My House of Horrors

For Chen Ge, whether he ran into a fake ghost or a real ghost, he was not afraid. If anything, he wished that his visitation would not be smooth sailing. If there was a talented living employee, he would slowly persuade them to join him; if there was a real ghost, things would be even easier. He would capture them and take them with him to be educated.

Looking down the empty corridor, Chen Ge was about to head downstairs when one of the doors down the corridor was pushed open. It was unclear whether it was pure coincidence or another set up.

“Found the exit! F*ck! It’s been behind us all along!” A man’s voice trailed down the corridor. It sounded rather familiar to Chen Ge. Soon after that, a couple raced out of the room. They were the visitors that had entered the Haunted House with Chen Ge.

The man’s name was Lee Yuan, and his girlfriend was Xue Li. There was another quiet woman with them; she was reserved and passive. Chen Ge did not know her name.

“Huh‽ Why are you here alone?” Lee Yuan spotted Chen Ge. He noticed the unnaturalness on Chen Ge’s face, standing alone in the stairwell. He waved and yelled, “Brother, there’s a ghost inside the stairwell! You need to come out! Don’t stay there for too long!”

“It’s alright, the ghost has just left, and I doubt she’ll return any time soon.”

“You can’t never tell with something like that. By the way, where are the three students that should have escaped with you?” Lee Yuan and Xue Li stuck close together. From their unkempt appearance, it felt like they had been through a lot.

“The four of us got separated after being chased by a ghost.” Chen Ge came up with a random excuse.

“We heard the screams even though we were far away. I’m so sorry for abandoning you guys in the classroom earlier.” Lee Yuan was quite embarrassed. From his perspective, he was partially responsible for what had happened to the three students. “In any case, we should move together from now on. We have already explored the art studio and music classroom. We’re planning to go to the abandoned storeroom next. What about you?”

“I’ve already been to the abandoned storeroom; the actor there is not feeling well, so I plan to head to the bottom of the staircase next.” Chen Ge took out the picture that he had found hidden under the black urn. “I plan to complete this mission of the thirteenth step.”

“Thirteenth step?” Lee Yuan glanced at the picture. “Brother, listen to me. I suggest you stay away from the stairwell. I’ve joined a WhatsApp group for those who have visited Nightmare Academy, and according to them, the stairwell might really be haunted.”

“Haunted stairwell?”

“According to the rumors, before the building was completed, there was a boy that came here to play, but he accidentally trapped himself somewhere and was never found. A small group of visitors swore that they saw a child inside the stairwell. They said that the urn in the stairwell wasn’t placed there to scare the visitors but to hold the boy back so that he wouldn’t wander off from the stairwell.”

“Do you have more details on this boy? Like his life experience, deficiency in his personality, or his family background?” Chen Ge listed off a series of questions that Lee Yuan had not considered before.

“Er… what’s the point of knowing all that?”

“What is the number for that WhatsApp group? Can I join?” Chen Ge sounded very excited. “I wish to share stories with them as well.”

“Sure.” Lee Yuan added Chen Ge to the group. “Those three students are so young, and they are separated from the rest of us; they must be very afraid now. Should we go look for them?”

“You can go and find them. I shall follow my own plan.” Chen Ge took the picture back and turned to leave.

“Are you really not afraid of ghosts?” The voice was coarse like grinding sand. The one who spoke was the woman who had been really quiet so far.

“Are you talking to me?” Chen Ge stopped moving. He was rather surprised because he noticed that the woman had been staring fixatedly at him, or rather, at the middle-aged man in the picture that he was holding.

“Yes.”

“Of course, I’m afraid, but I’m not going to show that.”

“If you’re afraid, then I advise you stay away from the stairwell. Nightmare Academy used to have both day and night tours, but the night tours were cancelled because people kept reporting the appearance of a boy inside the stairwell.” The woman’s gaze moved away from the picture to Chen Ge’s face. “This is not a joke. I know it sounds hard to believe, but he really exists. Didn’t you realize that even during daytime, the workers here rarely enter the stairwell or use the stairs to move between floors?”

“From the way you’re speaking, it sounds like you know some insider details.” Chen Ge waved the picture that he was holding. “You’ve been staring at the man in this picture. Do you know him?”

“He’s my father. It was he who brought my little brother here to play ten years ago.” The woman revealed some startling information. Not only Chen Ge, both Lee Yuan and Xue Li were stunned.

“In other words, the boy who went missing was your little brother…” Lee Yuan held Xue Li’s hand and took a step backward. He felt his scalp going numb. The teammate who had been following them was the big sister of the little boy in the ghost story. This kind of mixing of ghost story and real life was a feeling that was hard to describe.

It was like the event from a fairytale suddenly happening to them. Lee Yuan and Xue Li subconsciously edged toward Chen Ge.

“So, why are you at this Haunted House? Just to visit? Aren’t you afraid of being reminded of the tragedy from the past?” Chen Ge did not expect the woman to possess this identity. She did not answer Chen Ge’s question verbally. Instead, she smiled.

“This Haunted House is already scary enough, and now you’re only making it scarier. Can we not stay here anymore? Let’s move onto the next scenario.” Lee Yuan came forth to smooth over the tension. He patted Chen Ge’s shoulder. “Let’s move together, we shouldn’t get separated anymore.”

After discovering the woman’s identity, neither Lee Yuan nor Xue Li wished to continue the tour with her. Just the thought made their skin crawl.

“That’s fine with me, but I’m going to the stairwell next. Are you sure you want to come with me?” Chen Ge put the picture away. He did not care about the woman’s warning and headed into the stairwell again.

“Why are you so stubborn?” Xue Li and Lee Yuan did not know what to say. Chen Ge was purposely heading into danger, and the man refused to listen to any persuasion. In the end, neither of them dared to follow Chen Ge into the stairwell, and they split up again.

Darkness slowly swallowed Chen Ge, and this time, he headed down the stairs to the lowest floor.

If someone had been around then, they would have witnessed a strange scene. A young man walking down the stairs with his head lowered, counting the steps on his lips like he was conversing with someone.

A glint of excitement burned in his eyes. Occasionally, he glanced at the camera, as if he was trying to memorize all the cameras’ location.