Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Three

After going out, I didn't bother to look for Little S and Emily, let alone see Heath, I walked through the lively crowd on the Rialto Bridge, and hurried back to the hotel around the path. As usual, the hotel was empty.I went straight back to my room, took out the mask from my schoolbag and locked it in the safe.When I did all this, I breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.The room is a mess, the way I left it in the morning, I mean, basically the way it was yesterday.Since we were out last night, I didn't spend a lot of time in the room and didn't sleep very long. There is no waiter here.The dry-cleaning bag containing the shirts that D had replaced remained at the gate.According to Emily, staff at the hotel have been "on strike" since yesterday.No one came to make up our room.There wasn't any waiter in the restaurant either.Not even the receptionist.The most suspicious thing is that I didn't see a single guest in this hotel except us.

This is so unusual. I raised my head, looked over the large tapestry embroidered with St. Mark's Square, and looked at the clock on the wall.It's been a while since noon, but it's still light outside.And D will come back after dark.As for the agenda of Hiss and his puppets, I don't know.If I want to do something now, I have to hurry up. I took one last look around to make sure there was nothing here that required special attention.Then I went out of the room, closed the door softly, and walked out into the thickly carpeted hallway.The hallway was dimly lit, but not completely dark.

Without thinking too much, I pushed open the door of the next room.That is the room of Little S and Emily. Of course, the door to the room was originally locked, but that didn't bother me.Because D not only taught me the magic of "gliding" and spying, he also taught me how to open a normal door.I mean, if that door isn't "locked" by some deep magic or other curse, then it's "open" to non-humans, like me and D. But in any case, no matter what fair excuses I give for my behavior, I am still a thief.One of the most shameless "ex-girlfriends", sneaking into the ex-boyfriend's room to find evidence of the other party's betrayal.

But there is no proof here.Except for the messy king size bed with dropped pillows, tucked up quilt and dirty laundry (including various undergarments) strewn all over the place.I try to turn my eyes away and focus my energy on other places in the room, such as the perfume bottle on the bedside table exuding a familiar scent, or the two identical couple hoodies draped over the back of the chair, and the table in the middle of the table. The printed flight itinerary. Flights itinerary!I thank Satan for my luck at this moment.I walked over a few steps and quickly picked up the pieces of paper.

Above is the direct flight ticket of Little S and Emily from Chicago to Venice.I turned the pages over and over, hoping not to miss a single detail.Yes, it's not surprising that there's only a ticket for two, as there's a good chance Heath is holding the booking slip himself.But it's not without oddities here.Because this ticket is one-way.In other words, Xiao S and Emily did take this flight, and it happened to arrive in Venice on the same day as us.However, no details of the return journey were revealed on the paper. For the student family trying to save money (I used to be one of them, no matter what Emily says), no one is going to book two separate one-way flights.Because this may increase the price of the originally discounted round-trip ticket several times.But it's not impossible.isn't it?The most impossible things have happened, and I should give them a chance.However, I still couldn't resist confirming my guess.The next second, I accidentally picked up the phone on the table and dialed the number on the paper.

Maybe I just want to prove my guess wrong (I really hope so). Venice Marco Polo Airport. "Hi, I'd like to check on the flight to Chicago tomorrow." I cleared my throat, trying to keep my voice composed. "2:30 p.m.." The operator's clear and sure voice came from the microphone. "Is there no morning flight?" I asked with a trembling voice. "Usually there are, but the morning flight only flies to Europe." The operator replied. "Usually?" I noticed the tense and adverb she used just now. "The weather has been bad lately, there's been a lot of fog in the morning, and all early flights have been cancelled."

My heart skipped a beat, "Everything?" "Yes, it's been a while. There's no sign of resumption of flights. But luckily the fog receded after the sun came out, so we only canceled the morning flight, other flights are as usual." I think I should have made this call sooner.Because now I understand everything.There is no such thing as a cheap morning flight, and those who skipped breakfast to "catch a flight" were no longer here.That's why I don't see them on the breakfast table.That's why I didn't hear any footsteps leaving the restaurant.Because they never left the restaurant at all, they were taken away by those mysterious shadows in the darkness after telling the story.All we know is, Heath told us, those people all checked out the next day.But now there is not even a waiter in the entire hotel, who do they "check out" to?

I rushed out the door.I stood in the corridor, closed my eyes, focused on eliminating distracting thoughts, and scanned every room in the hotel with all my abilities.All the secrets behind those closed doors on either side of the corridor.I really regret why I didn't do this sooner.Yes, I can see through closed things.It's like looking down on the residents of Flatland from above, and you can see all the things they lock in their safes and hide under their beds. D told me this a long time ago, but I just realized now that this is actually a miracle created by "dimension".Because the devil comes from a higher dimensional world.The Devil Lotbal, my other half, could have easily done this when I was an ordinary human girl.He moves freely in my room, talking to my head and heart without me seeing him!

