Chapter 143: A New Nightmare
Dr. Allen quickly received the first part of the information he had bought for pounds50.
After all, if pounds50 only bought this much, Allen would feel cheated by his friend.
Alice's public identity came from Charlie King, who had even considered her obvious personality flaws when designing her identity as a fallen aristocrat's orphaned daughter.
Thus, it seemed reasonable that such a Briar Rose could paint.
But why did this Briar Rose appear to be so knowledgeable about the occult?
Allen Chris closed the file, recalling his wife's smiling face as she mentioned their child wanting ice cream. He rubbed his temples and seriously considered the possibility of a visit.
He remembered that before her pregnancy, his wife didn't seem to like ice cream.
Although pregnancy can change dietary habits, and saying the child wanted it is a perfectly normal excuse, he still felt a deep sense of unease.
He no longer had nightmares about Will Onsetin but had started having another nightmare.
In the dream, the mysterious girl he met that day, Briar Rose, looked at him gently and said in a calm but emotionless voice:
"...This child will bring disaster to you and your family."
Then, he returned home, troubled, and saw his wife getting up from the sofa to greet him, with a half-eaten ice cream on the coffee table.
He heard his wife say with a smile, "The child wanted ice cream."
Later, the scene shifted to much later, when his wife's belly was already visibly swollen. He watched her gently caress her belly and smile at him, saying:
"How about we name our child Will?"
Will.
It wasn't an uncommon boy's name, but the next scene was a pitch-black spire. He climbed to the top, as he had before, and saw two coiled giant snakes.
Both snakes were white, one thick and one thin. The thin one saw his figure and looked at him pitifully and fearfully, with a hint of urgency and worry in its eyes.
But his attention wasn't on the snakes. He walked deeper into the darkness ahead, subconsciously feeling that something extremely important to him was hidden in that obscured area.
One step, two steps, three steps... As he approached, he seemed to pass through something, yet nothing at all. He gradually noticed his steps becoming sticky.
He looked down and found an unknown, dark red liquid flowing in his direction.
...What was that?
He continued forward step by step, and finally, he saw the source of the liquid.
It was... his wife.
She was lying on the ground, her abdomen cut open, with blood flowing out, passing under his feet, and flowing behind him.
Can a person lose that much blood?
Allen didn't know, but he saw a girl kneeling beside his wife.
She had bright, dazzling blonde hair, and her side profile still had a touch of youthful innocence, indicating her young age.
She knelt in the blood without care, holding a blood-stained scalpel.
Allen's pupils contracted as he stared at the scalpel.
He watched the girl use the scalpel to lift strands of hair scattered in the blood, separating them from the congealed blood.
Then, the girl turned to him with an innocent, radiant smile, her clear blue eyes showing no malice.
He saw the girl tilt her head and say with those pure eyes:
"See, I told you, this child would bring disaster to you and your family. Why didn't you believe me?"
Then, he would wake up from the dream, recalling those pure, innocent eyes and the girl's naive tone in the silent night, drenched in cold sweat.
In that moment, the eyes of the blonde girl in his dream overlapped with those of Briar Rose in the file Klein had sent.
...
When the knock on the door came, Alice was pondering what to have for dinner.
She put on her "Matilda" mask in confusion and opened the door, only to see an unexpected person.
"...Hello?" Alice greeted Dr. Allen hesitantly, unsure if she should call his name.
Pure, naive, bewildered... Allen recalled the eyes of the girl in his dream, took a deep breath, and forced a smile:
"Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you... I have some questions about Will Onsetin."
Alice stared at him, slowly narrowing her eyes and frowning, "Who sent you to ask me?"
She didn't mind Allen finding her—after all, Klein had sold her information for a full pounds50; it would be strange if it didn't include her address.
What puzzled her was that Allen decided to come to her—really? Will Onsetin sent his father to see her?
Or was it that this, like her dream and her encounter with Will Onsetin, was something beyond Will Onsetin's control?
"No, no one sent me," Allen was momentarily confused, "I have some questions I wanted to ask you myself..."
"So, you believe this decision was entirely your own, without any guidance or suggestion?" Alice confirmed.
"...Can anyone else make decisions for me?" Allen asked, puzzled.
"Who knows?" Alice chuckled and shrugged.
Seeing her indifferent attitude, Allen suddenly broke into a cold sweat again.
Alice frowned, scrutinizing the clearly frightened Allen, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "Come in and talk."
She stepped aside, gesturing for Allen to enter.
Allen hesitated but walked in. Alice closed the door behind him and silently activated a spiritual barrier.
"Would you like something to drink?" Alice asked politely.
"Coffee, please." Allen replied out of habit.
"Have a seat." Alice casually said, going to make coffee and deciding to have a glass of orange juice herself.
...Who would want to drink something so bitter?
Alice placed the coffee in front of Allen. He politely took a sip, only for his expression to twist uncontrollably.
"Oh dear," Alice realized, "I forgot to add sugar!"