Chapter 81: Damn!!! |
One Hour Ago
Yu Hong, a student at Hangcheng University, led his two roommates to this soon-to-be-demolished apartment building. Their only purpose was to have fun and test their courage.
The three of them raised their heads, looking at the ten-plus-story apartment. The metal burglar-proof windows on the exterior walls had mostly rusted. Unknown parts creaked, and the rust marks washed down by rainwater looked somewhat like dried blood on the tiles.
The apartment had long been emptied, but some clothes were still hanging on the balconies, creating strange shadows that swung in the night wind.
Yu Hong couldn't help but shiver in the night breeze. "This place is really creepy, even more terrifying than the photos circulating online..."
"If you're scared, just say so," Zhao Keji patted his shoulder and laughed, "I'll laugh first."
Fang Fei commented, "You're already laughing."
Yu Hong slapped Zhao Keji's hand away and angrily raised his middle finger, "We agreed before coming here, whoever chickens out is a dog! If you guys get scared to death by this empty apartment, I'll record everything and post it online!"
He took out a portable camera and turned it on, taking the lead in walking in.
The three of them entered the apartment, but found that the stairway light wouldn't turn on.
Fang Fei tried several times and gave up. "The apartment is being demolished, so they probably cut off unnecessary power lines."
Zhao Keji frowned, "Didn't they say there's still one household that hasn't moved out? Do they have a separate power supply?"
Fang Fei, with a mysterious look, lowered his voice and said, "I heard that household is related to a missing persons case. Now only the husband lives here. He claims his wife and daughter went back to her parents' house, but the media exposed that they didn't. Her parents have already reported her missing."
He glanced upstairs, "And, he's been in his room for over three weeks without stepping out or buying new food."
Zhao Keji shivered and said, "No way... do you think he might have..."
Fang Fei turned on his phone's video recorder and aimed it at Zhao Keji, "Scared?"
Zhao Keji immediately said, "Get lost! Who's scared? You just want to scare me, right? How about we go check out that household first?"
Fang Fei sneered, "Sure, 704. The elevator is still working, let's take it up."
Zhao Keji hesitated, "What if the elevator cuts off like the lights?"
Fang Fei made a face, "It's the seventh floor. Do you want to climb up? The elevator only goes to the third floor. It's a short distance."
"Fine." Zhao Keji compromised, "We'll take the elevator."
Yu Hong walked to the elevator and was surprised, "It's one of those old hydraulic elevators."
The elevator looked exactly like the pictures he had seen online, a rare top-opening hydraulic elevator.
Such elevators are usually used as freight elevators, very spacious. It's unknown if this place was once a warehouse.
Yu Hong pressed the button, and the door moved upward, making a loud mechanical noise.
"Wow, this is so atmospheric, like a horror game."
Zhao Keji walked in, amazed.
The elevator interior was painted dark green, with dark reddish stains everywhere, resembling handprints.
It looked like a scene from a horror game, as if zombies or ghosts could appear at any moment.
Fang Fei pressed the button for the third floor, watching the door close and the elevator start moving up.
The hydraulic elevator moved slowly but smoothly.
The three of them wandered around, talking and laughing, with nothing happening.
The initial tension had faded, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
It's just an empty apartment, nothing to be afraid of.
Just scaring themselves.
The elevator door opened with a loud noise echoing in the empty apartment.
Fang Fei stepped out, seeing the only lit apartment on the seventh floor, and pointed it out to Zhao Keji, "That's it. You go knock."
Zhao Keji protested, "Why me? You come too!"
They pushed each other for a while before the elevator door began to close.
Yu Hong, still examining the elevator stains, quickly stepped out but felt a chill on his neck. Touching it, he found it wet and slimy, like saliva.
"What is this?"
Yu Hong looked up, but heard a clattering sound, as if something was stuck.
The elevator's indicator light flickered and then went out.
Suddenly, the elevator stopped, and Yu Hong realized something was wrong. He took a step forward just in time to hear a loud bang as the floor disappeared under his feet.
As the other two realized Yu Hong's silence and turned back, they saw the elevator door drop rapidly, slicing Yu Hong's body in half.
The other half fell to the third floor.
"Shit... shit... ahhhhhhh!"
The two of them trembled, then screamed and ran for the stairs, not noticing that the door to 704 had opened.
The cat's eye on the door had a turning eyeball, but there was no one behind it!
Above Yu Hong's head, sticky liquid dripped down from the darkness, but there were no water marks on the wall. The elevator's noise turned into heavy breathing, echoing through the apartment.
It was as if the whole building was breathing.
This wasn't an empty apartment... it was a man-eating one.
---
Guan Shan walked up the stairs, his phone's flashlight illuminating a small area ahead, surrounded by darkness.
All he could hear were his footsteps and breathing.
In this situation, it's easy to imagine things, like footsteps echoing as if someone was following, or a flash of something in the darkness, or a gust of wind feeling like someone breathing on the back of his neck.
The empty apartment by day felt crowded at night.
It felt like someone was everywhere.
Especially the elevator, it always reminded him of bad things...
It's not that Guan Shan was scared. He had considered taking the elevator, but part of the reason this apartment was being demolished was its age and poor maintenance. Many facilities were old and prone to failure.
"Alright, I'm just scared."
Guan Shan admitted his cowardice.
"But it seems like taking the stairs is just as scary... and it prolongs the fear."
Guan Shan felt like crying, the stairs seemed endless, one floor after another, fearing to see something in the dark corners.
But it wasn't a ghost trap; in panic, repetitive paths can easily create this illusion...
Guan Shan looked up, seeing the sixth floor sign, and sighed in relief, "Almost there, one more floor."
He climbed another floor and looked up.
Thank goodness, he finally reached... the sixth floor.
Guan Shan: "Damn."
【Scene Scan Complete...】
"Damn!!!"