I couldn't relax.

I pretended I hadn't regained my sight and fumbled my way out, only to see Mom standing there in a nurse's uniform covered in blood, gazing at me with a loving smile. Her expression was exaggerated, her eyes bulging, and her fingernails looked like they hadn't been trimmed in ages. She was holding a knife smeared with blood.

At her feet were piles of notes that read "Don't tell your parents you've recovered your sight.".

A chill went through me as I glanced at them.

As I looked further down, I… saw an arm lying on the cutting board!

"Suzie, what's wrong?" Suddenly, I felt a heavy weight on my shoulder, and every hair on my body stood on end.

It was Dad's voice.

"I'm fine. Mom, what's for dinner tonight?" I tried my best not to let my eyes move around.

But the next moment, Dad crept up in front of me in silence and leaned down. He stared straight into my eyes with a furious look as he looked at me with his head raised.

His hair was greasy, his beard unkempt, and he looked more like a wild man.

I could feel the chill down my spine, and I nearly passed out right there and then.

But somehow, I forced myself to keep smiling.

"You can see now, can't you?!" Dad suddenly grabbed my shoulders and hollered before slamming me hard against the wall.

Mom didn't try to stop him. Instead, she clutched the knife and smiled strangely, mumbling, "Then you're not my daughter anymore."

"Mom! Where are you?! Dad's hitting me!" Terror took over, and I hurriedly pretended to be blind, flailing around with open eyes as if I couldn't see a thing.

Both of them paused for a moment. Mom was the first to drop the knife to the floor and pull me into her arms. She once again spoke to me in a soft voice, "Honey, Mommy's right here. I'll give Daddy a scolding later, okay?"

The knife hit the ground with a clang, making me shudder.

There was also the scent of blood on Mom.

She turned around and slapped Dad hard across the face. "Why are you hitting our daughter!"

Dad's neck made a sharp crack, but when he turned back around, he looked like his old self again, full of guilt as he apologized. He was just as warm as he used to be.

Still, I knew everything had already changed.

I shook my head. "It's okay, Mom."

But I clenched my fist tightly.

Just what was this place?

I was sure they weren't my real parents, but they wore my parents' faces. Everything was so twisted and bizarre. What was I supposed to do?

At dinner, I found a finger on my plate, a shiny platinum ring wrapped around it, strangely familiar. Cold sweat ran down my back when I saw the human finger appearing on the dinner table.

I set the finger aside and forced myself to eat the pasta as I tried not to throw up, one small bite at a time. But with every mouthful, I could feel my stomach churning.

Gods… What if I had already eaten… so much… human flesh before this?

"Suzie, don't you love meat the most?" Dad leaned over, staring right into my eyes.

I struggled to stay calm. Saying it was human flesh would be way too suspicious.

"Dad, there's hardly any meat here. They are all bones. I can't see, so I'm worried I'll hurt my mouth." I giggled as I held Dad's arm.

The wariness in Dad's eyes disappeared. For a moment, I even saw tears glimmering in his blank eyes, as if he had remembered something. His voice choked as he replied, "Alright, sweetie."

Mom watched this heartwarming moment, and her eyes turned red too.

After dinner, I made up an excuse saying I was tired and went back to my room. I lay down in my bed and started to think things over.

They… were clearly my parents, but at the same time, they felt like strangers. Why was I blind? What had happened before I lost my sight?

Suddenly, I realized something was wrong with my memories.

After I went blind, someone had forcefully brought me home. Normally speaking, I would feel scared, but what I actually felt was anger, not helplessness or grief.

And before that… All I could remember was my best friend. My mind was totally blank when it came to my parents.

In my memories, my home did feel like it looked like this, but I couldn't recall any details at all!

Thinking about those notes, I got up and searched around my room. Who was the one who had told me not to tell my parents the truth? Were they truly trying to help me?

If so, why didn't they show up and take me away? Was there something stopping them? Or… had something already happened to them?

I didn't dare think about it, and instead, I forced myself to keep going.

Even if it was just to stay alive.

My parents knew those notes were everywhere, but they acted like it was nothing. That meant they were already prepared. If I acted strangely after seeing those notes, they would kill me without a second thought.

Every note had a different handwriting, and it was impossible for them not to notice it. Which meant… the people who had left those notes had probably already been killed!

