You had long lost track of the days you had spent in these ‘ghost apartments,’ unsure of how to escape. The only thing you could be certain of was that he would never leave you. He had been following you since the beginning, and now, he was your only company.

Mr. Crawling—or at least, that’s what you called him—had been protective when it came to you. You had seen it, felt it. As long as he was around, he would even kill for you if necessary. But just because he was protective didn’t mean you didn’t still get freaked out sometimes. Especially when he crawled slowly toward you, his erratic movements unsettling, or when he suddenly grabbed your leg. Yes, he was cute—in a very uncanny way. You’d gotten used to it, but not completely.

Today, he crawled up behind you and perched on his knees on the dirty floor. His cold, grey hands covered your eyes in what seemed like an innocent gesture. The problem was, you had already had unpleasant encounters with other monster-like men who had done the same thing.

Your first reaction was to swing your crowbar, striking him to defend yourself. But as soon as you heard the pained complaint, you recognized the high-pitched voice that followed.

And this wasn’t the first time this had happened.

You barely turned to look, and there he was—Mr. Crawling, wiping away the blood from the result of your hit between his long, greasy strands of black hair. His lips trembled into a small pout as he crawled away, moving to the opposite side of the room. He prostrated himself in the corner, hugging his legs and turning his back to you.

“You not like me, me hurt,” he murmured.

All he wanted was… your affection.

The affection he almost demanded was similar to that of a child who wants something filled with innocence, childish, where he still did not understand the evil he did to deserve a punishment or reprimand.

And to be honest... he was the least disturbing than carrying Mr. Chopped’s head through the corridors. Or well, his appearance was more disturbing than a mere head. More disturbing than a yokai appearing in unexpected places because he wanted a part of your body. More disturbing than a guy who thinks he’s a scientist and doctor. But less disturbing than a glitched man dressed in red obsessed with knowing your name. Still, no matter how horrible it looked, it was the sweetest. How ironic.