[American Horror] Light Addiction

?Autumn evening in Los Angeles County, a rare rainstorm.The heavy rain poured down, and a layer of water accumulated on the ground. The steam left by the high temperature for many days on the road was swallowed up by the thick and fine water vapor.The City of Angels is like soaking in deep water.

The orange-yellow taxi deftly passed through the rain-shrouded road and slowly stopped in the suburbs that were becoming less and less populated.The red maple on the boulevard trembled in the rain, and the raindrops falling from the tip of the leaves slid down and hit the car door opened from the inside.

Aimee Bennett stepped out of the car.She lowered her wide-brimmed hat, which was a little unstable from being hit by raindrops, to cover her chalky pale skin, and held out the heavy suitcase with one hand. Because of too much effort, the blue blood vessels on the inside of the thin wrist protruded, and the With abnormal color.The chinjila cat in the cage squatted in the dimly lit back seat of the car and stared at its round blue cat eyes. Aimee freed up one hand, flipped through the fabric around the cage, picked up the cage, dragged the luggage, and walked into the rain in embarrassment.

"Your exchanges! [Give change!]" The taxi driver poked his head out, trying to raise the change in his hand, but was caught in the heavy rain and immediately retracted into the car.

Aimee shook her head, refusing.The accumulated water splashed on the Martin boots during the quick steps, she exhaled, and found the key from the luggage — the door hole, and then looked at the house.

In front of the door is surrounded by green and well-manicured lawns, surrounded by corridors with painted vaults, and reliefs of barefoot cherubs can be vaguely seen on the white limestone.

A gift from Aimee's stepfather, Mr. Francis Underwood.

Turning back, Aimee turned the key.On one side of the white plaster wall, the Virgin Mary stands out from the dark background, with lowered eyes, watching her push open the colorful door with gold-rimmed paintings.

The sky was gloomy, covered by layers of thick and complicated curtains, and the light and shadow in the hall were ambiguous.She hesitated for a moment before entering, only to hear a hollow echo.

The phone vibrated at the right time, and before she had time to fumble for the switch of the hall light, she pulled open the lining of the dark windbreaker, and the screen of the phone flashed the missed call just now.She called back.

"Sweetie? ThisisMom. [Honey, I'm Mom.]"

"I think you and Mr. Underwood are at the airport now." Aimee raised her wrist and looked at her watch. "Just to make sure, Mom, do you have your passport?"

"Jesus, [God,] Frank just warned me. Just let me go when you're here." There was a bit of childish annoyance in the female voice's gentle tone, "Sometimes I think you and Frank are the real father and daughter."

Aimee didn't make a sound.

The other side didn't seem to notice the meaning of her silence, and said in a cheerful tone: "Frank told me that you will have a roommate. Lange or Langdon? Whatever...[It doesn't matter...]"

roommate?

Aimee scanned the dim hall, dusty Tiffany lamps, outdated butterfly stained glass, colorful paintings all over the walls full of screaming twisted human faces, the gloomy and dark halls connected by the stairs. second floor.

Does anyone really live here?She was about to ask a question, but Renee's words flowed through the electricity like a stream of spring tide: "Frank is rushing again! Oh, it's security check! I have to go. Bye, Sweetie! [Goodbye, dear !]”

"Mom? Mom!" There were bursts of busy tone on the other end and then hung up, Aimee glanced at the screen that had been turned off.She rested her forehead on the cold phone case and sighed softly, "Happy honeymoon, Mom."

"Meow~"

Aimee followed the sound and lowered her head, the kitten with smoke gray fur squatted at her feet and rubbed her trousers.She lowered her waist and stretched out her arms to hug it.The kitten nimbly flashed past, swiftly ran up the handrail of the stairs not far away, jumped up to the second floor, and then stopped to look back at her.

She dragged her luggage up the steps, and the chinjila cat was parked in a bedroom on the second floor, its hind legs tensed, its front legs stretched out, and its fur blown into a fuzzy ball.Its whole body was on guard, and a fierce sound came out of its throat.

