Unable to breathe

Chapter 28

She heard a sound and noticed several shirtless men walking towards her, laughing and talking. Seeing them with their shirts draped over their shoulders, their bellies protruding, heads swaying, swaying as they strolled towards her, she could feel their attention. Men would turn around and stare at her in broad daylight, let alone in the middle of the night. They'd see a pretty girl like her, walking alone on the street; they'd surely think something had happened to her. What could have happened to me? Something...something romantic! So she decided to be alone and reminisce about the happy times she had.

She felt it; it was obvious. As they brushed past each other, those shirtless men were all staring at her. She could imagine that their gazes were definitely lustful and greedy, and also very sweet. Of course, she was a beautiful and attractive girl! It would be strange if they didn't look at her or feel lustful.

When she turned around unintentionally, she noticed that all the men who had passed by had stopped and were looking back at her.

She was surprised; she hadn't expected to attract such a high and strong number of stares at her so late at night.

She twisted her body, and her steps became lighter.

What a wonderful night! What a wonderful night!

Lili resisted the urge to turn back, even though she knew she was just curious. But if she turned back, those lustful men would see it as provocation, and that chance encounter could turn into a scandalous affair.

Happy Lili quickly arrived at her building.

The lights in the hallway are voice-activated; usually, when I come back, I just need to stomp my foot or cough at the door and the lights will turn on.

Tonight, Lili didn't want to stomp her feet or cough. It was already past midnight, and she didn't want her happiness to disturb her neighbors' sweet dreams. She tiptoed into the building, tentatively stepped up the few stairs, and reached out her left hand to touch the light switch on the wall. She touched it once, but it didn't light up. She touched it again, but it still didn't light up. She touched it countless times, but it still didn't turn on.

Lili had no choice but to back out. After thinking for a moment, she realized there was nothing she could do and felt sorry for her neighbors. She stomped her foot hard, then stomped it again, but the darkness inside the doorway remained as unmoved as the building itself.

"The motion-activated light on the first floor is broken, let's try the second floor," she thought tentatively, climbing a few steps, turning right, and slowly making her way up the railing. She coughed, but the motion-activated light seemed to be playing a trick on her; the darkness remained unmoved. She frantically groped along the wall with both hands, finally finding the switch, but no matter how she touched or pressed it, the darkness continued to envelop her heavily.

She hurried up to the third floor, thinking that surely not all the lights could be off. But the third floor remained as dark as hell.

What to do? Keep going? But what if the bad guys are hiding in the dark?

Oh my god! A serial killer! It's Saturday!

Only then did Lili fully snap out of her blissful reverie, realizing it was Saturday—a terrifying Saturday, a Saturday of death! Lili remembered what they'd said about the psychopathic killer always sabotaging the motion-activated lights in the hallway before committing his crimes. It was the middle of the night, exactly the time he'd be targeting single women. How could she have been so foolish?

Just then, she heard a slight noise upstairs, and what sounded like panting. Lily immediately guessed it was a man breathing. Only then did she realize that she had willingly handed herself over to a deranged killer. He had been following me, sabotaging the motion-activated lights beforehand, waiting for my return, and then, with a hammer and a knife, he...

Hurry up and go back downstairs! But then, footsteps and panting could be heard downstairs.

Her legs suddenly lost their support, and she could only cling to the railing with both hands, lying there unable to move. She desperately stretched out her breath, afraid to exhale, lest the murderous psychopath hear her panting. Earlier that day, while on the bus with her boyfriend, a young man behind her had been telling his girlfriend about psychopaths. Now she really didn't want to think about it anymore, but that annoying man's hoarse voice kept muttering in her ear, "Who can fly these days? It's all nonsense! Haven't you seen TV? There's an arrow now, with a barb on the arrowhead and a nylon rope attached to the fletching. The arrow is shot to a sixth-floor balcony, and the murderer uses the rope to climb up, carrying a small winch to retrieve it, quickly going from the first floor to the fifth-floor balcony. Imagine, you're sleeping naked in bed in the middle of the night, and suddenly the blanket is pulled back. You suddenly see a big, dark head, waving white claws at you. Even without a word or a move, you'd be terrified!" She also heard his girlfriend yelling in a shrill voice, "Damn it, stop talking! Stop talking!"

The footsteps were so mysterious; when you listened intently, you seemed to hear nothing, but when you doubted them, they gently approached you. It was the sound of rubber shoes walking on cement; the more you doubted it, the clearer the sound became.

The naked woman who was hacked to death, pantyhose, high heels, a fruit knife, and the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer.

She smelled a strong odor of smoke and bad breath, and suddenly felt a warm, fuzzy sensation on the back of her neck.

