Orion was at home alone, gazing out of the window at the sky. The weather was gloomy, and frost had formed on the glass. The wind howled against his cheeks, carrying with it a bit of rain.
"Tonight... that person will die..."
Orion was well aware of this. But why, like Violet, try to stop it? What could that change? He only wished to live a peaceful life with his sister. They had been living in this city for three years, and they hardly had any acquaintances. Because he knew that perhaps one day, they would have to move somewhere else again. He had even cut off contact with all relatives, not wanting any connection with their past life. All that remained were their names... and that indelible dark memory.
Suddenly, there was the sound of hurried footsteps at the door. He had just turned around when the door was quickly pushed open, and Violet entered the room with a strange woman. She quickly closed the door, rushed in without even changing her shoes, and blurted out, "Brother... do you also have the ability to foresee? Tell me!"
Orion was taken aback. Then he looked at the strange woman.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Miller. I'm Jane Sophia Parker. I know this is sudden for you, but my father told me to find you, and I must do so."
Orion was completely confused at this moment. He collected his thoughts and said, "What on earth is going on? You two, explain clearly. I don't understand at all!" Violet glanced out of the window; the sun hadn't set yet. So, she organized her experiences of the day and then briefly told Orion the situation.
After hearing this, Orion looked coldly at Jane and then quickly walked up to her, making a gesture to show her out. "Miss Parker... my sister and I have a peaceful life, and we don't want to be disturbed. Whatever you want, it has nothing to do with us siblings, and we have no obligation to you. Please leave immediately and don't come to us again!"
At this moment, Violet was only concerned about whether her brother was hiding his precognition ability from her. Now seeing him trying to drive away Jane, who was such an important clue, she quickly stopped him and said, "Brother... listen to me. I want to know the reason! For seven years, we've been running away from that indescribable existence. We didn't even attend our parents' funeral! My life has always been filled with shadows. How can you say it's peaceful? At least, at least I want to know why Mom and Dad died."
Just then, Jane said a crucial sentence.
"My father knew a lot of things, and he told me one thing. That thing should be able to fulfill the deepest wish in your heart. Mr. Orion James Miller, even so, do you still want to drive me away?"
Orion's heart skipped a beat. He stared at Jane, stunned for dozens of seconds, then composed himself and asked, "You know my wish?"
"Yes... my father knew everything. If you doubt it, I can prove it to you tonight." Orion's mind was racing. The fear from the past reappeared in his mind. Just as he was hesitating, a voice that seemed to see through his heart reached his ears.
"Tell me, what's the name of the second person?"
For some reason, as if tempted, Orion's lips opened involuntarily, and the information swirling in his mind spilled out.
"His name is Zephyr Aurora Hayes."
Zephyr was a college student who loved parties. But because his home was too far from the school, he commuted. Tonight, his buddy's girlfriend was having a birthday party, and of course, he joined in.
Everyone was having a wild time, playing poker and singing karaoke. It was almost ten o'clock when the party ended. As he was leaving with two or three close classmates, he asked, "It's okay for me since I'm a commuter... But for you guys, will the dormitory door be closed when you get back?"
"What are you worried about? Just climb in through the window. Do you really think the dorm supervisor is that strict? Come on, you should find a beautiful girlfriend soon and make us jealous!"
Zephyr laughed heartily and said, "Okay! By the way, that girl with a ponytail in the Biology Department looks pretty good. Maybe I'll go after her. How about we bet on a meal?"
"Bet then..." After chatting for a while, they finally reached the parting point. After saying goodbye to those classmates, Zephyr took the bus back to his neighborhood and took a shortcut. He was burping from time to time on the way. Just then, he suddenly felt the urge to use the restroom. He had drunk too much beer, he thought. He remembered there was a public restroom at the entrance of the alley ahead, so he immediately ran over and entered it.
After finishing his business, he came to the door of the restroom but found that it wouldn't open.
"What's going on?" Zephyr pushed the door hard, but it didn't budge an inch. Was it broken?
Just then, the lights in the restroom suddenly went out, and it was pitch - black all around, so dark that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Zephyr usually liked to chat with others about supernatural tales, and in this environment, it was hard not to feel scared.
Zephyr had no choice but to shout outside, "Is anyone there? Come on! I'm trapped inside!" But there was no response. This alley was quite deep, and not many people passed by. He really regretted not just holding it in and going home to use the restroom. Now he was stuck here. Zephyr kicked the door hard again, then rammed it with his body, almost using all his strength, but the door still wouldn't open. He thought he might as well look for some tool to break the door open; otherwise, he'd have to spend the night in the restroom. But it was so dark here that he probably wouldn't even be able to see someone standing right in front of him. So, he groped along the wall, moving slowly.
"I've found out. He's a student in Class 1, Chemistry Department of Zenith University." Violet, being a reporter, had wide sources of information. And this university was very famous in the city. Many science students had participated in city - wide competitions, and Zephyr had also participated in a chemistry quiz competition once.
Orion indeed had the ability to foresee. Unlike Violet, his ability was to see the face and name of the person who was about to meet their death in his mind. He had this ability not long after his parents died, just like Violet. Before this, he had seen Zephyr's appearance and also saw the iconic sculpture of Zenith University behind him, so he could find out so quickly. When they checked the information at the school office of Zenith University, it was a little after ten o'clock when Zephyr had just left his friend's house. As a reporter, Violet asked for the information on the pretext of wanting to interview Zephyr, who had participated in the chemistry competition. Fortunately, the teacher in the school office was reasonable and also gave them the contact information of some of Zephyr's friends.