"Kitty!" Aimee walked over with a frown. The room was empty, the shutters were closed, and there was only a bed, a wardrobe, and a wooden table that could be used as a desk in the dark room. There was nothing strange about it.She ignored the strangeness of the cat, walked in with her luggage, turned on the light, and there was a poster of the 80s BonJovi metal band on the wall inside the bed.

Perhaps because of the lack of sunshine in the direction of the room, there is some dark tide in the room, but there is not much dust when cleaning the extravagance.After tidying up, Aimee took out the calendar, looked at the wall, and hung the calendar next to the poster.

9 month 30 day.

The originally empty calendar column was neatly covered with yellow sticky notes, and each note listed large and small to-do items. Aimee tore off the expired note that said "Remind Mom Passport".She took out a new piece of yellow paper, and used a knife to cut it into many sticky notes about the width of a thumb.

Next to the September calendar grid, she patiently glued them one by one to the next blank memo section.She stood up and looked at them for a while, then suddenly and roughly tore them off, gathered them into a ball, and threw them into the trash can at the corner of the bed.After a moment of silence, she couldn't help but took out the paper again, tore off the small strips, and nervously pasted them bit by bit until each sheet was well-proportioned and seamless.

Psychological consultation: Dr. Beth.

she wrote in a note dated October 10.

And today—she glanced at the past—there was a single sticky note left:

TODO 12: Video Rae.

She hesitated to tear off the note and kept it in her palm.Time passed very quickly when she was in a daze, she looked at her watch, pushed it until she could no longer push it, and finally opened the notebook.

The network communication is normal, and there is no unknown failure a few days ago. The SKYPE icon in the lower right corner of the desktop shows its presence.Move your fingertips, and SKYPE will pop up a maximized window.

"Damned! Aimee! 【Damn! Aimee!】" The overly round face of the brunette girl filled the entire video window, she twisted her bloated body, waved her fists, and shouted grumpily, "You are silent The ground disappeared for half a year! Eight months! Nearly eight months! Aimee Bannett! Since you left the hospital, you have never contacted me!"

The flowers on her head sway violently with the master's movements.

"...Good evening, Rae." Aimee lowered her eyes, as if she ignored the girl's anger in the video, "Happy recovery."

Choked by Aimee's light words, and more importantly... Rae turned her face to the side, and said a little awkwardly: "I didn't expect you to remember that I was discharged from the hospital today."

Aimee didn't know how to answer, subconsciously silent.She has always played the role of a listener in her interactions with others. Both Rea and Aimee's mother, Renee, are energetic and eloquent types. Maybe that's why Aimee has always been silent and listens attentively.

Rae speaks from Dr. Kassar's sexy charm in the mental hospital to Dr. Gill who recently replaced Dr. Khan in her psychological consultation: "I can't believe it. He's bald, Amy. The first time we met, he was wearing bird shit... haha Haha... what an idiot he is!

Rae has obviously entered into a state of deep confiding: "Anyway, there are still good things. Guess what I found in Lincolnshire? There are still good boys in Lincolnshire!"

Aimee obsessively counted the number of times she heard "HOT [cool]".Over there Rae suddenly remembered something screaming, "Oh, God! You've moved to Los Angeles? Will your rich stepfather move in with Aunt Renee?"

"I don't think so." Aimee replied succinctly, not wanting to dwell on this topic.

Rae couldn't understand what she meant, and the brown eyes stared a bit like Aimee's chinchilla cat, "So they went to Hawaii for their honeymoon and left you alone in Los Angeles, and they don't plan to move here in the future? Amy, you should learn reject!"

"You know I can't." Aimee sighed.

"Forget it, I never understood what you're thinking." Rae was somewhat dispirited, "I just can't believe, Amy, you're still so negative after being out of the hospital for so long. You should look in the mirror, how did Dr. Beth make you discharged from the hospital?"

"Just behave as NORMAL.【Just behave as normal.】" Aimee looked calm, but emphasized the word "normal", "There are always some tricks to win the trust of the psychiatrist."

"Compared to that, I really think you should open yourself up and make friends." Rae wrinkled her nose, she was not used to the stagnant and serious atmosphere.

