The group had arrived in their room, silently talking about their operation. Then again, Cheng Fei, who was waiting outside their door, welcomed them with a little proposition. Cheng Fei brought his Wii U from his house to their dorm room since it was hardly used anymore, and he asked his neighbors to play with him since his room mates all left that Sunday without him. The residents of Room 208 only had their cards so when asked to play a console, they gave it a go.Liu Xiaodan was resting on someone else"s bed, just watching Xu Disung and Ruan Jin play with Cheng Fei in the the neighboring room of 207. Wen Taio was switching between watching the three wiggle around and reading the group chat to see if anyone would talk against Chuan Nayi. He then noticed someone hinting something about a little fight between the deceased and the suspect. He continued reading, even to the point of asking the person about it in PM.
The round ended, and Ruan Jin was celebrating his win, well, the first one for him. Xu Disung only laughed because he won four times already while Cheng Fei had three. It was a race game, and they were playing with a split-screen. Should have been four players, but Liu Xiaodan refused to join. He just did not want them to know that he sucked in video games.
"Guys, I guess I found the problem." Wen Taio got up from the seat next to the study desk on Liu Xiaodan"s side of the room. "Someone from Cla.s.s Four said Chuan Nayi found out that Huang Kun tried to sabotage her grades every now and then as revenge for not going out with him. Man, isn"t he controlling? Then she told him to stop doing it, thereby accepting dates from him from time to time, without anyone knowing." Wen Taio scrolled down their conversation. "But Huang Kun got really upset when Chuan Nayi was getting really close to Xiaodan."
Cheng Fei hummed as much as the other three did. He was told about their little operation. Since he was a cla.s.smate of Chuan Nayi, and also one of her supporters, he wanted to help out a little. The man from 207 reacted first. "So they think Chuan Nayi took the opportunity to kill him when he was in the kitchen? Don"t they have CCTV in their kitchen?"
"Obtaining CCTV footages is hard, but someone was on it already." Wen Taio fiddled with his phone to check if there were updates about the footage promised to him. "Then again, Chuan Nayi was with her friends before she was asked to talk to him. They smelled the cooking Huang Kun first before she was asked to go." He scratched his head. "Weird things had been happening in the dorms lately."
Liu Xiaodan almost sighed. It started when he took Liu Guangru with him after all. He then turned to the door as knocks came to it. No one bothered to check since the three played another round, and Wen Taio was attending to his phone. Liu Xiaodan only stared at the door, as the knocks persisted.
"Open by yourself, you door," he thought.
Then again, in one moment, the door did. Everyone in the room turned to the door they knew they locked. Even the man who was knocking was stunned seeing n.o.body close enough to open it.
The man, identified as Zhao Bik from Year Two, cleared his throat and went inside the room nonetheless. He closed the door behind him and went to Wen Taio, grabbing a chair that was left unused. "Brother Wen, you need to see this."
Even though he was a good-for-nothing to the cla.s.s, Wen Taio had a lot of connections to both lower and higher years than them. This one in particular was one of the people who promised to get him the footage. Since it was for the "case," Wen Taio called everyone to watch. The game was paused, and so all eyes were on the phone screen.
It was Chuan Nayi walking into the kitchen with Huang Kun. The normally hyperactive girl was pouting in annoyance. The man started talking to her, but his voice was too soft to be caught by the CCTV audio. The girl then turned her back on as she searched the cupboards for something he might have asked. The man then went behind her and wrapped his hands around her, probably groping the girl"s chest.
Chuan Nayi shrieked, judging from a sound heard by the CCTV, and her hand flew to the knives on the shelf nearby. Huang Kun stepped away as she aimed the knife at him. Her mouth opened, as if speaking in disgust. The man was heard laughing before she slammed the knife against the counter, leaving the kitchen. Huang Kun only continued laughing as he went to pick up the knife she just held. He was still talking as if mocking her words behind her back.
