Having pulled an all-nighter to finally finish her manuscript, Zoe Sawyer yawned, ready to use the bathroom and catch up on some sleep.
The moment she opened her bedroom door, Zoe Sawyer, eyes half-closed, felt something strange under her feet.
The floor felt sticky and a little soft under her slippers, as if she had stepped on something.
Huh?
Zoe Sawyer's eyes flew open in confusion. She found herself standing in a completely unfamiliar environment.
This wasn't her living room at all!
And yet, her left hand was still gripping her bedroom doorknob.
When she looked down again, she saw that the soles of her slippers were slick with blood. And there lay a corpse with a pale face and wide, staring eyes—a face she recognized.
The body was lying face down on the floor, its head turned toward Zoe Sawyer, its eyes filled with endless despair.
Its fingers were stretched desperately toward the room, as if reaching for something.
Fresh blood was pooling out from under her, suggesting she had died only moments ago.
A corpse...
"Ah!"
Zoe Sawyer screamed, stumbling back a few steps and collapsing in the doorway of her room.
As a novelist, Zoe Sawyer's mind raced, and her first thought was of transmigration.
But the dead girl in front of her was clearly the one who lived upstairs.
'But it makes no sense to transmigrate into your neighbor's apartment!'
'Wait, if this is a murder scene, then where's the killer?!'
At that thought, Zoe Sawyer looked around in terror.
Her eyes snapped to a man standing in the corner of the living room, holding a knife and watching her with a cold, detached expression.
DRIP.
The sound of blood dripping from the blade onto the floor snapped Zoe Sawyer back to reality, and it seemed to rouse the killer as well.
'Since she saw me, I might as well go all the way and kill her too!'
'That'll keep her from calling the police and ruining my plan.'
With that, the killer tightened his grip on the weapon and charged toward Zoe Sawyer.
The living room wasn't very large, and the killer was fast. He was upon Zoe Sawyer in an instant.
In the nick of time, Zoe Sawyer scrambled back into her room and slammed the door shut.
With her back pressed against the door, she felt violent thuds from the other side and heard the rattling of the doorknob.
Soon, the sounds from outside stopped.
Not daring to waste a second, Zoe Sawyer scrambled over to her desk, grabbed her phone, and dialed the emergency number with trembling fingers.
"Hello, Varden Emergency Dispatch. How may I help you?"
A gentle female voice came from the other end of the line, soothing Zoe Sawyer's frayed nerves.
"Hi, I need to report a murder. The address is Apartment 504, Building 4 of The Atheria, on the west side of the city."
Zoe Sawyer's voice trembled, but her mind was clear enough to recount what she had seen.
Hearing that it was a criminal case, the officer on the other end grew serious. While recording the information and dispatching a team, she continued to speak gently to Zoe Sawyer, trying to calm her.
"I understand. We've already dispatched officers. Are you in Apartment 504 right now? Is the killer still in the living room? Make sure you stay hidden, and don't open the door. We'll be there soon." The officer's gentle yet firm voice brought Zoe Sawyer a sliver of comfort.
But upon hearing the question, Zoe Sawyer's voice filled with uncertainty and confusion. "I live downstairs, in 404. I saw it all when I opened my door."
"The one on the floor... that's the girl who lives upstairs from me."
The officer on the other end raised an eyebrow in surprise but continued to go along with what Zoe Sawyer said.
She also took down Zoe's description of the killer.
The police station was not far from Zoe Sawyer's residential complex.
Officers were dispatched the moment the call came in, and in less than five minutes, several police cars had surrounded the building.
It was morning in the complex, so there were quite a few people heading to work or taking a stroll.
Watching police officers get out of their cars and swarm toward one of the buildings, they didn't need to be told that something serious had happened.
Zoe Sawyer kept her back pressed against the door, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. Her ears were strained to catch any sound from outside, and her replies to the officer on the phone became distracted and brief.
'The killer saw my face. Did he manage to escape? Will he come back to get revenge on me later?'
These thoughts made Zoe Sawyer even more anxious.
Just then, the sound of a door opening came from behind her, and Zoe Sawyer's heart seized.
It was followed by a knock on her door.
"Ms. Sawyer, that's one of our officers at the door. Please don't worry, it's safe to open it." The dispatcher's gentle voice on the phone was as calming as a sedative.
The dispatcher's voice gave Zoe Sawyer the courage to push herself to her feet. With trembling hands, she opened the door.
Standing before her were several uniformed police officers.
The man in the lead had an imposing air. He stared coldly at Zoe Sawyer and asked, "You're the one who made the report? We need you to come out and give a statement."
His tone was so harsh that Zoe Sawyer, standing face to face with him, flinched involuntarily.
The woman beside him smacked him on the arm as soon as he finished speaking. "Evan Keller, could you soften your tone a little? She's the one who reported it, not the killer!"
Then, she turned to Zoe Sawyer with a bright smile. "Please don't worry, the killer has been apprehended. We're just here to get some details about what happened."
The speed with which her expression changed left Zoe Sawyer dumbfounded, but the others beside her seemed completely used to it.
'Looks like this is a regular occurrence.'
Hearing that the killer had been caught, Zoe Sawyer finally let out a sigh of relief.
'Thank goodness. Now I don't have to worry about saving my own skin.'
Evan Keller's sharp gaze swept over Zoe Sawyer. The bloodstains on the soles of her slippers were a perfect match for the partial print they had found at the crime scene.
There were also several bloody handprints on the door, and their size matched those of the apprehended killer.
Strangely, however, the floor of her living room was spotless—not a single drop of blood.
This inevitably made Evan Keller recall what Zoe Sawyer had said when she called it in: that she had opened a door in her own home and suddenly discovered a murder scene.
He hadn't believed it at first, but now, seeing the state of her living room, a seed of doubt was planted in Evan Keller's mind.
'Could it really be a coincidence?'
'No. I have to see it with my own eyes to be sure!'
Meanwhile, Zoe Sawyer, soothed by the female officer's reassurances, had calmed down and was repeating her account of what she'd seen.
Evan Keller stood in the living room, watching a junior officer take notes as he listened to Zoe Sawyer's testimony.
When she finished, Evan Keller took a few steps forward to stand in her bedroom doorway. His tone was probing as he said, "Ms. Sawyer, could I ask you for a favor?"
Hearing his words, Zoe Sawyer looked up at him in confusion. 'What kind of favor could I possibly do for him?'
Evan Keller stared at Zoe Sawyer and said, word by word, "Can you close the door, and then open it again?"