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Stormy Night: Roommate Kept a Boy, I Raged Through Danmaku
NovelShort
Completed
On the rainstorm night of the typhoon, Alma the dorm supervisor showed up at the door holding a little boy by the hand. "He's only five, and he missed his mom so badly he ran out looking for me. Never thought he'd get caught in the typhoon." "The wind and rain out there are brutal right now, he's soaked through, and he can't get home." "Carmen, your dorm happens to have an open bed. Could you let him in to take a hot shower and rest for the night?"
Chapters (4)
第1章
On a stormy night during a typhoon, Alma the dorm supervisor showed up at the dorm door, leading a little boy by the hand.
"The poor thing is only five. He missed his mom so much he ran out of the house to find me, and then this typhoon hit."
"It's windy and pouring out there, he's soaked to the bone, and there's no getting him home."
"Carmen, your dorm happens to have an open bed. Could you let him in for a hot shower and to rest for the night?"
I looked down and saw raindrops sliding one by one off the ends of the boy's hair.
But he only bit his lip quietly, head lowered, obediently and nervously pressing his index fingers together.
I was about to say yes when lines of floating comments suddenly appeared in front of me.
"Don't! Her son, Phineas Lambert, isn't a child—he's a man with dwarfism in his thirties!"
"Phineas could never find a wife, so Alma Lambert had him make a move on you."
"Afterward they even threatened you with photos, spread rumors that you'd invited a man to stay the night on your own, all to force you into marrying beneath yourself."
"In your last life, the whole school said you were loose. You were forced to drop out, and in the end you jumped off a building and killed yourself."
The blood in my whole body went cold. I'd always been good to Alma Lambert.
Knowing her family was struggling, I collected the cardboard my classmates threw out and gave it to her to sell.
"All right, I know you're the easiest one to talk to," Alma Lambert said, as if it were a given, already stepping inside.
My heart lurched, and I blocked the door.
"According to school rules, students aren't allowed to have members of the opposite sex stay overnight in the dorms."
1.
At the words "opposite sex," Alma Lambert's face tightened.
But she quickly pushed down her panic and made her tone even softer.
"Carmen, what are you talking about? He's just a child—his lips are turning purple from the cold."
As she said it, she moved to press forward, and I still didn't budge an inch.
"Alma, take him to the men's dormitory."
"You—!" Alma Lambert hadn't expected me to be this firm, and her eyes went wide.
The next second, she gritted her teeth and lowered her voice again.
"The men's dorm is far from here, and it's pouring outside. How is a little kid supposed to make it over there?"
"He's going to catch a cold. Can't you at least let him in for a hot shower?"
Her voice cracked, like she was about to cry.
But I held my ground. "No."
"Carmen Swanson! Aren't you always so easy to get along with?"
"You won't even help with a little favor like this? What's all that saintly act for the rest of the time?"
Her voice shot up, loud enough to bring out my roommate Eleanor Smith, who'd just finished her shower.
"What's all this noise in the middle of the night?"
Alma Lambert looked like she'd found her savior and quickly grabbed hold of Eleanor.
"Eleanor, you tell me who's right. My son's only five, and he's soaked through."
"There's nowhere for us to go on a night like this, so I just wanted to borrow your dorm for a hot shower."
"Carmen absolutely won't allow it—says no one of the opposite sex can come in the dorm."
Phineas's gaze settled on Eleanor's neck, still beaded with water.
He pretended to shiver and hugged himself tight, but his Adam's apple bobbed and the corners of his mouth curled up almost imperceptibly.
A wave of nausea rose in me. I nudged Eleanor with my elbow and shot her a look.
But instead she turned snide.
"Oh, Class President Swanson throwing her weight around, always using the rules to push people around."
"Rules are rigid, but people aren't. The school rule is meant to stop improper relationships in the dorms."
"But this is just a kid. Some people have filthy minds, so everything looks filthy to them!"
I froze for a moment, and the floating comments flew past again.
"Eleanor Smith has always been secretly jealous of you—your grades and your popularity are both better than hers."
"In your last life, Phineas Lambert locked the dorm door, and you pulled her into the bathroom to hide with you, but she shoved you back out."
"To cover up leaving you to die, she even made up filthy rumors about you."
"She said you often had men stay the night, that you were so desperate you threw yourself at Phineas..."
The wind howled outside, but it was like I couldn't hear any of it.
I only felt the chill creep up my spine, inch by inch, until it wrapped around my whole heart.
"Come on in and take a hot shower, kiddo," Eleanor said, already pulling Phineas toward the dorm.
As if I'd been shocked, I snapped back to myself and grabbed him. "Wait!"
"He's—" I'd barely started when the floating comments streamed past again.
"The dwarf has a fake ID and plays this harmless little-kid act; no one will believe you right now."
"Quick—get someone with real authority here, and she'll panic."
I steadied myself and picked up my phone.
"In that case, I'll report this to the academic advisor."
