A Guest In A Ghost House

"f.u.c.k!" I shouted, rubbing my throbbing forehead. Several girls along the hallway peeked out of their rooms, saw me lying in pain on the floor, and shook their heads before shutting their doors.

I struggled up and knocked quietly. "Lulu, look. Can I sleep on the floor? If not, I"ll take the key and go outside."

As soon as I finished, I crossed my fingers, hoping that Lulu wouldn"t take this as an insult as well.

"Come in," she said in a flat voice from the other side of the closed door.

I hesitated, then opened the door and walked in. I pushed past the hanging curtain and waited.

Lulu was sitting down watching me and she gestured for me to sit on the bench at the end of the bed. I dared not go near the bed, so I pulled out a stool from beside the dresser and sat across from Lulu.

She kept looking at me, her eyes following my movements. One I sat down, she made eye contact with me. Although her face didn"t have its usual coldness, her expression creeped me out all the same.

I was about to open my mouth when Lulu suddenly asked, "Are you afraid of me?"

I immediately nodded without thinking, then quickly shook my head. "Actually, no. I know you"re cold on the surface, but your heart is warm. Otherwise, you wouldn"t have helped me deal with Wu Ting."

When I mentioned Wu Ting, Lulu"s face grew gloomy. After a few minutes, she said in a low voice, "Do you think we did something wrong?"

Lulu"s question surprised me. Did we do anything wrong? Wu Jian had said he would accompany Wu Ting for life. I thought that perhaps in Wu Ting"s eyes, Wu Jian had fulfilled his promise, albeit in an unexpected way. After all, she was a ghost, and according to ghosts, death is not the end of life. People and ghosts just exist in different ways.

Strange, when did I start thinking about things from a ghost"s perspective?

Seeing that I had not spoken for a long time, Lulu sighed with a faint tone and asked again, "Do you think we did something wrong?"

I shook my head and said, "I don"t know. I think she was in the wrong, because she wanted to hurt people. But I also think that Wu Jian was right in wanting to be with her." I felt a little confused.

Lulu suddenly smiled and wistfully said, "Do you suppose—and I mean suppose—that if Wu Jian and Wu Ting got together, they would be happy?"

I was stunned. Lulu"s questions today were very strange and emotional. Besides, so long had pa.s.sed since those events. Why was she just talking about it today? Then I realized that this was the first time we"d been alone to talk since that day.

"I don"t know," I said simply.

Lulu looked surprised and said, "I thought you"d say something about the difference between humans and ghosts."

Ah, I didn"t even think about that. I"d just been considering whether it would be appropriate for the two of them to be together if Wu Ting were to kill Wu Jian, but I didn"t share that thought with Lulu.

We both were silent for a while until Lulu asked, "How do you view the Ghost House?"

What"s wrong with you today, Lulu? You"re jumping all over the place.

I felt confused by Lulu"s choice of topics today and wasn"t really sure how to answer any of them. I opened my mouth but didn"t speak. After hesitating for a long time, I finally said, "There are good and bad people in any place, including in a house full of ghosts."

My answer sounded a bit impersonal, but it seemed like the best answer to me.

Lulu nodded and then asked, "Well, do you think we"re good or bad?"

I was stunned for a moment, then replied, "You"re all good guys, I think. You may be dead, but you"re still good people."

"But we"ve killed a lot of people."

"Ah." I suddenly understood what Lulu meant. The residents of the Ghost House had killed many people over the years. I"d already seen two people killed as well as a cat.

Lulu fixed her eyes on me and seemed to be waiting for an answer. I was at a loss again. Finally, I said, "Well, just don"t kill people again in the future. Now that I"ve bought this place, I"ll do my best to secure it from anyone breaking in or causing trouble."

Lulu smiled and said, "Okay."

I looked at her unbelievingly. She agreed to something I said so easily?

Lulu continued to smile and said, "I said okay."

I nodded then asked, "So why are you asking these questions?" My heart felt a little strange. Usually, the extent of my conversations with Lulu was small talk. We"d never dove into such personal or deep topics before.

Lulu"s eyes dodged mine and she hesitatingly said, "Um." After a few seconds, she said, "Nevermind. I just wanted to ask them."

She seemed unwilling to elaborate, so I dropped the subject.

After a bit more silence, Lulu suddenly began to laugh.

I looked at her in surprise and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, nothing." Despite denying that she was laughing at anything, she began laughing more intensely. It was the first time I had seen Lulu smile like this, and she looked a thousand times more beautiful than I"d ever seen her look.

Seeing me look at her so intently, Lulu"s face flushed a little and she shyly asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

"Ah, oh." I quickly turned away. In response, Lulu let out a laugh that tinkled like a silver bell.

I suddenly realized that I didn"t know much about Lulu"s past. I had no idea why she hadn"t crossed over yet, or why she always wore a cold expression, or what was making her so happy now.

"What are you thinking?" Lulu had stopped laughing and was looking at me curiously.

"How did you die?" I answered her without thinking, and then quickly looked at her once I realized what I said. The warmth on her face was disappearing and I saw her characteristic glower. I said, "If you don"t want to tell me, it"s fine. We don"t have to talk about this."

"But you asked," she said simply. There was a hint of anger in her words. "Why did you ask?"

"I…I want to know you better." I was a little frightened by Lulu"s sudden s.h.i.+ft in mood and stuttered as a result.

Suddenly Lulu"s face changed again. She smiled, but it looked strange. In a weird voice, she said, "You want to know me?"

I firmly nodded, but inside I still felt nervous.

"If you want to know me, I"ll tell you." Lulu stared at me, and the warmth seemed to have returned to her face. Then she began to tell me her story.