Sara had a long and deep dream.
In her dream, she was still a child. She was doing an action repeatedly - opening the door of Caroline Lowell's bedroom.
The door was mahogany, carved with delicate flowers, thick and classic. Carrying her schoolbag, she reached out and pushed the door open. It was very dark in the room. There was only a slight trace of sunlight penetrating through the window, and the curtains were fluttering. The pale woman looked back with a pool of dark red blood under her feet.
When she saw Sara, she smiled helplessly. Little Sara rushed to her mother, trying to hug her. She was too young and did not know what blood meant, but her instinct made her feel afraid. She could only hide in her mother's embrace to get a little bit of warmth.
Caroline was gorgeous and graceful. She often smiled gently. But at that time, when the sunlight reflected on her face through the window, showing loneliness and sadness.
She gently stroked her daughter's face and asked in a soft voice, "Jackie, why are you back?"
Little Sara widened her eyes. She was stunned and replied, "... Grandpa who brought me back."
Caroline sighed slightly. The broken vein on her wrist was still bleeding, but she didn't care. She just leaned down slightly, held Sara in her arms and sat on the windowsill. She said, "Jackie, I'm leaving you."
"Why?...Why?" Sara had been a sensible girl since she was a child. She would never cry easily. Even at that moment, she fought hard to hold back her tears. She looked at her mother in a panic, "Is it because I am not good enough? I will be obedient in the future..."
"No." Caroline stroked her hair gently and planted a kiss on her forehead, "Jackie is the best child I've known."
"Mommy is sick." Caroline said calmly, "It's a disease that can't be cured. I should have left a long time ago. Now it's finally time, so I have to leave."
"But..." Little Sara grabbed the corner of Caroline's clothes and her eyes were filled with tears, "But are you not going to bring Jackie along, Mommy?"
Caroline chuckled, but the tears were falling down her face. She tilted her head and seemed to be laughing at herself. She said in a choked voice, "Jackie, that is a wonderful place, but you can't go there now. You have to take good care of grandpa in the future, okay? Mommy will always be watching over you."
Caroline sat down at the bedside slowly. There was a pot of her favorite hydrangeas. She closed her eyes tiredly and leaned on her daughter's shoulder. She held her daughter's hand and whispered, "Jackie, I hope you will always be safe and happy."
Little Sara's body was stiff and she nodded desperately, "Mom... Mom, I will be obedient... Please don't sleep, okay..."
She instinctively knew that as soon as Caroline closed her eyes, she would not open them again.
"Throughout my whole life..." Caroline murmured, "I was like a joke."
Sara kept dreaming of this scene again and again. She was a very tough child, but she couldn't bear it and finally burst into tears.
Hank was roused. He frowned and got up. When he turned on the lights, he saw Sara curling up into a tiny ball under the blanket on his big black bed. She looked like a stray, burying her face in the blanket and sobbing softly.
Hank had never encountered any girl that age, nor did he know how to get along with her. He stood by the bed for a long time, the shadow of his tall figure almost towering Sara. If someone came in at that time, he would probably think that Hank was going to inhumanly kill the girl on the bed.
Who would know that man, whom even beasts and ghosts were scared of, was full of bewilderment and helplessness at that time.
"She's crying... What should I do? Should I hug her into my arms and coax her? How do I coax her?" He wondered.
Master Bishop reached out his hand and intended to hug her, but he didn't know where to start. When he was about to ask Bella for help, he heard Sara whimper suddenly, "Don't leave me..."
Her voice was low and soft, like the claws of a kitten scratching on Hank's heart slowly, half of his body turned numb.
Hank held his step and didn't go out in the end. Instead, he sat down at the bedside and reached out to hold Sara in his arms. He touched her forehead and found that her fever had basically subsided. Without him noticing, it was a load off his mind.
Hank felt happy when he was holding Sara. He felt he looked f*cking silly, so he simply grabbed Sara's soft hand and whispered, "...No, I'm not leaving you."
Sara felt reassured. She smiled softly and held Hank's hand to her chest carefully. She held it tightly, showing how much she cherished it.
Hank said nothing. He moved his wrist slightly and felt unusual softness, making his palm stiffed.
After a long time, Hank stared at Sara who was sleeping in his arms unconsciously with tears in the corner of her eyes. He licked his teeth and said, "Although you are young, you're quite good at seducing me."
He adjusted Sara's posture to make it more comfortable for her to sleep. He leaned against the headboard with his eyelashes hanging down. He pinched Sara's cheek and said, "You're the one who is hugging me. Don't say that I'm taking advantage of you."
As he spoke, he moved his hand again, which was held by Sara, and squinted his eyes with a smile.
Her dream was like a huge glass broken into pieces by a hammer. All of a sudden, be it the blood in the room or Caroline beside the bed had vanished. Sara looked up groggily in confusion and heard someone in the broken shards of glass, "...No, I'm not leaving you."
The voice was low and husky, with a bit of indescribable hostility and a little bit of softness and helplessness at the same time. Sara turned around. Everything behind her was swayed in the air like tears and pieces of snow white paper. All the fear and hatred turned into bubbles and finally, nothing was left behind.
All of a sudden, she felt at ease.
That was the sense of security that she had never had since her mother passed away.
At four o'clock in the morning, Sara opened her eyes.
She was still dizzy, not really sober, and her vision was a little blurred. She felt that she was stuck in a wide and warm place. She struggled a few times and moaned.
"Are you awake?" Hank's hoarse voice came above her head. Sara looked up blankly and saw Hank lowered his head and gently pressed his forehead against hers, "The fever has gone away."
That was in fact a very intimate action.
Sara's body was stiff and she stared at Hank with round eyes.
Hank smiled and said, "What's wrong? Don't you recognize me after we slept together?"