Welcome to Forge Town

The dim light shines on the long corridor covered with embroidered carpets, and a pair of high-heeled shoes walk in it.

In the quiet and deserted night, its bright red color is especially alluring.The slender ochre-colored shoe heels are like two wooden stakes, digging deep into the ground and blooming blood-colored flowers.But the pace is so light and elegant.It first passed through the narrow corridor, then climbed up the stairs, and finally turned a corner and stopped in front of a wooden door.

Looking at the metal nameplate with "Mayor" engraved on the door, Miranda Monica stood for a long time before pushing the door open.

"I heard you were looking for me, Dylan?" She smiled and greeted the person at the desk with a rare coquettish touch.Although her demeanor is still the same, she can still be seen from her slightly messy hair.

In fact, she had just driven from the capital.Even at a fast speed all the way, it still took her nearly six hours to drive—because of the recent brand clothing week, she went to the capital on Christmas morning to enjoy her wonderful holiday.Unexpectedly, there was an unexpected situation, and an urgent call last night brought her back urgently.

On the phone, the mayor, Jason Dylan, was vague. He only said that something happened to her school during the Christmas break, and she hoped that as the top administrator, she could return to the town. It was clear that the mayor would not make such requests without reason.Besides, even if it's really not an important matter, considering the rare request of the biggest financial supporter, she can't be neglected for a moment.So it was early in the morning, and she bid farewell to the woods, and rushed back early to put out the fire for her small tree.

In order to figure things out as soon as possible, Miranda went to the police station to inquire as soon as she arrived in Fogg Town.At that time, Peter Rowan happened to be sorting out the data in the bureau.With a strange look on his face, he told Miranda that during her absence, Simon Pearson's accidental death first occurred, and then Lydia Bull's misfortune happened.

Miranda was shocked by Simon's death.After all, we have worked together for many years, so at least we have some friendship.She sincerely regrets his untimely death.And after asking the general cause of death, pray for him for a few minutes.Then he asked about Lydia's current situation.

Speaking of Lydia's incident, Peter couldn't help shaking his head due to the complicated twists and turns - early yesterday morning, they received a report from residents that a girl collapsed and screamed in the house, fearing that something might happen.So the police rushed to the scene and broke in, and found Lydia in a dark room on the second floor.

At that time, she was shivering at the end of the bed, her limbs were bound by ropes, and there was a lot of blood on her head and skirt.In addition, the clothes are also torn and messy, and the thin body is covered with bruises and hickeys.Seeing this scene, everyone knew it well, and many people cursed aloud.

Then, they noticed a long and narrow black shadow swaying behind the curtain not far away.

Charlie Boole is dressed in white and hangs from the crossbar of the window sill.His thin face was black and swollen because his neck was tightened by the rope for a long time.Cloudy, faded brown eyeballs protrude, and a large, swollen tongue sticks out, like a pink sponge clogged at first glance.And because the glass windows were not closed, his body would sway in the wind every time the curtains were raised.The plain white shirt brushed against the curtains, making a rustling sound.Just like a thin fir tree, killing its last vitality at the end of winter.

After the bodies of Lydia and Bull were sent away, the police officers began to search the whole house, trying to find out why Bull hanged himself-although they occasionally met in the White Cedar Bar, Bull was usually cold and reticent, and everyone didn't know His personality.It's a pity that after searching for a full two hours, they unfortunately found nothing except for the innumerable wine collections, let alone suicide notes and other useful things.

But anyone with a little thinking ability can understand that Mr. Bull's death was not just a simple suicide.Although the death of his wife hit him hard at the beginning, it was an old event ten years ago and could not constitute a motive.Besides, seeing Lydia's poor state of being tied up, one can know that the son of a bitch is planning to attack his own daughter, so there is no reason to let the boiled duck go free.

In fact, the timing of Miranda's arrival was a coincidence. Peter had just visited Lydia from the hospital at that time, so he had a little understanding of her condition.

Basically, Lydia was fine physically, but she was seriously injured psychologically.After all, not only was she almost murdered by her father, but she also witnessed her father's corpse lying in front of her eyes, and was forced to stay with the corpse for several hours because her body was bound and unable to move.This is too much for anyone to bear.

But for this type of case, Lydia is doing extremely well.She knew Peter Rowan before, and even though he deliberately took off his police uniform, she still cleverly guessed his purpose—to ask about the incident of yesterday.So she let Peter ask straight.And during the conversation, some useful clues were provided.For example, she was often harassed and intimidated by bulls who had bad wine since she was a child.Even yesterday, the night that Bull was killed, was her birthday, and she almost lost him.

She said that on that tragic night, Bull, who had had a drink, confessed that as early as a year ago, he had planned to capture her first night today, and then complete her "rite of passage".But Lydia didn't know how things turned to this point. After all, no matter how much she hated him, she never thought that her biological father would hang himself in her room like this without warning.

