The Haunted

Chapter 8

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Chapter 8
Chpt 8: Crash

Chi Yan woke up to a bright, sunny day. Sunlight streamed in through the window onto his blanket, warming him up. As he stretched his body, he felt something hard poking at him. He reached for it and realised that it was the black tablet. Memories of yesterday night came rushing back, and he quickly sat up, his gaze shooting to the bedroom door. The dresser was still st.u.r.dily against the door, and the jade pendant was gripped in his hand. It wasn’t just a dream, but he didn’t understand how he had survived.

Chi Yan was incredulous at how he fell asleep amidst the din. He only vaguely remembered crying and calling Ye Yingzhi’s name, but had no idea when he had fallen asleep. Was it because he was so drained from the fright, that his body had went into protective mode, shutting down his brain?

Shaking his head, Chi Yan put down the tablet and checked the time. It was 8.30am and the mobile network was back. He had slept for quite a while.

There were five missed calls on his phone, from around 6pm. The number was familiar and when Chi Yan called back, he realised it was the shop he had ordered from. They told him that no one answered the door when they delivered yesterday evening, and they couldn’t reach him at his phone either so they left the delivery at the guard house.

The food delivery was at 6pm, but he didn’t hear any knocks. So the package he took at 7pm was something else… Chi Yan a.s.sured them that he didn’t blame them before hanging up.

Moving the dresser back to the original spot, he went out of the room and replaced the tablet back onto the altar respectfully. The thing didn’t manage to come in yesterday – he wasn’t sure if that was the work of Ye Yingzhi’s ashes, the jade pendant or the fact he didn’t open the bedroom door.

Everything seemed normal in the living room, and the doors were all locked fine. However the delivery he left outside had disappeared.

Chi Yan checked his appearance, and his rabbit red, puffy eyes stared back at him. He looked as if he had been bullied or suffered a major grievance. Just then, he received a text from Xu Jiang to remind him about the afternoon date.

Chi Yan knew he wasn’t in the mood for a blind date, plus after what he went through yesterday, he had given up all thoughts of romance and just hoped for a quiet peaceful life alone. But he felt bad to stand Xu Jiang up, since he had arranged for today’s meeting specially for him. He quickly took out some ice and wrapped them in a towel to reduce the swelling.

To prevent awkwardness later, he decided to pre-empt Xu Jiang.

“Eraser, I don’t think I’m suitable for marriage,” Chi Yan said to Xu Jiang over the phone.

With exasperation in his voice, Xu Jiang retorted, “Do you remember Luo Sheng? That guy went on and on about wanting to stay single, and look at him now, married with a baby that’s almost two years’ old.”

“….well, you know what they say about barking dogs with no bite,” Chi Yan finally returned a comeback.

Xu Jiang could confidently he understood Chi Yan quite well since they had been good friends for many years, and knew that he was ‘weird’ in some areas, due to influence from his family. He was brought up to be very superst.i.tious from a young age, and often visited temples to pray. If one day Chi Yan were to announce he was going to become a monk, Xu Jiang honestly wouldn’t be that surprised. Thus while he was a little frustrated, Xu Jiang still respected Chi Yan’s wishes.

Later, with Xu Jiang livening u

p the atmosphere with his jokes, Chi Yan went through lunch smiling, and didn’t talked much, not even exchanging numbers with the girls. Chi Yan was very grateful for Xu Jiang’s understanding and sent the three of them back to school in his car before heading home by himself.

Midway, Chi Yan suddenly felt a wave of uneasiness. Now it was 2.30pm, and nothing happened at home during the day, but who knew if the thing would come back later after the sun set? Nothing happened last night, but there was no guarantee he would be safe today.

What if the thing could open the bedroom door tonight?

At this thought, Chi Yan almost couldn’t continue driving. Shakily, he stopped at the road shoulder and called Xu Jiang.

