Abyss Train

Chapter 825 Ordinary Love①·Life hangs on a thread

[Part①·Can’t put it down]
"Margaret."

My fiancée.
like
It seems like she.
It seems like she has been murdered!
The severed hand that crawled out of this scripture has drained my sanity!
I felt extremely dizzy and couldn't stand steadily. My back hurt so much! The injury from falling into the mud from the hunting trap finally started to take effect - the muscles on the left side of my chest were pulling my entire arm, and they were twitching together, pressing me tightly against the chair.

It seemed like there was nothing I could do. I was breathing heavily, staring at the severed palm, overcome by a strong feeling of nausea and fear.

“Who is it?”

"Who hurt you!? Margaret?!"

The thoughts and grief for her temporarily overcame the pain.

What I couldn't understand was why this hand seemed to be alive -

——It climbed out of the hollowed-out scripture and fell onto the table. It seemed to be able to walk a few steps to the edge of the table? It grabbed the tablecloth with its pale and bloodless fingers and slowly squirmed.

"Margaret? Margaret? Can you still hear me?"

"Margaret? Is your ghost with me?"

The brilliant sunshine of midday was once again covered by gloomy rain clouds, and I could no longer hear any sound except the occasional bird calls from the depths of the pine woods.

Because of the intense fear, everything seemed to be shaking in my eyes, and the cabin seemed to be melting along with the hot and humid air.

Now it is getting a little better and the surrounding environment is gradually stabilizing.

The pain from my heart attack was gradually subsiding, and I finally regained control of my left hand.

-Sam Walker, you have to calm down.

I kept repeating this to myself, but I didn't dare touch Margaret's severed limb.

If fingerprints are left, then I will become the first suspect in this murder.
Now only the police can help me, only the Vienna local police can solve this case, if Margaret is still alive, still alive
Thinking of this, I was already daydreaming and grabbed the microphone.

But the handle and dial of the telephone are wet with tears—

——If my wife is still alive, what kind of torture is she suffering?
Her hand has been chopped off.
How long will it take to find her? How long will it take? Will I ever see her again?

At this moment, the horrific visions seemed to surround me once again, like wolfhounds hiding in the shadows, barking and ready to strike - waiting for the right opportunity to tear my fragile mind into pieces.

The strong tinnitus made me cover my head involuntarily. Before calling the police, I finally realized what was going on.

“The police won’t believe me.”

"If...if this severed palm is sent to the police station."

"Can it really be used as a clue? As evidence?"

"Oh my God."

"Why is this hand still alive? Why is it still moving?"

Margaret's severed palm seemed to be connected to "invisible electrodes". It crawled slowly on the tablecloth. When it reached the edge of the table, it seemed to sense danger and changed direction to continue crawling.

Is this an illusion? Am I hallucinating?

Maybe it had never moved at all? It had just been lying there in the book?

No. Wrong
The finger of the severed palm returned to the starting point again, stained with sticky black blood, and slowly wrote three letters on the checkered tablecloth
——S
——A
——M
Sam Walker is my name, it's calling me
"Devil! Devil!" I cursed this weird walking corpse loudly! I took the cross from the coat rack and chanted to it. My body began to stiffen. "Devil! Get out of Margaret's body!"

After writing these three letters, it began to crawl aimlessly again.

After about five or six minutes, I finally wiped away my tears and called the Vienna Local Police, trying to stay calm and describe the incident in the most gentle tone.

There was only one long beep, and the police operator spoke immediately.

"Hello there!"

I quickly explained my purpose: "Hello, I live in Little New Siedle, on 302 Road near the lake, in a wooden house on the outskirts of the international airport. My name is Sam Walker."

"Sir, how can I help you?" After hearing the complete location and identity information, the operator's tone became relaxed and lively.

I looked back at the dining table, and it was still moving in circles—

"--I think."

Operator: “Hmm?”

My lips were dry and my eyes were roving between the phone and the severed limb. If the police officers who came to look for me took it away as evidence, I would have to go to the detention room to cooperate with the investigation and become the first suspect at the scene, awaiting interrogation.

I don't want to just wait like this
I don't want to.
"I have a fiancée"

"Uh-huh? Mr. Walker?"

"She disappeared a few days ago."

"How exactly? How many days ago?"

"It should be yesterday. We talked on the phone yesterday. We just decided on the location for the wedding, which is at St. Stephen's Cathedral. She is a volunteer in the church, and the clergy are willing to provide the venue for free."

"How long has it been since your last contact?"

