My House of Horrors

The light on the printer suddenly came on. The first piece of paper fell next to Tails. The girl, who was an editor at a supernatural magazine, had quite a strong heart. Her first reaction after seeing the sheet of paper was not to get scared but to pick it up. “Did I trigger some mechanism? So lucky?”

She picked up the white piece of paper to take a look. There was a rough frame on the A4 paper.

“What is this?” Tails looked at it for a long time but could not get it. “Ah Nan, come and take a look at this. It suddenly fell out from the printer, and there is a vague pattern on it.”

Ah Nan, who was researching the costume, took a look. He was confused, studying the pattern on the paper.

“There’re no letters and numbers, so it shouldn’t be a code.” Ah Nan flashed his phone at it. “It’s just a normal piece of paper.”

He used his saliva and rubbed it on the pattern. “The color doesn’t change; it doesn’t look like it has been chemically treated.”

He tried every method that he could think of, and the conclusion was that it was a very common piece of paper.

“I’ve tried all the methods I’ve learned from detective novels.” Ah Nan handed the paper back to Tails. “Why don’t you keep it? Perhaps we might need it later.”

“Okay.” Tails folded the paper. Before she pocketed it, the printer ‘spat’ out another piece of paper. It was the same size, and there was also a pattern. However, compared to before, the pattern seemed to have gotten clearer.

“Is someone controlling this printer?” Ah Nan opened the printer’s lid to inspect it. He did not discover any problems; it was just a normal printer. “This is weird. These are things that we use in everyday life, but how come it becomes so cursed when they’re moved inside this Haunted House?”

Pulling out the printer’s plug, Ah Nan ignored the second piece of paper. He was feeling nervous. “We have spent quite some time here already. It’s time to move on.”

Hu Ya, who was at the deepest part of the warehouse, was still studying the few paintings. Her expression was off, like she was stunned by the paintings’ weird style.

“Sister Hu Ya? We’re leaving,” Ah Nan urged.

“Come and look at these paintings. They look like they’re painted from the angle of the cadavers. Even I can feel the desire that is seeping through the painter’s hands. It’s hungering for life, like it was close to crawling out of these paintings to drag the viewers into it.” Hu Ya wanted to take out her phone to snap some pictures, but considering that they were inside a Haunted House, she resisted the urge. “If there’s a chance, I wish to speak with the artist. If possible, I want to hire him to come draw for our magazine.”

“If you let our art team hear that, they’re going to be so pissed.” Ah Nan smiled. Hu Ya and Ah Nan walked out of the warehouse. Tails followed behind, and she was about to leave when the printer issued a sound, and the computer next to it was switched on.

The sound was amplified in the quiet surroundings. Tails had been watching the computer, and she was sure that no one had touched it.

“Is the boss controlling it remotely?” Tails stood where she was, and her mind started to wander. “The boss could not have created this space for nothing. Could the secret of this warehouse be hidden inside the computer?”

When they entered the warehouse, Tails had already been curious about why the place was called paradise—there had to be a reason.

Her large eyes widened as she neared the computer. The screen gave out a weak light, and the screen was still black. However, a person’s face could roughly be seen on it. Initially, Tails thought that it was her own reflection on the screen, but the more she looked at it, the more she felt that was not the case.

“That’s a man’s face, right?”

There were many things inside the warehouse, and the place was chaotic. The three editors were at the deeper part of the room while Yang Chen’s group was closer to the door. There were some broken cupboards lying between them.

“Lee Xue, look at these organ models inside the glass containers—they are perfect replicas of the ones we have at our school.”

“They are even to scale.” Even a medical student could not tell the difference with these props, and this unhinged Lee Xue. After all, they were supposed to be inside a Haunted House, not a medical hospital.

“People that don’t see human organs on a daily basis will not be able to replicate them so perfectly.”

Organ models were different from mannequins. Only by splitting an actual human open would one be able to see them. Furthermore, human organs were different from animal organs. Yang Chen could confirm that all the containers there were holding human organs.

“During our last visit, I already sensed that the boss is very familiar with human anatomy. Only two types of people will have that—either they are doctors that save lives or murderers that take lives.”

“You’ve been watching too many movies, haven’t you?” Wang Dan was chilled by what Yang Chen said. “The boss pays attention to details. He probably hired someone to custom make these things.”

“I feel things are not that simple.” Yang Chen moved his gaze away and headed out the room. “There’s a different experience every time we visit this place. Each scenario is different from the last, but they are all so real like they have been moved from the real world into this place.”

The three students prepared to leave the warehouse. Xiao Lee held the phone in his hands, but he could not find the chance to snap some pictures. Behind him was Bai Qiulin, who stood at the door. He had one hand in his pocket and glanced at Fan Chong.

The man’s large stomach moved. Fan Chong had no idea that he had already been targeted—all of his focus was on the corridor. The lights went off one by one, and the rate at which they were being extinguished had picked up. It gave the impression that the darkness was moving faster. His fingers tightened subconsciously, and his eyes widened. There seemed to be shadows in the dark, and some of them looked like they were crawling on the ceiling.

His heart raced, and Fan Chong grabbed Fan Dade’s arm. “Bro, careful! Something is coming!”

“What thing?” Fan Dade was a rather dull person. He only started to look around when he was reminded by Fan Chong.

“Right there! Quick, call them to come out!” Fan Chong remembered what Ah Nan had said. No matter what happened, they had to stick together.

“Don’t panic, I’ll go take a look.” Fan Dade walked to the junction. He was cowardly, but he would not show that before his little brother. He walked several steps and stopped. He reached out his neck and tried his best to look down the corridor.

The lights went out faster and faster, and the place dipped into darkness. Fan Dade started to panic, too.

After Fan Dade left, Ol’ Zhou and Duan Yue retreated to the back. They worked together with Bai Qiulin to surround Fan Chong in the middle of them.