“What’s wrong Chi Zi? Are you regretting now, after seeing how pretty my juniors are?” Xu Jiang answered and said.

Yeah right, he barely even remembered their faces, with his thoughts all were preoccupied with last night.

Chi Yan ignored him, “Old Xu, will your roommate be back tonight? Can I crash at your place tonight?” He knew that Xu Jiang’s roommate was married and had a house of his own and thus seldom stayed in the dorm.

“No, he’s not coming back, but I will not be back either. My mom told me to go home. I was just packing. Chi Zi, what’s wrong with your house? If needed, I can wait for you to come, and inform my roommate. You can sleep on my bed.”

Chi Yan weighed his options. While he would be alone in the dorm, but at least he would be surrounded by many other students. It was in every way better than having to go back to his apartment where the thing had been.

Chi Yan no longer hesitated and lied that the apartment above his was fixing a water leak. He swiftly went home to pack, and after a moment’s thought, even packed Ye Yingzhi’s tablet into his bag. At the university, he met up with Xu Jiang who pa.s.sed him the keys. Chi Yan drove him home and rejected his mom’s dinner offer, rushing back to the dorm before dark.

Xu Jiang’s room was on the sixth floor. The room was furnished with two loft beds, with tables under them. He was basically living alone, as his roommate only stored a few books and things in the room and hardly stayed over. Xu Jiang had cleaned up the room for him, and left the windows open for ventilation.

Once in the room, Chi Yan locked the windows and door. He then played games with his phone and at 10pm, got ready for bed just like a student.

From time to time, he could hear people chatting or walking by the corridor, and these sounds made him feel at ease. Growing drowsy, he soon fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, there was loud knocking at the door. The persistent sound woke him up, and he sleepily felt for his phone – exactly 1am.

Chi Yan quickly became wide awake, upon realisation that it was ‘that thing’ knocking at the door. The familiar, rhythmic knocking cleared all sleep from his brain, twisting his stomach. Chi Yan reached out for the light switch, but no matter how many times he pressed, there was no light. By right, there should be no light’s out policy (where the electricity would be cut after curfew started) at the PhD dorm.

Chi Yan could only rely on the dim light of his phone, pointing in the direction of the door to help him see. His right hand tightly gripped the tiny gla.s.s bottle full of ashes.

With a creak, the door swung open.

The corridor which should have been well-lit, was pitch black. There was no speck of light, as if it was the depths of h.e.l.l. Chi Yan uncontrollably let out a scream, his face wet with tears that fell unconsciously. Panting in fear, he could only look helplessly in the direction where the thing was coming from. He had no idea if he should face it or run away. He knew the thing was there, though he could not see it.

Even though he was surrounded by other humans, his screams brought no attention, as if he was in another dimension different from theirs.

Only a shadow gently embraced him, its hand sliding up his body from under his shirt to gently caress his back. Its face leaned towards his, and like yesterday, it kissed away his tears, and tried to press against his lips. The thing that was led in, stopped under the bed, frozen and perhaps even more frightened than Chi Yan right now.

However Chi Yan had no idea of all that was going on. He only vaguely felt the thing stopping in front of the table, not doing anything at all. Then suddenly, the thing just disappeared.

His senses in such things were honed by being watched over the years, and Chi Yan sort of could feel when something was staring at him or if it was clean around him. Tentatively, Chi Yan tried to switch on the light again. With a gentle hum, the fluorescent tubes lit up and light flooded the room.

The room door was closed, and through the small gla.s.s panel on the door, he could see that the corridor was well-lighted.

Everything had ended, the thing had indeed disappeared. Chi Yan let out a sigh of relief, falling backwards onto the wall, only then finding out his shirt was wet with sweat. He rested for a while, wiping his face with the sleeve, before boldly looking down the bed, but all he saw was Xu Jiang’s neat table, and the familiar black tablet placed at a corner. The tablet which read, “Spirit of Ye Yingzhi”.

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