Reborn In a Murderer’s Embrace

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Rushing home, I scrambled out of the car and bolted for the basement.

Coly, trapped in its cage, was going berserk, clearly sensing its owner's distress and unease.

Panic surged within me, my foot wound reopened, spilling blood, and I tumbled down the stairs. Agony engulfed me, and I couldn't hold back the tears.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I hobbled towards the basement.

Fear began to grip me.

Noise from the basement, like Colin throwing things around, wouldn't scare me. But silence did.

Bran had mentioned, Colin could hurt himself.

I didn't understand why I was so worried, it felt like a voice inside me insisted, "Save him, save him."

Fumbling with the doorknob, my fingers trembling, I twisted off the wire lock and pushed the door open.

The moment the door swung open, the smell of blood hit me.

Frozen at the doorway, I saw Colin lying on the couch.

He seemed to have lost his mind, destroying everything in the room, his blood everywhere.

There he lay on the couch, his fingers still dripping blood, as if exhausted from his frenzy.

He was hurting himself.

"Colin..." I called out his name.

He struggled to open his eyes, and upon seeing me, his gaze flickered, pulling me into a tight embrace. "Phoebe... I'm sorry."

Even though he did nothing wrong, he always felt the need to apologize.

"You promised me you wouldn't hurt yourself." My voice trembled with genuine fear.

"I didn't hurt myself..." Colin murmured, guilt evident in his voice.

I grabbed his wrist, the battered wound on the back of his hand still bleeding.

"Phoebe..." He looked at me anxiously, stripping off my jacket and draping his own over me.

"Phoebe... Did they hurt you..." His gaze fell on my swollen ankle, a mark left by James's lackeys.

Luckily, on my way here, a policewoman had given me a skirt.

Colin's gaze frantically scanned me, noticing the blood on my foot.

He knelt down, his expression turning fierce. "I'll kill them..."

"It was my own doing." I pulled Colin towards me, cupping his face, forcing him to look at me. "Phoebe Caldwell... you were hurt by those people at the orphanage before, right?"

In my faded memories.

James had said they had drugged Phoebe Caldwell too. Attempting to harm...

Colin's gaze burned into me as he carefully touched my bruised cheek.

His eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"Phoebe Caldwell's body... is drug-resistant." Colin whispered. "Back then, it was Melody who tricked you. You knew she was deceiving you, yet you went deliberately."

"Why would I do that intentionally?" I clenched my fists.

"Because those bastards had been tormenting Zoe in the same manner." Colin looked up at me.

I took a deep breath, my fingers reflexively tightening.

"Finn mentioned, years ago, there

was a case at the orphanage where a boy was stabbed. The wounds weren't deep, none were fatal, and the boy wasn't in life-threatening danger. But when he woke up, he was terrified..."

"Did I do that?" Why had I forgotten so cleanly?

Had I, for Zoe, or for justice, deliberately allowed Melody to deceive me and then stabbed the person myself?

"Yes, that person was Heaton, the leader among the boys. He saw Zoe as an easy target because of her low intellect and bullied her. It was their dirty little secret." Colin pressed a napkin against the wound ommy foot

So, Phoebe Caldwell at that time, not only remained unaffected by the drugs but also stabbed the ringleader, Heaton.

Heaton was the first victim in the serial killings.