"I don't remember clearly. I was decorating my new house last night. I drank a lot of wine and I was very happy."

"Mr. Walker, you have to get to the point"

"Okay." I hurriedly began to recall: "It should be fourteen hours? Or fifteen hours? She was on night shift at the hospital, and she knew I had to do carpentry work at night - so she wouldn't call me, because she was afraid that I would be distracted."

"What's your fiancée's name?"

"Her name is Margaret, Margaret Szczecin Pirano Brynitz. She lives near the embassy."

"Which embassy?"

"The Chinese Embassy in Austria is next to the Rennweg Train Station. She has been renting a room at Belvedere Apartments, 1315 Station Road, and lives with her two pet dogs."

"Okay, Mr. Walker, we will arrange for police officers to visit your home, and we will also send community volunteers and detectives to talk to you. Ms. Margaret has not been out of contact for more than 48 hours. Maybe she just fell asleep.

“——No!” I quickly changed my words and looked at the broken palm.

Fell asleep? How could he fall asleep?!

She had her hand chopped off! Officer! How could you...
"Mr. Walker? Sam Walker?"

"Hurry up!" Until the end, I still didn't tell the truth about my broken palm. Deep in my heart, I had an inexplicable fear of prison. Every time I greeted the county police in Neusiedl, I would lower my head involuntarily and said, "Hurry up, please, that's my fiancée, I beg you."

The operator could clearly sense that something was wrong.

"Sam Walker, if there is something else going on, and you can provide more clues about Ms. Margaret, then it can buy more time for the missing person after 48 hours. Is that all you want to say? Right?"

I looked at Margaret's severed hand again, then at the envelope, and talked to the operator about the mail.

"Perhaps. She went to Portsmouth to visit relatives. I received a package this morning."

"Was it sent to you by Ms. Margaret?" The police officer was obviously relieved.

Although we didn't look each other in the eye, I still shook my head involuntarily: "No, it's an anonymous package. The sender's name is blacked out. I'm not sure. The shipping address is Chadderton Castle in Portsmouth." "In the UK," the police officer continued, "What's inside?"

"A diamond ring." I lied. "Margaret's diamond ring, and some blood."

"I see. We can file a case then. You finally made yourself clear." The police officer's tone became more serious: "The county police in Xinsidel, south of the city, will contact you - are you free tomorrow morning?"

"Yes," I immediately responded, "Yes! Should I go to the county police station to cooperate with the investigation?"

"It's still unclear what happened to your fiancée. We need to conduct an on-site investigation to collect evidence. We went to the post office to check the mailing information. This package was sent from the UK. Cross-border cases are difficult to handle. We need to notify the consulate and then work with the police in both places to jointly investigate."

I quickly asked, "How long will it take?"

"Please prepare the diamond ring, do not damage the evidence, and do not get any extra fingerprints." The police officer did not answer this question: "We will not detain you for questioning for the time being - just cooperate with the county police."

[Part②·Finger Dance]
After the call ended, I returned to the dining table, feeling confused.

The cut on the severed palm was neat, as if it had been cut in half with one knife, without any scraps of flesh or bone from dragging or sawing.

I approached it cautiously, trying to take off the ring, and slowly pressed it with a towel.

——At first it was quite obedient and lay quietly on the tablecloth.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

When I put on rubber gloves and tried to pull out Jane Doe's diamond ring, it immediately started to struggle.
The power of this severed palm was far beyond my imagination! It suddenly shrank into a fist, broke free from the towel, fell from the dining table to the floor, and immediately crawled into the dark corner of the cupboard.
I quickly crouched down and tried to grab the severed hand. If the county police came to my house tomorrow and I couldn't produce any evidence - they might also find the stump in the house, then things would be terrible!
Sweat soaked my eyes, I didn't know whether it was sweat or tears. This broken palm seemed to be fighting with me, as if there was an invisible devil controlling it - repeatedly playing tricks on me, a poor creature.

It swam nimbly and quickly in the narrow gap of the cupboard. I almost lay my head on the dining room floor and waved my hand hard into the gap, trying to catch this nimble hand.

I found a wooden stick from the tool room. I was afraid it would damage the ring, so I wrapped cotton cloth around the stick to drive out the strange and weird remains.

Just as I was returning to the dining room, Margaret’s hand was once again climbing onto the table – as if nothing had happened.

Is this really an illusion? Am I fighting with myself? What am I doing?
Sam Walker? It's just a piece of rotten meat! There's no way it can be alive!

