My House of Horrors

In the movie, the main character’s parents did not put much weight behind the doctor’s words, and the disappointment in their eyes could not be hidden.

“Trust me, your daughter is really not ill. What happened to her eye was merely an accident. If possible, I wish to bring her to Xin Hai City with me, where I can give her a more thorough examination.” The man did not appear like a con artist. He sounded very sincere, but unfortunately, the parents did not believe what he was peddling.

“If there’s a chance, I’ll bring her, but Wenyu still needs to go to school.” The mother rejected him in a roundabout way. The doctor sighed. He gave the mother his card and stood up to leave. Throughout the whole process, the doctor kept his back to the main character and thus kept his face hidden.

After the door closed and the doctor left, the mother softly complained, “I was wondering why he was willing to examine Wenyu for free. He’s a conman. After we arrive in Xin Hai, he will probably start charging us money on various pretenses.”

“I also doubt that the doctor is reliable. Perhaps he’s not even a doctor. But there has to be a reason behind this sickness. This has never happened to Wenyu before, so how did she fall ill so suddenly?”

“You’re right, the girl has been fine for the past few months, but since that night, no, since that afternoon when she came back from school, she has been acting strangely.”

The frown was deep on the parents’ faces, and heartache laced their voices. The camera emotionlessly recorded everything, and it gave the feeling that the main character was observing everything without even a twitch of emotion. The eye slowly closed, and the strange music resumed.

Different from watching a horror movie at home, the sound system at a theater was surround sound. It could give the impression of footsteps coming from a distance or something moving around the audience. The producer poured great effort into this short flick, and that was observable from the sound effects alone.

The background music was mixed with a heartbeat and heavy breathing, like someone was struggling in a nightmare. Everything was dark, and one struggled for life, but one could not grab anything for support.

As the audience was drawn into the main character’s predicament and held their breath, a crisp ringing sound cut through the background music. The eyelids twitched. The main character seemed to have been woken up, and she peeled open her blurry eyes.

A new scene appeared on screen. The camera was no longer inside the bedroom but a simple-looking tuition center. The glaring sunlight showered down on the main character through the window, and the camera captured the girl’s shadow, which was elongated on the ground. She was leaning on the table at the last row in the class, and her head was heavy with sleep.

The movie has gone through one third already, and I’ve only just seen the main character’s shadow. The director sure is a genius.

Chen Ge had seen many shadows in his life, and in his professional opinion, the shadow in the movie could not have been more normal.

The sunlight dulled the nerves in her mind, and the sound of a fan spinning buzzed in her ears. There was also the sound of pages being turned as well as the sound of distorted music coming out from a nearby student’s cheap earphones.

A long shot showed everything in the classroom. The cooperation between the director, cameraman, and the actors was flawless.

BANG!

Just as the audience was lulled by the sense of peacefulness, the peace was suddenly shattered. The door was shoved open, and a girl with an exaggerated hairstyle burst into the room.

“He Qiumei! Be quiet, don’t disturb the other students!” A man wearing glasses with his hair cropped short walked in behind the girl. He held his phone in one hand and a textbook in another. The man appeared to be the tuition teacher, and he seemed to be familiar with the student who had just walked in.

“Fine, fine.” The girl with red hair chewed on the gum in her mouth, and she mumbled her response.

The male teacher knew the girl’s personality, so he scratched his head with some exasperation, wiped the sweat from his face, and clapped his hand softly. “Class, may I have your attention please? This is the new student who will be joining our class today, He Qiumei. Due to her family condition, she deferred for a year, and she’s here to catch up on her study progress. I hope that all of you will help her.”

The teacher gave a simple introduction and had her sit at the back of the class. Coincidentally, she chose to sit next to the main character and thus became her deskmate. The camera zoomed in on He Qiumei. The girl had faded red hair. She leaned against the wall and tossed the bag casually on the table.

“What are you looking at?” The girl noticed that the main character had been staring at her. Her personality was like a fire; it was not that she was not a good person, but she had the tendency to accidentally scorch others. Being yelled at by the girl, the camera that represented the main character’s eyes turned away, but moments later, the camera turned back to He Qiumei. Obviously, the main character was interested in her new deskmate.

