Lin Sanjiu wasn't known for her intelligence. However, had she foreseen their predicament, she would have rushed out of the bathroom to kill the person fast asleep outside after hearing the flushing sounds from the upstairs bathroom.
By now, she had been confined in the residential apartment for nearly ten days. 'Confined' might not be the precise term. If Lin Sanjiu could muster the courage, she would fly out the window, as nothing imprisoned her. Outside, the expanse of Kisaragi Station World stretched boundlessly under the gray skies.
Yet, she couldn't leave. One reason approached her. The girl whispered to Lin Sanjiu, "I've asked him to prepare something to eat." Rena pursed her lips, appearing gloomy. The stress of the past few days had marred her usually smooth skin with pimples.
Reno hummed as he entered the kitchen.
"When should we kill him?" Rena asked. Then, she bit her lip, struggling to steady her trembling hands.
In her brain form, Lin Sanjiu longed to sigh deeply. It all started the night she heard the flushing sound through the thin ceiling fourteen days prior.
Lin Sanjiu's 'fingers' froze. She had assumed the building was empty. Yet, considering it, they hadn't explored beyond the 15th floor. Survivors could be living upstairs; after all, ghosts don't need toilets.
Lin Sanjiu thought about it for a moment and decided to go upstairs to have a look. Anyway, she was just a brain spirit, so only duoluozhongs and people who had their eyes corroded by dark matter could see her. She might as well take advantage of this worry-free form and make use of the freedom she had.
With that decision, she immediately flew out the transom window. However, just a few meters up, nearing the 16th floor, footsteps from below startled her. A door opened; one of the siblings had entered the bathroom downstairs.
Lin Sanjiu was startled; she suddenly remembered that her body was still in the bathtub downstairs. If it just scared the siblings, it wouldn't be that much of an issue. However, it would be troublesome if the kids threw her body out of the building impulsively!
At that moment, Lin Sanjiu couldn't care to look through the window of the bathroom on the 16th floor. She sped back through the transom window and found herself facing Reno, who had just walked into the bathroom. The teenager was staring speechlessly at the body in the bathtub.
Lin Sanjiu spelled out quickly: THAT'S ME. Before he could react, she reverted her body back to a card.
"Ah... Ah..." Reno stammered, mouth agape, before finally forming coherent questions. "You... you? You? That's you?" His initial utterances were nonsensical. After a brief pause, he blurted out several pressing questions. "Is that a corpse? Where did you find it? Are you dead? Are you a spirit?"
If Lin Sanjiu had to explain everything from the beginning, it would take until dawn. After a moment's thought, she simply replied, 'I'LL TELL YOU LATER,' and flew out the transom window again.
Only then did he realize the grayish brain had squeezed itself into the bathroom through the window. "Hey, where are you going? Why are you running off again?" he asked urgently.
Lin Sanjiu felt like a dog adopted by children, judging from his expression. She hesitated, then spelled out her reply: SOMEONE UPSTAIRS. While Reno was still puzzling over her words, Lin Sanjiu had already skillfully slipped out the window.
As with most residential buildings, the unit above usually had the same layout as the unit below. The brain, which had flown out from the bathroom window of the 15th floor, would naturally end up in the bathroom of the unit above.
The 16th-floor bathroom was pitch-dark, the occupant having finished and left, turning off the lights.
'Could there really be survivors here?' Lin Sanjiu wondered as she entered through the window.
Compared to the other places in this world, though there seemed to be less activity in this building, there were many things suspicious about it. Ignoring the rest of the weird occurrences, there was certainly something very wrong with the elevator. If there were any survivors living here in such a devil-may-care manner, they would immediately be targeted by those spirits, wouldn't they?
The bathroom door was slightly open. Lin Sanjiu tilted her 'body' and glided out, almost like a ballet dancer.
The layout of this unit mirrored the one below. Exiting the bathroom, she found herself in a corridor leading to the living room, with two bedrooms to her left. In the dim light, she could only make out furniture shadows and outlines.
Her Higher Consciousness served as her eyes and ears, scanning the surroundings, but its effectiveness depended on light levels. The clarity of Lin Sanjiu's vision was only marginally better than her normal sight.
Floating at the bathroom entrance, she could barely discern a familiar figure in the living room.
But that was sufficient. Recognizing it, Lin Sanjiu froze momentarily in shock.
She saw a bed in the room's center, with the sofa and coffee table moved aside. It resembled the bed the siblings had used, and the person sleeping on it was the same. Lin Sanjiu recognized her instantly.
"Lin Sanjiu, w-where did you go?" Rena, wrapped in the bed, leaped up upon seeing the grayish brain. As the girl approached, Lin Sanjiu noticed tears in Rena's eyes. "I was worried something happened to you. My brother went looking for you, but you both didn't return. I've been waiting. Everything feels eerie, and I can't see them... Please, say something. Did you find my brother?"
Lin Sanjiu was stunned. 'If Rena is here, who's downstairs?'
YOU ARE READING
Kisaragi Station || Apocalypse Paradise #3
HorrorHer skin was warm and moist when she was alive, always with a honey-colored tan. It had only been an hour, but her body had stiffened, and her skin was pale white. At first glance, one could even imagine how cold her skin would feel. Her eyes were w...
