The Devil's Cage

27th of September.

Andie came out from the theatre with her boyfriend. She looked at him, or more accurately, the backpack which held the present for her.

The present that was supposedly her birthday present.

Her boyfriend thought he bought the present without her knowledge but when she asked her sister for her opinion, her sister, who sided with her, had told her what the birthday present would be.

Plus her boyfriend's roommates were also on her side, telling her what her boyfriend was up to.

So it wasn't that hard to guess what the present was.

Why did the roommates help Andie though?

Because Andie had roommates too and her boyfriend's roommates were all single.

Everything unfolded just as expected.

The present would be the latest bag of the season, with blunt studs around the body.

It was very nice, as Andie liked the black metallic feel.

After a passionate kiss, Andie subtly, carefully rejected her boyfriend to get to the next base. She smiled and took her present back into her dorm.

She was eager to show off her present to her roommates, they would be jealous!

To her surprise, she realized there wasn't anyone in the dorm when she opened the door.

Other than the empty dorm, it was in total darkness too because of a blackout.

"What a terrible night," Andie complained. She wanted to use her phone to light her path but when she took out her phone, a voice came from behind her.

"What a terrible night."

The same words, the same tone. It was like her words were repeated by herself, but Andie was sure she did not speak.

She grabbed her bag, lit up the torchlight app on her phone and shone it behind her with a loud yell.

"Who is it!? Come on out! Anna? I see you, you little bitch, I see your little tricks now! Come out!"

Behind her was a blank door, her voice welcoming no answers, except for the same repeated words.

"Who is it!? Come on out! Anna? I see you, you little bitch, I see your little tricks now! Come out!"

At first she thought her roommates were playing games with her, Andie was frightened but not afraid because it was normal for the girls to play tricks on each other, but this time it felt different. Andie was creeped out.

She turned around again with her lighted up phone, she shed light over the dark room, in hopes of finding her roommates laughing at her silly reaction, but…

Nothing.

The things in the room were exactly how they were when she left, even the half-eaten tiramisu Anna left behind was untouched.

"Hey guys, come out please. I admit that you guys are scaring me," Andie stepped back as she begged.

Her hand was on the handle of the door, turning it slowly.

The door opened and Andie stepped out of her room, wanting to leave her room and return to the well-lit corridor.

A light shone from behind her and Andie heaved a breath of relief, moving further away.

Then… she missed her step and fell.

The light went off and a deeper darkness devoured Andie completely.

Aaaaaaah!

Andie's scream echoed in the corridor.

Tssst Bam!

The opened door slowly closed and everything returned to silence.

…

"Andie still hasn't come back?"

Li QianQian yawned on her bed, hugging her rabbit pillow in her pink pajamas.

"She must be curling up on her boyfriend's crotch! I'm gonna grab her little braid and let her know the sister's rules shall not be broken!"

A darker, healthier girl, Miranda, said seriously, but her moving eyes represented the grinding gears in her mind.

"A punishment is necessary."

Anna, in glasses, couldn't help but say it to her roommates.

"Punishment! Punishment!"

Li QianQian, who was going to bed a moment ago, jumped down from her bed.

The three girls quickly got into position.

One of them got into the closet, one of them hid behind the door and the last one under the bed.

They were going to scare their roommate.

Miranda was the one behind the door. As a student with exceptional sports ability, her size was bigger and healthier than normal boys, she couldn't even get under the bed or the closet.

"Do you girls think Andie will really get that bag?"

"I want it too!"

"If I got it, those bastards would laugh at me. Besides, that bag is very expensive, might as well use the money to get a new pair of sports shoes… Hey, QianQian, Anna, there's no need to be so serious right? Andie hasn't come back, we can still chat."

Miranda said and opened the closet door.

Inside the closet were messy clothes hanging on the rack and piled up underwear, but no Li QianQian.

"QianQian?" Miranda was stunned, turning about and lifting the bed.

There was no one under the bed also.

"Girls, stop it! We are scaring Andie, not me!" Miranda frowned.

She thought she was the one being scared, and then she felt discomfort behind her neck.

It was itchy and cold, she turned around and…

A strand of hair?

A strand of hair fell down from the ceiling and appeared in her sight.

Miranda looked up to the origin of the hair and she saw a pale face with green veins and black eyes on the ceiling.

Aaaaaah!

Miranda screamed and fell on the floor.

She breathed heavily and moved backwards with her hands and legs.

When she retreated to the door, the fear drove her to open the door without thinking, she wanted to run, but…

She fell!

…

28th September.

Lin MiaoMiao was finishing her preparation before she headed off work.

She put the clothes back on the rack, cleaned up the changing room for it was her duty.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Hello, is anyone there?" Lin MiaoMiao knocked.

When no one answered, she let herself in.

There were no clothes in the changing room, but the slippers were messy.

They should be tidied up, otherwise her salary would suffer.

She squatted down and went to return the slippers back to their original places.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

The knocks and question sounded behind her.

Lin MiaoMiao stood up,looking confused.

As the purchasing guide of the night shift, although she wasn't the only one, as the rookie, she had to settle the trivial stuff.

"Is that you, manager?"

From how she viewed it, only that kind manager would help her with her trivial duties.

After the question, Lin MiaoMiao opened the unlocked changing room door.

There was no one outside.

The broadcast in the mall came through the speaker.

"Welcome to Encool Mall, our business time is from morning 10 am to night 10 pm. There are 15 minutes left until closing, please have your belongings with you and leave in an organized manner… Bzzzzt!

Buzz!

The standard broadcast was interrupted by a sudden electrical buzz.

The sharp irritating noise assaulted Lin MiaoMiao's ears and she covered her ears with her hands.

Then…

Bam!

A thud later, all the lights were killed off.

