Horror Movie Survival Rules Chapter 72: Monkey’s Paw (5)

Unfortunately, Jessica didn’t see the light and turn back as Everly had hoped.

The monkey’s paw is an extrely sinister magical artifact. Once it has chosen a master and not all three wishes have been used, it cannot be discarded or stolen. Whether it is taken by force, stolen, or voluntarily given away, the mont it enters another person’s hands, it quickly vanishes and returns to its original owner. Therefore, as long as Jessica still had wishes left on the paw, Everly had to steer clear of it.

So, the next day, Everly continued her leave and didn’t go to school.

She planned to take a long break—resting until the third wish was made—so that Jessica could no longer harm her, and then she could return and land a solid punch on that awful girl.

Misha, on the other hand, didn’t have Everly’s worries. She went to school as usual, commuting between ho and school in a steady routine, diligently acting as Everly’s spy within the school, keeping track of every move Jessica made.

According to Misha’s reports, on the fourth day after being scratched and hospitalized, Jessica returned to school.

Because her appearance was constantly shifting, she dared not show her face. At school, she always wore a mask and a hat, even avoiding people while eating, hiding in a corner and nibbling her sandwich alone.

Even so, Jessica stubbornly held onto her third wish, refusing to use it no matter what.

That was until the day Edward invited Nia—the “Gymnast Goddess” from the class next door—out and confessed to her in front of everyone.

The two were a perfect match, and both were single at the ti. Nia thought Edward seed nice and promptly agreed.

News of the two campus idols officially becoming a couple spread across the entire school, flooding the school forum with posts about them.

Watching the sweet couple stroll hand in hand through the campus, Jessica could no longer contain herself. From a dark corner, she pulled out the monkey’s paw and made her third wish:

“I want Edward to be mine, forever with !”

“Crack.” The last upright little finger of the monkey’s paw bent downward, signaling that the wish had been received.

At the sa mont, Edward, walking along the path, suddenly seed like a different person. He abruptly raised his hand, pushed Nia to the ground, and turned to walk straight toward Jessica.

“Hello. From the very first mont I saw you, I felt you were special, unique, deeply captivating… Would you do the honor of being my girlfriend?” he said, gazing affectionately at the masked girl in front of him. A shy blush rose on his fair cheeks.

“…What’s going on? Didn’t Edward just confess to Nia?”

“Is this so kind of prank? This is too much…”

“Who is that girl? Does anyone know her?”

Everyone who witnessed the scene widened their eyes, staring in disbelief at Edward and Jessica.

Not far behind Edward, Nia was being helped up by a few girls. She had just gotten to him when she saw her boyfriend confessing to soone else in front of her. Never before had Nia experienced such humiliation; her face turned crimson with anger, and she clenched her fists tightly.

Undeterred by Nia’s furious glare or the shocked stares of everyone around, Jessica looked triumphant, tilting her head arrogantly.

“Yes, of course I’ll be your girlfriend,” she said, savoring her tone, and extended her hand to Edward.

“That’s wonderful, my dear. I swear I will love you forever!”

Edward was ecstatic. He grabbed Jessica’s hand, pressing it against his cheek and rubbing it back and forth. His gaze toward her was full of affection, reminiscent of sparkling lakes and the endless swell of spring tides.

Jessica’s cheeks burned; she felt almost overwheld, drowning in his enchanting eyes.

At that mont, out of nowhere, a fist shot across and slamd hard into Edward’s face:

“Edward, you scumbag!”

It was Nia, freshly heartbroken after just starting a relationship with Edward. As a mber of the school gymnastics team, her small fra hid incredible core strength. With a single punch, she twisted Edward’s head and drew a thin line of blood at the corner of his mouth.

Jessica imdiately stepped forward, putting herself between Nia and Edward. “Hey, crazy woman, haven’t you realized you’ve already lost? Taking out your frustration on a man because you can’t beat —how pathetic.”

“Bah! You’re no better! You even want this trash man? You desperate, shaless idiot!” Nia, fiery as ever, didn’t hold back. She swung her fist again, landing a punch on Jessica’s face.

“You… how dare you! Monkey’s paw, I want this disgusting woman to be disfigured! Monkey’s paw! Monkey’s paw…”

Jessica’s facial wounds hadn’t fully healed. Nia’s punch ripped open the scratches on her left cheek, blood seeping out once more. Enraged, Jessica reached for her chest to grab the monkey’s paw—only to find the leather cord empty. The paw at its end had vanished without a trace.

“That’s to be expected. After all, she’s already used all three wishes, even if the first wish didn’t fully co true, the monkey spirit at least tried, so it counts. She’s lost the monkey’s paw and is now on the sa level as any ordinary person,” Misha said, her tone dripping with mockery.

Everly nodded in agreent and asked her friend, “Then what happened?”

“Then Jessica and Nia just started grabbing each other by the hair and fighting, honestly, the scene was absurd. Because, you see, in my eyes, Jessica’s body and face are exactly like yours, so what I actually saw was you, masked, fighting Nia…”

Jessica was more solidly built than Nia but lacked training; in both strength and technique, she couldn’t compete. Just as she was about to lose the “hair-pulling championship,” Edward finally couldn’t hold back and intervened. He stepped between them, blocking Jessica, and angrily told Nia that he was just playing around—that the person he truly liked was Helena.

“…Helena? Wait, who are you talking about? Who is Helena?” Jessica’s arrogant smile didn’t last long before it was replaced by anger and frustration. She chased after Edward, demanding to know who Helena was. But Edward, seemingly oblivious to her jealousy, touched her face sweetly and said she was his Helena.

