Chapter 227 - 226: Erin Whittaker is the Bait Placed by Victor Quinn

Chapter 227: Chapter 226: Erin Whittaker is the Bait Placed by Victor Quinn

Julian Fletcher and Zeke Shaw both jumped down. The group put on their stretched and misshapen clothes and climbed out of the air vent.

The fifteenth floor, the entire floor... was a massive amusement park.

However, the atmosphere of the amusement park was somewhat eerie.

"So familiar..." My head suddenly started to hurt, and I raised a hand, tugging at my hair to relieve the pain.

This amusement park was a one-to-one replica.

A replica... of the amusement park that a Meridia charity had donated to the Twin Star Orphanage all those years ago.

All the rides had been donated. That amusement park was right in the orphanage’s backyard, but it had been abandoned long ago.

’Why would the killer replicate this place?’

"Welcome, everyone, to Twin Star Amusement Park. This is a place for fun and games. BEEP BEEP BEEP..." The eerie voice sounded again.

I could almost hear laughter in the air, the sounds of the orphanage kids fighting over toys.

I vaguely remembered how my parents had to apply multiple times and negotiate repeatedly with the charity organization just to get that amusement park back then.

But the park was shut down after a horrific accident. A child from the orphanage had suffered a crippling injury on the roller coaster, which resulted in the amputation of both legs. So, it was sealed off.

After that, the orphanage forbade the children from going to the amusement park.

"This place..." I walked up to the carousel, looking at the decade-old rides, the eerie wooden horses with their eerie eyes. Even the music sounded eerie.

"What the hell does that lunatic want?" Zeke Shaw muttered, his brow furrowed.

"Who knows what he wants? He’s a lunatic..." Howard Finch sounded panicked, his voice trembling. He was clearly hiding something.

I looked at him suspiciously. "What do you know?"

"What are you talking about?" Howard Finch refused to admit anything.

I didn’t press him, just continued walking past the carousel.

There was a slide, an indoor roller coaster, and swing chairs...

"They should all be on this floor. Let’s meet up with them first," Zeke Shaw called out, heading forward to find Asher and the others.

I stood where I was, numbly staring at the rides.

’What was the killer trying to say?’

"AHH!" A bloodcurdling scream came from not far away.

Julian Fletcher, Zeke Shaw, and Howard Finch all ran toward the sound.

It was as if I hadn’t heard it, continuing to ponder the killer’s intentions.

I smelled the thick scent of blood coming from the roller coaster track, where cars were constantly whizzing by.

Years ago, that kid from the orphanage had his legs crushed on a children’s roller coaster track just like this one.

"Silvia Lynch, as long as you’re alive, they’ll never believe I’m Cecilia Caldwell." Suddenly, someone shoved me hard from behind.

’Erin Whittaker really did want me dead.’

CLACK-CLACK-CLACK. The roller coaster came roaring toward us.

I spun around, grabbed Erin Whittaker, and dragged her down with me, flipping over to pin her onto the track.

Just as the roller coaster was about to run her over, I let her go.

Erin Whittaker shot upright in terror. The roller coaster grazed her head as it passed, leaving her pale and shaken.

I grabbed Erin Whittaker by the throat. "You tried to kill me."

Erin Whittaker clawed at my hand in pain.

"Let me guess... how you suddenly got so smart." I moved closer to Erin Whittaker’s face, observing her carefully. Just as I suspected, I spotted something in her ear canal. "Heh... So you and the person backing you were prepared all along. You knew the serial killer would target you, so you put an invisible wireless earpiece in your ear beforehand."

I raised my hand and slapped Erin Whittaker hard across the face, but the earpiece didn’t fall out.

’It’s pretty well hidden.’

Erin Whittaker glared at me viciously.

I smiled at her, then slapped her again. This time I hit harder, and the corner of her mouth started to bleed.

Finally, the tiny, invisible earpiece fell out.

"It’s Victor Quinn, isn’t it?" I stood up and stomped on the earpiece. "An anti-detection, anti-jamming invisible earpiece... Even if the killer blocks cell signals, they can’t block the signal to this."

I laughed, looking down at Erin Whittaker. "If Victor Quinn can contact you through an earpiece, he must be nearby, right? He clearly could have called the police to rescue everyone, but he chose to let you keep going... What is his goal, I wonder?"

’I bet Victor Quinn doesn’t want to call the police. He probably doesn’t even want them to know.’

’Erin Whittaker is his bait. He’s fishing.’

