chapter_005 : Breaking the Curse

Cassius and Scarlett rushed out of the apartment almost like they were fleeing for their lives. They even forgot to return the key to the landlord and quickly drove away. On the way, Cassius still said with a lingering fear in his voice, "I... I finally understand why the higher - ups attach so much importance to this case... It turns out, it turns out..."

"Don't, don't say... We, we didn't see anything. It'll be okay..."

All the way, Cassius kept stepping on the accelerator and was constantly on high alert, looking at the rear - view mirror. It was not until they were at least three kilometers away from that apartment that he dared to slow down.

At the same time, Orion had a premonition that Cassius would die in the future. He immediately called Violet at the newspaper office and asked, "Violet, I've already sensed that there will be a third victim... How about you? When do you sense it will happen?"

"What? You've already sensed it, elder brother? I... I haven't..."

When they returned to the police department in a panic, Cassius was already sweating all over. As soon as he stepped into the office, his colleagues, seeing his as - pale - as - paper face, all asked with concern, "Cassius, what's wrong with you? Do you feel unwell?" Cassius shook his head and waved his hand. Now that he thought about it, that day when he received the reinforcement call from the sub - bureau and went to the apartment where Alex died with a group of colleagues, it was actually a big truck that came to transport the body. Then, the chief in the main bureau issued an order to strictly seal off all clues related to this case, and they were sent there just to maintain order and prevent anyone from seeing the body.

He had, of course, lied to Scarlett when he said he hadn't seen the body. To be honest, having been a police officer for so many years, he never imagined that there could be such a terrifying body... Now, he saw... no, he didn't want to get involved with this case anymore!

"What do you mean by this?"

The chief frowned tightly as he looked at the application for a transfer on the table. This time, the higher - ups had given an order to solve the case within a month. Now he was only thinking about how to send more people and work overnight. But at this time, someone actually proposed to transfer to another team. What a joke! His answer was simple: no! Just as he was about to say it, unexpected, Cassius replied, "If the chief doesn't agree, then I'd rather go back to the anti - pickpocketing team than stay in the serious - crime unit." "You, you, you... Are you trying to piss me off? I saw your talent and promoted you from the anti - pickpocketing team. Is this how you repay me? Do you know how much pressure the higher - ups have put on us? These days, I don't even know how many inquiries from reporters I've fended off! You... Fine, go! Don't come back once you're gone!"

Cassius knew he felt guilty towards the chief, but when he recalled the strange eyes in the suit, that sense of guilt was instantly overwhelmed by fear. Those eyes were still very clear to him... It was definitely not an illusion!

While packing up his things on the desk, his colleagues around were very puzzled. Why would he go back to the anti - pickpocketing team all of a sudden? Wasn't he doing well in the serious - crime unit?

"Cassius, is there some kind of difficulty?" An old police officer asked with concern. "Did you have a fight with the chief? Or do you find the work here too dangerous?"

"No... It's not like that. How should I put it... I don't want to investigate Alex's case anymore. You guys... You'd better be careful. That place is not for humans."

This statement was rather strange. But no matter how much his colleagues pressed him, he refused to say more. He piled up his things in a cardboard box and walked out of the office.

Alas... He was going back again... Along the long corridor, he walked to the elevator door and pressed the button, then waited there. The elevator door was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting Cassius's face. At that moment, he looked up at the rising floor number and then lowered his head to look at the box he was holding. Just as he looked up again, he actually saw...

On the left side of his own reflection in the elevator door, there was a white, hazy figure! The figure's hand was slowly reaching towards his neck!

"Ah —" He immediately dropped the cardboard box and took out his gun, aiming it at the left. However... There was only a wall there; there was not a single person. When he looked back at the elevator door, the white figure had disappeared.

Scarlett took an afternoon off and returned to the apartment she shared with Cassius.

After opening the door, she immediately locked it twice. Then she locked the windows and even pulled the curtains. But then she felt it was too dark, so she turned on all the lights in the room. Then, feeling tired, she simply lay down on the bed and tried to sleep. However, after about half an hour, her mind was still very clear. The room was extremely quiet; the only sound was the regular ticking of the clock. Just then, it seemed like a gust of wind blew, and the bedroom door suddenly slammed shut. She was immediately so frightened that she jumped to her feet. Almost at the same time, the light of the fluorescent lamp she had turned on began to flicker on and off, and then went out completely.

