Monster - Chapter 11
Chapter 11: The Solitary Dweller
“Officer Xing, thank you for taking me home.” Downstairs at her apartment complex, Lin Sandie thanked Xing Meilu, her voice a little stiff.
Her car had been rear-ended a few days ago, so she hadn't been driving to work. During this time, the police officer with the unusual surname had been seeking her out constantly, claiming to be reopening the two-year-old cold case of Bai Xuan's stabbing. On the surface, Lin Sandie couldn't refuse, but inwardly, she was deeply troubled.
She wished no one would get close to her, and that no one would show her any kindness.
Because that was a very dangerous thing.
This was a realization Lin Sandie had come to four years ago, after she tried to break up with Yan Ting and was met with a violent refusal.
At that time, Yan Ting had suddenly lost control, grabbing her by the hair and slamming her head into the doorframe. It was hard to imagine that the always gentle and polite Yan Ting could be so crazed. It was also unbelievable that someone so petite could possess such terrifying explosive strength.
No matter what, hitting someone was wrong.
But Lin Sandie believed that when she had tried to break up with Yan Ting, Yan Ting had acted with the intent to kill her. Since then, Lin Sandie hadn't dared to mention breaking up again. Her sixth sense told her that if she ever dared to bring it up one more time, Yan Ting would undoubtedly kill her with her own hands.
Lin Sandie had considered calling the police, but Yan Ting's social status was far above hers. She couldn't be sure that she and her family wouldn't face retaliation after reporting it.
She had also thought about running away, but Yan Ting's possessiveness grew by the day. Lin Sandie, with no background or connections, had no idea where she could possibly run to.
Leviathan had a population of hundreds of millions. In an age of advanced networks, it would be a simple matter for someone like Yan Ting to find a commoner like her. Besides, her family couldn't possibly flee with her.
No one could help Lin Sandie escape this terrible relationship.
Eventually, Lin Sandie stopped struggling.
On one hand, she was reasonably satisfied with her current life. She had her own apartment, a car for commuting, a decent job, and a refined, convenient lifestyle. Wasn't this what an ordinary person strived for?
Lin Sandie was just such a mundane and ordinary person. She didn't have any grand dreams she felt compelled to achieve. Her childhood ambition was to become a financially independent woman, and she had already achieved that, doing even better than most of her peers. So, she truly found it hard to accept the idea of becoming a fugitive on the run just to escape Yan Ting.
Everyone has the right to choose a good life, don't they?
Of course, there was another important reason. Ever since that beating from Yan Ting, something had gone wrong with Lin Sandie's eyes. She could see the truth of this world, and she came to understand her situation even more clearly.
In reality, she had nowhere to run.
Lin Sandie saw Yan Ting's true face—a faceless, grotesquely shaped monster. And it wasn't just Yan Ting. Many people around her were also hideous monsters: colleagues, neighbors, clients... Many of them had already mutated into monsters, hiding among the crowd, only revealing their inability to control their emotions when provoked.
Yan Ting found it increasingly difficult to remain calm about matters concerning her. Anyone she perceived as prying into her affairs would be eliminated without hesitation. Lin Sandie had always known that Bai Xuan and the others had been harmed because of her, but she didn't know what she could do. She was weak and powerless. All she could do was refuse to let anyone get close and keep her distance from everyone except Yan Ting.
But even so, people still suffered because of her.
Lin Sandie looked melancholically at Xing Meilu, who had not yet mutated into a monster. When Yan Ting went crazy, she probably wouldn't even spare an Inspectorate police superintendent like her.
“I was hoping to treat you to a meal. I've been troubling you so much lately,” Xing Meilu said with a smile.
“No, it's nothing. I don't know much about Bai Xuan's case. From now on...” Lin Sandie hoped Xing Meilu would stay away from her.
“From now on, I might have more questions and need to come see you often,” Xing Meilu cut in. She wanted to see just what Yan Ting could do to her.
The more she investigated Lin Sandie recently, the more Xing Meilu felt that the woman before her was pitiful. Although her main target was currently Lou, Xing Meilu's sense of justice wouldn't allow her to turn a blind eye to Lin Sandie's plight.
