Orion and Jane noticed two figures approaching in the night and felt somewhat puzzled.
"They don't look like residents around here," Jane said, trying to make out the two figures in the dim moonlight. She quickly realized that they were heading their way.
Needless to say, these two were Zachary Thompson and Ryan Anderson. At this moment, Ryan was carrying two gas cans, looking at the house getting closer in the distance, thinking only about burning that painting as soon as possible. But he was stunned to see two people at the door.
"Zach, why are those two people just standing there? What should we do? We have to burn that painting quickly!" Ryan said.
Zach clenched his fists and said to Ryan, "Here's the plan. I'll try to lead them away... You find a chance to get in and take out the painting. Hide the gas cans nearby first; it'll be inconvenient for you to carry the painting otherwise. Ryan, trust me. Tonight, I'm going to end this. It's all my fault, and I'll take responsibility."
At the same time, he thought of Lily, who had also stopped in front of that painting. If the rumors were true, that Neil Lawson had painted invisible ghosts and then, through the medium of the painting, cursed and killed all those who had seen it... then Lily was also in danger. Only by burning the painting could this medium be eliminated and their lives be saved. For Lily, he would do anything. Also for Ryan, Gary, and himself.
Then, he slowly walked up to Orion and Jane.
"Good evening, sir, miss. Don't you know the legend of this house? It's said to be haunted," Zach said, trying to scare them away. After all, the legend of the haunted house was well - known around here, so it wasn't exactly a lie.
Orion frowned, sensing something was off. The person who had been walking beside him had suddenly left and then came over to strike up a strange conversation. This didn't seem right.
Orion decided to test him. "So, you're saying... have you been inside?" he asked, closely observing the other's expression. Sure enough, a flash of panic crossed the man's face, and then he said, "No, we wouldn't go into a place like this. But it's better to be safe than sorry. You two should leave quickly. It's for the best."
Jane also felt that this young man in his twenties seemed strange and was even more determined to find out what was going on. But she thought that if she asked directly, he might not answer. Seeing that he was clearly trying to get rid of them, she decided to play along and see what he was up to. "Well... maybe we should go. It's too scary!" she said.
As she spoke, she winked at Orion, who immediately understood and nodded. The two of them then left together.
Seeing them go, Zach let out a sigh of relief, pushed the door open, waved to Ryan hiding nearby, and then ran into the house. Because it was rather dark and he was focused on the painting, he didn't notice the bloodstains on the floor. Subsequently, Ryan also ran in.
"I didn't expect it to be so easy to lead them away. I thought it would be more difficult," Zach said.
Zach climbed the stairs step by step and finally saw the painting. When he turned on his flashlight and was about to move the painting, he was extremely surprised to find that there was no female ghost in the painting!
The flashlight dropped to the ground.
"How could this be... How could this happen?" he exclaimed.
At this moment, he finally noticed the bloodstains on the picture frame and suddenly had an epiphany. So the female ghost had already come out of the painting, and her first target was... Gary!
"Excuse me, what are you two doing here? Why did you enter this haunted house?" Two flashlight beams shone over. Zach and Ryan turned around to see Orion and Jane shining their flashlights in their faces. Orion was now almost certain that these two were among those who had entered the house. So, there was a good chance they could find Gary through them. He looked at his watch; it was half - past eleven. There was still half an hour until the death deadline. If they could find Gary at this time and use his activated supernatural ability to protect him, perhaps the curse could be lifted!
It was really a glimmer of hope! He had almost given up on saving Gary, but unexpectedly, at this critical moment, he found people related to him. Knowing time was running out, Orion didn't beat around the bush. "You know Gary Johnson, right? Maybe you don't know his name, but he's a rather short guy..." he asked directly.
"Who are you? Who on earth are you?" Zach asked, not knowing the other's background and not daring to be careless. He decided to test them first.
"There's no time to explain..." Jane rushed forward, leaped behind Ryan with lightning speed, and before the two could react, a cold knife was already at Ryan's throat.
"Tell me... where's Gary? If you don't, you're a dead man!" Jane said.
Jane did this out of desperation. Explaining the situation in detail would take more than half an hour, so this seemed like the best option. She could explain later.
Orion was stunned by Jane's actions. He never expected her to be so agile. It seemed she had made a lot of preparations in the past three years.
Zachary Thompson and Ryan Anderson were just ordinary college students. They had never seen such a scene and were terrified, thinking they had run into some gangsters. Seeing the knife at Ryan's throat, Zach had to give in. "We do know Gary, but what did he do to you? Why are you looking for him?" he asked.
"Don't worry, we have no intention of harming him. But if you don't tell me where Gary is, don't blame me for being ruthless..." Jane said, looking every bit like a gangster at the moment. Although she had never killed anyone, she was acting like a seasoned female assassin, her eyes cold and unwavering, leaving Zach no room to choose or think.
"I... I understand. He's working overtime at our internship unit. The address is..." Zach said.
After getting the address, Jane nodded. "Well, you two are coming with us. I can't trust you not to be lying," she said, then to Ryan, "Come with us!"
As they walked down the stairs, Orion kept a wary eye on Zach to prevent him from playing any tricks.
After leaving the house and approaching Orion's car parked nearby, Jane first opened the car door with her left hand and said to Ryan, "Get in. Don't even think about running!"
Ryan silently cursed to himself. Not only had they failed to solve the problem of the female ghost, but they had also run into these two mysterious people. Then, Orion and Zach got in as well. Orion started the car and looked at Zach sitting in the passenger seat. "You're in charge of giving directions! Listen, if we don't get there in half an hour, you two are dead! Be prepared!" he said.
