American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 412 Blood Queen Mary

This scene truly startled Nedy and Ashley, who were engrossed in playing the game.

It evokes a similar sense of awe and shock as when you first played Resident Evil 1 and saw a zombie turn around.

The two detectives in the game were also startled, but the older detective, Jack, reacted quickly and grabbed the blonde maid's hand.

Jack: Ms. Anne, why has Mrs. Stock turned out this way?
Anne: Let me go first, then I'll explain to you!
Jack let go, and Annie began to tell the story.

Anne: Actually, Mrs. Stock died a year ago from a strange illness. Dr. Stock has been unable to accept this fact and has been claiming that she is still alive.

Nicole: That can't be right? In just one year, Mrs. Stock's body has turned into a mummified corpse?
Anne: That's the truth. I don't know what happened. I usually don't dare to go near this room. Only Dr. Stock enters this room every day.

Seeing this, Ashley couldn't help but speak up.

"Nidi, I have a feeling there's something wrong with this blonde maid!"

"There is indeed a problem, but her explanation seems quite reasonable. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't dare to go near this room either."

The two main characters in the game also had a similar conversation, and with so few clues, it was difficult to make the right judgment.

So the two main characters decided to go back to the study to ask Dr. Stocker what had happened.

At this point, the character can move freely again.

"Ashley, let's explore the mansion first, and then go to the study."

"Ok."

Actually, there isn't much space to explore in the mansion right now; most of the rooms are either locked or cannot be opened from this side.

Perhaps the person who designed this game is a Japanese man surnamed Miyazaki.

However, Nidi and Ashley still found some ammunition and supplies in the mansion, as well as some special props, such as roses.

"What's this rose for? Is it a gift for someone?"

Ashley found it strange.

"They might be quest items? Ashley, you take these roses, I'll take the ammo!"

The game allows you to drop items, so Nedy Ashley threw her things on the ground and adjusted her inventory.

Nidi's backpack was almost entirely filled with ammunition, with only a small amount of medicine.

Ashley's backpack, on the other hand, was filled with medicine, with only a small amount of ammunition and three red roses.

"Alright, we can go find Dr. Stock now!"

Nidy, with her extensive gaming experience, had a pretty good idea of ​​what would happen if she went to the study.

The two characters returned to the study area. This time, the blonde maid did not follow, and they then discovered that Dr. Stock was not in the study.

The game prompts the player to investigate the study, so Nidly and Ashley split up to investigate.

There's a glowing spot on Stoke's desk, which should be a key point to investigate. Investigating it might trigger a plot event, so Nidy told Ashley not to investigate it yet.

After investigating with the two game characters, they discovered many books related to folklore, religion, and mysticism on the bookshelves in the study, as well as some roses.

The mansion seemed to be filled with roses, which even Roy and Jennifer, who were watching the game, found a bit strange.

At that moment, Roy thought of a possibility.

"Could it be that Stock's wife, Lisa, loved red roses so much that Stock placed roses all over the mansion in memory of her?"

Jennifer thought about it and realized it made some sense.

"If that's the case, then that's quite romantic!"

After searching the study, Nidy finally began investigating the point of light, which was followed by a cutscene.

Nicole: Where did Dr. Stock go?
Jack: Have they gone to rest? Wait, there's a book on the table.

The camera focuses on Dr. Stock's desk, where a red-covered book sits. Nicole walks over and picks up the red book.

Nicole: Mary, Queen of Blood?
Jack: Hey Nicole! It's not really appropriate for you to touch other people's things like that.

Nicole: I was just reading a book, not someone else's diary. What's wrong with that?

Nicole opens the red book, and the game displays a blood-red background with black text, then begins reciting a prayer.

The content consists of praise and prayers for a woman named Mary, the Blood Queen.

In fact, this prayer appeared at the beginning of the game, but Niddy was too lazy to watch it again and wanted to skip it.

