Once Bitten, Twice Shy

It was about time Vincent and Leah arrived in Aharromoggh.

Were they there yet?

Samantha turned off the fire and wiped her hands with a kitchen towel. She then reached for her phone and answered the call, "Hello, Dr. Jameson, are you here yet?"

Vincent answered calmly, "I'm sorry, Ms. Larsson, I have to deal with a patient's last-minute serious illness and I won't be able to go over just yet. I'll probably need another two or so days before I can go over."

"Oh, I see..." Samantha said understandingly. "I've been well recently, Doctor, so you can go ahead and sort things out on your end first. I'll be alright."

"Okay. Remember to take the medication I prescribed to you and continue to nurse your health. Call me if there are any issues." Dr. Jameson had an apologetic tone. "I'll rush over immediately once I'm done with my work here."

Samantha responded, "Okay, Doctor."

Vincent was incredibly concerned about her body and Samantha was not going to hold it against him if he was busy, especially when it was just another two extra days.

After hanging up, she thought of going to the house that Vincent rented if she was free the next day after getting off work. At least she could help with some cleaning in advance.

That way, the doctor and his assistant could immediately move in comfortably as soon as they came over.

The next day, there were no news broadcasts to be done that night and so she clocked out of work at half-past-five sharp.

As she walked out the door, she happened to meet her amiable boss, Micah. He drove over and parked in front of her as he lowered the window and asked with a smile, "Are you heading back to the dormitory? Get in and I'll send you there."

Samantha would have hopped on if she was going back to the dormitory, but she had to decline the offer because she was going to the apartment rented by Vincent. "I'm heading elsewhere. Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Lind."

Micah nodded. "Alright. Be careful."

"I will."

Micah drove off.

Samantha had searched up the route before and found that it took only a five-or-six-minute walk to the apartment Vincent rented, whereas a detour was required if going there by car. She could just turn on her navigation app and walk according to the directions.

After 15 minutes of walking, Samantha got to the apartment building and took out the mineral water from her bag. She uncapped it and took a few sips before entering.

Barely a few steps later, she keenly sensed that there was someone behind her and immediately frowned. Rather than turning to look, she subconsciously accelerated her footsteps.

As soon as she quickened her footsteps, the person behind her immediately ran to her.

The person was incredibly quick, even as Samantha had already reacted fast enough. She was about to pick up her pace and start running, but as soon as she did that, the person had appeared behind her like a ghost.

Samantha's nape received a strike from the edge of the person's palm. Her eyes went black and she could not control herself from landing limply and uncontrollably.

…

At eight that evening, Rochelle glanced at the phone screen but saw no calls from Samantha.

She called on time every single day before, so what was it that happened that day? Could it be a field assignment?

Rochelle decided to wait a little longer after considering that possibility.

She went out to exercise for a moment, then took a shower and came out. While doing her skincare routine, she glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that the time was half-past nine.

Rochelle reached for the phone again and still saw no news from Samantha.

What was going on?

Rochelle had a bad feeling. She bit her lower lip and quickly dialed Samantha's number, but no one answered even though the dial tone was heard in her ears.

She made five calls in a row and all of them went similarly unanswered.

Rochelle narrowed her eyes and decided to call Vincent, who answered rather quickly. "Hello?"

"Hello, Doctor. I'm Rochelle, a good friend of Sammy," Rochelle said bluntly. "I called Sammy but she never answered my call. I'm worried that something has happened to her. Can you contact her or check her apartment please?"

"What?" Vincent's tone sank. "Ms. Tyrell, didn't Ms. Larsson tell you that I'll come back sometime later? I'm not in Aharromoggh now and the last phone call I had with Ms. Larsson was last night."

"What!?"

She never expected something like that to happen. After all, the only reason she could rest at ease was due to Vincent's timely arrival at Aharromoggh. How could he say that he had something to do at the last minute?

To make things worse, Rochelle could not get through to Samantha's phone a day after the doctor said his schedule was delayed...

Vincent comforted her, "Ms. Larsson told me yesterday that she's been well recently and there's nothing wrong with her health. Perhaps she's just busy with something. You can always call her a little later. There's no need to worry so much."

"No, something's…not quite right!" Rochelle panicked a little and felt that there was more than meets the eye. "That's it for now, Doctor. Goodbye."

She hung up the phone and immediately called Micah.

Samantha had earlier given Micah's number to Rochelle in the event she was unreachable.

Micah answered the phone quickly. "Hello?"

Rochelle briefly explained the situation to Micah, who said in surprise, "It can't be. I saw Ms. Larsson when I got off work and she looked fine. Although, she said she wanted to go somewhere else instead of going straight back to the dormitory."

'Somewhere else.'

Samantha would not go anywhere else in Aharromoggh except for MNK Television and the dormitory building. The only other possibility was the place Vincent was supposed to rent.

Rochelle asked sullenly, "Mr. Lind, could you please go to this address and see if Sammy's there. Please keep in touch, okay?"

Micah did not turn down the request and promised her right away.

Rochelle got restless after hanging up.

Truthfully speaking, she had some sort of a telepathic connection with Samantha. Over the years, she always seemed to feel it whenever something happened to Samantha.

Her intuition was telling her that something was wrong.

She could not sit still.

Rochelle took a deep breath and dialed Jonathan's cell phone at once. He answered it in seconds.

She then said bluntly, "Send my passport over right now. I want to go abroad!"

All her documents were in Jonathan's hands and she had to get them from him.

Jonathan spoke in a cold and deep voice. "What's the matter?"

"A life is at stake. If I don't see my passport within thirty minutes, you'll be seeing my dead body!" Rochelle roared and ended the call!

…

In Aharromoggh, Samantha slowly regained consciousness and felt her entire body becoming cold. It was very, very cold, so much so that her entire body was shaking and her heavy eyelids opened all of a sudden.

In front of her was a large ocean.

'An ocean?'

Samantha was stunned for a moment. She closed her eyes and opened them again, only to find that it was real and not an illusion.

Other than having a vast ocean in front of her, her entire body was immersed in the ocean... 

That explained why she felt so cold...

By then, the seawater had risen to Samantha's chest and showed no signs of receding.