American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 407 Your head's pretty sturdy, huh?
When Lydia woke up, she found it was pitch black outside the car window, and she was sitting alone in the passenger seat of a yellow Chevrolet Camaro, with a coat covering her.

"I am asleep?"

Lydia sat up straight in surprise and looked out the window at the surroundings.

The familiar street scenes made Lydia realize that she had returned to her hometown, Acton.

"Madam, you're awake?"

The car radio suddenly started talking, startling Lydia.

"Who, who's talking?"

Lydia panicked, thinking she had encountered some kind of supernatural event, but she did not sense any supernatural forces around her.

"Madam, my name is Bumblebee, and you are inside my body."

Lydia looked at the radio station in surprise.

"You, you're this Chevrolet Camaro?"

"Yes, I am this car."

Lydia found it amazing and began to use her expertise to analyze the bumblebee's situation.

"Are you a dead soul attached to this car? I've seen similar cases before!"

"Uh? No, I am a silicon-based life form. You can think of me as an intelligent robot."

Thanks to the abundance of science fiction films and television shows of America's era, ordinary people were able to understand the existence of intelligent robots.

"An intelligent robot? No wonder I couldn't sense your soul!"

Lydia felt very amazed and started groping around inside the Bumblebee car.

"By the way, do you feel anything when I touch you like this?"

Bumblebee was taken aback. It probably hadn't been asked that question before. Lydia's thought process was truly something else.

"Well, my sensors are mainly located on the outside, so I don't feel anything inside."

Lydia studied the bumblebee with curiosity, constantly asking various questions, many of which made the silicon-based life form bumblebee feel embarrassed.

This was a feeling Bumblebee had never experienced before, and it began to regret speaking to Lydia.

Lydia only shut her mouth, still wanting more, after Roy opened the car door and got back in.

"Oh, you're awake?"

Lydia stared intently at Roy.

"Roy, I never knew you had a smart car, it's amazing!"

"Don't even mention that. There isn't even a 24-hour convenience store in Acton. I searched for ages before I finally found some food. Here, take this and eat it."

Actually, Roy had prepared the food in advance and put it in his inventory. Acton is such a small town that no shops open after dark, and there isn't even a bar.

Roy got out of the car to find a place to eat, as the lunch Hannibal had prepared was finally finished.

Lydia took the sandwich from Roy's hand, somewhat surprised.

"Isn't this sandwich a specialty of the Dolphin Hotel? Where did you get it?"

"Uh, never mind that, just eat!"

Roy refused to say, and Lydia had no choice. She hadn't eaten all day and was indeed very hungry, so she quickly finished the sandwich in her hand.

"Are you full? I have some more here."

"Thank you! It would be even better if you had a drink!"

Roy handed Lydia another bottle of milk, and after eating her second sandwich, Lydia was finally satisfied.

"Phew! I haven't eaten this much in ages! Mr. Blake, what time is it now?"

Lydia touched her newly swollen belly and breathed a sigh of relief.

Roy glanced at his watch.

“It’s almost midnight. The car will arrive in Acton around 12 p.m., so I didn’t call you.”

"It seems I won't be able to go to school today, Mr. Black. Would you like to stay at my house for the night?"

Roy hesitated for a moment. He actually wanted to go straight back to Los Angeles, but seeing that Lydia's attitude towards him seemed to have improved, it didn't seem right to refuse.

"May I?"

"Of course, no problem! I occasionally go back to the old house for a short stay, so the house is actually quite clean."

"Alright then, I'll stay for one night."

Lydia gave Roy directions, and Roy drove to a house on the outskirts of Acton.

"This is it! Mr. Blake, let me tidy up your room for you now, please wait a moment!"

Roy was sitting idly in the living room when he suddenly heard a thud from upstairs.

Most houses in America are made of wood because property tax is levied based on the cost of the house, and wood-framed houses are definitely much cheaper than reinforced concrete houses.

What's absurd is that this policy was actually initiated because a paint company wanted to promote its paint and lobbied the state legislature.

