《Possessed By Devil:Delicate Girl Fights Against Evil Ghost》 The Bride in Crimson Back in the day, there was this blind man in our village getting hitched. My family was still living there at the time. The guy was over forty and, rumor had it, he''d shelled out a fortune to buy himself a wife from Vietnam. Normally, when folks in the village tied the knot, we''d be right there in the thick of it, sharing in the joy and soaking up the good vibes. But on the blind man''s big day, my parents shut the door tight early on and wouldn''t let me set foot outside. When I asked why, all they said was I was too young to understand. Daytime was quiet as a mouse, but things got real spooky once night fell. First off, there was this torrential downpour, and the air reeked of something fishy. Half-asleep, I kept hearing a knock at the door. Weird thing was, I seemed to be the only one who could hear it. As that fishy smell grew stronger, I swallowed back the nausea and dozed off. In my dream, there was this woman in a scarlet veil, her lips painted a deep, blood-red. She beckoned to me, her hands as white as freshly fallen snow. She didn''t utter a word, just smiled that eerie smile. When I balked at following her, she reached out, grabbed my hand, and yanked. Her hand was ice-cold, the kind of cold you only feel from the dead. I woke up in a cold sweat to find myself in an old, abandoned graveyard. The rain was still coming down in sheets, drenching me to the bone. I took off running for home as fast as my legs could carry me. But after just a few steps, there she was¨Cthe woman in the red wedding dress, smiling and waving at me up ahead. No matter which way I turned, she was always there, inching closer each time. I was scared stiff, but my voice seemed stuck in my throat. As I backed up, I suddenly stepped on something soft. I looked back and saw it was the blind man. Just as I was about to call out to him, a bolt of lightning split the sky, and I let out a scream. The blind man was slumped against a tombstone, clearly gone. His eyes were missing, leaving behind two gaping, bloody holes. My knees buckled. At that moment, I was sure I was a goner. And then, out of nowhere, he showed up. He was dressed in a way that seemed straight out of a period drama on TV. His long hair flowed down his shoulders, black as midnight. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The rain was pelting down, but not a single drop touched him. I stared, dumbfounded. There was something dangerously alluring about him, with those slightly upturned thin lips and those smiling, almond-shaped eyes. But a shiver of fear ran through me, the kind you get when you''re face-to-face with something way more powerful than you. Stranger still, the second he appeared, the woman in the red dress vanished. He walked over to me, that smile still playing on his lips. "I''ve been waiting for you for ages, and here you are, still just a kid," he said, reaching out his hand. "Come on, let me take you home." He took my hand, and I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. After what felt like forever, I caught a glimpse of a pair of beautiful hands slipping something onto my left ring finger. "When you grow up, use this to get something good," he murmured softly. Then, everything went black. When I came to, I was back home. My mother had been crying her eyes out, they were all red and puffy. They told me I''d been running a sky-high fever and had almost kicked the bucket. When I asked about the graveyard, everyone looked at me like I''d lost my mind and said I hadn''t even left the house. But on my left hand, there it was¨Ca grass ring. After I recovered, the blind man''s family held a funeral. The village chief said they''d died from food poisoning and there was no saving them. But when I got close to the coffin, I caught a faint whiff of that same fishy, bloody smell. To this day, I still have no clue how the blind man and his wife met their end. Not long after that, my family moved to the city. If it wasn''t for that grass ring that popped up in my memories now and then, I''d have sworn it was all just a crazy dream. My parents worked their tails off. They started out selling clothes from a street stall and now they''ve got a pretty decent-sized wholesale business going. But they never gave themselves credit; they were convinced it was all because of my good fortune. I''m Anna. Apparently, when I was little, my mom took me to a monastery. A monk there said I had some kind of extraordinary destiny and was blessed by the heavens, that I could turn any trouble into