After shopping for a long time, I can't remember how many stores I went in and out of. I just know that I didn't find a gift that I really wanted. When I saw the shop owner's profiteer smile, Reina backed off. Although I really want to buy a good gift for the person I like, I can't afford to pay off the "loan" for this gift for half a year. I live on pocket money.
The street lights came on unconsciously, the sky was filled with the bright moon and stars, and Reina wandered around and came to a store on the corner.
This is a shop run by a gypsy grandmother. When she is bored, Reina likes to buy some strange things here with her classmates. The main thing is that the grandmother is very kind. Whenever she and her classmates go there, no matter whether they buy anything or not, she will treat everyone with baked cookies and milk.
Somewhat disappointed, Reina pushed open the door, and the door bell rang. The old lady, who was about to close the shop, was about to persuade the customer to leave, but when she saw Reina, she smiled again.
"What's the matter? Why aren't you home so late? Are you worried that your father wants you again?" The old lady was dressed in a gypsy long skirt, looking particularly simple.
"Grandma, a friend of mine has a birthday today, but I still haven't decided what to give her..." Frowning, Reina's eyes wandered earnestly between the glass cabinets, like a pirate searching for treasure in the sea.
"Let me guess, is it your boyfriend?" The old lady's smile changed and she teased the ignorant child.
"No, I don't even know if others like me or not?" Her face turned red before she even knew it, and the shy Rena looked particularly cute.
"So it's a secret crush? How about this, I'll give you this." Then, the old lady opened a glass cabinet with a "Not for Sale" sign on one side and took out a glass bottle the size of a thumb. Inside was a deep red powder as fine as sea sand. The wooden stopper on the bottle was connected to a black rope. It should be a necklace pendant.
"What is this?" Reina took it and looked at it curiously. It was the first time she saw it.
"This is the magic powder of the gypsy witch." Covering her mouth with one hand, the old lady explained in a low voice, as if she was dealing drugs, "Don't tell anyone else. Just put this powder in the food of the person you love, and he will promise to be loyal to you forever. This is how I seduced my old man. I remember that he was a famous handsome guy in our place." Recalling the past, the old lady's face naturally showed happiness.
"I... I'm still not used to this method." Reina nervously returned the bottle to the old man, and became afraid, because she really had the urge to do so. But thinking back, she felt that she was too despicable, as evil as a witch, "I just want to find something that can bless him, something that can accompany him forever and keep him safe."
"Silly child, love is a selfish war between women. We can't learn to ride horses and kill enemies like men, but we have to do whatever it takes for the man we love." Gently stroking Reina's slightly curly blonde hair, the old lady sighed kindly, "Forget it, just think of it as a blessing for the man you like. Being liked by a kind child like you, this thing is a gift for him." Then, the old lady opened her glass cabinet of items not for sale, searched carefully for a long time, and took out an old square wooden box. The moment she opened the box, Reina couldn't take her eyes off the items in the box.
"So... so beautiful." A beautiful round crystal bead pendant lay quietly inside, as crystal clear as a tear without a single flaw. Looking closely, the inside of the crystal was faintly glowing with a faint blood-red color, and the blood-red lines formed a hexagram array, which was very interesting.
“Like it, right? This is a rare work of art. It is said that the earliest owner was one of the greatest fortune tellers among our gypsy tribe. Unfortunately, no one can prove it.” After closing the box again, the old lady walked straight to the cashier counter and took out brightly colored ribbons and paper to wrap it up.
"Wait grandma, I'm not going to buy it yet. I don't even know if I have enough money." Lena didn't think that the two pocket money she had scraped together could afford such an expensive item.
"Silly girl, didn't you see I took it out from the non-sale cabinet? There is no price at all, it's all my decision. I'm giving it to you, I'm giving it to you, it's just for display anyway." The old lady happily dispelled Reina's last concerns. She was originally an old woman without children, and her husband also passed away early. In order to make a living, she had to open this jewelry store in this remote corner of the market. Every day, guarding a deserted store, the old lady seemed to have forgotten what happiness was
Only when innocent guests like Reina come can my boring life become interesting. They also regard me as the most loyal friend, always telling me many interesting things in school and many girls' secrets, such as who got a failing grade in the exam, and who changed the score on the test paper by themselves, etc.
At this moment, the old lady really felt that she had become a lot younger, so when these innocent children came, she would prepare some delicious cookies for them and tell them all kinds of magical stories about gypsy nomads.
Such a gift can be seen as the old lady's love for Lena, and also as a thank you to her.
"Take it, don't refuse. It's getting late. If you don't go home soon, your dad will beat you!" The old lady smiled and stuffed the wrapped gift box into Lena's schoolbag. She didn't care about any reward.
