THE STAIRCASE CODE: Through theMirror Darkly

I felt a blinding light.

It seemed that someone was peeling my eyelids open with force.

「Doctor, the patient is awake!」

I heard someone speaking excitedly.

Messy footsteps and many voices of people talking resounded around me.

It sounded a lot like the whispers I heard in the hallway.

「Lucy!」

Someone was shouting at me.

「Lucy! Can you hear me?」

The voice sounded familiar.

I've heard it before in the hallway.

「The operation was a great success, Lucy, you're very strong.」

I felt my body being lifted onto a stretcher and pushed out.

I smelled sterilized water.

It was the same smell I had smelled in the hallway.

Many people pushed me to the ward.

I saw a lifeless, ghastly white face.

It was the same face I had seen in the hallway that was hidden inside the door.

But at this moment, their eyes showed heartfelt joy.

「Lucy, good boy, your operation was a success.」

The voice was familiar.

He wore a mask, revealing a pair of eyes.

I stared at him in a daze.

It was the man from the elevator.

In this very instant, countless memories flooded into my brain.

I violently grabbed the doctor's hand and asked hoarsely, 「Where is my brother?」

「Your brother is still in surgery.」

I cried uncontrollably.

I knew that my brother might not make it out.

Everything that I had forgotten came back to me.

My brother is not missing.

A week ago, my father came home drunk.

He cursed under his breath about how much money he had lost.

I didn't want to mess with him.

But I needed fifty dollars for class.

I hesitantly came to my father and pleaded with him to give me fifty dollars.

My father stared at me, breathing heavily, with a fierce light in his eyes that frightened me.

The stick came down on me raw.

again and again.

I rolled back and forth in pain, begging him to let me go.

But he didn't, his eyes flashing with scarlet excitement.

The door opened.

I looked toward the door as if grasping a glimmer of hope.

But that glimmer was quickly extinguished.

Standing in the doorway was my mother.

As if she hadn't seen the blood on the floor and hadn't heard my wailing cries, she said carelessly, 「Don't kill him, take care.」

My father's strength did not diminish at all.

He had been drinking, lost his money, and needed an outlet.

And I was that outlet.

Finally, I waited for my brother to come back from school.

Only two years older than me, my brother had already grown into a young man.

When he saw me dying, he rushed to my father like a madman.

They soon came to blows.

But my brother's strength was no match for my father's.

He soon collapsed in a pool of blood.

Before I lost consciousness, I saw the police.

My brother and I were put on a stretcher.

「Lucy, your brother's surgery was a success, you're both very lucky.」

The doctor told me with a smile.

I couldn't hold it in any longer and bawled my eyes out.

I don't know how my brother got out.

It was obvious that he had fought tooth and nail to stop his mother so he could get me back.

We recovered quickly.

Three days later, in the afternoon.

My brother and I were walking around the hospital.

There were three more days before we could be discharged from the hospital.

My brother held my hand.

「Brother, how on earth did you get out?」 I asked curiously.

「It was Trump.」

「Trump dragged my mother, and at the last second before the stairs disappeared, I followed you up the stairs.」

My heart sank when I heard that answer.

It was at this moment that I heard a cat purr.

An orange colored cat walked up to my brother and I and affectionately jumped on our legs.