Thinking back to Mom… No, the woman in the nurse uniform, the arm on the table, and the finger in my dinner, I suddenly felt cold all over.

"Suzie…" Suddenly, Dad's voice rang out from behind me, full of anger. "Didn't you say you were going to sleep!"

I jumped. They had opened the door. I stood up, pretending to feel my way to bed, turning to him, and acting all sweet. "Dad, you scared me! I just finished eating and felt too full, so I got up and walked around."

The woman in the nurse's uniform stood behind him, those bulging eyes with hardly any whites staring at me. I almost couldn't take it anymore.

It was terrifying. I wanted to scream and run, but I couldn't. I had to survive. Never had I felt my desire to live to be this intense.

Then, I thought about the security camera in the room. Was it really something they had put in here? If so, did that mean they had seen everything I had just done?

The man nodded, holding some boards as he scanned me from top to bottom. Luckily, he didn't notice anything unusual. Then, he said, "I saw your window was letting air in, so I'm here to fix it for you."

I nodded obediently, and the woman in the nurse's uniform walked toward me, holding a hammer.

"Mom, is that you? I hear footsteps."

She paused, then took my hand and replied softly, "Yes, it's Mom."

Her nails were so long. When I touched her hand, my whole body turned cold, but I still held on and even squeezed tighter.

I did this because I noticed that when they thought I was blind, the love in their eyes was genuine.

They wouldn't hurt me in those moments.

The problem was, they were starting to suspect I could see again, and I couldn't keep up this act much longer. If this went on, I would lose my mind sooner or later.

The man slowly took the hammer from the woman and sealed the window shut as my heart pounded…

Was I wrong about them?

Had they already figured out that I could see again, so they had sealed the window to keep me from escaping? Was this their plan to kill me?

I was shaking all over as the man came up to me with a grin and tossed the hammer on the floor.

He cupped my face with those hands that he probably hadn't washed for a long time and said, "Good girl. I really hope you'll get your sight back soon. If you ever do, you have to tell me right away."

His smile made the wrinkles on his face even more apparent, his greasy hair covering half his face, and there was something obviously off about him.

My heart was racing, but I pretended to be a good girl and nodded. "Okay!"

At the very least, it seemed like they didn't suspect I could see, which meant they hadn't checked the security camera.

Or maybe… they just hadn't had the time to watch it yet.

They left and closed the door behind them, but I was genuinely scared now.

Were they just pretending? I looked at the old, battered phone by my bed and tried to remember. The phone… I actually recognized it, but it wasn't mine. It was my best friend's.

I had used her phone before, and she had handed it to me…

She had been wearing a platinum ring!

And tonight, there had been a finger with a platinum ring in my food…

Shock, pain, despair, horror… All sorts of feelings exploded in my head.

Without thinking, I glanced at the door. There was a window in it… and a pair of eyes was staring straight at me!

I could feel the hair on my arms standing on end. I acted like I hadn't seen anything, felt my way to the bed, and lay down with my eyes closed. I tried my best to calm myself down while the man stood by the door, watching to see if I had fallen asleep. At least this meant that they didn't have control over the security camera in my room.

Still, my heart wouldn't stop pounding.

My best friend had already been killed by these two…

And I had found her finger in my dinner!

Pretending to be asleep, I turned away from the door, covering my mouth as I sobbed silently.

Even if I had forgotten a lot about the past, my best friend was the most important person to me. The bond we had built in the past was burned deep into my subconscious.

I didn't sleep at all that night.

-

The next day, the housekeeper showed up as usual. He didn't do anything and just kept circling around me. I started to think he was here merely to keep an eye on me.

That empty stare of his made my skin crawl.

Plus, who said those two had really gone to work? With how weird they were, what company would hire them?

So, what were they really up to?

Suddenly, I remembered the notes.

Those notes had said not to tell my parents, but what about the housekeeper? Maybe that was a clue, too?

"My eyes still haven't healed after all this time. I feel so awful." I sighed, testing the water.

The housekeeper had been staring blankly at me. When he heard that, he shook his head quickly, "Don't worry. They all… get better eventually. You will too."

"They?" I acted surprised.

He nodded, suddenly cheerful. "The young women who were here before… They couldn't see either, but after a week, their sight came back. This is your second week here, so yours will come back soon, too."

I swallowed hard. I was horrified, but also even more confused.

Why were there so many young women?