Chapter 33
When her head made a loud and crisp contact with the bed rail, there was a buzzing sound in her head. Her vision suddenly went black, and her heart began to panic, entering a state of palpitations.
Due to delayed effect, the pain came suddenly and intensely, catching her off guard. Her eyes instantly turned red, tears swirling in her eyes. It seemed like her tear glands had abandoned her control and started producing tears on their own.
The sensation in her entire head now felt like someone pulling her hair back forcefully. Along with the pain, her head also felt swollen, as if it was going to split apart from the point of impact.
If there was anesthesia, Lu Jia thought she could use some, but unfortunately, it was only a fantasy.
Inside her about-to-explode head, it seemed that there was a hidden little knife, a sharp blade, recklessly "fighting" inside Lu Jia's head, making her extremely miserable. But even so, her hands still remained tightly gripping Su Mo's wrist, never letting go.
"Don't be afraid... Su Mo," a weak and breathless voice said, mixed with sighs. It was the aftermath of enduring the pain. Lu Jia's entire face looked unpleasant at the moment, obviously she had been hit quite hard.
Tears blurred Lu Jia's vision, making Su Mo in front of her appear somewhat blurry. But the trembling she felt in her hands couldn't deceive her, she could sense that Su Mo was afraid.
"Don't be afraid, don't be scared."
This was all the care Lu Jia, who was still conscious, could give to Su Mo. Su Mo's sudden outburst went beyond her imagination. Such abnormal behavior worried her, wondering what had scared Su Mo so much.
But she was really in pain, her head felt as if it had been filled with lead, heavy enough to prevent her from moving. She just wanted to lie down like this, not having to worry about anything, but she couldn't close her eyes.
She tried hard not to let herself lose consciousness, but in the end, she failed. The only thing she could be thankful for was that before losing consciousness, the previously restless person had quieted down. She could be slightly relieved.
Su Mo stared closely at the person in front of her, watching her close her eyes and then remain motionless. Feeling anxious, she hurriedly called out a couple of times, trying to awaken the person on the bed.
Holding Lu Jia's hand, she rubbed it against her own face, wanting Lu Jia to touch her like this. But the person on the bed still showed no response, except for the bloodstains on her pale face caused by the not-yet-dried blood under her nails.
Worried that the person in bed might keep lying like this, it made her start to panic. Everything in her mind also became chaotic because of being disturbed by emotions.
Suddenly it was the cold white coat, crying in her ears. Suddenly it was the bright sunlight. On that round stone stool surrounded by light, the little girl with braided hair, smiling with her face raised. In her ears, there was a clear laughter, then it would turn back into a cold space full of cries.
Scenes in her head kept alternating between crying and laughing, until Su Mo couldn't bear it anymore. She no longer endured it and let out a roar.
Outside 417, listening to the sudden roar from the dormitory, the girl who originally wanted to knock on the door silently withdrew her hand.
How can this sound be so similar... The strange sounds coming from inside made the girl instinctively press her ear against the door, worrying if something happened in the dormitory.
But aside from that sound, the dormitory became quiet. Feeling the silence inside the room, the girl leaning against the door became even more worried.
Maybe it's time to call someone over to take a look, she thought to herself. Just as she was considering this, the door she leaned against was opened from inside directly. Immediately after, a blood-stained hand reached out.
The hand quickly grabbed her arm. The girl didn't have time to react and only felt a force pushing her forward. The force was so strong that she couldn't resist it at all. Her whole body was pulled into the dormitory.
Her weak and powerless body was like the small pebble in the bloody hand. With a gentle toss forward, she flew out directly, leaving only a shadow, then the pebble fell to the ground and had an intimate encounter with the ceramic floor tile.
Listening to the sound of something falling in her head, the woman felt that her tailbone was probably broken. The pain coming from her buttocks made her already weakened face look even worse.
"Ouch," rubbing the place where she was thrown, she thought that the other person had been too rough, causing her gaze to be filled with deep resentment.
"You..."
Maybe she wanted to curse, but all her words were swallowed back when she saw those gray eyes and the bloodstained face.
Watching the person slowly walking towards her, the girl's body reacted quickly, sensing danger.
Her gaze shifted to her hands stained with bright red. At this moment, she suddenly felt as if it was her own blood. This thought filled her with fear, making her repeatedly gulp.
And the person in front of her seemed more like a deranged beast.
Frightened, her feet instinctively began to scrape against the ground, causing her whole body to slide backwards along the tiled floor, until she could no longer retreat. With her back against the wall, her hope of moving further back was blocked.
