After actually crossing the originally locked door, Tasia completely lost the strength to move. She slid against the wall and sat in the corner of the corridor, shaking uncontrollably.
The bartender brought a hot drink from elsewhere and handed it over, "Come on, have a little of this."
Tasia took it with both hands, "What...what do you call it?"
"Putina."
"Thank you, Ms. Putina..."
"Why did you come down here?" Putinna asked, "This road is not suitable for guests like you."
Just as Tasia was about to speak, she heard a burst of noisy footsteps heading towards the top floor. Tasia couldn't tell how many people were there, but she could feel that it was a large team...
Tasia turned back slowly. All the sounds came from behind the door she had just stepped through.
"Don't be afraid." Putina stretched out her hand, "Follow me."
Tasia just wanted to stand up, but she lost her balance and fell again, and even the glass in her hand broke into pieces.
"sorry……"
Tasia looked at her ankle and realized that the sprained area had become very swollen in the afternoon. She looked at the broken cup guiltily and wanted to pick up a few pieces.
"Don't touch it, be careful of scratches."
Putina walked behind Tasia, held her shoulders and knees, and lifted her whole body off the ground.
"I'm causing you trouble..."
"It's okay. We will also be inspected here soon. I'll take you to a temporary shelter first."
After turning a corner, Tasia suddenly recognized this deck - this was no other place, but the second deck she had been to in the afternoon. Those once bustling venues were now empty, with only some corridors remaining on the entire deck. Faint lighting.
As Putina moved forward, Tasia felt herself getting closer to a place she had just visited one afternoon.
"I'm sorry, what is the temporary shelter here..."
"That's it."
Putina pushed open a door with her feet, and some pure white machines and equipment appeared in front of Tasia again - yes, she guessed right, it was here, Helen had just forced her to complete a certain appointment here this afternoon.
"If you feel scared for a while, you can turn on all the lights in the house." Putina said.
"...Do you want to go elsewhere?" Tasia tightly hugged Putina's shoulders, "Since it's not safe outside now -"
"I have other work for the rest of the night. Don't be afraid. Just stay here and nothing will happen."
"but--"
"Oh, you are very lucky," Putina looked at the lights in front of her, her expression suddenly brightened, "You are not the only guest here tonight... You don't have to stay up until dawn alone."
Entering the waiting room, Putina put Tasia on the chair against the wall. Tasia thanked her again. She looked at the corner - there was a middle-aged man in a wheelchair sitting there. Tasia could only see her A little profile.
She was flipping through the picture album on the display shelf by the window and never looked back.
"Okay, if you need anything, please ring the help bell. The crew on duty on this floor will come over." Putinna raised her hand to indicate the direction, "Is there anything else?"
"...No more, thank you."
"Hope you have a safe night."
The door was ajar again.
Tasia looked at the window again, and now she finally recognized the woman who was reading the picture album. On the night of the shootout at the Grace Theater, the woman reading the picture album was standing in the center of the stage with Hesta and the others. , watching the accompanying little girl being executed by Chiba.
Although the person didn't seem to be sad afterward, there were many times when Tasia's eyes passed by this person, and she felt a faint sense of loneliness.
Suddenly, a cat's tail hung down from the woman's knees, swaying from side to side.
Tasia was startled: "Is this cat... yours?"
Anna turned around and said, "Huh?"
"Oh, I saw this cat here in the afternoon," Tasia said with a smile. "It...seems to be very humane and smart."
Anna withdrew her gaze, "Animals don't understand human nature. People like to reflect their own emotions and anger on them."
Tasia was speechless, but suddenly she felt that the expression of the person in front of her looked familiar - that kind of indifference that did not want to say a word reminded her of the Chiba she met in the afternoon.
"But your cat is really smart," Tasia explained in a low voice. "When I cried on the stairs in the afternoon, he even took the initiative to come over and comfort me..."
There was silence in the waiting room, except for the sound of Anna turning pages.
Suddenly, Anna raised her head, but did not look in Tasia's direction.
"...Should I ask why you are crying?"
"Uh," Tasia responded for a moment, "Well, because... at that time, um, I - a friend of mine, she -"
"...You don't have to force yourself." Anna suddenly murmured in a low voice.
"I don't force it," Tasia sat upright, as if facing a strict tutor in her childhood, "I do want to find someone to talk to about the afternoon -"
"I'm talking about myself," Anna's eyes returned to the album in her hand, "I don't have to force you to ask, and I don't have to force you to listen."
"...I'm sorry." Tasia's voice was even lower.
The room became quiet again.
Tasia looked at the swaying cat's tail. After a while, the tail retracted, and after a while, the cat's head poked out.
Tasia suddenly adjusted her posture. She held on to the chair and reluctantly stood up, "...What are you looking at?"
"Photo Album."
"What is it about...?"
Tasia's voice disappeared in the air again, and she saw a huge bud in the picture that had been cut into half. Its entire internal structure - stem, calyx, crown, stamens... were all exposed to the camera, tightly closed. The petals overlap to form an angle of thirty degrees, and the shape is like...
Like a woman's...
Anna turned the pages, and then the pages.
The next few pictures have a similar style, and then the picture becomes an intertwined tree vine and roots. At first glance, they don't look like dead plants at all, but look like many people pulling at them. The roots and vines are inextricably entangled, like arms entwining and pulling each other, intertwined bodies...
There are several photos among them that Tasia had seen in her father's studio. Her father did not allow her to enter his office when she was young, but she was very curious and insisted on taking a look. As a result, her mother died that night. I had a big fight with my father. The next day, my mother directly replaced those huge photos with coastal scenery.
Anna quickly flipped through the entire photo album. She closed the book, put it aside, and took out another one from the display shelf.
Tasia stepped forward to look at the cover. On the cover was a monastery kitchen immersed in the afternoon sun. Some glass jars filled with water were scattered on the table. In the gaps between them, golden sunlight and water shadows were formed. There are two silhouettes of women who seem to be dancing, and on the wall behind them, there happen to be two solemn portraits of nuns hanging.