a stroke of luck. My parents weren''t religious or anything, but they latched onto those words like they were gospel. And it did seem like I had a charmed life. Whatever I set my sights on, I usually got without breaking much of a sweat. Like when I applied to college, I barely studied for three years and still managed to squeak by and get into my top choice. Now, as I was on the cusp of turning eighteen, I had just about everything an eighteen-year-old could want. But that year, things took a turn. I started having these recurring dreams, all chaotic and messed up. There was this man who''d smile at me. He was in green robes, with long, narrow eyes and a devilishly handsome smile. But the kicker was, he had the lower body of a snake. Every time, he''d slither closer with that long, serpentine tail of his. His breath smelled sweet, but with a hint of blood. I always thought I was doomed, that there was no escape. But at the last possible second, another figure would materialize in my dream. All I could make out was his face was kind of blurry, except for those piercing, almond-shaped eyes that seemed to hold a world of secrets. He always managed to fend off the snake-tailed guy just in the nick of time. The snake-tailed man would glare at him with pure hatred. I had no idea who these two were, but I knew deep down they weren''t your average, run-of-the-mill humans. These dreams went on for a month. Then, just like that, they stopped. But that''s when the real trouble started. I began coughing up blood. The doctors at the hospital were stumped; they couldn''t find a thing wrong with me. But I was coughing up more blood each day until I had no choice but to be hospitalized. I was living on daily blood transfusions just to stay alive. My parents, who''d been so upbeat at first, were now worried sick and looking glum all the time. Even when my grandfather passed away, I couldn''t make it back to the village. My father went back to handle the funeral arrangements while my mother and older brother stayed by my side in the hospital. I was the only one in the ward. My mother gently wiped my face and asked in a hushed tone, "Anna, sweetie, can I go get you some water?" In a daze, I nodded. She hurried out. Maybe because of that special mother-daughter bond, I''d never told her about my nightmares. But ever since these dreams started, she''d been on edge, always sticking close whenever she could. Probably from all the blood loss, I was in a fog, neither fully asleep nor fully awake. I''d turn my head now and then to watch the birds flitting by outside the window. I was staring off into space when suddenly, something started inching up the window frame from below. I squinted, and my heart skipped a beat. It looked like... hair! I wanted to look away, but my eyes were glued. I could only watch, helpless, as a face slowly emerged. It was the man with the snake tail! Cold sweat broke out all over me in an instant. I pinched my palm hard. It hurt. This was no dream. The man with the snake tail was here, in the flesh! And we were on the eighth floor! How the heck had my nightmare come to life?! Your Life Belongs To Me His pupils were a deep, dark green, surrounded by an unmistakable aura of bloodlust. A voice in my head screamed: Run! I ignored the IV in my hand and tried to scramble out of bed. But after days of blood loss, I was weak as a kitten. I made it to the door and collapsed, completely spent. When I reached for the doorknob, I was thrown back. I knew it wasn''t a fluke, so I tried again. This time, I hit an invisible wall. "Hiss..." The sound of a snake''s tongue flicking echoed behind me. I started shaking like a leaf, frozen in place. I didn''t dare turn around. As I tried to run, I accidentally yanked out the IV needle. Warm blood trickled down my fingers and onto the floor. Something cold and slimy touched my fingertips. It sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn''t look away, even though I wanted to. I watched as the snake-tailed man slithered up beside me. He started licking the blood off my hand. I tried to scream, but the sound got stuck in my throat. I was screaming my lungs out, but no one in the busy hospital seemed to hear me. He coiled around me, his massive tail squeezing me tight. He touched my cheek with his forked tongue, covered in my blood. I stared into his dark green eyes and saw a mix of joy and hatred. "After running for centuries, you still end up in my grasp... Anna, it''s time to accept your fate. That damn fox can''t protect you forever!" Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. His voice was full of venom. "You owe me, and you''re going to pay!" With a flick of his finger, my hospital gown fell open. I screamed and tried to pull it back up, but I had no strength left. I could only watch as he started to strip me. I saw the excitement and hatred in his eyes grow more and more intense. I remembered reading in a book once that snakes are lustful by nature. I knew exactly what he wanted to do. No way! Sweat poured from my palms, but I couldn''t move a muscle. The snake-tailed man lowered his head and kissed me. His sharp fangs grazed my tongue, and I tasted blood. The taste seemed to make him even more excited. He pinned me down. I could barely breathe. The pressure was overwhelming. My vision started to blur. Was this the end? A bitter smile crossed my face. I''d never even had a boyfriend, and now I was going to die like this. I closed my eyes and prepared to accept my fate. Just then, I felt something warm in the center of my palm. It felt like a sharp scalpel. A calm, elegant voice whispered in my ear, "Aim for his left eye." The voice gave me a glimmer of strength. I decided to fight with everything I had, no matter what. I gritted my teeth and stabbed at his left eye. The snake-tailed man was so caught up in his own pleasure that he wasn''t even paying attention. Before, no matter how much I kicked, punched, or bit, I couldn''t hurt him at all. But now, as soon as the scalpel got within an inch of his eye, I heard a faint cracking sound. The knife broke through some kind of invisible barrier. Cold snake blood splashed on my hands. He let out an agonized scream that shattered the windows. Another voice laughed and said, "I''ll protect her life." "Dead fox! You again!" The snake-tailed man snarled, his hatred burning bright. As his figure faded away, my ears started to ring, and I almost passed out. Someone caught me. "Anna, what are you doing out of bed?!" It was my older brother, Anbay. When he saw me, I broke down and started crying. He quickly checked me for injuries. "No, I''m not hurt..." I lifted my hand and saw that the snake blood was gone. The broken glass was back to normal. I was so confused. I looked at my palm and found only a single black hair, wet with sweat. "Was I just hallucinating because I was about to die?" My brother''s face darkened. "Stop talking nonsense! Get back in bed right now!" His words were harsh, but his hands were gentle as he helped me lie down. "This isn''t the end, Anna," he said, puffing out his chest. "We''ll keep giving you blood transfusions until you''re a hundred. Our family has money, and I''ve got your back!" "Stop filling her head with nonsense," Mom said as she walked in. She gave my brother that look that only moms can give. "Anna will be fine soon." My brother hung his head, looking guilty. I was about to ask Mom if she''d heard any noises when she turned to pick something up. The second she turned around, I froze. A chill ran through me like a knife. There was a face stuck to her back, grinning at me with its white teeth. The cold was like a punch in the gut when our eyes met. My hand started shaking, and I spilled water all over the bed. Goosebumps covered my skin. If I wasn''t mistaken, it was a woman''s face, pale as death. "Anna, did you burn yourself?!" Mom turned around quickly to check my hand. "I, I''m okay!" I watched as the ghost disappeared like smoke when Mom turned. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "M-mom? Could you... face the wall?" A Kiss That Saved My Life ¡°Huh?¡± Mom spun around, but nothing. I could¡¯ve sworn I saw something, though. Maybe it was just my nerves playing tricks on me. I thought that¡¯d be the end of it. Boy, was I wrong. Late that night, that creepy face came back for me. It was sweltering, and the AC in the ward was humming away, yet sleep was playing hard to get. My brother Anbay was conked out right next to me. I was so uncomfortable that I forced myself to close my eyes. In that half-asleep, half-awake state, I felt a cold draft blowing on me. Was the AC on the fritz? I cracked open my eyes, and bam! I was wide awake and shivering. There it was again, that woman¡¯s face hovering just inches from mine. Her features were a blur, except for those blood-red lips, glistening and dripping with crimson. I wanted to holler for my brother, but my body wouldn¡¯t budge. My voice was stuck in my throat like glue. The face, as pale as a ghost, blew its icy breath all over me. It inched closer and closer until it was plastered against my face. I thrashed around, but my hands just passed right through it. Its cold, slimy skin clung to me, sending icy chills prickling through my pores. I couldn¡¯t scream, could only flail helplessly on the bed. As her mouth covered my nose and mouth, I started to suffocate. Just when the last bit of oxygen left my lungs, I blacked out. Next thing I knew, I was standing by a long, winding river. Across the water, someone was glaring at me with eyes full of venom. I couldn¡¯t make out his face, but something in my gut told me it was the snake-tailed guy. