The bell rang endlessly, like the person was crying for help. There was no reason, so the woman resorted to slamming on the door again. Her voice echoed throughout the building, but no one answered her.
Her voice beca sharper. She sounded like she had swallowed a lot of glass. Her throat was covered in wounds. Scratch marks appeared on her body. Tang Hanlu covered her mouth. Her mother said that a ntally unstable woman lived above them. She had never t the woman before. She had only seen the flowers planted by the woman on the roof. Her flowers were always blooming… Just like how they were when the car accident took away her child.
BANG BANG BANG!
The woman shook the door. She grabbed the handle, and the door trembled. Tang Hanlu didn’t dare to imagine the scenario outside. However, various images crawled into her mind. There was a crazy woman with dishevelled hair wearing the clothes of her dead child. Her limbs were lanky. She shoved her eyeball into the peephole. Her long nails tried to dig into the gap of the door.
Fear was like a whirlpool. Once it appeared, it refused to let go. Tang Hanlu’s exposed skin was covered in goosebumps. Even if all the lights were on, she didn’t feel safe.
“My child is missing! She disappeared from this floor. Please open the door. I just want to check the cara to see where she has gone!
“My girl is so young and small! No. She should be longer. I rember she beca longer after her stomach caved in!”
The room beca stuffy. Tang Hanlu didn’t dare to breathe too loudly. Her brain was stuffed with various rumours and images.
“Key? Where did I drop my key? Could soone have picked it up?”
The nail dug into the keyhole. The spring clicked. The woman tried many ways to open the door but she failed. She laughed in despair. The laughter ca from her wounded throat. It was dripping with sadness and curses.
It was finally silent again. Tang Hanly nudged towards the door. Just as her hand touched the door handle, she felt zapped and pulled back.
“Mom is not yet ho. If she walked out of the elevator now, she would bump into the woman. She is probably hiding sowhere. She’ll charge out at any mont.”
Tang Hanlu was worried. She found her phone and called her mother. She had so many things to tell her.
After a while, the ringtone ca from her mother’s bedroom!
Tang Hanlu jumped. She was scared that her neighbour might hear the commotion in her house. Her finger lingered over the end call button. She was confused. Why would her mother’s phone ring in the bedroom? Did she forget to take her phone with her?
The sky outside the window darkened. Tang Hanlu tightened her fingers. In the past, her mother would notify her if she needed to work overti. Did her mother work overti that day? Or had she been in her bedroom? She ca back ho early?!
Tang Hanlu didn’t hang up. The grating sound felt like her only connection with her mother. Tang Hanlu slowly slunk over to the main bedroom door. She carefully eased the red-brown door open. She held the phone as she tried to find the source of the ringtone. She glanced at the bed. The bedsheet moved!
Her feet felt like they were stepping on ice. Tang Hanlu felt like soone was staring at her calves. The malicious gaze ca from under the bed. The man whom she encountered after school was a nightmare that refused to leave. Tang Hanlu’s lips paled. Did the man enter her room? Was her mother… under the bed?
Her thin body shivered. Without hesitation, she ended the call. She closed the bedroom door and swiftly called the police. Tang Hanlu stamred over the descriptions of the crazy woman outside her ho and the man hiding under her mother’s bed. The call ended. The room was deathly silent. Tang Hanlu didn’t dare to leave her bedroom. She hugged her bag. A few minutes later, soone knocked on her front door.
“Hello! We’re police from Li Wan Police Centre!
“Is anyone ho? We’re the police!”
Tang Hanlu sighed in relief. The voice was reliable and warm. She held her bag and opened a small gap in her bedroom door. After ensuring the main bedroom door was not open, she raced through the living room to get to the front door. Out of safety concern, Tang Hanlu looked through the peephole. A young officer in a wrinkled uniform stood outside. The officer was very tall, and he stayed close to the peephole. She could only see the area under his neck.
“Is soone ho? We received the police call! Please cooperate with us!”
The knocking beca louder. Tang Hanlu unlocked the inner security door. There was another solid outer door.
The officer smiled. “Soone called to report that her girl has gone missing. We wish to check everyone’s surveillance. I hope you can cooperate with us.” 𝙍ᴀNÖＢЕS̈
“Missing child? Check the caras?” Tang Hanlu’s hand froze. This officer wasn’t there because of her call!
The girl was missing! It could be the kidnapper who ca back!
No!
Tang Hanlu noticed the officer’s wrinkled uniform. He purposely stayed close to the peephole so his face wouldn’t be seen. Tang Hanlu took a silent step back. At the sa ti, the young officer grabbed the door handle and shook it.
The outer door was yanked open. Tang Hanlu slamd the inner door shut. In her fear, she held the handle tightly. Then, a weak voice ca from the other side.
“Wait. Is the door not locked?”
Tang Hanlu didn’t dare to budge. After one minute, it beca quiet outside the door. She stood on tip-toe to look through the peephole. Tang Hanlu carefully observed the situation outside. The officer appeared to have left.
Before her heart settled, a bloodshot eye took over the peephole. The bulging eye blinked. Its owner stood right outside the door.
One of the two front doors had been unlocked. She still hadn’t found her key. “Key. Where is the key?”
She was so scared that she was barely thinking. At that mont, the ringtone ca from the main bedroom. Soone was calling her mother.
“Who is calling? Is it soone from mom’s company? Are they calling because mom is not at work? If she’s not at work, where is she? Is she under the bed? Why? Can’t she make any sound or co out already? Is it because…” All the thoughts collected to form one word: corpse.
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