A few hours later,
A girl was fast asleep in a room inside Rayner McDowell's luxurious mansion. The atmosphere in the room was tranquil, even dark, because no lights had been turned on. Suddenly, the virgin woke up and saw the situation there, so she spontaneously screamed.
"No! Help me!"
That beautiful girl was sobbing. The painful trauma of the past came back to her mind and seemed to terrorize her. Arletta covered her face with both palms. The slender woman paid no attention to anything else and continued to cry.
"I just want to die. Somebody, help me." Arletta wailed while keeping her face covered.
***
Outside Arletta's room,
A young guy was seen running down a deserted corridor. He seemed to be chasing something very fast.
"Dex! Hey! Where are you going?"
A husky puppy kept running at a fast pace as if deliberately ignoring the words of its human owner. Soon, the dog stopped at a door, barking loudly. A young guy who had been chasing the puppy was staring at the same object.
"This is Lizzy's room. Why is Dex here?" muttered Ben, confused.
That puppy barked loudly and started clawing at the door, so Ben, who witnessed this, became very confused. "Hey, Dex. What was wrong with you?"
The tall guy tried to take Dex, but the puppy refused. He kept barking and scratching at Arletta's bedroom door, which confused the young man. "What was wrong with Dex? He is really close to Lizzy. Does he want to get into the room?" muttered Ben suspiciously.
The brown-haired man started knocking on the door, but there was no answer. This moment made Ben frown. "It is weird. Why isn't Lizzy making a sound? Is she still sleeping?"
Benedict knocked again, saying rather loudly, "Sissy! Sissy!"
There was no response from inside the room. Ben reached into his pants pocket for something. After finding the object he was looking for, the young man looked to his left and placed the object he was holding in a black box. In less than a minute, there was a sound and the door to Arletta's room opened by itself.
That cute husky puppy ran straight into the room, with Ben following close behind. He vaguely seemed to hear crying while Dex arrived at Arletta's bedside and started barking at his master, who did not care about his presence.
Ben quickened his pace, and the young man reached Dex. "Sissy. Are you okay?" he asked, worried.
Arletta did not answer and continued to cry. The husky puppy jumped onto the bed and stood on the master's left side. Dex licked Lizzy's hand. However, that slim girl continued to cry, not even turning her head towards her pet. Ben started to look around, then stared at the wall.
In less than a minute, that room was brightly lit, which caused Arletta's crying to stop. The slender woman began to look at Benedict, who was looking at her with a confused look. Lizzy wiped away the remaining tears on both cheeks with relief. That husky puppy began to lick the master's hand, so the girl's attention was drawn to it.
"What happened to you?" Benedict asked his older sister, who had stopped crying and started stroking Dex's head.
"I just had a bad dream," Arletta replied without turning her head towards the other person. Ben frowned, thinking there was something strange about her attitude and answer.
"Are you sure, Sissy?" Ben did not believe Arletta's word for it and still oversaw her.
"Yeah." That was all Arletta could say to the opposite sex.
I could not explain what happened to Ben because he would definitely report our conversation to Mom. If Mom found out, then it could be wrong because she would force me to tell her the details of the damn incident, thought Lizzy, who was still stroking the head of her favourite husky puppy.
"You are not lying to me, right?" The handsome young man kept asking as he was trying to extract information from Arletta, even though he knew it was complicated to do so.
"No," Arletta answered Benedict's question very briefly.
That twenty-year-old woman remained reluctant to tell the truth, so Arletta only answered briefly. This situation made the atmosphere between them awkward. Ben had not said anything else because he was busy watching his sister's every move, which seemed to be avoiding looking at him.
"I was thinking that your phobias have returned. But you did not want to confess it. Was I right, Sissy?"
Such a question surprised Arletta, but she tried not to make it evident that what her younger brother was saying was true. The fair-skinned woman turned to Ben, and they locked eyes. "No. Why are you asking such strange questions?"
Benedict kept his eyes on Arletta, and his face looked serious. Meanwhile, the black-haired girl was trying to act normal to avoid suspicion from the other person.
"Your behaviour is very suspicious, Sissy. You have been crying less, and if I am not mistaken, you behaved like you did earlier when your two phobias flared up, so that's why I am suspicious."
"Nope. I did have a nightmare. I saw myself falling from a high building. I thought I was dead."
Somehow, Arletta was very good at lying but did not plan the situation. Ben just listened to his sister's words and did not comment at the moment. The eighteen-year-old man looked at Lizzy expressionlessly, making the girl anxious, but she did not want to show it openly.
Ben looked at the bed and saw the husky puppy sitting near Arletta. The young man exhaled, and Lizzy heard his voice. "Well. I hope you are okay. Come on, Dex!"
The husky puppy seemed reluctant to get out of bed and was still near his master. Arletta turned to Dex, and he seemed to understand what her pet wanted. "Let him stay here. He can accompany me."
"What?" asked Ben, confused.
That was weird. Why did Sissy even want Dex to stay in the room? Even though when Sissy came home, she said to me that she wanted to be alone? Her attitude was indeed suspicious; it was only fitting that Mom should ask me to spy on her, Ben thought, frowning.
Arletta turned to the other person. "It is okay, Ben. Let Dex stay here," Lizzy replied without feeling guilty.
"Sissy, why did you-"
***