It is as if her ears were covered, but through the resonance of the skull, the heavy breaths were clear.
There was also the sound of racing heartbeats.
The surroundings were dim. It was impossible to discern whether it was at dawn or sunset.
She was running, looking back from time to time, with a panic expression on her face.
Barefoot, but the ground wasn’t soft. There was no grass; it was muddy and even uneven.
She looked back again, and something terrifying seemed to be chasing after her.
Later, she fell to the ground but immediately got up. She ignored her injured knee and continued to run in a panting sound.
Finally, she seemed to hit something soft and gentle.
“Don’t be afraid, Caroline.”
“Dad, dog… A fierce dog… is chasing me…”
“Don’t be afraid, Caroline. I am here.”
…
After a deep breath, the pupils, beautiful as paint patterns blooming in the water, appeared and broke away all darkness. The first thing Caroline saw was the blades of the ceiling fan that was slowly rotating.
She was wet all over, and she felt uncomfortable with her sweating. The sunlight came in from the outside, a little dazzling.
She should still be lying on the sofa in the living room of Livia’s boyfriend, Arnold’s house. Caroline closed her eyes again, allowing her consciousness to become clearer.
Caroline tilted her head and looked under the sofa. Her gaze changed from blurry to clear. Then, she saw a knife—to be precise, the typical knife to peel fruits.
The front end of the silver blade had a bright red tint that easily brought the impression of blood.
She tried to look towards Livia and her boyfriend’s room, but at this moment, she saw Livia sitting at the dining table.
She was sitting facing the chair. Her chin knocked on the back of the chair, and she looked at Caroline with wide eyes. Her hands hung down naturally, and the floor under the chair was a large pool of dark red substance.
Caroline could even see the dried bloodstains where the blood dripped off the white plastic chair.
“Livia!”
Caroline rushed to the front of the chair, shaking her palms in horror, and patted Livia on the shoulder. She tried to wake Livia up, hoping that Livia would say this was all a prank.
The body was so stiff, even a little cold, losing the tenderness of a woman’s skin.
“Calm down, calm down… calm down.” Caroline forced herself to calm down. She tried to make herself recall what happened last night.
Last night because it was too hot in the small room, she came out quietly in the middle of the night. After taking a cold shower, she lay down on the sofa in the living room. She then fell asleep until she woke up just now.
She instinctively thought that she needed to find someone who could help her.
She picked up her bag all of a sudden and looked through it quickly.
She even poured out everything in the bag, makeup mirror, lipstick, keys, tissues… a lot of messy things were scattered on the ground. Caroline even shook the empty bag vigorously, but…
At this moment, the sound of knocking on the door came from outside the house. Then, there came the voice of a woman, “Has something happened? Is anyone there?”
The sound of knocking on the door continued.
Panicked, Caroline rushed to the door quickly. Through the peephole on the door, she saw a middle-aged woman with a bag of garbage in her hand. She seemed to be a resident of this building.
“Arnold, you’re back?”