Freaky Aimee! [Freak Aimee! 】

The noisy scene of speeding gangs yelling around her flashed before her eyes, Aimee rubbed the throbbing eyebrows, "Maybe you are right. Maybe my roommate who hasn't shown up yet is a chance." She echoed Rae twitched the corners of his mouth, trying to liven up the solemn atmosphere.

"Haha! Before I left the hospital, I thought there were no cool guys in Lincolnshire." Rae said cheerfully.Her excited eyes turned to the lower right corner of the window, and suddenly froze, "WTF! Amy, don't you live in the suburb next to Hancock Park..."

Rae's voice was suddenly cut off, Aimee was taken aback, and she typed on the keyboard, the screen that went out turned back on, and the network signal was cut off.

She picked up the phone, and the signal above the blue-black deep sea screensaver was also missing.Lifting her head and carefully taking out the contact lens, she casually took out the topmost book from the stack of neatly arranged books. The old concave and convex title page retained the whispers she wrote on a whim, and her fingers touched the raised name on the spine of the book. Turn to the next page.

"I guess I'm that roomate that never shows up. [I guess I'm that roommate you said hasn't shown up yet.]"

Aimee was startled suddenly, tensing her back reflexively, like a cheetah on the alert.Holding the corner of the table with one hand, she turned her head.

A brilliant light and shadow.

She squinted her eyes, the haze caused by the astigmatism was slightly condensed, and the light from the incandescent lamp outside the porch fell and splashed little beads of light around the boy leaning against the door frame.

The staggered and scattered white light made her frown, and she suspected that the astigmatism was getting worse. She lowered her body and searched for something in the suitcase.

"I think you're looking for this." Instinctively, someone was approaching, Aimee quickly got up and looked up, the color of the lines in the too close distance finally reorganized into a normal picture, the boy with blond curly hair bent down slightly, and the pure black eyes were upturned in the distance The eyelashes are pale gold.

Aimee was about to step back, he seemed to see her intentions, put the glasses on the bridge of her nose quickly and lightly, and took a sharp and natural step back before she felt uncomfortable and swiveled the chair back, keeping just right in the position Aimee accepted safe distance.

Gentleman and appropriate approach.

Slightly surprised by his insight, Aimee pushed his glasses back.The scattered light beads and the overly dazzling light and shadow disappeared, and the scene returned to calm.The boy facing him was about the same age as her, with a student-like green and white sweater, a white shirt collar showing through the neckline, and jeans with holes showing his knees. He was dressed like every adolescent boy who wanted to be different, but it was different. .

"Eavesdropping on other people's small talk is not a pleasant way to come out."

"If you want to ensure privacy and safety, you should probably close it." He raised the corner of his mouth, and his deep black pupils naturally showed a cute and sincere smile, which belonged to a "good boy" smile, "Anyway," he said to Aimee held out her hand, "Tate Langdon."

Aimee sharply noticed the small dimples on both sides of his lips, which gave his beautiful facial features a little more cute and childish.She paused, held Tate's hand, the unexpected cold body temperature made her shiver suddenly, "AimeeBennett."

"Lovely?" he whispered in French.

Tate was the first person to guess the origin of his name when he first met him.Her eyes widened slightly, and she subconsciously flipped through the book next to her hand, "Yep, my mother used to be obsessed with French."

He noticed her small movements, and his eyes flicked to the book. Aimee followed his gaze to the desk, as if wondering where he was looking.

He leaned closer, Aimee didn't look back, and the sound of his light breathing seemed to be right next to his ears.He was behind her, with his arm passed her side, and the discomfort of being close was hidden in his pores. At the critical point of Aimee's patience, he stepped back unconsciously, picked up the book in her hand, and opened it. "'Hope is the most evil devil, it constantly prolongs people's suffering.' Do you like Nietzsche?" He asked, reading out the handwritten words on the title page.

"Notreally. Compared to this sentence, I prefer 'Hope is a creature with wings, dwelling in the soul, singing a wordless melody that never stops.'"

"Emily Dickinson?" He maintained that posture, staring at her intently with his clear but bottomless black eyes under his curly forehead.

"You know her?" Aimee's eyes lit up, diluting the gloom between her brows.

