That night, Jingrui went to sleep praying that she wouldn't hear any more haunting voices. She blew out the candles in her room and pulled the blanket over her head, cuddling herself into a ball.
Prince Zhanying, who had excellent hearing, told her he didn't hear it. Her senior, Xiao, who had never lied to her, told her such a sound did not exist. Jingrui refused to think she had gone mad. That night, her heart pounded as she hoped for peace.
And her wish was never heard.
When it struck midnight, the voices came once more, haunting and flowing through the gaps between the door and window sills. She hugged her body tightly and buried herself under the blanket. Her blood ran cold, and the hair on her neck stood straight.
When she peeked outside the window lattice, she saw a silhouette of a woman, and her heart leaped up her throat. Although she was shivering hard, her hands were clammy from sweat. A pungent smell of blood filled her nose when she took a deep breath, and she felt her heart would burst from her chest.
Prince Zhanying had told her she was hallucinating, and she hoped from the bottom of her heart that she was. She rubbed her eyes and glanced at the window once more. Her gaze fell upon a shadow lurking behind the window screen. Long, ebony nails—or claws—slithered under the window sills, trying to pry it open and worm their way in.
Every wisp of air left her lungs and fear filled her mind, clouding her vision with black dots. She jumped from her bed and shot out the door into the veranda opposite the window. A scream strangled her throat, and she covered her lips to stop herself from raiding the night.
The cold, spring air outside seeped into her bones. The moon was new, and the clouds were thick upon the black sky, giving no light to guide her. The voice, which sounded like a yearning screech, screamed at her amidst the tense silence. She shuddered in fear, her breathing quickening, and her senses broke into a mass of chaos.
The night consumed her into a stranded pit of darkness. She closed eyes, too afraid to scan over the courtyard or at the source of eyes she felt were staring right at her. She couldn't go back into her room and sleep with the ebony hands by the window nor could she stay in the darkness that wreathed around her.
Amidst the stillness, something shifted in the courtyard, rattling the bushes. She jumped, her instinct tugged her to move, to seek her safety, to seek a haven. She ran, her bare feet contacting against the cool mahogany, before arriving at the chamber next door. She banged her fists rapidly until at last, the door was pulled open, and she fell forward into the arms of the Prince.
"Good god, Bao Bao, didn't I tell you not to come out of your chamber?" Prince Zhanying scolded, his voice ransacking the night and shattering the silence. Something behind Jingrui shifted at his echoing voice and she flinched.
Prince Zhanying tilted his head to the side, and continued on with his reprimand, "Is it that hard to listen to me? Did you know there has never been a maid who has as much audacity as you—" Before he could finish his sentence, Jingrui lurched inside, and slammed the door shut, knocking onto Prince Zhanying. They both rammed back onto the mattress of the bed, the impact shot her head with dizziness.
The Prince groaned, taken by complete surprise. After he seemed to have regained his bearing, he angled his face at her. "Aren't you overreacting?"
He barely finished his words when she clamped her hands over his mouth. Her pupils dilated between the door and him. Her heartbeat drowned away Prince Zhanying's voice and she gulped. "Don't talk. Someone is out there."
Prince Zhanying lifted her hand from his lips with raised brows, but complied with a whisper. "Do you know what time it is? Have you ever heard of the word 'propriety'—"
She cut him short again with a shushing sound.
He closed his mouth and blinked at her blankly. "Why are you so aggressive tonight?"
She snapped her head his way just to meet his intense gaze. Instantly, she gasped, realising what she had done. She scrambled away from him to the edge of the bed, her heart almost exploded from her chest. "Y-Your Highness, I didn't mean to push you like that. I really saw something outside. You weren't being quiet just now, and I felt something behind me twist its neck my way when you spoke. . ."
Just as she had finished speaking, the sounds of the eerie singing returned and she tensed up. "D-Did Your Highness hear that?"
He sat up, his loose hair falling over his face. He fixed his loose robe that had fallen over his shoulder from her sudden lurch. "I did not."
His answer made her feel like a mad woman as she could hear the voice screeching by the door as loud and clear as day.
The desolate wind, the infinite fog.
The dwindling snow, the falling rain.
Each syllable grew louder, and Jingrui inched closer to Prince Zhanying. "Y-Your Highness really can't hear it?" she pulled on his sleeve. "Tell me you can hear it. Please tell me that you can hear it"
Forgetting the night, cherishing the pain.
It grew even closer, and she was completely sure the voice was right by the door.
"God, please don't try to scare me. Tell me you hear it."
"I can't hear anything, Bao Bao, unless you want me to lie to you," he told her as he grabbed her trembling hands that were shaking him abrasively.
As there exists no dawn.
The words rang even louder than Prince Zhanying's voice, and this time, Jingrui was certain she wasn't hallucinating.
"You must be able to hear it now, can't you?"
"How many times must I tell you? I cannot hear anything, Bao Bao, I really cannot—" He paused when a wrenching sound of nails scratching against the door rang throughout the room. He let go of her hands. "Now, I can."
He pushed her behind him before summoning his sword. The scratches mixed with the voices grew in volume and intensity before the door burst open. A slender figure of a woman with black hair covering her face stepped into the room. Her skin was white like paper, and her movements were rigid like a manipulated puppet as she coursed her way towards them.
Jingrui's eyes widened when she saw joints in between her arms and legs. "A mannequin?"
Prince Zhanying's grip tightened on his sword and his eyes darkened. "No." His jaw clenched and his loose hair cast a menacing shadow over his face. "I can smell a soft scent of rotten flesh. It seems someone is using their inner power to manipulate corpses."
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