Capítulo 23: Chapter 23: Mannequin, Staircase, Sound
After leaving the teaching building, I quickly led the three kids toward the laboratory building.
A living person disappearing right before your eyes—there's no way not to worry. Even though the disappearance might very well be a prank orchestrated by them, as an adult, my first priority in such moments is her safety.
Because only I know, this school might really be haunted.
Ignoring the barrage of comments from the livestream audience, I followed the weed-infested path to the entrance of the laboratory building.
The structure had six floors, appearing much larger than the teaching building.
"Elite Japanese education is like this. Students only learn limited theoretical knowledge in the classroom; most of the teaching happens in the lab building. They focus more on practical skills."
"Damn, the Japanese collaborators haven't left yet!"
"Step aside, folks. My grandpa sank a Japanese submarine back in the day with this grenade!"
"Above comment certified insane…"
The laboratory building's main door was locked and sealed with strips of tape. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the seals were old but intact, meaning the door hadn't been opened since it was locked.
"That means there's no need to check this building." If no one could get in, there was no reason to worry about Shen Meng being taken here.
"Streamer, look at this." As if the universe were playing a joke on me, Xiumu pointed to a window on the left side of the first floor. "You can get in from here!"
I approached the window. All the others were locked and sealed, except this one, which was half-open.
It almost felt like it was deliberately left that way to tell me someone had just entered. The window swayed slightly in the breeze, making eerie whistling sounds.
"You guys wait outside. I'll go in and check first."
"No way! Shen Meng is my girlfriend; I have to go in."
"Let's search together. More people means more help," Xiumu suggested. He'd been more subdued since almost being punched by Xue Fei earlier.
Since they were insistent, and I couldn't leave the youngest, Sakura, alone outside, I relented. "Alright, but let's go together. If we encounter danger, don't panic."
With that, I raised the camera in one hand and entered the room first.
It appeared to be an art classroom. Old easels were stacked in the corner. I flipped a few over; faint, grotesque colors could still be seen on them.
"Artists sure have a different taste." After closing the easels, I swung my phone's flashlight around. Suddenly, a blank, lifeless face appeared in the beam. Startled, I moved closer and realized it was just a plastic mannequin.
"Anyone with weaker nerves would be scared to tears seeing this at night."
The mannequin was blocking the door. When I tried to move it aside, I found it wasn't hollow. It was heavy, almost as if I were lifting a real person.
Laying it flat on the ground, I examined the mannequin's face. Some mischievous student had doodled all over it, and I noticed a name written on its bald head: Guo Junjie.
"Did Guo Junjie draw this?" I quickly realized I was wrong. Looking further, I saw the mannequin's entire back was covered in insults and curses.
"Poor kid." There's always one like this in every class—silent, socially awkward, and inexplicably the target of everyone's bullying.
Though some of the words on the mannequin's back had been wiped away, there were even more insults layered over the wiped areas.
I pictured the scene in my mind: A bullied kid furiously scrubbing the mannequin with their school uniform, surrounded by laughter as others used paint-dipped markers to scrawl cruel words wherever the child had just cleaned—even on their clothes, their body, their face.
Some say kids are always innocent. But sometimes, they don't even realize how malicious their actions can be.
I patted the mannequin's head, reminded of my younger self. "There was a time when I got bullied a lot too."
"What happened after that?" Xiumu and Xue Fei climbed in through the window.
I smirked. "I started carrying a fruit knife in my bag."
"Whoa, you had such a badass past? And then?"
"Then I got expelled. Spent a long time suspended from school and ended up having no choice but to attend a police academy." A hint of weariness crept into my voice. "If I had just swallowed my pride back then, maybe I'd be a lawyer or doctor now."
At the door, I noticed the lock had been violently removed, the broken piece lying among the easels.
"No signs of tools being used—it looks like it was yanked off." Opening the door slightly, I was greeted by a pitch-black corridor where nothing was visible.
"Let's move. Staying here won't help us find Shen Meng."
Xiumu urged us forward, looking more thrilled than concerned about Shen Meng.
"You three should hold hands and stick to the wall. If we encounter anything beyond comprehension, retrace your steps immediately. Got it?" I warned repeatedly, worried sick about the kids.
"Maybe you should worry about yourself, Mr. Naggy." Xue Fei, irritable over Shen Meng's disappearance, snapped at me.
Saying no more, I lit the way with my phone and stuck to the wall, moving step by step.
Thump…
Something fell over. The sound was faint but echoed clearly in the silence of the lab building.
"It wasn't us," I confirmed, ensuring there was nothing beneath our feet.
Thump…
The strange sound came again, this time from deep within the first floor.
Xiumu tugged at my sleeve. "It seems to be coming from that far end. Let's check it out."
My initial plan was to search each classroom methodically. But with that noise lingering, it felt unsettling not to investigate.
Passing by two unfamiliar labs, we reached a staircase leading to the second floor. Shining my light, I counted exactly 12 steps.
"Hey, have you heard the story of the 13th step? They say naughty kids who come to school at midnight will find an extra step on a staircase that usually has 12. Stepping on it takes you to another world," Xiumu whispered with a spooky tone.
"Can you shut up for a minute?" Xue Fei shoved Xiumu against the wall. "Stop with the ghost stories! There's no such thing as ghosts."
Their argument irritated me for some reason.
"I heard a different version. Stepping on the 13th step doesn't take you to another world—it shows you your own death. The 13th step is your corpse."
I'd heard many versions of the story. In fact, because "13th step" appeared in the Hell Show task prompt, I had even researched it before coming here.
"Streamer, is that true?" Both boys asked in unison, their faces unreadable in the dark.
"Of course not. It's just a made-up tale. If you're interested, I can tell you dozens of ghost stories after we find Shen Meng."
We passed the staircase and moved toward the source of the noise.
Thump, thump…
Eventually, we arrived at the far end of the first floor. Just as we reached it, the strange sound abruptly stopped.
"Wasn't it coming from here?" Three pairs of nervous eyes scanned the area. At the end of the hallway stood… a restroom.
Raising my camera, I peered at the phone screen. If anything supernatural lurked inside, it should appear on the camera.
"I'll go in first. You all wait outside."
Pushing the restroom door open, I was surprised to find no foul smell. After all, five years had passed since anyone used it.
The first thing I noticed was the washbasin. Above the three sinks hung a cracked, dust-covered mirror, scrawled with angry, blood-red letters:
"Kill you all! Kill every last one of you! Die! Die! Die!"
"What kind of grudge is this?" Wiping the mirror with my hand, I caught a faint reflection of myself. But it was so distorted that I wasn't even sure it was me.
Turning on the taps, I found the first two were broken. When I twisted the third, the pipes gurgled before a thick liquid oozed out.
"Could it… be blood?"
I cupped a bit in my hand and brought it closer…
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