Chapter 4
1210words
Owen's gaze locked onto the crying woman's tightly clenched left hand. The ring! Getting it and completing the task might be his only chance for survival!
The Night Patroller's damp, cold footsteps were now just steps away, that nauseating stench of decay nearly suffocating him.
Owen bit down hard on his fear and launched himself toward the crying woman!
'Ah!' The woman startled at his movement, letting out a short scream as she instinctively turned.
Owen's heart nearly stopped beating!
The woman's face… had no features! Only a blurry, writhing darkness! Like an unfinished, malevolent sculpture!
Intense fear and nausea seized him! Rule four: [Emotional exchanges prohibited]! He choked back a scream, his gaze locked on her tightly clenched left hand.
The ring! It glinted between her fingers!
He reached out, not to pry open her hand, but pointed at her clenched fist and growled hoarsely: 'Give me! Ring number 044!'
He didn't know if this counted as 'communication,' but he had no other choice!
The woman seemed stunned for a moment, that writhing mass of darkness turning toward him. A wave of cold, venomous emotion struck him like a physical blow!
At that moment, the Night Patroller reached the T-junction! Its blurry head slowly turned toward Owen and the woman!
Owen could feel those lifeless eyes boring into him from the shadows!
'Give it to me!' he growled again, his voice warped by terror.
The woman seemed terrified by the Night Patroller's presence, her body trembling violently. Her clenched hand loosened slightly!
An antique silver ring slipped from between her fingers!
Owen, quick-eyed and nimble-handed, snatched it up! It felt ice-cold to the touch!
'Ugh…' the Night Patroller let out a sound like air escaping a punctured windpipe and stepped toward them!
Owen's soul nearly fled his body! He clutched the ring tightly and bolted in the opposite direction—straight ahead!
Behind him, the woman's sobbing transformed into a shrill, piercing scream! The Night Patroller's wet footsteps suddenly quickened!
Owen didn't dare look back as he ran for his life! The corridor stretched endlessly! He rounded a corner and spotted a half-open door ahead with a sign reading 'Preparation Room.'
He shoved the door open, rushed inside, and slammed it shut, collapsing against it while gasping for breath.
Outside, the woman's screams and the Night Patroller's heavy footsteps lingered at the doorway for a few seconds before gradually fading away.
Owen slid to the floor, his heart hammering, strength nearly gone. He opened his palm to reveal the silver ring—simple in design, with what appeared to be an inscription on the inside.
He was temporarily safe. But the mission had only just begun.
He surveyed the 'preparation room.' It was slightly larger than the intern room, with stainless steel workbenches lining one wall. Various bottles and containers (likely preservatives and fragrances) sat beside an open makeup kit. At the far end stood a huge floor-length mirror covered with a translucent dust cloth.
A mirror!
Rule seven: [Mirrors and Reflections]!
Owen's heart leaped into his throat again. Task requirement two: put the ring on the left ring finger of 'me in the mirror'.
He had to face the mirror.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He walked to the workbench and picked up a small silver tweezer from the makeup kit, carefully using it to pick up the ring. This shouldn't count as direct contact with the client's 'item,' right?
Then, step by step, he approached the enormous floor-length mirror.
The mirror was covered with a dust cloth, only a blurry outline visible beneath.
He reached out with trembling fingers and pinched a corner of the dust cover.
He yanked it off!
The mirror surface was pristine, clearly reflecting his pale, terrified face and the empty preparation room behind him.
He sighed with relief. Thankfully, there was only himself in the mirror.
He raised his left hand, watching as his reflection mirrored the movement. He carefully brought the ring held in his tweezers closer to the ring finger of his reflection's left hand.
Just as the ring was about to touch the mirror surface—
In the mirror, his reflection's mouth suddenly twisted upward into an eerie smile that wasn't his own—a smile filled with profound sadness!
Owen's hair stood on end! His scalp crawled with horror!
Rule Seven: [If you see a reflection in the mirror that doesn't belong to you, or if the reflection makes movements different from yours…]
The 'Owen' in the mirror not only smiled but raised his left hand, actively reaching toward the ring in Owen's hand! The movement completely independent of Owen's own actions!
'Fuck!' Owen was terrified beyond measure, instinctively wanting to slam his eyes shut and back away!
But what about the task? The task required putting the ring on 'me in the mirror'!
In a flash, he remembered the third item on the list: Tell her: 'I'm sorry, I'm late.'
Tell who? The 'me' in the mirror? Or… whatever entity this 'me' represented?
Fear nearly overwhelmed him, but survival instinct and a trace of remaining rationality helped him decide. He stared at that eerily smiling reflection and, with all his might, shouted hoarsely:
'I'm sorry! I'm late!'
The moment those words left his lips!
The 'Owen' in the mirror suddenly froze! The eerie smile stiffened, enormous shock and sadness flooding its eyes, and also… a hint of relief?
Then, under Owen's terrified gaze, the face of 'Owen' in the mirror began to distort and transform! The features softened, the figure becoming more slender… In seconds, the mirror now showed a pale young woman with deep sorrow etched between her brows!
She looked at Owen, or rather, at the ring held by the tweezers in Owen's hand, as tears silently tracked down her face.
Owen's heart hammered wildly, nearly suffocating him. He understood now! This 'mirror version of me' wasn't him at all! It was Client No. 044! Or rather, some manifestation of her lingering attachment!
He hesitated no longer. While the woman in the mirror remained still, he used the trembling tweezers to press the ring toward the ring finger of the left hand she had raised.
The moment the cold ring touched the mirror's surface—
'Hmm…'
A slight vibration.
The ring vanished.
On the ring finger of the woman's left hand in the mirror, the silver ring now gleamed!
She lowered her head to look at the ring, tears flowing freely, but the corners of her mouth curved upward into an incredibly tragic yet liberating smile.
Then, her figure—like a reflection in disturbed water—began to ripple, blur, and finally dissolved completely into the mirror.
In the mirror, only Owen's own startled, bloodless face remained.
His legs weakened, nearly giving way beneath him. The second step… completed?
He looked down at the tweezers in his hand; the ring was indeed gone.
'Woo…' An extremely faint sigh—as if from somewhere far away—floated gently through the room, then dissipated completely.
Owen slumped against the wall, gasping for breath, feeling utterly drained. Too bizarre! Too terrifying!
But the task wasn't finished yet. Step four: Play 'Moonlight Sonata.'
He scanned the preparation room. No stereo, no playback device.
The music… where was he supposed to play it from?
