The Restless Spirit's Father

They all heard Kite mention Li Feng"s name. Wen Taio also told them about the vision he had in the toilet, where a child said someone was going to die... with Li Feng"s name written in blood on the wall. The three had no deep connections with the guy, but knowing that he helped them twice was more than enough for them to care. They tried looking for him today, but his friends said he went home that morning. All they could do was try again tonight... and hoped that Liu Xiaodan would be home as well.

Knocks came to the door, and one of the Room 207 students opened it. It was one of the housekeepers who relayed a message to the person. However, he just called out to the ones playing.

"Ay, Ruan Jin, some girl is looking for you downstairs."

"Huh?" The man turned to the door, only to scratch his head. He had to lose the race as he left to go back to his room and make himself a little more presentable.

The ruckus earlier made him a little scared to meet with girls from the school. It was no secret that he peed himself during the nightmare and by the time Li Yunru woke him. He could only blush and inwardly die from embarra.s.sment as he brushed his hair. He walked with the housekeeper who parted with him by the stairs. He jogged down to the lobby, only to stop by the corner. He peeked from the edge to see a girl sitting on the couch.

Her face was unseen from his view, but the pa.s.sing students glued their eyes on her as they walked. From that, he could tell she was probably very pretty. Her calm image did not reflect Li Yunru or Chuan Nayi... or anyone of their cla.s.smates. It was hard to decided if he should go see her or not. Then again, with a lot of other people in the lobby, it would not be dangerous. He walked out of the corner and walked towards the couch.

Ruan Jin began dragging his foot across every step the closer he got. He did not even reach her. He stopped as soon as he recognized her. He would never forget those tan brown eyes and milk-like complexion; that smooth slim legs and fragile-looking arms; that straight dark hair that flowed at every move of her head. Also that blue blouse and white short ensemble.

She felt his gaze, and so she turned to his direction. Her beady eyes glistened in joy as much as her pinkish lips curled in antic.i.p.ation. With her friendly tone that he heard just for some seconds, she called out his name. "Jin!"

"...s.h.i.t..." Ruan Jin answered, as if it was Ling"s name.

"Come here, Jin. Sit down." She patted the seat next to her.

The tech guy was about to run, but he was bothered what the others would say. He turned to see the by-standers in the lobby... only for them to look back at him. Their gazes could shred him into pieces. He did not think those students were not students at all; seeing them make him want to cry instantly.

He turned back to Ling who looked horrible. Her clothes were tattered, and there were twigs that pierced through her skin. Her head was bleeding, but the blood oozed behind her ears, making her face clean aside from three lines of blood trails from the edge of her eyes and from her nose. He watched her repeat her gesture, only for him to walk near and sit down where she wanted him.

"That kid earlier was strong..." She started picking the twigs off of her one by one. She then offered her arm to him, soon watching him help her out with those. "It really hurts... falling from the sixth floor. But pain makes you feel alive, right?" She held his shoulder closest to her. "Let"s jump some other time, okay?"

Ruan Jin just froze, before he noticed the woman turn to the main door. All of a sudden, she was gone. Every not-student in the lobby was gone. The tech guy stared at the main door and saw the k.n.o.b twist. It swung open, and Liu Xiaodan met with Ruan Jin"s gaze.

"...D-Did something happen, Jin? Why are you staring at me like that?" The guy closed the door behind him and went to the counter to check in. He then came near his friend. "Where"s Taio and Disung? Are you waiting for them?"

"Xiaodan..."

That was his last words before Ruan Jin fainted for the second time that day.

Liu Xiaodan carried Ruan Jin back to their room, with the pa.s.sing students intrigued by what happened. He wished he could answer, but he, too, knew of nothing that could have made his friend faint upon seeing him. He noticed that the other bros were not around when he got to their room. His son was seated on the top berth again, waiting for his father to take off the bracelet.

"Guangru, do you know what happened?" The father spoke as calmly as possible. He laid Ruan Jin at his bed before almost ripping the bracelet off of his wrist. It sat on the desk, losing its powers without a wearer.

Liu Guangru jumped down the berth and went to sit next to the unconscious man. His father went around the whole room again, trying to find anyone"s perfume which was the strongest. However, as close to slobs as they were, the father failed to find a single perfume at all. The ghost child climbed the bed and stared at Ruan Jin"s face. He loomed his head before his before leaning closer to his ear. A faint whisper came from the child, and Ruan Jin screamed as he woke up from it.