"My life died twice before it ended, but it will retain the memory. If immortality announces it for me a third time..." He raised the corners of his mouth, and his soft and deep ending brought out a slightly drunken voice The taste is like the feathers falling on the thick fallen leaves across the sky in the autumn dusk.

"What a huge and hopeless idea this is - when the first two deaths come." She reacted immediately.

They looked at each other like two children who had met a secret code, and laughed in unison.

Aimee hasn't laughed heartily for a long time, she was slightly stunned belatedly.

Tate read the title, "The Misadventures of Good and Evil?"

"Yes, you are interested?" She looked up, the blush from the excitement just now set off her pale and unhealthy complexion very deliciously.

"I was wondering if you would lend me this book." He looked at her through the curls on his forehead. "The school library only has stock copies."

"……certainly."

The first sound of the bell startled her for a moment, and her final note trembled slightly.

"It's the clock in the hall." He shrugged and pointed to the stairs outside the door. "If you don't like it, I'll adjust it."

"No need." She looked down at her watch and realized that it was already late at night.

"It's time to say goodbye.【It's time to say goodbye.】" He straightened up, spread his hands, and smiled politely and with a different kind of brilliance, "Have a good rest."

She suddenly remembered something, "Did you just come back from outside? Is it cold outside?"

He paused slightly, turned his back to Aimee, his expression became a little weird, "That's right."

The door was closed, and his low and soft voice was sent by the turbulent airflow: "Good night."

"……Good night."

The empty room was too quiet, the door was closed tightly, she stared at the smooth and empty door panel, and unconsciously recalled the bottomless black pupils, excessively white cheeks, and A cheerful and sincere smile at the end.

Maybe the future suddenly becomes exciting.

In Aimee Bennett's barren and short life, Tate Langdon was a rare person she met in the outside world who was kind and like-minded to her.She subconsciously ignored the weirdness that seemed to be there, and rarely had positive thoughts.

"Wow!" The sudden lively voice interrupted Aimee's reverie.

"Hush!" Startled suddenly, she quickly turned the sliding chair.The exaggerated smiling face of the brunette girl popped up on the computer screen where the signal was restored.She breathed a sigh of relief, "Rae."

"Looks like someone has found her HOTBOY!"

"Rae..." She sighed helplessly, not knowing how to deal with her friend's sudden enthusiasm.

"Honey, you should look at your expression now. However, he is indeed very sexy. More importantly, he is very suitable for your taste!"

"I don't know, Rae." She lowered her voice, and the corners of her eyes were gloomy and serious, "but he is different from other people I met... probably."

"Hmm, sweet boy America!"

If a chatter is on the rise, you'd better follow his topic and talk from Aimee's experience.She rested her chin and pretended to shift the focus inadvertently, "Compared to your cool guy from Lincolnshire?"

“Finn is the best!”

It successfully stimulated Rae's ignition point, and Rae held his flushed face and fell into another world again.The flowers pinned on her head also drooped shyly, Aimee had wondered that Rae would be able to find replacements for flowers that were always in bloom all year round.

But now she lowered her eyes, as if thinking of something, she unconsciously smiled.

"At least he doesn't look like a loud teenager who can't tell the difference between Jimenez and Verlaine, and has the lyrics of rock singers tattooed on his arm." She said to herself, very lightly, very lightly, as if afraid of alarming something.

When I bid farewell to Rae, the night scene of the city in the distance at the end of the dark void outside the window was already a little dim and distant. Aimee closed the notebook, stood up and looked into the dimly lit courtyard.

Maybe, Tate will be her first friend besides Rae.

Maybe, everything will be different.She couldn't help feeling something close to joy.

And life does go off the rails in a very different direction than it used to... albeit in weirder ways.

A reminder beep.

Aimee picked up the vibrating phone, lowered her head and swiped open the lock screen.

The screen was pitch black, and black and red worms slowly crawled out from the depths. They spread in large swaths, twisting their soft bodies, wriggling as if following a trajectory, colliding and biting each other.The saliva sprayed, and the wet marks of the splashed juice merged into three bloody letters:

RUN [run]