It's a very simple principle: wooden houses definitely need to be painted to prevent insects. As long as everyone lives in wooden houses, paint companies can make a fortune.

Therefore, whenever a fire breaks out, ordinary families in America suffer greatly, because most ordinary people live in houses with wooden structures.

Wooden houses usually have poor sound insulation, which is why Roy could hear the noises coming from upstairs.

"Ms. Foster, what happened?"

Roy hurried upstairs and saw Lydia lying on the door of the guest room. He didn't see the Underworld Archmage, and the floor was very clean.

"I... I think I just saw what happened to my daughter!"

Lydia looked terrified and extremely flustered.

"A vision of death? Was it a hallucination?"

"No! This isn't a hallucination, it's a premonition! I had a similar premonition when my husband died! Something must have happened to Astrid!"

Lydia is an excellent psychic. Although she doesn't have a third eye like Mortel Short and can't predict the future, she can sense that her family is in danger.

Roy found Lydia's words rather strange.

"Isn't your daughter at school? What danger could she possibly be in?"

Lydia managed to prop herself up and, with Roy's help, stood up.

"I saw Astrid not at school, but in a dilapidated old house, which looked like Howl's House!"

What is Howl's House?

"Howl's House is the town's infamous haunted house! I investigated it before and discovered that an evil ritual was performed inside! Mr. Black, please save my daughter! I'll do anything to save her!"

Now Lydia can only pin her hopes on Roy, as she herself is a complete weakling, and even an ordinary person might not be able to defeat her.

If Roy doesn't help, Lydia will have no choice but to summon the Grand Wizard of the Underworld to agree to marry him.

Roy agreed without even thinking.

To capture the Underworld Grand Master, Lydia's cooperation is needed. As long as Lydia's daughter can be saved, she will definitely cooperate with the plan.

"Then what are we waiting for? Take me to Howl's House right now!"

The camera then shifts to Astrid.

Howl's House had been vacant for so long that it was actually very dirty inside, with cobwebs and dust everywhere.

However, the young men and women didn't mind; they were enjoying the atmosphere.

At this moment, each of the eight people held a lit white candle, listening to the bespectacled man tell the story of Howl's House. It turned out that just a few years ago, another bloody incident had occurred at Howl's House, but the police had suppressed the news.

"It was another Halloween night, and a group of students like us came to this haunted house for a party!"

The guy with glasses is a great storyteller and quickly got the audience into the atmosphere.

The six young men and women who had taken a liking to each other couldn't help but hug each other. This is probably the greatest effect of ghost stories: to enhance the relationship between men and women.

If a girl and a boy hit it off, the girl will definitely snuggle into the boy's arms, showing her vulnerability and arousing his protective instincts, regardless of whether she is actually scared or not.

Only Astrid kept rolling her eyes. She wasn't actually interested in ghost stories and thought they were just little tricks boys used to take advantage of girls.

But the guy with glasses will continue telling stories.

"Those students, just like us, brought a tape recorder and a ton of food into the haunted house. They even brought a disco ball, decorating it like a dance hall, and then they started partying. Little did they know, their crazy behavior angered the demon Angela, who was sleeping inside the haunted house! Wow!"

The guy with glasses lowered his voice and then suddenly let out a strange cry.

"what!"

The blonde immediately threw herself into the leather-clad man's arms, seemingly quite frightened.

Astrid crossed her arms and pouted.

"What a boring jump scare! Kids wouldn't believe such a simple trick!"

The guy with glasses smiled.

"Don't rush, Astrid, the worst is yet to come!" Angela, awakened by the noise, emerged from the secret room in the basement of the house and first saw a young couple making out in the bathroom. Hmm, just like the two of them!

"Glasses Guy" refers to the black-haired girl and Little Red Riding Hood, who were already kissing each other without a care in the world. If there weren't other people around, they would probably be playing a ranked match already.

The short-haired girl seemed very interested in the story and couldn't wait to ask more questions.

"And then?"

