Chapter 5 The Only Survivor

Chapter 5 The Only Survivor I actually didn’t hear him very well, but his conflicted expression made me first smile, then laugh uncontrollably. “Chu Haoran, you’re afraid of spicy food? If you ever make me mad, I’ll just add chili oil to your food, that’ll teach you.” By the time I had finished talking, he’s already paid for us. I realized I may have gone overboard, if he’s the bitter type, I’ll have h.e.l.l to pay. I wanted to pay for the meal, but it was too late, he’s already gone toward the car. We didn’t talk in the car, and Haoran also ignored me. I couldn’t help asking as we got to my building, “hey, are you really mad?” The car stopped after a moment, my heart was pounding as I stared at him.  “Yes, so you’re in big trouble!” He turned to look at me with challenge in his tone. Oh no! I felt nervous. “Fine, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have...” Then I realized his mouth was turned up, almost in a smile, and then I realized he was smiling, and his eyes were filled with teasing.  “Hey Haoran, you’re messing with me!” I yelled and then quickly got out of the car, slamming the door. To be honest, I wasn’t mad at him, I actually found him to be mesmerizing, which was why I needed to get away from him. The impression he gave me at first was someone who was cold and aloof, and to stay away. After knowing him for a while, he seemed less distant, but it was still good to not get too close. It wasn’t until six months ago, when I joined the major crimes team, that my impression changed. I was actually not sure about the job when I realized he was my supervisor, after some time together, however, I found him to have a kind heart. Gradually, I began to feel different about him. My apartment is a rental and I’m the only person living here. My family home is too big, and everything reminds me of my parents, so after they pa.s.sed, I’d only go back there to clean sometimes. I lived in dorms during my school years and by myself when I started work. Living by oneself has advantages, though, I was able to solve many cases after I became a cop. It wasn’t just because I was smart, it was because I was fearless. I had nothing holding me back, I charged first always, which was why I was able to join the major crimes team. I’ve done a lot of investigating over the years, but with the car accident being more than 10 years ago, many things were hard to check, so I ran into many obstacles. I’ve never given up, however, if anything, this was my reason to go on living. After a shower, I looked at myself in the mirror. My wet hair draped over my shoulders, where water beaded. Soft brows topped clear eyes, and my face was showing a subtle glow after the shower, so I didn’t look too bad. My lips had a cherry-like tint, my figure wasn’t too bad, unless you considered my chest... Around midnight, I seemed to have a nightmare. My vision was cloudy, and my heart beat fast for no reason, as if I was suffocating in anxiety. Just then, a familiar ring sounded. I sat up so fast and breathed deeply. I didn’t know what I had dreamt, but the feeling made me frightened. The cell phone kept ringing, the sound extra screechy in my quiet room. A few seconds later, I came to and picked up the phone on the nightstand. When I saw Haoran was calling, my unease grew. As soon as the call connected, Haoran’s deep voice said, ”something happened with Zhou Nan. I’m downstairs.” I looked at the clock reflectively, it was 2:05 AM. So it is two AM again. Zhao Qi had just died yesterday around this time, why would Zhou Nan have the same fate today? Weren’t some of my colleagues at the school doing surveillance work? Or maybe he meant something has happened, and not that Nan has jumped too. When I ran downstairs, Haoran’s car was waiting. When I got inside the car, his face looked grim. “Zhou Nan died?” I asked, my mind a jumble. He nodded. “Yes, she also jumped from her room. It’s my oversight. If I added more protection it wouldn’t have happened.”  “I saw workers measuring the windows, they were going to add protective railings. The school didn’t like all these incidents either. They were supposed to be done with the railings today. But now...” “Don’t blame yourself, no one thought it would happen so soon. I thought it’d take another seven days.” When we reached the school, Teng was already at the scene. The once-vibrant Nan was now lifeless and laying in the dirt. The picture of her death resembled the other two girls, head down, wearing a nightgown, body in a pool of blood. Some colleagues talked about their surveillance. They were very wary when it got to two AM, since it was the time when things happened before. When they were monitoring, they saw a shadow in the fifth floor window, and they ran up as fast as they could. When they got to the top of the stairs, they heard a loud thump. They saw it was Nan who had jumped and contacted Haoran right away. This meant Nan had jumped as soon as she got to the window and didn’t hesitate. Teng was inside the dormroom when we got upstairs, who rushed to tell us, “she’s just calmed down. Li broke down the door to come in earlier, and she was waving her arms and yelling help.” The “she” Teng mentioned was Li Ling. At the moment, she was hiding inside her blankets and s.h.i.+vering against the wall. Her lowered head made it hard to see her expression, her hair was messy and her shoulders were shaking as she sobbed. Teng said she was completely out of control, it was good she had calmed down a little, or she’d need mental help. I walked to the window to look downstairs at all the employees cleaning up the site. The window only showed Zhao Qi’s footprints when we checked last time, this time, there’s probably nothing but Nan’s footprints.  “She said she saw a female ghost in white, floating in mid-air, who had crazy hair and a twisted face. She said it was the same ghost she saw during the pen oracle game. But she couldn’t talk or move after she saw the ghost, she was just very scared. And that was when Nan got up and crawled up the windowsill slowly, there was no chance for her to stop Nan before Nan jumped. That was also when the ghost disappeared, and when she returned to normal and lost it. She does seem very freaked out.” Officer Li explained, he looked frightened too as he looked around.