我要再来一次

Chapter 177 Dream Part IX

The muted light of yet another rainy day woke the little girl on the bed up. She stretched out her arms and rubbed her eyes as she groggily rose, looking a little dazed.

However, the instant she remembered what happened last night, she immediately looked around, as if searching for someone.

Chen wasn’t inside the room anymore and the window was closed. Little Xiaolei’s expression dulled and she buried her face on her pillow for a while before she finally left her bed.

She combed her hair and stepped out of her room. But as soon as she stood by the stairs, she heard noises coming from the living room.

"The hunters found more dead bodies this dawn."

"My god! What is happening in those woods?"

"Those dead people weren’t from our village. But this is getting serious."

"It’s okay. We have asked a special police force to aid the local police this time. They’re on their way now."

"We are sure there’s something strange happening out there."

"We should help to catch and destroy the monsters or the killers living up there or these bizarre killings probably won’t stop."

Hearing those words, little Xiaolei began to tremble in fear, but what came into her mind first was to go and tell Chen about the incoming police force.

Hastily, the girl returned to her room and got changed before she went to the living room. She knew she couldn’t escape because her grandparents were by the door so she had no choice but lie to them.

"Grandma, my classmate Yiyi and I have to work on a the group assignment our teacher gave us, so I’m going to her house." She stated, acting as normal as she could.

"No, no kids are allowed to go out today. It’s too dangerous. Go back to your room Xiaolei." Her grandfather ordered.

"But, grandpa, we need to finish the –"

"Stop being stubborn. Go back to your room, now."

Little Xiaolei felt utterly dejected that she wanted to cry. But she had to tell Chen, to warn him. She remembered what he told her before, that if anyone saw him, they would all have to leave this place.

Just the thought of Chen leaving made her heart ache so much and before she knew it, she ran towards the main door.

But before she could step out, her grandfather caught her.

"Grandpa, please, let me go!" she started to cry but the old man carried her towards her room and locked her inside.

Little Xiaolei cried hard as she tried pushing the door open. When she realized that begging was futile, little Xiaolei wiped her tears and opened the window. She looked down and shivered at the thought of jumping down.

She looked around inside her room and her gaze fell onto the bedsheets on her bed. She had watched some movies where the protagonists escaped by the window using these blankets.

And thus, she took the sheets and tied them together. She did her very best to do it as fast as she could. She knew that she had very little time left.

The moment she was finally done, little Xiaolei tied the edge of the blanket rope she made to a pole near her window before she bravely started climbing down through it.

But before she could reach the ground, one of the knots unraveled and she fell on the ground. She winced in pain but she immediately stood up and wasted no time in running towards the forest.

She knew that her grandmother would soon find out that she had escaped so she needed to find Chen before anyone else.

Thankfully, the rain wasn’t that heavy that morning, but the forest was still slippery so the little girl slipped many times. She was drenched and dirty when she finally reached their usual rendezvous, the rock.

Panting heavily, the little girl lifted her face but what she saw first made her stop breathing and then...

"Bang!"

A loud, deafening gunshot echoed around her then, the man in front of Chen fell on the ground. The man was their school nurse, Mr. Han. He was dead, and the one who killed him was... Chen.

Little Xiaolei just froze there, looking at his back.

When the boy noticed her presence and turned around, he too froze in place. Chen looked different. His eyes were fierce, cold, lifeless and deadly just like that very first time she saw him.

His black hair covered most of his eyes, and blood was flowing from his head down to his neck. He seemed heavily wounded.

Time seemed to have stood still as they stared at each other. The rain drops were getting louder in their ears along with the beating of their hearts. Both of them didn’t dare make a move. Little Xiaolei was too shocked with what she had witnessed while Chen was still holding the gun in his hand. He didn’t move to approach her either; he didn’t even say a word.

Little Xiaolei was so scared; scared to death, but looking at his eyes and the blood that kept flowing down his face, extreme worry began to overshadow her fear.

She finally start to move but before she could take a single step towards him...

"Xiaolei!!!!"

Her grandfather’s voice reached her ears and her head snapped behind her. She finally remembered that the police were coming to get him. The thought of him being caught and hurt by them terrified her more than anything else, but when she turned towards him to speak, he was gone. The dead body of Mr. Han was not there anymore.

She heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that they had escaped but that was only until her grandfather had reached her. The old man was furious.

He began dragging her back to the house, not caring whether she was getting hurt or not.

Little Xiaolei cried as she begged for her grandfather not to drag her. Her knees and arms were already bleeding and her feet were sore because of the fall from her window but her grandfather wasn’t listening.

Little Xiaolei felt like she was about to pass out. Her feet, her wounds and her heart felt painful and she couldn’t stand it, anymore.

So she cried her heart out... But not even a second later, somebody grabbed her from her grandfather’s grip.

It was Chen.