The severed palm crawling out of this book has emptied my sanity!
I felt strong dizziness and couldn't stand upright. My back hurt so much! The injury I suffered when I fell from the hunting trap into the mud finally started to take effect - the muscles on the left side of my heart involved my entire arm, and they twitched together.
They pinned me firmly to the chair.
Seemingly unable to do anything, I breathed heavily and stared at the severed palm, overcome by a strong sense of vomiting and fear.
"Who is it...?"
"Who harmed you!? Margaret?!"
Missing her and grieving for her temporarily defeated these pains.
What I can't understand is why this palm seems to be alive -
——It climbed up from the hollowed-out book and fell onto the table. It seemed that it could still walk a few steps toward the edge of the table. It grabbed the tablecloth with its pale and bloodless fingers and slowly wriggled.
"Margaret? Margaret? Can you still hear me?"
"Margaret? Is your ghost beside me?"
The bright sunshine at noon was once again covered by gloomy rain clouds. Except for a few occasional bird calls from deep in the pine forest, I could no longer hear any sound.
Originally, due to the strong fear, everything was trembling in my eyes, and this small wooden house seemed to melt with the hot air.
Now it is getting a little better, and the surrounding environment is gradually stabilizing.
The pain caused by angina gradually subsided, and I finally regained control of my left hand——
——Sam Walker, you have to calm down.
I emphasized this to myself repeatedly, but I didn't dare to touch Margaret's severed limb.
If fingerprints are left, then the number one suspect in this murder will be me...
Only the police can help me now. Only the Vienna police station can solve this case. If Margaret is still alive, if she is still alive...
Thinking of this, I unconsciously wandered away and grabbed the microphone.
But the phone's crank and dial are wet with tears——
——If my wife is still alive, what kind of torture is she suffering?
Her hand has been cut off...
How long will it take to find her? How long will it take? Will I ever see her again?
At this moment, terrifying visions seemed to surround me again. They were like wolf dogs hiding in the shadows, barking softly and ready to move—waiting for the opportunity to tear my fragile mind into pieces.
The strong tinnitus made me cover my head involuntarily, and before I dialed the police, I finally realized what was going on.
"The police won't believe me..."
"If... if you send this severed hand to the police station..."
"Can it really be used as a clue? As evidence?"
"Oh my god..."
"Why is this hand still alive? Why is it still moving?"
Margaret's severed hand seemed to be connected to an "invisible electrode". It crawled slowly on the tablecloth. When it reached the edge of the table, it seemed to sense danger, so it changed directions and continued crawling.
Is it a hallucination? Have I started hallucinating?
Maybe it has never moved at all? It has always been lying in the scriptures?
No...that's not right...
The fingers of the broken palm returned to the starting point again, stained with thick and black blood, and slowly wrote three letters on the checkered tablecloth...
——S
——A
——M
Sam Walker is my name, it's calling me...
"Devil! Devil!" I cursed this weird walking zombie loudly! I took the cross from the coat rack, chanted to it, and my body began to stiffen, "Devil! Get out of Margaret's body!"
After writing these three letters, it started crawling aimlessly again.
After about five or six minutes, I finally put away my tears and called the Vienna local police station. I tried to stay calm and described the incident in the calmest tone possible.
There was only one long tone, and the police operator spoke immediately.
"Hello!"
I quickly expressed my intention: "Hello, I live in Little New Sidel, on Route 302 near the lakeside. There is a wooden house on the outskirts of the international airport. My name is Sam Walker..."
"Sir, how can I help you?" The operator's tone became relaxed and lively after hearing the complete location and identity information.
I looked back at the dining table, and it was still crawling in circles——
"--I think..."
Operator: "Huh?"
My lips were dry, and my eyes were wandering between the phone and the severed limb. If the police officers who visited the house took it away as evidence, I would have to go into the detention room to cooperate with the investigation and become the first suspect on the scene waiting for interrogation.
I don't want to just wait...
I don't want to...
"I have a fiancée..."
"Hmm? Mr. Walker?"
"She disappeared a few days ago."
"How specific? How many days ago was it?"
"It should have been yesterday. We talked on the phone yesterday. We just decided on the wedding venue, which is at St. Stephen's Cathedral - she volunteers at the church, and the clergy are willing to provide the venue for free."
"How long has it been since your last contact?"
"I can't remember clearly. I was decorating a new house last night. I drank a lot of wine at night. I was very happy...I..."
"Mr. Walker, you have to grasp the key points..."
