chapter_003 : The Second Victim

Orion was at home alone, gazing out of the window. The sky was gray, and there was frost on the glass. The wind howled against his face, mixed with a little rain.

"Tonight... someone will die..."

Orion knew this very well. But why should he try to stop it like Violet? What could that change? He just wanted to live a peaceful life with his sister. They had been in this city for three years and hardly knew anyone. He knew that one day, they might have to move again. He even cut off all contact with relatives, not wanting any ties to the past. All that remained were their names... and that indelible dark memory.

Suddenly, there were hurried footsteps at the door. As he turned around, the door was quickly opened, and Violet came in with a strange woman. She quickly closed the door, rushed to him without even taking off her shoes, and blurted out, "Brother... Do you also have the ability to foresee? Tell me!"

Orion was completely taken aback. Then he looked at the strange woman.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Orion. I'm Jane. I know this is sudden for you, but my father told me to find you, and I have to."

Orion was totally confused. Gathering his thoughts, he said, "What on earth is going on? You two should explain clearly. I don't understand at all!"

Violet glanced out of the window. Since the sun hadn't set yet, she summarized today's experiences and briefly told Orion the situation. After listening, Orion looked coldly at Jane and then walked quickly up to her, making a gesture to ask her to leave. "Miss Jane... My sister and I live a peaceful life and don't want to be disturbed. Whatever your business is, it has nothing to do with us siblings. We have no obligation to you. Please leave immediately and don't come to us again!"

Violet was only concerned about whether her brother had been hiding his precognition ability from her. Seeing him about to drive away Jane, an important lead, she quickly stopped him and said, "Brother... Listen to me. I want to know the reason. For seven years, we've been running away from that indescribable existence. We didn't even attend our parents' funerals! My life has always been filled with shadows. How can you say it's peaceful? At least, I want to know why Mom and Dad died!"

Just then, Jane said a crucial thing.

"My father knows a lot. He also told me something that should fulfill your deepest desire, Mr. Orion. Even so, are you still going to drive me away?"

Orion's heart skipped a beat. He stared at Jane and was in a daze for dozens of seconds. Then he regained his composure and asked, "You know my desire?"

"Yes... My father knows everything. If you doubt it, I can prove it to you tonight."

Orion's mind raced. The old fear resurfaced in his mind. Just as he was hesitating, a voice that seemed to see through his heart came to his ears.

"Tell me, who is the second person...?" For some reason, as if under a spell, Orion's lips parted involuntarily, and the information that had been swirling in his mind spilled out.

"His name is Zephyr."

Zephyr was a college student who loved parties. But since his home was far from school, he commuted. Tonight, his buddy's girlfriend was having a birthday party, so he joined in.

Everyone was having a blast, playing poker and singing karaoke. The party didn't end until nearly ten o'clock. When leaving with two or three good classmates, he asked, "It's okay for me to commute... But for you guys, will the dormitory be locked when you get back?"

"Don't worry! You can just climb in through the window. Do you really think the dorm supervisor is that strict? Come on, you should find a gorgeous girlfriend soon and make us jealous!"

Zephyr laughed heartily and said, "Sure! By the way, that girl with a braid in the biology department looks nice. How about I give it a shot? Do you guys want to bet on a meal?"

"Sure, bet it is..."

After chatting a while, it was time to part ways. After saying goodbye to his classmates, Zephyr took the bus back near his home and took a shortcut. He kept burping along the way. Suddenly, he felt the urge to use the restroom. It seemed he had drunk too much beer. He remembered there was a public toilet at the end of the alley, so he rushed there and went in.

After finishing his business, he went to the door, but it wouldn't open. "What's going on?" Zephyr pushed the door hard, but it didn't budge. Could it be broken?

Just then, the lights in the toilet went out, and it was pitch - black. Zephyr, who usually liked to talk about ghost stories, couldn't help but feel terrified in this situation.

Zephyr had no choice but to shout outside, "Is anyone there? Help! I'm trapped inside!"

But there was no response. This alley was deep, and not many people passed by. He really regretted not holding it in and going home instead of coming to this public toilet.

Zephyr kicked the door hard and then rammed it with his body, using all his strength. But the door just wouldn't open. He thought he might as well look for a tool to break the door, otherwise, he'd have to spend the night in the toilet. But it was so dark that he might not even see someone right in front of him. So he groped along the wall slowly.

"We've found out. He's a student in Class One, Chemistry Department, of Crystal University." Violet was a reporter with wide - reaching information sources. Crystal University was a well - known university in the city, and many science students had participated in city - wide competitions. Zephyr had also once participated in a chemistry knowledge quiz competition. Orion indeed had the ability to foresee. Different from Violet, he could visualize the face and name of the person who was about to meet their death in his mind. He got this ability not long after his parents died, just like Violet. Before, he had seen Zephyr's face and the iconic sculpture of Crystal University behind him, which was why he could find out so quickly.

It was a little after ten when they got the information from the school affairs office of Crystal University, just as Zephyr was leaving his friend's place. Since Violet was a reporter, she asked for the information on the pretext of wanting to interview Zephyr, who had participated in the chemistry competition. Fortunately, the teacher in the school affairs office was reasonable and even gave them the contact information of some of Zephyr's friends.

