Chapter 7 Woke Up Again
1521 Words
“A pair of jacks!”
“A pair of queens!”
“Do you have any more?!”
“Look at these!”
With a “snap”, the person yelled in uproar.
“You still had four of a kind but you didn’t show them until the last round?!”
“Could I make you show your pair of queens if I'd showed them in the last round?”
“You're the worst. I don't want to play anymore!”
“What else can we do besides playing games? We have to sit here for three more hours.”
“Let's play Mafia.”
Sitting behind them was a group of college students, including three guys and three girls who were sitting across two rows. They had reversed their seats and were playing the card game in a lively circle. They burst into laughter from time to time, which kept waking Toni from her sleep. Thanks to the hangover from last night, Toni’s nerves had been tense during today’s counter inspection. She wanted to take advantage of the three-hour journey to take a rest. That way she could save her energy for tomorrow’s work. But now it seemed that this rest had gone up in smoke.
As the train passed through a small station, she glanced at Gina next to her. She was still young, so even though she also had a hangover from last night and had inspected the counters today, she still had enough energy to take out her laptop and read some industry analysis and reports. She seemed to be unaffected by her surroundings. Under her slightly knitted eyebrows were a pair of eyes which showed she was serious and 100% focused on her work. Her lips tightened, and her small chin and jade-like skin made up 100% of her feminine beauty. However, there was also some heroic spirit between her eyebrows.
Perhaps it was due to her exhaustion from this business trip, but Toni was feeling a little tired. Her gaze fell on Gina’s profile lazily, and she was unwilling to take it back...
At first, Toni thought that this business trip would be a desperate contest between her and Gina. Her new boss would definitely seize every opportunity to get revenge on her. However, things had actually developed beyond her expectations somewhat, and her enemy hadn't given her a hard time when they were together. Instead, she had helped her in all respects and had become less annoying.
Toni's opinion of her had changed a bit, and there was even a subtle feeling in the air.
Maybe it was neither a contest, revenge, nor her changing opinion of her, but a turning point in their relationship that enabled things to move forward in an unexpected direction.
Toni thought this was the case, but she was wrong.
This trip was indeed a turning point, and it was also full of accidents. It wasn’t warm and sweet at all, but was stained with the smell of blood and death.
Toni was lulled into sleep by the warmth again. Just as she closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep, the lights in the carriage suddenly dimmed, and the entire high-speed train shook violently, causing everyone to let out a muffled cry of alarm.
Toni's heart sank as if she was falling off of a cliff, and she subconsciously grasped Gina's arm. Gina, like a vigilant cat, straightened up immediately, clasping Toni’s hand with her own so that their fingers were interlinked.
The high-speed train returned to stability after a violent shake. All the passengers held their breath and looked up. After the lights in the carriage flickered a few times, they returned to stability with the rest of the train.
“What’s wrong? Is it going to be okay?” Sitting diagonally in front of Toni, the pregnant woman who had gone out alone looked back with a worried expression, subconsciously touching her already bulging belly.
“Maybe the brake system malfunctioned, but it’s okay now.” Toni still hadn't calmed down yet, but she comforted the pregnant woman instinctively. The pregnant woman looked a little relieved and smiled gratefully at her.
The high-speed train continued to steadily pass through the lofty mountains and high ranges in the dark, as if the inexplicable and weird shock just now was merely an illusion. The college students’ spirits rose again immediately, and they continued to play their Mafia Game.
“He got killed last night!”
“Who the hell killed him?!”
The laughter, noise, and children’s crying all seemed to be the same as before, but maybe it was just a placebo effect. Toni was still scared and felt that something was wrong.
It seemed like something was going to happen.
A man and a woman sitting on the other side of the aisle in the same row as her suddenly stood up, pulled on their backpacks, and walked towards the junction between the carriages. Toni kept watching them until they disappeared.
For no reason, she felt uncomfortable all over.
When she was uncomfortable, Toni would clench whatever she was holding subconsciously.
The big shake had knocked a cup of water onto Gina’s leg. She was trying to wipe it off with tissues, but Toni didn’t look well and kept looking back and forth vigilantly with a nervous expression that made Gina restless. She couldn’t let go of her hand, and continued holding it tightly. She asked carefully,
"Miss Smith, is there something wrong? Were you terrified just now?"
Toni’s body was rigid, as if every muscle was being tensed. A blind force was pressing on her, making her breathless.
This feeling was familiar, but she couldn’t tell what it was.
“Smith?” Gina came closer to her, looking a little worried.
Toni looked at Gina's beautiful eyes and relaxed her fingers, which had turned pale due to clenching her hand for too long. Toni breathed out the air she had inhaled in her chest, and finally forced herself to calm down.
“I’m fine...” Toni was about to reluctantly put on a smile, but suddenly, a powerful “bang” penetrated her ears, and a b****y mist and strange sticky thing exploded in front of her, blurring her sight in an instant.
“Ahhh! Ahhh!”
In an instant, the carriages were filled with screams, and the calmness broke like an aquarium hitting a concrete floor, which broke and burst in a flash. Toni anxiously wanted to wipe away whatever it was in her eyes, but could feel someone lying in her arms.
“Ahhh! Help!”
“Let’s go! Run!”
“Step aside!”
*Tap tap tap tap*
Amongst the screams and chaos of people trying to escape, Toni's hair was pulled and became a huge mess. She tried to stand up several times, but was pushed back down by random grabbing hands. The solid seats rattled and swayed from people kicking them, and the high pitched screams made her extremely flustered.
What’s that sound?
Where's Gina?
“Gina!” Toni yelled in the crowd, but no one responded to her.
“Gina!” She yelled again, paying no attention to anything, and wiping her eyes with her sleeves.
When she could finally see things clearly, she was taken aback.
It was blood.
Her sleeves, face, clothes, and even the entire carriage were completely stained in blood.
Gina was lying on her thighs with a hole in the back of her head, and viscous blood was gurgling out, staining her thighs all red.
Toni's eyes dilated, and she simply sat where she was, staring blankly for several seconds. She could see everything clearly, but she couldn’t understand it all.
Why was all the blood here? What happened to Gina?
After a few seconds, she finally recovered her sanity and made up her mind.
Gina had died.
A cold and hard pipe was placed on the back of her head, and Toni’s heart was beating so fast as if she was riding a roller coaster, which was swiftly rising and falling. Before she could react, it exploded in an instant.
...
Toni woke up with a start in a sweat.
She stared at the ceiling, which didn't seem unusual. Her nose was so cold that when she blew out, a wisp of white mist filled the air in front of her eyes.
She couldn’t remember when the alarm clock had gone off. Her throat was burning, and the bones from her spine to her shoulders, and from her thighs to her forearms, were all aching inexplicably.
She sat up to get out of bed, but her head felt as if it was filled with lead, both heavy and dizzy. She paused when she put on her slippers, as if remembering what she had dreamed about last night.
Dream?
The content of the dream was concealed behind a thick curtain, and she couldn’t remember what happened at all. However, the sound and smell had left a trace in her mind, making her brood over it restlessly and her heart beat faster.
- Writer
