chapter_014 : Appearance of the Ghost

What Gary saw through the peephole made his heart skip a beat and his body go limp. He collapsed to his knees at the entrance.

No... It must be that he was sleep - confused. It had to be...

He managed to pull himself up, gathered his courage, and peeked through the peephole again...

She was still there! That disheveled female ghost!

"Ahhh!" He ran straight back to his room. Then, he thought about it for a moment, switched on all the lights in the room, and dived under the covers. He wrapped himself up tightly, leaving only his head out, and sat on the edge of the bed, praying to every deity he could think of.

He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was already two o'clock in the morning. This must be the time when the negative energy was at its strongest, right? Gary used to firmly believe that there were no ghosts in this world, but now that he'd seen one with his own eyes, his worldview was shattered. He tried to come up with a reasonable explanation in his head, like someone deliberately dressing up as a ghost to scare him, but the problem was... who could have predicted that he'd get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and happen to look through the peephole?

As for opening the door and going out to find out what was going on, he definitely didn't have the guts. He considered calling the police, but how could he tell them that he'd seen a ghost? Even with the lights on, Gary was still curled up in the bed, too scared to close his eyes. Was he really going to sit here all night? Would that thing come in? Could the security door keep her out?

He didn't doubt for a second that even the sound of a mosquito at this time could give him a heart attack.

Please... Don't come in... Please...

Although the room was full of light, the furniture cast shadows on the floor. After staring at them for a while, it seemed as if those shadows were moving. He even felt that a blood - covered woman might suddenly jump out of them.

He quickly grabbed a chair. If that thing came in, he'd use it to fight her... But, but what if he couldn't beat her? He looked at the window. They were on the fourth floor. Jumping out would at the very least leave him paralyzed, and he didn't have the guts to do it anyway.

He sat there like this for about three hours. By five o'clock, he was so exhausted from the tension that he finally fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already ten in the morning.

"Oh no... I'm late for work..."

He leaped out of bed and slipped on his shoes. The sunlight streaming in through the window temporarily dispelled the fear in his heart. He walked slowly towards the entrance, swallowed hard, and peeked through the peephole...

The corridor corner was empty. There was nothing there. The floor that was covered in blood last night was now perfectly clean. Could it be that last night was just an illusion caused by exhaustion? That would be for the best.

He quickly got dressed, not even bothering to comb his hair. When he unlocked the door, he kept looking back every second or so to make sure it was safe before hurrying towards the elevator.

When he got to his intern - un, his boss was furious.

"Gary! You're three hours late! I had to assign your work to someone else! What do you think you're doing? Don't think you can be so lazy just because you're an intern! You'll have double the workload this afternoon! And a third of your salary will be deducted this month!"

Gary groaned inwardly. He obediently went to his desk, but his mind was still haunted by the image of the female ghost. Could it really be that he'd been so scared by that painting that he had such a crazy illusion?

During the lunch break, he went to the cafeteria listlessly. After finding a seat, Ryan and Lily sat down opposite him. Lily asked with concern, "Gary, what's wrong with you? There's no way you should be late for that long."

Gary forced a smile and said, "If I told you I saw a ghost, would you believe me?"

Ryan burst into laughter. "Come on, Gary. You're still half - asleep, aren't you? Seeing a ghost? You must be coming up with such a lame excuse because you don't want to cover my shift."

"Believe me or not, it's up to you!" Gary mumbled as he started eating. Just then, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He looked up and saw Zachary. "What kind of ghost did you see? Tell me about it," Zachary said as he put his lunch tray next to Gary's and sat down, looking at him seriously.

"You... Do you believe me?"

"That depends on what you have to say."

Orion's supernatural ability was at its peak after being activated. For example, he could now roughly sense the location of people who were about to die.

"You said Gary lives around here?"

"Yeah, he does."

They'd spent the night at a nearby farmhouse. The hosts were incredibly friendly and treated them to a lot of fresh seafood. It was only a few miles east from here to the coast, so most of the farmers in this area were fishermen. Their houses were full of fishing nets, and there were plenty of dried fish hanging in the yards.

At the moment, Orion and Jane were sitting on the beach. The waves crashed against the shore, and the sea breeze blew constantly. Seagulls circled in the sky or dived into the water to catch fish. In the distance, a few small boats could be seen. The place was beautiful, and Orion thought it would probably be developed into a tourist attraction with resorts in the future. But the fishermen would probably oppose that.

"Has your sister told you the time frame of her premonition?" Jane asked Orion, who was lying on the sand in a star - shaped position, with her legs crossed and her hands playing with the sand.

"Not yet," Orion replied, staring at the sky. The clouds were moving quickly, making him feel an uneasy sense of foreboding. He knew that someone must have entered Neil's house. After asking around, he found that Neil had passed away. They'd gone to the local police station and were told that he'd died of a heart attack and that it was a natural death, but Orion was certain that there was more to it. That strange painting, combined with Jane's premonition keywords, clearly indicated that everything was related to that painting.

If someone had entered the house and seen the painting and then been cursed... At least, judging from the handprint on the dusty painting, Orion was certain that someone had touched it. He firmly believed that Neil could see transparent ghosts; otherwise, Jane's father wouldn't have mentioned him in his notes. Moreover, when they'd first met Neil, he'd immediately recognized Orion's supernatural constitution, which proved that he was no ordinary person.

