Chapter 221 - 220: I Was Pushed Down the Stairs

Chapter 221: Chapter 220: I Was Pushed Down the Stairs

Everyone held their breath, warily scanning their surroundings.

My breathing was shallow as I leaned against the wall. I looked down at my hands, which were covered in blood...

But I’d only grazed Max Mason’s arm with the knife. There was no way that would have left this much blood on my hands.

I instinctively hid my hands behind my back, my breath hitching as I frantically tried to rub the blood off.

’It wasn’t me... I didn’t kill him.’

’But why is there blood on my hands?’

"It’s her!" Howard Finch suddenly pointed the finger at me. "I saw blood on her hands."

"A lunatic... Of course, anyone associated with that madman is a lunatic too!"

Everyone started to get agitated.

"If you ask me, if that madman won’t let us out, we should just kill his woman," Howard Finch said in a low voice, goading the others to move against me.

"Yeah! Let us out! Or we’ll kill her!" A few of them surrounded me, shouting at the camera.

I sat on the floor, my whole body tense. "Killing me is useless," I said in a low voice. "Sebastian Lancaster is definitely not the one behind this. And if he is... killing me is still useless. He’s already abandoned me."

"Hmph. Killing you would still be a good way to vent," someone retorted.

I clenched my fists, trying to force myself to calm down. "Instead of wasting time killing me, we should be finding a way out of here before the next power outage. Haven’t you noticed? Every time the power goes out, someone dies."

"If I had the strength to kill someone and hang them from the ceiling, I wouldn’t be sitting here listening to you all talk nonsense." I pushed myself up against the wall and stood, warily watching the people surrounding me.

’They could make a move at any moment, and right now, I’m all alone...’

"I found the exit!"

Just as Howard Finch was about to make a move on me, Julian Fletcher’s voice echoed from the end of the hallway.

Everyone instantly turned and ran desperately toward the sound.

"Cece..." Julian Fletcher was running against the crowd, toward me. He glanced back over his shoulder and whispered, "The others are already on the sixteenth floor. Come with me."

Julian Fletcher grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the end of the hall.

My breathing grew heavier, and the pain in my head intensified.

CLICK!

The moment we reached the exit, the power on the entire seventeenth floor went out again.

Howard Finch and the others had already gone down the stairs. Only Julian Fletcher and I were left on the seventeenth floor.

My heart leaped into my throat. In the darkness, I almost instinctively pushed Julian Fletcher toward the stairs. "Go..."

THUD!

I was standing by the stairwell when I distinctly felt someone behind me take advantage of the darkness to give me a hard shove, sending me tumbling down the stairs.

As I fell, I heard Julian Fletcher’s panicked voice. "Cecilia!"

The moment I hit the ground, I felt completely dazed from the impact. I couldn’t feel any pain, just a strange sense that my body and soul had separated.

The flight of stairs wasn’t too long, so at least the fall didn’t kill me.

The entire sixteenth floor was lit. I could feel blood trickling from my nostrils, and my consciousness was starting to fade.

...

I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but I came to the sound of arguing.

"You still think she’s Cecilia, don’t you? How many times do I have to tell you she’s an imposter?"

"You’re overthinking it." It was Julian Fletcher’s voice, low and seemingly suppressing a wave of anger.

"Then what is it? Why did you go back to save her? Why were you so panicked when she fell? What are you afraid of? Have you fallen for her?"

’Erin Whittaker was being so aggressive. At a time like this, she really didn’t resemble ’Cecilia’ at all.’

’Even when I was living with the Fletchers after losing my memory, I would never have questioned Julian like that.’

’It must be tough for Julian to endure her while pretending to believe she’s the real one...’

"Is she okay? She’s not gonna die from that fall, is she?" Felix Foster muttered from the side.

Claire Lawson’s voice was gentle as she touched my forehead. "There are no major issues, but I’m worried about a concussion. We need to get out of here and take her to a hospital for a check-up as soon as possible."

"Are her arms and legs broken?" Felix Foster rattled off several more questions, none of them particularly reassuring.

I struggled to open my eyes, and that’s when the searing pain from every corner of my body hit me.

