Mitternachtsböse

Kapitel 4

Who would play such a prank, releasing this thing in the middle of the night to scare people?

Lu Fei angrily kicked the model.

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind: If this mannequin is a dummy, then who was the person who went upstairs just now?

Never mind, let's hurry home.

She suddenly turned around and ran home.

But then, an old woman's face appeared on the doorway leading to the rooftop. Her shoulders were bare, and it seemed her body was naked as well. Her long hair covered her face, but it couldn't hide her dry, grating laughter.

"Ah—!" Lu Fei screamed in agony, and then everything went black as she collapsed.

When I woke up, I saw a bright flashlight.

Then I heard Zhou Jun's voice.

"Miss Lü, are you alright? What happened?"

"A ghost! There's a ghost!" Lü Fei suddenly threw herself into Zhou Jun's arms and sobbed. After a while, she realized she had lost her composure and quickly sat up straight.

Fortunately, Zhou Jun didn't say anything.

Only then did Xiaofei realize that besides her and Zhou Jun, there was nothing else on the rooftop except for the wind whistling past her ears. No models, no dresses, and no naked old woman.

With Zhou Jun's help, Lü Fei groped her way home. She was still shaken.

The following week, strange things happened more and more. For example, she would hear thumping sounds from the walls in the middle of the night. Dull but clear. Listening carefully to the source of the sound, she would suddenly hear nothing at all. Just as she relaxed, the strange sound would turn into a piercing, agonizing scratching sound, like fingernails scraping against the wall, driving her mad! Sometimes she would hear footsteps on the rooftop, a clattering sound, like a woman walking in high heels, but sometimes the sound would suddenly become rapid and continuous, like something hard being dragged across the floor. For some reason, Xiaofei's mind conjured up the image of the plastic mannequin dancing in the moonlight on the empty rooftop.

What completely broke Lü Fei was that she felt like something was wandering around her room.

For example, she ate half a piece of chocolate and left it on the table. The next day, she couldn't find it anywhere. At first, she thought there were mice in the house. But do mice even eat the packaging? The fruit on the coffee table also seemed to be disappearing inexplicably. Although she couldn't remember the exact number, she felt that the food was being consumed much faster than usual. Another time, when she came home and turned on the light switch, she found something black on her hands. Turning her head, she saw several clear black handprints imprinted on the wall!

This really terrified her.

She took a few days off and decided to get to the bottom of things.

Finally, she bumped into an older woman from the fourth floor who was returning from grocery shopping. They met in the hallway. Xiao Fei smiled at the woman, who, seemingly aware that she was an upstairs resident, wasn't as aloof as before. Xiao Fei returned a slight smile.

"Auntie, may I ask you something?"

The woman stopped, probably already knowing what Xiaofei wanted to ask. But she hesitated, "What do you want to ask?"

"I just wanted to ask if the place I rented was... a little unclean?"

The woman's face gradually paled, and her lips twitched a few times. Then, glancing left and right, she seemed to have made a great decision before whispering to her, "There's nothing wrong with your house, the problem is..."

Suddenly, the aunt stopped talking, her eyes filled with fear, and she turned and went into the house, leaving a bewildered Lü Fei behind.

Xiao Fei turned her head and saw Zhou Jun standing at the other end of the corridor, his cold eyes able to freeze the raindrops falling outside.

"Mr. Zhou, you didn't go to work?" Lu Fei felt a little awkward, so she struck up a conversation.

Zhou Jun grunted in response, said nothing more, and coldly brushed past her as he went downstairs.

That day, she knocked on Zhou Jun's door. Having lived there for some time, this was her first visit to Zhou Jun. She felt that what the aunt hadn't finished saying that day was related to the Zhou family. If she couldn't get an answer indirectly, it would be better to confront him directly.

Zhou Jun was home. He wasn't surprised to see Lü Fei.

"Miss Lü, is there something you need?"

"Um. Mr. Zhou, may I come in and talk? I have something I'd like to ask you."

Zhou Jun hesitated briefly before stepping aside to let her into the house.