"Yes!" Looking at the clock on the wall, Reina also panicked, "They are still waiting for me to go home for dinner! Grandma, I'm sorry, I have to go first. You must pay me. I will come and help you run the store in the future, just as my part-time job."
"You can do whatever you want!" Patting the girl on the back, Reina rushed out of the store like a gust of wind.
There were fewer people on the streets at night. Normally, Venice shouldn't be so deserted at night, but Reina didn't pay attention to this strange phenomenon. She looked at the watch on her wrist and rushed towards home.
She ran onto an ancient stone bridge, but this ordinary bridge turned into Reina's nightmare...
A pedestrian coming from the opposite direction pushed Reina sideways with all his strength as he passed by her.
Reina didn't even have a chance to resist. Before her brain could react, her body flew off the bridge and fell into the river. When she looked back in panic, she saw a face with a grin on its face. Reina couldn't remember what it looked like, only that pair of bloodshot eyes became a nightmare that she would never get rid of in her life...
Just when she was about to fall into the icy river, a speeding motorboat caught poor Reina and took her to her destination.
Holding a towel, wiping her wet black hair, she walked downstairs in slippers and a set of white pajamas. This was Xu Zhe's only set of clothes without colorful paint, so it was considered a special dress, right
But when we got downstairs, the atmosphere was not as cheerful as the birthday party. My father was sitting at the dining table, smoking a cigarette anxiously, and the ashtray beside the table was already full.
The nervous mother kept standing in front of the phone, thinking about something. Her face became more and more ugly, and she put down the phone helplessly.
"What's wrong?" Xu Zhe knew something must have happened.
"Lena hasn't come back yet. I was so worried that I called all her good classmates." The mother walked up to Xu Zhe and seemed about to cry, "But Lena ran out of her classmates as soon as school was over. She even borrowed pocket money from them to go to the East District to buy a birthday present for you..."
"The East District has been very strange lately..." After extinguishing his cigarette, the father's head was covered in cold sweat. "Boatmen know that there have been many floating corpses of girls recently. These girls are mostly tourists and children who got lost in the East District, and they are all about the same age as Reina... No!" The further he went down, the more nervous the father became. He stood up suddenly and said, "I have to go look for them."
Seeing her father's excited expression, the mother almost cried, as if she was afraid that the body floating back from the sea tomorrow would be that of her poor daughter.
"Calm down!" Xu Zhe stood in front of the door and shouted in a slightly scolding tone. Seeing his expression like this for the first time, his mother forgot why she was crying. "Don't be too nervous. Girls love to play. Who knows where they are playing and forget the time. I'll go find her. You guys wait at home. Maybe she'll come back earlier than me."
The reassuring smile on her face made the nervous mother and father seem to believe that their daughter was just having fun and forgot the time.
"Remember don't let your mind wander and don't run around, or she won't be able to find you when she comes back." Xu Zhe was not in the mood to change his clothes. He grabbed a tool belt from his easel by the door and ran out of the house in his slippers.
At the moment he merged into the dark street, the soothing smile on Xu Zhe's face disappeared, replaced by a deathly solemnity and coldness. His hands hanging on both sides of his body were clenched into fists, expressing an unspeakable anger.
In fact, Xu Zhe hoped that his law was the truth, but when he recalled the look on Lena's face in the morning when she warned him, as well as those bodies riddled with holes, Xu Zhe could not deceive himself that there would be a good result equivalent to a miracle.
"Another damn vampire... What a bunch of annoying guys." With the dim street lights, Xu Zhe's pajamas attracted the attention of many passers-by. But when passers-by saw his cold face, they would instinctively avoid making eye contact with him.
Xu Zhe knew where to find these bastards, and when he found them, they were destined to spend an "unforgettable" night...
At the same time, Reina had no idea what her fate would be. After she landed on the speedboat, a big man put her into a huge black bag. Her hands were tied up with ropes until they were bleeding, and her mouth was tightly sealed with smelly tape. Even shouting became a luxury.
Tears flowed naturally. This was an unprecedented fear. I curled up in the corner of the boat, my body shaking uncontrollably.
At this moment, Reina could only call out in her heart for someone to save her, but unfortunately no one could hear her voice...
When the boat slowly came to a stop, Reina realized that there were other beings trembling beside her.
"Have you brought the food? The stuff from a few days ago was so damn disgusting. If you bring garbage again this time, I'll eat you." A hoarse voice scolded, and just listening to it made people tremble.
"Don't worry, boss. What I brought today are all top-notch products that we have been eyeing for the past few days. I guarantee that today's banquet will be the most lively one." The big man who had just tied up Reina showed off his achievements.
The terrifying night gradually deepened...