第2章
"Don't hit him!" Alma Lambert shouted, and Eleanor Smith and I both turned to look at her.
Alma immediately changed her tone. "This... it's so late at night. Such a small thing—there's no need to bother the advisor."
I ignored her, picked up the phone again, and dialed.
The first time, no one answered.
The second time, still no answer.
I was about to try again when Alma lunged straight at me to press the phone off.
I twisted aside, and she missed, falling to the ground.
She looked up, her eyes like they'd been steeped in poison, glaring at me viciously, as if she wanted to tear me apart and swallow me whole.
The commotion was so loud that everyone in the surrounding dorms poked their heads out.
"Who is it? It's already curfew, why is it so noisy..."
Before the words were finished, Alma, still on the ground, suddenly changed her expression, and the tears came on cue.
"Carmen, I just wanted the boy to get a hot bath. If you didn't want that, fine, but there's no need to report me to the advisor."
"The school is already looking for every excuse to cut staff. Aren't you just trying to make me lose my job?"
Off to the side, Eleanor put on a pained look, shaking her head and sighing.
"Ugh, such a small thing, but Class President Swanson just has to show off how well she follows the rules."
"If we drive Alma away, the other dorm supervisors might not treat us as well as she does."
The moment she said this, the others who had just been watching for the drama started chiming in.
"Yeah, yeah, Alma usually turns a blind eye when she checks for banned electrical appliances."
"She also often takes away the trash we leave outside our dorm doors. She's such an amazing dorm supervisor."
Hearing this, my blood pressure shot through the roof.
Dengue fever has been bad lately, but plenty of dorms still leave their garbage outside their doors for ages.
I reminded Alma to report it, and she said okay, then turned around and played the nice person in front of the students, letting it slide.
For everyone's health, I had no choice but to deal with the trash myself, and now Alma was actually claiming she was the one who took it out!
Just as I was about to rush up and confront her, someone suddenly blurted out.
"But Carmen's always been really nice, and she gets along fine with Alma. Why would she keep pushing over such a small thing?"
The noisy crowd went quiet in an instant.
Alma's crying stopped abruptly, as if she'd been grabbed by the throat.
The next second, she cried even louder.
"I... I don't dare say it. Carmen has good grades, she's popular, and she's the class president. No one would believe me..."
Eleanor seemed to have seized a once-in-a-lifetime chance to expose me. "Alma, don't be afraid. Whatever wrong's been done to you, just say it!"
Alma knelt on the ground, crying harder and harder, kowtowing to me over and over.
"Carmen, that twenty-seven ninety-three—even if I sell my blood or my kidney, I'll pay it back if it kills me."
"Please, please let me go. I'm a widow with a child. Without a job, how am I supposed to live..."
The people around were all talking.
"What's this twenty-seven ninety-three? Down to the odd cents?"
Eleanor excitedly shook Alma.
"What money is it? Alma, hurry up and tell us!"
But Alma refused to say another word, just kept on crying.
It was Phineas, who had been silent the whole time, whose lips drew down lower and lower.
As if he could bear it no longer, he burst out crying.
"Sis said she gave me the brown paper, and she's forcing my mom to pay her back the money!"
It hit me like a blow to the head, and my mind went blank with a ringing.
第3章
I froze where I stood, stares coming at me from every direction like sharp blades.
"Damn, she really knows how to fake it. She said she was helping Alma collect cardboard, but it turns out she was making Alma do the grunt work so she could pocket this dirty little sum."
"And here I thought she was so righteous, so kind-hearted. Turns out she's one thing to your face and another behind your back."
"Why should someone like that get to be class president? We should've just voted for Eleanor Smith back then."
The insults came in wave after wave, like a cold, freezing tide, drenching my heart over and over.
In the sweltering heat, I'd gone dorm to dorm collecting the cardboard everyone left over from their packages.
Eight floors, no elevator. I ran up and down, my sweat soaking through, drying, and soaking through again.
I helped people out of pure conscience and never took a cent, yet here I was, getting the whole thing turned around on me.
Eleanor deliberately goaded me. "No wonder she fought so hard to be class president. She just wanted to use the title to line her own pockets."
Every drop of blood rushed to my head, and my clenched fists were shaking. "Stop slandering me. What do you even—"
Before I could get the word "proof" out, the floating warning comments came flying across again.
"Don't! Alma already photoshopped fake transfer records. She's just waiting for you to jump into the pit!"
"The more they lie, the better it is for you. Hurry, record the evidence!"
I took a deep breath to steady myself, then raised my phone and hit record.
Alma, who had been bobbing up and down knocking her head to the floor, froze in an instant.
"Car... Carmen, what... what are you trying to do?"
"Didn't you say I forced you to give me money? I'm recording it for you, so the police can come arrest me in a bit."
"What? Call the police? No!" Alma, kneeling on the ground, sprang straight up.
Alma clamped onto me, her nails digging into my flesh.
