My House of Horrors

The cubicle was very small, with a form and a pen hanging from a wall. Chen Ge picked up the form to study it. “Please select the one that you are not afraid of.”

The first row offered the choice between darkness and claustrophobia. “Is this some kind of psychological test to see if the participants suffer from any kind of psychological illnesses?”

Chen Ge was not afraid of darkness or being trapped inside a small space. He was about to randomly select an option when a thought flashed through his mind. Does Nightmare Academy design a specific route based on the answers given here to scare the visitors at the maximum level?

After giving it some thought, Chen Ge circled the word darkness. With Yin Yang Vision, darkness did not affect him at all. The second row was two pictures, one of a spider and the other of a snake.

The third row was a choice between mad murderer and wronged spirit. The fourth row had two pictures of carcass mannequins; one was headless, and the other was covered in blood.

Chen Ge answered all the questions quickly. He opened the door of the cubicle and walked out holding the form. Chen Ge used less than half a minute. The doctor was just sending in the last visitor, so he had not even had time to turn around.

“Do you have any other tests that I need to take?” Chen Ge placed the form on the table and stared at the hammer and saw inside the cupboard. Probably out of safety concerns, all these things were tied down with ropes and could not be taken down easily.

“You’re done already?” The doctor appeared to be thinking, and Chen Ge’s sudden appearance gave him quite a fright.

“Is that so surprising?” Chen Ge saw something bulging in the doctor’s pocket—it seemed to be in the shape of a remote control. There should be some kind of unique trap inside the cubicles, but since Chen Ge had come out so soon, the doctor had not had chance to trigger it.

“I advise you to read through the form carefully. Each question has its own unique meaning. Your choices will help me determine your personality, and with that, we can draft the best system to help you,” the doctor said in a kind and worried tone. When the two conversed, the other visitors left the cubicles one after another until only the second cubicle to the last remained closed.

“It has been three minutes already. What is taking her so long?” Lee Yuan hugged Xue Li’s arm—this couple stuck together like glue.

The doctor was getting impatient as well. He knocked on the door lightly. “Miss, are you done yet?”

There was no answer. The doctor knocked again before the door creaked open. The woman with few words walked out from the cubicle and handed the form to the doctor. The form was rather wet. The doctor looked down involuntarily and realized that the form was wet from tears.

The woman had answered the first few questions honestly, but starting from the fourth question, some kind of trauma seemed to have overwhelmed the woman, and she had scribbled ‘Death’ many times on the picture. With Yin Yang Vision, Chen Ge saw that all the words were written on the picture with the headless mannequin. He wondered if this was a plot inside the Haunted House or an accident.

The doctor hesitated before he folded the form and placed it inside his pocket. “Thank you for the forms. Now, please follow the senior who led you here to join the welcoming ceremony.”

“That senior has already been captured by a ghost. He is still trapped at the photography club,” Chen Ge reminded him. He realized that the doctor was being rather absent-minded; he had forgotten the fact that the senior had already been captured.

“Oh, right. In that case, I’ll lead you there.” The doctor walked to the door and held the doorknob. “I’ve scanned all of your expressions, and no one has any problems physically or mentally. Once you walk out of this door, you will have officially become the students of Nightmare Academy. As the school’s counsellor, I will give you one last piece of advice. Do not open any random door at the school, and do not trust everything a stranger tells you.”

The door opened. The doctor switched on his flashlight and walked ahead with his head lowered. The visitors followed behind him closely. They took a few steps when the visitors heard the sound of nails scratching the door coming from behind them.

Turning back to look, there was a girl wearing a school costume standing at the corner leading to the stairs. Her face was as pale as paper, and she had a creepy smile on her face. Her arm waved mechanically at the group of visitors.

The dim lights at the corner flickered. The girl appeared and disappeared in the darkness. Her lips were open, but no voice came out. It seemed like she was saying something.

“There’s a ghost behind us!” The fatty, Lee Bo, screamed as he squeezed through the group and huddled behind the doctor. When the others saw the girl, they all moved subconsciously faster, and Chen Ge was left at the back of the group again. He turned around to stare at the girl. When other people were scared by the girl’s scary make-up, Chen Ge was studying the girl’s lips.

“Do not follow the doctor.”

“Stay away from him.”

“Be careful of the adults.”

“Run.”

The girl seemed to be giving the visitors hints, but other than Chen Ge, no one saw it.

“Why should we be careful of adults?” Chen Ge was suddenly reminded of a detail. The senior that showed up earlier had been wearing a uniform that was conspicuously too small for his size. “Is the senior not a student but an adult?”

Stopping, Chen Ge stared at the girl at the corner, calculating the distance between himself and the girl. “If I rush ahead, I can cover this distance in under five seconds. Before the doctor can even react, I will have joined the girl and become a part of the ghosts.”

Compared to the black phone’s mission, visiting another Haunted House was a holiday, and Chen Ge gradually found the joy. “I’ve already paid for the ticket, so as long as it is within an acceptable range, I can attempt this any way that I want. To expand the visitor’s creativity and to help them unwind, that is the purpose of a Haunted House.”

The plot that originally only had one path was forcibly made into an open ending by Chen Ge. He became more excited. “I’ve been too busy dealing with the black phone lately. Today, I should try to relax and unwind.”

His pupils narrowed, and Chen Ge stared straightly at the girl at the corner as a warm smile appeared on his face.

Some powder dropped from the pale face. The girl suddenly shivered when she saw the smile on Chen Ge’s face. She staggered involuntarily backward and then disappeared into the darkness.

“She’s so shy. A real ghost wouldn’t act that way.” Carrying the backpack, his hands inside his pocket, Chen Ge walked down the dim corridor, but he had never found things so bright.

“The doctor represents the darkness in the adults’ heart, working to hide the secret in the school; the girl at the corner represents the ghosts, not liking to be seen and disappearing once I make any move. Since neither party represents the force of good, how about I turn myself into the third party at this phantom school?”