Chapter Two: Fear Has a Price

Deeper inside the restaurant lingered a rotten sweetness, like a birthday cake left in a coffin for twenty-three years. He stepped outside. The dining room had transformed. Wallpaper expanded and contracted like lungs. A pink membrane sealed the exit shutter. The six guests huddled around Table Eight. A-Bei still held his phone, but his stream displayed only the pulsing words HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Lin Wan held a telescopic baton. Bonnie lay at her feet, its dented head twitching while its long ears slithered across the floor like snakes. “Are you in charge?” she asked. “Close enough. Who is the birthday guest?” All six shook their heads.