"What, what's going on? Is there a power outage?"

She had no idea what was going on and decided to go out and check the fuse. But when she reached the bedroom door, she found that it couldn't be opened. What was going on? There was no lock on the bedroom door!

In any case, the dim environment in this room made her extremely uneasy. It always seemed to have an air of strangeness about it. She licked her lips and carefully inched forward, intending to draw the curtains. There was a wooden box piled under the window, filled with winter clothes.

Just when Scarlett was only two or three steps away from the box, the box suddenly started to shake!

"Wow!" Scarlett slipped to the ground and quickly crawled backwards.

It was... It was that thing! It had followed her back!

The box shook more and more violently, constantly hitting the floor. And... It started to move towards Scarlett!

"No... No!" She grabbed a chair and ran to the bedroom door to smash it. And the speed at which the box was dragging across the floor was getting faster and faster. It was only a few steps away from Scarlett.

"Go away! Don't, don't follow me... Please go away!" Scarlett was almost completely limp on the ground. And just at that moment, the lid of the box opened, and Scarlett fainted almost at the same time.

"Scarlett! Scarlett! What's wrong with you?"

It was Cassius's voice.

"Cass... Cassius, we, we can't live here anymore. That thing, it followed us here! It won't let us go! I, I shouldn't have disobeyed you..."

She was lying in bed at the moment, and Cassius was comforting her with a worried look on his face. Seeing Scarlett's extremely terrified expression, his heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Could it be that... You... You too..."

Just then, the sudden doorbell made the two of them almost scream. Their hearts were so fragile at this moment that they could barely take any more shocks. Cassius calmed himself down and went to the peephole on the door. Outside stood a young man and a young woman, both of whom he didn't know at all. He first opened the first door; there was still an iron door separating them. He asked, "Who are you two?"

"Sorry to disturb you, Officer Cassius." The man said politely, "Our visit today is indeed very sudden, but it's an emergency. You're the officer investigating Alex's death, right? We have some things that we must tell you."

"You are..."

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Orion James Miller, and this is my... friend, Miss Jane Sophia Parker." Hearing that there was something about Alex, Cassius frowned tightly and hesitated about whether to let them in. At this moment, the woman named Jane said a few words.

"I can sense the presence of 'that thing' in your room. Have you encountered any strange things recently?"

Under normal circumstances, Cassius might have gotten angry. But at this moment, hearing these words, he felt as if he had grabbed a lifesaver. He immediately opened the door and said, "Please, come in. In fact, I really have..."

"I see."

After listening to Cassius and Scarlett's descriptions, Orion and Jane both understood that these two people were likely to follow in Alex and Zephyr's footsteps.

Violet hadn't had a premonition yet, so they didn't know when Cassius would die.

This was what Jane said to Orion.

"The key to breaking the curse is to completely break the prophecy. For example, if a person who is supposed to die at 0 o'clock can live until 1 o'clock, or even survive in the end, then the curse can be broken, and the premonitions you had about your own and your sister's deaths will not come true in reality. In the three years I've been looking for you two siblings, because my prophecy was incomplete, I never had the chance to try it in person."

"Can it be that smooth?"

"I don't know... But this is indeed the only way." Cassius and Scarlett were both looking at them gloomily, not knowing what to do. After a long while, Cassius seemed to remember something and asked, "You two... May I ask, what exactly are the things related to Alex?"

Orion was still thinking about how to organize his words, but Jane blurted it out straightforwardly, "Do you believe that there are ghosts in this world?"

As soon as they heard this, their hearts skipped a beat. Scarlett was the first to speak up, "You... Have you also encountered that thing?"

"I've seen a ghost with my own eyes." Jane said without any hesitation, "It took my mother's life right in front of me. I'm not scaring you. Whether you believe it or not... There are indeed ghosts in this world."

Orion glared at Jane. Why was she speaking so bluntly? Then he said with an apologetic tone, "Sorry... Actually, what I want to say is that you two are in great danger now."

"Then... Is there any way to save us?" Cassius didn't know if these two were charlatans or really had some abilities. But he was really scared. If the opponent was a human, as a police officer, he had no reason to be afraid. But now, he didn't even know what the opponent was!

At this point, Orion was also stunned. How could he save them? He was just an ordinary mortal. He couldn't fight against those unknown ghosts. So, he also looked at Jane, with a questioning look in his eyes. Unexpectedly, her answer really surprised him... No, it should be said that it was also within his expectations. "Escape. That's the only way."

