Chapter 604: Relieving the nightmare

Earlier today...

"Penelope, where are you?" asked the doctor, his eyes on Penny, who was reclining in her seat with her eyes closed. "Penny, can you hear me?"

Penny didn’t answer for a full minute until she whispered, "Yes."

"Where are you now?"

"Here."

"Where is it?"

"..." Penny paused, her eyes flickering beneath her eyelids. "Cemetery."

"What are you doing there, Penelope?"

"Standing."

The doctor tilted his head slightly as he carefully asked, "Can you try to look around your surroundings?"

Penny didn’t answer, but in the memory she was in, she was looking around. After a brief pause, the doctor asked,

"What can you see?"

"Mom."

"What’s your mom doing?"

"Crying." The lines between Penny’s brows deepened.

"What else is there, Penelope?"

Penny’s face crumpled as her lips started trembling. "Mom... is crying because Dad’s dead. Mom... stop crying now. It’s okay."

Tears slowly pooled beneath her eyelids as her voice began to break. The doctor went quiet, observing Penny without interrupting her.

"Mom... First Brother... Mom is..." she trailed off, her breath hitching as tears started to roll down her temples. "No, no. She’s going to faint. Mom, don’t cry now — don’t —"

An abrupt silence followed Penny’s sudden pause, making the doctor furrow his brows. He looked at her, observing the expression on her face.

"Penelope?" the doctor called cautiously. "Penelope, are you still there?"

"Uh."

"What’s going on, Penelope? What happened to Mom?"

"She fainted." Her answer was short and precise. "And everyone is panicking."

"And what were you doing?"

"Standing still."

"Won’t you help Mom?"

"No."

"Why?"

The doctor patiently waited for her response, but all he got was Penny slowly raising a finger. She pointed at the ceiling, her eyes still shut.

"That."

"Yes?"

"Someone... is standing over there," she murmured. "She’s looking at us, watching us... she was smiling."

"Who is she, Penelope?"

"She was smiling."

"Penelope?"

"Over there, behind the tree, she’s smiling," Penny repeated. "I’m scared."

"Penelope, do you recognize her?"

Penny pressed her lips into a thin line in the memory of her father’s funeral, staring at the figure standing behind the tree in the distance. She could still hear the doctor’s voice, but she was more focused on the woman’s face behind the laced veil that covered the upper part of her face.

"She’s going to leave," Penny continued under her breath, her eyes following the woman’s figure. "Don’t go... don’t go. You can’t smile like that..."

Yet, in the memory, Penny stood motionless in the same spot while watching the woman’s figure. She saw her enter the black sedan, catching sight of another person inside.

"He’s young," she whispered. "The one waiting for her in the car. He’s young."

"Who is he now?"

Penny didn’t answer. "Probably around the same age as First Brother."

"Can you see him?"

"Just a glimpse."

"Can you describe him?"

Penny took another moment as she tried to describe the young man inside the car where the woman had gotten in.

"Dark eyes," she started, as that was the only distinct feature she noticed from this distance. "He has very dark eyes... just like Renren."

"Who is Renren?"

"Huh?"

"Penelope? Who is Renren?"

"..." Penny pressed her lips as she furrowed her brows even more. "I don’t know."

"Penelope?" The doctor’s voice raised slightly with panic. "Are you still with me?"

"Yes."

"Who is Renren?"

"I don’t know. Why did I say that? Who is Renren?" Penny flinched a little as she turned her head to the side, panicking a bit. "Who is he? Renren... wait. Don’t go... First Brother... believe me... I didn’t do it..."

The doctor quickly rose from his seat, rushing to where Penny was as she started shaking violently. "Penelope?!" he called, clasping her shoulders to keep her still. "Penelope!"

The doctor tried to wake Penny, but when she didn’t respond and her body continued to shake, he quickly reached out to the table, stopping the metronomes. He then reached for a syringe, planning to wake her up with it. But just as he took hold of it, Penny’s body stopped.

"Penelope?" called the doctor as he slowly turned to look at her.

Penny kept her eyes closed, her breathing stable.

"Penelope?" the doctor called again and then heard her hum. "Can you hear me now?"

"Yes."

"Where are you now?"

"Prison."

The doctor cautiously pushed himself away from her. "What are you doing there?"

"Serving time."

"And what are you doing at the moment?"

"..." Penny didn’t answer again as she tried to study what was happening to her. "Getting dragged... it’s my execution day."

"Where are you now?"

"I’m almost there. The door... it’s getting closer — very close now," she detailed lifelessly, reliving the emotions she had gone through on the day of her death. "The room... it’s too small."

"Are you inside the execution room?"

"Mhm."

"They’re strapping me in the chair."

The doctor furrowed his brows, looking at Penny in confusion. "How are they going to execute you?"

"I don’t know, but they’re strapping my body... all of it," she said. "Now, they’re strapping something around my head."

"Electrocution?" the doctor blurted out, concerned. ’But in Anteca, the capital punishment for death row inmates is lethal injection.’

"Penelope?" he called again. "Can you still hear me?"

"They’re asking for my last words," she murmured, smiling wryly. "If I ever get to live in my next life, I’d rather be an orphan than become their sister."

As soon as those words rolled off her tongue, her entire body started to seize. Penny clenched her teeth, her fingers and toes flexing. Meanwhile, the doctor panicked as he clasped her shoulders, biting the cap of the syringe to take it out.

But before he could inject it into her, Penny yelled.

"There," she hissed through gritted teeth. "Someone... is there."

The doctor paused as he slowly set his eyes on her. Much to his surprise, Penny had her eyes wide open while her entire body was still seizing. It almost scared him, but he could see that she wasn’t fully unconscious.

Penny was conscious, but her entire body was shaking as if she were being electrocuted.

"Behind the glass," she hissed, her teeth grinding as saliva started to trickle down from the corner of her mouth.

The doctor knew he should wake her up, but somehow, he took the risk and asked, "Who is behind the glass, Penelope?"

Penny didn’t answer as she continued to seize. When the doctor realized it would be fatal not to wake her up, he inserted the needle into her skin. But before pushing the medicine into her, he heard her say,

"Jonathan... Pierson."