are no different from other victims, you are just its food." Cathy smiled at me, not caring about her own life, because the house didn't let her care.Susie supported my body, helped me stand up vigorously, then leaned in front of me and asked: "Tell me, John! What's the matter? What kind of monster is this house?" I took a deep breath, and although it didn't make me calmer, it at least eased the trembling in my body.As usual, when I finally found out the truth, it only made things worse.

"The house is a predator," I said. "Alien creatures from other worlds, that place does not belong to our space, and the form of life is very different. It can change its appearance, blend into the surrounding environment, hide among the market, and lure its prey to the door with an irresistible voice. It Prey on the lost and alone, the unloved, uncared for, abandoned by the city, with nowhere to go, like the inhabitants of Braston Street. They don't doubt what the house says, what the house says It’s what they want to hear. It’s even brought in some important people, probably because they’re too sentimental. Being important doesn’t mean you won’t feel empty inside.”

"Come to the point, John," Suzy said, shaking my shoulder. "The house attracts prey, and then what?" "And ate them," I said. "It sucks up its prey and occupies everything in their body. The more it absorbs, the stronger it will become. During the absorption process, it will try to keep the prey in a happy mood, so as to prevent them from escaping. Because they don't want to escape at all. idea." "My God." Susie said, looking at Cathy's thin body. "The kid looks like he's sucked up. Damn, we gotta get out of here, John."

"What did you say?" I didn't understand what she meant, or pretended not to understand. "We can't help her," Suzie said coldly. "We're late. Get her out of the floorboards and she'll bleed to death before she leaves the house. She's gone. We should get out while the house sucks her." I shook my head slowly. "I can't do it, Susie. I can't do nothing." "Listen to me, John! It's too late, the case is closed. All we can do is give the kid a treat, give the monster a taste of defeat, get out of here, get some heavy weapons and come back. You're in charge Joanna, I'll take care of the kids."

"I didn't come all this way to give up at the last moment! We must take her back!" "No one can go back," Cathy said. "No one can leave." The door suddenly shook violently, and there was a loud noise in the door frame.Susie and I turned around at the same time, just in time to see that the door was closed heavily, and then disappeared completely, leaving only a blank wall in an instant, with no trace of the door just now.Then the four walls began to squirm, expanding and contracting at a steady pace, slowly showing the characteristics of many organic tissues, soft and undulating, and shaking slowly.Purple blood vessels emerged from the wall, pulsating regularly.Then a huge eye opened on the ceiling, like a ruthless god from ancient times, looking coldly at the prey below.A faint phosphorescent glow blooms on the walls, and we finally understand where the light is coming from.The smell in the air changed, filled with a strong smell of blood and a corrosive chemical smell.

"No one can leave," Cathy said. "There's nowhere to escape." There was another voice hidden under her voice, a voice that was extremely sharp and sophisticated, and definitely not from the mouth. Susie walked to the place where the door was originally, held the handle of the gun instead and thumped it against the wall.The wall sank slightly, but there were no cracks.Suzie yelled loudly and continued to pound on the wall again and again, but it was no use at all.She glared at the wall, gasped, and kicked it up.The tip of her shoe sank into the wall, and it took a lot of effort to pull it out, but the tip had lost a piece and was absorbed by the wall.Drops of black liquid dripped from the ceiling, and the walls and floor gradually became more humid.Susie suddenly exclaimed, as if surprised with pain.A drop of black liquid dripped onto the back of her hand, and white smoke came out on the spot, corroding.

"John, what the hell is this? What happened?" "Digestive juices," I said. "We're in the monster's stomach. It decides we're a threat and can't risk taking it in slowly like Cathy, and decides it needs to be dealt with quickly. We're going to be melted. Suzie, make an exit and blast a hole in the wall!" " Suzy laughed. "I'll just wait for your words! Stand a little farther away, don't care if you get splashed." She aimed a shot at the wall, but the power of the bullet was completely absorbed by the wall, causing ripples around the point of impact, like throwing a stone at a pond.Susie cursed and fired again.Reload and keep shooting.Gunshots echoed all around, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.After everything was quiet, there was still no crack on the wall.Suzy turned to look at me.

