Chapter 15 Chapter 15 The Struggle of Human Nature

As the pleasure in the dream wore off, Bobby felt more and more a dull pain in his heart—he was convinced that Nick Spinwick was really dead, lying on the sidewalk in front of the Foundation building. He stood unsteadily by the bed, rubbing a dark purple bloodstain on his temple, and the scratch on his neck still hurt like a needle prick. He remembered that the white wolf had gnawed on that bite with his canine teeth. He held his breath for a long time and shook his body vigorously, but he still couldn't get rid of the disgusted feeling that Nick Spinwick really died in his dream. He turned on the light in a daze, looked at his watch, it was 2:15.Reaching for the clothes on the chair, I only found a bathrobe and soft-soled slippers. The night nurse must have taken the clothes.Sweating profusely and shaking, Babi put on his bathrobe and slippers clumsily, rang the bell, and shuffled impatiently out to meet the night nurse in the hall—Miss Heller with bushy hair. , light hair that is almost white, and the body of a female boxer.

"Why, Mr. Barbie! I thought you were sleeping—" "I want to see Dr. Gran," he told her, "right away." There was a benign smile on her broad, startled face. "Of course, Mr. Barbie," she said, trying to soften her masculine voice as much as possible, "you go back to bed first, and we'll see—" "Ma'am," Barbie interrupted venomously, "put away your prevarication of madmen. I may or may not be mad--I am what I am. Crazy or not, I'm going to talk to Dr. Gran Talk, where is he?" Nurse Heller took half a step back, as if in a boxing ring confrontation.

"Don't get excited," Barbie advised. "I guess you know how to deal with a normal lunatic, but mine is a little different." Nurse Heller nodded in agreement.Babi pressed on step by step, "I think, if you see me turning into a big black mouse, you must scare me away." Nurse Heller continued to back away, her face starting to turn pale. "I just need to talk to Dr. Gran for five minutes—right now," he told the nurse. "If he doesn't like it, just put an extra charge on the bill." "Very likely," Nurse Heller warned.Babi grinned at her, and suddenly, fell on all fours. "I don't want to get in your way," Heller said tremblingly, "I'll take you to his room."

"very smart!" He stood up, and Nurse Heller took a step back, letting Bobby go ahead, down the hall toward the landing—Bobby was amused, Nurse Heller must have thought he could really turn into a mouse.At the back door of the ward, the nurse pointed to Dr. Babigram's residence, where the lights had been turned off.He walked out of the ward and walked towards Dr. Grann's residence, thinking that the nurse could breathe a sigh of relief. Before Barbie could get there, the lights above Dr. Glenn went on bang. Nurse Heller must have called.The tall and elegant psychologist greeted Babi at the door before he arrived. He was wearing a very special dressing gown and his face was full of sleepiness.

"Hello, Mr. Barbie?" "It happened again," Barbie blurted out, "another dream—and I know it's not just a dream. This time, I'm a boa constrictor. I—I kill Nick Spinwick." He paused to catch his breath. "I want you to call the police. They're sure to find Nick lying dead on the ground outside the ninth-floor window of the Human Research Foundation. It was me. .” Babi wiped the cold sweat from his brow and glanced at Dr. Grann to see how he would react.But the psychologist blinked his sleepy brown eyes, shook his shoulders in his fine dressing gown, smiled sympathetically, and tossed his unkempt curls—a doctor's head shake. , awakening something deep inside Babi, he felt a warm, inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Do you want to fight?" Babi asked urgently, "Are you going to call the police?" Dr. Gran shook his head calmly: "No, we can't do that." "But Nick Spinwick is dead!" said Bobby in a tremulous voice, "my friend—" "We can't be in a hurry, Mr. Barbie." Gran raised his shoulders lazily. "If there were no dead bodies, we would have made the police station a waste of time. If there were, it would be difficult for us to explain why we I know." There was a lovely smile on his red-brown face, "I'm a strict materialist—those cops are brutal materialists."

