My House of Horrors

Returning to where it all started, Wang Dan decided to use his last determination to prove everything. “This time, I will succeed!”

He dragged his girlfriend back the way that they had come. Using every ounce of energy that they had left, they ran like their lives depended on it. Zhang Jingjiu sat at the entrance of the hotel, reading an article on his phone on how to be a good actor when he heard the rushing of footsteps. Slowly lifting his head up, he saw Wang Dan and his girlfriend run past him, looking much more haggard than before.

“Looks like they are really enjoying themselves. Screaming and sprinting are the best ways to vent your internal pressure, and perhaps that is the purpose behind a Haunted House’s existence.” Zhang Jingjiu came to his own conclusion. He understood that his job was not as simple as it appeared—it had a second layer of meaning.

Wang Dan and his girlfriend raced back to Li Wan Private Hospital. They charged into the building like this was the last chance that they had. The sickrooms were left half-open, and the patients holding the records discovered these two familiar individuals. They were surprised by Wang Dan’s courage, but with that surprise, more and more patients walked out from the sickrooms.

As they scared the visitors, the ghosts were able to harvest the negative emotions that they needed, but more importantly, it was just fun to scare people.

“Do not turn back! Hesitate, and you will perish!” Racing down the stairs, Wang Dan and his girlfriend dashed to the third-floor basement.

“This should be where the clue meant when it said the end of the hospital.” Wang Dan held his girlfriend as they lurched through the corridors. When they passed a room whose door was painted red, they sensed the footsteps trailing behind them disappear all of a sudden. A hoard of patients had been originally on their tail, but why would they suddenly give up‽

“What happened?” Wang Dan was too familiar with the actors. Once a visitor had earned their ire, they would not stop until that visitor had fainted. This was his second time entering the hospital. They would not allow him to leave so easily this time.

“The workers wouldn’t be so charitable. The only reason they stopped chasing after us can only mean that there is something even scarier ahead of us!” Wang Dan knew that perfectly well, but there was only one way forward. The few rooms in the depths of the hospital seemed to be a taboo. It was so quiet that even the background music inside the Haunted House had disappeared.

“Wang Dan…”

“Hush.” Wang Dan was unable to find the door to the morgue; he could feel that something was wrong. When he turned around, he realized that the door to the red room that he had passed earlier had opened on its own.

“Is someone in there?” Wang Dan’s brain was running low on oxygen because he had been running non-stop. He was so lightheaded that he was seeing double.

All the doors so far were white, and only this door was painted red, as if warning the actors and visitors from getting too close. The air around them thinned. Wang Dan desperately wished to find the morgue; he knew that he did not have much time left.

He pushed the many doors open, but he could not find the morgue. A light scent of blood trailed through the air. Wang Dan heard a second sound appearing behind him, the sound of a pair of heels!

The heels stepped on the ground, but every step felt like a stomp on his heart. His body was shivering, and his clothes were wet with sweat. Wang Dan’s girlfriend fared even worse. Her legs were completely useless, and she leaned on Wang Dan, depending on him to drag her forward.

“Just what is hiding inside that room? Even when we were chased by the group of patients earlier, I wasn’t this afraid! My body is shivering involuntarily, and every cell in my body is urging me to run.” The sound of heels came closer. The suffocating pressure closed in, causing Wang Dan and his girlfriend to break under pressure. The two of them finally chose a room to hide inside temporarily.

“This way!” Wang Dan dragged his girlfriend into the sickroom. They held their hands over their mouths, afraid that they might make an accidental peep to attract the thing’s attention. The heels clicked on the ground before stopping right outside their door.

She was just outside!

Wang Dan and his girlfriend’s eyes were filled with terror. They were trapped!

Their hearts pounded. Wang Dan gripped the doorknob tightly and pressed his whole weight against the door. No matter what, he was not going to open the door!

The doorknob was turned by the person outside, but since Wang Dan held the doorknob so tightly and blocked the door with his body, the person was unable to push the door open. After a while, the person outside seemed to have lost their patience. The clicks of high heels echoed down the corridor. The person seemed to have wandered away.

“We’re saved.” Wang Dan was so covered in sweat that it appeared like he had just taken a bath. “We can leave…”

Before he finished, the sound of heels clicking began again. It went through each sickroom before stopping outside Wang Dan’s sickroom for the second time. Wang Dan and his girlfriend’s hearts were held in suspension. No one knew what would happen next; all they could was wait.

Ten seconds, thirty seconds, one minute…

Two minutes passed, and there was no still sound from outside. After the heels stopped outside their door, there was not a peep again.

“Has the person already left, or is she waiting outside still?” Wang Dan leaned on the ground and peaked through the gap.

A heavy scent of blood hit his nostrils. He saw a pair of bloody red high heels standing outside the door!

The front of the heels were facing the door, and droplets of blood were sliding down the side of the heels. Wang Dan saw a drop of blood trickle down the shoe before landing on the ground.

“That is not a dye! It’s real blood!” Wang Dan had studied forensic science. His eyes widened with disbelief. “These high heels are dyed red using real blood!”

His pupils focused on the high heels, and another drop of blood was sliding. Just as the droplet was about to touch the ground, Wang Dan felt a chill on the back of his neck like the drop of blood did not land on the ground but on the back of his neck.

“It’s leaking?” He turned his head up subconsciously and saw the upper half of a woman’s body reaching into the room through the window in the door. She had been watching them!

The bandage unfurled to reveal a mess of flesh and blood. Curses and resentment held up the body, and the woman in red reached out to grab Wang Dan. The latter’s mind was blank, and his eyes were filled with the woman’s face. Wang Dan’s hand that held the door slowly weakened as his body careened backward.

All the good memories of his life flashed through his mind, and in that instant, Wang Dan swore that he saw a kingdom of paradise.

…

Zhang Jingjiu saw Wang Dan and his girlfriend running away. After sighing, he went back to studying acting. He said some awkward lines at the table that was empty. He was so focused that he did not notice a slender figure hiding at the left side of the entrance.

“There’s a rumor saying that the reason this place is so popular is because all the actors are real ghosts. Today, I think I shall test out that rumor.” Lee Changyin lowered his head, and a dangerous glow escaped from his eyes.