by Johnathon hunter
In the toy shop of a dying city called Oakhaven, a small group of survivors—Johnathon Hunter, the anxious Daz, and the disciplined Maya—hunker down as chaos screams outside. The tension is thick as Johnathon prepares his weapons, while Ellie, an eight-year-old girl, huddles among headless teddy bears, sensing a threat that the others are trying to ignore. The fragile peace is shattered when a corrupted jack-in-the-box triggers itself, playing a distorted melody that signals an intrusion. The horror escalates instantly as a Grinner—a former resident of the town now mutated into a twitching nightmare with a permanent, unhinged smile—appears at the high stained-glass window. As the glass begins to fail under the creature's frantic scratching, Johnathon realizes their barricades are useless. The chapter ends with the group forced into a desperate fight for survival as the "fairytale" of their sanctuary officially collapses.
