American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 351 Light Bulb

"Senior Meili, what's going on?"

When Roy was waiting for Mary at the bottom of Mary's dormitory, he saw Claire holding Mary's arm as they went downstairs together.

Mary looked at Roy with some apology.

"Claire insists on coming with me, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Roy's lips twitched, somewhat speechless.

I was hoping to have a romantic date with Merry and hit a home run tonight, but now there's this third wheel. What's the meaning of this?
Claire forced a smile.

"Hehe, junior Roy, just pretend I don't exist!"

How could we pretend she didn't exist? She's such a high-wattage light bulb!

But Claire stubbornly insisted on following them, and Roy and Mary had no choice but to ignore her as much as possible.

"Merry, where do you want to go tonight?"

After thinking for a moment, Mei Li...

"How about we go for a walk on Santa Monica Beach first?"

"Okay."

September in Los Angeles is still quite humid, but the sea breeze helps to dispel the heat, so the beach in Santa Monica is bustling with people.

Roy played some games with Mary for a while, and the atmosphere between them quickly warmed up.

If Claire hadn't been there, Mary would probably have been hugging and kissing Roy.

Unfortunately, the senior was ultimately a bit conservative and was too embarrassed to be too intimate with Roy in front of her friends.

This made Mary also want to get rid of Claire so that she could kiss and hug Roy.

At that moment, Mary noticed the Ferris wheel on the dock.

"Roy, let's go ride the Ferris wheel!"

Roy's eyes lit up. This was a good idea. Surely Claire wouldn't follow him onto the Ferris wheel after they got on, right?
"Great! I'll go buy the tickets right now!"

"Huh? What should I do?"

Mary looked at Claire with pleading eyes.

"Claire, could you please wait for us under the Ferris wheel? Please!"

Since her good friend had said so, Claire had no choice but to agree.

Anyway, a Ferris wheel ride only takes about ten minutes, so Mei Li definitely won't suffer any losses.

"Alright then, I'll wait for you downstairs."

Mary quickly got on the Ferris wheel with Roy, then swiftly closed the door, as if afraid Claire would follow them in.

Claire couldn't help but purse her lips at the sight, quite displeased with her friend's behavior of prioritizing romance over friendship.

"Phew! Finally, I have some space to myself!"

Roy breathed a sigh of relief; having a light bulb shining next to him made him feel terrible.

Mary looked at Roy with a smile.

"Don't say that, Roy. Claire is actually a good person. She's helped me a lot before."

“Merry, I don’t mean to blame her, I just think her presence was a bit inappropriate.”

Roy gently hugged Mary, still unable to resist making a comment.

"Actually, Claire came along because she knew about my relationship with you and noticed your relationships with other people. She was worried that you would bully me."

Oh, I see. Well, Claire is a pretty good friend after all.

The problem is, if Roy really wanted to do something bad to Mary, what could a little girl like Claire possibly do?
Was he going to give Roy a good thug a punch to cheer him up?

"Alright, since that's what Claire thinks, then I'm definitely going to take advantage of her absence and bully you a bit!"

As he spoke, Roy pecked Mary's lips, instantly turning her skin red.

"How's it going? Do you like it?"

Mary's eyes were somewhat glazed over, and she wrapped her arms around Roy's neck.

"I don't think it's enough."

"Then let's continue!"

At that moment, Roy and Mary's box reached its highest point, and the two embraced and kissed sweetly, completely forgetting about time and space.

Claire waited impatiently below the Ferris wheel, because those who came to the Ferris wheel were either couples or families.

Surrounded by a host of happy tourists, Claire fell into self-doubt.

Who am I? Where am I? Why am I here?
Cold, hard dog food is slapping my face! This feels like an eternity!
Fortunately, the phone rang suddenly, finally giving Claire something to do.

He picked up his phone and saw it was a call from his mother, Jocelyn.

"Hello, Mom? What's up?"

Jocelyn answered Claire in an anxious voice on the other end of the phone.