When they contacted his friends, the friend said that they had gone to the birthday party with him today and parted at a street corner near the school, which was near the bus stop where he needed to take the bus home. They estimated that he should be home by now.
"We have to find him immediately!"
The three of them got in the car and quickly headed to his home. Fortunately, the school office had his address registered, and they also got his phone number. In the car, Orion drove, while Violet called Zephyr.
Zephyr, who was trapped in the restroom, immediately answered the phone. He cursed himself for being stupid for not thinking of using his phone earlier. He took it out to answer and found it was an unknown number, so he asked, "Hello, who is this?"
"Is this Zephyr? Um... it's hard to explain right now. I'm Violet Miller, a reporter from the newspaper. I want to interview you. Are you at home now?"
"No, I'm not..."
Jane, sitting in the back seat, snatched the phone and then said, "Where are you? Are you in danger?"
"Ah... danger? I..." At this point, his voice stopped. Because... he heard a heavy gasp coming from the darkness. And even Jane on the other end of the phone heard it.
He was startled and asked, "Who's there?" But there was no answer in the darkness. He thought that when he came in, he should be the only one. The cubicle doors were open, and it was obvious no one was there. There couldn't be anyone else in this restroom.
At this moment, he didn't care anymore. Regardless of who was on the other end of the phone, he said urgently, "Help... help me! I'm in a public restroom in an alley near Beitian Community on Gongfeng Road. The door won't open for some reason... Um, when you get here, you can ask the passers - by..."
As he said this, the gasping sound came again, and this time... it seemed closer than before...
Just then, a melodious melody came from the phone. This was... the shutdown prompt sound! Did it run out of battery? He took the phone screen in front of his eyes and saw that it was indeed turned off. God, why did it run out of battery at this time? But no, he had charged it fully before going out today...
Suddenly, he was almost frozen in place, not daring to move a step, for fear of bumping into something. This restroom was so dark that there wasn't even a window. Now the whole room was completely without light. If it weren't for the fact that Zephyr was leaning against the wall, he would probably have collapsed.
"Who... who's there... please... don't scare me, okay?" He was trembling like a leaf at this moment, and his voice had completely lost its confidence. Could there really be ghosts in the world?
The gasping sound came again, and this time it was quite clear because... the sound was right next to his ear!
Zephyr let out a scream and started running wildly without a target. He completely lost his sense of direction, only wanting to find the damned door and break it to get out of here!
However, something even more terrifying happened. This restroom was only a few dozen square meters in total, but he had been running straight for nearly five minutes and still hadn't reached the end! God, how was this possible? Since he didn't smoke, he didn't have a lighter or matches on him. In this dark restroom, there was no way to create any light... No, maybe it was a good thing not to see...
After the connection with Zephyr was cut off, Orion heard Jane say the address and then stepped on the gas pedal hard. His hands gripping the steering wheel were already full of sweat. He didn't know who this mysterious woman was, but since she knew his precognition ability, which Violet didn't even know, then... she was definitely not an ordinary person. She said she could fulfill his wish. Was it true? Anyway, first, go and save this Zephyr guy, and then ask her in detail.
Jane, at this moment, kept looking at her watch. Although she didn't know when Zephyr would die as predicted, but... I'm afraid time was running out... Zephyr's back was completely soaked in cold sweat. He had been running in all directions for nearly ten minutes and didn't touch anything, not even a cold wall. He immediately regretted leaving the wall. But he also felt strange. The lights had been out for so long, but now it was still pitch - black, as if he had gone blind. In this situation... even if someone was standing right in front of him, as long as they didn't make a sound, he definitely wouldn't be able to tell.
"Help... help! Please, whoever you are, don't hurt me..." Zephyr could barely stand at this moment. He could only crawl on the ground. It was so quiet around that he couldn't even hear the echo of his shouts in this empty space! What was going on?
However, when a sound really appeared, he immediately held his breath and didn't even dare to move his fingers. It seemed that not far behind him, something was crawling on the ground, and it seemed to be getting closer. His legs were shaking even more, and he could only crawl forward slowly, afraid that if he made a big move, that thing would pounce on him...
Orion's car had driven to Gongfeng Road. They found the alley, but it was too narrow for the car to drive in. So, Orion said to the two in the car, "You two stay here. I'll go and check the situation." Zephyr's hands and feet started to go numb. The thing behind him seemed to be getting closer. His thinking almost stopped at this moment. The air around him seemed to be rapidly decreasing. He didn't know if this was an illusion or not.
Just as he reached out his hand to support the floor again, he found that he had pressed on a cold hand!
"Ahhhh!" Zephyr didn't understand why that thing was in front of him. The phone fell out of his pocket and actually turned on automatically, and the screen was facing in front of him...
The long - awaited light appeared, but what Zephyr saw was...
Finally, Orion found the restroom. He was about to break the door open, but to his surprise, the doorknob turned easily, and the door opened. He walked in and saw that it was an ordinary restroom, with a trough, three cubicles, and a washstand. Next to it was a mop, and beside the mop was a coiled rubber hose.
Orion opened the cubicle doors one by one, but there was no one inside. It seemed like a completely normal restroom.
"Brother!"
He turned around and saw Violet and Jane coming in. He frowned and said, "Didn't I tell you to wait?"
"Sorry, brother..."
Jane, on the other hand, looked around the restroom, then walked up to Orion and said, "It seems... we were too late."
"Who on earth are you? What... do you know?"
Orion's questioning gaze, like a sharp sword, shot at Jane, but she still calmly replied, "Okay. I'll tell you everything. Let's go back to the car now."