Just as Rachel thought she and Justin were doomed for sure, that black shadow suddenly halted its movement. Then, there was a whisper. “Miss Hudson?” It was a warm and familiar male voice, but it sounded a bit uncertain.
Immediately, Rachel’s eyes lit up when she heard the voice. She quickly wiped her tears away and whisper-shouted, “Nathan! Is that you?” The black shadow did not hesitate to step out from behind the trees when he heard her reply; it was a tall figure with a lifelike dragon tattoo on his left arm. It was indeed Nathan.
“Miss Hudson!” He hurriedly walked toward them. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “I’m fine, but we can’t stay here for long. I don’t have time to explain now. Nathan, help me carry him. We gotta leave this mountain quickly.” She was grateful that unexpected help arrived and the only thing she wanted was to leave the forest as soon as possible.
“Wait!” Nathan stopped her from leaving in a rush. He tore a piece of his cloth and carefully wrapped it around Justin’s severed finger to stop the bleeding before advising her, “You can’t follow this path anymore. Let’s use the other one right up to the mountain.” After he finished instructing, he carried Justin on his back and walked along the path he pointed.
Hearing that, Rachel glanced at Nathan’s back and followed him. Ah, of course, he must have found us by following the trail of blood. However, it was only after some time that she realized they were walking in the wrong direction. “Up to the mountain? Why? We should be heading down!”
“You won’t be able to leave the mountain; the exits must have been blocked and heavily searched now. Just follow me, okay? I know the way.” As he spoke, he felt that Justin was slipping down from his back, so he lifted Justin up a bit and quickened his pace.
It was nighttime.
Enistan’s nightly news reporter was broadcasting about the fire at Idyll Mountain’s villa. “It seems that the fire first broke out in a room and quickly spread across the villa. Fortunately, no casualties have been reported…”
The old man in the rocking chair snorted coldly when he heard the phrase ‘no casualties’.
“Master.” A young man offered him a glass of whiskey and stood quietly beside him.
The old man took the glass and said, “That’s why we always say, do the right thing. Those who have done so many evil things when they’re alive won’t even be remembered when they die, let alone having someone collecting their corpses.”
The young man did not respond; his eyes were fixed on the TV.
It was early morning. The room at the villa was cordoned off and the firefighters were still doing the final cleanup after the fire was extinguished. Less than a mile away from the scene, no one noticed there was a bungalow with twelve corpses lying next to each other, all charred and unrecognizable.
Slap! A loud slap reverberated in the living room as soon as it landed on Caroline’s face—her head was titled and blood could be seen in the corner of her mouth. She straightened her back and wiped away the blood, but Sabrina did not give her any chance to recover. Slap! Another slap landed on Caroline’s face. “Useless thing! Had you arrived earlier, this would not have happened!”
“It was my fault. I’m sorry.”
“So what if it’s your fault? Can you die in my brother’s stead?” No matter how doughty Sabrina had always been, she still could not control her emotions the moment she saw the corpses piling up in the living room. The fact that she could not even identify her own brother led her to release her anger on Caroline.
Caroline remained silent. Sabrina, who was in a state of restlessness and grief, continued yelling at her, “Now who the hell set the fire?!”
“I don’t have any decisive conclusion just yet, but I noticed the two blind girls who were serving Dillon are gone.”
“Blind girls?” Sabrina squeezed her fists tightly upon hearing that. “They had the nerves to do that.”
“Not sure if it was their doing, but I found this at the scene.”
As Caroline spoke, she handed a sealed bag to Sabrina, who opened it and found a gun burnt beyond recognition. Caroline then continued, “This should be the weapon that killed them.”
At that moment, a subordinate who was squatting on the ground to check on the corpses raised his head, looked at Sabrina, and pointed at the corpse in front of him. “Think I found Young Master Porter.”
