Horror Game? Looks Cute novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: Wear the Suit

Garvan touched the little brass plaque on the headboard.

Under it was a second plaque, smaller, black with age.

I had to bend close to read it.

"When Sleepy Bear is put to bed, the Gate will open for everyone, and all the sleepers will wake."

"That's good," I said.

"There's a last line." He pressed his thumb over the bottom edge, where the letters had been rubbed away.

"The tree's prompt is the same sentence. It always cuts off. Here it's worn off the brass."

"Garvan."

"But I read it clean the day I came."

He took his thumb away.

The last line was gone, but he said it anyway, in a flat, careful voice.

"And the one who put him to bed will wake in his place."

The round room was very quiet.

"In the suit," I said.

"In the suit. That is what I did."

"You did that."

"When I came, a woman was the Bear."

He looked at the pillows.

"She'd been the Bear for six years. Nine of us were stuck in the village, counting her."

"She was kind, and she was falling apart. After a month, she begged me to put her to bed."

"And you did."

"I did. The gate opened. The sleepers woke. Eight people walked out the door in the tree, her with them."

"And you woke in the suit," I said slowly.

"I stayed to keep the village quiet."

He gave a small, ugly laugh.

"I'd guessed the price before I paid it. I don't regret that part."

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