"What happened?"
As soon as the call connected, Lance's concerned voice came through.
Deanna quickly reassured him, "Nothing happened, don't worry."
Despite her words, Lance was still uneasy. "Where are you now? Are you already on the top floor?"
"No, I haven't gone up yet."
Deanna stood in a corner with her phone, nervously glancing at the entrances and exits. She didn't know why she was doing this, just an instinct to be cautious.
Lance felt relieved when he heard Deanna hadn't gone to the top floor yet. Although he didn't know who had asked to meet Deanna, he wasn't comfortable with it. "Stay where you are and wait for me. I'll go with you."
He didn't try to dissuade Deanna from going because he knew Olivia's death had always been a sore point for her.
But Deanna didn't agree. "You don't need to come. I know you're worried about me, but they only asked to meet me. If you come along, they might get upset and leave. Besides, if you're outside, you can respond immediately if anything happens to me."
Lance had to admit, her words made sense. Most importantly, he could hear Deanna's determination.
"Alright, I won't come to you. But ten minutes is too long. Once you get there, send me a message every five minutes. If I don't hear from you, I'll come over immediately."
"Okay."
Deanna nodded in agreement and hung up the phone before heading towards the elevator.
Soon, the elevator reached the top floor. Looking at the quiet corridor ahead, Deanna felt as if a giant beast was waiting for her. Despite her nervousness and fear, she took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator, heading to the room at the end of the hallway.
"Is anyone there?"
Deanna knocked on the door. After several seconds with no response, she frowned and knocked again, harder this time. Suddenly, the door opened.
She cautiously pushed the door open and asked again, "Is anyone there?"
The room was brightly lit but empty.
"No one?"
Deanna frowned and took a few steps inside. There was no response.
At that moment, Deanna smelled something strange in the air, making her feel dizzy. As a doctor, she knew exactly what was happening. Her face changed as she tried to turn and leave, but before she could move, everything went black and she collapsed.
As Deanna fainted, a shadowy figure emerged from behind the door. He quietly closed the door and walked towards Deanna step by step.
Meanwhile, Lance had already reached the top floor with his phone in hand. Although he had promised Deanna not to go directly to her, he couldn't help but worry. Especially now that five minutes had passed since their agreed time and Deanna hadn't sent him a message.
Fearing something might have happened to her, Lance couldn't wait any longer and hurried toward the room at the end of the hallway.
"Open the door!"
He banged on the door, his voice cold and urgent. But just like Deanna earlier, there was no response from inside.
Seeing this, Lance became even more anxious and worried. He threatened through the door, "I'll count to three. You better open the door, or I'll break in!"
Still met with silence, Lance lost his patience. He stepped back a few paces and then used all his strength to kick the door.
With a loud bang, the door collapsed under Lance's force. Ignoring the dust in the air, he rushed inside but found no one in the living room.
"Deanna?"
Lance called out again while checking every corner of the room. Finally, when he opened the bedroom door, he saw Deanna lying on the bed.
She looked like she was asleep, her clothes still intact with nothing out of place. Lance felt a wave of relief wash over him.
He quickly walked over and sat on the bed, pulling her into his arms and gently shaking her. "Deanna, wake up."
Unfortunately, no matter how much he called her name, Deanna didn't respond. This made Lance's initial relief turn into renewed worry.
Without thinking twice, he scooped her up in his arms and hurried out, intending to take her to the hospital to find out what was wrong.
Unbeknownst to him, shortly after he left, a muffled sound came from the previously silent room. The built-in wardrobe in the bedroom moved aside to reveal a hidden door.
Two mysterious figures wearing hoods emerged from behind it. If Emily had been there, she would have recognized one of them as someone who had contacted her before.