"Listen, Claire! You're in danger right now. Find a safe place to hide immediately. I'll be back for you soon!"

Claire was a little confused, not understanding why her mother Jocelyn would say that.

"Mom, what happened?"

"This is a very complicated situation to explain! In short, listen to me, hide for now! I'll explain everything to you once I find you! Remember, don't trust anyone!"

After saying her last sentence, Jocelyn hung up the phone.

Claire scratched her head, somewhat puzzled.

However, since her mother, who was her only family, said that Claire's current situation was very dangerous, she must believe it.

So Claire decided to wait until Roy and Merry came down, tell them, and then find a place to hide.

At that moment, a group of burly, pale-faced men dressed in black suddenly walked over from a distance.

This group of people were clearly not tourists. They all looked fierce and aggressive, rudely driving away tourists, their eyes constantly scanning their surroundings as if they were looking for someone.

Claire had a bad feeling. Could this be the danger her mother Jocelyn had mentioned?
Could it be that my mother offended some gang, which is why someone is causing trouble for me?
After imagining a crime movie, Claire immediately bent down to try and hide herself, hoping to find a chance to slip out.

However, a sharp-eyed man noticed Claire's unusual behavior and loudly stopped her.

"That woman, stay right there and don't move!"

Oh no! We've been discovered!
Claire took off running, heading towards the most crowded area, her slender figure quickly becoming hidden by the crowd.

"That's her! Go after her!"

The men in black immediately began chasing Claire, but the crowd made their pursuit very inefficient.

Just as Claire was about to disappear from sight, one of the men in black pulled out a pistol and fired a shot into the air.

If this happened at Tokyo University, ordinary people would probably just think it was some kind of TV show effect when they heard gunshots.

However, in America, everyone present immediately put their hands on their heads and squatted down on the ground, a very practiced action.

The only one who didn't crouch down was Claire, who was running away.

"Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

At this moment, Claire had already run to the outside of a shop, and she gritted her teeth and sped up, trying to rush into the shop.

Just as the man in black with the gun was about to pull the trigger, someone next to him grabbed his hand.

"The leader wants Claire Frey intact; we can't shoot her!"

"But she's running away!"

"She can't escape, keep chasing her!" Roy and Mary on the Ferris wheel hadn't realized what was happening below. The long kiss had left Mary a little breathless.

"Roy, was there a gunshot just now?"

"Ignore the gunfire, let's keep going!"

Although Mei was a little dazed, she still remembered that her best friend was downstairs.

"I think I really heard gunshots! Claire might be in danger!"

Scratching his head, Roy could only peek through the window to see what was happening below. He then saw a group of people crouching down there, and others running in the distance.

Is there a gunfight going on?
Where is Claire?

Mei also leaned closer to the window and looked down.

"She doesn't seem to be downstairs!"

"How could this happen? Could they have been kidnapped by criminals?"

Meili looked anxious.

Roy guessed that a plot point related to Claire might have been triggered, so he comforted Mary.

"Merry, don't worry! I'll find Claire and make sure nothing happens to her!"

"Roy, you need to be careful too!"

"Okay, after you leave the private room, go back to Bumblebee immediately and have it take you back to school. As long as you stay with Jennifer and the others, you'll be safe!"

Mary bit her lip and nodded.

"I will!"

After saying that, Roy put on Nidi's black-rimmed glasses, opened the door of the private room, and jumped out.

The height of several tens of meters posed no problem for Roy, but it gave the tourists, who were already startled by the gunshots, another fright.

However, Roy was very fast and disappeared in the blink of an eye, so no one saw Roy's face clearly, only an ordinary man wearing black-rimmed glasses.

Meanwhile, Claire, who had escaped into the shop, ran out the back door and continued her escape on Santa Monica Beach. Soon she spotted a police car.

As Santa Monica Beach is a popular tourist destination, there are bound to be police patrols, so Claire quickly ran to the police car.

Luckily, the police were inside the police car.