Stepping into the room, Lü Fei discovered that the Zhou family's home was extremely simple. Although it was daytime, the doors to both bedrooms were tightly closed, with sunlight only seeping in through the gaps in the balcony curtains. The dimly lit living room contained only a worn-out leather sofa, a wooden coffee table, a wooden table, and three stools. There weren't even any appliances. However, next to the dining table, there was a memorial tablet. A pair of eerie red electric candles flickered like a pair of captivating eyes. The will on the tablet depicted a middle-aged woman, whose features seemed vaguely familiar to Lü Fei.

"And this is...?"

“That was my wife. Three years ago, she couldn’t think straight and hanged herself.” Zhou Jun’s calm voice was filled with endless sorrow. Perhaps repeating this fact to people so many times had made him numb.

"I'm so sorry." Lü Fei sat down on the sofa and took the glass of water Zhou Jun handed her. "Mr. Zhou, do you live alone?"

“I live with my daughter. But she’s not home right now.”

"Oh. By the way, Mr. Zhou, I was wondering if you've heard any noises in the middle of the night recently?"

"A sound? Like what?"

"I haven't been sleeping well lately. I keep hearing people walking on the rooftop, and there are banging sounds on the walls, or the sound of fingernails scratching at the walls." Lü Fei wasn't sure if she should say what she was about to say. "I feel like there's something unclean in the house."

“I’m so sorry, I disturbed you. The banging on the wall was caused by my daughter. For three years, she has been having nightmares about her mother dying, which wakes her up in terror. Then she goes crazy. So… I’m really sorry, I disturbed you. As for the footsteps on the rooftop, I didn’t hear them either. Maybe I’ll ask Xiaowei tonight to see if she heard them.”

"Besides that, I also found black handprints on the wall of my room!"

"Is it this shape?" Zhou Jun pointed to his ceiling. There were several "black handprints" on it.

Xiao Fei was taken aback: "How come you have one at home too?"

"This is an old house, and sometimes mold grows on the walls. It's probably due to water seepage. It's not a fingerprint. Ms. Lü, you're overthinking it."

"So that's how it is. Maybe I was just overthinking it." Lü Fei thought to herself, probably just being paranoid, accumulating all sorts of small problems and scaring herself.

...

After saying goodbye to Zhou Jun, Lü Fei returned home. But she still had some doubts about what happened at Zhou Jun's house. First, she heard a noise in the bedroom. It sounded like something struggling on the bed, an unclear yet forceful sound. Just as she was about to try and figure it out, Zhou Jun suddenly got up, making a louder noise by bracing his leg against the chair on the floor, distracting her. And why did the photo on the memorial tablet look so familiar? Also, why did I feel a strange smile on Zhou Jun's face when he closed the door?

Wait, I think I've really seen that photo before... Wait, isn't that the old woman I saw on the rooftop that night? Or am I seeing things?

Ugh... I'm so sleepy. Never mind, I don't want to think about it anymore. I'll just go to sleep for a while.

Lü Fei felt heavy-headed, probably because she had been under a lot of stress and hadn't had enough rest lately. So she went into her bedroom and fell asleep immediately.

Half-asleep, she felt someone shaking her shoulder. Half-opening her eyes, she saw the face of a wrinkled, gray-haired woman. But… she was so sleepy. It must be a dream… she drifted back to sleep. After what seemed like an eternity, she was awakened by a noise and vaguely saw a naked old woman wandering around the room. She fell asleep again.

When she woke up, it was still dark.

How long have I been asleep? Is it the middle of the night?

She checked her phone; it was 3:30 PM.

Strange, wasn't it 3:30 before I went to Zhou Jun's house? How come it's still 3:30 even after sleeping for so long... Wait! Why is it still dark at 3:30 in the afternoon? My curtains are definitely open.

Lü Fei checked the time again; it was indeed 3:30, and the wall clock also showed 3:30. It wasn't until she checked her phone a third time that she realized the date was different—it was already the next day.

She pushed open the window, full of doubt, only to find the sun shining brightly outside. But the windowpane… had been painted black!

Who did this?!

Lu Fei was furious. She grabbed a glass from the table and threw it wildly at the floor.

Bang! A loud explosion.

This allowed her to vent her emotions.

Knock knock knock... Someone is knocking on the door.

It's Zhou Jun.

