A Hazardous Situation

Claude's heart raced as he watched the figure, hoping that he wouldn't approach him. He felt exposed and vulnerable, like a deer caught in headlights. But to his relief, the figure didn't move from his spot.

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Claude slowly started to back away, careful not to turn his back on the mysterious figure. He kept his eyes on the stranger, afraid that any sudden movement might trigger a chase.

As Claude took a step back, the figure cloaked in shadow stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Claude. "Have you seen my daughter?" the figure asked, his voice low and raspy.

Contrary to his expectations. The man didn't immediately lunge in his direction while brandishing a sharp knife like a hot-blooded killer. Instead, the man asked his daughter's whereabouts as if he were just a random passerby asking for directions after getting lost for a long time.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen your daughter," Claude said, trying to sound sympathetic. "Do you need help looking for her?"

The figure didn't answer right away, instead taking another step forward, bringing him closer to Claude. Claude could see the man's face now, his features twisted with anguish and despair.

Claude felt his heart skip a beat as he stared at the man's expression. He could see the deep lines etched on the man's face, evidence of a long and difficult life. The man's eyes were bloodshot, and Claude could sense the desperation emanating from him. His clothes were worn and tattered.

As the man took another step forward, Claude instinctively backed away, his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about this encounter.

He had a sinking feeling that this seemingly harmless man had some connection to the blood-stained lamp. Hell, he doesn't appear unfazed by the gruesome sight! It must be him, the perpetrator!

Despite his growing gut feeling, Claude knew he couldn't afford to run away. He was both inwardly terrified and unsure of the intentions of the suspicious man. Exposing his back to him didn't feel like a safe option.

"Stella, her name is Stella!" the man said, his voice trembling with emotion.

"Stella? I'm sorry, I never heard her name before."

"My daughter, Stella, she suddenly disappeared yesterday! Even though we just celebrated her sixteenth birthday together," the figure said, his eyes distant as if lost in memory.

"That's terrible," Claude said, trying to sound sincere, "Then, have you contacted her school friends? She might have gone into her friend's house and slept over there."

"I've, and they told me they also haven't seen her since her birthday." The man went silent as if recalling something. "And then I told the police."

"What did they say?" Claude asked with a trembling voice, his back already drenched with sweat. Conversing with a man whose emotional state was unpredictable was extremely difficult. He had to tread carefully, for fear of saying something that could trigger a violent reaction. He knew that one wrong word could result in a deadly attack with the man's knife.

"Their response was that they would look into it," the suspicious man replied, lowering his head before bursting into tears with blood streaking down his cheeks. "Two days later, they found her. But it was too late, she was already dead. They found her cold body, poor and bruised."

Claude was stunned by the man's sudden outburst of emotion. He could feel the intensity of the man's grief, the waves of pain and sorrow emanating from him. It was then that Claude realized the subject of the man's despair.

16 years old... A high school girl...

Claude's mind raced as he tried to piece everything together. Could it be possible that the man's daughter was the victim of the rape case that happened half a year ago? He vaguely remembered hearing about it when he had just started university. The news had caused a stir among the girls, and some boys took advantage of the situation to escort them home.

He remembered the incident clearly because one of his roommates was one of the men that followed the hype but ended up getting chased by the girl's father instead. It happened because he boldly accepted the girl's invitation to enter her house but had failed to take into account that the girl's father also might consider his daughter's safety and had come home earlier.

It was an incredibly hilarious event; his whole roommates laughed at the man's misfortune for a week.

However, what Claude failed to realize at that time was that while he and his friend made fun of each other following the tragic sequences, the victim's family was drowned in sorrow.

Claude realized he had dismissed the news as just another sensational story that would eventually fade away. But now, as he listened to the man's words, he understood the gravity of the situation. The man's daughter had been raped and murdered.

But something didn't add up. The man had said his daughter's birthday was yesterday, and the police had found her body two days later. Claude did some quick mental calculations and realized that the tragedy had actually happened over a few months ago. The man must have mistaken the timeline in his grief and anguish.

Claude's heart sank as he finally grasped the full extent of the tragedy. He silently retreated, feeling helpless and guilty for not taking the news seriously enough when he first heard it.

"So I asked them to search for the culprit." The man continued, snapping Claude out of his daze. "Then, the police found five prime suspects. Do you know what happened to them?"

"They get sent to jail?" Claude replied unsurely.

"No! They were released due to insufficient evidence, hahaha! Insufficient evidence, they said, haha! Even though from what I heard their fingerprints were present on my daughter's clothes and they were last seen near the entrance to the place where my daughter's body was found! What a joke!" The man burst out laughing. Claude wondered whether this was a cue for him to dash away since when a villain abruptly laughed, then that's mean he was about to lose his sanity, and you as a random passerby were about to get fucked up!

"Afterwards, the police stated they had to temporarily halt the investigation until further evidence which could serve as a lead became available, owing to the lack of CCTV in the area. But I know the real reason. One of the five suspects is the son of a bigshot. The police won't touch him."

"Can you believe it?" The man wiped his tears of blood and looked up at Claude with a crazed expression. "My daughter's killer is still out there, roaming free while my daughter is lying in her grave! It's not fair!"

"Since then, I've always prayed to the God I placed my beliefs in. I spent my days and night kneeling before his grace altar, hoping a miracle would transpire someday and those assh*les that had killed my daughter would be punished. And… he… he really appears! God has personally descended after seeing my perseverance and sent me a series of guidance to revive my daughter! He said if I follow his path, reviving a dead person and avenging my daughter won't be the limit. I could even become immortal!"

"Such a path unfortunately requires living sacrifices. But I won't give up on that. I'm determined to revive my daughter back to life and avenge her! I've sacrificed a lot of people's lives since then, and it just happened you'll be the next one. That's why you should be grateful now that you're about to be a part of my noble journey!" The man declared with a twisted smile.

Claude's heart thumped as he listened to the man's words. This was madness. He had to escape this man's grasp and get as far away from him as possible! However, to his surprise, their distance remained the same despite the fact that he had been running for almost half a minute.

What bloody sorcery is this?

The man laughed maniacally, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly light. "You cannot escape the will of God. You shouldn't have run from it."

He sneered. "You have angered him and now you will pay the price. You shall be thrown into an eternal damnation!"

Claude's mind reeled as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Was this some kind of supernatural punishment? Was he going to be trapped here forever? He tried to fight back, but his body wouldn't respond. He was completely powerless.

Suddenly, he felt a cold breeze on the back of his neck. He shuddered, realizing that he was surrounded by a group of shadowy figures. They loomed over him, their eyes glowing with a sinister red light. Claude felt his heart race as he tried to find a way out of this nightmare.

But there was no escape. The figures closed in on him, their hands reaching out to grab him. He felt their icy grip on his skin, felt their cold breath on his face. He screamed in terror, but there was no one to hear him.

In that moment, Claude knew that he was truly alone. He had been trapped in the man's strange trick, and there was no way out. He was doomed to spend eternity in this living nightmare, haunted by the ghosts of the past and the wrath of an angry god.