At four in the morning, the rain ceased.
But the fire in my mind still burned.
Seated in the police car, I stared at the evidence bag in my hand.
Inside lay a half-melted lighter, bearing an almost illegible engraving:
> "L.Y."
It gleamed with a dull sheen in the dim light.
I didn't know why, but my gut told me—
This wasn't the victim's.
---
Back at the station, the air felt colder than the crime scene.
The computer screen glowed blue as files scrolled by.
The deceased: Wu Jia. No relatives. No enemies. No debts.
As ordinary as they come.
Yet in cases like this, the word 'ordinary' is always the most dangerous disguise.
I massaged my temples as that whispered phrase echoed relentlessly in my mind:
— "I didn't set myself on fire... He's coming."
The voice felt too real, carrying the warmth of breath.
But when I tried to recall her expression, only flames and ashes filled my mind.
As if her memories were burning too.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
A voice sounded behind me.
I whipped around.
No one was there.
The surveillance screen flickered with static, and every light in the entire bureau trembled faintly.
The air seemed warped, the temperature plummeting.
In that instant, I heard another voice—
Deep, calm, yet tinged with an odd tenderness.
> "Fear not. I mean you no harm."
My hand flew reflexively to my holster.
"Who's there!"
"I should like to know myself."
The voice drew nearer, as though at my ear, yet distant as if separated by glass.
I scanned the room. Light reflected off metal cabinets, casting a blurred human silhouette.
The shadow slowly straightened, its outline gradually becoming distinct—
the figure of a man.
Black shirt, collar undone, slightly long hair…
Translucent, almost transparent enough to see the wall behind him.
He watched me silently, the corners of his mouth slightly pursed.
"You… can see me?"
---
In that moment, my breath caught.
Not from fear, but because—
his gaze was identical to that of the living.
No resentment, no shadow, only a calmness trapped in time.
"Who are you?" I whispered.
"Once, I was Lucas Yuan."
He paused. "Forensic Department. Lanhe Bureau."
My heart lurched.
"What? Forensic pathologist Lucas? That's—"
I remembered that name.
Three years prior, a young forensic pathologist from Lanhe Precinct had vanished inexplicably while investigating a serial murder case.
The file was later sealed, its reference number—
[LC-017: Missing / Unresolved].
"You're... dead," I blurted out.
He gave a faint smile.
"Seems you're quite familiar with the files."
I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or had gone utterly mad.
Yet there he stood before me, like some trapped apparition.
His voice echoed as if through glass: "I watched that body burn. I saw what you saw. That wasn't ordinary fire."
I clenched the lighter in my hand.
"You know what this is?"
Lucas stepped closer, his gaze fixed on the evidence.
When he reached out, his fingers passed straight through the plastic bag.
A faint ripple of electricity rippled through the air.
He frowned. "As expected. I can't touch it."
"Answer me, Lucas," I whispered. "This lighter has your initials engraved on it."
He lifted his head, meeting my eyes.
In that instant, I saw a flicker of fire in his eyes.
Not a reflection, but the lingering shadow of some memory.
"It was mine."
"But I never met her."
---
An eerie silence settled over the air.
Outside the window, the sky gradually turned pale; dawn was approaching.
I heard the distant noise of a broadcast van, yet it seemed separated by another world.
Lucas turned away, his silhouette nearly dissolving into the shadows.
"Evelyn, your vision... shouldn't exist."
He paused. "It draws things to you. Including me."
"What do you mean?" I pressed.
"If you don't control it, soon—you'll see more than one of me."
His words had barely left his lips when the lights flickered.
When I looked up again, I was alone in the office.
---
Dawn broke.
Rain clouds outside the window were swept aside by the wind, revealing a sliver of greyish-white sky.
I leaned back in my chair, my fingertips still trembling.
The chill wasn't from the temperature.
I opened my notebook and wrote a new heading on the first page:
> Case Number: LC-018
Status: Unresolved
Associated: Forensic Pathologist Lucas Yuan (Suspected Spirit Entity)
Notes: "Echo Phenomenon" emerging in case—deceased's image, voice, residual memories.
