Lei Mi - Profiler

Wang Changbin paused for effect and looked around the room. Seeing that everyone was staring at him with bated breath, he looked satisfied and said, "He was saying his own name! Meng Fanzhe, Meng Fanzhe, Meng Fanzhe — the same words over and over again. This scared me wide awake, and although I wondered whether he was maybe talking in his sleep, I was too scared to say anything."

"Then what happened?" someone asked.

"After he said his name a while longer, he suddenly began pulling his hair and smashing his head against the wall so hard that he cried out. By then I was scared stiff, and I didn't move an inch until he fell asleep. I stayed like that until dawn." There was a slight quiver in Wang Changbin's voice as he spoke. It was obvious that the events of that night were still frightening for him. "Living with this guy is too much. Like today, for instance. I told him how the teacher had read his name again and again and when he wasn't there had gotten really angry. Then without even saying a word, the psycho just started throwing all my stuff out into the hallway. I yelled at him, but it was like he didn't even hear."

This story unsettled everyone. When it was over, they all said a few vaguely reassuring words and then went their separate ways.

After returning to his dorm room, Fang Mu turned off his computer, lay on his bed and shut his eyes. But he was unable to sleep.

Meng Fanzhe had been chanting his name in the middle of the night like he was reciting a spell. Thinking about this, Fang Mu knew it had to be somehow related to his fear of roll call. But that fear had already disappeared — not only had Meng Fanzhe said as much, but Fang Mu had also seen him say "Here" with his own eyes. And yet his recent behavior was extremely abnormal, so what exactly was going on?

As Fang Mu understood him, Meng Fanzhe had a weak personality, and Fang Mu doubted that he could have overcome his roll call phobia all by himself. He must have undergone psychotherapy with a professional. So given the sudden change in Meng Fanzhe's behavior, Fang Mu had to wonder: Had something gone wrong with the therapy?

Fang Mu turned the matter over and over in his head but didn't get anywhere. At last he decided to find an opportunity to talk to Meng Fanzhe the next day.

That night the nightmares arrived on schedule.

The burning dorm. The dead classmates. Wu Han's distorted face before him.

Actually, you and I are the same.

When Fang Mu struggled awake, his first reaction was to grab for the knife under his pillow. As his breathing slowly calmed, he realized that his clothes were soaked with perspiration.

Sweat was dripping down his head and sticking uncomfortably to the back of his neck. With difficulty, he climbed to his feet, grabbed his towel and a bar of soap, and headed to the bathroom to wash his face.

Only one light was on in the hall, its beam very dim. Still, Fang Mu immediately noticed several dark red stains on the floor.

Crouching down, he wiped his finger across one of the stains. Its surface had already dried, but some of it still came off on his finger He rubbed his fingers together. It still felt a little wet. He brought his finger to his nose and sniffed. The smell was sickly sweet.

It was blood.

The hair on the back of his neck immediately stood up.

He looked around in a panic. The hallway was empty. There was no one in sight, only tightly shut doors.

He looked back down. Several more spots of blood had dripped onto the floor. They seemed to lead into the bathroom.

Fang Mu slowly stood up and tiptoed toward the bathroom.

Was someone hurt?

Or maybe it was merely a nosebleed?

As the pitch-black entrance to the bathroom drew closer and closer, Fang Mu's heartbeat sped up, until it seemed as if the sound was echoing off the walls of the hallway. He couldn't help but feel that if someone was in the bathroom, they would hear it beating.

At last he reached the entrance.

He looked inside.

The bathroom was as dark as a cave and smelled strongly of blood. Someone was standing by the sink tearing something apart. All Fang Mu could see was the movement of the person's head and shoulders. A wet, squishing noise was coming from his mouth. He seemed to be chewing.

Fang Mu quietly reached for the light switch and turned it on.

In an instant, the fluorescent light buzzed to life and the bathroom was bright as day. Having grown accustomed to the darkness, Fang Mu's vision blurred and he felt dizzy. He quickly grabbed for the door frame to keep from falling over.

The person at the sink was also startled, and he abruptly spun around.

It was Meng Fanzhe.

In the intense fluorescent light, the rims of Meng Fanzhe's eyes looked green and his eyeballs pure black. Their whites were nowhere to be seen.

The area around his lips was bright red and thick, red liquid dribbled from the corners of his mouth. Looking closer, Fang Mu could see that several black and yellow hairs were stuck to his lips.

He was so shocked that for several seconds he and Meng Fanzhe just stared at one another, neither of them saying a word.

At last, in a faltering voice, Fang Mu asked, "Meng Fanzhe, what are you doing?"

For an instant, he was certain he saw a murderous look pass through Meng Fanzhe's eyes, but then it disappeared and they were filled with only helplessness and despair.

"I…" He suddenly smiled, but almost at once the smile vanished, his gaze fell, the corners of his mouth drooped, and with a voice that sounded like he was on the verge of tears, he said, "I don't know…"

Fang Mu noticed that Meng Fanzhe was holding something in his hand. He focused closer on it. It was the furry, blood-soaked leg of an animal. From the looks of things, it appeared to belong to a cat.

He looked past Meng Fanzhe. The sink behind him was a horrible sight. Bloody flesh, internal organs, fur, and skin lay everywhere. Some of it still seemed to be steaming.

Walking past Meng Fanzhe, Fang Mu cautiously drew closer.

It was just as he thought. The animal whose parts were scattered in and around the sink was none other than Meng Fanzhe's cat — Tom.

Fang Mu looked around. He didn't see a knife or any other sharp object.

Meng Fanzhe had torn Tom apart by hand while the cat was still alive.

Fang Mu turned around and looked at Meng Fanzhe. He hadn't moved an inch and was still staring at the entrance, as if none of the carnage had anything to do with him at all.

Fang Mu tugged on his sleeve and then pulled the cat leg from his hand and threw it in the sink.

As if in a daze, Meng Fanzhe did nothing to stop him; in fact he made no resistance at all.

Fang Mu stood in front of Meng Fanzhe and looked into his eyes. "Fanzhe," he said slowly, "can you hear me?"

After a long time, Meng Fanzhe's eyeballs slowly rotated toward Fang Mu, and he nodded slightly.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

The corners of Meng Fanzhe's mouth moved. Then, as if he had suffered a stroke, half of his body slowly turned and he pointed at the cat in the sink.

"Tom… They all hate him…so I can't…rely on him…any longer…"

Looking into Meng Fanzhe's dull eyes, Fang Mu did his best to understand what he had just said.

"What do you mean, 'rely on him'?" He shook Meng Fanzhe's shoulders. "Come on, speak!"

Fang Mu's actions caused Meng Fanzhe's body to sway violently, and he seemed to become much more lucid.

"I don't know, I don't know!" he cried, roughly wiping his mouth. When he saw that his hand was covered in blood and cat hair, he grew so frightened that he immediately tried to rub his face clean, but all he did was smear himself with blood.

"What exactly is going on?" asked Fang Mu in a low voice. He caught Meng Fanzhe's hand and held it tightly.