My House of Horrors

“Why is it suddenly so quiet?” He San turned to look at Lao Zhao. “Shall we go take a look?”

“If our enemies don’t move, we don’t move. We’ll go out when we hear screams and start the investigation in the opposite direction; this way we’ll avoid the scary traps,” Lao Zhao said shamelessly.

“Isn’t that selling out our classmates?”

“No, that is appreciating their noble sacrifice. We’ll be using the time they give us to find the exit and achieve victory.” Lao Zhao was as round as a ball. He stood behind He San, but the young man’s small figure could barely cover up half of Lao Zhao’s body.

“Then, how long should we hide in here? What if we’re the only two left in the Haunted House?” He San turned to look at his senior behind him. For some reason, he felt his senior was merely using him as a human shield.

“We’ve checked all the rooms on the second floor and most of the rooms on the third floor, so the exit has to be on the first floor. In other words, we’re inches away from victory.” Lao Zhao patted He San encouragingly on his shoulder. “Chin up, don’t give up now when we’re at the gate of victory.”

“Even at a time like this, you’re still calm enough to feed me such crap?” He San pouted. He had many grievances to voice, but he did not know how to. He was supposed to only lead his seniors to New Century Park, so why was he there inside the Haunted House?

“Don’t be so pessimistic.” Lao Zhao counted on his fingers. “We heard Monkey and Xiao Hui’s screams earlier, so both of them have probably been led out of this place already. Minus the eighth person, we still have five students from our school inside this Haunted House. The probability of the murderer hunting us is two in five, which is smaller than three in five, so don’t worry. We’ll only need to wait.”

“Alright, we’ll do it your way.” Squatting at the door, He San leaned to peer out the crack. He felt like there was an additional something in the darkened corridor. He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look in the same direction. There was a worn ragdoll lying on the floor.

What’s wrong with my eyes? Was there a doll on the floor to begin with? But that’s impossible. During the ten minutes I’ve hiding here, I’ve kept my eyes on the corridor outside. He San slapped himself lightly on the cheeks before turning to look out of the crack again. The doll was still there, but it had moved closer to the door.

It can move on its own? Am I imagining things from nervousness? He San shook his head before peering out the crack again.

This time, the doll had disappeared.

This is weird…

…

At the first floor’s workers’ passageway, Chen Ge put on the Doctor Skull-cracker’s garb after he had Xu Wan leave to take care of the few students outside. He was going to catch the rest personally.

Wearing the blood-soaked doctor’s coat, curling the iron chains that were carved with human faces on his body, gripping the hammer, and putting on the human skin mask, be it from height or presence, Chen Ge’s Doctor Skull-cracker was more intimidating than Xiao Wan’s.

These youths want to fight an extended battle with me? The chains clinked viciously with his every step. It might have sounded eerie, but the greatest weakness was that it would give his location away. Chen Ge roamed the scenario for about five minutes but could not find anyone.

“Boss, I can’t spot them on the cameras. They should be hiding inside the many rooms; you’ll need to check them one by one.” Xu Wan’s voice came into his ear. “Speaking of which, I suggest we install surveillance camera in every corner of the Haunted House. Now, with only cameras on the intersecting corridors, there are too many blind spots.”

“We’ll think about that when we have the money.” Chen Ge used his mallet to push the door of each room open. When he reached a corner on the second floor, he spotted a doll leaning against one of the doors.

“Little girl, why are you here, leaning against this room door for no reason?” Chen Ge scratched his chin with the mallet, and the truth soon dawned on him. “I know, you’re telling me there’s someone hiding inside this room, right?”

Pretending like he did not notice anything, Chen Ge walked away from the door. When he was about ten meters away, Chen Ge picked up the chains that dragged along the floor and leaned against wall to silently move toward the door.

Utilizing the blind spot, he half-squatted and peered in through the crack of the door.

…

Inside the room, He San and Lao Zhao were squeezed behind the door with their palms over their mouths.

“The sound of chains has disappeared; the murderer should have wandered off already.” Lao Zhao’s face was pale beyond belief, but he made sure his tone sounded calm to maintain his dignity as the senior. “Actually, I’m not one bit scared. Based on my analysis, since the murderer just came up from the first floor, he won’t be returning to it anytime soon; this is our chance!”

He used plenty of energy to push himself off the floor. “Now is the perfect time for us to go to the first floor. We’ll be able to avoid the killer and achieve victory. Xiao San, you take a look out the door. If the murderer has wandered off already, we’ll move out instantly.”

He San felt like Lao Zhao was making some sense. He did not argue and leaned against the door to look out the crack. He felt something like warm breath blowing on his face. What He San saw this time was different from before. There was no darkened corridor or creepy doll but bloodshot eyes staring back at him from the other side of the crack!

“What the f*ck!”

He San felt like his soul almost left his body. He collapsed to the floor dramatically and shuffled away from the door. This spooked Lao Zhao as well. “What‽ What did you see?”

The answer that Lao Zhao got was the door knob being twisted open. The old door was slowly pushed open, and a bloodied shadow radiating evil and resentment hovered at the door. Seeing this, Lao Zhao kept retreating even though his back was already firmly pressed to the wall.

“You shouldn’t lean so hard against the wall, what if there’s someone inside it?” Chen Ge silently poked his hand into the pocket and pressed the prop option that was available on the black phone.

Lao Zhao was so scared that his fatty body was shaking all over. Before he understood what Chen Ge meant by that sentence, something suddenly poked into his back. He turned to look back over his shoulder instinctively, and the wallpaper behind him had opened on both sides to reveal an expressionless woman who was embedded inside the wall!

His brain went blank, and something akin to his breath left Lao Zhao’s body. He fell to the floor butt-first, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

“Your experience is now officially over, let me get you out.” As Chen Ge said so, there was suddenly the sound of a mirror shattering coming from the third floor, which was closely followed by Brother Feng’s scream.

“Sh*t!” Chen Ge called for Xiao Wan to come get He San and Lao Zhao while he raced upstairs. Following the voice, Chen Ge found Brother Feng inside one of the rooms, waving a wooden chair before him like he was in the middle of fighting some unknown force.

He pulled down his mask and waited until Brother Feng tired himself out and slid to the floor before he walked into the room.

“What happened?” Chen Ge gingerly pulled the wooden chair away from Brother Feng and tossed it to the side. Brother Feng was in a highly unstable state. His eyes were filled with such fear that Chen Ge worried the young man was going into shock. “Did you come across some weird things?”