"Jin!" Liu Xiaodan ran to the guy who thought he was on his own bed. "Jin!" He called him again as the tech guy took the blanket and hid under it. The father grabbed the blanket and pulled it off of his friend. "Jin! Hey! I"m here! Talk to me!"

"Xiaodan!" The poor guy broke into tears as he laughed out. "Ah! I"m not dead! I"m not dead! My luck is awesome! Twice in a row!" However, he started crying again, his noises m.u.f.fled by the edge of the bed. Then again, he pulled back and stared at the blanket as he smelled chrysanthemums all over the air. He turned to Liu Guangru"s direction and sniffed as if looking for the origin of the smell.

"Ay, Jin!" Liu Xiaodan reached out to smack Ruan Jin"s head lightly before the child does anything to him. "What are you doing? Besides, what was that about? Earlier you pa.s.sed out. What happened? Where are the others?" The father was confused and frustrated as it was the first time something like this happened to his friends... also after he told them about his little secret.

"Xiaodan?" Wen Taio"s voice came from outside as he opened the door. He gasped softly as he found the supposed lucky boy in the bed. "Oh, why are you here, Jin? I thought a girl asked to see you just now?" He went inside the room and let Xu Disung in first before closing the door.

"Did we expect too much?" Xu Disung somewhat chuckled naughtily as he sat on his bed. He kicked his shoes off and crossed his legs on the bed. "Ay, tell us what happened!"

Xu Disung"s smile dropped as they all listened to Ruan Jin. It was also followed by Wen Taio"s clarification of the events that happened earlier to Liu Xiaodan who was out. The room had gone silent. None of them wanted to decide whether they should drop the subject or reflect on it some more. It seemed like they were being chased around by a ghost child and Ruan Jin was being taken away by a ghost girl. They could not even begin with what to tell Li Feng if they ended up asking for his help. With the night approaching, there should be something they could do.

"Let"s sleep on the floor!"

No one remembered who said those words, but that was the only suggestion aired that time. As bedtime crawled into the dorms, the four hors.e.m.e.n placed three extra mattresses on the floor. That was all they have in stock; and since Liu Xiaodan was not a messy sleeper, they thought it was enough. The four poor men lied on their spots, wide awake and melting the ceiling with their gazes.

However, there was something that kept on beeping. It was not an alarming beep, but it was not a background noise beep either.

Ruan Jin, who was between Liu Xiaodan and Xu Disung, groaned in protest. "What is that? Is someone"s phone making that noise?" He sat up and saw Xu Disung holding his phone but it was on his stomach. The man glared at the screen which light was stronger than the night lights in the room. "Ay, Disung, why is your phone on?"

"...Ghost Radar..." He chuckled bitterly. "Can you see where the green dot is?"

"Ghost Radar?" Ruan Jin took the phone and waved it around as if looking for the location of the dot. It was like an app that tells the owner if there was a ghost around, and the green dot should be able to pinpoint its location. The tech guy found the green dot directly across them, as if lying on Liu Xiaodan"s bed. He stared at the empty s.p.a.ce and took a deep breath. "This bracelet will protect me, right?"

"Probably." Xu Disung rolled to his side and joined Ruan Jin in gazing at the direction. "Do you think something really is there?"

"I hope none..." The tech guy gave back to phone to its owner before lying down again and hiding under his blanket.

Pit! Pat! Pit! Pat! Running footsteps came from outside. Since they were on the floor, Xu Disung knew that everyone else felt it. However, he was the only one who reacted. He got up from his bed slowly and crawled towards the floor. The footsteps came by again. And then again. The person running around seemed to be pacing back and forth their room. Xu Disung pushed up his gla.s.ses and tried to see from the crack under the door.

Instead of a running person, a pair of white feet stood in front of the door. There was a red anklet on their right leg. The man"s eyes widened as he noticed those were from a girl. A girl was standing in front of their door, and probably the same person running around the hallway. As if it was not bad enough, the k.n.o.b started turning. Xu Disung looked up to see the slow turning of the k.n.o.b like someone was trying to open the door. Since Liu Xiaodan had locked it earlier before they went to sleep, it should remain close.

Xu Disung then peeked under the door again; this time, the person outside copied him. He stared at a set of tan brown eyes.

"Ah, you"re not Jin..."