Xiao Lin sat in the back seat, silent, as if she were just a presence in the air.
I didn't dare turn around. I could only catch glimpses of her stiff figure in the rearview mirror, her eyes vacant, her face expressionless.
If this had happened before, I wouldn't have thought twice. But now, one slip-up and I might not be able to hold on to my life.
I felt more and more that something was wrong with Xiao Lin.
Ahead was the main road, dense with traffic. I worried she might suddenly do something terrible. My heart raced, and cold sweat seeped from my palms.
At this tense moment, an idea struck me. I asked casually, pretending to be relaxed, "Xiao Lin, are you still together with Zheng Hao from high school?"
Xiao Lin paused for a moment before answering slowly, "We broke up. We haven't been in touch for ages."
Hearing this, my heart sank completely.
Although we were in the same class in high school, she had never dated anyone, and there was no one named Zheng Hao in our class at all.
This Xiao Lin was definitely fake.
On the main road ahead, traffic flowed like a tide, and the traffic lights at the intersection flashed glaringly.
This reminded me of the terrifying scene from yesterday, when I couldn't tell the traffic lights apart.
Once we entered the main road, the speeding cars could kill me at any moment.
She was driving me into a dead end.
Just then, a battered silver van came speeding from the main road, heading straight toward us.
I instinctively glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Xiao Lin smiling eerily. That smile sent a chill through my whole body and made the hair on my arms stand on end.
Fear made me feel that the van was also coming for me, as if it would knock me flying the next second.
I glanced at the green belt by the roadside, gritted my teeth, and cursed silently, "Forget it, I'm going all in!"
Immediately, I jerked the handlebars hard. The bike slammed into the curb, and I was thrown headfirst into the green belt.
Sharp plant branches and leaves scraped my skin, stinging painfully.
I forced myself up through the pain and hurriedly turned around to see whether I had killed Xiao Lin by throwing her off.
However, the scene before me made my heart go cold.
Xiao Lin had somehow already gotten to her feet and was smiling at me.
That trick of mutual destruction had almost cost me my life.
"Are you all right?" Xiao Lin asked with a smile, her tone so light it was as if nothing had happened. "Your riding skills are even worse than mine."
I glanced at the van, which was getting closer, and forced myself to sound calm as I asked her, "Did you fall badly too?"
Xiao Lin shook her head and said, "Let's get the bike up first. I'll take you."
Those words made my heart tighten.
She would take me?
We'd probably crash into a big truck before long.
I deliberately dawdled, and only after the van had passed did I slowly lift the bike upright.
By then I was so tense that everything I looked at seemed wrong.
After standing the bike up, I realized I absolutely could not keep going with Xiao Lin.
I pretended to inspect the bike and said to her, "The bike seems to be damaged. I can't ride it."
Xiao Lin said dismissively, "It's not far now. Let's just walk."
The more eager she was to get me out there, the more I felt she had bad intentions.
She must be trying to harm me.
I rubbed my leg as if in pain. "My leg is hurt, I can't walk. Why don't you go to the main road and see if you can flag down a taxi? I'll go to the pharmacy next door to buy some medicine and leave the bike there?"
Xiao Lin stared at me for several seconds before finally nodding. "Okay."
I hurriedly pushed the bike toward the pharmacy. Xiao Lin stood where she was, her gaze like a knife, fixed on me, as if afraid I would run away.
After I had walked some distance, my fear peaked. Not caring whether she was still watching, I jumped onto the bike, twisted the throttle hard, and sped away.
Xiao Lin's shouts came from behind me, but I didn't look back. I accelerated through several streets before daring to head home.
However, the moment I reached my front door, I froze.
A girl in a spaghetti-strap top stood at the door. It was Xiao Lin.
"Fan Yin, you really are home!" Xiao Lin said with a smile, waving at me.
My heart sank. Great, she had even blocked my doorstep. It seemed she really meant to drive me to my death.
I gritted my teeth. In broad daylight, was I really afraid of this ghost?
I glared at her coldly. "What exactly do you want? We have no grudge against each other, so why are you pestering me? Are you sick in the head!"
Xiao Lin looked bewildered. "What's wrong with you? Wasn't it you who asked me to come?"
I sneered. "Stop pretending! Aren't you just trying to harm me?"
Xiao Lin frowned, the smile vanishing. "What's wrong with you? I'm Xiao Lin. Why would I want to harm you?"
I studied her carefully and noticed that she seemed different from the Xiao Lin from just now.
Then I suddenly remembered that Xiao Hei had been barking furiously at that Xiao Lin earlier. People say dogs can sense spirits.
I steadied myself and said to her, "Don't move. Wait for me right here."
After saying that, I quickly parked the bike at the door, went inside, and carried Xiao Hei out.
Once Xiao Hei came out, although he seemed a bit frightened, he stopped barking and just whimpered and kept burrowing into my arms.
I looked up suspiciously. "Are you really Xiao Lin?"
Xiao Lin looked helpless. "Have you gone mad? If I'm not Xiao Lin, then who am I?"
I stood there for several seconds before finally letting out a sigh of relief. I hurriedly let her inside and said with a wronged tone, "I really did run into something strange."
I told her everything that had happened, from beginning to end.
After listening, Xiao Lin was too shocked to speak.
I asked, "How did you know I had gone home?"
Xiao Lin snapped back to herself. "You called me last night and asked me to come!"
I stared blankly. "I didn't call you."
Xiao Lin said firmly, "Impossible. You called me in the middle of the night last night. Otherwise, how would I have known you were back?"
I hurriedly pulled out my phone to check the call log. The moment I saw it, I went ice-cold all over.
Just after three in the morning last night, I had indeed called Xiao Lin. The call lasted 48 seconds.
My face instantly turned deathly pale.
I had no memory of anything at three in the morning last night, yet I was certain I had never touched my phone.
I swallowed hard, sweat beading on my forehead, and said to Xiao Lin, "I... I didn't call you at all last night."
Xiao Lin clearly didn't believe me and thought I was joking. "Are you trying to scare me on purpose?"
I was nearly in tears. "I really didn't call!"
By now I was so frightened I could barely think.
Last night, apart from that masked man, my phone had been left on the bedside table the whole time.
Could it have been him?
But that didn't seem likely!
Because when I grabbed for him, he vanished.
And that was around midnight.
By three in the morning, I should have been asleep.
Could it be that after I fell asleep, something entered my room and used my phone to call Xiao Lin?
And Xiao Lin heard my voice?
I didn't dare think any further.
Just imagining that scene, my heart nearly burst out of my chest.
Seeing how pale I was, Xiao Lin asked nervously, "Fan Yin, are you all right?"
I took several deep breaths and told her in detail everything that had happened over the past two days, especially what had just happened.
After listening, Xiao Lin's face also went pale with fear.
Just as she was about to speak, my phone suddenly began to vibrate.
Someone was calling.
I jumped in fright, and the phone slipped from my hand and fell to the ground.