I reached out and touched my scalded cheek.

It felt slippery, not like hot water.

"Husband, the roof is leaking, it fell on my face."

I wanted my husband to check if my face was burnt.

But he was squatting in the corner and didn't respond to me.

"Husband?"

I walked towards him.

My husband reached out and picked up something.

As I got closer, I saw that he was holding an ugly human-shaped doll in his arms.

"Husband, what are you doing?! The sign on the door says the doll is a lost item of other guests, don’t touch it!"

I accused him anxiously but didn't dare to take another step forward.

I was so scared of the doll in his arms.

It wasn't a cute and delicate Barbie.

It was a doll dressed in a blood-red dress, without eyeballs, only two empty black eye sockets, and a mouth painted bright red.

The lifelike skin on its face had fine pores under the flashlight, as if made of real human skin.

"Husband? Why are you holding it?"

I was about to cry out of fear.

My husband slowly turned his head, grinned, his pale face gradually forming a delighted smile.

"Wife, the wax doll just spoke, it wants to play hide and seek with us."

Then, my husband pointed at me.

"You hide, we find."

He deliberately emphasized the word "we."

He already regarded himself and the doll as companions?!

I felt my hair stand on end and my scalp tingle.

I felt my husband's gaze and expression becoming abnormal.

"Husband! Wake up! Let's go! No more sightseeing, no more playing!"

I grabbed my husband's hand and rushed out.

Everything was eerie in this wax museum, from the half-body wax ticket seller at the entrance.

I've been to many haunted houses and escape rooms; my husband always protected me. This was the first time he was attracted to a creepy doll and even pushed me away?!

We had to leave here.

"Let's go! What are you standing there for?"

I grabbed my husband's arm, but his feet wouldn't move an inch.

"One!"

My husband started counting, smiling at me.

"Two!"

His smile became brighter, the corners of his mouth almost reaching his ears.

"Three!"

He hugged the doll tighter, the horror doll's human- skin face pressing close to his mouth.

"Husband! I'm asking you for the last time, are you sure you don't want to go?"

I was anxious and uneasy.

My husband opened his mouth: "Four! Hurry and hide! When I count to ten, we'll catch you together!"

How could I be in the mood to play hide and seek?

And with a human-skin-faced doll?

I started running.

"I'll go back to the car first! Come out quickly after you finish sightseeing, let's go home!"

I started running.

"Five!"

My husband counted behind me sinisterly.

That eerie tone felt like a countdown to my life.

I pushed the door open and bumped into an oncoming staff member.

"Customer, what happened to you?"

The staff wore a blue and white striped uniform and had a neat ponytail.

My eyes lit up!

I finally saw a living person!

I was so excited, tears almost fell. I pointed at my husband inside the room: "I'm scared, I don't want to play anymore, I’ll wait for him outside."

The staff blocked the entrance, showing no intention of letting me leave.

"Did you buy tickets?"

I nodded, took out two tickets, and handed them to her: "We didn't sneak in."

The staff scanned the tickets with sharp eyes and said solemnly:

"Since you bought tickets, it's fine. You should go next door to the real person exhibit. I'll take the doll away; a guest came to claim it."

According to her, that horrible thing was really something someone had lost?

Who has such bizarre taste to buy a blood-red, eyeless, human-skin doll?

I curiously looked towards the entrance, wanting to see who the owner was.

There was no one.

The door was tightly closed.

Only the half-body wax ticket seller was sitting alone on the chair.

"Please head over to the real person exhibit."

The staff ordered.

She walked over to the next door, opened the real person exhibit door proactively and invited me in.

Different from the rusty smell in the mannequin exhibit, as soon as the door to the real person exhibit opened, a stench rushed over.

It smelled like mutton mixed with the fishy odor from a fish pond, making my nose uncomfortable.

"Alright, thank you."

I agreed verbally but subconsciously moved towards the entrance.

In the moment she let down her guard, I ran.

At this point, who would go in! Who in their right mind!

I ran towards the door, pushing with all my might. Pushing hard! Using all my strength!

The door seemed to be deadlocked; no matter how I pounded, kicked, pushed, and pulled, it wouldn't budge!

Like a comical clown, I faced the heavy, closed door, desperately trying to escape.

Outside was a safe world, inside was unknown fear, but I was powerless.

"Wife! What are you doing?"

My husband's voice suddenly sounded behind me.

I turned back in shock.

My husband actually came!

He held my hand and gently said: "Let's finish visiting the real person exhibit, then we’ll go home together! With me here, don't be afraid."

My eyes were moist.

I didn't know if I was scared or moved.

Every time we played escape rooms, my husband would comfort me with this sentence.

"With me here, don't be afraid."

My fearful heart gradually calmed down. I asked him in confusion: "What about that scary doll just now?"

My husband looked puzzled: "What doll?"

"The doll you were holding! The human-skin doll!"

My husband wrapped his arms around my waist, “What doll? You must have been scared by the haunted house props.”

How could there be no doll?

I clearly saw it with my own eyes!

"What about the staff? A woman in a blue and white stripe uniform?"

My husband responded without hesitation: "She went to the mannequin exhibit to clean. Why do you look so pale? It’s not your first time here, what are you afraid of?"

I still couldn't believe it.

The ghostly image of the horror doll lingered in my mind.

"Where did you go just now?" I asked angrily.

My husband reached out and rubbed my head, his eyes filled with affection.

"Silly, I just went to the restroom. As soon as I came out, you were gone, and then I heard you shouting and banging on the door."

My husband worriedly cupped my face.

"Wife, are you hallucinating? It's all special effects, it's fake. I'm the real one."

Was it really a hallucination?

I gazed into my husband's sincere eyes and started to doubt myself.

Was what I just saw all special effects created by the mannequin exhibit?

Maybe… I was being too sensitive.

"Come on, wife! Let's go visit the real person exhibit!"

My husband wrapped one arm around my waist and held my cold hand with the other.

With him holding me, I felt a sense of security.

We brushed past the ticket seller.

I seemed to have another hallucination.

I saw fear in the ticket seller's eyes. He looked at my husband in terror, as if he were looking at a monster.

How could a wax figure show such a hopeless expression?