THE STAIRCASE CODE: Through theMirror Darkly

I ran forward desperately.

The time on my cell phone says two hours to go.

There were two hours left until the stairs appeared again.

But the stairway seemed to have no end, even if I ran as hard as I could, I couldn't find the stairway.

Despair once again gripped my heart.

Behind me, my father's footsteps were closing in.

「Lucy, after I catch you, I will kill you bitch.」

The voice was getting closer and closer.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of rollers moving.

A strange yet familiar smell of disinfectant water drilled into the tip of my nose.

A blinding light suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

But the light quickly disappeared.

The hallway was once again plunged into darkness.

Suddenly, one door after another on my side opened.

A ghastly white face stretched out of the darkness, looking at me expressionlessly.

Just when I thought I was going to end up like that afternoon when I was thirteen-

I heard a cat purr from up ahead.

An orange cat appeared not far from my eyes.

The moment I saw the cat, I was shocked.

It was too much like the orange cat I remembered.

When I was twelve years old, my brother and I secretly brought an injured stray orange cat home.

It was very dear to me.

I secretly hid it inside my room.

Since my parents basically didn't come home at night, we kept it undetected for months on end.

I called it Trump.

Tangerine was very dear to me.

But that day, my father came home drunk.

Every time my father got drunk, my brother and I had to hide.

Otherwise it was a severe beating.

But he still found Trump.

Even though my brother and I desperately tried to stop him and begged our father.

But he still pinched Xiao Tangerine's neck and threw it down the stairs in front of us.

Trump's body convulsed on the ground a few times.

I ran downstairs screaming and in tears trying to get Trump to the hospital.

But it was already too late.

Trump licked my hand with its last strength.

After that, I never picked up a stray animal to take home.

I knew that if I saved it out of love, it would die.

But now, Trump appeared in front of me again.

It walked up to me, rubbed my hand affectionately, and let out a 「meow」 to me.

Trump seemed to be guiding me.

【Don't trust cats】.

This rule on the white paper, however, made me frown.

Seeing me standing there, Trump meowed at me again.

Seeing the sound of my father's footsteps approaching behind me, I gritted my teeth and still followed Trump.

I followed Trump all the way forward.

I don't know why, with Trump around, my entire body seemed to be filled with strength.

All those miserable white faces around me shrunk back.

The gloom in the hallway also dispersed quite a bit.

Finally, I saw the stairway going down.

Just as I was excitedly about to rush down the stairs, a hand violently grabbed my neck.

「Lucy, where else are you going to run to?」

My father's gloomy voice came from behind me.

That feeling of despairing coldness struck again.

But the next moment.

Trump leapt high into the air.

Father let out a scream and let go of me.

Taking this opportunity, I picked up Xiao Tangerine as fast as I could and ran downstairs.

Finally, I made it to the next floor.

Trump was lying quietly in my arms.

I came to the 5th floor.

There was still one hour left before the stairs appeared.

I must get to the first floor within this hour.

The hallway on the 5th floor was still dimly lit.

At this time, I once again heard the sound of disorganized footsteps and the whispering of people.

And the sound of people whispering.