“Is it over?”
“It’s over.”
Lu Li holstered the Spirit Gun, the increasingly oppressive cold and unwilling malice dissipating from around him.
For now, everything had come to a temporary resolution.
He opened the chamber and loaded a fresh silver-plated bullet into the barrel.
Still lost in her thoughts, Anna murmured to herself, “When people die, they turn into ghosts. When ghosts die, where do they go?”
“Good question,” Lu Li replied as he secured the Spirit Gun.
It was a question he could take to Hades.
“What now?” Anna asked curiously, then suddenly seemed to grow nervous, floating backward slightly.
Lu Li guessed her thoughts. “I’ll try to negotiate with Benjamin to let you and the others stay.”
“Oh.” Anna nodded obediently, her tension easing.
“Hold this for me.”
Lu Li handed the oil lamp to Anna, then turned and lifted the statue, placing it back on its pedestal. Taking the oil lamp back, he walked deeper into the gallery, making one final round of inspection.
“Do you remember anything from when you were alive?” Lu Li asked.
Floating behind him, Anna scratched her silky hair, looking a bit dazed. “Some things, but there are gaps... um, most of it is kind of fuzzy.”
“What do you still remember?”
Finding the light from the lamp slightly dim, Lu Li raised it and noticed some dust on the glass cover. He wiped it clean with a swipe.
“How am I supposed to answer that...?” Anna seemed troubled, unsure where to begin.
“For example, the phrase ‘Stay in the light after dark.’”
“Huh? Why stay in the light after dark?”
Anna’s expression showed even more confusion than Lu Li’s.
When she had died of illness, the Allen Peninsula hadn’t yet experienced the Nightly Calamity. After her awakening, she had remained confined to the painting, with no one to explain the outside world to her. Ṛ
It was fair to say she knew nothing about the current state of things.
“...Something happened not long ago. Maybe it was just Belfast, or the Allen Peninsula, or perhaps the entire world.” Lu Li shared what he knew about the Nightly Calamity.
“It’s gotten that terrifying?” Anna shivered, instinctively drifting closer to Lu Li and the oil lamp, as if wishing she could hide inside him.
“How long have you been here?” he asked Anna as they walked down the hallway.
“About a few months, I think...”
Every night, Anna would wake up to face the darkness inside and outside the frame, occasionally encountering wandering ghosts, the moving statue, and patrolling night guards.
The boredom and loneliness blurred the passage of time for her.
“Besides Athena and the others, do you know of any other supernatural occurrences?”
“I don’t think so...”
After briefly inspecting the office and break room doors, Lu Li focused on the last two rooms: the studio and the storage room.
The studio contained nothing but a few unfinished canvases on easels, while the storage room housed kerosene, picture frames, and other miscellaneous supplies.
Finding no additional phenomena, the man and ghost returned to the desk by the front door on the first floor.
It was just 9:00 PM. The rest of the night promised to be uneventful.
...
The flame flickered as the wick in the oil lamp burned low.
The kerosene was almost gone, but Lu Li didn’t bother to refill it. Dawn was nearing.
“Will I see you again tomorrow...?” Anna murmured softly, standing in front of the empty frame that served as her home.
Lu Li remained silent, offering no reply.
Feeling downcast, Anna thought of the monotonous days ahead, of once again facing frightened, screaming night guards. She hesitated, then cautiously raised her head to peek at Lu Li. “Will you come visit me often?”
“Probably not.”
“Hey—”
Lu Li’s blunt refusal made Anna draw out a long whine. Puffing out her cheeks in frustration, she inflated her face like a steamed bun. “Fine, don’t come then! Just leave me bored and lonely forever!”
She spun around and flung herself into the painting, returning to her seat within the frame and transforming back into an aristocratic young lady.
“Achoo!”
She suddenly sneezed, giggled awkwardly, then remembered she was supposed to be upset with Lu Li. With a soft huff, she resumed her dignified sitting pose.
The figure in the painting slowly froze in place.
A faint, hazy light filtered through the windows and into the hallway, casting the gallery in a soft, grayish glow.