Chapter 3 — The Night of Power Failure on the 17th Floor

The key box was opened, there was a spare key missing inside. Team leader Dien asked. "You know the key is left there?" An An raised her head to look at him. "I've seen it before." Team leader Dien looked at her for a few seconds, then changed to another photo. This is a photo from the seventeenth floor hallway camera. The image stopped at two forty-nine in the morning. At the end of the hallway there is a person wearing a black coat. His face was obscured by the brim of his hat. He raised his hand, preparing to knock on their door. Khuong Hoa's breathing stopped for a moment. But An An did not look at the photo. She always stares at the time in the corner of the photo. Team leader Dien asked. "Have you ever met this person?" An An shook her head. Khuong Hoa asked softly. "Did he knock on the door?" Captain Dien put the photo away. "The camera lost signal for exactly three hours." "The back part cannot be filmed." On Khuong Hoa's wrist there are still red marks from An An's fingernails. She lowered her head to look and suddenly asked. "There are so many people in the whole building, why were we the only ones who ran out first?" The room was silent. An An's shoulders trembled slightly. Captain Dien also looked at her. "Baby, do you know something?" An An raised her head. The girl looked at Khuong Hoa, her eyes filled with blood. "Mom." "It's not that I know we have to run." "It's that I already died in that building once."04 Khuong Hoa thought she heard wrong. Captain Dien's pen stopped on the page. Officer Ha also raised his head and looked at An An sitting next to the bed. Outside the window, the sound of fire trucks still rang out. That sound penetrated through the glass, as if from a far away place, penetrating into human bones. Khuong Hoa stared at her daughter. "What did you say just now?" An An's face turned pale. The baby doesn't cry. Just slowly tightening his fingers, each knuckle gradually turned blue. "I said, I died once." Khuong Hoa's throat choked. "An An, I can't talk nonsense now." "I don't talk nonsense." An An raised his eyes to look at her. "Last time, I didn't wake mom." "When I woke up, the house was full of smoke." "Someone knocked on the door outside." "He said he was from the management board, said Let's open the door to check the line." Khuong Hoa's spine felt cold. Captain Dien's expression became heavy. "Do you remember what that person said?" An An closed his eyes. "He said the electrical room downstairs was on fire, the elevator had stopped working, told us to take the stairs." "Do you open the door?" "No." An An shook his head. "I was just about to open the door when mom stopped me." "Mom said the management board will not knock on every door without notice at midnight." Khuong Hoa's fingers trembled slightly. That's exactly what she would say. An An continued. "Then the people outside the door burst out laughing." "He didn't pretend anymore." "He said, Ms. Khuong, it's okay if you don't come out, the smoke will help you get out." Khuong Hoa's face immediately changed. Miss Khuong. She hadn't heard anyone call her that for a long time. Since leaving the training center, she has edited a number of manuscripts at home, most of her neighbors only know her by her last name Khuong. Team leader Dien immediately asked. "You were a teacher before?" Khuong Hoa nodded. "I taught Literature for five years." "How long have you been out of work?" "Three years." "Have you ever made enemies with anyone?" Khuong Hoa was about to say no. But when the words reached her mouth, she suddenly remembered an old incident. Three years ago, in the last month before she quit her job, a student's parent made a fuss at the center. An accident happened to the child after a closed session, and the parents suspected the center was hiding something. At that time, Khuong Hoa was not a homeroom teacher, but while arranging documents, she saw an attendance sheet with the time changed. She gave copies to parents. Then center right

As compensation, the boss was also replaced by someone else. She always thought it was over. Team leader Dien noticed her hesitation. "Do you remember something?" Khuong Hoa recounted the story. An An suddenly raised her head. "That was the year." Khuong Hoa looked at her. An An's voice lowered. "Last time, the person outside the door also mentioned that year." "He said you shouldn't meddle in things, killing people doesn't deserve to die." No one in the room spoke up. Police Ha quickly took notes in the notebook. Team leader Dien asked in a low voice. "What happened next?" An An's eyelashes trembled. "Then the smoke got thicker and thicker." "We used wet towels to cover our mouths and noses, wanting to stand by the bedroom window to call someone." "But the phone had no signal." "It was dark down there." "The window on the opposite side also didn't turn on the light." "The whole building seemed like there was no one." Khuong Hoa listened until his hands and feet were cold. Everything was so similar to last night. Not pieces created by dreams. Those details are too specific. So specific that she didn't dare use two coincidental words to comfort herself. An An looked at her wrist. "Mom stuffed my bag of papers and told me to hide in the bathroom." "Mom said if someone breaks the door, you have to lock the bathroom door." "I'll go out and hold them off."