After finishing breakfast, Neil settled on the sofa while Zoe was in the kitchen washing the dishes. Neil reached for the remote on the coffee table and turned on the TV. The city’s 9 AM news was covering a car accident. The news anchor spoke in a soft and fluent tone, though her delivery lacked any emotional depth, despite the fatal nature of the accident being reported.
“At 1:15 AM last night, a serious accident occurred on Wailing Street. A BMW lost control, veered onto the sidewalk, and crashed into a utility pole. All three men in the car were killed. Initial police reports suggest that alcohol impairment might have caused the accident, but this is just a preliminary conclusion. The police will need to review the surveillance footage to reach a more accurate verdict.”
Just as the anchor finished, a crash echoed from the kitchen—the sound of glass shattering on the floor. Neil hurried to the kitchen, wincing from his injured side, and saw Zoe standing in shock, staring at the broken pieces of a glass on the floor. Zoe looked back, confused and frightened, standing still. Neil approached and gently took Zoe’s cold and trembling hands.
“Are you hurt?”
Zoe quickly shook his head, his voice stumbling, “No, no, I’m fine. I just accidentally dropped it.”
Noticing Zoe’s anxiety, with his hands still cold, Neil carefully embraced him, his hand rubbing up and down Zoe’s back. Zoe leaned his head on Neil’s shoulder, feeling a sense of warmth and safety that made him relax and regain his composure. Zoe wondered if he should tell Neil about Jill. The deaths of those three men couldn’t be a mere coincidence; it had to be connected to Jill. Zoe remembered Jill’s murderous glare at the bar; it made him worried, as Jill was truly dangerous at that moment. But how should Zoe tell Neil? Would Neil believe that he saw a ghost, or would he think Zoe was lying? And even if Neil believed him, what could he do against a ghost?
After a long hesitation, Zoe looked up, deciding he had to tell the truth. He faced Neil and took a deep breath, but before he could speak, Neil’s gentle voice interrupted.
“Let me clean this up. You go wait outside.”
Zoe grabbed Neil’s hand, pulling him back. Neil looked at him, his large hand enveloping Zoe’s. “Whatever it is, we’ll talk about it outside.”
After cleaning up the kitchen, the two of them sat on the sofa. Neil remained silent, waiting for Zoe to speak. The silence was eventually broken as Zoe, determined, recounted everything about himself and the events of the past to Neil. Neil listened, stunned, but he believed Zoe was telling the truth. He understood that there were many unexplained phenomena in the world, and Zoe’s ability to see ghosts could be a special gift, though it was one that had caused him much suffering.
Neil moved closer to Zoe, embracing him and sighing. Neil’s gentle demeanor and sigh gave Zoe the feeling that Neil might not fully believe him, possibly thinking he was using a flimsy excuse for past mistakes and previous violent actions.
Zoe pushed Neil away, sitting upright with a serious expression, “What I said is true. It’s all true. Don’t you believe me?”
Neil shook his head and held Zoe close again, “I believe you. There’s no reason for you to lie to me.”
Neil pulled back slightly, gently holding Zoe’s shoulders and looking into his eyes, “If that’s the case, we should go to the accident site to check for anything unusual. As for Jill, if the accident is indeed related to her, we’ll find a way to stop her.”
“Right now?” Zoe asked, a bit anxious. “What about your injury?”
“It’s fine.”
Neil softly stroked Zoe’s delicate face, finding him so endearing that it melted his heart. Zoe looked back, feeling an unusual flutter inside, as if he had loved Neil for a long time and deeply.
Neil smiled and playfully poked Zoe’s nose, “It’s just a minor injury; it’s nothing serious. I’m fine. Let’s go. If we’re late, the police might clear the scene, and we won’t find any clues.”
Upon arriving and presenting their IDs to the police, Neil and Zoe were allowed to approach the accident site. The scene was chaotic; the three victims had already been removed. A preliminary examination showed that the tire skid marks were very unusual. The forensic team informed Neil that, about three hundred meters before the car crashed into the pole, it had been driving normally on the highway. This indicated that something must have happened afterward, causing the car to lose control and crash into the pole.
Observing the BMW overturned and badly damaged in the middle of the road, Zoe felt that the accident wasn’t simply due to driver error. It seemed that after hitting the pole, the car was subjected to a tremendous force that lifted and repeatedly slammed it into the pole. The car only came to a stop and flipped onto its roof once everyone inside was dead.
Zoe’s hands trembled. He wondered what Jill’s face must have looked like when taking revenge. Seeing the severely damaged car, overturned about ten meters from the light pole, and the pole itself toppled from the impact, Zoe grew more fearful. Jill was no longer a weak and harmless ghost.
After examining the accident site, the two returned home in silence. The atmosphere was so cold and quiet that Neil seemed to sense the unusual nature of the accident. They were waiting for the results of the blood alcohol and drug tests to clarify the cause. Neil drove while occasionally glancing at Zoe. Zoe was deep in thought, wondering if he could absorb souls for energy and use that power to control spirits. If so, he could potentially use it against Jill, but Jill was now very powerful. Could Zoe still manage to stop her?
“What are you thinking about?”
Neil’s question brought Zoe back to reality. He turned to Neil and shook his head, “I’m not sure. I just feel scared.”
Neil reached over and took Zoe’s hand, “Don’t be afraid. You still have me.”
Zoe looked downcast, “You don’t understand. Jill… is very terrifying.”
Recalling past events, Zoe felt even more fearful. The deaths he was involved in were somehow connected to Jill. If he was truly just a victim manipulated by Jill, it was a deeply bitter situation, and his future had been intentionally destroyed.
“Do you want to go to work today? Or would you rather rest at home for a while?”
Zoe shook his head, “Take me to the bar. You should go home and rest; your injury isn’t fully healed. I’ll be back early.”
He needed to go to the bar and confront Jill to get some answers. If he couldn’t do anything to stop her, at least Zoe would know he was a victim rather than a killer.
“Okay,” Neil said, stroking Zoe’s hair. “Be careful, and call me if you need anything.”