The lights came back quick enough though.

The passionate and kind manager came into the changing room, but he noticed the newcomer Lin MiaoMiao was missing. The door was left open and the slippers were arranged nicely but she was nowhere to be found.

The manager tried to call her but all he got was a busy tone.

The situation lasted until the next day, when Lin MiaoMiao was still missing.

The manager called the police.

…

Slam!

The officers saw Chief Teddy walk out of the questioning room.

No doubt the person he brought back wasn't the person he was looking for.

Chief Teddy walked to the whiteboard and went into deep thought. His colleagues were afraid, none of them dared to make noise or even breath loudly, anyone who dared to speak loudly would be the target to feel his wrath.

The chief may be short but he had quite the hot temper.

The recent case of John Dickson and the missing girls even pushed his tension to the next level.

No one would try to be funny in times like this, even the young assistant carefully poured the coffee into his cup without making a noise.

Teddy picked up the cup of iced coffee.

No sugar, no cream, pure black coffee. The icy, bitter liquid energized his mind, providing him with quite the boost, for he always pulled all-nighters.

He gulped down the coffee and then glued his eyes to the whiteboard.

There were 5 photos stuck on the board.

Andie, 19, Ai City University, Second Year, went missing 27/9.

Li QianQian, 19, Ai City University, Second Year, went missing 27/9.

Miranda, 19, Ai City University, Second Year, went missing 27/9.

Anna, 19, Ai City University, Second Year, went missing 27/9.

Lin MiaoMiao, 22, purchasing guide, went missing 28/9.

1. All missing girls has distinct social network, excluded revengeful murder and relationship murder.

2. All missing girls vanished without a sign, no witness, no footages.

3. Temporarily blackout during the time Lin MiaoMiao went missing.

…

Each of the girls in the photos were beautiful, young, and had a bright smile but the words that were written down there made the photos look gloomy.

After some detailed investigation, everyone's heart sank.

It has been 2 weeks since the first group went missing, the golden time for rescue was far behind the police.

No one knew better than Chief Teddy what it meant after the window was missed, hence the rising anxiety.

He hoped to figure out the common points between the girls, but unlike other serial missing cases, this case had too many common points: young, beautiful energetic girls, similar family background etc.

When a single method doesn't work, try others.

Therefore, when Lin MiaoMiao was reported missing, Teddy put her case together with the others, in hopes to figure out the different points.

If the common points didn't work, look for the different ones!

The unusual points would always hold a meaning.

It was what Teddy's senior chief used to tell him when he was still a mere rookie.

Now he had become a chief and he still believed in the words.

Teddy flipped the files page by page on his seat.

He had been through the files more than a dozen times, he could even recite them backwards.

However, Teddy suddenly thought of that fierce woman when he flipped through the files this time, thoughts popping up in his mind and he quickly went through the other files.

A while later, Teddy stood up.

"That woman? Where's she?"

"She's gone after giving her testimony," one of his men replied.

"Someone go and bring her back, RIGHT NOW!" Teddy yelled.

He then rushed to the tech department.

Sending his men off was the first step and he wouldn't just sit back and wait for results, he must get more information on that woman as quick as possible, including her usual route back home.

Soon, Teddy located that woman.

The woman staggered and wobbled into… Leaf Dining!

"This place again?" Teddy frowned.

He then ran downstairs.

Once or twice might be coincidental but beyond that, anyone would be suspicious, let alone to an experienced cop like Teddy. Teddy was very suspicious of the brothers who ran the restaurant, which had popped up in his sight more times than he wished for.

Arriving at the restaurant, Teddy pushed open the door without being courteous.

He saw Kieran behind the bar counter and Amy in the corner.

After he made sure Amy was passed out because of drinking, he heaved a breath of relief and then went over to the bar counter.

"Is she a regular?"

Although he has many questions in his heart, Teddy did not interrogate Kieran, talking to Kieran like a common customer while pointing at Amy.

"She? I guess so. We've been open for only three days, she came here three times and everytime drunk," Kieran answered honestly.

"That is why you put up the 'No Alcohol' sign out there and reject drunkards?" Teddy teased.

"It's nothing personal, it's towards all drunkards out there," Kieran replied.

"Do you know about the mysterious missing lately?" Teddy suddenly changed the topic.

"Yeah, it's written pretty detailed here," Kieran passed Teddy the newspaper.

Teddy didn't even take a glance at the newspaper, he knew what the paper wrote: the police catching shadows and giving wild guesses without evidence.

What curse? What ghosts and monsters? Impossible!

"What do you think?" Teddy stared at Kieran.

"What do you mean? The newspaper? It's interesting enough to kill time at night," Kieran then took away the newspaper.

"You know what I'm saying, it's not the newspaper, I'm asking you what you think about the missing girls?" Teddy asked in a heavy voice.

"Nothing. Investigating missing cases is your work, not mine. I'm just a restaurant owner, the kind of owner who is struggling to meet ends, so if you don't mind, can you give me the bounty for John Dickson first?" Kieran shook his head and said seriously.

The corner of his eyes were peeking at Amy.

Trouble!

Kieran commented in his heart.

The moment Teddy appeared and asked about the missing case, plus the nervous Amy, Kieran knew what was going on, for he wasn't an idiot.

Yet he wasn't stupid enough to tell Teddy, unless he wanted to be haunted by Teddy like a vengeful spirit.

"Is that so?" Teddy looked at Kieran with a judgmental gaze.

He hoped to find some inkling on Kieran's face but for Kieran, no expression was his natural instinct, so Teddy didn't get anything.

While Teddy was considering bringing Kieran back to the station for questioning, rattling sounds came from outside the restaurant.

"Boss, it's here! That woman who smashed your head entered this restaurant!"