Chapter 219 - 218: The Serial Killings Have Begun

Chapter 219: Chapter 218: The Serial Killings Have Begun

"Everyone, come over here and listen to me."

Over there, Howard Finch had already gathered some people and formed a small group.

Back at the orphanage, he was the so-called group leader, and later he became the class president. He really has a knack for organizing people.

"Listen to me, everyone. You all saw what happened on the floor above. Someone is dead. This isn’t a game; it’s a massacre. Someone wants to kill us. We have to fight back. We can’t just wait to be picked off. Otherwise... the next person to die could be one of us. We have to stick together now. As long as we’re united, he can’t kill us!"

Howard Finch was brainwashing them, urging everyone to unite.

"If you want to live, you have to follow orders. We’ll get out of here alive together, find that madman Sebastian Lancaster, and make him let us go!"

"Let us go!"

Howard Finch stood on a table, shouting, and the others echoed him.

They were convinced Asher was the killer, so they were all fired up to go downstairs and find him.

I watched Howard Finch warily. Now that he had organized everyone, he was definitely going to target those of us who hadn’t joined his group.

"Remember, we can only guarantee the safety of those who listen. As for the others..." Just as I expected, Howard Finch turned his attention to us.

Felix Foster, Peach, Claire Lawson, Erin Whittaker, Julian Fletcher, and me.

None of us had picked a side.

"Anyone who isn’t with us is definitely suspicious. We need to be careful," Howard Finch said in a low voice, deliberately glancing at me.

I clenched my fists. I knew Howard Finch was about to make a move against us.

Sure enough, Chase Carter glared angrily at Claire Lawson. "You damn hag, what are you doing over there? Get your ass over here now!"

Claire Lawson shrank back in fear, hiding in Peach’s arms.

Peach nervously shielded Claire, knowing Chase would definitely lash out at her.

"Claire Lawson, get over here!" Chase Carter roared at her.

Howard Finch watched as if it were a play. This was exactly the effect he wanted.

"If you two can’t even be on the same page as husband and wife, I don’t see any reason for you to be with us. You can choose to be with them," Howard Finch said deliberately, goading Chase Carter.

Enraged, Chase Carter lunged forward to grab Claire Lawson’s hair.

Claire Lawson looked at us in a panic, pleading for help. "Please, help me! He’s going to beat me to death!"

I glanced at Julian Fletcher. He frowned, clearly not wanting to get involved. He believed anyone here could be the killer and didn’t want to interfere with others.

As for Erin Whittaker, there was no way she would step in.

Claire Lawson could only look pleadingly at me and Felix Foster.

Peach held Claire Lawson tightly, her face filled with fear.

Chase Carter went up and slapped Claire Lawson across the back of her head, then started punching and kicking her.

He didn’t care at all if he accidentally hit Peach.

"You damn bitch, I was so unlucky to marry you! Get over here! Hanging out with these people, you won’t even know what hit you when you die. That psycho... he’s the killer," Chase Carter snarled, yanking Claire Lawson by the hair and dragging her toward his group.

Claire Lawson cried and shook her head. "Let go of me..."

"Help me."

She cried out for help as Chase Carter viciously kicked her in the stomach.

So many people were watching, yet they all stared on indifferently, as if it had nothing to do with them.

I took a deep breath and stepped forward, grabbing Chase Carter’s wrist. "You’re going to kill her."

"So what if I do? Don’t you fucking stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. She’s my wife. Even if I beat her to death, it’s just a domestic dispute," Chase Carter cursed.

I took another deep breath, understanding Claire Lawson’s despair. ’She must have called the police many times, but domestic violence... at most, it’s considered a public order issue. All she probably got in return was even more brazen beatings and threats.’

’In this situation, even getting a divorce would be a pipe dream for her.’

"Stop hitting me... please," Claire Lawson begged Chase Carter, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"You already beat her until she had a miscarriage, and you’re still hitting her!" Peach rushed over angrily, shielding Claire Lawson.

Chase Carter tried to hit Peach but was sent flying by a kick from Felix Foster. "What kind of man hits a woman?"

Chase Carter was kicked to the ground, in too much pain to get up right away.

He cursed, pointing at Claire Lawson. "Fine, you have help now. Just wait. When we get out of here, I’ll beat you to death."

Claire Lawson cried in fear, not daring to look at Chase Carter.

Peach held Claire Lawson comfortingly, whispering something I couldn’t quite hear.

"CLICK!"

Suddenly, all the lights on the floor went out.

The scene instantly fell silent.

Everyone held their breath, waiting to see what the madman would do next.

It was utterly quiet, with only the sound of everyone’s breathing and the DRIP... DRIP... of water. There were no other prompts.

"He’s not going to release poison gas again, is he? There’s no ventilation room on this floor," someone said, their voice trembling with fear. "Are we going to die in here?"

The room began to fill with anxious chatter.

"What do we do? What do we do?"

In the darkness, a hand grasped my wrist, seemingly trying to reassure me, to tell me not to be afraid.

My breath caught. I could feel it... it was Julian Fletcher’s presence.

He pulled me behind him, guiding me slowly backward until my back was against the corner of the wall.

In the pitch-black darkness where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, the evil in human nature is infinitely amplified.

The darkness lasted for a few minutes before light slowly returned from a distance.

The lights were on...

Everyone looked up at the lights in astonishment. "What’s going on?"

"What is that psycho trying to do? Just a power outage?"

"That’s it?"

Someone didn’t believe the madman would do something as simple as cutting the power.

"AHH!" Suddenly, someone screamed.

I also smelled the thick scent of blood.

Turning around, I saw a body hanging from the ceiling. His throat had been slit, so he couldn’t cry for help, and a knife was plunged straight into his heart.

The technique was clean and efficient, with no wasted movements.

I stared at the body in shock. It was Chase Carter... the man who had just been beating Claire Lawson.

I instinctively turned to look at Claire Lawson.

She was hiding in Peach’s arms, in the exact same position as before the lights went out. It didn’t seem possible that she could have killed someone in the dark and then hoisted the body up to the ceiling.

’Who killed Chase Carter?’

’The killer must be among us.’

Felix Foster frowned at Chase Carter’s body, shielding Peach and Claire Lawson as he backed away. "We need to get out of here, fast."

"Psycho..." Julian Fletcher’s expression was grim. He had moved to stand beside Erin Whittaker at some point and cursed under his breath.

My fingertips started to go cold.

’Is the killer really hiding among us?’

"Who killed Chase Carter...? Who killed Chase Carter? Was it his wife?"

"Is his wife the killer? That madman said the killer is one of us."

"It must be his wife. He was just hitting her."

The crowd erupted. A cacophony of voices echoed down the hallway as they began to voice their suspicions.

All fingers pointed at Claire Lawson.

Claire Lawson shook her head, crying, and said innocently, "It wasn’t me..."

But her reaction to seeing Chase Carter’s body was far too calm.

I took a deep breath and stood protectively in front of Claire Lawson. "She’s just one woman. How could she kill a man and hang him up in such a short amount of time? She couldn’t have done it."

"Then you all must have worked together..." Howard Finch narrowed his eyes and began to incite the crowd to turn on us. "This little group doesn’t mix with anyone else. There’s definitely something wrong with them. It’s very likely they orchestrated this whole thing to force us into a corner and get us killed."

Howard Finch had hurt me before, so he must suspect we were the ones who brought him here for revenge. That’s why he was trying to turn the others against us, to eliminate the dissenters first. "If they don’t die, we will!"

"Yeah, kill them! They’re definitely the problem!"

This is the evil of human nature. They spoke of murder as casually as if they were discussing what to have for dinner.