Chapter 2
I bolted to my car and floored the gas pedal, blowing through God knows how many red lights as I raced back to the complex.
The moment the elevator doors opened, I caught a fleeting glimpse of a dark shadow, but it vanished instantly.
I didn't have time to think. Keeping my phone on the emergency dial screen, I burst into the apartment.
The place was pitch black. A figure sat motionless on the sofa like a stone statue.
I approached slowly, cold sweat beading at my temples. A breeze drifted through the half-closed window, lifting a corner of the curtain. A sliver of moonlight sliced through, illuminating half of the silent figure on the sofa.
It was Bella.
Half her face remained buried in shadow. She only looked up when she heard me, her lips twitching into a smile. "Alvin, you're back. Sorry, my phone died, so I couldn't tell you I came home early."
Relief flooded through me. I set down my phone and patted my still-racing chest, shaken. "You scared me to death, Bell. Why didn't you turn on the lights?"
I flipped the switch and sat down beside her on the sofa. When Bella didn't respond, I pulled out the letter from this morning on my own. "Bell, look at this. I found it in the mailbox today."
Bella leaned in with what seemed like intense curiosity, staring hard at the note. She didn't move for a long moment.
"Bell, Bell, what's wrong? Do you see something?" I touched her arm, puzzled.
Like a rusted doll, Bella slowly turned her head toward me. A disturbing smile spread across her face, revealing perfectly aligned teeth. "Alvin, who do you think wrote this letter... sawing through his neck made me so tired..."
I jumped. My eyes darted back to the letter on the table. The words seemed to leap off the page. An alarm blared in my head.
"Ha ha, Bell, quit joking around. Some kid downstairs left it as a prank. I actually caught him this morning—even used ketchup for the fingerprint." I scratched my head, forcing a confused expression to cover my tracks.
I slowly stood up. "Bell, you must be exhausted from work. Get some rest." I edged toward the stairs.
Back in my room, I locked the door. Bella's bizarre behavior replayed in my mind, my temples throbbing. I rubbed them and swallowed two sleeping pills the doctor had prescribed, then passed out, still rattled.
"At approximately 1 AM today, another brutal homicide occurred at 'Serenity Apartments' in the West District. The victim, a 25-year-old male living alone, was discovered dead in his bedroom—throat showing serrated cutting wounds. The killer's methods were extremely cruel, suggesting a potential serial case."
The news droned on from the TV. Bella was nowhere to be seen.
Unlike yesterday's dismissiveness, today's news made cold dread slither through me like a serpent's tongue. My bedroom lock was broken...
Face pale, following the terrible suspicion forming in my mind, I crept to the mailbox by the door and opened it with trembling hands. Unexpectedly, it was completely empty.
I stood there disoriented, feeling like wires in my brain had tangled together. Full of doubt, I returned to sit on the sofa. The moment I sat down, an unfamiliar texture met my hand.
I immediately reached under the sofa cushion, feeling around. Right underneath, that familiar envelope appeared.
I sprang up from the sofa. In my panic, I knocked a glass off the table. It shattered on the floor.
This letter felt impossibly heavy. Even opening it seemed to coat my fingertips with a sticky, fishy scent. Hands shaking, I tore open the envelope. Sure enough, another strange sentence that looked pieced together:
[THERE IS STOP A NOW MOLE DO ON NOT HIS SURRENDER NECK.]
