It was strange because the cat rarely left the alley. The alley was like the cat's own secret base.
Ai released a sigh.
"Ai, dear. Who are you looking for?" Mrs. Quan, who walked up to her, gently asked.
"Mrs. Quan," she politely smiled back. "The cat."
"Oh," she chuckled, "The cat you are trying to win over."
Ai corrected her. "I have almost won him over. After so many observations, I have brought his favorite food. Today, he will definitely let pet him."
"Hehe, well good luck. That cat reminds of our Jun. If you are not careful, he will hiss and scratch you."
Her ears perked. "Jun fell for in the end, and I know the cat will too."
The dark clouds rumbled in the sky, reminding them that it could soon rain. As much as chilly, the atmosphere dictated a sense of mystery today as the cold winds rustled the leaves and trees around them.
Mrs. Quan comnted. "It's so strange. Monsoon is still a month away, but it's already so dark. It might rain today. Be careful, dear. Don't be out for too long."
Ai nodded.
Mrs. Quan went back while Ai continued her search for the cat. She then heard a soft ow, making her turn. She brightened upon seeing the cat at the alley's entrance, staring at her quite attentively.
"Found you!" She chirped. She rustled to bring out the food for the cat. "Today, I have brought your-"
But the cat hopped away from her sight.
"Hey, wait. Where are you going?"
Ai followed the cat and despite her calls, the cat didn't seem to listen to her. Sotis, he would stop, turn, glance at her and scurry away once again.
"Wait...where are you going?" She followed him quite far by this point, making her feel breathless.
Wait, why am I following him? She questioned herself, huffing and puffing. It's not like stray cats stay at one place the whole ti.
So why...
*ow*
She heard a soft howl again and looked ahead with the cat with his dark brown irises, gazing into her light brown ones intently.
"Co back. It's going to rain. The roads will be dangerous. If you keep hopping around, you will get into an accident..."
But the cat continued running away from her, making her feel helpless. She wondered if she should let him be and head back to the library.
The alley is his base. He will eventually co back...
But her body didn't support her mind's decision and instead kept running behind the cat. At one point in all this running around, she picked speed and finally scooped the cat in her arms.
"Fi...Finally...You made run... like a marathon today," Ai complained after her long distance sprint, totally out of breath. "I never ran this far even in school sports."
The cat hissed at her.
Ai asked, "Why are you still hissing at ? Aren't we good friends now?"
She knew it was definitely disdain that she noticed in the cat's eyes, but she chose to ignore it. She remained standing to catch her breath and as she looked up, she stiffened upon seeing Dream High. The fall skyscraper-like building was the sa where she had worked in the previous life and also where she breathed her last.
Why...When did I arrive here?
The cat was restlessly shifting against her chest, hitting it with her paws.
*ow ow*
In usual circumstances, Ai always felt afraid and her body would freeze whenever she looked up at tall buildings because that would give her an illusion of falling from the top. At this mont as well, her legs were trembling, but she couldn't tear her eyes off from the very top. The black clouds rumbled ominously with a strong gust of wind fluttering her hair at her back.
*GONG!*
Suddenly out of nowhere, a sharp sound that threatened to burst her eardrums, drumd loudly in the space above. Her eyes blinked and tried to protect themselves when sothing very golden, bright and shining struck her vision.
Anxiety and the fear of the unknown made her heart pound in her chest because the cluelessness of what she was seeing and hearing made her terrified. She thought she was going crazy, believing what she assud was a clock floating in the air. A golden clock that hung in the dark sky, making the grey clouds fade away with its gleam. The second hand was ticking with its sound clearly audible amidst the sharp gongs.
Ai shivered, feeling a sharp headache clutching her temples and the hushes and whispers of people echoing in her ears.
"What is the aning of my...anymore...don't deserve..."
"I am sorry, Ai...couldn't...anything...Between you and Dad...choose him..."
"It's all you...you told to..."
"Yichen! Please...wake...up," a voice cried her heart out, "I beg you..."
"I don't want to...live anymore..."
"What did I do...? I killed her..."
"All...my fault..."
The grasp with which Ai had held onto the cat loosened, and he jumped away. But he didn't run away and kept still at his place.
On her side, Ai felt tears rolling down her cheeks with so many voices hamring and flooding her mind endlessly. The headache was growing worse, and she collapsed on her knees.
What is happening...? These voices...
She faintly recognized the voices and heard the words, but she couldn't make any sense out of them. The golden clock in the sky kept banging the loud gongs one after the other.
Make it stop...make these voices stop...
"Will you forgive...I truly...I failed..."
"I did everything that you...but why..."
Ai felt as if she was learning sothing she never knew before but at the sa ti, it filled her heart with dread. A gloomy feeling enveloped her chest, and her vision started to blur.
"Ai!"
She mumbled. "Make these voices stop..."
"Ai?"
"It's so bright..."
Suddenly, she felt sobody gripping her shoulders and shaking them with a force which snapped her out of her daze. The voices in her mind disappeared, and it beca deadly silent. The radiance of the golden clock vanished as well as if it was never there in the first place. Everything went back to how it was.
Ai blinked rapidly upon seeing the extre worry in the familiar man's eyes who had rushed up to her from his office to the entrance.
Yating asked with his voice marred in concern and panic for her, "Ai, what happened to you?"
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