"Okay...Okay..." I started to remember hurriedly: "Should it be fourteen hours? Or fifteen hours? She works night shift in the hospital, and she knows that I have to do carpentry at night - so she won't call
Give it to me, she's afraid I'll be distracted."
"What's your fiancée's name..."
"Her name is Margrethe, Margarita Szjen Pirano Brenitz. She lives near the embassy..."
"Which embassy?"
"The Chinese Embassy in Austria is next to Renweg Train Station. She has been renting an apartment in the Belvedere Apartments at No. 1315 Zhanzhan Road and lives with her two pet dogs."
"Okay, Mr. Walker, we will arrange for the police to visit your home, and we will also send community volunteers and police detectives to talk to you - Ms. Margaret has not been missing for more than forty-eight hours, maybe she just fell asleep -
"
"—No!" I quickly changed my words and looked at Broken Palm.
Asleep? How could he be asleep?!
She had one of her hands cut off! Officer! How could you...
"Mr. Walker? Sam Walker?"
"Hurry up..." Until the end, I still didn't tell the truth about the broken hand. Deep in my heart, I had an inexplicable fear of prison. Every time I greeted the county police in New Sider, I couldn't help but
He lowered his head and said, "Hurry up...please, that's my fiancée, I beg you."
The operator could clearly tell something was wrong.
"Sam Walker, if there is another hidden secret in the matter, and you can provide more clues about Ms. Margaret, then we can buy more rescue time for the disappearance case after 48 hours - what you want to say
That’s all? Right?”
I looked at Margaret's broken hand again, then at the envelope of the mail package, and talked to the operator about the mail.
"Perhaps...she went to Portsmouth to visit relatives, and I received a package this morning."
"Did Ms. Margaret send it to you?" the police officer was obviously relieved.
Although our eyes didn't meet, I still shook my head involuntarily: "No, it's an anonymous package. The sender's name is blacked out. I'm not sure. The shipping address is Chaderton Castle in Portsmouth.
.”
"It's in the UK..." the police officer then asked, "What's in it?"
"Diamond ring..." I lied: "Margaret's diamond ring still has some blood."
"I know, then we can file a case. You finally made it clear." The police officer's tone became more solemn: "The county police in Xiaoxinsidell in the south of the city will contact you - are you free tomorrow morning?"
"Yes..." I responded immediately: "Yes! I want to go to the county police station to cooperate with the investigation?"
"We still don't know what happened to your fiancée. We need to conduct an on-site investigation to collect evidence and go to the post office to check the shipping information. This package is sent from the United Kingdom - transnational cases are difficult to handle. We need to notify the consulate and coordinate the two places.
The police are cooperating in the investigation.”
I quickly asked: "How long will it take?"
"Please prepare the diamond ring, do not destroy the evidence, and do not contaminate it with extra fingerprints." The police officer did not answer the question: "We will not detain you for questioning for the time being - just cooperate with the county police."
...
...
[Part2·Finger dance]
After hanging up the phone, I was so distraught that I returned to the dining table.
The wound on the severed palm was neatly cut, as if it had been cut in half with a knife, and there were no scraps of flesh or bone left behind by hard sawing.
I approached it carefully, tried every means to remove the ring, and slowly pressed it with a towel——
——At first it was quite obedient and lay on the tablecloth obediently.
When I put on my rubber gloves and tried to tug on Jane Doe's diamond ring, it immediately started to struggle...
The power of this broken hand is far beyond my imagination! It suddenly shrunk into a fist, broke free from the towel, fell from the dining table to the floor, and immediately climbed into the dark corner of the cupboard...
I quickly lowered my body to grab the severed limb. If the county police found the house tomorrow and I couldn't produce any evidence - they also found this stump in the house, things would be terrible!
My eyes were soaked with hot sweat, and I didn't know whether it was sweat or tears. This broken arm seemed to be fighting with me, as if an invisible and invisible devil was controlling it - repeatedly playing tricks on me, a poor thing.
It swam nimbly and quickly in the narrow gap in the cabinet. I almost put my head on the dining room floor and swung it hard into the cabinet gap, trying to catch this flexible palm.
I found a wooden stick from the tool room. I was afraid that it would damage the ring, so I wrapped cotton cloth around the stick to drive out the weird stumps.
Just as I returned to the restaurant, Margaret's hand climbed up to the table again - as if nothing had happened.
Is it really an illusion? Am I fighting with myself? What am I doing?
Sam Walker? It's just a piece of rotten flesh! There's no way it's alive!
Is there something wrong with my brain? Why...