When they contacted his friend, the friend said that they had gone to the birthday party with Zephyr and parted ways at a street near the bus stop he took to go home. He guessed that Zephyr should have arrived home by now.

"We have to find him right away!"

The three of them got in the car and rushed to his place. Fortunately, the school affairs office had his address on record, and they also got his phone number. Orion drove the car while Violet called Zephyr. Zephyr, who was trapped in the toilet, immediately answered the phone. He cursed himself for being so stupid not to think of using his phone. When he saw it was an unknown number, he asked, "Hello, who is this?"

"Is this Zephyr? Well... It's hard to explain. I'm Violet, a reporter from the newspaper. I'd like to interview you. Are you at home?"

"No, no..."

Jane in the back seat snatched the phone and said, "Where are you? Are you in danger?"

"Ah... Danger? I..."

Just then, his voice stopped. Because... he heard a heavy gasp from the darkness. And even Jane on the other end of the phone heard it.

He was startled and asked, "Who's there?"

But there was no answer in the darkness. He thought that he should have been the only one when he came in. The single - stall toilets were not closed, and it was obvious no one was there. There couldn't be anyone else in this public toilet.

At this moment, he didn't care who was on the other end of the phone. He urgently said, "Help... Help me! I'm in a public toilet in a small alley near Northfield Community on Archway Road. I don't know why the door won't open... Well, when you get here, you can ask the passers - by..."

Just then, the gasp came again, and this time... it seemed closer... At that moment, the phone started playing a melodious tune. It was the shutdown prompt! Was it out of battery? He brought the phone screen in front of his eyes and saw that it was indeed shutting down. God, why did it run out of power at this time? It was fully charged before he went out today...

Suddenly, he felt as if his whole body was frozen. He didn't dare to move a step for fear of bumping into something. The public toilet was so dark that there was not even a window, and it was completely pitch - black inside. If Zephyr hadn't been leaning against the wall, he might have collapsed.

"Who... Who is it... Don't... Don't scare me, okay?" His voice was trembling, and he had no confidence at all. Could there really be ghosts in the world?

The gasp came again, and this time it was very clear because... the sound was right by his ear!

Zephyr let out a scream and started running blindly. He completely lost his sense of direction and just wanted to find the damned door and break it to get out!

But something even more terrifying happened. The public toilet was only a few dozen square meters, but he had been running straight for almost five minutes and still hadn't reached the end! How was this possible? Since he didn't smoke, he didn't have a lighter or matches on him. In this dark toilet, there was no way to create even a little light... Maybe it was a good thing that he couldn't see... After the connection with Zephyr was cut off, Orion stomped on the accelerator hard after hearing the address from Jane. His hands on the steering wheel were full of sweat. He didn't know who this mysterious woman was, but she knew about his premonition ability that Violet didn't even know. Then... she was definitely not an ordinary person. She said she could fulfill his wish. Was it true? Anyway, he'd go to save that guy named Zephyr first and then ask her in detail.

Jane, on the other hand, kept looking at her watch. Although she didn't know when Zephyr would die as predicted, she felt that time was running out...

Zephyr's back was completely soaked with cold sweat. He had been running in all directions for nearly ten minutes, and he couldn't touch anything around him, not even a cold wall. He instantly regretted leaving the wall. However, he also found it strange that after the lights went out for so long, it was still pitch - black, as if he was blind. In this situation... even if someone was standing right in front of him and didn't make a sound, he would never know.

"Help... Help! Please, whoever you are, don't hurt me..." Zephyr could hardly stand up now. He could only crawl on the ground. It was so quiet all around that he couldn't even hear the echo of his own shouts! What was going on? However, when he heard a sound, he held his breath and didn't even dare to move his fingers. It seemed that something was crawling on the ground not far behind him, and it seemed to be getting closer. His legs were shaking even more. He could only crawl forward slowly, afraid that if he made a big move, that thing would pounce on him...

Orion's car had reached Archway Road. They found the alley, but it was too narrow for the car to enter. So Orion said to the two in the car, "You stay here. I'll go and check the situation."

Zephyr's hands and feet were starting to go numb. The thing behind him seemed to be getting closer. His thinking almost stopped. The air around him seemed to be rapidly thinning. He didn't know if it was an illusion or not.

Just as he reached out his hand to support himself on the floor again, he felt a cold hand under his hand!

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Zephyr couldn't understand why that thing was in front of him. His phone fell out of his pocket and automatically turned on, with the screen facing forward...

At last, Orion found the public toilet. He planned to break down the door, but to his surprise, he just turned the doorknob, and the door opened. When he went in, it was just an ordinary public toilet with a urinal, three single - stall toilets, and a sink. There was a mop beside the sink, and beside the mop was a coiled rubber hose. Orion opened the doors of the single - stall toilets one by one, but there was no one in them. It just looked like an extremely normal public toilet.

"Brother!" He turned around and saw Violet and Jane coming in. He frowned and said, "Didn't I tell you to wait?"

"Sorry, brother..."

Jane looked around the toilet and then walked up to Orion and said, "It seems... we were too late."

"Who on earth are you? What... do you know?" Orion's skeptical gaze, like a sharp sword, was cast on Jane, but she still calmly replied, "Okay. I'll tell you everything. Now let's go back to the car."