Demons Beside You

Construction at Mirror Lake started. First was road construction.

When work started, Chen Zhao went to look. Felwood was surveying the work at the site.

Chen Zhao still had to go to the gym in the morning and then train Normans in the afternoon. In the evening, he decided to take a taxi home when he received a call from the orphanage.

“Hello, Mr. Chen. Do you remember me? I’m Yucis Cree, head of Greenleaf Orphanage.”

Chen Zhao remembered the old granny at the orphanage. He’d once given her his card.

“Yes, Mrs. Yucis. How can I help you?”

“Yes, I need your help.”

“Can you tell me what it is?”

“I can’t explain it on the phone. Can you come over?”

Chen Zhao hesitated, but he still agreed. “Sure.”

When possible, Chen Zhao was willing to help those orphans, but he really didn’t like the atmosphere of the orphanage. The eerie and dark aura depressed him.

He couldn’t refuse the orphanage administrator’s request though. In that case, he decided to make a visit.

He still remembered the orphanage’s address, 399 Bin Road. When he got there, Administrator Yucis was already waiting for him at the door.

“Hello, Mr. Chen.”

“Hello, Mrs. Yucis.”

Yucis Cree’s expression was very grave. She looked even thinner than before. Leading Chen Zhao into the orphanage, her footsteps were heavy.

“Mrs. Yucis, can you tell me what’s wrong?” Chen Zhao asked.

“After Christmas, Cheryl became strange.”

“Cheryl? That girl from last time?”

“Yes, her.” Yucis nodded. “She really liked Kerry before. Kerry’s that volunteer you treated last time. But after Christmas, Cheryl’s personality changed and she kept doing strange things. Kerry warned her before, but she ignored her. These past few days, food kept going missing from the kitchen. We installed a camera. Last night, we discovered that it was Cheryl.”

“Maybe she didn’t eat enough during the day and was hungry,” Chen Zhao said.

“That’s what I hoped.”

“It’s not?”

Yucis’ expression turned solemn. “She’s eating raw meat.”

Chen Zhao almost choked on air. “Raw meat?”

“Yes, she’s eating raw meat.”

Raw meat? What kind of illness was that? Chen Zhao had no clue. He had to see Cheryl first to get an idea.

“Is it my misperception? I can’t see any of the kids.”

Last time he came, there had been children looking out from the windows. Today, there didn’t seem to be anyone here.

“The teachers took them out to play.”

After entering the main building, Chen Zhao didn’t hear any sound. It was as if no one was there.

“There’s not a single person here?”

“The orphanage is poor and we don’t have many people. Since the kids aren’t back yet, there’s no one else here.”

Yucis brought Chen Zhao to outside the quarantine room. Chen Zhao looked through the glass and saw Cheryl sitting on the bed, dressed all in white.

“Mr. Chen, do you know what’s wrong with Cheryl?”

“I don’t know. Can I go in and interact with her?”

“Fine.” Yucis opened the door.

After Chen Zhao went in, Yucis closed the door again.

“Hi, Cheryl. Do you remember me?”

Cheryl looked up and nodded.

“I’m here to help you.”

“Yucis told you everything?”

“She said that you’re eating raw meat? What’s going on?”

“No,” Cheryl said.

“Then one of you is lying.” Chen Zhao didn’t see anything wrong with Cheryl, but Yucis had no reason to lie to him, right?

“She’s not the administrator granny anymore.”

“What?” Chen Zhao was so confused.

“The orphanage moved and we were all sent to Quiline Orphanage. I missed Yucis though, so I ran back. But she locked me up and made me eat raw meat. I didn’t eat any...”

Chen Zhao frowned. He wanted to take out his phone to check, but there was no wifi or signal here.

He walked to the door and knocked. “Mrs. Yucis, can you open the door?”

Yucis’ face appeared in the glass. “Mr. Chen, I’ll let you out if you can help me convince Cheryl to eat dinner.”

“Mrs. Yucis, don’t you know this is illegal detention?”

“You’re a doctor and Cheryl’s sick. Shouldn’t you help me cure her?”

“She’s not sick.” Something felt amiss to Chen Zhao.

“No, she’s sick and needs help.” With that, Yucis turned and left. Through the door, he could faintly hear Yucis’ footsteps echoing in the empty hall.

Chen Zhao returned to Cheryl’s side. “What does she want you to eat?”

Cheryl pointed at the box beside the bed. Chen Zhao opened it. It was a brain.

He immediately closed the box. Nausea rose up within him.

“Now you get it, right? Granny Yucis went crazy. She’s not the nice administrator from before anymore.”

“How long have you been locked up?” Chen Zhao asked.

“Two days.”

“No one came to look for you?”

“I heard noises yesterday. I think someone came from outside, but then it quieted down again.”

Cheryl sat on the bed and hugged her legs. She was still in a nervous and fearful state. Chen Zhao had a headache. How come it felt like a paranormal event?

The kind old granny transformed into a cruel and violent creature...

More importantly, Chen Zhao’s phone had no signal. He couldn’t even call the cops or ask for help.

“It’s getting dark.” Cheryl turned and looked at the sky outside the metal bars.

There was no light in the room and night fell gradually.

“Mr. Chen, no matter what happens later, please keep calm,” Cheryl said in a mature tone.

“What will happen?”

This entire time, Cheryl sat on the bed, hugging her legs. She seemed to be waiting for something.

“As long as you don’t scream, nothing will happen.”

“Can you tell me beforehand so I can be mentally prepared?”

Cheryl finally put down her legs. Moonlight filtered past the bars and shone on her face, making it seem abnormally bright.

Then she shot forward and slammed against the metal door.

Bang.

Chen Zhao was freaked out. Was Cheryl trying to kill herself?

He quickly went to help her up. “Cheryl, are you okay?”

She shook her head. “I’m very well.”

“Are you sure? You didn’t get hurt?”