Now, when I close my eyes, the corridor in front of me disappears.Instead, the hotel's four floors spread out before my eyes like an open cube.It has twelve sides and six faces.No, it actually only has one side.It has no sides.When all the rooms in the hotel stretch out the walls and ceilings, every piece of display in the room, including furniture, patterns and decorations, becomes a curved pattern on the plane. I see my two masks, which are now safely in a safe in my room.If I can see them, I know my enemies can too, but, after all, it's much safer than carrying them around.Because I am not sure what will happen to me in the next second.The masker looked at me as if he were looking at a dead man—though he couldn't help but advise me.There are too many secrets around me. When D told me about dimensions and space, I thought all the secrets would be solved, but in fact, what I faced was a new world that was more unpredictable.All the secrets have multiplied exponentially, which has exceeded the limit I can bear.I can't wait to know the answer.

For this, I am willing to do whatever it takes. There was no one in the hotel.This time, I "saw" it clearly.There is no moving object on the unfolded "plane" in front of him.But these rooms are not empty.I mean, clean and tidy, smelling of bleach or artificial fragrances, freshly changed sheets and duvets tucked in neatly, snowy white towels on the heated towel rack in the bathroom, disposable slippers facing each other Fold it up and put it in the bag, just like the first time you check into any hotel in the world and open the door with your key.The room in front of me was not like that.I saw twenty-three rooms, each of which looked like mine or Emily's, with disheveled bedding, dirty towels thrown on the floor, toiletries lined up in front of the mirror, and luggage racks against the wall. Opened suitcase.

In a guest room on the third floor, I saw an Australian passport in a huge hiking bag.I also saw the camera in the safe that the Avatar brothers never leave.I frantically searched for the two old men who "leaved" today.Soon, when I saw the old wallet with the French flag in the top room, some cash in it, a few credit cards and other cards, my heart was cold, and I knew that no one would throw the wallet like I did. No one will forget their passports and suitcases. They are all gone.The people I ran into in the rain, the people I sat at the same round table and told stories with, they're all gone.Even the people in the entire hotel, twenty-three rooms, all the people disappeared out of thin air. There are four floors here, and only me and D, Heath, and little S and Emily are left. I felt cold, and an overwhelming sense of dread overwhelmed me.But this is not because of the unknown danger ahead, but because I remembered what Xiao S said, "it's his turn" tonight.Because he too, like those who have disappeared, has a story to tell us. Then?There's no after that.He and Emily would also leave Venice the next day "on an early flight" like those people, and I wouldn't see them again.And Heath will disappear together as a matter of course.I must stop them.I don't know where these people went.I also don't know if they are still alive.The black shadow I saw the night before suddenly came to my mind, creating a haze.All I know is that it's definitely not going to be a good thing. I want to protect Xiao S and Emily.This is the only thing I can do right now.They are here solely because of me.Because Xiao S is "unfortunately" my ex-boyfriend, because they "unfortunately" know me. While I was thinking this way, I suddenly realized that there was someone beside me.Because I was so focused and concentrated, I didn't realize at all that a person had approached me in the dark.Yes, as the sky outside gradually darkened, it returned to a darkness where you couldn't see your fingers.I almost screamed when someone put a hand on my shoulder. "It's me." A familiar coldness spread into my nerves through the thin fabric on my shoulders, making me relax instantly. D took my hand and quickly left the corridor, heading back to our room a few steps away. "Sorry for scaring you, I didn't mean to." D's attitude was unnatural, he looked at me seriously, but his real intention had nothing to do with his words, because he said next, "I know what you're thinking , but don't." "No what?" I frowned. "What happens here is beyond your and my control. Don't interfere." I watched him carefully, hoping he was talking about something else entirely.But he has the most perfect mind-reading technique that I know of in the world, and he knows all about my inner workings.He knows everything about what I've just become aware of.He knows my remorse, and he knows my determination. "I can't leave them alone." I looked at him and repeated. "They're not important. What's important is that we use this opportunity to step into another world." My eyes widened, and I could hardly believe that these were the words of someone I loved, so selfish, so cruel. "Everyone matters!" I yelled at him, "and he is, he is..." I suddenly stuck.What should I say?Who is he to me?In fact, he has nothing to do with me at all. "Your ex-boyfriend?" D smiled, maybe I was too sensitive, I think there was some kind of contempt in it.This made me very uncomfortable. "You're jealous." I said boldly. The other party snorted coldly, and the contemptuous meaning in the smile increased. I don't think he even bothered to deny it.I also knew he was angry.Because I contradicted him for the first time, for the first time, I stopped being that honest puppet doll, and I stopped obeying his orders. "Anyway, I can't let Heath take them away." I swallowed and cleared my throat. The other frowned, as if hesitating to tell me the truth.After a while, he answered me: "Heath didn't take them away." When he pronounced the name, I suddenly realized that this was the first time he had mentioned Heath on his own initiative.He seemed to have been avoiding this man for so many days.This is unusual. I was about to ask D, who else would it be if it wasn't Heath, when suddenly there were three knocks on the door. D and I glanced at each other.Then he went to open the door.Yep, if something were to happen, the thin door panel wouldn't do anything. Little S stood there.He didn't seem to expect that D had come back, he was taken aback for a moment, raised his head and stared at him blankly for a while, then quickly turned his head to me. "Tonight's story is about to begin, let's go upstairs." He issued an invitation.