However, this cutscene cannot be skipped, even though other cutscenes have a skip option.

This left Nidi speechless.

"What were the game developers thinking? Did they really find this long, tedious prayer interesting?"

Ashley hesitated for a moment before offering a point of view.

"I think this might be a hint from the developers? This Blood Queen Mary might just be the final boss of the game."

Nidi thought about it for a moment and felt that it made some sense.

"But I still reserve my opinion. I could have given this game a higher score for its development, but that disgusting prayer dragged it down!"

Jennifer also joined the discussion.

"Do you think this Bloody Queen Mary refers to 'Bloody Mary'?"

Bloody Mary is a well-known legend in Europe and America. It is generally believed that the prototype of this legend is a Hungarian noblewoman from the early 17th century, Countess Elizabeth.

Legend has it that Countess Elizabeth chose to bathe in the blood of virgins in order to maintain her youth, and for this purpose, she murdered more than 600 innocent girls.

This legend has influenced many cultural works, and some even believe that the story of Dracula was created based on the story of Bloody Mary.

Therefore, in some works, Bloody Mary is even portrayed as the progenitor of vampires.

After the story spread to modern times, many new elements were added, such as another famous urban legend, namely the ritual of summoning Bloody Mary in front of a mirror at midnight.

Even Roy, who was a student at Dongda University in his previous life, had seen this urban legend while surfing the internet.

Nidi paused for a moment, then her eyes lit up.

"Maybe it really is this! This is getting more and more interesting!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the prayer was played, and the game screen suddenly went black. Just when Nidi thought the game was bugged, a pale woman's face suddenly appeared on the screen, startling all three girls.

(Screenshot of the Countess from Survival Game)

Nidi, who was the most timid, almost threw the controller away.

"What the hell? Jump Scar?"

Jump scar, also known as a jump scar, refers to a situation where a scary scene is suddenly cut into a normal scene, or a scary scene flashes by, usually accompanied by scary sound effects.

This scare mode wasn't invented by the game; it was actually used in horror movies much earlier.

Back in the 80s and 90s, many horror movies used this technique to scare people, but using this approach in a game in 2000 was still relatively novel.

At that moment, the lights in the living room suddenly started flickering, which increased the eerie atmosphere.

Roy glanced at the light bulb and stood up. "The voltage might be unstable. I'll go check the electrical box."

If the game can't be played tonight because of a circuit problem, Niddy will definitely be sad.

"Let's pause the game and take a break, and continue playing when you come back!"

Niddy pressed the pause button, and Jennifer also paused the timer.

The three girls decided to take a break; the Jump Scar had really scared them, and they needed something to drink to calm down.

The paused image focused on the pale woman's face. The three girls who went to the kitchen to get drinks and snacks didn't notice that the pale woman's eyes seemed to be moving in the paused image.

Roy has come to the villa's basement to check the electrical circuits.

After a thorough inspection, Roy found that there didn't seem to be any major problems with the circuit, so he had no choice but to return to the living room.

I found three girls drinking beer and eating snacks.

"Why are you drinking beer?"

Ashley betrayed Neddy without hesitation.

“It was Nidi’s suggestion! I guess the Jump Scar just now scared her, and she needs some alcohol to give her courage!”

"Ah—don't talk nonsense! I'm not scared! I just suddenly want to drink!"

Suddenly, Nidi lunged at Ashley, trying to cover her mouth, but because of the sudden movement, she triggered her passive ability, tripped over her own feet, and fell, making Jennifer, who was standing nearby, burst into laughter.

Roy couldn't help but laugh too.

After her attempt to cover her mouth failed, Niddy got up and sat angrily on the carpet.

Roy patted Nidi's head to soothe her emotions before speaking.

"Let's keep playing the game! Jennifer, get me a beer too."

Since the girls were drinking, Roy naturally had to drink too.

The game continues, and the pale woman's large face quickly disappears, the camera returning to the two main characters, Nicole and Jack.