However, when he raised it to his face, he suddenly turned behind him. His mouth opened yet again as if talking to somebody. Soon, he stopped moving for some seconds. He then placed the knife back into the shelf and opened the oven door. He took the detached rack and placed it against the wall next the counter. He then closed the door and preheated the oven. He then went to his paper bag where he took ingredients from, laying them neatly on the table. And as if contrary to the usual scene, he started dousing ketchup on himself. He even grated some cheese and sprinkled them on his body. He went to the oven and opened the door. As if the thing was still cool, he went inside, sitting comfortably.
"I don"t know what to think about it," Zhao Bik spoke as the video continued, noticing the deprived breaths of everyone else in the room. "Why would he do some thing like that?" Zhao Bik pressed on the screen and jumped minutes into the video. He showed them the part where Chuan Nayi returned to the kitchen, stunned by the sight. It then led to the other girls screaming.
"Are you saying he went inside on his own? This is madness!" Wen Taio ground his teeth in angry disbelief. "Why would someone kill himself like that!?"
Xu Disung hummed and looked at Liu Xiaodan. "Xiaodan, do you want to check the video again? Frame by frame? I mean, that moment confused me."
Even though Liu Xiaodan knew what he wanted to say, he still asked Xu Disung to confirm it. "What moment?"
"The one where he turned around after looking at the knife. He must have seen something." The man then hummed. "You have better eyes and hearing than us so... you might find something." Xu Disung then smacked Ruan Jin"s head lightly. "Let"s go ask permission to use the audiovisual room in the school. We need a place we can turn up the volume without between noticed."
"Why don"t you go by yourself?" Ruan Jin sobbed, knowing that it could have been a ghost again.
"That"s stupid. Let"s go altogether." Wen Taio suggested. He then asked Zhao Bik to send the video to him, also sending Cheng Fei an apology since they would not play with him anymore.
"What are you talking about? I"m coming with you." Cheng Fei gathered his game properties and exited the game. He started turning off the console and the television as everyone else waited for the video to download into Wen Taio"s phone.
The six males begged the custodian to let them use the audiovisual room without one-day prior notice. However, with Wen Taio and Xu Disung"s enthralling communication skills, they were given an hour to use it. The four hors.e.m.e.n immediately started the set up while Cheng Fei and Zhao Bik just arranged to have seats for everyone. Since the room was heavily soundproofed, all screaming would only be heard inside the room.
With Ruan Jin"s laptop plugged in to the screen and managed by the owner himself, they went through the video with the maximum sound it could give. It would deafen Liu Xiaodan a little, but all was worth it with a single phrase that came out of nowhere.
How dare you.
When Huang Kun checked the knife"s blade, there was this voice that said "how dare you." It was the sound that made him turn behind him. It was also the one responsible for his next reactions such as "who"s there? I know you"re here."
Also they had discovered that the man was flirting with Chuan Nayi in the kitchen, but she was shooting him down. They even mentioned Liu Xiaodan in their conversation, but it was around the time Chuan Nayi grabbed a knife.
"I bet that no-brain Liu Xiaodan would love to touch you like this." Those were the words that made Chuan Nayi retaliate against him. Not the touch on her chest, but the mention of his name.
"Don"t even think of comparing Xiaodan to you. You disgust me." Chuan Nayi waved the knife as she threatened him. "Don"t even think of hurting him. I can and I will kill you." She slammed the knife against the counter and left.
"Keh, that b.i.t.c.h thinks she"s capable of a lot of things." The man picked up the knife. "How about I just turn against Liu Xiaodan? "I can and I will kill you," my a.s.s. Who does she think she is to threaten me? How cute of her." He chuckled and raised the knife"s blade to his face. "Ah, it should be easy. Getting rid of that idiot in just one cut."
"How dare you." A small voice that resembled a child"s was heard.
The man twitched and flung his body to face the empty kitchen behind him. He aimed the knife at nothing. "Who"s there!? I know you"re here!" That was when Huang Kun stopped and moved around to work his way to his death.
"Jin, the counter..." Liu Xiaodan whispered.
Ruan Jin then rewound the video to the part when the two came in the room. He then played it faster than normal until a frame, and then go back again three frames before. Despite the silence, the rest of the group knew what he was doing. Then again, Zhao Bik, who was from a different major, asked.
