The Odd One Out

Chapter 3

Summer picked it up with a flick of her fingertips on the screen, and immediately a lively female voice, full of energy, came from the other end of the line.

"Hello, Summer, are you ready? I'm already at the door, do you want me to come up and pick you up?"

At the sound of this voice, for the first time, a faint image of a person slowly emerged in Summer's mind. But it felt like a stranger that she had only met once, mainly because of the image Oriella had left her with when she had come to the house last night. After all, before that, the only person she remembered besides her parents was herself, what with friends and colleagues and all, non-existent.

This was the first and only time she could remember anything about the "previous day". Summer didn't know whether to be happy that this was a small improvement in her condition or to be sad that she had only a small memory of a friend she had supposedly grown up with.

Summer pursed her lips, "No, I'll be right down."

"Okay, remember to bring an umbrella."

Hanging up the phone, Summer looked at the black professional suit she had on, she hadn't even noticed it before, it must have been ready after she had decided to go back to work last night. It was good that she didn't have to change her clothes again. After a moment's thought, Summer slipped her unfinished diary into her bag and grabbed a black pen, deciding to continue her habit of keeping a diary.

Grabbing her umbrella and keys, Summer locked the door with her bag and hurried downstairs. She didn't take the bottle of medicine prescribed by the doctor that was on the living room counter, because for one thing, her head didn't hurt as much as it did when she woke up, and for another, she would easily get sleepy after taking the medicine.

It is an old neighbourhood built some years ago, although it has convenient transportation and good living facilities. However, each house in the area is only 7 storeys high, and there is no lift installed, so you have to climb the stairs yourself every day. Summer's family lives on the 6th floor, and she wears black low-heeled shoes to walk down the stairs with her head down. The low heels landed on the concrete steps with a crisp clatter, clear in the narrow hallway and with a faint echo.

The hallway is somewhat dimly lit, with the dim yellow sound-controlled lights overhead coming on one after another to illuminate the small space, stimulated by the sound of footsteps. The handrails of the stairs are rusted and the white walls are peeling away to reveal the grey concrete walls behind. There are dozens of small white advertisements on the walls of each floor. A casual glance reveals words such as "plumbing repair" and "open and change locks". The building is empty and clean, with no piles of debris, not even rubbish, and a faint smell of dust floating in the air.

As she made her way down five floors in a row without stopping, Summer's pace became slower and slower. I don't know if it was just an illusion, but the whole building was too quiet all the way down. The only sound she could hear in the old hallway was her footsteps and the rustling of the rain outside the building. The house was obviously poorly insulated, but she could not hear the sounds of other people moving around just a wall away.

The occasional sounds of people going up and down the stairs that she had heard when she was at home were also gone, and she hadn't met anyone during this time. As if it was an empty building and she was alone. This illusion was compounded by the echoes in the hallway.

Wasn't there a saying that only empty houses where no one lived had echoes?

"Probably all gone to work, right? It's normal for no one to be home then." Summer shook her head, trying to shake off her sudden rambling thoughts.