Chapter Four: Two Su Mians

I pulled the curtain aside. Xiao Qiao sat trapped in a Still-Sea chair. No ropes bound her wrists, only coils of wet black filament. My other self stood behind her, filming with a phone. There was no blood on her. She had even draped Xiao Qiao's coat over her shoulders. “Let her go.” She tilted her head, as if facing a mirror too slow to imitate her. “I'm saving her for you.” Lu Wenchuan raised his phone. On his screen, the chair held Xiao Qiao alone. Where the other woman stood, a dark blur pulsed. “The camera can't see her?” I asked. “My eyes can.” His voice tightened. “The lens refuses to.” Xiao Qiao shook her head through tears. “Dr. Su, she says Director He is going to kill me.”