The psychopath is already standing behind me. Is he trying to scare me to death by not making a move?

She scolded herself for thinking about such nonsense, otherwise she would be scared to death! Don't think about it! She shouted to herself in her heart, but the more she did so, the more disobedient her mind became. She didn't know if there was another person in her heart or mind, a particularly bad person, who knew she was afraid but still wanted to come up with these terrible things to scare her. Terrifying things that she would never normally think of would be brought up at this time.

Her head throbbed with pain; the hammer had already struck her. Her chest ached; a knife had plunged into her chest. Cold sweat streamed down her face and chest, feeling like countless soft worms slowly crawling down her body, sending chills down her spine and making her tremble uncontrollably.

She collapsed to the ground.

She tried to scream for help, but with all her might, she couldn't make a sound, as if in a nightmare; something was blocking her throat. It was the smell of his cigarette that had made her throat dry, so dry that she couldn't speak.

Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. Her palms were sweaty and cold, her legs were numb and unresponsive, her body felt like it was covered in a thousand bristles, and she felt so weak that she had no bones and couldn't move at all.

The darkness in the stairwell was so solid and without any gaps that it pressed down on her, making her unable to move and suffocating her. Her fear was as solid and heavy as the darkness in the stairwell, pressing down on her until she couldn't breathe.

I recalled a psychological experiment I'd read about in a book. During the day, a person was blindfolded and placed in a room isolated from the outside world. Because they couldn't see or hear anything, they couldn't perceive the outside world, and their attention was diverted. They were forced to confront their inner world, which was no longer peaceful. First came boredom, which led to scattered attention and sluggish thinking. Later, tension and anxiety arose, until hallucinations and fear developed. They were so terrified they were on the verge of collapse. If the experiment hadn't been stopped in time, the fear arising from within them could have been immense and overwhelming; given enough time, it could have even killed them. It took a long time after the experiment ended for his fear to gradually subside.

Now she understands that darkness is the most effective way to evoke fear in people's hearts.

Lily, shrouded in darkness, strained her eyes to see the man creeping closer, inching towards her. She sensed an accomplice also emerging from the shadows below, silently ascending the stairs. The two men were about to surround her from above and below, and then...

In her mind, she saw Lily's head roll down the dark stairs, while Lily's body remained on the dark third floor.

He lived just a few floors away from home, so close, and was so easily murdered. Isn't that a tragedy?

She saw footsteps approaching Lili, but Lili couldn't tell whether the footsteps came from upstairs or downstairs.

The man's breath reeked of cigarette smoke and bad breath, and as he got closer, she could smell it very clearly.

A burning sensation spread under her buttocks, as if something warm was seeping into them.

I don't know how much time passed, but the cement floor under my buttocks became cold again.

She thought of her boyfriend. He had insisted on taking her home today, but she had refused. He had said, "Fine, but don't regret it when you get to your door and up the stairs, and then curse me in your heart for being heartless and a scoundrel."

Lili now vows that from now on, she will make him take her home every time, no matter what.

Give him a call and ask him to come pick you up right away.

The thought that he would be coming soon, and that he would be coming happily, made her smile. She stood up and knew she had to go downstairs to wait for him!

Lili had no idea how she ended up downstairs. Wasn't she just slumped on the third floor? How did she end up outside so quickly? She stared into the darkness outside the building entrance, as if she were still lost in the haze of a nightmare.

Lili could hardly believe that she had just emerged from this terrifying darkness.

Lili took out her phone. She said, "Come quick! I was terrified! I was just lying paralyzed in the hallway..."

The other person stopped her and said, "Don't be afraid! I'll be there soon!"

The man's deep voice immediately calmed Lily down, making her completely forget the fear and despair she had just felt.

Holding her phone, she strolled forward, suddenly noticing countless tiny insects and moths fluttering wildly and joyfully under the streetlights; crickets sang freely, oblivious to their surroundings. They were happy in their own world, fearless. A cool breeze caressed her, making her feel utterly content.

The night was still the same night, the darkness was still the same darkness, everything remained the same, and no fear occurred.

A patch of green grass shone brightly under the lamplight, a green that made her heart pound. She recalled that first time in her life, the green grass on the hillside, that green space of her life. In that instant, her heart expanded infinitely, and joy surged within her like a river. She felt a longing, an urge, rising within her. Now she wanted to release her life, to let it swell, surge, and become beautiful within her.

Now, Lili is not afraid of anything. If she were to walk back into the dark stairwell now, she wouldn't hesitate or feel any fear. Even if she encountered that murderous psychopath, she would scream loudly to startle him.