Chapter 7: The Girl Who Didn't Bleed
[Win – 1:04 p.m.]
It's happening again.
One of us is screaming.
One of us is falling.
The rest of us are running.
I'm not even sure who screamed first — us or the Screamer.
All I know is Lin's pulling me by the wrist, Palm's limping, and Kao's ahead like she already knows the route.
And behind us—
Mik is gone.
[1:06 p.m.]
We told him not to stop.
We begged him.
But he turned around when his little sister's name came from that monster's mouth.
"Mei…"
The Screamer had said it.
Exactly the way Mik used to say it.
How did it know?
He froze.
Tears fell.
And in that second—
She was on him.
[1:08 p.m.]
Palm kicks open a side stairwell door.
We rush in, slam it shut.
We keep running.
Lin is cursing under her breath. "We're losing people like flies. Every floor—every turn—it's like we're trapped in someone's game."
No one argues.
[1:13 p.m.]
We burst into a hallway we've never seen before.
Dusty. Dark.
Old wooden doors with musical notes carved into them.
A plaque reads:
🎼 "Music Hall – Practice Rooms."
We check the knobs. Most are jammed.
But Palm yanks one and it clicks open.
Inside: silence.
Piano in the corner. Soundproofing on the walls.
Clean.
For now.
Safe.
[1:17 p.m.]
We barricade the door with an old amp.
Everyone collapses to the floor, panting.
Then Lin gasps.
"Kao—your leg."
I turn.
Kao is standing still, arms at her sides.
Her right calf is torn open — fabric sliced, skin underneath gouged.
And yet—
No blood.
Only a thin, black fluid… barely trickling.
[1:18 p.m.]
Lin grabs the first-aid kit. "Sit. I need to treat it."
Kao shakes her head.
"It's not deep."
"That doesn't matter. Infection—"
"I said it's fine."
Her voice is calm. Too calm.
Palm leans in, confused.
"Is that… black blood?"
Lin's eyes narrow. "That's not blood at all."
[1:20 p.m.]
No one says anything for a few seconds.
Kao looks up.
Her voice is soft.
"Don't ask questions you don't want answers to."
Then she walks to the corner of the room and sits, facing the wall.
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