Chapter 220 - 219: Cecilia Caldwell Is a Lunatic

Chapter 220: Chapter 219: Cecilia Caldwell Is a Lunatic

"Why don’t you find the exit first," Erin Whittaker said indifferently with a cold laugh. "If you can’t, we’ll all die here anyway."

The others looked at each other. "Yeah, let’s find a way out first. It won’t be too late to kill them after we find it."

Julian Fletcher looked at Erin Whittaker. "Do you know where the exit is?"

Erin Whittaker glanced down the hallway. "There’s a difference between the seventeenth and eighteenth floors. The original emergency exit has been sealed off. But the overall structure of a building is consistent, so there can’t be too much variation from floor to floor. Even if the layout is irregular, there has to be some kind of pattern."

"What a load of crap," Felix Foster shot back with a scoff, muttering under his breath, "Not a single useful word."

Erin Whittaker’s expression changed, clearly angered by Felix Foster.

She said nothing, merely gesturing with her hand. "You find the exit, then."

Felix Foster scoffed. "I said before that there wouldn’t be any killing on this floor, that they would make us unite first. Looks like you lost."

Erin Whittaker pointed at Chase Carter’s body. "Someone died here, it seems. I didn’t lose either."

Seeing the two were about to argue, Julian Fletcher spoke, displeased. "Is this really the time to be arguing?"

"We’re going to find the exit," Felix Foster said, gesturing for me, Claire Lawson, and Peach to follow.

"You’re all going? What if you find it and don’t tell us?" Howard Finch raised a hand to block Felix Foster.

That group of people surrounded us.

"What do you want?" Felix Foster asked in a low voice.

"Leave her behind," Howard Finch said, pointing at me.

He meant for me to be left as a hostage. That way, they’d have to come back and tell them after finding the exit.

"In your dreams." Felix Foster’s gaze was cold as he stared at Howard Finch. "It’s clear you’re still plotting something."

’If they leave me behind, Howard Finch will definitely do something to me...’

"You’re overthinking it. We just want to live." Howard Finch smiled and looked at me. "Her relationship with that madman isn’t ordinary. Keeping her with me puts my mind at ease."

"You guys go find the way out," I said to Felix Foster, hiding the dagger in my sleeve. "Come get us after you find it."

Howard Finch wanted to take me hostage. If I refused, we’d be stuck in a stalemate. If things turned violent, we were no match for their numbers.

Felix Foster frowned. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he held back. "Yell if anything happens."

I nodded.

Erin Whittaker shot me a mocking glance, then left, clearly enjoying my misfortune.

Julian Fletcher looked grim, but he didn’t show it in front of Erin Whittaker. As he passed by me, he secretly placed something in my hand.

I froze for a moment, then quickly hid it up my sleeve.

It seemed to be a mini curved blade, a perfect fit for my hand.

"Hand over the dagger." Howard Finch knew I had a weapon and ordered me to hand it over.

"You’d better cooperate, or else..." Howard Finch moved closer to me, his eyes full of menace.

I took my dagger from my sleeve and gave it to Howard Finch.

Howard Finch made a move to search me, but I warned him, "Don’t push it. Otherwise, we’ll all go down together."

After all, we were on someone else’s turf, so Howard Finch showed some restraint.

He sneered and grabbed my chin. "That madman seems to care about you a lot. He rushed to save you first and protected you so well... Why was he willing to leave you behind this time? To leave you with us?"

Leaving me with this group was like throwing a sheep into a pack of wolves.

"Tell me, do you think he’s sitting behind a monitor right now, watching our every move?" Howard Finch pointed to the security camera in the corner.

I frowned and said nothing.

"If we were to... take turns on you, would he come out to save you?" Howard Finch suddenly seemed intrigued.

’He probably figured since they were just waiting for Felix and the others to find a way out, they might as well have some fun.’

"Life is short. Might as well have a little fun before we die. I’m sure everyone would be happy to join in, right?" Howard Finch began to incite the others, trying to get them to make a move on me.

