chapter_006 : Claw Marks

At noon the next day, Violet called Orion and told him that she had sensed the death deadline of Cassius. And that deadline... was tomorrow!

"Officer Cassius will only live until tomorrow... We're supposed to meet Cassius and the others this afternoon. Should I tell him about this?" Orion couldn't help but feel quite headache - stricken.

"If you want to say it, I won't stop you. Letting him know his approaching doom can also be his motivation,"

Jane was still as non -chalant as ever. At this moment, the two were in her house.

Jane's house was a gorgeous mansion in the city center with a small garden. It had two floors and a great location. The interior decoration of the house was even more astonishing. Whether it was the sofas, tables or curtains, they were all from very high - end brands. Each room was also tidily arranged, although most of them were unoccupied.

"Do you live here alone? Such a big house?"

"This house was left to me by my grandfather. My mother was an American Chinese. My grandfather had quite some assets abroad. Back then, my mother gave up the right of inheritance from the family to come to the United States and marry my father. The family was very much against it... There's nothing I can do, because my father is just an ordinary psychologist." Jane's room was equipped with at least four computers, more than a dozen clocks, and there were many mirrors. The bookshelves were filled with all kinds of books, covering astronomy, geography, history, and politics.

"Your room..."

"Strange? It's for training my spiritual ability. Since I don't have a natural spiritual physique, mirrors are the most important tools. Although they are very dangerous for those who encounter ghosts, for someone with limited spiritual ability like me, they are extremely important."

She was standing in front of a mirror at this moment, stroking the mirror surface.

Orion then noticed the more than a dozen clocks. It seemed that they were all made in Switzerland. Each clock ticked in perfect unison, without the slightest deviation. So, there was a very regular ticking sound of the clock hands in the room, instead of being in a chaotic mess.

"After my mother died, my grandfather, who knew about my father's disappearance, originally wanted me to go abroad to inherit the family's inheritance. But I flatly refused. He seemed to feel sorry for my mother, so he bought a mansion in this city in my name. I didn't refuse either, after all, it was what he owed my mother. Because of that stupid sense of pride, no one in the entire family came to my mother's funeral!"

Jane's voice seemed a bit excited. This was the first time Orion felt that she had an obvious emotional fluctuation. "After all, I need a big house to do a lot of things. There's also a basement downstairs, which is where I conduct some experiments. But so far, there haven't been any research results."

"So... what exactly is spiritual ability? And what do you mean by spiritual physique..."

Orion couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore. Over the past seven years, he had also tried to collect paranormal legends from all over the United States and even conducted in - depth research on the paranormal. But the statements from various places were all over the place, disorganized, and he couldn't find a systematic theory. Moreover, most of them were just pure superstitions.

"Like you..." Jane suddenly turned around, pointed at Orion and said, "You have a natural spiritual physique. So does your sister. This physique gives you a very strong ability to sense the presence of ghosts. And premonition is a characteristic manifestation of this ability."

"But... don't you also have the ability of premonition? Why do you say you're not a natural spiritual person?"

"I'm different from you siblings. Although we all have the ability of premonition after encountering ghosts, my ability was acquired due to the influence of my father's spiritual ability later. I didn't inherit my father's spiritual physique. Otherwise, my premonition ability wouldn't be just at this level."

Jane seemed a bit frustrated when she said this. She seemed annoyed that she didn't inherit her father's complete spiritual physique. "Where should we start the investigation?"

Cassius and Scarlett arrived at Jane's house on time in the afternoon and brought relevant materials. After all, one was a police officer and the other was a reporter. It was not difficult for them to find relevant clues. Alex was an ordinary high - school student. He was kind - hearted and friendly, and his academic performance was also good. On the other hand, Zephyr had nothing in common with him. Not only did they not know each other, but their residences were also two neighborhoods apart. They had no intersection in their studies or lives.

"After all... why did 'it' target them?" Scarlett was completely confused. Then, she suddenly thought of a possibility and immediately said, "Wait a minute... Are you sure that the same 'thing' killed Alex and Zephyr?"

"Yes. I'm 100% sure of this. The reason is simple," Jane completely refuted Scarlett's assumption: "When they died, the keywords I sensed were the same."

"Keywords?" Cassius remembered that Jane had mentioned her premonition ability and quickly asked, "Then... what exactly is that keyword...?"

" 'Distortion'. When both of them died, I sensed this keyword. Officer Cassius, you should have a deep understanding of this, right?"

Hearing this, Cassius immediately recalled Alex's body and felt a wave of nausea. He silently nodded.

Scarlett was completely confused. Distortion? What did it mean? "That body... was really abnormal..." Cassius could only describe it this way at the moment. Because he really didn't know how to describe the horror of that body to them.

Violet was at Zephyr's home, interviewing his parents. After Zephyr went missing, his parents were almost crazy with worry. Since Violet was the last person to talk to Zephyr (actually it should have been Jane), she naturally interviewed them.

Zephyr's home looked very simple, and their family economy didn't seem to be well - off. His parents' eyes were swollen like walnuts, obviously having suffered a great deal of pain.

"Miss Violet... I don't quite understand. What does the death of that high - school student named Alex have to do with our Zephyr?"

Although the two elders were very polite to Violet, they couldn't hold back their doubts. Why did she come up and ask about someone else's death instead of asking about their son?

"Actually, when I was talking to Zephyr on the phone for the last time, he mentioned this name to me."

Violet lied. This lie was taught to her by Jane. Ordinary people would hardly believe in premonition. And Zephyr was already dead. Even if she told such a lie, there was no way to prove it wrong.

