My House of Horrors

Led by Chen Ge, the girl recited the incantation. They held the pen together, and the girl grumbled internally, Why am I doing this?

However, there was something about the man before her that made it difficult for her to go against his wishes.

The tattered ballpoint pen was held above the paper. After the two finished the incantation, they stopped and looked at the paper quietly. It was very quiet inside the storage room, and no one spoke; they could only hear the sound of their hearts beating.

What is the man doing? He doesn’t really think that he can summon the Pen Spirit, right?

The girl’s eyes darted about as she glanced at Chen Ge. For some reason, the dagger that she had pulled out from underneath the table was sitting next to the man. “Er…”

The girl wanted to tell the man that the game was up, but Chen Ge stopped her by shushing her. “Quiet, she has arrived.”

After Chen Ge said that, the pen between them started to move slightly, and it proceeded to draw a circle on the white paper. The girl could feel the power from the pen. She did not apply any force, but the paper started to move on its own.

He has to be behind this! The girl looked at Chen Ge, trying to see some clues from his expression. To her disappointment, Chen Ge was focused fully on the pen that they were holding, and she could not see anything unusual from his face.

The pen at Nightmare Academy could move on its own because the pen and table were both custom-made. They could be controlled. In a way, they were a magic trick. As long as they knew theory behind it, anyone could do it. Subconsciously, the girl believed that Chen Ge was doing the same thing. She wanted to expose Chen Ge, but even after studying him for a long time, she could not find any flaws.

The pen on the paper continued to move, the strokes becoming firmer and stronger. Finally, it wrote a name on the white paper—Qu Changlin.

“Qu Changlin? So, that is the name of your lover.” Chen Ge lifted his head to look at the girl. “It is not easy to find love in this world. Treat him well, and try not to disappoint an honest man.”

When she saw the name on the paper, the girl’s face slowly changed. First, it was shock; then, it turned into terror!

She knew Qu Changlin. The man was a worker at Nightmare Academy as well, and he often looked after her! He had even confessed his feelings to her once, but he had been rejected by her then. This should have been a secret between her and Qu Changlin, so how did this man know about it?

Waves roared within her heart, and the girl’s arms were shaking. Her fingers touched Chen Ge’s, and that unreasonable frigidness caused her panic to amplify. The man before her was smiling so warmly, but how come she felt like the temperature in the room had been steadily dropping?

Her body shook uncontrollably, and the girl tried her best to console herself. Boss said that this visitor is very unique. He is adept at psychological games and is purposely here to create trouble for Nightmare Academy. He probably investigated all the workers here before arriving, and through my micro expressions, he managed to tell that Qu Changlin has a thing for me.

The girl knew that the chance of that was not high, but that was all she could do to convince herself. That was the only way she could maintain her sanity. She bit on her lips. The girl was not going to surrender so easily. She decided to use her own method to expose the man.

This man can guess the name of the person who likes me, so what? He will never guess the name of the person whom I wish to spend the rest of my life with!

The girl had a secret buried in her heart—the name of her real crush. She had not told anyone about it before.

After a short pause, the girl asked lightly, “Can I ask the Pen Spirit another question?”

“The Pen Spirit can only predict once per day. If you force it, the result might not be that accurate.”

“Just this one last time, okay?” Before Chen Ge could say anything, the girl gripped the pen and asked her question. “Pen Spirit, Pen Spirit, can you tell me the name of my future partner?”

This question sounded very familiar to Chen Ge. He could feel the pen shuddering, and the tape on it appeared like it could tear at any moment. The whole pen felt like it was about to burst.

“I didn’t intend to lead you to this question. You wished to ask it yourself.” After saying that, Chen Ge quickly let his hands go. The pen was originally held by two people. The girl had not been applying any force, so she had assumed that it was Chen Ge who had been moving the pen around.

But now that Chen Ge had pulled his hands away, the pen was still standing above the paper. The girl’s eyes slowly widened, and then something scarier happened!

The pen started to move. The girl could tell for sure that she was not doing anything! It was not her who moved it!

What is going on? Is something wrong with the magnet under the table? But this is a plastic ballpoint pen—it isn’t made from metal!

The pen continued to move, and it initially wrote one sentence for the girl on the piece of paper—YOU WILL DIE!

It was a simple sentence, but it looked scary. The girl wanted to pull her hands away, but she realized that her hands seemed to be glued to the pen, and her arms were pulled along whether she liked it or not. The pen moved faster and faster until the whole paper was filled with YOU WILL DIE!

“Wait, help! What is happening‽” The fear in her heart materialized, and the remnant of rationality was submerged—the girl was swallowed by endless darkness. She searched frantically for Chen Ge in the dark. However, once she lifted her head, she saw something that she would never forget in her life.

Just above her shoulder was someone standing!

She was wearing a dirtied school uniform, and at that moment, she was scrawling madly with the ballpoint pen like she was venting a horrifying emotion.

…

A piercing scream came out of the storage room, and it was followed by something heavy landing on the ground. Chen Ge replaced the glass jars and walked out from the second rack. He looked at the girl lying on the ground. By then, her red-colored contacts had fallen out of her eyes. He shook his head lightly. “Why did you need to go and anger her?”

Picking up the pen that was almost breaking, Chen Ge then glanced at the fountain pen on the table. The Pen Spirit did not seem interested in the fountain pen at all.

“Chill out, she didn’t mean it.” Chen Ge consoled the Pen Spirit and walked out of the storage room.

“That’s one more scenario completed. Where shall I go next?” Chen Ge took out the diary and turned to the third entry. This time, the incident happened inside the bathroom—there was an angry spirit living inside the fourth cubicle, and it would appear at midnight.

“It’s related to the toilet, huh? Abandoned toilets can be quite scary. After all, the Yin energy there is the heaviest.” Chen Ge studied the map. He was not far away from the bathroom, just around the corner.

“Since I’m already here, might as well. Hopefully, I will be pleasantly surprised this time,” Chen Ge said and walked toward his next destination.

…

Inside the bathroom at the end of the third floor, a black shadow was hiding inside the fourth cubicle. He was scrolling through his phone with a bored expression on his face when he received a call.

“Boss, are you looking for me?”

“Qu Changlin, in a moment, a special visitor will enter your scenario. You have to find a way to help me scare the hell out of him!”