At once, Sabrina’s expression changed. She threw the sealed bag back to Caroline, immediately stepped over the corpses in front of her, and walked straight to the subordinate. “Young Master Porter’s arm bone had been fractured before; you can see that fracture line here clearly.”
“You’re right, it’s Dillon.” Looking at the disfigured corpse in front of her, Sabrina tried her best to suppress her grief, but her bloodshot eyes betrayed her. “Check if there are other wounds.”
“Sure.” A few minutes later, the subordinate reported, “There is a gunshot wound not far from the heart. It was not vital, so Young Master Porter must have died losing too much blood, plus there was a fire—”
“Not vital,” Sabrina repeated after the subordinate and clenched her fists. “This means that the marksmanship was not very good then.” As she spoke, her gaze fell on the gun in Caroline’s hand. “Send this gun for fingerprint identification.”
“Yes, Miss Sabrina.”
After she left the bungalow, Caroline looked at the gun in her hand and her expression turned solemn. There was not much she could do; if she covered up too much for Rachel and Justin, she would lead the suspicions back to herself and she could not risk that. She must complete her undercover mission no matter what; she could only hope that Rachel and Justin found protection under Janice at Riverdale.
Three days later, Justin finally woke up from the coma. As he opened his eyes, he saw a figure resting half of her body on the side of the bed. Her long black hair was messily draped over her shoulder. Looking extremely exhausted, she was sleeping restlessly with her furrowed brows. He could not resist the urge to soothe the wrinkles between her eyebrows.
It was evening and this was the picturesque view he saw the moment he woke—the warm sunlight was shining and creating a halo around Rachel. Like an angel, she was bathing in the divine and sacred light. He often dreamed of her back in Riverdale, so he thought this was another dream he was having. The moment his hand was about to touch her brow, she suddenly opened her eyes.
Is this real? Rachel blinked really hard. As her drowsy eyes gradually sobered, she realized she was not dreaming. At that instant, she was finally able to release her pent-up worry and concern that she did not realize she was speaking like a machine gun, “You’re finally awake! Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable? Does your hand still hurt? Are you okay?”
Justin could hear every word she said clearly, but still, he was unable to differentiate reality from his dream. “Rachel, there’s a new dessert shop nearby. How about we go there together after work?” He used to talk to himself and rehearse this line when he was in Riverdale, just to prepare himself mentally for when he could meet her again. Now that he really saw her, he somehow could not utter a single word he rehearsed. In the end, he was only able to say, “Charlotte wants to go there.”
“Are you sleepwalking?” Rachel waved her hand in front of Justin. “Don’t tell me the fever burned your last brain cell.”
At this moment, they heard the sound of the door opening. Nathan, who was entering the room with an infusion bottle, started talking, “Miss Hudson, think it’s time to change the infusion bottle—” As he looked up, he was surprised that Justin was awake. “Oh hello, welcome back to earth.” Hearing Nathan’s voice, Justin turned and stared at him for quite some time; it was not until he saw that realistic dragon tattoo on Nathan’s arm that it sobered him up. “Am I still alive?”
“What nonsense is this? Of course, you are still alive! I took the trouble to carry you all the way and Miss Hudson has been taking care of you the last three days. You merely lost a finger and yet you had a fever for three days. What a delicate thing,” Nathan teased Justin in dissatisfaction and almost had to roll his eyes. However, Justin did not hear a word Nathan said; he seemed to be stupefied. All of a sudden, he called for Rachel, “Rachel?”
“What’s the matter?” A doubt sprang up in her mind when Justin called her name without warning.
He could finally appreciate the fact that he was still alive after hearing Rachel’s reply. As if his spontaneity was not enough, he suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her toward his chest. Rachel exclaimed before falling and hitting his chest. She groaned and complained, “What are you—” She could not finish her sentence; Justin hugged her so tightly that it felt like they were going to be merged as one. The strength was so huge that it oppressed her heart and she could hardly breathe.
“J—Justin! Let go of me! I can’t breathe—”
