Chapter 3 The Guest

"Do you know about the mannequin attacks?" Irish asked.

"I'm the one who took the victim to Everest Hospital. It seems the mannequin stabbed the victim; the wound is quite severe," the driver explained.

Chloe instantly leaned on her shoulder, visibly shocked by this revelation. If she hadn't gone to the boutique, she wouldn't have known about the incident. Irish tried to comfort her friend. "Be strong, Chloe. There's always a way out."

The taxi stopped right in front of the entrance. After settling the fare, both got out of the car and walked towards the information center. It turned out the employee was being treated intensively in a VIP room. Chloe's mother had already taken responsibility by providing the best healthcare.

They quickly went to the room on the third floor using the elevator. "Do you need me to accompany you?" Irish asked, and Chloe shook her head. She wanted to have a one-on-one conversation with the victim.

Irish understood her friend's wish and waited outside. After talking for ten minutes with the victim, Chloe finally came out of the room.

"How's the employee, Chloe?" Irish asked, curious.

"The taxi driver was right; the injury is severe and needs intensive care," she replied to Irish's earlier question. Irish didn't ask further, understanding her friend's current state of mind. The chaos that happened in her mother's boutique had truly disturbed her.

"What's next? What if the authorities investigate this matter?"

Chloe's words made Irish stop in her tracks. She looked at her friend intently. "Everything will be fine. You'll get through this," she said, hugging Chloe.

"It's impossible. This problem will be remembered by everyone forever. The repercussions will be enormous, and the boutique hasn't even officially opened yet."

"Relax, Chloe, calm down. Don't panic like this," Irish said, trying to reassure her.

"If only you knew what the employee told me inside. I'm sure you wouldn't tell me to calm down," Chloe said earnestly.

"What did the employee say?"

"Something unbelievable, it's hard for me to explain it to you," she said, rubbing her face.

Irish was genuinely curious about what the employee had said to Chloe, but she didn't want to force her friend to tell the story. "So, what now? Are you going home, or...?"

"I don't want to go home. I'll stay at my aunt's house. You just go home," she said. "You go ahead; I'll ask them to pick me up here. Thank you for accompanying me, Irish. I hope you won't tell anyone about this."

"Of course, I promise you. I hope you find peace at your aunt's house," she said, hugging her friend. "I'll go home now."

Fortunately, it was still daytime, so Irish decided to take a public bus home since the bus stop was not far from the hospital, only about 50 meters away. Soon after, the bus she was waiting for appeared in the distance.

As soon as the bus doors opened, she got on and sat at the back. Throughout the journey home, Irish thought about the problems affecting Chloe's family. Perhaps this was the only criminal case caused by an inanimate object.

Unbeknownst to her, the 45-minute journey passed quickly, and she got off at her destination bus stop. She walked slowly towards her house at the end of the alley. There was a strange feeling when she stood in front of her house; she jumped in surprise when she saw the side door of her house open.

Her feet moved closer to her house's door. "Why is it open? I couldn't have left it unlocked," she muttered. Slowly, Irish entered her house; the corner of her eye caught a quick movement in the kitchen.

She quickly grabbed a broom to use as a weapon, thinking there might be a burglar in her house. The movement was again seen in her dining room, but Irish didn't chase it because she felt she knew the uninvited guest.

"Come out! I want to talk to you," she yelled. She wanted to show that she was fierce and not afraid of the figure. Unfortunately, the figure did not obey the homeowner's command and chose to hide in the guest room.

She chased the figure into the room; Irish arrived just in time to hold the door to prevent it from closing. Of course, this made the figure annoyed, and it stared sharply at the long-haired woman.

"How can you be in my house?" Irish shot.

"I didn't know this was your house," the mannequin replied. "Someone brought me here."

"Someone? Who is it?"

"I don't know," the mannequin replied. It insisted on closing the door, but Irish's strength was much stronger. The woman's courage increased; she kept moving forward towards the mannequin until it was cornered. "Don't hurt me."

"Why not? You dared to stab someone; it's not unthinkable for you to harm me too," Irish retorted, looking emotional.

"Of course, it wasn't me who did it," the living mannequin denied.

"Then why were you the one kept in Chloe's room?"

"I also don't know. The lady separated me from my friends," it said. "Besides, if I intended to do harm, I could have done it to your friend."

Irish fell silent for a moment; what the mannequin standing in front of her said was true. It could harm Chloe whenever it wanted, but it didn't. Instead, the strange mannequin asked for help.

"Help me, Irish," the mannequin pleaded with a pitiful face.

"Help with what? You're not in Chloe's house anymore," she muttered.

The mannequin nodded and smiled at Irish; instantly, she felt afraid that the mannequin might act otherwise. "Introduce me to my friends."

"Which friends? The ones in La Omelas boutique? The ones who attacked an employee there?" Irish blurted out. "Or are you the one who harmed that person?"

"No, we never did that. It's always humans who act cruelly, not us," it vehemently denied. "They can even turn creatures like us into what we are."

Irish swallowed her saliva because what the mannequin said was true. "I can't take you there."

"I need my friends' help to find the person who turned us into this," the mannequin continued.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by what you said earlier? They didn't make mannequins; they turned humans, right?"

The mannequin rolled its eyes lazily, turning its face away. "They killed us and turned us into mannequins."

"Killed you?"