Chapter 2: The Death of Aunt Lil.

Ciara stopped in her tracks. She stood there quietly for a moment before turning back towards Enda and saying, "I don't understand what you're trying to say."

With that, Ciara didn't wait for Enda's response and continued walking forward. Enda didn't chase after her, instead, he slowly curved his lips into an arc.

He looked up at the sky before glancing down at his watch and softly said: "There's plenty of time left."

Regarding Ciara, she had to finish the remaining classes before leaving school. Even if she finished early, she still had to go to her part-time job instead of going straight home.

Today is the same as before.

Ciara's current part-time job is working as a shop attendant in a small convenience store, with wages paid hourly. She chose this job even though the pay is quite low because it is easy and does not require much physical activity, and most importantly, she has time to study.

It just seems like tonight is not like any other day before.

On normal days, the store doesn't have many customers due to the recent opening of a big supermarket nearby, but there are still a few customers who come to buy things. However, today, Ciara didn't see any single person at all.

However, Ciara doesn't pay much attention, she just needs to do her job correctly.

Just as Ciara had that thought, the store received its first customer for the evening.

The customer was a tall, slender girl with fair skin as white as boiled egg whites. At first glance, one would know that she belonged to the non-human race.

Normally, Ciara does not like to interact with such customers. Even though she was educated that these two races were friends, the ideology of the fundamental differences between them had been deeply ingrained in her subconscious since birth, and it was hard to get rid of this prejudice entirely.

Moreover, Ciara's mother often cautioned her to never get close to non-human beings, so she had limited her interactions with them as much as possible since childhood.

The girl only bought a pack of cigarettes. When Ciara was calculating the price, the girl did not even look up, she just kept her head down, staring at the ground.

"Your total is six dollars, would you like to purchase anything else?" Ciara asked.

"No, thank you," the girl said as she pulled out money from her pocket and placed it on the counter. She then took the pack of cigarettes and headed towards the door. However, just as she approached the exit, she suddenly stopped. Turning her head slightly, she seemed to be sniffing something in the air. Suddenly, the girl looked straight at Ciara and tilted her head, saying, "Your scent is so sweet."

Ciara didn't understand what she meant and instinctively raised her shoulder to smell her own body.

There was no scent at all.

When she looked up, the strange girl was gone. Ciara didn't pay much attention to it and didn't think too much about what had happened.

Ciara worked until after 1 A.M. when someone else came to replace her shift.

On her way back from work, Ciara noticed that the moon was full and shining brightly. The streets were also deserted without anyone in sight. While others might have felt scared, Ciara was accustomed to this situation and didn't find anything unusual about it.

When Ciara arrived home, she noticed that the lights were still on inside and shining out onto the street. She felt a bit strange because her aunt usually goes to sleep very early and turns off the lights a long time ago. Why are the lights still on today? If someone were to say that her aunt was waiting for her to return, Ciara wouldn't believe it at all.

As Ciara approached the door of her house, she felt that something was not quite right inside. When she touched the doorknob, she had a feeling that there was no living creature inside. If she was correct, then perhaps something bad had happened to her aunt.

As expected, as soon as she stepped inside, Ciara could hear the sound coming from the TV, but her aunt remained silent. Ciara slowly approached the sofa and saw someone sitting there.

"Aunt Lil?" Ciara called out softly, but there was no response.

Ciara quickly walked up to her aunt and saw that Aunt Lil had her eyes closed. At first, it seemed like she had fallen asleep while watching TV, but Ciara didn't think so. She tried shaking her aunt, but there was no response. Ciara then used her index finger to check for her aunt's breath.

No longer breathing.

She quickly backed away and accidentally bumped into a nearby table.

Ciara's next action was not to call the police, but to run into her aunt's room. She frantically searched every nook and cranny in the room, with the intention of finding her mother's box.

"Nothing here."

Even if Ciara searched for a long time, she still couldn't find the box. She sat down on the floor feeling helpless.

The only person who knew the location of that box has died, and now she will never be able to find her mother's last relic.

Suddenly, Ciara thought of something and left her aunt's room to run to her own room.

Ciara rushed to her own closet and pulled out all the drawers. Finally, she was able to touch a rectangular object in the last drawer.

This is an exquisitely designed wooden jewelry box combined with a music box. When Ciara was young, she loved it so much that she often borrowed it from her mother to play with. Her favorite part was when she twisted the winding key and the inside played a delightful and melodious tune.