’The one he wants to catch is the killer himself.’

’It seems this serial killer has seriously interfered with Victor Quinn’s so-called "gene experiments."’

’The serial killer’s motive for killing ’Cecilia Caldwell’ was to make a statement to Victor Quinn and those other lunatics with their anti-human gene experiments.’

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind," I said in a low voice.

’I hadn’t planned on exposing Erin Whittaker, but she’d tried to come after me one too many times...’

"Without your little cheat sheet, let’s see how you get out of here." I grabbed Erin Whittaker’s hair and threatened her in a low voice. "You deliberately led us here to kill me? You can try to make a move on me... but if you dare to even think about touching Asher, I’ll kill you..."

A flicker of fear and shock crossed Erin Whittaker’s eyes. Her voice trembled as she spoke. "You..."

Then she shook her head, denying her own thought. "Impossible. You can’t be Cecilia Caldwell. Cecilia is already dead..."

"I didn’t lead you here, it was Claire Lawson..." Erin Whittaker tried to say more, but was cut off before she could finish.

"Cece!"

Behind me, Asher had found his way over.

I let go of Erin Whittaker, stood up, and turned to smile at him.

Asher rushed over in a panic and pulled me into a tight hug. "As long as you’re okay, as long as you’re okay..."

"What happened over there?" I asked.

"There are traps on the floor. Someone fell into one and broke their leg," Asher said in a low voice.

I nodded. "Asher, doesn’t this amusement park look familiar to you?"

Asher took a deep breath. "Yeah... it’s a replica of the amusement park from the orphanage."

"So what’s the killer’s motive?" I asked.

"Punishment..." Asher’s gaze turned dark as he glanced at Erin Whittaker. "Back then, a kid at the orphanage named Blake Young was bullied by them... They pushed him off a moving roller coaster. His legs got caught in the track’s slot and were snapped in two."

From that day on, the boy had no legs. He was sent to a school for the disabled, and no one heard from him again.

Erin Whittaker instinctively looked away. "The ones who bullied Blake Young were Howard Finch and his friends."

"BEEP BEEP, the roller coaster is here! Everyone buckle your seatbelts and get ready to go! 3, 2..."

The eerie voice sounded again.

Asher instinctively pulled me into his arms and stepped up onto the frame of the carousel.

As soon as the countdown finished, the floor tiles began to flip over.

Erin Whittaker was sitting on the ground. A tile flipped over right by her feet, but she was lucky enough to lift her legs in time.

Beneath the tiles were traps of rapidly spinning blades...

If you fell in, your legs would be severed in an instant.

"AHH!"

Another bloodcurdling scream echoed from the other side.

Asher and I ran over quickly. We saw one of the guys from the orphanage with one of his legs caught in a trap.

"Everyone, find a safe spot! Get to the swing chairs!" Zeke Shaw shouted in a panic, telling everyone to get onto the spinning chairs and sit tight.

The two injured people were dragged to a relatively safe area.

But they were losing too much blood. With no proper medical treatment here, they would die before they ever made it to the first floor.

"HAHAHAHA..." Laughter erupted from the speakers. "This is so much fun."

Zeke Shaw was losing control, screaming into the empty air. "Come out! Stop playing games! Even if they deserve to die, it’s not for you to decide! They will get the punishment they deserve!"

"How naive." The eerie voice mocked Zeke Shaw. "Officer Lowell, tell me, how would you punish them? Back then, just because Blake Young took the front seat on the roller coaster, they secretly unbuckled his safety belt and pushed him out while the ride was moving."

"That’s murder, Officer Lowell. How would you punish them for that?"

The eerie voice screamed hysterically.

Listening to Asher’s heartbeat, my own heart ached for some reason.

’All those demons are gathered together. I can only imagine what kind of nightmares people like Asher and Charlie, who never fit in with them, must have gone through.’

Asher looked down, his eyes meeting mine. His gaze flickered as he spoke in a low voice. "Cece... they aren’t innocent."

"Let’s play a game of hide-and-seek. Thirty-second countdown. Everyone hide well, okay? Anyone who’s found... will die!" The eerie voice was still echoing as the countdown began.

The voice wanted all of us to hide.

Asher grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a gap underneath the carousel.

"10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1. Coming out now..."

Not far away, a stone wall slid open, and ten people walked out. They wore eerie masks and carried chainsaws. Their muscular arms made it clear they were hired killers.

"Are you all hidden? Don’t let me find you..."