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I tried to hightail it along the riverbank, but it seemed to go on forever. His long snake tail snaked around me in the end, and his red forked tongue darted toward my mouth. I was terrified out of my wits and squeezed my eyes shut. Then, a pair of hands cupped my face. I jolted in surprise. These weren¡¯t the snake-tailed man¡¯s paws. They were warm and strong. I opened my eyes and saw those devilishly charming almond-shaped eyes. His figure was superimposed on the snake-tailed man¡¯s. One was out to get me, and the other was my knight in shining armor. Those eyes looked at me with pity. ¡°Still can¡¯t wake up...¡± I felt weak all over and started to crumple. His see-through body wrapped around me, and his beautiful, thin lips brushed against mine. It felt so real. Even though it was a dream, my heart was pounding like a jackhammer, threatening to burst out of my chest. Sensing my racing heart, he flashed a brilliant smile and tapped my forehead gently with a finger. ¡°Wake up!¡± I gasped for air and woke up in a cold sweat. Next to me, Anbay was looking at me with concern. ¡°Anna, did you have a nightmare?¡± ¡°Looks like it...¡± My heart was still going a mile a minute. I touched my lips and felt a lingering warmth. My cheeks flushed a bit. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your mouth? You feeling okay?¡± ¡°No, no!¡± I shoved him away in a hurry. Talking about this dream with my own brother? Embarrassing didn¡¯t even begin to cover it. As he lay back down, he suddenly remembered something. ¡°Hey, who were you calling for earlier? Somebody named Li?¡± ¡°Li?¡± That word made my heart skip a beat. I felt like I should remember something, but it was just out of reach. ¡°Li...¡± I mumbled, and then, all of a sudden, it hit me. The next morning, I begged Mom to take me back home for Grandpa¡¯s funeral. She was dead set against it, but I pleaded until she caved. Finally, Anbay stepped in. ¡°Mom, let her go back for a couple of days. The doctor said she¡¯s been doing okay and suggested some rest at home.¡± I nodded like a bobble-head, pleading with her. Eventually, Mom agreed, but she made me promise to come back after two days. I would¡¯ve agreed to just about anything to get home. I needed to figure out if ¡°that thing¡± was all in my head or real. Mom got my discharge papers sorted. Maybe it was because I was excited to go home, but I felt lighter than air on the way. Even my usually pale lips had a bit more color. I thought everyone coming back for Grandpa¡¯s funeral would cheer Dad up. Wrong again. Seeing Dad¡¯s tired face and the dark circles under his eyes, I felt a pang of unease. The coffin in the main hall looked so heavy and solemn. Dad¡¯s first words were like a bombshell. ¡°Something¡¯s happened.¡± ¡°Grandpa¡¯s missing,¡± he said. We didn¡¯t get it until Dad opened the coffin lid. It was empty. Mom was flabbergasted. ¡°Where¡¯s Grandpa?!¡± How could a dead person not be in the coffin? ¡°I want to know too!¡± Dad exclaimed, biting his cigarette nervously. ¡°Grandpa... vanished.¡± Mom whipped out her phone to call the police, but Dad stopped her. ¡°We can¡¯t call the cops.¡± ¡°Someone stole the body, and we¡¯re not reporting it?!¡±Mom protested. Dad was getting frustrated. ¡°That¡¯s what Grandpa wrote in his will!¡± He handed her a piece of paper. It was a will without a fancy heading, but it was definitely Grandpa¡¯s handwriting. It said that if anything strange happened after his death, it was payback for the An family and no one should dig deeper or call the cops. Meaning, Grandpa expected something wacky to go down after he died. ¡°How¡¯s that possible?¡± Mom, a die-hard skeptic, couldn¡¯t wrap her head around the idea of karma. To her, if something went missing, someone had to have swiped it. But whether it was a human ¡°someone¡± was up for debate. Dad looked at us, hesitant to speak. Mom prodded him impatiently. He finally whispered, ¡°I saw the blind man.¡± ¡°Which blind man?¡± Mom was clueless. But my heart skipped a beat. There was only one blind man in our village.