Nicole: Did you just see something?

Jack: What? I don't understand what you're saying.

Nicole: It's just a woman's deathly pale face!
Jack: What woman's pale face? I didn't see anything.

It seems that only Nicole, who recited the prayer of "Bloody Queen Mary," was able to see the face on the screen just now.

Suddenly, another woman's scream came from inside the mansion, startling the two detectives.

Jack: That sound seems to be coming from the garden?

Nicole: Strange! That scream doesn't sound like Annie's voice. Are there other women in this mansion?
Jack: I don't know, we'll find out when we get there.

After the cutscene ends, Niddy and Ashley can once again control their game characters and move freely.

"Nidi, where should we go now?"

"The cutscene just now seemed to be telling us to go check out the garden, but we investigated the door leading to the garden before, and it was locked. So we still need to find the blonde maid; she should have the key to the garden."

Nidi quickly helped Ashley analyze what she should do next in the game.

Games of this era are like this: game prompts are rather vague, and many don't even have tutorials, leaving players to figure things out on their own.

However, when Nidi and Ashley controlled their characters to return to the hall where the blonde maid had appeared, they found that she was no longer there.

At this moment, Nidi noticed a spot of light on the wall of the hall. After investigating, she discovered a map of the mansion.

There is also a conspicuous red dot on the map of the mansion, marking the maid's room.

"It seems the blonde maid has gone back to her room. We need to go through the kitchen to find her."

"But the door to the blonde maid's room seems to be locked too. Should we look for the key?"

"Not necessarily. Perhaps the blonde maid has already opened that door for us. Let's go take a look."

Controlling the character through the restaurant and kitchen, the door leading to the blonde maid's room was indeed openable.

However, when the two main characters entered the corridor, all the lights in the corridor suddenly went out.

At the same time, all the lights in the living room went out, startling Nidi so much that she jumped up.

"W-What happened? Did the power trip?"

The problem is that the TV screen and Xbox console don't seem to be affected; only the lights are off.

"Maybe the light is broken. I'll go check the other lights."

Roy got up to press the switch, and sure enough, the living room lights wouldn't turn on, but the lights in other places worked fine.

"It must be a broken light in the living room."

Hearing this, Nidi breathed a sigh of relief.

"That scared me to death! I thought the game had synchronized with reality!"

The living room light is one of those big chandeliers, and it's definitely impossible to fix it tonight. I can only call someone to take a look tomorrow.

Fortunately, playing games without the lights on doesn't have a big impact, but Nidi seems to have become even more scared, so she downed a can of beer to bolster her courage.

Jennifer made a joke from the side.

"Nidi, don't get drunk! If you get drunk and can't play the game, you'll lose!"

Nidi patted the magnificent headlights.

"Hmph! Even when I'm drunk, I can still beat the game! That's me, the super genius beauty!"

It was obvious that Nidi was already a little drunk, otherwise she wouldn't have said such childish things.

The game continues.

Niddy and Ashley control their characters as they enter a dark corridor. The game prompts them to turn on a flashlight, and the two press the buttons as instructed, finally able to see some images.

However, since split-screen games already have a narrow field of view for two players, the need to use a flashlight to see things further reduces the visible range, making the game's horror atmosphere even more pronounced.

One theory is that the flashlights provided in horror games are not for illumination, but rather to help you see certain terrifying scenes more clearly at certain moments.

For example, right now, the two main characters suddenly see a dark shadow flash past in front of them.

Nicole: What is that?
Jack: I don't know! He was too fast, I didn't see him clearly!

Nicole: Could it be Annie?
Jack: If it's Annie, why would she do that? Maybe a thief has broken in; we'd better be careful!
In the scene, both main characters pulled out their sidearms.

The meaning is very clear: a battle is likely to break out soon.

Niddy and Ashley guided their characters forward, and after turning a corner, they saw the back of a thin woman.

Jack: This lady...

(End of this chapter)