chapter_010 : The Shocking Discoveries and the Race Against Time

In front of Orion stood the public restroom where Zephyr had his accident.

There were still three days to go. Before that, he had something he wanted to confirm.

Did Jane really see things that he couldn't?

She had said that with an improved spiritual ability, one could see those transparent ghosts with the naked eye, or the kind of ghosts that normal people could only see through mirrors or photos. If what she said was true, given her acquired spiritual ability, she shouldn't be able to see those ghosts. However, Orion still couldn't dispel his doubts. After all, both ghosts and spiritual abilities were things that humans couldn't understand at present. There was nothing that could be fully confirmed.

But he was really concerned. So, he opened the door of the public restroom.

He dared to come here because he had enough confidence. He often followed the news from that city. Every day, he watched the TV and scoured the Internet. Although there were still abnormal death events happening in that city, according to his premonition, those people who should have died before him and Violet were still alive. Some of them were well - known figures. So, at least before they died, neither he nor Violet would die. This was the only advantage of the premonition. Even if he wanted to commit suicide before the day of death, he might not be able to. Therefore, even if he entered this public restroom, he wouldn't be haunted by that thing like Cassius and Scarlett. After Zephyr's accident, the police found him and Violet according to the clues and learned that Zephyr's last call with Violet was in this public restroom. However, they basically ruled out the possibility of a murder case here.

There was no one in the public restroom at this time. The solitude was a bit uncomfortable. Everything was exactly the same as that day. Even which single - room doors were open and which were closed remained unchanged. Orion walked as quietly as possible, not wanting to make a sound.

Just then, the flushing sound suddenly came out from a closed single - room. This made Orion a bit nervous, but then he calmed down and continued to look around.

However, a minute later, he started to feel something was wrong. Since the flushing had been done, why hadn't the person inside come out? Did they find it so comfortable in there?

Orion squatted down and looked inside through the gap under the door...

It was actually a pair of bare feet! Moreover, they were completely bloodless!

Orion quickly stood up, gritted his teeth, and kicked the door open! However, there was no one inside.

He suddenly felt a chill down his spine and took several steps back. At this time, he felt something under his foot. Looking down, it was a pile of coiled rubber hoses. He let out a sigh of relief. But then... he started to feel something was wrong again. He remembered that he had also seen this pile of coiled hoses when he entered this public restroom that day. He hadn't paid attention to it at that time, but now, looking closely, it was really strange...

There were two strange things about it.

First, the hose seemed to be too long. At first glance, it should have been wound at least hundreds of times, and its length had reached half the height of an ordinary person. Was it really necessary for a toilet hose to be that long?

Second, it was the color of the hose!

To confirm his guess, he picked up the hose and gently squeezed it.

How could it be...

He still remembered his previous assumption. Why was Alex's body left behind, while Zephyr's and Cassius's bodies disappeared? Also, he recalled the keyword that Jane had thought of...

Distortion...

He pulled out this pile of rubber hoses and then placed them straight on the ground.

He saw a spine - chilling sight.

This was not a rubber hose at all... After squeezing it just now, he had already felt it...

At the same time, Jane was standing in front of the hotel room that Cassius and Scarlett had booked. She told the waiter that her friend had left some things in the room and asked to go in and get them. The waiter opened the door, and then she quickly walked in...

This was not a hose...

This was Zephyr's body!

Just by squeezing it, he could clearly feel that it was the tactile sensation of human skin! Like Alex, Zephyr's body had also been stretched extremely long, so that the thickness of his body was like that of a rubber hose and then coiled up and placed in this public restroom. Looking at the "hose" that had been unrolled, Zephyr's face, neck, hands, and feet were all twisted and wrapped around his body. His clothes seemed to have been peeled off. Zephyr's face had been stretched to about five or six meters long, and his features were so blurred that they were barely recognizable. However, one could still vaguely distinguish his completely deformed eyeballs and his mouth that was opened as wide as possible...

"Damn it!"

Fear and anger hit him simultaneously. The scene of his parents' death seven years ago seemed to appear again... He knelt on the ground and pounded it hard!

Would he... would he die such a horrible death in the future? No, perhaps, even worse? And would Violet also suffer the same fate? He would do everything he could to change all this!

He definitely couldn't let Scarlett die, definitely not!

Jane was standing beside Scarlett's bed. She sighed, picked up a khaki - colored quilt on it, and turned it completely over.

As expected.

This was not a quilt, but Cassius!

His body had been pulled into a rectangle. His entire head had been stretched horizontally by dozens of centimeters, and the parts below his neck were the same as Zephyr's. His hands and feet were all twisted together with his body...

Distortion... This keyword was really very appropriate. Even more terrifying was that Scarlett had actually covered herself with this "quilt" and was waiting for Jane to come to the hotel to pick her up!

She resisted the nausea, put the bag she had brought on the floor, and prepared to stuff the "quilt" into the bag. If the cleaning staff found it, the police would definitely find out about Scarlett. If she were locked up in the police station three days later, the plan wouldn't go smoothly. Fortunately, Cassius's body hadn't been discovered yet... At this time, she suddenly heard a scream from behind. She immediately turned around, and it was actually... Scarlett!

"That... what is that thing? Is it... Cassius?"

Scarlett could no longer contain her inner fear and ran out shouting.

"Hey, Scarlett, hey!" When Jane chased to the door, Scarlett had already run into the elevator.

After leaving the public restroom, Orion was in a very low mood. He buried Zephyr's body near the restroom, only hoping that it wouldn't be dug out in the future. How many more people would have to die? Would everyone end up like this?