"Ah!" I couldn’t hold it in and cried out.

"She’s awake!" Felix Foster rushed over, pleasantly surprised, and helped support me. "Are you okay?"

It took me a long moment to fully open my eyes. The pain was so intense I could barely breathe. "Don’t touch me..."

My arms hurt.

My legs hurt.

Everything hurt.

Only then did Felix Foster let go.

Julian Fletcher also hurried over, his eyes filled with concern. "Do you remember who pushed you?" he asked tensely.

I shook my head. "It was too dark."

’But I was fairly certain of one thing. The person who pushed me was trying to kill Julian.’

’I pushed him out of the way at the last second, and then... I was the one shoved down the stairs.’

’At that moment, besides Julian and me, there was definitely someone else hiding on the seventeenth floor.’

"Who was the last one down? Did any of you see?" I asked, wincing in pain.

Felix Foster shook his head. "We panicked when we saw you fall, so we came over to check on you. We didn’t notice if anyone else was on the stairs."

"The seventeenth floor was pitch-black. When you fell, I looked, but I couldn’t see anything," Julian Fletcher said with a frown. He instinctively reached for my hand, but with Erin Whittaker there, he pulled it back. "We have to get out of here as soon as possible. That madman... won’t spare a single one of us."

"The seventeenth floor forced us into a temporary small group, which helped us build a certain degree of camaraderie and trust..." Erin Whittaker began her analysis again. "So on this floor, there will definitely be a larger-scale slaughter."

’There were three power outages on the seventeenth floor, which should have meant three deaths. But I didn’t die.’

’So on the sixteenth floor, there really is going to be a large-scale slaughter.’

’That person isn’t going to let us reach the first floor alive.’

BANG BANG BANG! "Is anyone there? Anyone on the other side?"

Suddenly, the sound of someone pounding on a wall came from our room.

The wall seemed to be made of drywall, a partition that didn’t sound very sturdy.

I shot a wary glance at Felix Foster, then at Howard Finch’s group. With the people who had died, there were thirteen of us left, that’s right... so who was that on the other side of the drywall, talking and banging?

"That voice sounds a little familiar," Felix Foster muttered.

"It’s Lucas Grant!" I said, staring at the drywall in surprise.

BAM! Having received no response, Lucas Grant started trying to break through the wall.

Julian Fletcher instinctively pulled me away from that wall.

A moment later, Lucas Grant’s head poked through. "Holy crap, you’re all here."

I stared at him in astonishment, and he stared back at me with equal surprise.

"You have time to waste talking nonsense," came Zeke Shaw’s voice from the other side.

Zeke Shaw pushed Lucas Grant aside, kicked the rest of the drywall open, and climbed through.

"Why are you all here?" Zeke Shaw was also surprised.

He and Lucas Grant were also wearing hospital gowns, so it looked like they had been captured just like us.

Besides Lucas Grant and Zeke Shaw, Madeline Quinn climbed through as well.

"Madeline!" I was shocked. ’How are the three of them here too?’

"Where are we? We just woke up here," Madeline Quinn said, scratching her head. "It’s so weird. I just went on a blind date, had a glass of juice, and then passed out."

"I saw her being taken away, so I went after them and got ambushed too..." Zeke Shaw cleared his throat with a dry cough.

"What about you, Genius Grant? You’re the specialist on the task force..." All eyes turned to Lucas Grant.

"Heh..." Lucas Grant guiltily touched the tip of his nose. "I let them set me up and bring me here on purpose. My goal is to bring the serial killer to justice!"

"But why did they wake up on the sixteenth floor, while we were on the eighteenth?" Claire Lawson asked, confused.

"Because they’re law enforcement," Felix Foster said with a cold laugh. "A task force specialist, a detective, and a medical examiner. Heh... The madman is taunting us. Taunting everyone. He’s also telling us all that the difficulty of this game is about to go up."

’The game is leveling up.’

’That means... the difficulty is increasing.’

’Escaping the sixteenth floor is going to be incredibly difficult.’

Suddenly, my head started to throb again, and my ears began to ring.

A warm liquid trickled from my nose. It was blood...

And countless new memories began to surface in my mind...