39 Family P 10

The figure shrouded in the darkness breathed heavily and urgently. Their shaking hands trailed Lia's body up and their eyes grew more intense. A dark vibe enveloped the room and was sucked in by the gradually ominous atmosphere.

Yet Lia didn't notice anything, not until-

"Wake up! Kim wake up!" an urgent voice and rough hands shaking her, made Lia rip open her eyes and jolt up.

Her room was dark but the faint light from outside shone on an anxious face with bloodshot eyes and dishevelled hair.

"Sir?" Lia had no time to question how Third P was able to enter her room.

His breathing was rushed and his hands trembled. His lips were bloody as he relentlessly bit on them. She could sense his urgency.

"Kim! Kim!" Third P shook her harder and Lia had to control the nausea that crept up her throat.

"Sir please calm down," Lia needed to quickly collect herself and assess the situation.

It was obvious Third P wasn't in a clear state of mind. She looked around the room, there was no one apart from them and there was nothing out fo the ordinary. Third P also didn't have anything on him. He was still in his casual clothes.

"My brothers! They're going to kill me! Kill me!" Third P's frantic whispers echoed in Lia's mind. She tried to stand up but Third P was still towering over her, not bulging and not willing to let her go.

"Kim, we need to kill them now!" he repeated over and over again, as if he was going to be ripped apart if he didn't kill his brothers now.

However, this situation was too sudden and unfathomable. Hours prior Third P was still his dignified self but what could've possibly reduced him to this state?

"Sir, do you mean Second and First P?"

"That's right! Right! Kim, you ought to help me! Understood?" with each word his force on her got stronger and stronger.

Lia was at a loss. She indeed set fire to the pot but she wasn't the one who brought it past its boiling point.

"Sir, you need to calmly explain it to me."

"No time! No time!" with an erratic movement, Third P dragged Lia from the bed. His grip on her wrist started to hurt and she wanted to stay in the room but Third P didn't bend, he just continued dragging her without a care for her well-being.

They left the room and Lia suddenly wished Noel would be here. She just woke up and still felt a bit dizzy and hazy but she couldn't waste more time and quickly sobered up.

Third P dramatically moved around, constantly looking to his right and left. If Lia didn't know there were ghosts here, she would've thought he was possessed by one.

Contrary to her expectations, Third P didn't pull her up the stairs but dragged her towards the cinema. This direction was familiar to her. It was the one to the meeting hall from the afternoon.

However, just when they were about to enter the hallways, Third P pulled away, mumbling, "Not here anymore. Not here anymore."

"Sir," Lia needed to take control, "haven't you sought Fourth P's help?"

Third P stopped and his darting eyes flickered between her and the surrounding. Lia lowered her voice and gently said, "Sir, we could ask Fourth P to help and Tim. He was with me, helping me when we caught the spy, do you remember?"

"Where is his room?"

"I'll bring you to him," Lia walked in the front while Third P followed here but didn't loosen the grip on her arm.

He didn't know where Noel lived but how did he know where her room was? There was no other way than to get Noel involved. This turn of events was too sudden and she didn't want to manage it herself.

Lia knocked several times on the door but there was no answer.

"Let me," Third P pushed Lia aside and pulled out a key card. He swiped it through the sensor at the door and barged in.

Lia narrowed her eyes and assumed he had a master key that worked on all rooms. If he had that, could the other members also have this in their possessions? If yes, what else did they hide?

Third P woke Noel the same way he woke Lia up and she involuntarily smiled at Noel's cursing as he condemned a guy for climbing on top of him. After Third P settled down and Noel changed his clothes, he threw Lia an annoyed and pissed look.

Suddenly, Lia didn't feel like this situation was too bad. It was quite beneficial being able to see Noel in this state.

"Can someone fill me in?" Noel grunted and looked between Third P who paced up and down the room, occasionally fiddling with his messy hair and a wordless Lia.

"No time! No time!" Third P mindlessly mumbled, his steps got faster before slowing down again and then speeding up.

"As you can see," Lia sighed. Third P was in a way too vulnerable state for him to be rational.

"I saw it!" he grabbed Noel by the shoulders before pushing him away and Noel fell backwards onto the bed again, cursing his entire existence.

"I saw him!" Third P then shook Lia as hard as he could as if magically he could transfer his memories to her.

"Him?" Lia cautiously questioned.

"Yes! Yes! Him! Him!"

No other clue was given before Third P stormed out of the room.

"They want to kill me. You should have seen his look. I saw the word, he-" Third P abruptly stopped and turned to Lia and Noel who caught up to him.

"Sir, what do you-"

"Shh!" Third P covered her mouth, his eyes hushing around, "Shh!" he repeated, "Let's do it like this! Yes! Yes!"

They were currently in the middle of the ground floor next to a water fountain. The sound of the splashing water seemed to slowly calm Third P down.

"I saw him and I figured my brothers' intention out. The ghosts! They… can be controlled!"

Lia and Noel quickly exchanged glances.

"It was so close to me. It wanted to-! No, I can't die! Kim, I can't die!"

"Sir, rest assured. I'll help you," Lia looked around.