Lin Sandie nodded silently and turned to go back to her apartment, her mind racing with how to distance herself from Xing Meilu so that Yan Ting wouldn't fly into a rage.
Previously, You Jian, a helper in the company cafeteria, had been "dealt with" by Yan Ting simply because he smiled at her and enthusiastically recommended dishes every time she got her food.
Thinking of the people who had been harmed because of her, Lin Sandie sighed heavily in her heart.
Entering her apartment building, Lin Sandie first went to the package lockers on the ground floor and retrieved the specialized bacteria for garbage disposal she had ordered online. Her face was now expressionless. After getting her package, she stepped into the elevator.
Ever since buying this apartment, Lin Sandie had poured all her heart and soul into the ninety-square-meter space. This was a world that belonged to her and her alone.
She liked a minimalist style. The interior designer Yan Ting had hired designed the apartment in a modern, minimalist gray palette according to her preferences.
The entryway visible upon entering was paved with smooth, dark gray floor tiles. The off-white side wall featured an inlaid, long oval mirror with simple lines and a pure black frame. On either side of the mirror were two round, white lights. These motion-sensor lights would immediately emit a soft white glow whenever someone approached, not only illuminating the entryway for the owner upon arrival but also providing extra light when getting ready.
Next to the mirror was the bathroom door. Because of its extremely simple design, the door's lines were so steady and straight it looked as if someone had drawn them on a flat wall with a ruler. The doorknob, like the one on the main door, was also a textured black.
Since it was inconvenient to squat down to change shoes, Lin Sandie later bought a round stool upholstered in light brown velvet. It didn't disrupt the overall design of the entryway, and although the stool was expensive, she felt it was worth the price.
Lin Sandie found it hard to accept how some people's homes, though perfectly designed at first, would gradually be filled with all sorts of unnecessary things as life went on—curtains in clashing colors, or furniture with incongruous shapes, turning the entire house into a nightmare.
The doorknobs, light fixtures, faucets, and so on were all chosen in pure black by Lin Sandie. The windows, doors, cabinets, and kitchen were also mostly designed in a black, white, and gray palette. The designer, knowing in advance that this was a woman's residence, also added many soft elements, making the atmosphere of the whole apartment calm and serene. Later, on Yan Ting's suggestion, Lin Sandie bought a high-end brown sofa, off-white throw pillows, and a white rug. She also went to the flower shop every week to buy white flowers for decoration.
Irises, baby's breath, snapdragons, ranunculus... as long as they were white, she would try buying them to display at home.
But no matter how hard Lin Sandie tried to furnish the apartment with these seemingly soft things, it still lacked a human touch.
Because there were many monsters hiding among the crowds outside, she never knew when she might get into a dispute with one of those emotionally unstable creatures while exercising outdoors. So, to avoid contact with them as much as possible, Lin Sandie bought a home treadmill. She would exercise for six to eight hours a week, sometimes playing sports-themed video games instead.
Twice a month, the apartment would undergo a deep cleaning. Lin Sandie would meticulously wipe down every corner with disinfectant and a cloth several times. She would often get on the floor, unconcerned with her appearance, and use a wrung-out damp towel to wipe the crevices unreachable by normal cleaning tools over and over again, until she was sure there wasn't a single speck of dust or imperfection.
Yan Ting would sometimes laugh and say she had OCD, offering to hire a cleaning service for her. But Lin Sandie didn't want that. To this day, the only people who had ever been to her home were the designer, the construction workers, and Yan Ting.
Lin Sandie sometimes thought that this home was a reflection of herself: exquisitely decorated, but beautiful only on the surface, its interior radiating coldness and selfishness from every corner.
All in all, Lin Sandie's life was calm and boring. She didn't feel she was any happier than anyone else, but of course, she didn't feel she was any more unfortunate, either.
In the past, she might have felt suffocated by Yan Ting or the repetitive daily grind of work, but now, just browsing websites for various furniture and decorations brought Lin Sandie a sense of satisfaction and relaxation.
This satisfaction came from consumerism, something that not even sex or love could replace.
Yan Ting didn't know what she was thinking. Faced with Lin Sandie's dwindling libido, she would just laugh and tease that her desires had been completely enslaved by consumerism.