As I reached the final line, I suddenly heard—
The lighter on the desk clicked open of its own accord.
Click.
A flash of flame flickered and vanished.
A faint, acrid scent wafted through the air.
A familiar odour, identical to that night on Qingya Street.
I looked up as the surveillance feed on the screen abruptly switched—
The image showed the bedroom on the third floor.
Ashes drifted slowly near the bed, coalescing into a blurred sentence:
> "He's still looking for you."
I stared at the words appearing on the screen—
"He's still looking for you."
My fingers grew numb, barely able to hold the pen.
I pressed play on the surveillance replay, only to find that frame had vanished entirely.
The archive system flashed an alert: [No Record / Error 404].
As if the entire scene had been erased from reality.
"...A hallucination?" I murmured.
Yet I caught that familiar acrid scent again—
Intense, vivid, like the breath of the dead pressed against the nape of my neck.
"You're trying to ignore it."
The voice returned.
I snapped my head up. Lucas stood by the window, his form pierced by the morning light, his outline semi-transparent.
"But you've already opened the door, Evelyn."
"What door?" I whispered.
"The one between spirit and death."
His tone was eerily calm. "Something watches you from the other side. You simply haven't realised."
I instinctively touched the back of my neck. My skin felt icy cold.
"Then how do I close it?"
Lucas paused.
"Perhaps you can't."
---
The phone rang abruptly.
I nearly dropped my pen in fright.
It was the duty desk: "Detective Inspector Evelyn, new case reported. Location—Old Alley, East City. Residential arson. Circumstances... identical to Qingya Street."
My heart lurched.
"Repeat that."
"Arson. No ignition source. No witnesses. Body condition consistent."
Before I could respond, Lucas murmured beside me: "I told you the fire wouldn't burn just once."
---
By the time we reached East City Old Lane, dawn had fully broken.
Mist swirled among the wires at the lane entrance, the air eerily still.
Neighbours gathered beyond the cordon, whispering among themselves.
"Another one burned? Heard even the police won't go near it."
I pushed through the crowd to enter.
The exterior wall was charred black, with an ancient symbol scrawled above the doorway—an 'eye' seemingly seared into the wood.
I instinctively glanced back at Lucas.
He stood behind me, his expression grave.
"This isn't ordinary fire."
"I know," I breathed. "It was deliberately set."
"Wrong," he murmured. "Some force, channelled through a human."
---
The body lay face down, arms stretched towards the doorway, as if mid-crawl when consumed.
No flame marks, yet scorched afterimages lingered.
I crouched, examining the skin fissures on the arms—
strange patterns. Like incantations.
Lucas crouched beside me. Though he couldn't touch the body, his expression was more focused than mine.
"Did you see it?" he murmured.
I looked up. "What?"
"Her eyes."
I followed his gaze.
The corpse's eyeballs were half-melted, yet a speck of golden light still flickered within.
I froze. It wasn't a reflection—it was the lingering glow of life.
Suddenly, the light coalesced, as if sending a signal.
The next instant, a rapid-fire image crashed into my mind.
---
Flames. Runes. Screams.
A man clad in black stood amidst the fire, his face obscured by shadows.
A slender golden needle in his hand, he coldly thrust it into the woman's chest.
> "Spirit Flame—obey."
Fire erupted from her body like ignited oil.
She cried out in agony, yet no sound emerged.
The man lifted his head, a faint curve playing on his lips.
His eyes were grey.
Grey as... ashes.
The vision shattered in an instant. I gasped, nearly collapsing to my knees.
Lucas reached out—
This time, I actually felt his touch.
Icy cold, yet undeniably real.
"He saw you."
Lucas's voice was low, almost inaudible. "The one who ignited her."
I lifted my head, my heart pounding like a drum.
"What do you mean?"
He stared into my eyes, his gaze unfathomably deep.
"Evelyn, he knows you can see. You are now... on the list too."