And then...
"Uh~ uh ah~", feeling nervous, she unexpectedly started hiccupping, and it was the kind that couldn't stop from the beginning. The more she tried to stop, the worse it got.
In that moment, the girl's despair was only clear to herself.
As the person in front of her got closer and closer, along with her footsteps, the girl's sobs became more frequent, until the sound completely disappeared.
******
There was a child lying on the gray round stone table, with their hands crossed on the table, leaning their head on their hands, facing downwards, making it impossible to see their face.
The child seemed to be resting.
The glow of the setting sun shone on the child's body, the child wore a red hairband on their head, making their red hair even more vibrant.
Everything seemed to have quieted down, the gentle scene seemed to have taken people straight into a fairy tale.
Suddenly, loud noises broke in, shattering the fairy tale, and the noise disturbed Lu Jia's heart.
And in front of her, the child resting on the table obviously heard the noise, but she seemed undisturbed by it. She just rubbed her forehead against her arm, then her head moved slightly to the other side of Lu Jia, leaving only the back of her head for Lu Jia to see.
The child's movements were more like finding a comfortable sleeping position and choosing to continue resting, or perhaps she had already gotten used to such noise.
This thought suddenly made Lu Jia feel a little sad, but she didn't know the reason behind it.
And in front of her, because of the child's movement, the hand that was originally blocked by her forehead was revealed. Between the somewhat thin index finger and middle finger, there was a candy wrapper from a rainbow candy.
The candy wrapper exposed to the sunlight had a beautiful orange-red reflection.
Rainbow candy?
Looking at the candy wrapper, Lu Jia couldn't help but think of herself. She didn't like eating candy, but her family used to have several jars of rainbow candy stored.
As for the reason for keeping them, she couldn't remember. Maybe it was because they looked pretty. But later on, those jars of candy didn't accompany her to university. Some were eaten, some were burned, and in the end, those two kids at her aunt's house didn't even leave her with a single jar.
Fixated on the candy wrapper between the child's fingers, an indescribable emotion surged within Lu Jia, making her feel an urge to approach the child.
But when she took her first step, the scene in front of her suddenly turned into a rainy night.
On a dim path, there was a white car with flickering headlights, as if there was a malfunction. Under the dim streetlights, the heavy rain washed the car, making a thunderous sound that made her ears ring and her head ache.
She tried to look ahead and noticed that the windshield of the car was full of cracks, even with a large hole in the middle.
Car accident?
Lu Jia looked at the shattered glass in front of her, the first thing that came to her mind was that there had been an accident. She looked inside the car and vaguely saw someone sitting in the driver's seat.
Although she couldn't see clearly who it was, she suddenly felt a strong desire to approach. She wanted to move, but she realized that her body was completely out of her control. And she didn't know when she had already sat in the car.
The rainwater that penetrated through the windshield quickly invaded the car seat and splashed onto Lu Jia.
Before long, even her eyes were splashed with rainwater. The stinging sensation made her want to wipe them, but now, besides her head, it seemed like the rest of her body didn't exist. She didn't wait to wipe her eyes with her hand and could only soothe discomfort by closing her eyes.
The sound of brakes echoed in her ears, and then a light shone through the front of the car, illuminating the interior of the small white car. The dazzling light made Lu Jia, who was already being attacked by rainwater, even more uncomfortable.
Her eyes were almost completely closed.
"Bang~"
She didn't know where the sound came from, maybe a car exploding. Right after, it seemed like a lot of raindrops fell on her face. The rain seemed to get heavier, splashing on her face like big pieces.
It felt sticky and had a strange smell.
But soon, the scene seemed to change again and returned to being quiet.
Looking at the large yellow wooden boards above, Lu Jia found this scene familiar. It was somewhat like what she usually saw before going to bed.
As someone who slept on the bottom bunk bed, what she could see before closing her eyes was obviously the bed board above. The scene in front of her was clearly telling her about a new location.
Is this the dormitory scene this time?
She wondered in her heart, but her mind involuntarily thought about those big drops of rain falling on her face. They gave Lu Jia a sticky feeling, and it felt a bit too real. It made her unable to resist raising her hand and subconsciously wiping her face.
Feeling the friction on her hand, it felt unreal to her. It almost felt like something was sticking to her hand, and her fingers felt dry and tight.
Lu Jia was confused about her situation until she saw the sudden appearance of that face right in front of her.
To tell the truth, she was indeed startled at first, but it took her a moment to react.
"Su...Su Mo?"