Now that it was night, there was no light anymore. Once Third P kept his distance from her, she could barely see his face shrouded in the darkness.

"Good, good," Third P's mumble was carried over like a whisper.

From what Lia could discern was that Third P saw someone but it couldn't be one of his brothers. So, it must be one of the staff. Just who was it going around and daring to frighten one of the P family's members?

Lia suddenly got a very bad feeling. She has jinxed it. Nothing was going smooth anymore, it was all turning into a disaster. And if she couldn't control it then who knows what would happen.

There was only a few hints leading to the logical conclusion as to who the person might be. If it was his brothers, then Third P wouldn't refer to them as 'he' and would have called them his brother.

The other clue was that this person or his brothers could control ghosts. Third P didn't seem sure who could control the ghosts. He only knew he was being chased by one. Then how did Third P get rid of the ghost? And was that really enough to send him into a frenzy like this?

Lia tried to analyse Third P closer to find something else that could offer a solution, but he didn't give her any time before he said, "We will kill my brothers! We need to split up and kill them!"

Third P hastily licked his dry and cracked lips and the action made him look even more like a maniac.

"Sir, we should ask Fourth P to-"

"No!" Third P immediately rejected Lia's suggestion, "No. I can't trust her either!"

Lia saw how Noel shifted around and wondered why Third P was fine with Noel and even encouraged her suggestion to find him. Third P's mind wasn't clear right now and his thinking pattern couldn't be understood but there had to be a line of thought he followed through.

Lia felt she was missing the key point here but no matter how much and what she asked Third P, all he gave her were repeated words, sentences and gibberish only he could possibly understand.

"We need to kill my two older brothers for now!" Third P dragged both Lia and Noel to the stairs.

Lia quickly worked her brain and retraced everything Third P has said from the beginning. She searched and searched until she realised she failed to notice a small detail. Third P was talking about how 'he' had said something. Was this the missing information? Would a few words be able to muddle his mind and go crazy?

Third P was in a frenzy and he talked quickly wanting to get everything out of his chest, to pour his pain onto everyone to understand, as if when his brothers weren't dead the next minute, he would rip out his organs to personally feed them to his brothers to choke them to death.

As they arrived at the stairs, Lia pulled her hand back and confronted Third P, "Sir, what do you plan to do?"

His crazy eyes met hers and a glint of insanity rushed past, "Kim! You're on my side, aren't you? You are! Don't tell me you aren't! If you aren't, who knows? Who knows what will happen? You know? Do you? You'Re with me, right? You won't betray me, right?"

Lia sucked in a deep breath and said, "Of course, I am, I'll always be on your side and won't betray you. However, we need to know your plans before acting. We can't do things on a whim, or else we might as well just die and let your brothers win."

Her words planted some sense into him that was ultimately destroyed the next second.

"We?" he whipped around and looked at Noel as if it was the first time he ever saw him in his life. Just what was going on with Third P? Noel tilted his head in question and didn't say anything.

Lia was anxious, she needed to do something about this situation but everything spiralled out of her control. It floated away and she couldn't grasp it.

But she needed to. Things already were at this point. They couldn't calm Third P down, so they could only advance with what they were able to do. It was important to improvise and come up with a plan.

Lia's and Noel's eyes met. His eyes moved to the side once and Lia understood he was signalling to retreat.

A dilemma caught them. However, Lia's intuition told her not to. Maybe retreating was the best option right now because Third P would eventually come to his senses again. If they pursued this matter and followed what Third P's crazy mind told them, what end result would await them?

Noel didn't do anything apart from giving her that one signal and it then finally dawned on her that she had to make the decision. Whatever would happen, Noel couldn't be held responsible for it. She clenched her teeth and glared at Noel. He was pushing everything onto her.

Noel ignored her gaze and just nodded, then a light smile formed on his lips. This was when Lia was made aware of something else, another point she didn't think about or would've guessed. Whatever choice she made, Noel would abide and go through with her, not letting her bear it alone.

Her heart turned a bit softer and for the first time, she felt the heavy burden of responsibility pressing her fragile body down. In the past, she never had to make major decisions.

Even making Min the Ghost King wasn't something she thought meant taking responsibilities.

Now, she reaped the repercussions.

Back then, she wanted to grow up and mature to become befitting of the position next to the Ghost King but she never got the chance to.

Now, since she came back, for the first time, she had to make a choice where the lives of others apart from hers would be affected and in the future, there might be several more situations like this.

For better or worse, this heavy load needed to be taken care of. She had an ally who trusted her and laid his life into her hands blindly. Lia briefly closed her eyes and it was so silent, she could clearly hear her thoughts, drifting, drifting into a certain direction.

"Sir, you should go with Tim to take care of Second P, I'll take care of First P."

Noel sighed but Lia was determined. Whatever outcome, it was her decision and responsibility. It was time for her to grow as a person. She wasn't alone now to take her revenge, so she couldn't think of the best option for herself, she needed to include everything else.

"Yes! Yes!" Third P mumbled, "my brothers all live on their own floors. There's a special room hidden for us."

Then Third P took Noel and they left. Lia felt this was the best choice. This was the right option to take.