"There." Xu Disung pointed at the counter above the oven as Ruan Jin froze the frame again. "There"s a shadow that seeped in." He waited for Ruan Jin to move the frame back and forth, showing the sudden black figure oozing into the frame, yet it was quite unnoticeable if no one pointed it out. "It"s small, like a child. We heard a child"s voice so it was probably him."
"I can"t believe we"re doing this in a dark room." Ruan Jin sobbed as he was the only one seated far from them. Then again, he saw Liu Xiaodan get up to get near him. "Wanna know until when?"
"Yeah."
The visuals guy played the video until Chuan Nayi came. By then, the shadow seeped out of the next frame. He then exclaimed in realization. "Chuan Nayi saw it! The g-g-g-ghost!" Ruan Jin grabbed Liu Xiaodan"s sleeve. "She saw the ghost. That"s why she stopped; she saw the ghost!"
Soon, the group left the audiovisual room even before their time was up. Wen Taio came to see the custodian and returned the keys to him. The six males wandered around the closed school, not knowing what to do with the information by then. They knew the police would not believe their story, but the suicide part was apparent from the footage. Chuan Nayi would not be a suspect anymore as well.
With Cheng Fei asking to have a snack after that, the group went to get food at a nearby store. However, Liu Xiaodan only excused himself by saying he needed to find Guangru, who was known as a cat to his bros. The magic one then jogged away from them and back to his dorm room. Like expected, the child was tucked under his father"s covers, waiting for him to come home.
"Guangru, we need to talk," Liu Xiaodan spoke with a soft voice and tone. He pulled on the swivel chair and sat facing his bed. He watched the child vanish from under the sheet, and reappear next to him. The father raised his hand, trying not to startle the kid. "Why did you kill that guy? Didn"t we have an agreement about this?"
"He was hurting Mama... and Baba soon." The child hid his face against Liu Heima, which functioned as the big brother who would protect the little brother from a parent"s wrath.
"You should have let me deal with him." Liu Xiaodan stroked at the child"s hair, hoping to go easy to avoid the child from lashing. "Look at what you did to your Mama. She"s so scared now. How are you planning to apologize?"
He only shook his head with force and m.u.f.fled sobbing. "I don"t want to show myself to Mama now. I can"t apologize."
"Are you still going to stare at her everyday?"
Liu Guangru shook his head again.
"Good boy." Liu Xiaodan smiled as he continued to pat the child. However, he gasped a little when Liu Guangru grabbed his wrist. He gasped in terror, but tried to keep calm despite the thumping heart. "Guangru?"
"Do you hate me now, Baba?" Liu Guangru turned into the horror incarnate that he was. His grip on his father"s hand tightened. "Does Baba not love me anymore?"
"You"re hurting me, Guangru," the father only whispered, not letting his glare to show. "How can I love someone who kills indiscriminately? But you"re still a child, so I know you"ll learn how to control yourself." He tried to slip his hand off of the ghost child"s grip. "If you want to stop someone from hurting me or your mother, just knock them down."
Liu Guangru released the wrist all of a sudden as he made a curious noise. His black beady eyes reverted to the puppy set he had. He watched his father console the wrist that he almost shattered.
"Don"t kill them. Just knock them down. Push them, kick them, I don"t care. Just no more killing..." Liu Xiaodan whispered again, hissing at the pain of his wrist. He stared longer at Liu Guangru, only to see him smile once more.
"Sorry, Baba." He hopped and move through the air as if he had no weight. He sat on Liu Xiaodan"s lap and rubbed his face against the man"s chest. "I"ll do that next time."
At this rate, Liu Xiaodan could not hide his nervousness as the child felt the quick rising and falling of his chest. However, he still held the child as if embracing him. He leaned closer to place a little kiss on the child"s head, tasting the metallic sweetness on his hair. Then again, the child still smelled like the earth, but with a flowery feel. Liu Xiaodan ripped his eyes open as he realized something.
Liu Guangru"s head smelled like a hectare of chrysanthemums, but tasted like blood.