This was the outskirts after all, and the security couldn't compare to that of the city. There weren't many traffic police on the road, so the two had no way to call for help. The internship unit wasn't too far from here, and they arrived in about ten minutes. Orion finally relaxed a bit. After asking about the floor and office where Gary was, he said to Zach, "You come with me. After we find Gary, I'll call her to release your friend. I'll say it again, don't try anything!"
Orion was surprised at his own acting talent. He was acting just like a villain. Zach looked at the shiny knife in Jane's hand, sighed, and nodded, following him upstairs.
Just as they reached the second floor, Zach was thinking about how to deal with Orion. Although he didn't know the other's identity, he guessed they were no good. Had Gary borrowed money from a loan shark? But why was he in that house? Just then, Orion suddenly muttered to himself.
"No... this isn't the place..."
His body, with the activated supernatural ability, quickly sensed something was wrong. He couldn't feel Gary's presence in this building. Orion immediately became alert. Was there some kind of trick? He quickly grabbed Zach's collar and pushed him against the wall. "Where is he! Tell me quickly! Time is running out!" he shouted.
"Time?" Zach asked, confused.
"He'll be killed! Killed by the ghost in that painting! Don't you understand? After midnight tonight, it'll be his death date!" Orion said, no longer holding back. He told Zach everything, and Zach was completely bewildered. It took him a long time to ask, "Who are you? How do you know all this?"
"Midnight is coming! If you don't want him to die, tell me right now where he is! I can feel he's not here!" Orion said.
"No way... he should be here working overtime..." Zach was completely confused.
At the same time, his phone rang.
At this moment, Gary had just woken up. Seeing those pale pupils through the peephole, he immediately called Zach. Zach took out his phone and saw that it was from Gary's home number. He silently groaned. Why did he have to call at this time?
"Who's calling?" Orion asked.
"A... a friend," Zach tried to sound as natural as possible, but Orion immediately saw through it. He snatched the phone and saw that it said "Gary calling." He quickly pressed the call button and put the phone to his ear.
"Zach, help me... I don't know why I'm back home. The ghost is at the door... Come and save me... Help me..." Gary's voice came through the phone. Because Orion had pressed the speaker, Zach also heard it. He looked at the man in front of him in disbelief. Could he really be right?
Then, Gary's almost hysterical cries for help continued, "Wow... the door, the door is opening!" Then the phone automatically hung up.
"Take me to his house now!" Orion's roar was no less loud than Gary's on the phone. "If we don't go, he'll really die!"
Hearing the voice on the phone, Zach knew the seriousness of the situation and immediately nodded. The two then quickly ran downstairs. At this moment, there were about fifteen minutes until midnight.
After running downstairs, Orion quickly got into the car and said to Jane in the back seat, "We have to go to Gary's house right away! Midnight is coming!"
In Gary's house, he was looking at the door of the entrance that had just opened. But no one came in. A few seconds later, the door quickly closed! Then, blood began to seep from the ceiling, pouring down like rain!
"100 mph, 110 mph, 120 mph..." Orion gritted his teeth, looking at the speedometer. Fortunately, there weren't many red lights nearby, and the traffic was smooth.
"There's still time, there are five minutes left... Hey, is it really the block up ahead?" Orion's shouts grew louder. Zach said nervously, "Ah, y, yes!"
Gary ran into the kitchen and grabbed a kitchen knife, then returned to the living room. He knew she was already inside!
"Come out! Show yourself! I'm not afraid of you! Come out!" he shouted.
Just then, a shadow quickly passed behind him. Sensing something, he immediately turned around, but there was nothing there. More and more blood seeped from the ceiling, and soon, there was about ten centimeters of blood on the floor. Gary was completely covered in blood.
Fear consumed his rationality. He waved the kitchen knife around the room, but there was no sign of the female ghost.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" he shouted.
Just then, a hand suddenly reached out from the blood on the floor and grabbed his foot! Then, above the blood, a nearly blood - stained head emerged!
After stopping the car, there was only one minute left! Orion let out a shout, grabbed Zach's arm, and rushed out of the car. Then he sprinted into the apartment, not even bothering with the elevator. He took five steps at a time on the dozen - plus - step staircase, almost spraining his ankle several times. Zach was stunned by his rush. Before he could react, they had reached Gary's floor.
At this time, the minute hand had moved half a circle.
There were thirty seconds left!
Rushing to the door, Orion started banging on it and shouting, "Gary? I'm here to save you. Open the door!"
He then looked at his watch again. There were less than ten seconds until midnight! That would be the most dangerous moment!
"Move aside!" Jane pushed Orion away, took out a key, inserted it into the lock, and immediately opened the door. At this time, there were five seconds left! However, to their surprise, as soon as they entered the room, they saw this scene.
Gary's body was curled up in the corner of the living room. His face was extremely distorted, the facial muscles deformed, making his whole face flat, and his mouth was wide open, even cracked. His right hand was tightly clutching his chest, and the nails of his left hand had dug deep marks into the floor. The most terrifying part was his eyes. Half of his eyeballs had protruded from their sockets, as if they could fall out at any moment.
Orion rushed in, checked Gary's breath. It was almost imperceptible. Just then, he noticed Gary's fingers twitch slightly. But when the clock struck midnight, the twitching stopped. Gary was dead.
"We still didn't... didn't make it..." Orion said.
At this moment, Zach suddenly let out a scream because he saw a figure sitting by the wall in the other corner of the living room. It looked like a woman!
"Look, look..." he said, his eyes shifting to Orion for a moment, and when he looked back, the place was empty.