"Margaret..."
The ironclad fact was before me. Margaret's severed hand was covered in a lot of dust. It became dirty and had indeed rolled around under the cupboard.
I started to cry again, and couldn’t stop crying——
——The heartbreaking pain almost drove me crazy.
Taking off my gloves, I just begged God to help me, to subdue this demon hiding in the dark, and to let me take off the ring...
When I touch its knuckles, when I touch its ring finger—
——It finally calmed down, the fist gradually spread its fingers, and seemed to become obedient.
At this time, the stupid and cowardly Sam Walker finally woke up.
I understand, I finally understand.
It has no mouth, no ears, no eyes, no nose, no heart. How could it possibly recognize me?
It's Margaret...
It's not some devil, it remembers my fingers and the feeling of holding hands.
To take off the diamond ring, I gently twisted the dehydrated and stiff flesh, but it held my hand tightly, and the fingers were clasped together and unwilling to separate.
At this moment I almost burst into tears, I couldn't control this emotion, I couldn't bear it...
I cried so much that I couldn't breathe. It seemed that I was about to relapse. I couldn't accept this fact.
I don’t know how long it took, the sunlight gradually disappeared, and it was closely connected with my right hand. I went to the wine cabinet and found the rum prepared for the wedding ceremony - bit open the cork and poured it into my stomach.
Within a few minutes, I fell onto the bed and couldn't feel anything.
...
...
When I woke up again, the rustling movement outside the door scared me so much that I was covered in cold sweat.
The heavy, regular knocking on the door is like the summoning bell in the hand of Death——
——The county police are here? Really? What should I do?
It wasn't until I opened the door that I breathed a sigh of relief. There was no one outside and there were no new mail packages.
I went back to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. The mirror revealed a haggard face covered with stubble, and a lot of gray roots in the chestnut hair - he looked almost as old as forty or fifty years old.
All the strange experiences I encountered yesterday gradually fade away from me.
The dining table is as clean as ever, and there are no strange scriptures or packages on the tablecloth. There must be something wrong with my brain - the day and night decoration work these days has driven me crazy.
When I opened the back door, I saw a stupid fox hanging on the bird feeder, trying to stick its beak into the grain bag. As soon as it saw me, it immediately ran into the forest.
Further in the backyard, a woodpecker was digging a hole, and that strange knocking sound came from here.
"Go away! Get out of my life!"
I went to look at the calendar with some expectations -
——Maybe this nightmare lasted for too long, and I just overslept because I was drunk.
When I returned to the restaurant, I lowered my head and noticed that there was a little blood on the white collar near the lining of the postman's old overalls. I gradually accepted this fact in my heart.
Looking back at the kitchen counter, Margaret's severed hand was holding a knife, which stood upright and was about to chop the apples.
I walked up to it calmly and saw clearly the carpenter's mask on it and the ear strings tied with a garland knot, like a neat and clean apron. It was still doing housework and taking care of my life...
The severed hand held the knife, although it was not very flexible.
Even though I only had one hand, I couldn't distinguish the appearance of the ingredients, so I had to carefully explore and confirm each item.
If you can't tell the pros and cons of a knife, use your fingers to try the sharp edge.
It wants to make the Austrian snack I learned when we first met in a cooking class seven years ago.
Make an apple strudel...
I straightened the apple, slowly took the kitchen knife, and gently pressed my fingers on the back of her hand.
"Margaret, Margaret...."
To make the apple crumble, grab a small bowl and masher - slowly puree the pulp.
When I went to mix the batter and spread the round cakes, I no longer felt scared, I just felt as if my fiancée had never left.
We take off the ring and put the token of love back into the box. Maybe we have to take a long detour——
——The apples were rolled into the baking pan. I hooked my thumb with my broken palm and danced a tango on the table to the noisy morning music on the radio station.
The index finger and the middle finger became two legs, and just like that, it moved forward and I retreated, and it retreated and I advanced, following the rhythm, I supported the palm of Duanzhang's hand and held it in my arms.
For a moment, I could see a shadow in the light golden sunlight.
That's my Margaret, sitting in the other chair.
When the real knock on the door came, the county police turned on his Walkman and used the tape to make a law enforcement record.
"Sam Walker? Anyone here? This place is fucking hard to find..."
I quickly put Margaret's palm into my pocket, stood up and opened the door——
——I am becoming more determined, and it seems that there is nothing to fear anymore.
Margaret has been victimized by some evil witchcraft, and I'm afraid the police won't be able to help much.