Revenge of the Superior
Lately, I've been posting Daisy's daily life on short-video platforms, and seeing all the praise in the comments fills me with joy.
That night, I opened the backend as usual, and suddenly a comment with a gray avatar popped up.
"Your daughter looks really ugly in that pink dress. She might as well disappear soon."
My heart tightened. I thought it was just some user's prank, so I deleted the comment without much thought.
But less than ten minutes later, the comment reappeared, with an extra line: "Don't delete it. I know you live in Building 3, Unit 502, XX Community. Daisy is wearing a blue uniform tomorrow, right?"
My hands started shaking. How could this person know all that?
I immediately messaged platform support, trying to report the account, but they replied it would take 24 hours to process.
"Knock knock knock—" A faint noise suddenly came from outside the window.
I walked to the balcony, glanced down under the streetlight, and instantly gasped.
On a branch downstairs hung two small dogs, strangled to death, dressed in Daisy's pink dress from last year—the one she had outgrown!
I screamed in terror, fumbling to pull out my cell phone to call my husband, Mario.
Before I could even dial, the screen lit up with a message from that same gray avatar: "The next one might be your daughter."
My legs went weak, and I collapsed to the ground.
No, I have to quickly confirm Daisy's safety.
I shakily dialed the kindergarten teacher's number. The phone rang several times before it was answered.
"Teacher Clark, this is Daisy's mom, Cindy Collins. Is Daisy at the kindergarten right now?"
"Ms. Collins? That's strange. Daisy's dad already came to pick her up half an hour ago." Teacher Clark's voice was filled with confusion.
My mind buzzed loudly—Mario was supposed to be working late today. How could he have picked up Daisy?
"Teacher Clark, are you sure it was him? Did he say where he was taking Daisy?"
"Yes, I'm sure. He even chatted with me a bit about how Daisy has been lately; he didn't mention going anywhere."
After hanging up, I immediately called Mario Young, but all I got was a busy signal.
I stared at the little dog outside the window, and that threatening message echoed in my mind. Fear crashed over me like a rising tide.
I paced back and forth in the house, my palms drenched in sweat.
Mario Young never missed my calls, and he would never pick up Daisy without telling me first.
I called his number again—still a busy signal.
Could he be in danger too?
I grabbed my keys and ran out, planning to check his company first.
My hands were shaking the whole time I was driving; I didn't even realize I ran a red light.
When I got downstairs at Mario Young's office building, the security guard said he left around 3 p.m., saying it was urgent.
"Urgent? Did he say what it was about?" I grabbed the security guard's arm, pressing him for answers.
"No, he didn't say. He left in a hurry."
I drove to my in-laws' house and knocked for what felt like forever before my mother-in-law finally opened the door.
"Mom, did Mario and Daisy come by?"
"No, nothing's wrong. What's going on?" My mother-in-law saw the look on my face and quickly asked.
"Nothing... really, I was just asking." I didn't want to worry my in-laws, so I just gave a quick answer and left.
As soon as I got in the car, my cell phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number: "Want to find your husband and daughter? Think about the videos you posted first."
I clicked the link in the message—it was a video I'd posted before, showing Daisy playing at the community amusement park, with our building clearly in view.
So this person had been collecting information from my videos all along!
I replied to the message: "What exactly do you want? Let them go!"
But they never replied again.
I sat in the car, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
Mario Young, Daisy, you absolutely must be safe.
Suddenly I remembered Mario Young had said before, if anything happened to him, he would wait for me at the park where we had our first date.
Though I wasn't sure if it would help, I still decided to go check.
By the time I arrived at the park, it was already dark, and there were hardly any people around.
I walked along the path, then suddenly saw a familiar figure sitting on a bench not far ahead.
Is that Mario Young?
I quickened my pace and ran over, but when I got closer, it wasn't him at all—just a stranger wearing a jacket similar to Mario's.
"Sorry, I mistook you for someone else." I apologized awkwardly, feeling even more panicked inside.
Just then, my cell phone rang again. It was a new message from an unknown number: "Don't waste your effort. You won't find them unless you do exactly as I say."