Babi gritted his teeth: "You think I—I really killed him?" "Not at all," Gran said reassuringly. "Nurse Heller assured me that you had been sleeping in your room until a few minutes ago, in a deep sleep. However, I do realize that Another possibility, which is interesting, may explain your dream." "Huh?" Babi was stunned for a moment, "What is it?" Gran blinked wearily. "You have been trying to solve a mystery why your old friend, Quinn and his assistants acted so secretly." Dr. Grann's bass sounded very casual and slow, "You also clearly realized , you haven't been able to find any definitive answers. But the subconscious mind, remember, is much more cunning than we usually think."

As he spoke, he deliberately crossed his reddish-brown fingers. "And subconsciously, Mr. Barbie," he went on gravely, "you might suspect that Nick Spinwick was going to be thrown out some window. If your subconscious happens to match the actual situation, the police will It is possible to find Nick's body in the place you mentioned." "Nonsense!" Bobby burst into a rage. "Only Sam with him—" "Exactly!" Gran nodded, meaning that this is exactly what I was implying, "In your subjective consciousness, of course you refuse to accept the concept that Sam Quinn may be the murderer—even your subjective consciousness rejects it. It makes sense in itself because, subconsciously, you probably want Sam Quinn to be the murderer and pay with his life for it."

Babi's knuckles were prominent, and his hairy hands were clenched into fists. "I—I can't think that way!" he said hoarsely, exasperated. "That—that's just the devil's idea." Absurd. I tell you, Doctor, Sam and Nora Quinn are my best friends." Gran asked softly, tentatively, "Both of them?" Babi's fists were clenched with sweat. "Shut up!" he said hoarsely. "You—you can't say that to me!" Gran retreated quickly to the lighted porch, throwing up his hands. "Just speculation, Mr. Barbie." He gave in with a slight nod and a smile. "Your reaction so strongly suggests to me that this is a sensitive point, but I don't see the need to delve into it at this point. Let's forget all about it tonight and go back to sleep. What do you think?"

Babi breathed a sigh of relief, and put his hand into the large empty pocket of the bathrobe. "Well, doctor," he echoed, "I'm sorry to bother you." He was about to leave when he turned around suddenly and said harshly in a low, trembling voice, "But you're wrong, Gran. Doctor, the woman I love is Aprile Bell." Dr. Grann smiled sarcastically, and closed the door behind him. Babi walked back slowly on the frosty path under the moonlight. Only a few windows in the whole ward were dimly lit.He suddenly felt that walking on two legs was a bit awkward, and seeing the night with two human eyes, everything in front of him was blurred, and he couldn't hear the voices he heard in his dream, and he couldn't smell the smell he smelled in his dream.

