Chapter 13: Nightmare

Chapter 13: Nightmare

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Lu Yu's mouth. He lay in bed, totally at ease. Though only a day had passed, it felt like forever—so much had happened, and compared to his old life, which had been as stagnant as still water, this felt far more real.

Lu Yu turned over and looked at Cheng Miao, who had already fallen asleep. He let out a barely audible sigh and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Winter nights were especially cold. The wind howled as it swept through, sending scattered snowflakes dancing in the air, making the night feel especially bleak under the dim yellow streetlights.

At that moment, Cheng Miao had curled up into a tight ball. He trembled slightly, sobbing quietly. In his dream, he was back in that day.

That day, it was snowing hard. It happened to be his grandpa's birthday, so he'd taken the day off from school. After dinner at home that afternoon, the family sat together, munching on warm roasted sweet potatoes and watching TV, quietly waiting for the weather report after the news. Just then, a missing person notice slowly scrolled along the top of the TV screen: "Today at noon, near the center of Guyao Town, a girl around nine years old went missing. She was wearing a school uniform and had a ponytail. Anyone with information, please contact ."

At the time, no one thought much of it—they just assumed some kid had been too busy playing to go home. It wasn't until the next day, when Cheng Miao got to class, that he noticed the room felt really off. Everyone was sitting in their seats, dead silent.

The homeroom teacher sat at the podium, her eyes red-rimmed. When she saw Cheng Miao, she grabbed him and asked, "Did you see Lin Jinrui on your way home yesterday? Did she seem off to you at all?"

Cheng Miao shook his head. "Teacher, I was out yesterday."

The teacher let go of him, looking a bit disappointed.

Bewildered, Cheng Miao went back to his seat and whispered to his deskmate, asking what was going on.

His deskmate whispered, "Lin Jinrui's gone missing!"

Cheng Miao was startled, remembering the missing person notice from the night before. So the missing girl was Lin Jinrui.

That day after school, everyone had been walking along the main road before splitting off onto various side paths to take shortcuts home. Lin Jinrui usually walked home by herself, and since not many people lived in the south end of town, Cheng Miao—who lived there too—would sometimes run into her. But that day, he happened to have the day off.

By afternoon class, Lin Jinrui still hadn't shown up. The homeroom teacher called her parents, but no one answered. After two or three more tries, someone finally picked up. Her parents said she'd left home early at noon, and if she hadn't made it to school, she might have snuck off to play somewhere.

Teacher Liu, the homeroom teacher, knew exactly how obedient Lin Jinrui was. She kept insisting the girl would never skip school and urged the parents to keep looking.

It wasn't until dusk that Lin Jinrui's parents came rushing over, frantic. They said she still hadn't come home—which had never happened before. Lin Jinrui was scared of the dark; once night fell, she'd always come straight home.

But after searching every street and alley, they still hadn't found her. So they came to the homeroom teacher to ask if anything had been off with the girl at school that morning.

After a full night, she still hadn't been found. Everyone started speculating—maybe some kidnapper had grabbed her. All of a sudden, way more parents started coming to pick up their kids, but the girl was never found.

Once the police were notified, they came to the school several times to investigate, but still found nothing—not a single clue. People started losing hope.

Lin Jinrui had been missing for three days. The initial panic slowly died down.

One day after school, Cheng Miao and a classmate were walking back along the main road. After turning onto the side path to the south end of town, it was just the two of them left. They were kicking stones and jogging along when Cheng Miao suddenly thought he heard a scream. He whipped around, but there was nothing there except an old, run-down house. The area had been abandoned for ages, and nobody usually came around.

He figured he must've misheard, so he turned back and kept kicking stones and running, but an inexplicable unease crept over him.

At dinner, his mom casually brought up the missing Lin Jinrui, telling Cheng Miao over and over not to wander off and to come straight home after school.

Cheng Miao didn't know Lin Jinrui well. At first he'd been shocked, but by now he'd been lectured so many times he'd gone numb to it. He chewed his food and nodded half-heartedly.

By afternoon, Cheng Miao, still groggy from his nap, grabbed his schoolbag and got shooed out the door.

As he passed that little courtyard again, he thought of that faint sound. On a whim, he walked into the yard. It was empty and bleak inside.

Cheng Miao turned to leave when he suddenly heard a sharp crack from the easternmost room. Curious, he walked over—it was a small bedroom.

The moment he saw that bedroom, the Cheng Miao in the dream suddenly realized this was a dream—one he'd had countless times before. He looked at that familiar bed, the faded peony-print bedsheet so dull, except for one flower blooming brilliantly—extremely vivid, with a blood-red beauty.

Cheng Miao also saw the colorful glass ball by the bed. He didn't dare pick it up, and he didn't have the guts to lift the corner of the bedsheet again. He was scared—scared of seeing that familiar school uniform again, scared of seeing that pale, lifeless face again.

He turned to run out, but no matter what, he couldn't escape the courtyard. He didn't dare stop, and he didn't dare look back.

Hot tears streamed down his face, and his sobs grew louder and louder, until they woke Lu Yu.

Seeing Cheng Miao's curled-up, tense form, Lu Yu quickly threw off the covers, got out of bed, and shook him, trying to wake him up. Cheng Miao didn't respond, still sobbing in fits and starts.

Lu Yu got worried. He pulled the lamp cord by the bed—snap—and the light came on.

He leaned closer to Cheng Miao, shaking him again, calling, "Cheng Miao, Cheng Miao, stop sleeping. Wake up!"

Finally, Cheng Miao slowly opened his eyes. His face was pale as paper, his eyes wet and glistening, tears pooling and soaking his lashes, on the verge of spilling over.

Seeing Cheng Miao curled up like this, so small, Lu Yu felt a strange ache in his chest. He said softly, "Did you have a nightmare?"

Cheng Miao nodded.

Lu Yu wiped the tears from his face. "It's okay. Everything in dreams isn't real!"

Cheng Miao snapped back to reality a bit. He threw himself into Lu Yu's arms, hugging him tight, his voice hoarse from crying: "Lu Yu, it's not fake. I'm so scared. Lin Jinrui is going to die. She's really going to get killed by someone."

Cheng Miao looked terrified, his arms tightening around Lu Yu even more. Lu Yu gently patted his back, soothing him, "What did you dream about? Tell me, okay? I'll help you."

Cheng Miao gradually calmed down. He took a shaky breath, pushing down the fear, and slowly began, "I just had a dream—a dream about something that happened before."

Lu Yu said softly, "Mm-hmm."