"Big problem, John. And don't look down, your shoes are smoking." "Of course it's smoking," I said. "This house is not picky, it eats everything." Suzy watched me silently, waiting quietly.When she can't find any enemies to fight and is completely helpless, she will pin her hope of escape on me.She always has confidence in me.That's one of the reasons I left Nightside, because I didn't want to keep disappointing my friends.I racked my brains to think that I must find a way out.I didn't go through all this work, all this madness, to die in the maw of a monster.I'm not here to fail.I looked at Cathy, then at Joanna.She still stood there motionless.She hasn't said anything since the monster appeared.Her expression was calm, her eyes were dull, and she didn't even respond to Suzie shooting at the side.She was petrified.At least I thought so at the time.

"Joanna!" I yelled. "Come and talk to your daughter, see if you can divert her attention and take the opportunity to separate her from the house. I have a way to get everyone out, but I'm not sure how it will affect Cathy...Joanna! Listen! I say!" She slowly turned her head to look at me, with an inexplicable fear in her eyes, which I almost couldn't bear to witness. "Why did you ask her to talk to me?" Cathy asked. "Because I need your mother to help," I said. "But she's not my mother," Cathy said. These words emptied my mind instantly like a bolt from the blue, forming echoes in the quiet room.I don't want to believe Cathy's words, but I can't help but believe the truth revealed in her words.In that horrifying moment, many little details that didn't make sense suddenly came to light.Joanna looked at me silently, with only a quiet sadness in her eyes.The vitality in her body completely disappeared, which seemed to indicate that there was no need for her to continue to pretend. "I'm sorry, John," she said slowly. "I think it's over. The purpose of my existence has been fulfilled, and you are finally here. I think I really care about you...but I don't seem to be the person I always thought..." Her voice changed , immediately converted to the voice hidden behind Cathy just now. "I'm just a lamb of Judas, a perfect bait, a product specially designed to lure you back to Nightside, with the purpose of...destroying you." "Why?" I asked, my voice barely audible. “Someone provides all the necessary information about this house: your favorite client, your favorite case, your favorite woman, and then design a house that can overcome all your defenses, ignore all instincts, even if you are going to the end. bait. Joanna Barrett never existed, she was just a role I played, a function I performed. However, I was designed to be too perfect, John. There was a time, I don't even remember Who I am. I thought I was a real woman with all kinds of emotions. I'm so sorry for you...but I couldn't stop what was going to happen." "Everything between us is fake?" I asked. "Only you are real, John. Only you." "So... what about here?" I asked again. "Is this whole trap set for me? They brought this house into Nightside and let it kill at will, just to kill me? Why? I've left Nightside long ago. I'm no longer Threat! Why did you bring me back?" "Ask your mother." The monster said through Joanna's mouth. "I heard that she is coming back soon, and you... may destroy the whole plan." "Who did it?" I asked. "Who is in charge?" "Can't you figure it out yet?" Joanna finished speaking, her facial features gradually melting, and finally turned into the blank face of the messenger of pain. Crying like a small animal in a trap, I watched as Joanna leaned against the wall and sank into it, letting the house absorb it and disappear.Not long after, she completely entered the wall, leaving only a few ripples on the wall, and these ripples also returned to calm after a few seconds.I should have known.I should not have forgotten such a basic rule.In Nightside, I couldn't trust anyone or anything just by appearances.Walker tried to warn me, but I didn't listen.I forgot that in this place love is just another weapon and the past can never be erased.I don't know how long I cried before I finally felt the tears rolling down my face. "Damn it!" Susie said, staring at the place where Joanna disappeared. "It seems that this business will not receive any money." Seeing that I didn't respond, she couldn't help but sighed.The digestive juices falling from the ceiling are now like rain, eroding the skin on my hands and face, but I don't care, because my heart has been ripped out, and nothing can move me anymore.Suzie put an arm on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eyes.Although she is not good at expressing emotions, she can only do her best at this time. "John, you must listen to me. No matter who she is, you will have time to mourn for her later. Now you must focus on your eyes and get us out of here." "Why bother?" I said. "Everyone wants me to die, maybe even myself." She slapped me across the face professionally, not out of anger. "And what shall I do, John?" "What are you going to