Unfortunately, Lydia told Peter that she really didn't know what happened.For she had been knocked unconscious by hitting her head against the foot of the bed as early as she was trying to break free from Bull.She had no recollection of the rest of the night, except that when she awoke shortly afterwards, Bull was staring at her from eight feet away.The body swayed with the wind, but there was no sound.

Even Miranda was shocked by the horrific news.Walking from the police station to the mayor's office, and even now sitting at her desk, she ruminates on the impermanence and fragility of life... as she once felt.

Thinking of this, she bent slightly and opened the lower left drawer.Inside the drawer is a wooden box.Its style is old, but its workmanship is exquisite, and it is full of prayers engraved on it.She stretched out her hand and gently stroked the surface of the wooden box, feeling the raised lines with her round fingertips.It seems that through this trip, I want to pass on my own temperature and thoughts to the most beloved thing in this life.

"—Long time no see, Miranda." Suddenly, a deep voice sounded from the door.This made Miranda, who was in a deep mood, startled with fright. "Oh, good afternoon. Meg, Ellen." After quickly putting the wooden box back in the drawer, Miranda stood up with a smile. "Sorry for making you come here so late. I came back in a hurry this time, so I didn't have time to bring a souvenir." She laughed at herself, and walked out of the table, hugging Meg Duris and Alan one by one.

"Let's not talk about presents, it's your holiday, it really shouldn't spoil your fun... The mayor asked you to come back, right? For Simon and Lydia Bull?" Meg frowned. ask.She only learned about Simon and Lydia from the mayor yesterday.

She felt really bad about Simon's death.She didn't really hate that young man at first, but now it was mixed with emotions known as self-blame—if she had been more determined to reject the party at that time, perhaps, that boy Simon would still maintain his sloppy appearance and join everyone. meeting.Instead of being lost forever in the pale night like her disobedient daughter many years ago.

Aware of Meg's depression, Miranda gently took Meg's hand. "It's all right, Meg," she reassured, patting the back of Meg's hand. "Death is inevitable. No one can stop someone's life process except God." Miranda said, hoping to give her some strength.Because as she said, only God can judge the value and duration of people in the world.Besides, Miranda was really afraid that Meg would blame herself too much, and she didn't want to lose any more partners.

So she took Meg's hand again, and motioned for Alan to come and sit in the sofa area together.She first poured a cup of hot tea for each of them, and then began to implement this impromptu meeting - Miranda could see that Meg was not in a good condition today, and she did not intend to delay for too long.After briefly reporting the incident from Peter, Miranda directly asked them for advice on how to stop the rumors after school started, and the scheduling of teaching staff.

The general meeting counted, less than 15 minutes.The tea on the table was still warm, so Miranda asked them to go back and rest.Before leaving, she also specially asked Meg to remember to rest carefully, and said that she would take care of everything—she knew very well that the seemingly cold-hearted Meg was not as strong as her performance.After all, Marilyn was once her everything, and losing her now has emptied her soul.Since then, my heart full of holes can no longer withstand the slightest blow, and no matter how armed I am, I can only pretend that I am not hurt.

Therefore, Miranda and Meg, who were worried about each other, didn't see anything strange about Alan.

He, who was used to watching from the sidelines, became even more silent at this moment.Because he was still thinking about Charlie Bull's death.It, like the events before it, was something he had clearly foreseen—even though he had indirectly admitted to Brandon that he had a sleepwalking problem the night he had sex with Brandon.But what he didn't say was that he actually had a dream that night.

In the quiet night, Allen dreamed that he was in a strange and dark environment.A dark shadow stood in the center of the room holding a knife.The slender and sharp blade reflects the moonlight, with a touch of blue, giving it a creepy chill.The man shook his head and hummed a tune, lowering his head as if he was concentrating on something—suddenly, the moonlight was reflected on the blade, which happened to shine on the man's face.Allen finally saw that face clearly: it turned out that it was the owner of Baishan Bar, Mr. Bull!

At this time, Bull was holding the handle of the knife, scratching his left thigh through his trousers, and his expression was almost pious, as if he was performing some extremely sacred ritual.Blood gushed out from his thigh continuously, and instantly stained the white trousers red, which was shocking.But he didn't seem to feel any pain, and there was still an inappropriate smile on his lips.

Then, Allen saw "myself" walking towards him.They didn't stop until they were only two feet away.For no reason, Allen could feel that "myself" seemed to be very happy.Because "he" is also humming a song, the tune is very similar to Bull, but the melody is obviously much clearer - Allen remembers that a long time ago, there was always a woman who used to hum this song to lull him to sleep... .

—but who is she?

—and I... who is it?

Just as Allen's thoughts fell into prison, the "performance" there also entered the chaos.Allen listened to "myself" humming more and more happily, and Bull also climbed onto the window sill.He wrapped the curtain rope round and round around his neck, and then leaped in embarrassment - in the end, like a strange fruit, he hung with his head tilted by the window sill.

