Defying Fate: The Unstoppable Eileen novel Chapter 11

Once Eileen left the room, she felt a bit relieved. There were no cameras in the corridor, so she leaned against the wall, catching her breath. That’s when Egbert strolled out of the room, casually asking as he passed by, “You are afraid of ghosts?”

Eileen looked up, immediately retorting, “Me, scared of ghosts? Ghosts should be scared of me.”

Egbert paused, hands in his pockets, turning back to look at her.

Eileen held her head high, meeting his gaze. “What do you want?”

Egbert studied her face, slowly approaching her. Eileen stood still, not moving. Egbert stopped a step away, raising his right hand, his long fingers slightly bent, he lightly touched her face with the back of his index finger. Eileen recoiled half a step instinctively.

Egbert didn’t move, just showed her the drop of moisture on his finger. “And you’re sweating in winter?”

Eileen was taken aback, then defensively shot back, “Why can’t I sweat in winter. It’s warm here, okay?”

Egbert chuckled, wiping the bead of sweat off his finger, saying, “Whatever.”

With that, he headed towards the restroom at the end of the corridor. Eileen touched her face, where his cool touch still lingered. She wiped her face, glaring in the direction of the restroom.

In the end, Eileen didn’t return until the movie was almost over. After the movie, everyone dispersed, but Eileen found herself wide awake that night. Scenes from the horror movie kept flashing in her mind. At last, she opened her eyes, finding the darkness of the room even more terrifying, so she got up and went out.

The lights were still on in the hall, so she stayed there in her pajamas. After a while, the hall suddenly dimmed.

Eileen gasped sharply. She thought about how the power sometimes tripped due to unstable voltage, but it was late at night now and she couldn’t possibly ask the owner to flip the breaker for her. She figured it’d be better to just stay in her room.

She reached out to walk back to her room, but as she turned the corner, her hand touched something warm. In an instant, Eileen froze, cold sweat pouring down her forehead.

She was terrified, her feet rooted to the spot. Various images flashed in her mind, when suddenly a warm hand enclosed hers.

“Eileen?” a cool male voice echoed in the darkness.

Eileen came back to her senses, hesitating, “Egbert?”

“Mm.” Egbert’s voice was low, his hand gripping her wrist tightly, not letting go. “The power tripped again?”

She confirmed it was Egbert, a human, not a ghost, and finally let out a breath, “Seems like it.”

“I’ll go check.” He said, letting go of her, walking past her.

Eileen immediately grabbed his arm.

The man stopped, silent for a moment, then asked, “Scared?”

Eileen gritted her teeth, resolutely responding, “Of course not!”

The man chuckled softly, his other hand covering her icy hand, prying her hand from his arm and held it instead. Eileen was momentarily stunned.

Egbert said, “Let’s pretend I’m the scared one, come with me.”

Their palms pressed together tightly, Eileen could clearly feel her hand being completely enveloped by his.

“Hmm?” Egbert let out a slightly drowsy grunt, as if urging her on.

Finally, Eileen said, “Since you asked, I suppose I can accompany you.”

In the end, Eileen was led by the hand by Egbert, all the way to the breaker room.

“Click.” The moment he flipped the breaker, the sensor lights came on. The lights were dim, but at least there was light.

Eileen glanced down at their hands holding together, immediately withdrew her hand, placing them behind her.

Egbert said nothing, closing the breaker box, dusting off his hands, then walked out.

Eileen followed him, asking, “How did you know where the breaker room was?”

The man casually replied, “European-style houses, they all have similar layouts.”

Egbert went to wash his hands, when he came back, he saw Eileen was still there, raising an eyebrow, “Are you not going back to your room?”

“I have insomnia.” Eileen said defiantly.

Egbert chuckled, “Is it because of the horror movie?”

Eileen leaned against the wall, an indifferent expression on her face, “Why does everything have to tie back to the horror movie? I’m just having trouble adjusting to a new place, what’s the big deal?”

“Suit yourself.” He said, walking past her back to his room. Halfway there, he paused, turning back to ask, “The potion earlier, you made it?”

Eileen looked at him, “Yeah, what about it?”

“It works well.” The man said before stepping into his room, closing the door behind him.

Eileen stood in the hallway, silent for a moment, then remembered, what was he doing out of his room? He didn’t go to the restroom, he just came out to help her flip the breaker?

In the end, Eileen spent the whole night in the hall. Due to lack of sleep, she woke everyone up at 5:30 the next morning. Everyone, tired and groggy, managed to get washed up, then trudged to the dining room for breakfast.

Eileen, full of energy, informed every one of the day’s plans, then looked around, “Any objections?” Everyone just nodded in a daze.

The next two days went smoothly under Eileen’s leadership, tasks were completed successfully, and they even ended up with fifteen euros left over.

The group voted on whether to spend the remaining money, except for Egbert who was outside on a call and didn’t participate, everyone agreed to spend it, only Eileen disagreed.

“Four votes to one.” Eileen drawled, enunciating each word, “Four agree to spend the money, and I disagree, so, only my vote counts, the four votes are void. In the end, we’re going by my decision. We’re not spending the fifteen euros. Any objections?”

Everyone else was speechless.