Ghostly_Apples

Chapter 12：The END

Faye, crazy. Why did she go crazy? I can't explain it. That night, her knife didn't hit me but instead kicked by foot. She immediately ran away.

But I got a call from Killian early in the morning on the third day, he told me that Fay went to mental hospital. Oh, what a guy Killian is! He always knows about any gossip news first. It's hard for me to guess how he knew it.
I have always been confused. Why did that building make me see such a scene in the mirror? What does it want to imply to me? Or is it just the ghost of Chloe, who tries hard to let me understand her pain and injustice? Suddenly feeling very tired, I lie on my bed and look at the ceiling with dazed eyes.
Everyone who had peeled an apple in that building died. Although I knew there must be some unknown connection between the ghost building and apples, my cognition was limited to the data recorded on photocopy paper at that time. It wasn't until after losing Xanthe and then that I truly realized how naive and ignorant I was. I underestimated the horror of that building again and again. I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity, although I felt a little bit that I couldn't compete with Xanthe, they would definitely go to peel apples in that building. But I didn't stop them. Even deep down inside me, there was still excitement and anticipation.
I, damn it! It's my fault that they died. But, since I also cut an apple, I should be dying soon too. I just don't know how I will die. Hey, let's hope it won't look too ugly.
Full of depression, I lazily walked out. No matter what, there is one thing that must be done.
Alex's lips were constantly closing when he fell with Xanthe, as if trying to convey something to me. My brain deeply recorded those mouth shapes. In the morning I consulted a professor who knew sign language and told me that it meant notebook.
My mind suddenly brightened, and everything became clear. Right, notebook! I didn't expect that Alex still had this trick up his sleeve!
I slowly walked to Alex's grocery store, which was sealed a few days ago. The relevant departments are contacting his relatives and friends to deal with the aftermath issues. Because someone died here recently, plus this place is already notorious as a haunted building, it became even more desolate around here. When no one was looking, I quickly used wire to pry open the roll-up door and rushed in.
Pulling down the door, I took a deep breath and started looking for it. To be honest, there is no room of single men that isn't messy, but Alex's was so messy as to reach an artistic level. The goods were randomly placed in the small room originally used as a dormitory, some even put on the bed. Looking casually, you really would have a feeling like searching for a needle in a haystack.
But I found it under my bed, in a layer of cotton. It was an old soft cover notebook that looked like it had been used for years, but when I opened it, there were only a few pages written on.
I was so excited that I immediately started to read it. After a long time, I sat down weakly on that dirty and ugly bed. My thoughts were in chaos. The things written in my notebook seemed like they had been written by Alex not too long ago. He recorded his friendship with Max, how they turned against each other, and how Max used his weaknesses to threaten him. There are also strange things about this building.
In order to make it less boring, I summarized and deleted some unimportant parts. Here are my notes: People always have regrets in life. As a mortal, of course there will be worries and regrets. Writing this note is not for lamenting life but recording all the stupid things I did over these years. The stupid things Max and I did together. For so many years, I've been regretting and repenting constantly. Actually, I should have died long ago, but I suffered through life, enduring humiliation, just to investigate everything clearly. Also for those souls who were wrongfully killed here.
I know that when someone opens this notebook, I must have already died. And I also know that you who will open it, although you don't know who you are, but you definitely have a very strong curiosity. Here, I will tell you all the secrets I've known and hidden in these years. If possible, please help me solve all the puzzles. Of course, if you feel afraid after reading it, want to stop halfway, please hand over this notebook to him (the detailed address of the person is given at the end, which I guess is one of Alex's friends.) He knows what to do.
Well, how should I start this narrative? I'm holding a pen in my hand but can't write anything. Let's go back to thirteen years ago when I was still the mayor of this town and met an immigrant from the sea country Aerelia named Max. Think about it, everything started from that time.
Max is a young man with great ambition and foresight. I quickly became friends with him. After getting drunk one day, I accidentally told him something that was my biggest regret in life. From then on, misfortune began to befall me.