"Then Angela ripped their mouths apart!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than the short-haired girl heard the PE student next to her speak up.

Is this how it is?

The short-haired girl turned around and saw a bloody, mangled face, which terrified her so much that she screamed.

"what--"

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the PE student was wearing a mask, clearly a prank he and the guy with glasses had planned to scare everyone.

Upon learning the truth, the short-haired girl couldn't help but slap the PE student's chest. The PE student slapped her hand, and then the two of them rolled around in a ball.

Everyone present laughed, except for Astrid, who kept a straight face.

"How childish!"

At this moment, the bespectacled guy approached Astrid and asked him a question.

"Asteria, are you really that brave?"

"Hmph! Who doesn't know that Astrid has the biggest guts in Acton town?"

"I see. I did make up that story, but the secret room in the story is real. Do you dare to go and see it?"

Astrid looked at the bespectacled man with a wary expression.

"You guys, you're not trying to set a trap for me, are you?"

"How could that be? Look at the dust in this house, does it look like someone has been here?"

Astrid thought for a moment. From the entrance to the living room, the floor was covered with a thick layer of dust. If someone had really come in, they would have left footprints.

However, Astrid was still somewhat hesitant and didn't really want to do something so dangerous.

Then, the short-haired girl who had gotten up moved closer to Astrid and looked at her teasingly.

"Asteria, are you scared?"

The tactic of provocation always works on Astrid; whenever someone says something like "Are you scared?", she reacts accordingly.

"Who's afraid of something like this? Let's go!"

The others immediately started to jeer.

The bespectacled man handed Astrid a flashlight and then began to encourage her.

"Let's get started then. If you can do it, we'll all listen to you from now on!"

"Hmph! Just you wait!"

Astrid gritted her teeth, picked up the flashlight, and stood up.

How do I get to that secret room?

"It's very simple. The secret room is said to be in the basement of the house. If you find the basement, you should be able to find the secret room!"

The bespectacled guy pointed out the entrance to the basement to Astrid. The entrance was sealed off with wooden boards and nails, as if something was locked up inside.

The physical education student used the tools he found to remove the nails, and the basement door creaked open automatically.

Astrid couldn't help but swallow hard, staring at the dark entrance to the basement.

At that moment, Astrid regretted agreeing to the glasses guy's request.

However, compared to the dark downward passage in front of her, Astrid was more afraid of losing face, so she turned on her flashlight and slowly walked into the dark basement.

The basement of Howl's House seems no different from other house basements, with many metal shelves piled with all sorts of odds and ends.

Astrid shone the flashlight on it and felt that there was nothing special about it, so she breathed a sigh of relief.

After searching around, Astrid did not find the secret room that the bespectacled guy had mentioned, so she shouted something upstairs.

"Where is the secret room? I can't see it!"

"Look more closely, the entrance to the secret room is on a wall with strange patterns!"

Astrid looked at the wall and, sure enough, found a dark red inverted pentagram pattern on the wall directly opposite the entrance.

After examining it, Astrid felt that the pattern seemed to be drawn with blood, and it looked very eerie.

"I see the pattern, but how do I open it?"

"Can the secret chamber be opened simply by smearing your own blood on it?"

Upon hearing this, Astrid became curious.

"That's strange. How did you know about this method?"

As soon as the question left her mouth, Astrid heard footsteps behind her.

"Because I've tried it before!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Astrid felt someone press down on her head and slam it hard into the pentagram pattern.

Instantly, Astrid was hit on the head and bled profusely. The bespectacled guy wiped the blood from her forehead and smeared it on the inverted pentagram pattern.

"See, isn't this enough?"

Dizzy and lightheaded, Astrid managed to turn her head and saw the wicked smile on the bespectacled man's face.

"you……"

"Your head's pretty sturdy, you didn't even faint?"

The bespectacled guy pressed down on Astrid's face and slapped her again.

This time, Astrid finally couldn't hold on any longer and lost consciousness.

Angela's Beauty Version
(End of this chapter)