* * * * *
The building stood in a composed way, as if it has chosen solitude for itself. Against the dark night sky all Wang Yu could see was the crumbling walls that were nothing more than a ghostly silhouette of some previous existence.
The old building was no more than a shack on its foundations. How long the shivering walls could withstand the beckoning call of gravity, they both didn't know. But this abandoned building was their only hope of finding any leads at the moment.
Wang Yu and Amelia glanced at one another and stepped inside the abandoned office building.
Stepping into the abandoned building was like stepping into a whole other world. It was like venturing onto a set of old train tracks and then following them as far as they'd take you, ignoring the grass peeking up between the slats and the bits where the metal was rusted and broken. The building seemed to shudder and sway in the wind although it was made of concrete.
The ground floor of the building was relatively empty, but for a few obsolete pieces of rusted desks and chairs, pieces that seemed perfectly at home within the building's vine-covered walls. Just as it had been outside, the inside looked like something out of a dystopian movie, the corrugated walls as rusted and useless as the equipment they housed. Beams stretched high overhead, and droplets of water dripped through cracks in the ceiling.
Their breaths seemed to still in the cold air, leaving a gap of soundless space as they both stood there, centimeters apart. The quiet was an unspoken dare, as though the first one to speak would lose.
"Ahem," Wang Yu coughed, finally caving in, "Lets get started shall we?"
As Wang Yu and Amelia started their search, he rested his hand against the ageing office equipment, and studied it as though the random hair-line cracks had meaning.
After a good 30 minutes of searching through the ground level, the both of them came up empty handed.
"There's nothing here. Let's go straight up to the 13th floor. There might be some clues we can find there." Wang Yu pulled Amelia's hand again but this time, she struggled more intensely.
He looked past his shoulders and asked harshly, "What's the matter with you?"
With an aghast and petrified face, she eyed Wang Yu and pointed to the lift at the corner of the ground level.
"You want to take that lift up?! How do we even know if it's working or not?
"Well, you never try you never know. You want to find your father's whereabouts, don't you? Besides, do you really believe that the lift is some gateway to another dimension? Don't be silly."
Amelia reluctantly complied and they stepped into the elevator.
The lights of the elevator were still working, although there were the occasional flickers. Wang Yu glanced at the buttons on the elevator and a chill went up his spine when he pressed the number 13. "Tch, I am getting paranoid as well...."
The lift creaked as it struggled to move up, and Amelia gripped Wang Yu's hand firmly as she trembled.
At last, the elevator reached its destination and the door squeaked open, revealing the 13th floor of the building.
As the two stepped out, the inside was totally pitch dark due to the absence of windows, which did not even allow the minimal amount of light to penetrate.
Wang Yu took out a flashlight he had brought with him as an emergency and turned it on.
Instantly, the light illuminated a small area and Amelia followed closely behind Wang Yu as he advanced forward.
The whole level was relatively typical to a regular office, with desks and chairs strewn across the place.
All of a sudden, one of the lights dangling from the crashed onto the ground, splattering bits all over the area.
"PING!"
"Hyahhh!"
Amelia gripped on tightly to Wang Yu's arm.
However, Wang Yu was unperturbed and simply continued his search.
As he scanned through each desk of papers, Wang Yu noticed a peculiar piece hidden in one of the drawers. He passed the flashlight over to Amelia as he took out the paper.
On it, was a picture.
A picture of a well.
Strange, why would there be such a picture in an office workplace? Wang Yu pondered as he scanned the picture.
As Wang Yu searched the drawer again, he suddenly froze.
That was not there before, right?
Amelia peeked over Wang Yu's shoulders and cupped her mouth as she nearly screamed.
There was a doll inside the drawer as well.
In between its hands, was the same picture of the Well Wang Yu was holding.
"This is weird. I am pretty sure this...this doll was not there when I first opened it...."
As Wang Yu reached his hand out for it, Amelia forcefully pulled it back.
"Don't! Let's just get out of here. I think we have searched enough...." She whispered to Wang Yu, as though she was begging him.
However, Wang Yu had to take the risk. He needed every available piece of clue to help Amelia find her father.
He grabbed the doll.
The moment he touched the doll, a collage of images flashed across his eyes like a current---
A black cat standing beside a well.
A forest that was disturbingly eerie.
An old newspaper headline about a suicide case
A woman crying and cursing.
As these images appeared in front of his eyes, the doll in his hands started feeling cold and Wang Yu swore he felt vibrations coming from it.
"Lets get out of here!"
Wang Yu immediately dropped the doll back into the drawer and grabbed Amelia's hand, albeit roughly, before turning around and sprinting towards the lift.
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"(I don't want to die)!"