He found that the dogs around had stopped barking at some point, and he quietly listened to Rowena Monrik's scream, which was still vaguely passing to the seriously ill area.A few more windows were lit up, wondering if there was any emergency in the ward.Rowena's cries of despair and fear were lost. Bobby came back to the ward feeling very upset that Gran was a fool--or worse.No honest psychologist would open his mouth like this.Yes, he had loved Nora once, before she married Sam. During the time Sam was out investigating the excavations, he might have visited Nora a little more—but Gran's disgusting conclusions were nonsense.There was nothing between him and Nora to hide from Sam, and there was no legitimate reason why he would wish Sam to suffer. About calling the police, Bobby thought, Gran was right.Such a call would undoubtedly put him in an embarrassing situation, and people would naturally think that he was either a madman or a murderer.However, he thought anyway that Nick Spinwick was dead, lying on the pavement below.He clenched his fists and took a few deep breaths of the cool night air, unnerved by Gran's cruel deduction that Sam might be mistaken for a murderer. Bobby felt that something should be done. He hurried back to the second floor of the ward, he could use the office phone, and Nurse Heller readily agreed.So he called Nora.Nora answered the call immediately, as if she had been waiting at the phone, and her voice, as if frightened, changed. "Willie—what's the matter now?" "Did Sam call from the Foundation?" His own urgent voice was rather unnatural. "Call him now, please. Wake him up. Tell him—ask him to find Nick Spinwick." "Why, Willy?" Nora asked breathlessly. "I know that something bad happened to Nick," he said, "and that Sam is in great danger because of it." Nora did not answer for a long time.Babi could hear her anxious breathing, and he could also hear the ticking of the alarm clock on the desk in the study. Babi knew that the phone was on the desk, and the ticking sounds were unusually uniform and slow.She finally spoke again, her voice tense and choked. "How do you know, Willie?" The alarm clock continued to tick mercilessly, and the time passed by second by second. "It's just a routine, Nora." Babi faltered unnaturally. "The source of the news is kept secret-this is my business, and you know it." He paused. "So, you already know?" "Sam just told me." Her voice was very quiet. "He is like crazy, like he is going to lose control." "Nick—" Bobby couldn't speak, he opened his mouth vigorously, "how is Nick?" "He fell out of the window." The sudden shock made Nora's voice change. "It was the window of their special laboratory on the top floor of the Foundation. Sam said he was dead." The alarm clock was ticking, and Babi could hear Nora's loud panting. "The same is true of my sources." Babi faltered in a hoarse voice, "I want you to remind Sam, Nora, I think he is in a very dangerous situation now." "How?" Nora tried to control herself, but she could still hear her hysterical. "Sam guessed he fell asleep, sleepwalked out of the window—he sleepwalks a lot, and you know it. But Sam is Will not." Nora's trembling voice made it seem that she was a little angry. "Willie—what do you think—is Sam in danger?" The alarm clock continued to tick, and Babi's throat was so dry that he was about to smoke. "Only Sam and Nick are upstairs." Babi's voice was vague and he spoke very fast, "They seem to be guarding something very valuable, the thing in the wooden box brought back from the Gobi. People who know the inside story Among them, two people have already died, besides, the deaths of Dr. Monrick and Lex Sturt are very strange, and now, Nick is added." "No!" Nora's voice was low, but she was shouting, "No, Willie—don't!" "Looks like a sample," Bobby said to Nora. "I know the cops. They're going to think Sam killed Nick for the benefit of what's in the crate, at least until they know what's in the crate." Think so—and I don't think Sam's going to tell them what's in the crate." "But Sam didn't kill!" whispered Nora angrily. "Sam didn't—" Her voice stopped abruptly.The sound waves of the alarm clock ticking slowly extended in the dead silence.Babi finally heard Nora's breathing again, and she let out a long, heavy breath, "Thank you, Willy." Hearing Nora's melancholy and feeble voice, Babi's throat burned. "I'll just call Sam," she said. "I'll remind him." She pleaded suddenly in a trembling voice, "but he didn't do anything!" Bobby flung off his bathrobe and slippers and threw himself on the bed.He wanted to sleep for a while, but his mind was in a mess.For a while, I stared at the steel mesh that disintegrated when the python passed by on the glass window, and for a while, I recalled the crisp fracture sound of Nick's bones when the python tightened its body.Babi rang the bell to call the nurse Heller, and asked for some sleeping pills, but he still couldn't sleep, and the white she-wolf yelled again: "Willie Babi!" Her voice was far away and seemed very anxious, "Can you Do you hear me, Babi?" "I can hear you, Ai Pulu." He mumbled sleepily, "Good night, dear." "No, Babi." Babi seemed to hear her protesting vigorously, "You have to change again, we