Jane said this in a very natural way, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Cassius instantly felt annoyed and angry. He said, "You... Aren't you just talking nonsense?"

"At least for now, you two can only run away. You don't have any spiritual abilities, and I'm not a natural spiritual person either."

Spiritual abilities? Natural spiritual physique? What were those? Orion felt that this woman must know more secrets.

"Spiritual abilities? What do you mean?" Scarlett asked in confusion.

"Actually, I don't quite understand either. This is what my father recorded in his notebook. He said I need to think about it and understand it myself. But generally speaking, it's an ability that can, to a certain extent, restrain ghosts. However, it's only relative. My father has never been able to find a way to completely kill a ghost. Listen up, if you want to survive, try not to stay in enclosed spaces. If you encounter a ghost and need to run away, never drive a car, because that will only get you killed faster. Stay away from dark places and try to stay in public places as much as possible."

"If we stay in public places... Will we survive?"

"I can't guarantee that, but at least the probability will be much lower. The most important thing... Remember this for sure. Stay as far away as possible from two things. That is... Mirrors and elevators." "Yes... That's exactly what happened to me today..." Cassius immediately told Orion and Jane about his experience today, and he felt a little more at ease. But it seemed that at present, they could only escape passively and couldn't face the situation directly?

"Sorry, I'm going to... Use the restroom... You guys keep talking." Scarlett got up and left the bedroom. Unexpectedly, Jane stood up and said, "Do you want me to accompany you? You're in great danger now. It's best not to be alone."

"No... It's okay. The restroom is right next to the bedroom. If something happens, I'll just call and you guys can come over."

Jane thought it made sense and then nodded. Scarlett let out a sigh of relief, thinking: Is this true or false? Although today's experience was really strange, but... Calm down and think about it. Are there really ghosts in this world? Could these two be charlatans? Maybe today's experience was their doing. Could it be some kind of magic?

When Scarlett entered the restroom, she found that a shower curtain had been drawn in front of the bathtub.

The shower curtain was pure white, and she had just bought it a few days ago. It was normal to have a shower curtain in front of the bathtub, but... She remembered that when she came home today, the shower curtain wasn't drawn. Of course, it was also possible that Cassius had drawn it, but at that time, she had fainted on the ground. How could he have had the mind to take a bath? For some inexplicable reason, she seemed to sense that there was something behind the shower curtain. Originally, she could have just shouted and called Orion and Cassius in, but this inexplicable feeling made no sense at all.

For a moment, she even forgot the purpose of coming into the restroom. Her feet involuntarily moved towards the shower curtain.

Stay away from two things... Mirrors and elevators.

And she was just passing by the mirror in the restroom.

Slowly approaching the shower curtain, she swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, and slowly reached out her hand to grab a corner of the shower curtain. Then, she silently said in her heart: But, I hope, I hope I'm just overthinking...

Her hand was shaking uncontrollably. It took her a long time to calm herself down, and then she pulled the shower curtain completely open!

As expected, there was nothing there. She was just scaring herself.

She silently mocked herself for being overly nervous. Just as she was about to draw the shower curtain back, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the mirror next to her, and instantly, her whole body stiffened.

In the mirror, there was no ghost or anything; it seemed like a normal scene. But... But...

The shower curtain in the mirror was still drawn! And right in front of Scarlett, she had clearly opened the shower curtain! She wanted to scream, but her throat seemed to be blocked by something, and she couldn't make a sound. Immediately afterwards, a more terrifying change occurred in the mirror! The drawn - back shower curtain began to show the outline of a figure! It was obvious that something was pressing on the shower curtain! Immediately afterwards, in the mirror, that thing grabbed Scarlett's hand!

"Nooooooo!"

Orion and the others immediately rushed into the restroom. They saw Scarlett curled up in the corner of the restroom, crying and pointing straight at the mirror. At this moment, there was nothing abnormal in the mirror.

"There was something in the mirror..." She hugged Cassius tightly and cried, "I... I believe what you said! We have to move! We'll escape anywhere, just please save us!"

Jane came to the mirror and examined it carefully. Then she turned around and said, "I understand... Actually, what I said just now was not complete. Besides running away, there's another way... We can try to investigate what Alex and Zephyr experienced in their lives, and... What the common points between the two of them are!"