"I asked the neighbors, and they said a few young people had come to ask about Neil," Jane reported on the progress of their investigation. "I described the guy you're sensing, Gary, to one of them, but they said they'd never seen him. Did we make a mistake? Or..."

"No, there must be a connection. You had a premonition about the 'Ghost Painting', and all your previous premonitions have come true according to the keywords. So, it's safe to say that Gary's death is related to the 'Ghost Painting' keyword. I can't accept it as a coincidence. We have to find out where Gary lives and wait for Violet's news." But... How could they find him? They only knew his name and what he looked like, and they couldn't access the police department's archives... Wait...

He suddenly said to Jane, "Hang on. I remember you hacked into the police computer to get Alex's body photos. So, it shouldn't be too hard to hack into the local police station's computer to get the household registration records, right?"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot about that," Jane said.

True to her word, Jane immediately went back to the car, grabbed her laptop, installed the wireless network card, and started hacking into the police station's computer. Orion watched in amazement as she bypassed the firewalls and antivirus software like they were nothing. In just a few minutes, the household registration records were right in front of them.

"Don't look at me like that... I didn't learn hacking for criminal purposes. Part of it was taught by my dad, and I figured out the rest myself. I thought I might need it in the future, and I've even written some viruses and anti - virus software. I'll show them to you someday!" Jane explained.

Orion couldn't help but be impressed.

"Look, these are the Gary Johnson records in the city's household registration... It should be in the city, right? My dad wrote in his notes that your premonitions can't cross city boundaries."

"That's true..." "Okay, there aren't many people with this name. I'll scroll through the pictures one by one. When you see the guy, tell me to stop." Then, Jane started dragging the mouse, scrolling down the list. But they couldn't find the guy Orion had sensed.

"Could he be from out of town and not have his户口 here?" Jane frowned, feeling frustrated.

The three of them were skeptical after hearing Gary's story.

"You're talking about the painting we saw that day? Come on, Gary. Don't joke around like this!" Ryan was clearly scared, but he still tried to act tough.

Zachary paused to think. Lily was even worse. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as if she were in a freezer, even though the cafeteria was warm.

"There have been a lot of strange rumors about that painter," Zachary said.

"Rumors? What kind of rumors?" Gary asked eagerly.

"I heard that his eyes were purple, and he was born that way. It seems like the people around him have always had short lives, dying one after another. That's why he lived alone in that house and hardly ever interacted with the outside world. The neighbors rarely saw him."

"Please stop talking," Lily couldn't take it anymore. She covered her ears and ran out of the cafeteria. "Anyway, be careful, Gary. Maybe I shouldn't have rushed in there without finding out more." Zachary's words were getting more and more serious, making Gary even more nervous. He'd almost convinced himself that what he'd seen through the peephole last night was just an illusion, but now his fear came rushing back.

Ryan still tried to act tough. "Come on, Zachary. Do you really believe there are ghosts in this world?"

"There are still many unexplained mysteries in the world. We can't deny that. We're not knowledgeable enough, yet we still mess with the supernatural. Maybe... We're being too reckless."

"Stop talking!" Ryan felt dizzy. He quickly wolfed down the rest of his food and said, "There are no ghosts in this world! Ghosts are just made up in novels and movies!" Then, he got up and left. Now, only Gary and Zachary were left.

"Zachary... You were just joking, right? You were just trying to scare me, right? What does it matter what color the painter's eyes were?" Gary said.

Zachary took a bite of his food and nodded. "You're right. We don't know what's going on yet. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Come on... How could you be so oblivious? You've already scared two people away...

Gary looked at Zachary's calm face and wondered how he was going to get through the night...

"If the household registration records don't work, then where do we go from here?" Orion continued to think about their next move when Violet suddenly called.

"Do you have the results? Violet?" "Yeah, of course! Gary's death is supposed to be tomorrow..."

Orion held the phone silently for a while.

"Hello? Are you there?" Violet asked.

"Are... Are you really Violet?"

"What? You can't even recognize my voice, bro? What's wrong with you..."

If the person on the phone was really Violet, she'd completely forgotten about the secret code. Orion sighed and asked, "Well... What's the code?"

"Code? What code? Are you James Bond or something?"

She really had forgotten... Well, it was just like Violet.

"I told you just yesterday morning, and you've already forgotten?"

"Come on! You have no idea how many manuscripts I have to proofread every day, how many places I have to go for interviews. I have so much to remember. How can I be expected to remember what you said yesterday morning?"

"..."

"Hello? Say something! Bro, are you coming home tonight?"

"Um... What's your favorite fruit?"

"Strawberries, bro. You know that."

"What's your favorite detective show?"

"Kindaichi!"

"Your favorite and least favorite colors?"

"I don't have a favorite or least - favorite color."

"Okay, you're Violet."

After hearing that, Violet was stunned for a moment. Before she could react, Orion hung up the phone.

"Your sister is really cute. She's so pretty. Does she have a boyfriend?" Jane asked with a smile. Orion put the phone away and forced a smile. "No way. She's so forgetful, and she can't even cook. I've been cooking for the family for the past seven years. When I go out for research, she can only eat at restaurants. And besides, we can't stay in one place for long. She doesn't even dare to make friends because she's afraid of saying goodbye later. There's no way she has a boyfriend. Poor thing. She's old enough to date now, but..."

The sky was gradually getting darker.

"Time flies..." Jane closed her laptop and put it on the back seat. "Don't worry. The three of us... We'll definitely find a way to break the curse someday... We will..."