Claire suddenly appeared and banged on the window, almost startling the two patrol officers into drawing their guns. They were relieved when they saw that it was a young white girl calling for help.

"Madam, are you in any danger?"

"There are armed thugs behind me, they want to attack me!"

After running for a while, Claire was a little out of breath, but at least she managed to explain things clearly.

Upon hearing that there were armed criminals, the two patrol officers immediately tensed up.

"Ma'am, are you sure it's a real gun?"

"I'm sure they just fired shots from a distance, and someone might have already called the police!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the radio in the police car broadcast a message.

"Attention Santa Monica Beach Police: We have received multiple reports of shootings near the Santa Monica Beach Ferris Wheel. All officers in the vicinity are requested to proceed to the scene immediately to secure the area!"

Now both patrol officers believed it!

One of the patrol officers seemed very excited.

"Great! I've finally got this chance to make a contribution!"

"Officer, there are quite a few of them!"

Claire offered a reminder.

But the patrolman was very confident.

"Don't be afraid, I have this!"

As he spoke, the patrolman pulled an AR-15 rifle from under the car seat.

Don't be surprised, police officers in America can purchase their own equipment, as the police department generally only provides basic sidearms.

America's gun problem is known worldwide. You never know what kind of gun the criminals you're facing might be carrying. What if it's a rifle?

How could a police officer with only a small police gun possibly defeat a criminal with a rifle?
Therefore, many police officers purchase their own firearms to deal with potential dangers. These are usually pistols or shotguns, and quite a few also buy rifles.

Of course, police officers enjoy certain discounts when buying guns, and they can also purchase police versions of firearms that are a level higher than the civilian versions.

Just then, footsteps sounded in the distance, and Claire immediately knew that the group of men in black had caught up with them.

"They're coming!"

"Step back, lady! Let us deal with those guys!"

Two patrol officers got out of the car and shielded Claire behind them.

Five men in black caught up with the police car. When they saw the police car and two patrol officers, they showed no fear, only slightly frowning.

Claire noticed that the number of men in black was not right. She had just glanced at them and thought there should be about ten.

Where did the other half go?
"LAPD! Drop your weapons immediately, put your hands behind your head, and crouch down!"

Two patrol officers pointed their guns at the man in black as a routine warning.

Unexpectedly, the five men in black not only did not put down their weapons and cover their heads with their hands, but they also started laughing.

"Haha, he told us to put down our guns?"

"really interesting!"

One of the men in black reached into his pocket, an action that immediately provoked the patrol officer.

In America, you never know if someone is reaching into their pocket to get their wallet or their gun, so the police are very sensitive to this action.

If a police officer is in a tense state and sees a suspect reaching into their pocket, they will usually choose to empty their magazine.

These two patrolmen were no exception.

The man in black who reached into his pocket was riddled with bullets on the spot, but he acted as if nothing had happened, slowly pulling out a pistol from his pocket while still holding the bullets embedded in his body.

"Fuck! You two bastards hit me hard!"

"Enough talk, Sam! Get those two cops out of here!"

"Why don't you guys do it and insist on making me do it?"

"Who told you to be the best shot among us?"

The two men in black started chatting as if nothing was wrong, which terrified the two patrol officers. Before they could react, the man in black who had been shot fired two more shots, killing them both in the head.

Claire stared wide-eyed at the man in black; what was happening before her eyes was beyond her imagination.

"Alright, little girl, you'd better come with us obediently, that way you might suffer less!"

Five men in black grinned wickedly as they approached Claire step by step.

"You, you don't come any closer!"

Despite her legs feeling weak, Claire turned and fled into a nearby alley.

At that moment, six men in black appeared at the other end of the alley. It turned out that the missing men in black had gone around to the other side to ambush Claire.

"Now, you have no way to escape, right?"

The men in black on both sides surrounded Claire, plunging her into deep despair.

Someone please save me!
Just then, the hero appeared!

Mary Hill
　I wrote "The Holy Grail Artifact: City of Bones," and I made extensive revisions.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)