In retrospect I still don't think water is evil, except that through it we occasionally get a glimpse of some other side of life.
After that nightmarish night, I think I may have a mental problem.
All day today I felt that someone was following me, and those snapping and crackling footsteps were always lingering in the back of my mind. The owner Larry probably saw my anxiety and advised me to go home and rest.
Go home? I shook my head. I was already on the verge of a breakdown, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to handle it alone if anything happened to me.
But that's the way it is.
What you fear always comes back to haunt you.
In the afternoon, two policemen came to our restaurant in the rain, carrying a bloody jacket. I immediately recognized it as Vivi's clothes.
The two officers told us that they had received a call this morning from her roommate saying that she had not returned home all night. Later, a plumber reported that he had found the bloody coat in a drain. They have accessed the CCTV and confirmed that Vivi was there last night, but her whereabouts are still unknown.
I nearly fell to the ground when I heard that, but fortunately Larry held me up. He looked very pale, too.
Later on, the police accessed the restaurant's CCTV.
Vivi was on a full shift yesterday, and everything was normal for her until I left in the afternoon.
The restaurant closes at 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and at 10:30 p.m. on the remaining three days. The CCTV showed that Vivi had been sitting at the bar since eight o'clock last night. I've been sitting down and doing nothing for a while since the rain dispelled almost all the customers. However, Vivi was in a different state.
She was staring straight into the air across the bar, like a statue. Although she looked like she was in a daze from afar, when we drew closer the video, we realized that her expression was not stagnant, but had a hint of alertness.
What is it that keeps her in the same position for more than two hours? ... ... Just as everyone was puzzled, Vivi suddenly picked up a cup and put it in front of the empty bar.
It was 10:27 p.m. Larry and I glanced at each other in unspoken agreement. At that time, only the soaked-wet girl would be sitting there.
But… but she was there!
Vivi picked up a kettle and started pouring water into a glass. She didn't stop until the kettle was completely empty. Water was dripping down from the table, extending into a linear shape all the way to the front door.
A few moments later, Vivi put on her jacket and left the restaurant. Every step she took was inside the water streak on the floor, like a mermaid complying to some aqua-bounded taboo.
The video ended, and we all got speechless for a moment.
"Geez... I wondered why there was water all over the floor when I came upstairs yesterday... …" Larry was the first to break the silence.
One of the officers asked, " Didn't you feel something was wrong when she simply left like that yesterday?"
"How can I put it…" Larry looked somehow embarrassed, "Vivi, the girl, has a big personality and does everything her own way, so for her to leave without any greetings...I didn't feel anything strange about it. If it was Elin who did that, I'd definitely be worried!"
He turned the tables on me all of a sudden. I failed to react for a moment and didn't know how to answer.
"Hmm." The young officer swept a quick glance at the two of us. I feel there was a speculative whimsy in his eyes.
If that girl had come and taken Vivi last night, why was she missing from the camera footage? If she hadn't come, how could Vivi exhibit such bewildering behavior... ...
"Splat-pat!"
The sound of footsteps disrupted my thoughts.
I jerked my head around, only to see that the cook was frozen in place, his eyes glaring wide with horror.
That sound was in no way a hallucination on my part! I turned my head to look at Larry and the two policemen, and found that they were also in a daze.
"Shit of luck!"
Before we could say anything the cook threw off the apron and ran out of the restaurant as if fleeing. Larry chased him out and shouted a few times, but had to give up when he heard no reply.
"What's going on?" The police asked.
"That's our restaurant's cook, I don't know what suddenly got on his nerves." Larry picked up a rag and wiped the rainwater from his body, then gave the two policemen a cigarette each.
"It's been raining non-stop lately, and there's been a lot going on in town."
He smacked his lips. "It's not the right place, not the right time, how can it rain like this?"
"Anything can be washed away when hit by this kind of strange rain, things that are normally invisible will also be washed out..." The older policeman couldn't help but sigh, "You two need to pay more attention, in the past few days, there have already been several missing cases in town. "