Entering the Further Again: Collingwood Mental Hospital (Two Chapters Combined)

The warm light inside the gondola mingled with the lights outside the window.

It cast their overlapping shadows across the seat.

Heather's breath carried a faint fragrance. With her pressed so close, Li Dan could feel the delicate contours of her waist.

Her pale skin felt cool beneath the fabric of her nurse's uniform. Her waist was slender, while her hips had a natural curve. With his palm resting there, Li Dan could clearly feel the soft, supple flesh beneath the fabric.

His fingertips accidentally brushed the dark red blood spattered across her clothes. This cosplay outfit was pretty realistic.

Li Dan lowered his head and saw her thick lashes casting tiny shadows beneath the lights. A faint blush colored her pale cheeks, and even the tips of her ears were pink. She looked nothing like her usual icy self.

Heather did not pull away. Instead, she leaned into the crook of his shoulder, following his embrace, and gently nuzzled his neck. Her voice came out muffled.

"I never lie."

She raised her hand and traced his unmasked jawline with her fingertips. "Back in Texas, no one dared hold me like this. They were all afraid of my wrench, afraid I'd blow up the metal frames at the abandoned farm."

"And now you're not afraid?"

Li Dan lowered his head, brushing his nose against the top of her hair.

"No." Heather looked up at him, her eyes shining as though they held all the amusement park's lights. "You're different."

Then she pursed her lips slightly and complained, "If I'd known you were this easy to win over, I wouldn't have waited so long."

Easy to win over? Li Dan asked himself.

The answer was no.

It was not that he was easy to win over. Heather herself was simply exceptional.