Chapter 66: Apparition

**Trigger Warning: This chapter depicts gore and violence, which may be upsetting for some readers.**

JADE:

Red… The bloody red hem of a cloth touched my face as it billowed against the wind.

I tried to open my eyes, half-dazed… Where was I?

The last thing I remembered was reading a book in front of Professor Armond’s class.

I blinked several times, but I could still see the hem of someone’s dress and a pair of red shoes like the one I have.

This time though, the Mother pearls were intact…

I looked up sharply from where I was sprawled just in time to see Marian’s face with her hair in wild disarray. It was just like the many times I saw her in my dreams. Her eyes were red, and her face was bloody.

Before I could scream, she immediately covered my mouth with her cold hands and signaled me to stay quiet. I nodded at her… What other choice did I have?

I haven’t seen her for some time in my dreams now. She must have learned that I stopped finding the truth about her death…

She wordlessly urged me to get up, propping me up by the elbows.

Still feeling weak and dizzy, it took a long time before I could get on my own two feet to follow her.

It seemed like we were in some type of basement with a very dark hallway… The air reeked of bleach and blood. It was rather a suffocating combination that I almost threw up.

She motioned for me to follow her. She was walking in such a fast pace despite wearing heels that it was almost impossible for me to catch up, especially with the repulsive smell being around.

“What is it,” I asked Marian in a whisper. “What do you want to show me?”

I could see a faint light at the farthest end of the hallway we were walking in. Marian motioned for me to hurry, so I did.

As we neared to the only lighted room, the smell of blood became even more pronounced. I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from throwing up.

Finally, we reached it. I was dying to see what was behind those doors.

Before I could catch up to Marian however, she already opened the door and entered.

“W-Wait up,” I said softly, but I guess she didn’t hear me. In fact, she didn’t seem to hear me at all from the very start.

I peered nervously inside the now opened door of the only lighted area in this dark and endless hallway. What I saw was something I did not expect…

It seemed like I just walked inside an operating room. There were some transparent curtains obscuring my view, but I can see at least three people in scrub suits. The plastic curtains were positively blood-stained…

Everybody was busy. There seemed to be an ongoing operation, but I couldn’t tell what kind of operation it was nor can I understand what they were saying.

After a few minutes of hovering by the door, I walked nervously inside.

What if these people turn their heads around, would they see me? What will they do?...

I took one, two, three steps forward. Nobody paid any attention towards me. I became bold enough to step inside completely, believing that they could not hear me.

I looked around. Where has Marian disappeared? Was she hiding somewhere?

I looked at the contraptions that were hanging at the patient’s bedside. There were several bags of dextrose with curious-looking liquids inside, but not one of them had any labels that would identify the mixtures…

“Ah… I almost got it,” one of the man in scrub suits said. He wiped the sweat forming on his forehead using his right shoulder.

It looked like he was cutting something from inside the patient’s body.

“I got it,” the same man finally said. The two other personnel in scrub suit looked excitedly at him as they pulled down their surgical masks.

I took a closer look to see it. What were they excited about?

As soon as I walked towards them, I regretted it.

I saw the man in the middle pull out a red mass of meat that looked like a human heart. He raised it up high like it was some kind of medal.

I looked at the bloody thing. It was as if it was still beating!

I thought the horrible sight was over, but I was sent into more and more repulsion as the three men in the scrub suit started devouring the newly detached heart!

I gasped and threw up suddenly on the floor. The sight was so ghastly that I had forgotten where I was!

For the first time, all three of the men in scrub suits turned their heads towards me.

“N-No!” I started to run, but two of them caught me shortly.

“Welcome, Jade. We have been waiting for you too… Would you like to join us all for dinner?”

The dragged me towards the surgical bed. I tried my best to thrash about, but it felt like they had super human strength as they pulled me back effortlessly.

The moment I was pulled close enough towards the bed, I saw it…

The patient whose heart they ripped away… It was Marian! Her face drew a horrid look as she stared at me.

“Run, Jade!... Don’t get caught,” I heard her say for the first time.

**********************

“Aaahhh,” I screamed as hard and loud as I could. I was thrown upwards in a sitting position where I found myself in bed.

“Jade! Jade, what happened,” a familiar voice said from my left.

I spun to see Liam’s anxious face leaning closer towards me. He caressed my cheek. “Jade… You’re having a nightmare… Are you okay?”

“N-No,” I sobbed. It wasn’t just a nightmare! It fell far too real to be an ordinary nightmare!

He patted my back up and down to soothe me. “It was just a dream. You fell down and passed out in class.”

I was still trembling while I looked over at my surroundings. I was inside the infirmary now, and the sun was still at its peak.

Liam was right. It had been just a dream, but it was far too terrible! I could still feel my skin crawling as I saw Marian’s mangled body on that surgical bed.

“Are you okay? The nurse went out not too long ago. Do you want me to go and fetch her?”

I shook my head. “No… I shall be fine.”

“What happened to you, hmm?... Were you hurt somewhere? What was your nightmare about?”

I hesitated to tell Liam. I didn’t want him to worry, but this is something I can’t hide from him…

“M-Marian… I… I think I saw her. I just saw an apparition.”