38 Family P 9

Lia had to push down the anxious feeling but her scalp felt like it was bored by a hundred nails. She slowly let her gaze wander up and saw First P standing a few stairs above her.

"Do I?" Lia kept her voice calm and her face indifferent.

"You look similar to the K family's daughter," First P descended and now stood before Lia. He was as tall as her and Lia moved her hands inauspiciously behind her back to avoid him seeing her sweat.

This wasn't good. She couldn't be found out.

"This is the first time I've been told. I'm not sure if I should feel flattered being compared to a… murderer," Lia smiled slightly as she looked at First P.

"Right! Ha! She's dead now, innit? Might've just mistaken you. don't take it to your heart," First P waved his hand and then disappeared on the ground floor.

Lia gripped the railing of the stairs and took a deep breath. A dangerous glint flashed through her eyes. That was close now. If she was really discovered, there would be no saving her. Especially in an unprepared situation like this.

However, what puzzled her the most was that she was sure she's never seen First P in her life before, never seen neither of the P family apart from Elder P.

How was it that he was able to recognise her?

This matter agonised her that she didn't even realise Noel opening the door to his room, talking to her.

"Hey! Hey!" only until he lightly pinched her arm, did she come back to reality.

"What?" perplexed Lia found herself in his room.

"I said Third P came barging in when I was still talking to Fourth P."

Lia was a bit slow to understand but reacted quickly when it came to the chance to mock Noel. She would never miss an opportunity,

"Well, too slow and too bad. You can't hope to compare to me."

Noel wanted to refute but Lia cut him off again, "Did you hear anything?"

"Not yet but they gonna tell us anyway."

"Don't you think things are sailing a bit too smooth?"

"They are."

Lia met Noel's eyes and was surprised to hear he also thought that everything was way too easy now.

"It'd be good if it stays. Let's not jinx it, ok?" Noel fell on his bed and smirked, "What? Gonna sleep with me?"

Lia instantly jumped off the bed and walked out of the room. She had no patience to entertain him. She was more concerned about the sudden encounter with First P. She has never seen any of the P family members leave their floors or at least not walking around like that.

Now that Lia thought about it, First P left the stairs on the ground floor. What was he going to do? It was already afternoon. The other staff also had the rest of their days free and roamed around the ground floor.

Lia saw the person she was looking for and grabbed them by their shoulders.

Nessa turned around and shot Lia a bright grin. Lia smiled back and she didn't see it herself but her smile was genuine.

"Kim! What's up?" Nessa seemed to treat Lia as her friend and even though Lia only pretended, if one saw her like this it wasn't noticeable.

Since the second day at lunch, Nessa and Lia got along pretty well and had many light conversations. While Nessa was very chatty, Nita was quieter and couldn't keep up with Nessa's noisiness.

Nessa was glad to have Lia to talk to and Lia knew this but she also enjoyed being able to make small talk with someone like in the past.

"You're free?"

"I am!" Nessa nodded energetically and seeing the expectations in her eyes, Lia couldn't help but smile again.

"I saw First P on the ground floor just now, do you know where he went?"

"Oh," Nessa looked a bit disappointed before saying, "Not too sure. Seems like he wanted to go out."

"I see," so even the members would go out.

For some reason, Lia never thought of leaving the building in her free time, even though she saw Tom occasionally sitting outside. It didn't irk her she wasn't confined to the facility.

The sudden thought of this made Lia slightly panic. It'd be best if she could leave her quickly.

Since she didn't have anything else to do, she suggested doing something with Nessa. The latter's face brightened at her suggestion and immediately pulled Lia along to try everything out.

It has almost been two weeks since they started to work here. Seeing Nessa's childlike behaviour, it was hard to imagine that she was capable of killing.

However, appearances always lied. Nessa could be sweet but hidden behind was a dark desire yet Lia could only guess that. She didn't know what happened on the fourth floor or what Nessa did, if she voluntarily killed or if it pained her to do so.