Is there something wrong with my brain? Why?
"Margaret."

The ironclad fact was before me: Margaret's severed hand was covered in dust and became dirty. It had indeed rolled around under the cupboard many times.

I started to cry again, and couldn't stop crying -

——The heart-wrenching pain almost drove me crazy.

Taking off my gloves, I only prayed to God to help me, to subdue this demon hiding in the dark, and let me take off the ring.
When I touch its knuckles, when I touch its ring finger—

——It finally calmed down, and the five fingers of the fist gradually spread apart, seeming to become obedient.

At this time, the stupid and cowardly Sam Walker finally woke up.

I get it, I finally get it.

It has no mouth, no ears, no eyes, no nose, and no heart. How can it recognize me?

It's Margaret.
It's not some devil at work, it remembers my fingers and the feeling of holding my hand.

To take off the diamond ring, I gently pinched the dehydrated and stiff skin, but it held my hand tightly, interlocking my fingers and not wanting to separate.

I almost burst into tears at this moment, I couldn't control this emotion, I couldn't stand it
I cried so hard that I couldn't breathe and it seemed like my old illness was about to relapse. I couldn't accept this fact.

I don't know how long it took, the sunlight gradually disappeared, and it was tightly intertwined with my right hand. I went to the wine cabinet and found the rum prepared for the wedding ceremony - I bit open the cork and drank it down my stomach.

In just a few minutes, I fell headfirst onto the bed and could not feel a thing.

When I woke up again, the rustling noise outside the door scared me so much that I broke out in a cold sweat.

The heavy, regular knocks on the door were like the death bell.

—The sheriff is here? Is that so? What should I do?
I didn't breathe a sigh of relief until I opened the door. There was no one outside and no new mail packages.

I went back to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. The mirror showed a haggard face with stubble and many gray roots in my chestnut hair - I looked almost forty or fifty years old.

The strange experiences I encountered yesterday gradually faded away from me.

The dining table was as clean as new, and there were no strange scriptures or packages on the tablecloth. There must be something wrong with my brain - the round-the-clock decoration work these days has driven me crazy.

I opened the back door and saw a stupid fox hanging on the bird feeder, trying to stick its beak into the bag of grain. When it saw me, it immediately scurried off into the woods.

Farther in the backyard, a woodpecker was digging a hole, and that strange knocking noise was coming from here.

"Go away! Get out of my life!"

I looked at the calendar with some expectations.

——Perhaps this nightmare lasted too long, and I just overslept because I was drunk.

When I returned to the restaurant, I lowered my head and found a little blood stain on the white collar of the postman's old work clothes near the lining. I gradually accepted this fact.

Looking towards the kitchen counter, Margaret's severed hand was holding a knife, which was raised up, ready to chop an apple.

I walked to it calmly and saw the carpenter's mask on it. The ear ropes were tied into a wreath knot, like a neat and clean apron. It was still doing housework and taking care of my life.
The severed hand held the knife, although not very flexibly.

Even though I only had one hand and couldn't tell the appearance of the ingredients, I had to feel and confirm each one carefully.

If you can't tell the front and back of a knife, use your finger to test the sharp edge.

It wanted to make the Austrian snack that I learned when I first met her in cooking class seven years ago.

Make an Apple Strudel
I straightened the apple, slowly took the kitchen knife, and gently pressed my fingers on the back of her hand.

"Margaret, Margaret"

To make the apple crumble, grab a small bowl and pestle – slowly puree the pulp.

When I went to mix the batter and make round pancakes, I no longer felt terrified. It just seemed as if my fiancée had never left.

We took off the rings and put the token of love back into the box. Maybe we have to take a long detour -

——The apples were rolled into the baking pan, I hooked my thumb with the thumb of my severed palm, and danced a tango on the table following the noisy morning music on the radio station.

The index finger and middle finger became two legs. Just like that, when it advances, I retreat, and when it retreats, I advance. Following the rhythm, I hold the palm of the broken hand and hold it in my arms.

For a moment, I could see a shadow in the pale golden sunlight.

That's my Margaret, she's sitting in the other chair.

When the real knock on the door came, the county police turned on their Walkman and used tapes to record the law enforcement.

"Sam Walker? Anybody? This place is damn hard to find."

I quickly put Margaret's hand in my pocket, stood up and opened the door.

——I became more determined, and it seemed that there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

Margaret is the victim of some evil witchcraft, and I'm afraid the police can't do much to help.

"Come right away!"

(End of this chapter)