☆16. number 4
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[ACT. 2]
« Did you know that numbers have meanings? »
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LYING ON HER BED, THE GIRL stared at the ceiling. She gently squeezed one of the pieces of paper who was still stuck in her hand. It was Sunday evening and, consequently the weekend was over.
While this period was devoted to a well-deserved rest, Nana had been thinking for the past 2 days. She had tortured her mind trying to understand the meaning of these words.
She bit her lip, forcing herself to not panic then unfolded the paper and sighed, "you know something the others don't, nana."
When she'd first read it, her blood had run cold. It was obvious that the killer was responsible for this, he knew who she was and managed to put those words in her bag.
Nana straightened up on her bed and spotted the 4 apples she had put on her desk, still wondering why the culprit had sent them.
The next day, her eyes were slightly puffy from constant lack of sleep. She tied her hair up in a bun and picked up her bag in which she had stored the words.
Once she was ready, the protagonist left the house and set off for school.
Nothing was the same as before; on the way she was prudent and seemed paranoid. Even the sound of a car honking startled her; she was afraid of everything.
Once inside the school, it was even worse. All eyes were on her and Nana breathed hard as she passed Sunghoon's locker, previously vandalized but now repaired and clean.
A hand pressed against her shoulder and she had almost screamed. The teen turned around slowly, her face tense, but calmed down when she saw Junko, who greeted her with a big smile.
"You're late! I've been waiting for you for 15 minutes."
"Sorry, I overslept."
"You alright?"
Nana's voice was peculiar today, filled with fear and mistrust. She simply nodded and continued on her way.
"I sent you messages, you didn't answer me."
The brunette pretended to sulk as the heroine tried to come up with an excuse.
"I was doing my biology homework. It took me a while so I didn't pay attention to my phone."
"Homework? You?"
She remained planted in the middle of the corridor for a minute. "So I guess you're not skipping biology class."
"Huh... Actually, I have something to do. Go ahead, I'll meet you at the next class, okay?"
At the same moment, the bell rang and Junko frowned as she noticed that her friend was skipping classes a lot these days, but she shrugged and went off to class, leaving Nana alone.
After a few minutes, classes had begun and the school was silent.
There was no one in the corridors, which panicked the girl, who quickly ran into the gymnasium. As she walked, she had the impression of being watched and followed.
Nana quickened her pace and stealthily opened the gymnasium door before closing it again. She sighed with relief and slid down the door.
"You're here."
She stood up instantly.
Sunghoon was in front of her and his smile lit her up, almost erasing all the fear she'd felt for days. The girl wanted to rush into his arms but held back and waved her hand.
"Hello, did you have a... Good weekend?"
She'd struggled to speak without stammering, because she hadn't had a good weekend at all.
"It was more fun than usual... What about you? Did you get some rest?"
The young woman's lips twitched as she tried to answer. The ghost was quick to notice this detail and frowned as her friend winced, forcing herself not to burst into tears.
"...What happened?"
"Nothing."
"I know there's something. Tell me."
It was too much to contain, and Nana burst into tears under the frightened gaze of the blond boy, who had taken a few steps back. He was surprised and didn't think it was that serious.
The skater crumpled up the last paper he'd read and angrily threw it away. Nana was sitting opposite him, hands over her face, trying to stifle her tears.
She had finally confessed everything, showing him the words and how she felt about it.
He had taken the situation very seriously, drawing a parallel with what had happened to him before he died.
"What's he trying to do?"
He was furious. "Fuck... He knows who you are."
"It's okay. It's not threatening for now."
"For now."
He'd repeated, tapping his foot nervously. "How could this happen..? Was there a time when you left your bag unattended?"
"I don't think so."
She stared blankly for a moment before exclaiming, "Wait... Maybe when I went to Mr. Lee's office. I left my bag outside and when I picked it up it was heavier."
The young man's jaw tightened and he ruffled his hair, not knowing how to handle this.
The worst thing that could happen to him was that Nana would end up being hurt by the culprit, or even worse.