"Do as you say? What exactly do you want me to do?" I immediately replied to the message.
After a few minutes, the other side responded: "Go to the children's amusement park near your neighborhood. Under the carousel, there's a black box. Inside is a puzzle. Solve it to find out the next step. Remember, you only have one hour. If you go over time, your daughter might cry."
I checked the time—it was already 7 PM. I had to get to the amusement park as fast as possible.
I sped there by car and arrived at the amusement park entrance in ten minutes.
The amusement park was already closed, the main gate locked tight.
I went around to the back of the amusement park and found a hole in the fence—probably left by kids sneaking in earlier.
I slipped through the fence. Inside was pitch black, with only a few emergency lights faintly glowing.
The merry-go-round stood in the middle of the park. I ran over and crouched down, feeling around beneath it.
Soon, my hand touched a cold box—black, just like the text message said.
I opened the box, and inside was a note that read: "There by day, gone by night; present in dreams, lost on waking; found in death, absent in life—guess the character."
A riddle? My heart skipped a beat. Who has time for riddles right now?
But thinking about Daisy possibly being in danger, I forced myself to stay calm.
"There by day, gone by night... The sun is out by day, that's 'sun', but not at night; present in dreams, lost on waking... is it 'night'? No, that's not right."
Then I thought, 'found in death, absent in life... is it 'name', which means 'name' and is connected to death? No, that's not it either.
Time was slipping away second by second, and I was getting more and more anxious.
Suddenly, I thought, is it the character "night"? No, that can't be—daytime doesn't have night.
Wait, daytime has "sun", nighttime has "moon", but the puzzle says nighttime doesn't have it.
I tapped my head, forcing myself to concentrate.
I read the puzzle again: "There by day, gone by night; present in dreams, lost on waking; found in death, absent in life"
What does daytime have? Light! No, that's not it.
What does a dream have? A dream! Nope, not that either.
What does the dead have? A soul! But the living don't have a soul? That doesn't seem right either.
"Ding—" My cell phone rang; it was that stranger: "Forty minutes left, Ms. Collins. Your daughter seems to be missing her mom a little."
I stared at the message, tears filling my eyes.
Daisy, Mom will definitely save you.
I looked at the note again, suddenly thinking, "'During the day'—is it because you can see during the day but not at night? No, that can't be right."
"Wait, is it the 'mouth' character? You speak during the day but have no 'mouth' at night when sleeping? You speak in dreams but no mouth when awake? Dead people can't talk, no mouth? That doesn't make sense either."
I stood up and paced back and forth beside the carousel.
Suddenly, I saw the emergency light casting a shadow on the ground that looked like the character "sun."
Daytime has day; nighttime doesn't!
What's in a dream? The word "dream" has the character "think", which contains "heart". Is it gone when you wake up? No, that's not right.
What about death? Is there "death" in life? But there's no death during the day.
I grew more and more anxious, pulled out my cell phone wanting to ask for a hint from the other side, but I was afraid they'd get angry and hurt Daisy.
There are thirty minutes left.
I sat on the carousel, looking at the surrounding equipment, and suddenly I thought: at the amusement park, there are lots of people during the day and fewer at night. People appear in dreams, but disappear upon waking; dead, there's no one anymore... could it be the character "people"?
Exactly! There are 'people' during the day; at night, there are few or none; in dreams, there are 'people'; when awake, none; once dead, there are no 'people' at all!
I immediately replied to the message: 'The answer is the character "people"!'
Soon, the other side replied: 'Not bad, Ms. Collins. Now go to the slide in the amusement park; the next clue is there. Remember, only twenty minutes left.'
I jumped off the carousel right away and ran toward the slide.
The slide was in the corner of the amusement park. I ran over and crouched down to search underneath it.
Sure enough, in the grass beneath the slide, I found a note.
The note read: "What is Daisy's favorite toy in the videos you posted? You have ten minutes to answer."
I quickly tried to remember the videos I had posted. Daisy has so many toys—teddy bears, bunnies, building blocks...