have things to do." "Forget it tonight!" Bobby woke up angrily. "We've killed Nick tonight—Sam's going to be charged with murder. Isn't that enough crime tonight?" Ai Pulu's voice weakened, as if Babi's wild awakening had established a subtle relationship between them. "It's a good job," said the she-wolf tenderly, "but it's not enough—" "I'm enough." Babigen said bluntly, "I don't want to dream anymore, I know, I didn't hear you, it's true." "But you heard it." Her voice continued to entangle. "Don't be hard on yourself, Babi—this is not a dream. I know that it is easier to transform while sleeping, and that's because the human part still dominates your subjective consciousness. .Now relax and listen to me." Babi kept turning over on the bed, muttering in a daze: "If I don't listen, I won't dream—" "There are no dreams at all," said the she-wolf softly. "The ESP researchers at Duke University have found enough evidence to prove that ESP exists-if they know how to choose test subjects, find people like us. , their results will be better. I know you can hear it, don't be angry with me!" Bobby shook his head vigorously back and forth on the pillow. "Audible or not—" "Baby!" the she-wolf's voice suddenly became a command. "You must listen—and transform to me. Now! Pick the most terrifying transformation you know—for we have enemies, more than Little Nick is much stronger." "Huh?" Babi muttered loudly. "What enemy?" "Your blind widow friend!" gasped the she-wolf, "that woman named Monrik--it's good to be in that ridiculous research hospital in Glenn, and no one cares about her incoherent madness. But, Bar Bi, she's out--she wants to go to Sam Quinn's!" A chill went down Babi's spine.It's like the feeling of his mane standing upside down when he was the gray wolf Babi.But now he's human, Babi told himself uneasily.He could feel the cool, smooth sheets, his own smooth human skin, the sounds of the hospital that his dull human hearing could pick up: the breathing of other patients in their own rooms, the distant rush of Nurse Heller. Footsteps, the phone ringing incessantly.Babi was perfectly human, and, moreover, almost fully awake. "To Sam's?" he repeated aloud. "What does she know?" "She knows the name of the Son of Darkness!" The ghostly whispers of the she-wolf were terrible. Babi was shocked, trembling uncontrollably, looked up at the dark room, a rectangle of light was reflected in the window, and a narrow strip of dim yellow light penetrated through the crack of the door. He was still a complete human being, and he kept saying He repeated himself, and was very sober, but in the face of such sober magic, Babi was breathless and his throat was dry. "The man they're afraid of?" Barbie said. "The conspirator--murderer--Secret Envoy--whatever he's called--that guy old Monrik said before he died?" "The savior we've been waiting for." The whisper of the she-wolf. Babi froze on the bed, shaking constantly. "Who is he?" he asked repeatedly, "what's his name?" "Really, Babi!" The voice was soft and far away, and he heard Alberto Bell's coquettish smile, "You don't know?" Bobby grew impatient, paused, and said, "I think I can guess." He said abruptly, "I think it must be your friend, Mr. Preston Tye!" He waited for her answer, but he didn't. He was in the dark room by himself, without sleepiness or deformation.He could hear the ticking sound of his watch, and he could clearly see the luminous hands on the dial: it was four forty, two hours before dawn, and he decided not to sleep until the sun came out, not daring to sleep— —"No, Babi." The soft call frightened Babi almost out of his wits, "The Son of Darkness is not Mr. Tei, but you must prove it with your actions, you are worthy of knowing his name, and you can do it tonight—" —Kill Rowena Monrik!" He froze on the bed, angrily kicking the quilt aside. "You don't want me to hurt her." He resisted, "Whether it's a dream or awake! Besides, she didn't go out at all. I heard her yelling in the ward in the evening. She was in the intensive care area, the door was locked, and there were nurses on duty. She didn't Might be able to get out." "But she did come out." The soft whisper became a thinner thread of thought, "and she's on her way to Sam." "She can't find Sam," he said contemptuously, "old and blind and insane—" "But she's not insane!" said the little distant voice again. "Like a lot of others. She's blind because she knows too much. A mental hospital is a good place, Barbie, just to Keep such an adversary there. It's a pity that your little black widow friend is not small, much greater than I thought-because she is very close to us, and much more capable than the average human being." "She's old!" he gasped. "She can't see." "I know her eyes can't see." The white she-wolf said coquettishly, "We dug out her eyes! But she has other methods. She has a keen sense, enough to detect the children of darkness. Di and Lao Meng Rick has worked together for years and knows so much." "No—" Babi was hoarse and speechless, "I don't—" He sat on the edge of the bed, trembling, dripping cold sweat, shaking his head desperately. "Come on, Bobby!" Bobby couldn't escape the interference of that little thought—or is this a psychotic