The bell rang, and once the teacher left the classroom, the main character was about to stand up when Qiumei suddenly jumped up. Angrily, she slammed the book on the table, spat the chewing gum in her mouth out, and turned to the main character. With her furious eyes and explosive temper, just as all the audience thought that she was a gangster and was about to bully the main character, the girl by the name of Qiumei opened her lips to say, “Do you understand what Ol’ Cao said earlier? How come I don’t get it at all?”

The main character shook her head, and this was the first time that the audience had heard her voice. “I... fell asleep...”

“How can a person who looks so studious be a bad student? That won’t work!” Qiumei scanned around the room, and to her disappointment, there was not one student in the class that looked barely reliable. “The exam is coming, and if I fail again, I’ll be held back another year, then when will I graduate?”

“You... wish to graduate that much?”

“No one wishes to grow old, but I don’t want to be treated as a child anymore. You won’t understand it anyway, but I have to graduate this year.” Qiumei shoved all the books into her bag and picked up her notebook to study. This studiousness was completely against her get-up and personality, but it did not feel out-of-place being portrayed by the actor.

The students filed out of the classroom, and Qiumei became more and more annoyed. Finally, she slammed the notebook on the table again, as if with each slam, the knowledge would be shattered and thus more easily digested.

“Gah, guess I’ll start getting serious from tomorrow.” After Qiumei packed up her stuff, she walked out of the classroom alone. The camera followed Qiumei’s back before it also moved to follow Qiumei out of the classroom.

“Mr. Cao, considering that we have been neighbors for so many years, can you please help me?”

An old lady’s voice came from the corner of the stairs. The camera looked down, and it saw an old lady with graying hair holding onto Mr. Cao’s arm. She attempted to hand a basket covered with black cloth over to Mr. Cao.

“My physical condition is worsening by the day, and I have no idea when Qiumei’s father will be released. If something happens to me, what will she do? If this is allowed to continue, I’m afraid that she might end up like her father.”

“Auntie He, please keep your stuff. I will try my best to teach Qiumei, but studying is not a one-directional effort. I won’t give you any guarantees, but I promise to help you look after as best as I can.” Mr. Cao did not accept the old lady’s basket.

“Thank you, Mr. Cao.” The old lady left after thanking Mr. Cao profusely. The latter frowned as he headed up the stairs. The main character wanted to act as normally as she could, but just as she straightened herself, she bumped into something behind her.

The camera panned around, and Qiumei’s face filled up the screen!

This cut reminded the viewer of the scene that occurred at the start of the movie.

“Isn’t it fun to eavesdrop on others?” Qiumei said coldly. “That was my grandmother, a stubborn old coot.”

“It... feels like she treats you well.”

“That’s just an appearance. You have no idea how hard it is to communicate with her. Let me tell you, I can take care of myself just fine. Originally, the plan was to stop schooling and find a job to feed both of us, but she denied me outright, insisting on me graduating first. I was forced to agree because you saw how stubborn she can get, and here I am.” Qiumei took out a small mirror to examine her face. She was quite a beautiful girl if a little resentful of the world.

The moment that Qiumei took out the mirror, the camera moved backward instantly. It gave the feeling that the main character was afraid of looking at herself in the mirror.

“What are you doing?” Qiumei noted the girl’s strange reaction. “You’re a weird one, but let me tell you, do not tell anyone about my grandmother’s visit to the school.”

“Okay...” After a pause, the main character added, “You wish to graduate soon so that you can find a job to support your grandmother?”

Putting the mirror away, Qiumei leaned close to the screen and pushed the main character lightly. “Who are you to care about my business? The only thing that you need to care about is your mouth.”

Qiumei grabbed her bag and walked downstairs. When the two girls brushed past one another, the main character whispered softly, “You won’t be able to care for her. She is going to die soon.”

“What are you grumbling about?” Qiumei could not hear her clearly nor was she trying to.

The camera stayed on Qiumei as she walked away. Once more, the main character uttered more clearly, “You won’t be able to look after her; my left eye has seen everything.”