However, even more terrifying things were yet to come.

His phone rang. He took a look at the number, and it was Violet calling.

"Hey, Violet, what's up?"

"Brother? It's like this. I had a premonition... Tomorrow! Miss Scarlett will... will die."

Orion asked in confusion, "You said three days later this morning. Why has it changed to tomorrow now?" "This morning? I just encouraged you and then went out immediately. When did I tell you about three days later?"

"You... didn't you come back once? And then you told me..."

Orion's hand holding the phone started to tremble at this time.

"No... I haven't been back..."

"Where are you now? I'll come right away!"

Anyway! First, figure out what was going on!

About an hour later, he arrived at Violet's newspaper office. It happened to be lunch break time, and Violet was waiting for her brother at the newspaper - office entrance. He saw her brother gasping for breath as he ran over from the opposite road. Then he grabbed her and asked, "Violet, tell me... No, first confirm if you're really Violet. I'm asking you, what was the name of the doll you liked the most when you were a child?"

"Um... Why are you asking this suddenly? It's, it's called Harley."

"Right. You're Violet."

So, who was... or what was that Violet who came back this morning?

Scarlett ran out of the hotel crazily and then ran aimlessly on the road! Oh my god... What on earth was that thing? And why did that Jane put that thing into the bag? Was she... was she also a ghost?

Anyway, she didn't trust anyone easily now. All she knew was to run! After running about a kilometer on the street, she finally stopped, gasping for breath, and kept looking back to see if anyone was following her. "You're saying that Scarlett's exact time of death is tomorrow?" Upon receiving Orion's call, Jane, carrying the bag with Cassius's body, was very surprised. How could this happen?

She was answering the call in the hotel parking lot at this moment. The bag with the body was placed on the hood of her car, with its back facing her.

"I called Scarlett's phone, and she hung up immediately. Maybe she misunderstood me... Anyway, we have to find her as soon as possible. She might still think that she'll die three days later... We must find her before midnight tonight!"

Just then...

A hand suddenly stretched out of the bag and grabbed Jane's right hand. She let out a scream, and the hand immediately retracted. She immediately opened the bag, and it was already empty.

"Damn it... What on earth do you want! What on earth do you want!"

Jane angrily threw the bag on the ground, immediately opened the car door, and decided to go to the magazine where Scarlett worked first. Although the possibility of her still being there was almost zero.

We must find her! Before midnight!

When she arrived at the magazine, she had just entered the staff office when she found that Orion was already there. Needless to say, no one knew where Scarlett had gone. They all said that they hadn't seen her since lunch break. So, Jane left her mobile number with each of Scarlett's friends and repeated, "I'm her friend. Scarlett is in great danger now. Call me immediately as soon as you have any news about her!" Scarlett's parents were not in this city, and all her friends in this city were in this magazine. Who would she go to?

"Do you think she might have left the city to go to her parents?"

"There's a possibility... If so, it would be troublesome."

After Jane and Orion went downstairs, they decided to search separately. This way, the efficiency would be higher. Whoever got the news first would call the other immediately.

Considering how scared she was this morning, it was unlikely that she would go home. So, where could she be now?

Orion drove around the city searching everywhere. From time to time, he looked at the watch in his hand and tried to call Scarlett's phone again. However, she had even turned it off. Orion angrily threw the phone aside and stepped on the accelerator. He didn't want to see such a corpse ever again!

Jane drove to the train station. She knew where the train station closest to the hotel was. She had memorized the map of this city completely in just one day.

However, five hours had passed, and it was getting dark. Scarlett was still missing.

The time was getting closer and closer... What should they do?

Scarlett walked into a 24 - hour diner. She really didn't know what to do and decided to stay here for a while. Anyway, in a place with people around, she could at least feel more at ease. Fortunately, she had a credit card with enough money. She'd just stay here for now... After ordering some food, she realized that she was extremely hungry and started to gobble it up. One of the dishes she ordered was spaghetti. After taking just one bite, she felt that the taste was a bit strange... What was strange about it?

It didn't taste like the usual spaghetti...

She wanted to call the waiter, but then she thought that her life was on the line. What did the taste matter? As long as she could eat it. But after chewing for a few more minutes, it tasted so bad that she even spat out all the spaghetti in her mouth onto the plate.

"What's going on... How was this spaghetti made?"

Looking down at the plate of spaghetti that was all twisted up, she suddenly felt dizzy. She couldn't help but hold her head and close her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, what was on the plate... was no longer spaghetti. The twisted mass was clearly... a human body! She even clearly saw one end of Cassius's head being stabbed by a fork, and his eyes were firmly fixed on her...

"There... there's a ghost!"

She overturned the whole plate onto the ground. People around her gave her strange looks. Then she shouted, "Help! Someone save me... That, that spaghetti..."

While she was shouting desperately, several customers came over and looked. However, each of them was extremely confused because it was just ordinary spaghetti.

"It won't let me go, it won't let me go..." Scarlett even forgot to pay the bill and quickly ran towards the diner entrance. The waiter ran over to stop her, but she pushed him away and then rushed out of the diner. It was already dark outside.

Why did it get so dark so suddenly?

She looked at her watch on her wrist and almost froze. She remembered checking the watch when the food was served, and it was half - past five then. It had taken at most ten minutes for her to eat, but now... it was almost midnight, 11:59!

How could it be? She had just closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them, and yet six hours had passed in between?

Moreover, there was only one minute left until midnight!