My House of Horrors

The mirrors sat in the four corners of the room, and each of them was hidden behind a white cloth. One could only see the bottommost part.

“Why would they place mirrors inside the maintenance room? They are placed almost ceremoniously around the room…” Whether the maintenance room was used to fix living humans or furniture, it should have no use for mirrors either way. “After they have corrected whatever they’re fixing, do they place it before the mirrors to be admired first?”

Before Bai Ling or Wang Xiaoming could say anything, Chen Ge reached out to pull away the white cloth that covered the mirrors.

“Do not touch that!” Bai Ling’s warning came a little late. The white cloth fell to the ground, and the three were given an unobstructed view of the thing behind the cloth.

“Is this paint?” Chen Ge stood before the mirror and used his hand to touch its surface. The smooth surface had a coat of something that appeared like red paint. It ruined the purpose of the mirror, and it could no longer reflect anything.

Chen Ge used his nails to scratch at the surface. The red coat seemed to have grown out of the mirror itself. It had melted into the mirror and could not be removed so easily.

“Mirror…” Chen Ge was suddenly reminded of something. This was the first time that he had come across a mirror after waking up inside the classroom. Mirrors were common in the real world, but they seemed to be a kind of taboo at this school.

There was no mirror in Room 413, Xiao Lin did not carry any mirror on him inside his bag, there was no mirror inside the dormitory manager’s room, and even Bai Ling and Mr. Bai’s room did not have a mirror!

Chen Ge quickly moved to proceed to remove all white cloths from the mirrors. Chen Ge realized that all four mirrors had distinctive shapes and appearances—they seemed to have been moved there from different places.

The maintenance room’s key should be with the maintenance worker and the teachers. Normally, people rarely come here. The school has placed these four mirrors here because they do not wish for people to come across them on a regular basis.

The coat of red paint was left on the surface of the four mirrors. Even when he stood before the mirror, he could not see his own reflection.

The mirrors are practically useless. Is it because they are afraid of seeing themselves in the mirror?

Chen Ge did not understand why, but he made a mental note of this. When he came across another mirror in his journey, he would pay it more attention. Perhaps a chance of escaping this place could be found from it.

“Xiao Lin, have you got everything? It’s time to go.” Wang Xiaoming kept urging Chen Ge. As time moved forward, the young man became more and more agitated.

“Wait a moment.” Chen Ge studied the mirrors in the four corners closely. The first mirror did not have a frame but instead was surrounded by clear cellophane tape. It appeared like it had been yanked out from a closet. The second mirror was small. Someone had probably taken it from a make-up table, something that did not appear like it should belong at a school. The third mirror had the term ‘laboratory’ written on it, so it probably came from there. The last mirror had a wooden frame, and a series of number was etched into the frame—413. Underneath the numbers, at the edge where the frame connected to the wall, there was a person’s name—Lin Sisi.

“Why would this last mirror have Xiao Lin’s name on it? Could it be that this mirror was taken from Xiao Lin’s room?’ Chen Ge had a feeling that things were not that simple. Xiao Lin’s file could not be found on the student register, so why would the name Lin Sisi be on the mirror?

Squatting down before the last mirror, Chen Ge looked at the mirror’s surface, which was tempered. It was unclear whether it was his own shadow that fell on the mirror, a trick of the light, or an issue with the angle, but Chen Ge felt like he saw someone inside the mirror.

Lin Sisi’s name is on the mirror, so if there is really someone inside the mirror, could that person be the real or the previous Lin Sisi?

He used his hand to touch the surface. The chill and eeriness were like he was touching a ‘blood door’ that was slowly opening.

The mirror before him seemed to transform into a python with a gaping maw. Chen Ge resisted the discomfort to grab at the edge of the mirror. When his fingers landed on the back of the mirror, he found that the back of the mirror was uneven, like something was carved there.

It felt like I was almost swallowed.

Slowly turning the mirror around, when Chen Ge saw the back side of the mirror, he took a deep, cold breath. The back of the mirror was covered with the name Lin Sisi, painted in bright red paint!

The names covered the back of the mirror. The creepy part was that the names came from different handwriting.

“Wang Xiaoming, help me turn the mirrors around. Check and see if they are all covered with human names on their backs.” Chen Ge carried the fourth mirror with both of his hands while signaling for Wang Xiaoming to move the other mirrors. However, he waited for a long time, but Wang Xiaoming stood frozen at where he was.

Chen Ge turned back to look and realized that both Wang Xiaoming and Bai Ling were staring at the mirrors inside the maintenance room like they were possessed. Their bodies were leaning forward, and they stood on their toes. Green veins surfaced on their pale faces, and hatred as well as endless resentment swirled in their eyes.

“What’s wrong with the two of you?” The mirrors were painted with this unknown red substance, and they could no longer reflect anything, but it felt like Wang Xiaoming and Bai Ling were still able to see the mirrors’ reflections.

Do they see a different mirror than what I see, or can they feel a type of presence from within the mirrors? Bai Ling’s father warned her from getting too close to the maintenance room. Could it be due to these few mirrors?

Bai Ling and Wang Xiaoming were Chen Ge’s temporarily allies, but he was afraid that the two might suddenly turn on him, so he quickly picked up the white cloths and placed them back on the mirrors.

After the mirrors were hidden from view, Wang Xiaoming and Bai Ling gradually calmed down. The veins on their faces disappeared, and the resentment in their eyes slowly dissipated. They did not seem to remember the strange phenomenon that overtook them, like everything was just Chen Ge’s imagination.

It appears like the mirror can reflect their true self.

There were very few mirrors around the school, and these remaining four mirrors had their surfaces ruined by this red paint. Chen Ge was curious. If Wang Xiaoming and the rest were given a direct look at an unaltered mirror, what would happen to them?

“We’ve already gotten what we came for, let’s go.” Chen Ge moved rather unwillingly away from the maintenance room. If not for the humongous size of the mirror, he would have carried one with him. What Chen Ge needed to do next was find a way to hurry back to Room 413, remove the nails on the walls, and persuade the remaining shadows.

“Xiao Lin.” It was unknown when Wang Xiaoming managed to slither behind Chen Ge. He pulled on Chen Ge’s arm lightly. “Based on our previous promise, you’d better remember to stop at the canteen to accompany me to buy some food.”

“Is the canteen still open so late at night?” Chen Ge said with a smile as his eyes moved between Bai Ling and Wang Xiaoming.

“Of course, you’ll see once you follow me there. There is a stall that sells very delicious food.” Saliva dripped out of Wang Xiaoming’s lips, and it made him look very scary.

“You cannot leave! Didn’t you promise to stay‽ I said I would only bring my family here! You have to follow me back!” Bai Ling hugged Chen Ge with both of her arms. She refused to surrender Chen Ge to Wang Xiaoming.

“She’s right, so what should I do?” Chen Ge purposely acted like he was troubled. Looking at the two who held claim over him quite literally, he said, “How about the two of you decide between yourselves where I should go?”