do?" "Well, maybe I'm not worth saving. I shouldn't have let you hide away in London all by yourself; I'm not exactly your best friend, and I was never made to be. But this boy, John ? Cathy? Remember her? You came back to Nightside to save her, are you going to abandon her here? Just because you feel sorry for yourself, don't you care if she lives or dies?" I turned my head slowly, looking at what little body remained of Cathy. "No." I finally said. "It's never her fault, and I never let my clients down. Hold my hand, Suzy." "What? Now is not the time to express emotion, John." I look back at her. "You have to trust me, Suzy. I have my plan. Since we can't escape by violence, we can only rely on my talent." Suzy looked at me for a while, made sure I was back to normal, and nodded quickly.She holstered the shotgun back on her back and took my hand in hers.Her hands are steady and strong, and she has deep confidence in me.It's a pity that I don't have much confidence in myself.I sighed wearily, even though the odds were against me, I was still dying, because this was the only thought in my mind. "We must find the heart of the house," I said. "If you destroy the heart, you can kill the house. But the heart is never here. For safety, the house must hide the heart elsewhere, in a place that normal people cannot reach. But I am not normal. I can find it. I Find everything." Other than what I was most looking for. I go inside, call out my gifts, and open my mind again.The house shook violently at the sudden change. For a long time, I felt as if I was in nothingness, my whole body was comfortable, and I didn't have to care about anything.Forget bills you can't pay, cases you can't solve, clients you can't help.I no longer have to deal with the mystery of my parentage, and the pain that goes with it.I remember that at the beginning, I had a dream, and I was determined to help those who had nowhere to go, but it was a pity that the dream didn't last long.Dreams cannot compete with reality.In reality, people have to struggle for rent and work hard for food.In order to find some people who don't want to be found, even if they wear iron shoes, they still step on them. Day after day, year after year, your ideals are constantly compromised with the cruel reality, just to achieve a little achievement in the cruel and ruthless world.Until one day, you will suddenly find that you are only left with an ideal shell, and everything you do violates your original intention. Dreams are not completely dead, however.Because in a place like Nightside, sometimes only dreams can keep you going.Giving up your dreams is tantamount to giving up your life. Growing up in Nightside, I saw countless walking dead.Those people can walk, talk, and act, but they only know how to linger between bars every day, forget to return between drinks, their eyes are empty, their hearts are illusory, and they don't care about anything at all.My father's heart died years before it stopped beating.I couldn't help him at all, I was just a kid then. It wasn't until many years later that I discovered my talent.With this gift, I finally have the ability to help others.Even if I can't help myself, I want to help others. In this safe and comfortable nothingness, bursts of love and care came through my body, warming my heart and trying to make me forget all my troubles.Nothing has meaning anymore, the present, filled with love and joy, is eternity.Desires and needs exist in the past, and here I find endless peace without wanting or wanting.A small voice promised me that as long as I lie down, accept all the beauty, and stop resisting, I will be able to have everything I ever wanted.But I didn't trust that voice, because from the moment the house reclaimed Joanna, everything I really wanted was gone.The voice became more urgent as it spoke, and the more I listened to it, the more amusing it became, because the hunger and greed hidden under the voice could not be hidden in my ears. My dreams, my reality, I cling to them like a drowning man, never giving up.It was dreams and reality that made me who I am today, not my father who ignored me, my mother who abandoned me, my inherited talent, and my mortal enemy.So many factors have tried to change me, but I've always been able to stay true to myself.I chose to affirm myself by helping others because I don't want people to be like me when they need someone to turn to.I learned from an early age that I couldn't rely on those in power, because even my father, who was one of them, didn't get the protection and comfort he deserved.I made myself who I am today, choose my own destiny, no one or anything has the power to influence my will. In a fit of rage, I pushed aside all false promises of love and happiness, maybe because deep down I never believed in them.Anyway, love and happiness are words that have nothing to do with me.Cracks appeared in the illusion of nothingness, and gradually cracked, and I gradually began to feel the people nearby who supported me.Suzy Huett, who holds me through the spirit body, trusts me unreservedly.Kathy