Cixi's mouth flew open to gasp for air as if she had been dragged from underwater, her lungs burning and her throat raw. When she opened her eyes, her body was flat on the floor, her limbs were cold and heavy against the bare surface.
She sat up with a groaning force and touched her arms, her neck, her stomach. It was solid and not translucent. Her body was warm, not cold. She pressed both palms against her chest and felt her heart hammering behind her ribs. She was back in her body, feeling tangible and alive and not a ghost.
She turned to check on Melisha, who was still sleeping. The child's small frame rose and fell beneath the blanket, undisturbed, dreaming whatever seven-year-olds dreamed about when the world was still kind to them. Atleast to her!
The wall clock read six in the morning.
Cixi peeled herself off the floor. Her legs were unsteady, and her mind felt unstable from being dragged across rooftops and forced to watch a woman die in a windowless warehouse while a man sharpened an axe. Yet she carefully and soundlessly walked to the bathroom before planting herself before the basin and staring at her own reflection.
Her hair was a mess. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her skin carried the pallor of someone who had not rested at all, because she hadn't rested mentally. She was a scatterbrain.
First, she had committed suicide. Not once, but twice.
Second, she had met Cassian Crown, who first saved her and informed her she belonged to him until her family's debt was repaid. It seemed her parents were not her real parents, and somewhere out there, her biological parents were alive…?
Third, she was once more kidnapped and was about to board the shipping container.
Fourth, she succeeded in getting shot.
Fifth, she almost died, only to be cursed by a Grim Reaper with immortality.
Sixth, not only might she be immortal, but it was also possible she would be forced to witness horrific deaths every night!
Cixi found herself dazed and horrified.
How did everything come to this?
Her breathing grew heavier with each thought. Her hands trembled. Her knees buckled, and she slumped forward, catching herself on the edge of the basin with both hands.
She twisted the tap, and cold water rushed out. She took the water in both palms and splashed it on her face. She wished it were. To her dismay, it had become her reality, glued to her soul.
Once she straightened up and glanced at her reflection again, a sudden shock caused her to jerk back, almost slipping on the shiny bathroom floor.
Breathless, she froze, her gaze locked onto the mirror. Yet, what she saw was not her own reflection, but Cassian, lounging on the couch, shirtless, his belt unbuckled and trousers unzipped. A woman with dark hair, a tan body, completely naked, sat between his legs, and and her head moved faster and faster. Cassian, however, remained expressionless, his eyes fixed somewhere beyond her, as if caught in a trance.
She tilted her head and watched Cassian's handsome face, ignoring what the other woman was doing to him. But his lack of expression or emotion was confusing.
'Had her curse extended to Cassian as well?' She asked herself. 'Would she be seeing him through mirrors…? But why?'
What in the world was happening to her life?
Unbeknownst to her, she drew nearer to the basin, lifting her hand and pressing her damp palm against the mirror where Cassian's image lingered. In an instant, everything faded away. Her reflection was back as it was supposed to be in the first place.
"Curse of Immortality." She whispered to herself once more. And the next moment, a rage followed.
Who wanted such a sick existence, and why her of all people? When so many others had ended their own lives for failing a test, for a boyfriend or girlfriend who cheated on them and left, and for reasons far simpler than hers, not a single one of them was cursed with immortality. They were allowed to leave, yet Cixi was denied it.
She wanted to grab the Reaper by the cloak and demand answers that made sense, but last night, before she could utter a single word, she had been yanked back into her body like a dog pulled on a leash.
And now here she was, forced to live another day of disappointment while knowing that when the night returned, she would be dragged out of herself again to witness more people dying mercilessly.
Then something struck her, reminding her of something very important.
The woman in the warehouse had begged to save her children, whose address the killer had fished out of her purse...
Without even drying her face, she walked quickly back to Melisha's room and eased the door open with the care of someone who understood that even the smallest creak could wake a sleeping child.
Cixi crossed the room on her toes, picked up her phone from beside the mattress, and tiptoed back out before pulling the door shut behind her until it clicked softly into place.
"What are you doing?"
Cixi jolted and almost let her phone slip from her hand, fumbling it against her chest before she caught it.
She turned and breathed in relief when she saw it was Marion, standing in the dim corridor in her nightgown with one brow raised and her arms loosely crossed.
"You scared the hell out of me!" Cixi complained, pressing her free hand against her chest.
Marion laughed softly and shook her head before walking past Cixi and disappearing into the bathroom without another word.
The moment the bathroom door clicked shut, Cixi moved to the living room and lowered herself onto the couch before dialling the emergency number.
"Emergency services. How may I help you?"
"I need to inform you about a murder that happened in a barn." Cixi kept her voice low and steady.
"A murder?" The operator's tone shifted slightly in urgency. "Can you tell me the location?"
"Yes, it is on the outskirts of the city." She had seen it clearly — the name of the place was painted in faded white letters on a wooden board near the entrance, and her ghost form had hovered right past it. She gave the name and described the road and the surrounding area as precisely as she could remember.
"And the victim, can you describe her?"
"A woman in her mid-thirties, with dirty blond hair and a medium build. I think she was wearing a blouse and dark trousers… And—and…Yeah — she has two young children."
"Ma'am, are you telling me the woman was murdered?"
"Yes!" Cixi confirmed.
"Have you seen who killed her?"
"I-it was a man—possibly a taxi driver…"
"Thank you, Ma'am, for being cooperative. Can you describe the person who committed this?"
Cixi replied immediately. "He was tall and heavy-built, with short hair and a broad face." She closed her eyes and forced herself to see him again, the way he had crouched before the woman and tilted his head with that sickening curiosity. "He had large hands with a lot of scars."
"And the choice of weapon?"
"Um... He used an axe. He sharpened it against a stone before he used it." Cixi's voice trembled and dropped on the last few words, and she had to swallow hard to keep it steady.
There was a pause on the other end, and when the operator spoke again, the tone had changed entirely. "Ma'am, may I know how you know these details?"
Cixi fell into a deep silence, and the seconds stretched out while the operator waited patiently on the other end…
Should she say she had a premonition or a dream? But if she said 'dream,' the next question would be, 'Since when did she start having them?' and she would be called a crazy woman wasting their time.
Even if the operator pretended to believe her, more questions would follow, and she would have to build a lie on top of another lie until the whole thing fell apart under its own weight, and she might be arrested for a crime she did not commit.
And now she realised that she should not have given so many details. She had described the woman's clothes, the man's face, the weapon, and the location details that no ordinary person should know about a murder unless they had been present or were the culprits themselves. The operator was probably already flagging this call.
However, she could not tell anyone that she was cursed and immortal. If the government found out, they would detain her, and scientists would run experiments on her to prove their theories about life and death.
She would become a specimen behind reinforced glass, poked and prodded and studied. No, she would not face that, and she would not tell a soul about it. She decided.
After weighing every option and meeting only with downsides, she spoke. "I had a dream, and it felt very real. I do not know how to explain this. But I feel God wants me to help the woman's children, who might be the man's next target. So, could you please check? What if someone is really murdered there, and her little children might be alone at home waiting for their mother to return?" Cixi requested earnestly, hoping they would take her words seriously enough to send someone.
To her relief, the operator responded positively. "We will send a dispatch team soon, ma'am."
Then the operator noted Cixi's full name and number before ending the call.
"Who were you talking to this early in the morning?" Marion asked from behind her.