I pulled up the videos on my cell phone and watched them one by one.
Then, I saw a video where Daisy was hugging a pink Pig doll, smiling really happily. In the video, I even said, "Daisy loves this Pig the most."
Yes! It's Pig!
I immediately replied to the message: "Pig!"
"Good. Last step: go to the trash can at the amusement park entrance. There's what you want inside—but you only have five minutes."
I checked the time—only four minutes left.
I sprinted toward the amusement park entrance, my heart pounding like crazy.
At the entrance, I found the green trash can. No matter how filthy it was inside, I shoved my hand straight in.
Soon, my hand touched something cold—a cell phone.
I pulled the phone out and was about to unlock it when it lit up automatically, and a video popped up.
The video showed a dimly lit room. Daisy was tied to a chair, her mouth sealed with tape, eyes wide with terror, struggling nonstop.
My heart felt like it was being cut with a knife, and tears instantly streamed down my face.
"Daisy! Daisy!" I shouted at the phone, but the Daisy in the video couldn't hear me at all.
Then Mario appeared in the video, his hands tied behind his back, several wounds visible on his face, looking very weak.
A man dressed in black and wearing a mask stood behind Mario, holding a stack of papers.
"Mr. Young, I hear your wife really loves sharing kid photos online?" The Man in Black spoke, his voice distorted and eerie.
Mario Young glared at the Man in Black and said, "Don't hurt my wife and daughter. If you have a problem, come at me!"
"Come at you? Fine." The Man in Black grabbed a piece of paper and pressed it onto Mario Young's face. "This is a 'breath patch.' Ever heard of it? A piece of paper sprayed with some water, stuck to your face—it slowly makes breathing hard, until you suffocate."
Mario Young's face flushed bright red as he struggled, but he was tied up too tightly to move a muscle.
The Man in Black grabbed another piece of paper, stuck it on Mario Young's face, and said, "If your wife doesn't cooperate, your daughter's next."
"No! Don't hurt Daisy!" I screamed into the phone, my hands trembling uncontrollably.
In the video, Daisy saw Mario's pained face and cried even harder, tears streaming endlessly down her cheeks.
"Ms. Collins, can you see this?" The Man in Black suddenly stared into the camera and said, "If you want to save them, obey. Tomorrow morning at 6 AM, I'll give you the next instructions. Don't even think about calling the police, or you'll be waiting to collect their bodies."
The video ended right there.
I collapsed onto the floor, the phone slipping from my hands.
Mario Young, Daisy, you have to hold on. Mom will definitely save you.
I grabbed my cell phone, trying to save the video, but the moment I pressed save, the phone shut down on its own and wouldn't turn back on.
I know the Man in Black did it deliberately; he didn't want to leave any evidence.
I sat down beside the trash can and cried for a long time.
The sky slowly brightened. I wiped my tears and stood up.
I can't break down now. I have to save my family.
I drove home, and as soon as I got downstairs, I saw police cars parked there.
Did someone call the police?
My heart tightened, terrified that the Man in Black might hurt Mario and Daisy if he found out.
A police officer saw me and walked over.
"Hello, are you Ms. Cindy Collins?"
"Yes, that's me. What's going on?" I asked cautiously.
"Someone reported unusual activity downstairs, so we came to check it out." The officer pointed at the tree branches below. "What's going on with those puppies?"
My heart skipped a beat; I didn't dare tell the officer the truth. I could only say, "I don't know, maybe some prankster did it."
The officer sensed something was wrong and pressed, "Are you dealing with something? If you're in trouble, you can tell us."
I shook my head. "No, thank you. Maybe I'm just being too sensitive."
The police didn't ask any more questions, warned me to stay safe, to call immediately if anything happened, and then left.
I watched the police car drive away, my heart torn.
If I called the police, I was afraid the Man in Black would hurt Mario and Daisy; if I didn't, I had no idea what to do on my own.
Just then, my cell phone buzzed. A text from that stranger: "Looks like you're obedient, didn't call the police. Be at the city center plaza at 6 a.m. tomorrow. I'll tell you what to do next."
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