Nessa never mentioned the matter. While she was changing into different clothes in a store, Lia wanted to find out more about First P.

"How is it to work for First P?"

Nessa spun around in her dress before answering, "Hmm, nothing special? He's just there and we report to him. He doesn't particularly supervise us."

Nessa gave Lia an outfit," Why? How's Third P?"

"The same? Lia had a complicated expression as she was forced to try on the clothes Nessa chose for her.

"Perfect!" Nessa clapped her hands, looking Lia up and down.

"Really?" Lia tried not to frown but she felt the clothes didn't suit her. It was a bright yellow top that didn't match her pale complexion. The white pants were easier on the eyes.

"Yes! I think bright colours suit you more! You should definitely wear them more often! I feel like you're a very cheerful person, so it goes hand in hand."

Lia remained quiet. The clothes felt like ants crawling around and itching every part of her skin. Back then, she would've been happy to wear this but she has changed.

She didn't want to be compared to that bright and naïve child she was in the past. It was like an insult that slapped her hard across the face.

Not giving Lia anymore change to think, Nessa dragged her out. When it was evening, they headed for dinner. Usually, everyone would just take the food that Claire and Mat provided every day and went to eat in their rooms but surprisingly Noel sat there alone eating.

Nesa called out to him, "Hey Tim! Tim! What are you doing alone?"

They joined Noel and the latter glanced at Lia before bursting out laughing.

Lia's eye twitched.

"Doesn't Kim look lovely?" Nessa added more fuel to the fire.

"Very. You should wear this more often," Noel huffed out between his laughter. This was the first time she saw him laugh and she hoped it would be his last.

That infuriating laugh was like screeching in her ears. Lia chose not to comment and quietly ate her food as Noel couldn't help but eye her more and more.

Lia ungently put the cutlery on the table with a bang and smiled at Noel, "Tim, do you still want to keep your eyes? Or would you prefer me digging them out to offer the mortals?"

"If you-"

"No, don't fight!" Nessa interrupted, "We had such a good time!"

A vein appeared on Lia's forehead. Had a good time making fun of her!

While Nessa and Noel talked, melancholy and nostalgia overcame Lia. She could never return.

"Hey, you both get along well!" Nessa suddenly said.

"Where?" Lia coldly snorted and Noel helplessly shrugged his shoulders.

"But you're always together."

"Nessa, maybe you should cleanse your eyes," Lia had no problem throwing snarky comments at Nessa.

"Could you stand being with someone like this?" Noel sincerely said but wore a smug.

Lia ignored him. Humouring him would only make her angrier.

"Kim's so lovely! How can you not like her?" Lia lightly coughed and failed to see just how in the world did Nessa have so much confidence in her.

"Yes, yes, lovely, ok," Noel gave in but his smug said otherwise.

Lia's face remained blank and she took her tray and put it next to the bin. She said her goodbyes and left for her room. On her way, she saw a silhouette flash past.

Stopping for a second, she followed it. During the evening the ground floor's lights were dimmed while the other floors were completely dark.

The shadow disappeared at the stairs. Lia waited for a few seconds before walking to the stairs. She could barely catch a figure running up the stairs.

The stairs weren't illuminated, only a small light was on each floor's wall. When the shadow passed, Lia caught the reflection of a black smooth surface.

It reminded her of Tom's gaming device but taking the risk to find out what he was doing was too big.

Lost in thoughts, she went back to her rooms and checked the corpses. For the whole time, they just sat wordlessly there and stared at the bathroom floor.

Maybe she should have waited before inserting her soul into them but in case anything happened, she would be prepared.

The day passed by quickly. A lot of things have happened but Lia was serious when she voiced her concern to Noel. Everything was going too well.

With that last thought echoing in her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

The window curtains weren't drawn and the moonlight fell into the room, highlighting a tall person towering over Lia in the middle of the night.

Their hands wandered up her body before grabbing her.