The distinctive feature that sets this jewelry box apart from other common ones is that Ciara's mother's box has a keyhole for opening instead of just a lid. However, since her mother's funeral, Ciara has been unable to locate the key that was kept somewhere safe by her mother.

She carefully lifted the box with both hands. It had been sitting in the corner for so long that it had collected a thin layer of dust, but after Ciara wiped it with her sleeve, its beautiful appearance was once again revealed.

Because of it, Ciara had to endure her aunt's torment for many years.

It turned out that it had been right beside her all along and had never been stolen.

Ciara didn't expect that the box her mother mentioned before passing away was this one.

Before she passed away, Ciara's mother told her that she had a box to give to her. But because of her sudden death, Ciara only knew that her aunt was the one who kept it, as the first thing Aunt Lil said when they met again after several years was:

"The box you're looking for, I'm holding it."

It was precisely because of this that she had endured years of exploitation from the person she called Aunt.

Now, looking back, Ciara realized how foolish she was to trust her aunt's words. Aunt Lil and her mother hadn't seen each other for over ten years, so there was no way her mother could have given the box to her aunt.

Perhaps more than anyone else, Ciara's mother knew the character of her younger sister.

And Ciara also remembered the time she moved in with her aunt, and how when Aunt Lil saw the jewelry box, she wanted to take it. The reason she gave was that it looked beautiful, and if Ciara held onto it, it would only remind her more of her mother, so it would be better for her to give it to her aunt.

Obviously, Ciara refused to give in and did not give the box to her aunt. Because of this, she noticed her aunt rifling through her room several times, but each time Ciara caught her in the act. It was also for this reason that, although she could not bear it, Ciara still had to hide her mother's box in a deep corner and never take it out again.

Ciara gently hugged the box to her chest, and sat still on the bed for a while before remembering that her aunt's body was still outside.

She picked up her phone and dialed 911, briefly explaining the situation inside the house. In just thirty minutes, the police arrived and sealed off her home.

The body was taken for an autopsy, and Ciara was taken to the police station to give a statement. The police confirmed that Aunt Lil was not at home when she died. Security cameras in convenience store had recorded her being at work during that time.

Ciara stayed overnight at the police station. The next morning, she was informed that her aunt had passed away due to a rare heart attack. As there were no signs of a struggle at the scene, they concluded that it was simply an accident.

However, Ciara did not believe this explanation. She had lived with Aunt Lil for so long and she knew that her aunt did not have a heart condition. Aunt Lil was only overweight but otherwise healthy, so her sudden death left some unanswered questions.

But Ciara didn't want to delve into it any further. Honestly, she had been waiting for this day for a long time. She had hoped that her last remaining relative, Aunt Lil, would be gone since the funeral of her mother.

The funeral of Aunt Lil was conducted in a simple manner. As she had no husband or children, and not many friends, only Ciara was left as her next of kin. During the funeral procession, the only ones present were Ciara and the priest who said the farewell prayers.

Upon returning home, Ciara's first task was to clean up her aunt's room and then lock it up. She was thinking about whether or not she should sell the house and move somewhere else. However, upon further reflection, she realized that it was not necessary. The location was convenient as it was close both to her school and her part-time job. Moving elsewhere would be quite inconvenient.

A week had passed since Aunt Lil's death, and for some reason, a police officer has been constantly visiting Ciara. The reason given was that recently, due to the influence of the full moon, some non-human beings suddenly went mad and began attacking humans.

Due to this, when the officer found out that Ciara was now alone, he was afraid she might be in danger. So, he volunteered to act as her protector during the full moon period.

However, Ciara always felt something strange about the young police officer. Several times, she lifted the curtain in her bedroom and saw him staring at her room. When their eyes met, he always smiled brightly and nodded at Ciara.

Ciara also said that she didn't need anyone to protect her, but every time the officer rejected her opinion. Sometimes, she even felt that he might be more dangerous than any other potential threat around her.

Tonight was no exception.

Since she no longer had the pressure from Aunt Lil, Ciara did not need to risk her life to earn money like before. Today, she only worked for two hours and had to leave early as the full moon was rising high and round, causing all shops to close earlier than usual for safety reasons.

When Ciara returned home, she did not see the police officer anywhere. She thought that he might have been occupied with some work today, so he could not come to her house.

When it was time for Ciara to go upstairs to sleep, suddenly the doorbell rang again...