They both agreed that a diminished sex drive was normal for people who had been in a relationship for seven years. Yan Ting, being married herself, also feared "defiling" the flawless Lin Sandie in her eyes.
When they had the chance to be alone, Yan Ting preferred to lean against Lin Sandie and watch TV.
Lin Sandie, for her part, was more than happy to avoid any further intimacy with Yan Ting.
Lin Sandie had indeed been enslaved by consumerism, clinging to her current convenient, comfortable, and stable life like a miser.
After resting on the sofa for a while, Lin Sandie got up and took some eggs from the refrigerator. She usually didn't eat much for dinner; Yan Ting wanted her to maintain the figure she had in college. Lin Sandie didn't see the point in arguing with her about it. Tonight's dinner would just be a simple steamed egg custard.
While waiting for the egg custard, Lin Sandie turned on the TV to the news channel. She didn't know when it started, but the city's crime rate had been getting higher and higher.
Lin Sandie guessed it was probably after the onset of that disease that turned people into monsters.
But it seemed no one ever mentioned this disease in public, and Lin Sandie certainly wasn't going to be the one to bring it up.
Firstly, the fact that only she could see the monsters' true forms was too bizarre, and others might not believe her. Secondly, Lin Sandie didn't want her peaceful life to be disrupted in any way.
The TV was reporting on what new emerging industry the famous female entrepreneur Yan Ting had recently invested in. Lin Sandie wasn't interested. Her eyes drifted to the news ticker at the bottom of the screen, which read, "Female body found in Dunerxi Hotel in the East District." It was probably news from a few days ago, but Lin Sandie hadn't seen it anyway.
Finding a comfortable position, Lin Sandie waited for the newscaster to get to that story. Soon enough, the segment began, and a headshot of the deceased appeared on the screen. She looked very beautiful. Why would she have suffered such a brutal fate?
The news said the woman had been shot to death. Judging from the photo, the victim hadn't mutated into a monster when the picture was taken. Lin Sandie wondered if she had turned by the time she died. Or perhaps she had become a monster, and her killer was also some monster with poor emotional control?
Lin Sandie thought idly. Although her eyes could see monsters, if someone was still human when their photo was taken, she couldn't tell if they had turned into a monster later on.
After watching the news segment, Lin Sandie's attention began to wander. She leaned back against the sofa, laced her fingers over her stomach, and stared at the off-white ceiling, recalling the strange cleaning lady she had run into in the company breakroom that afternoon.
“Why did she ask if I have a girlfriend? Does she know about my relationship with Yan Ting?”
“Maybe Yan Ting sent her to test me? Yan Ting's possessiveness is becoming more and more unbearable...”
“But that cleaning lady hadn't mutated into a monster. If she works for Yan Ting, that's rare. Maybe she's new?”
Lin Sandie's mind kept turning. She felt she had seen that cleaning lady's eyes somewhere before, but she just couldn't remember where.
“The number of monsters I've been seeing lately is increasing...”
Lin Sandie rolled over, facing the back of the sofa, and calculated the number of monsters she had seen recently.
Based on her own observations, the current ratio of normal people to monsters was about 7:3.
It was a terrifying number. Lin Sandie remembered that there weren't this many five years ago when she first became able to see them. Perhaps it really was a disease, a contagious one.
Based on this speculation, Lin Sandie would take off her glasses every day to look in the mirror, checking to see if she had been infected. If she were, she would probably choose to kill herself, because she absolutely could not accept becoming such a disgusting, ugly monster.
Whenever she had free time, Lin Sandie would also use some discreet methods to investigate the matter of the monsters. But she was just an ordinary citizen with no power or influence. The only methods available to her were searching for information online, subtly probing people who didn't seem infected, and paying attention to news reports and official announcements. But no matter what she tried, she never found any mention of it from any governing body, nor did she see anyone talking about it online.
This made Lin Sandie uncertain again. Could it be that there was something wrong with her eyes and brain, and that there were actually no monsters at all?
“Beep, beep—” The microwave timer went off, interrupting Lin Sandie's thoughts. She stretched and got ready to eat dinner.
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