To be honest, I'm not a good person either. People say that I am an honest and responsible town mayor who serves the people wholeheartedly. Hey, it's just because I'm so good at acting. I never believe in friendship between friends, so I often deliberately reveal some of my own weaknesses to my friends, which will make them feel superior and think that I trust them very much, thus making unstable friendships last indefinitely. But they would never know that those so-called weaknesses are irrelevant.
Haha, I didn't expect that Max was more cunning than me. He held my fatal weakness and threatened me continuously. Although I regretted it, what could I do? I had to keep pleasing him.
One day, Max came to me with a tense expression. "I killed someone!" he said to me. At that time I didn't react at all and just said 'oh' casually until he repeated it again, then I was so scared that I dropped my pen on the ground.
"What's going on?" I asked as calmly as possible.
Max said hysterically, "I didn't mean to. I really didn't mean it. I never thought she was so fragile. I just proposed to her, but she refused, and then I grabbed her neck in desperation, begging for mercy, and she died."
My brain is spinning fast, "Do you want me to help?"
"Please help me, otherwise my ideal and ambition will be ruined!" Max took a cup of tea in his hand and drank it quickly. Although he was begging for help, but his tone seemed to command me. He seems to say that if he is arrested, he would definitely tell everyone about what I did.
"Okay, I'll help you this time." After a pause, I said, "But from now on, I hope we can both forget each other's weaknesses."
"I'll take your word for it." Max smiled, but not in a reassuring way.
The girl who was killed by Max is a flower seller at the west gate of the town. She has been living with her mother since she was young. At this time, she fell down softly on the ground and her clothes were torn apart. It seemed that she had been raped. Her originally beautiful face stared fiercely in front of her, which looked very strange. A white long dress covered with blood spots, and there was also an apple stained red with blood tightly held in her right hand.
I shivered and shouted at Max angrily, "You didn't tell me that you raped her!"
"It doesn't matter, what matters is that she's dead." Max said calmly. This made me doubt whether his panic just now was deliberately staged.
But it was too late to say no. I had to help him dismember that poor girl and bury her in five buildings under construction with cement. Then, two weeks later, I used "missing" as a word of comfort for the mother who cried herself to death, and closed the case using this word.
So we lived in peace for a while. At first, Max kept his promise, but soon he started threatening me again. I was furious and went to him to argue with him, but he just laughed coldly:"You were also involved in that case." I had no words and could not resist it, so I had to help him all the time. Until 8 years ago, I couldn't bear his excessive demands any more, so I resigned from my post as mayor.
It was not long after that year, and the building was built. He died in the hands of this building. I was ecstatic but did not realize that this is just the beginning of a nightmare. Why did this building suddenly change its intention during construction from an upscale hotel to residential buildings? Why would people die one by one in this building?
The mystery spread in my heart one after another. So I rented a shop and lived here. After so many years of investigation, I found that all people died in the first room on the right hand side of each floor, and they were all exposed to apples in this building before something happened to them. I couldn't figure it out, but there was no doubt that everything had to do with the girl we dismembered.
One day, she will come to me...
"Right! It was made in 1938." I played with that iron-like thing in my palm, and the voice became low again.
"So, do you have any idea about this thing?" Killian leaned heavily back in his chair.
I smiled bitterly, "Not at all. But I always think it must have a deep connection with that ghost building. An unbreakable connection." 66 What kind of relationship?
"I don't know. It may be possible to find out only in the country of sea." I laughed dryly and stood up, leaving.
Don't forget to look up at the sky. The sun is struggling to break through the thick autumn rain clouds. I forcefully exhaled and laughed again, laughing wildly and crazily. Laughing until tears came out of my eyes.
This event seems to have ended. But it feels like there are still many mysteries that haven't been solved yet. I've always wondered why I saw that scene in the mirror. If I hadn't seen that scene, maybe I would have been killed by Faye. So who saved me?
I walked aimlessly on the street, shaking my head desperately to get rid of all troubles. But in the end, I still bought two bouquets and went into the cemetery. Xanthe's tombstone was placed next to each other. In the photo, their smiles were beautiful and sweet. As if they knew that I would come.
"I'm sorry, I didn't go to your funeral." I gently placed the flowers at the grave and said softly, "Actually, I wanted to. But I was afraid. I really was scared. Because it should have been me who died, my curiosity killed you!"
Looking at their photos, I felt a pain in my heart again. "Damn it! The wind and sand today are really big!" I wiped away tears that had just flowed out with my hand, finally breaking my vow not to cry... cried