That shout of hers startled even Eleanor, who flinched. "Alma? You..."
Alma realized she'd overreacted and let go at once.
"Carmen, why call the police over something so small? It'll only sour things between us. Let it go, just let it go..."
But off to the side, Eleanor kept egging her on. "Oh, sure, Carmen. You're bullying Alma because she's honest and easy to push around, and you don't dare call the police, right? Fine, then call them!"
Alma's voice trembled. "Eleanor, we're all classmates here, please don't be like this..."
Eleanor wouldn't let up. "Alma, don't be scared, I'll talk to the police for you! I'll tear that hypocritical face right off her."
The two of them went back and forth, and Alma's face went pale with distress.
"Achoo!" Phineas's loud sneeze cut through their tug-of-war.
"Mommy, I'm so cold, I feel so awful."
He sniffled, looking utterly pitiful.
Susannah, from the dorm next door, couldn't stand to watch.
"Okay, everyone stop fighting. Let the kid come wash up in our dorm first. Look how frozen he is."
Phineas's eyes lit up, and he couldn't wait to slip inside—but I stopped him.
"He goes in there, and if something happens, which of you is going to take responsibility?"
Susannah's hand, reaching to take Phineas's, hung in midair.
The murmuring that had filled the room a moment ago died all at once, and even Eleanor didn't dare say a word.
Alma pressed close to my ear, her voice low, her teeth all but grinding to powder. "You bitch, are you dead set on driving me to my death?"
Her cunning eyes darted around, and the vicious look on her face suddenly eased.
"Forget it, forget it. Since Carmen thinks so poorly of us, we won't go in."
"But the child's clothes are soaked through, so he took them off. You've got a dryer in your dorm—you can at least take these in and help dry them, can't you?"
Eleanor took the clothes without a second thought. "Of course. I'm not as cold-hearted as some people."
Something suddenly came to me, and my heart sank. "No!"
But by the time I turned, Eleanor had already plugged it in.
With a snap, the breaker tripped.
The entire dormitory building was plunged into darkness in an instant.
第4章
High-power appliances aren't allowed in the dorms. The last time Eleanor used that oven, she tripped the breaker.
It was Alma who called someone to fix it—she'd obviously done it on purpose.
"Power's out! Power's out!" The sudden darkness threw the onlookers into chaos.
Everyone scattered like startled birds, and in the confusion, I hadn't even had time to react.
A short figure slipped in fast.
The next second—bang. The door was locked from the outside.
My heart shot straight into my throat.
I instinctively dialed 911, only to find there was no signal at all because of the storm.
Fear crawled over me thick and dense. I pounded on the door and screamed, "Open the door!"
But all I heard from outside was Alma, deliberately raising her voice.
"Why does the lock on you girls' Room 103 keep breaking? It's such a pain."
I pounded on the door with everything I had, over and over, but Eleanor just kept sneering at me with contempt.
"Class President Swanson, are you done yet? It's not the first time this lock's broken. On a stormy night like this, where do you expect Alma to find someone to fix it—"
"Hey, lady, could you at least shine a light in here? I can't see a thing—"
Another comment scrolled across the screen: Don't turn on your phone flashlight!
You know this dorm—in the dark you've got the advantage over Phineas.
Behind you, on your right, there's a bottle of pepper powder on the desk.
I ignored Eleanor and closed my hand around the pepper powder, my cold fingers sweating as I gripped it.
The pouring rain blotted out the whole sky.
A suffocating darkness soaked through every corner of the dorm, inside and out.
Phineas let out a low, eerie voice.
"Big sister Eleanor, it's so dark, Phinny's so scared. Can you give me a hug?"
The instant I realized what he was about to do, my breath froze and every hair on my body stood on end.
"Be good, little brother, don't be scared. Big sister's coming right over."
Eleanor was too busy looking down for her phone to notice the danger closing in.
Holding my breath, feeling for the desk behind me, I edged away bit by bit, without a sound.
I couldn't see clearly, but I knew the rough layout of the room.
The bathroom was right behind Eleanor's bed, at the end of the aisle.
While Phineas had all his attention on Eleanor, I was about to slip inside.
But Eleanor suddenly shouted, "So that's where my phone was!"
The words had barely left her mouth when a blinding white light shone straight into Phineas's face.
In that instant, the lewd look on his face was laid bare.
At the far end of the aisle, Phineas was like a wild beast off its chain.
He grinned, baring a mouthful of yellow teeth, and threw his arms wide to lunge at Eleanor.
"Ahh!" Eleanor screamed and bolted into the bathroom.
I was just one step away, so I threw out my hand and jammed it against the door.
But Eleanor didn't care whether I lived or died—she frantically pushed the door shut.
I pulled the door open with all my strength, and just as my fingernails were about to snap—
Eleanor reached her hand out through the gap in the door, gave a sinister little smile, and shoved me straight at Phineas.
