My House of Horrors

The camera moved away from Qiumei and fell on the old lady holding the basket. The last ray of the sun fell on the old lady, and as she walked away, the camera locked onto her shadow that seemed to be cut in half.

Seeing this cut, Chen Ge was already shaking in his seat. He had no idea how the director managed to shoot a scene like this. Deskmate, according to the details on the list, had been shot a long time ago. Back then, the special effect was not as impressive as those today, but the scene in the movie appeared as real as could be.

Or is it possible that this is not a special effect?

One’s shadow was deeply connected to one’s life, or at least, that was what Chen Ge believed.

The main character’s left eye could see the changes to a living human’s shadow, right? When the movie started, did the main character’s parents possess shadows or not?

The earlier images of the movies crossed Chen Ge’s mind. The main character’s parents and even the doctor, none of them had a shadow, but that could have been due to the bad weather outside the window.

When the movie started, the sky was dark and gray with thick rain clouds blocking out the sun, so it was perfectly normal that one’s shadow could not be seen. After Qiumei and the old lady left, the main character returned to her own home. She took out her key and opened the door.

“Wenyu, is that you? Why did you come home so late today?” Wenyu’s mother rushed out from the kitchen. The expression on her face when she saw Wenyu was a mixture of sadness and a strange emotion that Chen Ge could not describe. In any case, it was certainly different from how a normal parent would greet their child—Chen Ge had only noticed that after he was so far into the movie.

The main character did not respond. Once she stepped into her home, it felt like she had walked into the sea. Her movement became sluggish, and even her breathing turned uneven. Pushing open the door to her bedroom, she slithered into it.

“This girl…”

“I’ve asked for some professionals’ opinions, and I believe our daughter might be sick.” The main character’s father put down the copy of newspaper. He pointed at his own head and continued in a low whisper. “I’ve already contacted the doctor. This coming weekend, I will bring him here to take a look at our daughter.”

“How much will it cost?”

“Now, curing our daughter is more important. You would not want our daughter to continue like this, right?”

Her parents’ voice came from outside the door, but the main character did not care about what they were saying. The camera that represented the main character’s point of view moved from her parents to the ceiling. Then the screen turned black; the main character had closed her eyes again.

“This movie seems to be a recording of some stuff, but if all this is real, the timeline does not seem correct.” Chen Ge nudged the blind man’s shoulder. “What do you think?”

“I can’t see anything. If you’re done, we should go as soon as we can. I don’t want to stay here a minute longer. Brother, from the way you talk, you do not sound like a bad guy. Can you please let me go and stop torturing me?” The blind man’s back was drenched. He kept his eyes closed, but just from his voice, one could tell how scared he was.

“Half of the movie is already over. I am sure it will end soon. Please be a little bit more patient.” Chen Ge turned back to the screen when it turned bright again. Similarly, this was shot from the main character’s perspective. It mainly recorded the things that happened between her and Qiumei.

The main character was a girl of few words; she rarely opened her lips, and if she could get away with not speaking, that was what she would do. Qiumei’s personality was the complete opposite of the main character. She was like an open book and would rarely take offense at what other people said.

She was a reckless person and often did things without considering the consequences. However, it was often said that opposites attract. As the time they spent together increased, the relationship between the main character and Qiumei grew tighter and tighter. Even though they were polar opposites in terms of personality, they became good friends.

Even more surprisingly, both of their studies kept improving, and this was something that even Mr. Cao did not expect. Initially, he was merely doing his old neighbor a favor, but to his surprise, the two female students with the worst marks in his class had such a drastic ‘change’ after they became deskmates.

The color of the screen felt even more vibrant, and the style of the entire movie seemed to have changed with it. It was supposed to be a horror film, but Chen Ge felt like he was watching a coming of age movie.

This director can handle many different styles—this is not bad.

Chen Ge made a mental note of the movie’s progress; eighty percent of it had already passed. Other than the ghost that he saw at the beginning of the movie, for the rest of the movie, there was not even a plot point that was remotely scary, much less an actual ghost.

A horror movie without a ghost?

The scary movies on the market would have the presence of an ‘unknown’, and this unknown was often used to create a sense of mysterious and horror in the audience’s hearts. However, this movie seemed to be the exception. It was shot fully from the main character’s perspective, and she did not witness anything that was truly scary.

Chen Ge felt that the director was building up for something horrifying. He knew that the movie was not going to be that simple. As the movie drew to its close, he felt like the truly scary thing was approaching.

The relationship between Qiumei and the main character grew closer and closer, but there was something that was worth noting. During the period when Qiumei and the main character became friends, Qiumei’s bubbly laughter appeared several times in the movie, but the main character had not laughed, not even once.

There was only a short time left until the arrival of the final exam. With Qiumei’s current results, graduating successfully would not be a problem. She had found a good friend at school, she was about to complete her promise to her grandmother, and this was probably the happiest moment of Qiumei’s life.

However, even though Qiumei was very happy, as the audience, Chen Ge was able to see the anxiety hidden behind the happiness through the main character’s perspective. Qiumei’s grandmother’s shadow grew shorter and shorter, the worry on the main character’s parents’ shoulders grew heavier and heavier, and the rate of change between the cuts grew more rapid and more constant like the main character had gained the habit of blinking constantly.