He was afraid it would become unmanageable and he wouldn't be able to help her anymore. It was at times like these that Sunghoon hated being a ghost; he knew he wouldn't be able to protect her.
"I think we should stop."
"What do you mean?"
"Finding the killer. You need to stop, be discreet and safe. Don't worry about me anymore, we'll stop before he finds out you can see me. He must suspect something, that's why he sent you this."
The heroine stood up and frowned, flabbergasted by this solution.
"How can you say that? Right, I'm scared but I don't want to please the killer, much less leave you alone, wandering around this school forever. I'm going to find him."
"But... He finds you first."
He cut her off abruptly. "What if something happens to you?"
"I understand your concern but I refuse to abandon you, I've done so much to get here and... I'm the only one who can help you."
The boy stared at her as she slowly approached him, determined to change his mind.
He was impressed by this courage. She was scared and trembling in front of him, but despite everything that had happened to her, she was still there and adamantly refused to give up.
"If anything happened to you, it would be a nightmare for me."
Once again, Nana had spent the morning with Sunghoon in the gymnasium and didn't go to class. They were able to discuss and theorize about the killer.
Concerning the pieces of paper, there was one detail Nana didn't quite understand.
It was the apples; why this fruit? Was it to represent her because it's the meaning of her name? But why 4 apples?
In order to avoid any further boredom, the young woman had nevertheless decided to go to her club's activities.
She quickly climbed the stairs and headed for her club, always with the disgusting feeling of being followed.
Once there, she opened the door and widened her eyes at the several boxes scattered around the room. Rachel appeared in her field of vision, her arms full of small boxes.
"Hello, how are you?"
She set everything down on the table and approached her friend.
"Hey... What's all this?"
She hadn't taken her eyes off the boxes, and the president laughed.
"It's full of new stuff at the request of other members like board games, poofs, new books... I need some help!"
Nana began to unpack a few things.
She didn't understand the point of all this, after all, the club had only been set up to continue research into her ability to see Sunghoon's spirit and thus provide several explanations and solutions.
Even so, Rachel regarded the club as an official one that would endure over time. She seemed happy about it all, so the heroine didn't mind.
"So we can ask for anything?"
"Yes, as long as all the members benefit. It's the school that pays for each new club." Suddenly, Nana had an idea.
"Can we take a TV? With DVDs."
The president paused for a moment and looked at her questioningly. If she had this idea, it was for Sunghoon, so that he wouldn't be bored and would have something to do... But how could she explain this to the others?
"Nevermind..."
She let out a nervous laugh and picked up another box.
The protagonist opened it abruptly and, without paying attention, dropped a book on the floor.
She bent down to pick it up, but something caught her eye. It was a small, thin book entitled The Symbolism of Numbers.
"What is that?"
Rachel came over to her and observed the book she held firmly.
"What's this doing here? It was an old book from the occult club. It's not very interesting you should throw it away."
"What's it about? What's the symbolism of the numbers?"
"Mh... It's numerology, a pseudo-science. Basically it talks about the meanings of the numbers from 1 to 9."
The girl was about to put the book down again, but her heart began to beat rapidly.
The apples came back to mind. Was it a coincidence that she had been sent 4 apples? Even the words, there were 4 papers.
There was a fixation on the number 4, was it intentional? Perhaps not, Nana felt as if she was getting bogged down with trivial ideas, but now that she had this book in her hand, she decided to seize the opportunity.
"You decide to say it anyway?"
She ignored Rachel's words and skimmed about ten pages before arriving on the explanation of the number 4.
According to the book, it meant several things, such as achievement, construction, work... Nothing very concrete. The young woman sighed and closed the book, a little bit disappointed.
"You were right... It sucks."
She rolled her eyes.
"What were you looking for in there? It's bullshit."
"The meaning of the number 4, out of curiosity."
"If numbers really meant something, I'd be a little afraid of that number. It's cursed."
Just as Rachel had put away the last box and was ready to leave the club, the teen intercepted her.
"Why do you say that?"
"You're Japanese too, right? In our culture, this number brings bad luck."
"...Really?"
"Didn't you know? It means death."