Chapter 364 Strange Old Woman


    Josh and Lilly gathered in front of theptop screen to watch the surveince footage. Old Mrs.


    Crawford decided to join in the fun too. That was when all three of them saw how Polly tricked and


    bullied Bellflower incessantly, including stepping on Bellflower’s head with his sharp talons and


    attacking Bellflower with his beak. He tortured Bellflower by pretending to lie asleep on the ground,


    then flying up in the air when Bellflower approached him, squawking “I can fly! I can fly!” Finally,


    Bellflower gave up and hid from the bird in the shrubs.


    Lilly and Josh gasped in shock at their newfound revtion. Even Old Mrs. Crawford cussed under her


    breath.


    Drake Crawford eyed the pesky little bird, begrudgingly admitting that it was a clever creature. Lilly, on


    the other hand, was less than impressed with her naughty pet. She stood up, eyes wide with anger and


    yelled at the top of her lungs. “PO-LLLYYYYY!!!!” Lilly’s voice ripped through the air, but Polly was


    already long gone.


    Bellflower approached Lilly with a pitiful look on its face and rubbed against her leg clingily. Lilly picked


    the little creature up and cradled it in her arms. “I’m sorry for ming you, Bellflower,” she cooed. “Polly


    was a bad bird! We won’t y with him next time!” Lilly vowed to give Polly a little scare next time when


    they were out catching spirits. Bellflower mewed in agreement.


    Atop a big tree branch, Polly watched as the shameless cat gained sympathy points with Lilly and her


    family. Bellflower even turned to look at Polly on the tree with a smug look on its face. Ugh, that two-


    faced cat! What a tattletale! Polly huffed angrily.


    **


    It was still bright outside when Grace arrived at Bem. She searched everywhere from the entrance


    of the asylum to the wards, all the way down to the basement. By the time the sky had turned dark, she


    had not found a single ghost, which was truly a surprise to her. A ce like Bem was exactly where


    evil spirits loved to gather and congregate. Even if it was not exactly a gathering of ghosts, there should


    at least be one single, stray ghost somewhere, but there was none! What Grace did not know was that


    Lilly had already exorcised and gotten rid of all the evil spirits in the asylum. The remaining stray ghosts


    had also smartened up after their experience with ke. They used to spook humans for the fun of it,


    but now they scattered and hid in the dark whenever an earthly being approached.


    Grace looked at her surroundings and grimaced as she noticed talismans hung up in every corner of


    the asylum and realized what had happened. Lilly had already done the work and covered the entire


    area! Ugh!


    **


    The hospital was eerily silent at night since most patients and their family members had gone to bed.


    Zachary Crawford was having trouble sleeping as nightmares kept guing him. First, he dreamt of his


    Uncle Gilbert holding a knife and pointing it at him with a sinister smile on his face. Next, another doctor


    entered the room with an even bigger meat cleaver and aimed it at his head, striking down…


    Zachary jolted up from his nightmare drenched in cold sweat, blinking at the dark ceiling. His dream


    had felt so real, as if he felt the pain of dying under the knife. He was never too keen on the surgery in


    the first ce, but the nightmares only made him even more averse to the idea of it. He turned his head


    only to find his father who was sleeping atop some drawing ns on the small bedside table. It looked


    like he had fallen asleep unknowingly.


    Zachary ttened his lip. He could count with one hand the number of times his parents had ever


    apanied him for anything as a kid. Perhaps they did, but he certainly could not recall any of those


    memories. From what he remembered, his mother had always spent her time with his sister, while his


    father spent most of his time at work instead of being with his family. He started bing more


    introverted since he was three and hated it when anyone entered his room. In a blink of an eye, he had


    turned eight… and for the first time, his father was here with him, guarding and protecting him at night.


    Zachary could not really exin how he felt, but whatever it was, it was clear that he could no longer


    fall asleep. Suddenly, he heard a strange whistling noiseing from outside the door. Frowning at the


    door, he figured he should get up and investigate the cause of the noise.


    Liam Crawford stirred from his sleep as he heard the sound of nkets ruffling. “Zac? Do you need to


    use the toilet?” Liam asked groggily before getting up. “Come, let’s go.” Liam was not much of a talker


    as well, so the father and son were silent as Liam helped Zachary from the bed.


    All of a sudden, both father and son’s eyes widened with fear and rm as they heard a sound from


    outside the door again.


    “Dad, did you hear that?” Zachary whispered as he pointed toward the door.


    Liam nodded. “Yup, it’s the nurses’ bell.”


    No way! I should be able to tell the difference between the nurses’ bell and this strange sound! Zachary


    was thinking to himself when the door to his ward pushed open and a nurse entered the room.


    “What’s going on, boys? Why are you both standing up and looking at me like that?” the kindly nurse


    asked with an amused smile on her face. It wasmon for the nurses to do their rounds at night for


    patients who had not undergone surgery yet.


    “Oh, it’s nothing. I was just helping him up to use the bathroom,” Liam informed the nurse, who


    promptly left them after giving Zachary a routine temperature check.


    The room became silent again once the nurse had left. There was no sign of the strange whistle either.


    Liam nced at his son who did not look like he needed to go to the loo. “Go back to sleep, Zac,” Liam


    told him.


    Zachary got under the nkets once again, but he could not fall asleep no matter how hard he tried.


    Before he knew it, daylight had already begun to filter through the window blinds. When he turned to


    face the bedside table again, his father was nowhere to be found. Just as he was about to get out of


    bed to look for his father, the door to his room opened again, but this time he found himself staring at


    the olddy from yesterday.


    “You’re up early, kid!” the olddy smiled, holding both her hands behind her like she was on a morning


    stroll. Several patients and their rtives walked past the corridor and greeted the olddy warmly. She


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    seemed to be familiar and friendly with everyone around her. As she noticed Zachary silently observing


    her, she added, “Ah, I’m just taking my morning walk. My grandson is in Ward 3B as well. What brings


    you here, kiddo?”


    However, the olddy was only greeted with more silence. Not used to being given the silent treatment,


    the olddy pressed on. Catching Zachary unaware, the old woman tapped him on the shoulder gently.


    “What’s your name, kiddo? Where do you live? How old are you?” the woman asked a barrage of


    questions eagerly.


    Caught off-guard by the olddy’s uninvited gesture, Zachary jerked backward and took a good look at


    the woman’s face. She looks awfully familiar… Zachary thought for a second before his vision started


    to blur and spin around, as if his brain had just short-circuited. The same cheeky gleam appeared in the


    old woman’s eyes again as she observed Zachary intently and nodded with satisfaction. Five minutes


    As if onmand, Zachary moved robotically and headed for his bed, lying down stiffly before closing


    his eyes.