There was a huge whirlpool hidden underneath the peaceful life, and it was set to drag everyone who was near down into the deep abyss. After the final exam was over, at the class party, Qiumei and the main character stayed out very late before they left. The night was exceptionally quiet. Qiumei hummed a pop tune on her lips. Her biggest wish for the past few months had just been completed, and she could not have been in a better mood.

“Deskmate, why aren’t you talking? We can finally relax; we do not need to go and see Ol’ Cao’s face day after day now.” Qiumei hugged the main character’s and pulled her close. The camera studied Qiumei from this close distance. The girl had dyed her hair back to its natural color, which was black, and she looked gorgeous. After a while, the main character moved her eyes away. She had her head lowered, and the camera focused on the darkness, which appeared like a road that had no ending.

“You don’t look that happy.” Qiumei’s face squeezed into the frame again. The main character looked at Qiumei quietly, without saying a word, and then she walked ahead on her own.

“Is it because of your family? I don’t think I have ever heard you mention them before.” Qiumei ran to chase after her. “Actually, my family can be quite annoying as well. My father is now behind bars, and it’s my grandmother who raised me, so I have chosen to adopt my grandmother’s surname.”

The main character did not slow or stop. Qiumei followed closely behind her until they reached a junction. Qiumei’s home was on the left, and the main character’s house on the right—it was where they usually parted.

“Wenyu? What is going on with you today?” The main character did not stop to answer. She continued to walk down the road, and at a certain point, she turned to utter flatly to Qiumei, “Actually, that is not my name.”

“That is not your name?” Qiumei wanted to ask for more details, but the main character had already walked ahead. Due to the unique circumstances that she grew up in, Qiumei had a different personality compared to other girls her age. She did not ignore the main character but made to follow her. She chased after the main character and called after her.

The lights from the roadside became less and less. Finally, the two girls stopped in front of an old apartment building. This building was located in the most secluded part of the city. The whole building was dark like there was no one who was staying there.

“Wenyu? Your home… is here?” There was still no answer. The main character suddenly jogged up the stairs. She fished out the key from her pocket, and after some hesitation, Qiumei turned to follow her. There was no light installed in the corridor. Qiumei tripped on some debris on the corridor and almost slipped a few times.

The door of the room opened, and the main character walked through. The light of the living room was not open, and the heavy curtains were pulled shut; the whole place was submerged in darkness. Yet, even in such conditions, in the camera, the door to the kitchen was pulled open, and the main character’s mother walked out from it.

“Wenyu, is that you? Why have you come home so late today?” A familiar voice, a familiar environment. The familiar-looking figure standing in the dark was none other than the main character’s mother.

The scenario that could not have looked more normal in the day, when it was replicated at night, brought the audience a horrifying feeling that could not be described in words.

“I will not return here anymore.” The main character’s voice started to change. This time, she did not run to hide inside her bedroom but stood in the living room.

“Wenyu! Who are you talking to‽” Qiumei stood at the entrance, looking into the dark living room. Her face was blanched. It seemed like she was looking at a different scene compared to the main character. “This place is so old, the furniture is ruined, and the tiles on the floor are cracked. Wenyu, what are you doing here? Let’s go home already?”

“Go home?” The main character reached out to place her hand on Qiumei’s hand before yanking her into the room. “But… we are already home!”

The light on the screen slowly dimmed until it became a slate of darkness. The director did not show what happened inside the room, probably because he did not know what happened either.

A scream echoed through the darkness. The eye flipped open, and the main character was still lying on the bed in her bedroom. The camera looked out the window. Outside the window, the clouds were dark and oppressive.

This scene was a replica of the movie’s starting scene. It was the same sky outside the window. It gave the impression that all that had happened earlier was merely a nightmare. The main character glanced at the clock on the table. She took out her phone to read the messages, and then she dragged her tired body into the bathroom.

She kept her head lowered, so the camera could only see the ground. After she brushed her teeth and cleaned her face, the phone started to vibrate. The camera shifted around, and the main character took out the phone from her pocket.

“Wenyu, do you want to go to the movies tonight? It will be a celebration for you having gotten rid of that madwoman.”

“Qiumei is not mad. She has never once bullied me.”

“It is because you are too kind-hearted that Ol’ Cao had her sit next to you. Do you know that both of her parents are in prison? Who knows what she could have done to cause her disappearance? In any case, you shouldn’t associate yourself with her anymore.”

“Okay, I understand.” The main character’s hand that gripped the phone increased in strength. “By the way, deskmate, after watching the movie later tonight, do you want to come over my place to play? I want to show you something very interesting.”

“Okay, no problem!”

“Okay, I’ll see you later.” After hanging up, the main character slowly raised her face. The camera moved to the mirror, and this was the first time that the audience had been given a chance to see the main character’s face since the start of the movie.

A thin body, tattered clothes, and long black hair—the main character had a face that appeared to be sewn together from pieces of different women. All the women had different facial features, but their left eye looked identical.

The left eye gave the audience the feeling of being a long needle, and it nailed the innumerable faces together.

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