Barrett is almost as angry as I am now after finally understanding how she was being lied to, played on, and abused.And... a faint existence, a vague whisper, like the echo left in the world by the messenger of pain who once briefly thought that he was Joanna, silently brought me support and comfort. I open my heart to people, and I become one with them through my gifts.The power of unity is not comparable to that of a nasty house. My talent is by no means only used to find people, it has many other functions, such as searching for the enemy's weaknesses and attacking them.Under the initiative of talent, the house screamed and suffered shock, anger, pain and fear.It looked like it hadn't been hurt in a long time. The empty space is no longer empty, but has become an existence between matter and illusion.I stood on a plane that extended endlessly in all directions, and the surroundings were dark and blurry.It was still an unreal place, but real enough to provide a foothold.Now Suzie and Cathy are standing beside me.Suzy is clad in shiny silver armor with spikes at her knuckles; Cathy appears as she does in the photo, except she's even more frantic.I didn't look down at how I looked because that didn't matter.A faint presence appeared not far from us, indistinct and unrecognizable, but I knew exactly who she was.We bloom in the gray world, soaring into the sky around a dark vortex with blood-red gossamer, extending endlessly into the empty sky.From the vortex comes the sound of the house, it roars so violently that words hit our hearts like hammers. "Mine! Mine! Mine!" Under my powerful strength at this moment, it can only accept my ridicule weakly.Its advantage is based purely on stealth and lies, and neither of these things will help it here.I took a step forward, and Suzie and Cathy followed suit.The dark vortex gradually shrinks under our approach, completely unable to compete with the light we emit.We continued to approach, and the vortex continued to shrink. At this time, many illusory spirits appeared on the endless plane around us, standing quietly and watching with hope.They were all victims of a house that had eaten not only their bodies but their souls as well, growing its own unnatural existence by imprisoning them.Despite the ruthless destruction of the house, Joanna's broken spirit came to me and held my hand.Through her, I reached into the hearts of other victims, silently offering them a chance for vengeance, a path to freedom...and they immediately placed their power in my hands. The power of the people flowed into my body, igniting my talent, making me radiant, unable to look at me, and striding towards the dark vortex.Suzie, Kathy, and the others all moved forward with me while the house screamed in constant pain.The vortex keeps shrinking, and finally I and my companions are close enough to hold each other's hands.Suzy who trusted me unconditionally, Cathy who was furious at betrayal, and a soul I might have fallen in love with.At this moment our light is dazzling like four suns.With my genius, I gathered the anger, hatred, and needs of the crowd, and I hit the dark heart of the house with all my might.It let out a final roar in fear and powerlessness, and then the entire dark vortex disappeared in an instant, and the empty space returned to silence, and there was no more sound. This is the other side of my talent, finding the death of others. I never carry a gun because there is no need. I looked around and saw that all the victims had vanished.Their souls were finally freed and headed for their final belonging.And with them goes a well-crafted bait who briefly learned the value of being human and clings to this precious gift, never letting go. You have to believe in the dream, because sometimes the dream must depend on your trust to survive. I returned to my physical body and opened my eyes to look at the scene around me.Thanks to the blessings of the souls of many victims, my physical strength has fully recovered at this moment.We're still stuck in a room with no exit, but the house itself is dead.The air smelled of corruption, the large eyes on the ceiling disappeared, and the phosphorescence on the walls faded.Irregular cracks emerged one after another, tearing the wall apart bit by bit.Kathy Barrett lay on the floor, emaciated, dehydrated, and half-dead, but she finally broke free from the floor and let the dying convulsive house drain as I expected.She grimaced and struggled to sit up.I helped her sit up and put my raincoat over her body.She clutched the raincoat in her bony hands, and gave me a brief but sincere smile. "It tricked me," she said. "It spoke my heart's longing, and I couldn't help but believe it. When it finally took control of my physical body, even though it made me happy on the surface, my heart was crying out in pain. You saved me." "It's my job," I said. "I'm just entrusted by others." She looked at me for a while. "If my mother knew I was here and caused this kind of trouble, I hope she would send someone like you to save me. Someone like you...reliable." "Listen, I