attack? "Make the most terrible transformation." The she-wolf urged, "to catch her down with sharp claws, and tear her throat with sharp teeth, we must kill her—" "I won't!" he cried hoarsely, dropping his voice again lest Nurse Heller would hear. "I'm quitting, Miss Aprile Bell!" He said in the same whisper Answered, "Not to be a tool in your schemes, to kill my own friends—no more with you!" "But you, Ba—" Babi jumped out of the bed with a "bass", the lingering little voice disappeared, and the anger and shock cut off the terrible hallucinations-of course he did not have any attempt to kill Rowena, whether in a dream or awake, he was resolute Won't. He was panting, sweating profusely, and kept pacing back and forth. As expected, the small voice of the ghost unit completely stopped—he stopped, stood at the door, and listened carefully. The guy opposite the door in the corridor opened up the rhythm, snoring thunderously. It was the guy who pushed the chessboard when he lost a game. The guy yelled something loudly. Babi opened the door and listened again.In other wards, there were also men yelling, women crying loudly, footsteps in the corridor "dong dong", car doors slamming shut, "humming" engines, harsh brakes, it was the car turning onto the highway. The speed is too fast. Rowena Monrique had really come out—Bobby was stupefied and numb to the fact.He knew she had run away—how, he wasn't sure.Perhaps—as the amiable Dr. Grann must have explained—something wrong with his own subconscious mind wove all the chaotic and panicked search sounds into the whispering voice of the she-wolf whispering in his ear. He slipped on his bathrobe and slippers, stuffing his check folder and car keys into the wide pocket of the bathrobe.Although he couldn't tell what was a fact and what was an illusion, he couldn't just sit back and watch Rowena's current dangerous situation—he couldn't believe what the she-wolf said, no matter what happened this time. He can't take it lightly—but he won't be an accomplice to the Son of Darkness. He stopped suddenly at the door, and looked back at the bed uneasily. The bed was empty, and there was no empty human body left. He was relieved and walked gently to the corridor.The corridor was quiet, and he ran towards the stairs, but he heard Dr. Bazin's voice, which was magnetically drawn out by anger. "Um, nurse?" "Yes, doctor," a panicked nurse timidly agreed. "Do you have any reason?" "No, sir." "How could that patient escape?" "I don't know, sir." "It's best to find out the reason." Dr. Bazin said impatiently, "I told you specifically to take special care of her, and the door of the ward is locked. You already knew that she always wanted to run away." The doctor eased his tone slightly, "Could it be that she disappeared through the crack in the wall?" "I think so, sir." Doctor Bazin suddenly lost his temper. "I mean, sir—" The nurse stammered unclearly, "I don't know how she got out." "Then what do you know about her?" "Mrs. Mercy Monrick—" The nurse seemed to be talking, while controlling herself not to cry. "She's very sad, you know—since yesterday morning's walk. She hasn't slept all night, and begged me to let her go to Mr. Quin." "and after?" "Then a lot of the dogs started howling--it was near midnight--and poor Mrs. Monrick screamed too, and kept barking. Dr. Grant had ordered that she be sedated if necessary. , I thought she needed an injection, so I went to prepare, and when I was ready to come back, in fact, it was only a short while before she disappeared." "Then why didn't you report it sooner?" "I've looked all over, sir—but there's nothing." "Look again." Bazin interrupted the nurse, "I'll search the organization system. She was actually disturbed—I'm worried that something bad will happen to her." "Understood, sir." The nurse sobbed. "She has been disturbed quite a lot." "Be careful not to disturb other patients." Dr. Bazin continued to order, "Don't leak the news, or it will lead to news exposure. I ask Dr. Dole to report the case to the police station, and the patient must be found." Babi walked forward without stopping, did not hear the nurse's answer, he slipped quietly down the stairs, the corridor was lighted, but silent, the frightened nurse followed the bluffing little Babi Dr. Zan entered the office behind, and Babi quickly slipped out the back door. It succeeded, Babi was elated and triumphant, his mind was determined, and his pace was quickened accordingly. Rowena Monrik really ran away, just as the she-wolf had whispered to him—but this time he would not follow Together, they hurt the blind old lady, who successfully resisted the evil call of the she-wolf—or was it just his own sick subconscious?He was fully awake and human.He knew Rowena's danger - danger from the same cunning killer who killed her husband with the fur of the little black cat; the car accident on Sadith Hill that killed Lex Sturt; , claimed the life of Nick Spinwick.But this time he was no longer Apuru's, or her subjugated instrument of witchcraft—or crime. Babi still didn't know all the rules of the game, the stakes, or the other players.But he is a rebellious player, and now he has to persevere to the end, for himself, for the entire human race.