My House of Horrors

Call again later?

Gao Ru Xue felt like she had heard incorrectly. The system voice did not sound like it had said that, but what else could it have said?

After hanging up, Gao Ru Xue looked at her pale face reflecting on the display. It was her own face, but it showed a different expression. I’m smiling?

Gao Ru Xue flung the phone to the sofa and stood in the middle of the empty room with her hands twisted together. Time ticked by, and Gao Ru Xue stood in that position by the window. She did not dare move, be it the bedroom or the bathroom, it just gave her an uncomfortable feeling.

The ghost also knows my location. Does this mean that my two roommates will be here soon?

Outside the window, the clouds were thick in the sky. There was no light at all, and it felt like it was about to rain. Father would normally be home by now.

Holding the knife, Gao Ru Xue glanced at the room above her. The laundry was still there. The tense nerves made her tired. She leaned against the window, and looking at the dark residential area outside, her heart started to race again.

The whole residential area was dark, and only her room had its lights on. She had switched them on due to fear. It was like walking through the jungle with a torch raised. The light would bring her a sense of security, but it also exposed her location. It’s too obvious!

Just as Gao Ru Xue hesitated over turning off the light, she saw something flashed across the gate of the residential area. She turned to look, and Gao Ru Xue’s heart raised. There was a foggy shape of a woman standing at the gate. It looked like her roommate. Why is she here?

Gao Ru Xue was fully focused on the gate when the phone left on the sofa rang!

The screen radiated a faded cold light, and the humming noise made her teeth chatter. She quickly ran to the sofa to pick up the phone. It was her roommate who was calling her.

Should I answer it or not? After some hesitation, Gao Ru Xue answered it. “Liu Xian?”

“It’s already ten pm, why aren’t you at the dormitory yet?” Liu Xianxian’s voice came on the phone. “Where are you?”

“I’m outside. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping at the dormitory tonight.”

“Be careful since you’re alone! Lately, it’s been dangerous around here. There’s a mad killer going about killing people and gouging out their eyes.” Liu Xianxian’s voice sounded creepy.

“Okay, I know all that. If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now.” Gao Ru Xue ended the call and ran back to the window with the phone. She looked at the gate, and the shadow had already disappeared. Did I imagine it?

Her eyes moved, and when she saw the area before her own apartment building, the color drained from her face. The shadow had moved to the entrance to her apartment building!

Was it the light that attracted it? Gao Ru Xue hid behind the curtain. Her body was ice-cold. Just as she thought about turning off the light again, the phone started to vibrate. She lowered her head to look. Again, it was still from Liu Xianxian. The two shadows were just downstairs, and this time, Gao Ru Xue would not answer the call no matter what.

She tossed the phone at the couch. She used the cushion to cover the phone, but the sound of vibration still made her panic. After ten seconds later, the call finally ended. Then, there was a message from Liu Xianxian. “The dormitory manager is asking about your location. The school rules have been quite tight recently, so you’d better come back to the dormitory.”

Gao Ru Xue did not reply and switched the phone to silent. She had just changed the setting when the second message from Liu Xianxian came. “Xiao Xue, are you in some kind of trouble? Do you need me to come fetch you? Where are you now?”

The message on the phone looked normal—just her friends being worried of her safety. There did not seem to be any other meaning, but placed in Gao Ru Xue’s current situation, the meaning was completely different. There was a ghost standing at the entrance to her apartment building!

With trembling fingers, Gao Ru Xue turned the phone off. She pulled the curtain open a smidgen and saw that the shadow was still standing where it was. It’s that thing that’s calling me?

Gao Ru Xue kept her eyes on the shadow downstairs; she wanted to take a good look at who it was. She adjusted her position, and just as she was about to chance a glance, the phone in her palm, which was switched off, lit up again.

What’s happening‽

As she stared at the phone, the messages from Liu Xianxian kept coming.

“Where are you‽ It’s very dangerous outside. Come back to school! Do you want us to come fetch you? Where are you?”

Gao Ru Xue did not reply, and Liu Xianxian sent about ten more messages before she stopped. Just as Gao Ru Xue thought it was finally over, the phone suddenly unlocked on its own and snapped a picture of Gao Ru Xue and the furniture beside her.

“So, you’re home! I’m coming to fetch you now!”

When the new message appeared, Gao Ru Xue’s scalp turned numb. She tried to switch the phone off with one hand as she glanced out the window. The shadow had disappeared. It felt like it had entered the building. The phone vibrated—a new message.

“I’m on the first floor.”

Gao Ru Xue looked outside the window. The third building was reflected on Xi Xia Lake, and the voice-activated lights on the first floor lit up.

“I’m now on the second floor.” Just as the second message was sent, the light on the second floor in the reflection of the lake came on. The thing was moving fast!

“I’m now on third floor!”

“I’m on 4th floor!”

“5th floor!”

“6th floor!”

The lights came up floor by floor. Gao Ru Xue gripped her hair. Reading the messages that appeared on screen, her eyes turned red. Her emotions were fraying.

“I’m on the 13th floor. Why has the anti-theft door to your home been left open?”

Footsteps echoed from the corridor; something was hurrying toward her! The sound from the outside and the message on the phone broke Gao Ru Xue. She used the fruit knife to stab repeated at the phone before smashing it at the ground. The phone cracked like everything had ended. All the lights in the corridor went off, and the residential area was swallowed by darkness again. There was silence in the corridor.

Did it leave?

Gao Ru Xue walked to the phone, and the broken display had one last message.

“I’m standing outside your door.”

BANG!

There was knocking at the door!

Initially, it was slow, but the force slowly picked up. Gao Ru Xue felt like the whole door was shaking; this was not something achievable with human strength.

The thing is here. It’s just outside the door!

The lights in the room flickered, and Gao Ru Xue’s expression twisted as the fear in her heart was brought to the surface. She stood beside the window, and her heart raced. There were only fear and terror in her eyes.

Pulling open the curtain, Gao Ru Xue pushed the window open. There was one last way she could escape this room. Gao Ru Xue’s breath caught in her throat as she sat on the window of the 13th floor. Her hands grabbed the windowsill. Looking down, all the fear in her heart exploded at that moment.

Her body slowly leaned forward, and just as she was about to let go, the door was kicked open, and a man’s voice appeared beside her ears.

“Xu Yin!”