know this is an emotional moment," Suzie said. "But I really want to get out of here." "That's right," I said. "This coat has just been washed." Together we lifted Cathy up.This was no difficulty, since she never weighed more than seventy pounds. "Where was that just now?" She asked suddenly. "Where is that gray area?" "The only weakness in that house is the heart," I said, helping her to where the door used to be. "So it hid the heart in another place, another real space, if you like to call it that. It's an ancient magic, but it can't hide from the eyes of my heart." "Are you sure it's really dead?" Suzy asked. "It's so dead that you don't get up again at the last moment, do you? I mean, the house still exists, and we're still inside it." "It's dead," I said. "Judging from the condition and smell in front of me, I think its corpse has begun to rot. It never really belonged to our world, and it is only its will that supports its survival here. Susie, help us open a door." She looked at me. "Did you forget? My gun doesn't work here." "I think it should work now." Suzy, gun in hand, laughs like a kid who gets an unexpected gift.She shot at the wall at close range, punching a small hole in it, then she reloaded, laughing wildly as she fired, and finally grabbed the edge of the hole with her bare hands and tore the hole open.She looked at the carrion torn from the wall and made a face at me. "This is starting to crumble." "This house won't last long," I said. "It's lost everything that supported it. I don't want to be in it when the house falls down, do I? Come help me, Suzy." We took Kathy through a big hole in the wall and onto the back walkway.When we got up from the ground, the wall melted like a candle, and the big hole disappeared instantly.The strange light scattered little by little, like the sparks flying around when the corpse was cremated.The sweet smell of putrefaction in the air grew thicker, almost unbearable.We ran along the corridor to the stairs, and there were already spots of corpses on the walls we passed along the way.The ceiling gradually sagged, unable to support it for much longer.The floor shook violently, the walls cracked wildly, and when we ran to the stairs, the wooden boards under our feet were twisted and deformed beyond words. "Run faster, both of you," I said. "This house is going to disappear from our world. I don't want to be stuck in a world that can breed such monsters." "That's right." Suzy said. "Otherwise I have to kill all the monsters in that world, but I may not have enough ammunition." We rushed down the stairs in a violent shock.Cathy would love to lighten our load, but there is only so much she can do.Even though the house had eaten away most of her muscles, she kept going.The stair boards turned into a thick liquid, sticking to our feet like taffy, until we had to use all our strength to pull our legs out with every step.I grabbed the railing and tried to stand firm, but I didn't expect that the railing would rot as soon as I grabbed it, like festering carrion.I felt sick and threw it away. We picked up Cathy and rushed into the hall on the first floor. The walls on both sides began to collapse, and a large number of fragments began to fall from the ceiling.Where the original gate was, now there is only a black-purple hole left, and a lot of juice drips along the edge of the hole, like a huge festering wound.The entrance of the cave is slowly collapsing, and it has collapsed to the point where we cannot pass through. "Oh, my God," Cathy said. "We can't escape. The house will never let us go." "It's dead," Suzie said. "It doesn't have a place here. We're going to leave anyway. Right, Tyler?" "Yes." I said. I saw the outside world through this small hole that was once disguised as a door, a dry, quiet, and relatively rational world.I stared at the hole that was getting smaller and smaller, and used my natural strength to pull and prop it open.Then Suzie and I grabbed Cathy one by one, rushed to the doorway, smashed through the corrupt organization, and finally escaped from the house, fell on the streets of Braston, and returned to the land of human beings, letting the rain falling from the sky The rain washes away our filth. We stumbled to the middle of the street, yelled wildly with delight, and helped Cathy sit on the floor.She touched the ground lightly with her hands, and finally cried out.Braston Street may be dirty, it may be decadent, but at least it never hides its truth from people.I looked back at the dead house crumbling away, its windows like closed eyes and the hole we knocked open like a big, bruised mouth. "Go to hell and rot slowly," I said. I launched the final blow to it with the power of my talent, pushed it to the limit, and finally made this monster that came to Night City disguised as a house disappear completely, and sent it back to its world.The few fragments left in place and the smell of corruption gradually dissipated under the washing of the rain.When Walker and his men appeared beside us, there was no sign of any house in sight.