’I knew what Howard Finch was up to. He was convinced Asher was the killer and wanted to test his limits, to see if he could bait him out.’

Gripping the blade in my hand, I slowly backed away.

Howard Finch’s laughter grew more unhinged. It seemed my fear delighted him. "Go on, make your move! Don’t say I never do anything for you."

Howard Finch urged the men around him.

A few of them still looked shaken. After all, Chase Carter’s body was still hanging there. They weren’t in the mood.

But there were still madmen...

Like the one named Max Mason.

"Do you remember me?" Max Mason’s voice was low as he walked toward me.

I frowned. ’Who is he?’

"Cecilia Caldwell..." He seemed to have gone insane, suddenly grabbing my neck and calling me Cecilia Caldwell.

I frowned at him. ’He can recognize me, too?’

"You’ve got the wrong person. She’s not Cecilia Caldwell, she just looks a bit like her," Howard Finch reminded Max Mason, not wanting a death on his hands. "You’re really losing it. You see Cecilia Caldwell everywhere."

Max Mason was clearly agitated and didn’t listen to Howard Finch at all. "Remember this...? This right here is all thanks to you."

Max Mason started to take off his pants.

I watched him in a panic, struggling to break free from his grip.

But he was too strong.

As he pulled his pants down, I instinctively shut my eyes, not wanting to see something so vile.

"If you hadn’t ruined me... I’d be married with children by now, with a whole family! It’s all because of you!"

His voice was laced with hatred.

’He claimed Cecilia Caldwell had ruined him.’

My face was already turning red from suffocation, and the aura of death surrounded me.

"Max, snap out of it!" Owen Finch was getting scared, too. It was clear Max Mason wanted to kill me.

He called a few others over, trying to pull Max Mason away.

But Max Mason kept his death grip on me. "Go to hell, Cecilia Caldwell, you lunatic, you lunatic!"

"Crazy bitch."

Just as I was about to lose consciousness from suffocation, the lights suddenly went out again.

The lights on this floor seemed to go out at random.

I fought back the suffocation and plunged the blade Julian Fletcher had given me into his wrist.

He screamed in pain and finally let go.

I fell to the ground, gasping for breath. My head throbbed as if it were about to explode from the lack of oxygen.

Some long-buried memories... seemed to be slowly breaking through the surface at this moment.

"She’s mentally disabled. How many times did you assault her because of it?" In the memory, I was standing in the orphanage basement, my voice cold.

The man tied to the chair was Max Mason, the same man who had just tried to choke me to death.

"I stabbed Zane Abbott a dozen times, but it looks like that didn’t scare you... How dare you still do something like this to Peach?"

In the memory, my smile was terrifying.

Curled up and trembling in the corner was Peach. Her eyes were red from crying, her body was bare, and there were traces of blood between her legs.

It was obvious... she had just been assaulted.

In the chair, Max Mason was also naked, staring at me in terror. "Cecilia Caldwell, you lunatic, what are you doing!"

"People who can’t control themselves from the waist down... deserve to be eunuchs." I moved closer to Max Mason, knife in hand, and brutally stabbed down.

Quick and clean.

Screams, blood... the horrific scene flooded my mind.

I was so horrified I felt sick.

’Did I really do all this?’

"Cecilia Caldwell, you lunatic, AHHH..."

The screams kept echoing.

I scrambled backward, breathing heavily, terrified to my core in the pitch-black darkness.

Asher...

Where was Asher?

So, it was true. When I was terrified and felt completely unsafe, I really did think of Asher.

TAP. TAP. TAP.

The lights flickered on again.

Everyone held their breath.

Another body was hanging from the ceiling.

It was Max Mason...

Every time the lights went out, someone died.

But who killed him? Felix Foster, Julian Fletcher, Peach, Claire Lawson, Erin Whittaker... none of them were here.

’Could there be a killer among this group, too?’