Sure enough, after she said this, the effect immediately showed. Zephyr's parents didn't suspect it at all. First, his mother opened up: "How could it be? What exactly did he tell you? I don't remember him knowing that high - school student..." "He told me at that time, 'Alex is dead. I, I will also be in great danger'."

Actually, the original words Jane taught her were "Alex is already dead. I'm going to die too." But Violet was too kind - hearted. Although Zephyr was really dead, she hoped not to tell his parents such a cruel reality so soon.

"This... How could it be possible? I, I don't know. Honey, do you know?"

"No. Miss Violet, are you sure you didn't mishear?"

Violet nervously rubbed her hands, and her voice involuntarily became lower: "I... I should have heard it right."

It seemed impossible to find any valuable information here. But Cassius would die tomorrow. If they didn't do something...

"Where on earth is our Zephyr..."

Speaking of this, Zephyr's mother couldn't help but start sobbing again.

And Violet also felt a pang of emotion at this moment. If her parents hadn't died seven years ago, she could also enjoy such family affection...

It all seemed like it had happened just yesterday.

"Violet... Why are you running so fast? It's only been a few days since you last saw Mom and Dad, and you're so excited!"

In the corridor, the excited Violet bounced towards the door. She shouted, "It's you who walks too slowly, brother! I don't care! I'm thinking about Mom's honey - roasted cake right now!" As she spoke, she had already reached the door. The excited Violet took out the key and opened the door, then quickly ran inside. Orion followed closely behind and closed the door, saying, "This crazy girl! She even forgot to close the door!"

"Dad! Mom!" Violet seemed to have run to the bedroom to look for their parents. Orion also followed her. After all, he had missed his parents a lot during his boarding - school days. Who would have thought that before he even reached the bedroom door, there was a heart - wrenching scream from Violet.

Orion's heart tightened immediately. He quickly rushed into the bedroom, and then he himself couldn't help but cover his mouth and take several steps back!

"No, don't look! Violet, close your eyes!"

Violet only remembered her brother covering her eyes. Then, her vision and heart were both enveloped in darkness. She couldn't accept the horrible scene in front of her. How could... How could this happen?

The lingering smell of blood in the room constantly reminded her that this was not a dream.

When the police arrived, they were also stunned by this horrible scene. Because... the bodies of this couple were neatly cut into three sections, and on the floor, at the cut - off parts of the two bodies, there were even three claw marks! Later, the claw marks were also examined, but they couldn't find out what kind of animal it was. And there was no report of a missing wild animal in the city's parks. The two siblings, who were still just high - school students, were sent to their aunt's house to live temporarily. This murder case became the focus of the city, and reporters always came to interview them. Although they were protected by their aunt and uncle and weren't harassed too much, that scene could never be erased from Violet's mind. For her, the feeling in her heart was more of fear than sadness.

One night, her brother woke her up from sleep.

"Brother... What's wrong?"

"Violet, come with me. Let's leave this city."

She rubbed her sleepy eyes, looked at the clock on the wall. It showed that it was only one o'clock in the morning. Weren't her aunt and uncle still sleeping?

"Brother... What are you talking about? Why do we have to leave?"

Orion said seriously, "We have to go. It's not only for our own sake, but also to avoid implicating our aunt and uncle. From now on, we can't contact any relatives or friends either."

In confusion, Violet put on her clothes and then followed her brother out of the aunt's house. They took a taxi outside. Her brother said they were going to the train station. Then, her brother began to explain the reason to her.

"Violet, do you believe that there are ghosts in this world?"

"Bro... Brother, don't scare me..." "Sorry," Orion said at this point, with tears welling up in his eyes. He choked with sobs, "Actually, the first thing I should have considered was how to avenge our parents... But I can't do it. If we hadn't stayed at school that week, maybe we would have died too... In the diaries left by our parents, it was clearly written why they died. At the end, they clearly told us, 'Run away quickly'! So I have to leave this city with you..."

"Brother, such an important thing, why didn't you give it to the police? And where on earth are we going?"

"I don't know. Anyway, let's leave here first. This money is enough for us to settle down for a while. You can't go back to school either, and don't contact any of your classmates. We have to disappear completely. We can't let 'that thing' know our whereabouts through any channel."

Violet couldn't help but shiver. 'That thing', what on earth was it?

"Listen... This is that diary. You can take a look at it. After you read it, you'll understand why I'm doing this..."

Violet read the contents of the diary by the dim light in the taxi. "Orion, Violet... When you're reading these words, maybe we're already dead. Listen carefully... If we really die, after you read the diary, run away immediately, get away from this city, and don't tell anyone your whereabouts, remember, anyone! Not even your relatives, not even your best friends. This is the only way you might be able to survive. I don't know if 'that thing' will do anything to you, but just in case, you have to do this... In the red box in the fourth drawer on the left side of my desk, there's a bank card. The amount should be enough for you to settle down for a while. In the future, you can consider working part - time while studying. It doesn't matter if you can't get into college. The most important thing is that you can survive. You absolutely can't stay in this city anymore!

About three days ago, we were woken up by a strange sound in the middle of the night. But the sound disappeared later. We thought it was just a dream, so we didn't pay much attention. Who would have thought... The next morning, we actually found that on the wall outside our bedroom, there were three claw marks! Those claw marks completely tore the wallpaper, and even the bricks in the wall were broken. Later, we invited the property management people, but they couldn't come up with a conclusion. Could it be that some animal sneaked into our house at night? Although we considered calling the police, there was no loss in the house, so we just let it go. But... The next day... We actually found that the position of those claw marks had moved! The wall that should have been scratched had completely returned to normal, and the moved claw marks... were closer to our bedroom than yesterday! At this moment, we finally understood!

'It' wants to get into our bedroom! 'It' is getting closer to us!"