Chapter 12: Have You Forgotten Me?

She seemed to be dreaming again.

For some reason, she’d dreamed of her middle school days.

Back then, she wore an “outgoing” mask, thinking that would help her get along with everyone and shield her from more hurt.

But reality loved its twists.

After a series of events shattered that facade, she applied to a university out of province and deleted all contacts from her past.

Here, beyond the bare-minimum socializing she deemed necessary, she had no energy left to beam at everyone.

She’d flipped entirely from a “sunny” type to a gloomy one.

Even so, last year as a freshman, the headache-inducing harassment had still happened.

Though Lin Yanqiu had stepped in to handle it temporarily, they still hadn’t caught the culprit…

Why on earth would anyone be into her gloomy personality?

She’d spent years getting chewed out for that expressionless face…

She woke in a daze to the sound of her roommates laughing and chatting below.

Looks like their voices had roused her.

But she wasn’t grumpy about it—after all, it wasn’t official sleep hours, and roommates talking was normal.

She reached for her phone to check the time, only to sense something off.

“Hm?”

Hua Qi’an’s mind blanked; the situation felt eerily familiar.

She seemed…

To be pinned down again?

Her whole body refused to move.

Yet her roommates’ voices rang clear in her ears.

Though dim, she could still make out the pattern on her curtain’s top.

Almost identical to that night in the haunted house.

Her heart stuttered for a beat, but Hua Qi’an steadied herself quick.

This was school; she’d left that place behind.

So-called sleep paralysis, from a scientific angle, was just that—sleep paralysis.

The waterweeds, the weird sounds back then—they’d been hallucinations cooked up by her brain.

With that thought, Hua Qi’an felt worlds better, as expected.

A sudden weight settled on her chest—the familiar press.

Hua Qi’an tensed all over, her fingertips stiffening.

She felt something heavy scrabbling at her, like it was clambering onto her body.

And yet, she couldn’t close her eyes.

A silhouette gradually took shape before her.

“Mmm…”

The curtain’s pattern vanished from view.

Hua Qi’an’s sight filled with something else.

What appeared before her wasn’t some mutilated, horrifying ghost from nightmares—but a person, with eyes and nose intact?

Just that half-translucent body kept reminding her: this was all illusion.

Though her chest felt weighed down, Hua Qi’an oddly sensed softness there, like her chest pressed against something yielding, with a faint pushback.

Hua Qi’an guessed this was a woman.

Her breathing slowed for a moment as a familiar scent curled at her nostrils.

Like emerging from water, the salty dampness tangled with mud and river—earth and liquid entwined.

Hua Qi’an knew this smell all too well.

Was it from her bizarre haunted house ordeal?

Her brain, fabricating this hallucination, had even recycled the scent.

Her gaze fell on the face.

Fine features, a refreshing girl-next-door vibe.

Sweet smile in full bloom, eyes crinkling—now fixed on Hua Qi’an with a grin that held no joy.

Seeing that smile, Hua Qi’an felt a chill snake down her spine.

Why did a smile feel so creepy?

Her skin was pale—not the healthy kind, but an unnatural white—as she stared at Hua Qi’an, eyes unblinking, like they never tired.

This person looked so familiar, yet Hua Qi’an couldn’t place her…

She tried to speak, to ask, but her body wouldn’t obey.

She could only endure it.

Why the strange sense of déjà vu?

The figure on her buried her face in Hua Qi’an’s neck, nuzzling.

So cold.

Hua Qi’an shuddered.

She’d always run cool herself, but right now, this girl felt outright frigid.

They held the pose for ages.

Hua Qi’an’s unease mounted.

She couldn’t detect a thing from the girl—no warmth, no heartbeat, no breath.

It was like a corpse lay atop her…

She told herself it was just a hallucination.

Ride it out, and she’d wake.

Hua Qi’an resolved to show this damn illusion her iron will—no matter the harassment, she’d stay cool as ice.

“Eek—”

A cold sensation suddenly slithered everywhere on her skin.

But her clothes sat neat as ever; nothing felt missing.

It wasn’t surface chill—more like deliberate touches roaming her body.

As if two hands, devoid of warmth, trailed from her neck downward—skimming chest, belly, gliding smooth over her thighs before veering toward unmentionable spots.

The icy, itchy tingle made it unbearable.

The path they took? Even worse.

Even if hallucination, this crossed a line—

A cool puff of breath blew into her ear, raising every hair on her body.

She noticed the silhouette leaning close to her ear.

An indescribable sensation bloomed from that odd spot on her leg; Hua Qi’an’s ear tips flushed scarlet.

Don’t—don’t touch there.

Even if illusion—no—

“…”

“Huh, you think that elective has the scary Professor Lin this year?”

“Heard she’s hot but brutal—insane fail rate, tons of assignments. Only an idiot would pick it.”

“Everything else is snapped up; half the spots in hers are still open. Heh, guess some poor soul’s getting auto-assigned.”

“Yingying, you know full well… and you say that? So mean, hehehe.”

“…”

Her roommates’ voices grew louder, impossible to tune out.

But she was frozen, helpless against the liberties taken…

With them right outside, and her trapped in bed like this—if Hua Qi’an could see herself, she’d swear her ears were blood-red.

Was her subconscious that starved lately?

Why this?

A faint, resentful female voice murmured at her ear.

Hua Qi’an vaguely recalled hearing it by her ear that night in the house too—just hadn’t caught the words.

Now, it looped one phrase, growing clearer with each repeat.

Finally, she made it out—

[Liar…]

What?

[Liar liar liar liar liar liar liar liar…]

“Ah—!”

The anomaly hit like a thunderclap; her mind blanked, static snow flaring in her brain.

[…Have you forgotten me?]

Where eyes should sparkle gaped hollow sockets, staring empty into Hua Qi’an’s.

The salty dampness thickened to substance, twinned with a wet, gloomy voice from abyssal depths, crawling up her marrow like maggots in bone.

A dull ache, impossible to scream down, tore from her gut—like something ruptured inside—plunging Hua Qi’an into soulless chaos.

[You can only be mine—!]

Hua Qi’an couldn’t think anymore.

Cool composure? Long forgotten.

Flat on her back, her lips quivered, but pain locked her throat silent.

The horrifying silhouette had vanished.

She twitched her hand—control returned.

The agony ebbed to echoes; Hua Qi’an finally mustered strength to sit up.

At the same time, she realized the dorm had gone weirdly quiet.

The earlier chatter? Gone—replaced by awkward hush.

She eased back the curtain; the light made her squint reflexively.

When her vision cleared, her three roommates stared at her, shock plain on their faces.

“Xiao Qian, you okay?”

Only then did Hua Qi’an clock her state: soaked in sweat, face ashen, head oddly feverish.

And the mortifying part—a scent wafting from below, one only she could catch for now…