—So who exactly was Helena?

Everly tilted her head, a jumble of question marks in her mind.

Misha snapped her fingers. “Who Helena is—that’s a good question. If you asked around school, I’d bet nine and a half out of ten students wouldn’t know. But I—your most reliable friend, Misha—happen to know this little secret. Everly, maybe you’ve heard people ntion it before: Edward’s mother divorced his father when he was young, and the woman raising him now is his stepmother?”

Everly nodded.

Because Edward is the “king of the school,” every move he makes draws attention, so gossip about him spreads fast. Even though Everly never really cared, she’d occasionally overheard students talking about how Edward was raised by his stepmother but had a good relationship with her.

But why was Misha suddenly bringing this up out of nowhere? Could it be…

“Exactly! You’ve already guessed it, haven’t you?! Even though everyone calls Edward’s stepmother ‘Mrs. Greenwood’ at school, her real na is Helena. In other words, our scandal-prone, girl-favorite ‘king of the school,’ Edward, has actually been infatuated with his stepmother all along!”

“…”

So shocking! Truly the land of the free—people’s ntal states are incredible.

Everly didn’t even know how to respond.

In any case, Jessica having used up all three wishes was good news for Everly.

By now, Everly was in high school, where the lessons were getting more advanced. Even she needed to pay close attention in class and spend extra ti studying reference books after school to fully grasp the material. Taking long leaves during this period would affect her grades.

So, the day after Jessica lost the monkey’s paw, Everly “recovered” and returned to class.

During a classroom change, she ran into Jessica in the school corridor. At that mont, Edward was clinging to Jessica like sticky gum, his gaze on her so intense it seed to stretch like taffy. Jessica, on the other hand, frowned, her face full of disdain and impatience.

Everly suspected that Jessica had already figured out Helena’s true identity; otherwise, there would be no reason for her previously so obsessed with Edward to suddenly change her attitude. —Incidentally, even though Jessica wore a mask, Everly recognized that Jessica’s appearance in her eyes resembled the “campus queen” from her previous life.

Who would have thought that, across a different tiline, she would see the sa perfect beauty—but now embodied in a classmate?

Thinking about the way the monkey’s paw granted Jessica’s second and third wishes, Everly couldn’t help but sigh. But at the thought of Jessica using the paw to curse her own face, Everly imdiately lost any sympathy.

Not only did she lose sympathy—after school that day, Everly waited until no one was around, grabbed a trash bag and slipped it over Jessica’s head from behind, dragged her into a hidden corner, and landed several solid punches.

Jessica should count herself lucky: Everly had been cautious and didn’t truly fall into any trap. Otherwise, what Jessica would have faced wouldn’t have been just a few punches—it would have been far harsher revenge.

Having been beaten for no reason, Jessica was furious. But she had made many enemies at school, and after “capturing” the campus king Edward, she had strutted around like a flashy peacock, picking fights with multiple girls. Therefore, she had no idea who had just hit her and could only swallow her frustration in bitter silence.

But Everly’s revenge wasn’t over yet.

She asked Misha to keep a close watch on Edward, and then waited for a mont when he was alone to intercept him.

“You’ve been deceived by supernatural forces, you know that?”

“What?” Edward frowned, trying to avoid Everly blocking his way. “I’ve got things to do with my girlfriend, can you move aside?”

“Why don’t you try being a little more clear-headed?” Everly advanced, raising one hand toward him.

As an athlete, Edward’s reflexes were extrely fast, and he instinctively tried to block her. But Everly had undergone system training, making her martial skills far superior to an untrained Edward. After only a few moves, she pinned him down with her knee pressed firmly against his back, forcing him to the ground.

“What are you doing? Let go!”

Everly ignored Edward’s angry shouts. She held his chin with one hand and, with the other, pulled a silver cross from her pocket, pressing it firmly against his forehead.

“Sizzle…”

The mont the silver cross touched Edward’s skin, a thick black smoke imdiately rose. Though the skin on his forehead remained intact, the air was filled with a strong burnt odor.

At the sa ti, Edward’s previously furious and obsessive expression gradually cald. His reddened face drained to pale white in an instant. He turned his head to look at Everly, then glanced down at himself, a mix of struggle and realization crossing his face. “I… I am…”

“This cross will only keep you clear-headed for five minutes, so we don’t have much ti. Listen carefully. Right now, due to certain forces, you’ve been seeing Jessica as the person you truly love, and you’ve developed obsessive feelings toward her. To break free from this state, you need to prepare sage, unrefined coarse salt, armadillo shells, firewood infused with seven sacred incense ingredients including frankincense and myrrh…”

Everly went through the uncursing formula and ritual instructions that Rebecca had purchased at great expense from the exorcist network. Worried that Edward might have a poor mory, she even hand-copied the key points and handed them to him.

“The materials and the ritual must be prepared by you personally. If you trust soone completely, you can delegate the task to them. Also, here’s another silver cross. If your mind is ever influenced by the monkey’s paw again and you start feeling love for Jessica, rember how you feel right now—your true thoughts in this clear-headed mont. If reason cannot overco your emotions, you can use the cross to regain clarity. But it can only be used once; after that it’s gone. Don’t use it unless it’s an ergency.”

With that, Everly placed the second matching silver cross in a box and set it in front of Edward.

Once the boy took the box, Everly felt that her mission was complete. She lifted her knee from his back and retreated, satisfied with a job well done.