Until his death, that smile never disappeared from Bull's face.And as if doing it deliberately, he even bared his teeth because of the excessive force on his face, like a horror doll with rough workmanship.But no matter how odd the expression was, it would remain on Bull's face forever.Together with his life, it was also frozen for a moment in this long snowy night.

This horrifying scene, of course, had a great impact on Allen.So until he was woken up by Brandon's knock on the door, Allen was still sweating and in shock.He opened the door and looked at Brandon outside the door, his head still confused like a paste.Coupled with the tenderness of the previous night, all kinds of complicated information were blocked in his little head for a while, causing him to fall into the predicament of a short-circuit blue screen, and then unable to respond to Brandon's wishes.

In fact, if you really want to ask, Allen is not sure what he thinks of Brandon.All he knew was that he was fed up with those dreams at the moment.Rather than precognitive powers, they resemble some sort of queer curse, and their reality is underscored by death after death.Allen really hated himself for being humble and helpless.It made him feel like an accomplice, a relentless witness who couldn't be of much help.For him, these damn events are the real top priority.On balance, he could only put Brandon's feelings aside guiltily.

But then again, why do I have this ability?Allen thought irritably.Or to put it further, he even secretly questioned, is everything as simple as a dream?

After Simon's death, Allen also gradually realized that his emotions and behaviors, etc., seemed to be becoming more and more out of control.Even during the hospitalization, he accidentally learned from the nurse that he had the habit of sleepwalking.It was as if a strange soul was waking up in his body, screaming wildly in his body with the desire to destroy the world.And he had no choice but to try his best to suppress it.

But he also knows that this effort may still be in vain in the end.Just like he was still unable to stop those disturbing illusions, he could only follow the direction of fate, and finally split into pieces in this irreversible disaster.

In addition, after this period of precipitation and thinking, he also found that these death incidents seemed to have one thing in common—not only were they all people he knew well, but also when he occasionally thought of these people in the past, he would think "this kind of person is not as good as The object of the idea of ​​"forget it if you die".

Realizing this, Alan fell into a real panic.Because those incidents were finally vaguely outlined, and they were clearly related to him.Regardless of whether this conjecture is confirmed or not, as long as there is a one percent possibility, it makes him extremely fearful.It was like carrying a heavy secret, which made him almost out of breath.

All of a sudden, Allen wanted someone to talk to, and it had to be someone who could save him and pull him out of the abyss.Someone he can trust.He will pour out his feelings and be honest about everything without reservation.As for this candidate, a name immediately popped into his mind.There is no doubt that it is Brandon Davis.

"—Everyone has their own wounds." Meg suddenly said in the empty corridor after leaving the principal's office.

At this time, the two of them were walking side by side on the way to the exit of the teaching building.Allen, who just came back to his senses, just turned his head to look at her without knowing it, waiting for the next step.

Meg glanced at him too. "I know, you also have your own insurmountable hurdles. You must have heard of my scars. It is my daughter, the poor child who died at the age of 17. In fact, even Miranda has her own scars that she can't handle. The embarrassment of the plight... I thought she was so smart that she had survived that period of hardship, until I saw that she still had "it", I didn't know that she was just hiding the wound."

Meg spoke slowly, in a deep voice like that of an old spinning machine. "All things will not disappear out of thin air. If you can't see them, it doesn't mean they don't exist. The more you try to suppress many things, the more they will be deposited, and when they surface again, they will only bring incomparable destruction Hurt..." She bowed her head in deep thought, and her final words almost whispered.

"'It'?" Allen asked aloud.He remembered the thing Miranda put away in a panic when he first entered the door. "What do you mean, the wooden box?" he asked.Although he is not really curious about Miranda's private affairs, but because he has studied psychology, Alan knows that Meg wants to understand herself, and then talk to the "shadow" she didn't want to admit in the past-to take this step, It was especially good for Meg, who seldom opened her heart to anyone.Allen was more than happy to walk her through the process, at least for a few minutes until she got to the door.

Meg nodded. "Yeah, it contained her baby," she said.Indulging in memories, she didn't notice Alan's suddenly out-of-focus eyes. "It was a very tragic accident that happened many years ago. But I have always believed that good Miranda would not have killed her child..."

Hearing this, the melody from the previous night's dream suddenly appeared in Alan's mind again, and it was played back together with Bull's twisted and weird smile composed of black and blue.They were noisy, occupying all of Allen's thoughts.He couldn't help squatting on the ground with his head in his arms, trying to resist those hallucinations.But that singing voice is always clear, as if "he" is singing in the body over and over again:

"You can't see yourself as you are, all you see is your shadow—"

The author has something to say:

Enter the big platform for exposing stems~~~~~~