My House of Horrors

The Sealed Classroom was a place that even Chen Ge did not want to stay in for long, but Fei Youliang and Zhu Jianing entered it easily. There was a weird smell in the air. Entering the room was like going underwater; there was an inexplicable pressure pressing down on them, causing their breathing to become rather uneven.

“Youliang, should I wait for you outside?” The classroom was darker than the corridor. Zhu Jianing, who stood behind Fei Youliang, had a frightened grimace on his face, and his forehead was covered with sweat.

“What did we promise each other before entering the Haunted House? We said we’d never abandon each now, but now you’re already giving up?” Fei Youliang was getting increasingly agitated. The uniforms that littered the room were not unlike the props that were used in scary movies; for some reason, he felt apprehensive about going near them.

Zhu Jianing did not notice that his teammate’s confidence had been shattered. He whispered from behind him, “Where do you think the Haunted House’s worker will be hiding? Will they jump up from underneath the uniforms?”

“Not clear, but they would normally do something like that.” Fei Youliang nudged his way to the lectern. He gripped his fists as he walked down the rows of tables, but nothing scary happened. “It does not seem like there’s anyone hiding here.”

“But if there’s no one hiding here, why waste so many resources to create such a large and detailed set? There is what looks like blood writing carved onto the tables, and these old uniforms were purposely left in the room.” Zhu Jianing glanced behind him. “Furthermore, the door opened on its own earlier like it was inviting us to come in.”

“It was probably the wind.” Fei Youliang turned to glare at Zhu Jianing. “If you have to time to mumble this nonsense, come and help me look for the hidden mechanism or trick.”

“Don’t be mad, I’m just helping you analyze the situation…” Zhu Jianing headed in the other direction of the room. Due to his large body, when he walked past one of tables, he accidentally knocked one of the uniforms to the floor. He did not mind it and did not seem intent on picking it up. He stepped on the uniform and continued to walk until he reached the classroom’s backdoor. “There is indeed nothing worth getting scared over; I was expecting something to pounce at me when I passed the tables…”

Zhu Jianing’s voice faded out. He turned and realized that the classroom had reverted to its original state.

“When I walked down the row, I remember knocking into one of the uniforms. Youliang, did you pick it up from the floor?”

“A uniform that fell to the floor? How come I didn’t notice it?” Fei Youliang stood at the other end of the classroom, a distance of several tables away.

“Was I imagining it?” Zhu Jianing walked back up the row. He stood beside the table that was situated at the center of the room. “I remember it was this uniform that fell to the floor.”

He picked the uniform up and waved it once. A weird odor drifted out from it. It smelled like rotten fish.

“This is weird.” Zhu Jianing dropped the uniform onto the table and squatted down to inspect the table and chair for hidden mechanisms. He shook the table, and everything seemed normal. Just as he was about to move on, the sound of marbles came from inside the drawer.

“There’s something inside?” Zhu Jianing bent down and leaned into the mouth of the drawer. The dark drawer was stuffed with test papers and textbooks.

“Why was there the sound of marbles? There’s hidden compartment inside this drawer?” He looked into the darkness and reached in to pull out the papers. He only pulled out the first one when he saw two round eyes staring right at him from behind the paper.

“F*ck!” The sudden scare caused Zhu Jianing, who was half-squatted, to stumble back and knock the two tables behind him out of position.

“What’s wrong‽” The commotion shocked Fei Youliang, who was also in the room.

“There’s someone inside the drawer!” Zhu Jianing tried to crawl up from the floor, but his limbs failed him. His face was drained of blood.

“Have you lost your mind‽ How can a person fit inside a drawer?” Fei Youliang cursed as he went to help his teammate. “It’s probably some kind of prop.”

He pulled out the papers and textbooks from inside the drawer and dropped them onto the floor. “Take a look. Don’t be such a scaredy cat; there’s nothing inside.”

After ten seconds to calm himself down, Zhu Jianing finally climbed up from the floor. “But I really saw a pair of eyes… I’m not lying! I swear on my life!”

“Even if that’s true, it’s just a trick of the Haunted House. Why are you so scared?” Fei Youliang was not that scared to begin with, but what Zhu Jianing said did unsettle him a little. “Fine, let’s leave this room for now.”

The pair escaped in a hurry, leaving behind a trail of chaos.

“Do we need to continue?” Zhu Jianing asked. Looking at the corridor that seemingly had no end, his heart was quivering.

“You’re giving up in less than five minutes? We’re here to ruin this place, not to do promotion for this Haunted House.” Fei Youliang had half a mind to kick Zhu Jianing. “Get a hold of yourself! Why are you acting all scared like a little girl? How are you going to answer to your muscles?”

Then he continued to move forward. Even though Zhu Jianing was afraid, it would be worse to be abandoned or labelled a traitor of Qin Guang’s studio, so he powered on.

As he moved forward, he looked over his shoulder. When he saw the door to the sealed classroom slowly open again, he quickly caught up to Fei Youliang and hissed, “Let’s go, it feels like something is coming out from that classroom!”

The pair ran forward in a hurry. They ignored the toilet and arrived at the first junction.

“Just how big is this set? There’s even a choice of paths?”

Zhu Jianing had completely given up, and Fei Youliang was frowning deeply. He loved scary movies and had visited many Haunted House in his life, but this was the first time he had encountered such a Haunted House. They had not seen any Haunted House workers in ghost costumes, but the feeling of fear refused to leave. The longer they remained, the stronger that feeling became.

In the Haunted Houses that he visited in the past, he could still see the ‘ghosts’, and with the appearance of the ‘ghosts’, he would feel much better because all those ‘ghosts’ were actors hired by the Haunted House. It told him that the place was fake; it was all a human creation.

However, the Haunted House he was in that day had completely upended his preconception of Haunted Houses. There were no actors so far, but it had managed to create an inexplicable feeling of suspenseful fear, like something incredibly scary might happen at any moment.

“Let’s try this way.”

The corridor narrowed as Fei Youliang and Zhu Jianing headed toward the female dormitory.

The front few rooms were not scary, and their emotions slowly relaxed as the fear surrounding their hearts slowly disappeared. Then they entered the room with the Pen Spirit game.

In the female bedroom that was preserved like a crime scene, four chairs stood side by side, and several pieces of white paper as well as a ballpoint pen that was glued together with tape sat on one of the chairs.