Sticky Shattered Glass Pieces

Chapter 57: She Has It, She Knows

A local myth claims that the patients at Canterney's asylum reported seeing weird shadows that were likely the ghosts of the plague victims and that the cries of the suffering spirits kept them awake at night. The physicians didn't think they were real.

Additionally, patients were sometimes killed while being tortured. According to legend, a sadist doctor performed harsh experiments on them, including lobotomies, since he thought that this torturous procedure was an excellent approach to treating and curing mental diseases. The doctor performed the treatment without anesthesia or any consideration for sanitation, and it was cruel and terrible.

The doctor committed suicide by jumping or being hurled from the clock tower perched over the lagoon because of these horrible practices that drove him insane. According to folklore, he was suffocated by an enigmatic fog before his death, not from the fall.

The diary that I found in the cabin stated that despite the bell having been removed in the past, there are some quiet, calm nights when you can still hear it tolling across the bay, and researchers have recorded an odd electromagnetic field within the entire perimeter of the island, despite there being no source of electricity.

So these goblins took the chance to feed on these poor patients' fear and lure them into their world. Some wanted to return to the real world, and some wanted to stay back in the goblin's world. The ones who returned have a recollection of being taken from the hospital to the goblin's world. Shortly after their return from the goblin's world, they were found drowned on the island.

Did the goblins kill all these patients who came back to their world from their world? After all, these patients who return to their real-world would not have any recollection of being taken to the goblin's world. So, why would these goblins kill patients who want to return home to their loved ones?

The last question got chills running down my spine, and my hair stood stiff at the back of my neck suddenly. The last page was empty in the diary, so I quickly closed the journal, feeling confused and anxious.

"Wonder why the last page is empty?" A sudden voice came behind me.

I jumped and screamed a little. I turned frantically and was looking at a beautiful young woman in her 30s with long black hair. She had a huge and charming smile on her beautiful face.

"You are very determined to save those you love," she uttered as she looked at me.

"I will just cut to the chase. Why am I here? What should I do to save him?" I asked her sternly.

"The last page," she said, pointing at the torn page of the book in my hand.

"Do the flower and the last page of this book have any connection?" I asked her back.

"You think you know all about the flower, but you don't, sweetheart. There is more to it." She smiled at me.

"What do you mean?" I was confused.

"The last page has the solution that you need. I need the flower too. Bring both and leave them at the entrance of this cave before sunset," she replied, ignoring my question completely.

She vanished from my sight. More like faded from my side. I quickly clutched the book tightly to my chest and walked out of the house. I couldn't find my way at first, but then everything went dark again. I was blinded again, and I knew she was taking me back to the entrance of the cave. I could smell jasmine flowers on the way up to the entrance. The smell made me nauseous because I hadn't liked the smell since I was young. The scent was too strong for me.

Once I knew I was out of the cave, the cold air from the beach hit me once again on my cheeks. It stung my nostrils like ice picks poking from within my nose as I breathed the chill air. My vision came back, and I looked around me. Still no one. I looked down at my watch and realized I had 6 hours before sunset.

Where shall I begin? What should I do now? Where should I find the last page of this book? What about the flower?

All kinds of questions ran through my mind like a wild tornado. I couldn't answer these questions in my head, which made me more and more confused.

Then suddenly, a voice in my mind uttered, "She has it. She has what you need."

I looked around, trembling in fear, and with my cold, shaky hands, I asked loudly, "Who is this she?"

No voice. Dead silent. I could only hear the waves flapping against the shore. This is ridiculous, I thought. I took out my phone and called Rachel. While waiting for her to answer my call, I walked up the main road away from the beach. Rachel did not pick up my call and I thought she was still mad at me for what happened that morning. I halted a cab and got into it. 

"Did you know that the Canterney flower brings people luck sometimes? If you are kind to it," the cab driver suddenly started a conversation with me while driving.

"Sorry, what?" I looked at the cab driver in shock.

"It brings those who are destined to be together," the cab driver smiled at me from his front mirror.

"Why are you telling me this?" I was confused by the conversation in the cab with the driver. 

"I thought you should know this since it is an interesting fact," the driver continued as he drove.

"Interesting, huh? It just brought me bad luck and nightmares," I murmured under my breath and smirked.

"Sorry, what?" the cab driver looked at me again with his widened eyes.

He was acting as if he heard my words and wanted to attack me. 

I quickly cleared my throat and replied, "Huh, nothing. I have a lot on my mind right now. Sorry."

I held the book in my hands tightly. I didn't want to lose it since I have to find the last page of the book and bring it to the Queen Goblin before sunset. The conversation ended as soon as I replied to the driver nervously. He turned on some music to eliminate the awkwardness in the air in the cab. 

As soon as I saw the turn to the house we were renting on Canterney Island, I said, "You can drop me off here. Thank you."

He nodded and I paid him the fare. I opened the door and quickly got off the cab holding the book tightly in my hands. I walked into the house and to my surprise, I saw Rachel at the door. She was as if waiting for me. That is weird, I thought. Rachel had a smile on her face and I thought she was acting bizarre too when she laid her eyes on the book that I was holding tightly to my chest. 

"Brought me a gift?" Rachel could not take her eyes off the book in my hands.

"What, this? No, this is not for you," I simply uttered and walked past her swiftly. 

The more Rachel's eyes were fixed on the book, the more I did not want to leave the book anywhere around the house. I took the book with me to the room and opened the last torn page. I looked at how it was torn off on purpose as if whoever did this wanted me to fail to bring back Suga to the real world again. 

Then I heard Rachel's voice outside the room suddenly, "I know what you are looking for."