"Miss Lü, what happened to you?" Zhou Jun asked with a concerned and anxious expression. For some reason, this disgusted Lü Fei. She hated this kind of superficial concern that was actually just a way of watching the drama unfold.

"It's nothing." Lu Fei's indifference made Zhou Jun feel a little awkward. She was about to close the door, but Zhou Jun's words stopped her in her tracks.

“I asked Xiaowei last night, and she said, ‘She also heard footsteps on the rooftop… She thinks it’s her… mother.’”

Xiao Fei was stunned. It turned out that not only she, but others had also sensed it.

Zhou Jun pushed open the door and calmly said to Xiao Fei, "Actually, several families have lived in this house before, but none of them stayed for long before moving out in a hurry. I never knew why. It wasn't until you told me those strange things that I realized—maybe there really is a problem."

Lu Fei roughly guessed what he was going to say, but still asked, "What question... Could it be that there really is a ghost?"

Zhou Jun neither admitted nor denied it: "I kept telling myself that she was gone. I didn't expect that she still couldn't let go. They say that people who commit suicide can't enter the cycle of reincarnation and will linger in the land of the dead, right? I miss her so much. But... I can never see her. Why does she see you and my daughter, but not me?"

Zhou Jun's weathered face showed immense loneliness and sorrow.

"Mr. Zhou, please accept my condolences. It's been so long. If... if it really is your wife's ghost, what should I do?"

"Here, take this." Zhou Jun took out a Tibetan knife covered with Tantric runes. "A monk gave it to me when I traveled to Tibet many years ago. If... it really endangers Miss Lü's life, then please finish her off." He lowered his head slowly, showing that he had made a great decision.

Lu Fei was so moved she didn't know what to say: "Don't worry, I won't panic if I meet her again. I'll have a good talk with her. I'll only use this as a last resort..."

After seeing Zhou Jun off, Lü Fei sat on the edge of the bed, stroking her Tibetan knife. A hint of hatred flickered in her eyes.

Why are you bothering me? I didn't do anything.

I went to the kitchen, made something quick and easy to eat, and drank some water. It was already evening.

Strangely, I've been so tired these past two days, and incredibly sleepy.

Lu Fei hid the knife under her pillow and fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, she was awakened by a commotion. She saw a disheveled, naked woman squatting in her living room, eating something—an apple.

Hearing Lü Fei's voice, the woman turned around, and sure enough, it was the old woman she had seen on the rooftop last time, who was also Zhou Jun's wife.

No one can fool me, not even a ghost!

In an instant, Lü Fei forgot her promise to Zhou Jun, drew her knife, rushed forward, and slashed at the old woman's neck.

The force was so great that after the woman's head left her neck, it flew and hit the wall, then rolled several times on the floor before coming to a stop.

Blood……

Why is there blood...?

Warm blood! Spraying in all directions.

Isn't she a ghost?

Lu Fei suddenly felt that things were not so simple.

Clack.

The door to her house was opened.

By the moonlight, it was clear that the person who entered was Zhou Jun.

“Very good, just as I expected. You still killed her.” Zhou Jun smiled. It was a genuine, relieved, and relaxed smile.

"What do you mean? Didn't you tell me your wife is a ghost?! And why do you have a key to my house?"

"You believe me? Haha! How foolish." Zhou Jun grinned, revealing his teeth, stained black and yellow from years of smoking. "First, I'm the landlord, so of course I have the key..."

"What? You're the landlord, didn't you say..." Lu Fei finally understood why her house always seemed to have been disturbed, but it didn't look like a thief had been there.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really want to hurt you! It's just that this crazy woman has been tormenting me to no end. She's gone mad ever since my daughter hanged herself three years ago. For three whole years, I've had to endure both the pain of losing my daughter and her insane tantrums. A person's energy is finite. I just couldn't take it anymore. Luckily, you're naive and believe in ghosts. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to use you... But don't worry, I can testify to the police that this crazy woman was trying to harm you, and that you killed her in self-defense. You'll be fine. But if you expose my past, I'll change my testimony at any time, saying you threatened me. Think about it carefully. Killing a lunatic will free me, and you won't have any trouble either. In return, I can waive your rent for a year..."

Lu Fei had no interest in listening to his rambling.