Chapter Fourteen: What Secrets Lie Within the Sealed Compartment

"Is this prison scene really so realistic? It looks terrifying."
Tian Yuan hadn't even stepped inside, yet half his courage had already deserted him.
"Isn't this exactly what we want from a haunted house? If it’s not scary, who would come? We can't embarrass the Police Academy."
Yuan Rushuang shot Tian Yuan a reproachful look and strode ahead on her own.
"This haunted house is strange. The settings are realistic, but why isn't there a single actor around?"
Yuan Rushuang charged forward alone, and the five others stuck close behind. They wandered through the deserted guardroom and interrogation room, then came out shaking their heads.
"Senior was right. Aside from being a bit eerie, this haunted house isn't scary at all."
"The owner looked all smiles, but he's sly. He's just tricking us out of our money."
The speaker was a girl nicknamed Butterfly. She was short, with cropped hair and a pale pink bubble dress.
Her round face was dotted with a few freckles, her eyes small but lively—a textbook good girl.
Butterfly looked over at a short, chubby boy with hair that curled into soft rolls. "Curly, you’ve been to quite a few haunted houses, right? How does this one stack up?"
"I've been to two in this city, three in Summer River City, and two in Autumn Water City—this is my eighth haunted house."
"Damn, Curly, you've been hiding this from us! When did you go to so many haunted houses?"
A tall, thin boy called Duke, standing beside Curly, gave him a playful smack on the back of the head.
Curly smiled, running his fingers through his curls. "My dad took me when I was a kid. And all the haunted houses I’ve visited followed a linear path."
"I’ve never seen one where you can wander around like this."
"But no haunted house has ever scared me, and this one’s probably worse than the others."
"Hey, look over there—isn't that restroom the one from the video?"
The question came from a burly, bald boy nicknamed Monk.
"Looks like it. Let's check it out," Yuan Rushuang led the way.
Of the six Police Academy students, only Yuan Rushuang was a junior.
Curly, Duke, and Monk were sophomores, while Tian Yuan and Butterfly were freshmen.

For that reason, both in seniority and in mental toughness, Yuan Rushuang was the undisputed big sister among them.
The six students quickly entered the restroom. First, they stared at the mirror from the video, finding nothing out of the ordinary.
The braver ones—Duke, Monk, and Curly—checked each stall in turn.
"This one’s boarded up," Duke said, pushing the door of the fourth stall. It wouldn’t budge; wooden planks were nailed tight all around.
"Curly, what’s usually inside a sealed stall in a haunted house?" Duke asked, turning to Curly.
"How should I know? Maybe there’s an actor hiding inside. You could crouch down and see if you spot any feet."
Among them, no one was braver than Duke, except perhaps Yuan Rushuang.
Without a word, Duke set his left hand on the stall door, squatted deep, braced his right hand on the floor, and bent down to peer inside.
The lighting was dim, and the gap beneath the door was narrow.
Duke practically pressed his face to the floor but still couldn’t see inside.
His left hand, seeking balance, unconsciously traced a "C" on the door.
"Nothing. What a letdown." Duke stood, dusting off his hands and face in frustration.
Monk glanced at Duke, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Told you—the video’s fake. You guys wouldn’t believe me, had to see for yourselves. So, what now?"
"They shot the video with the lights off. Let’s try that—see what happens."
"We can use our phone flashlights to recreate the effect. Anyone object?"
Yuan Rushuang wasn’t ready to give up; she wanted to replicate the video scenario.
"No objections, Senior," Butterfly said, swallowing her nerves but sticking close to Yuan Rushuang.
"Fine by me. There’s enough of us here—nothing to be afraid of. This haunted house is so tame we’ll have to scare ourselves."
Curly admired his calm reflection in the mirror, clearly pleased with himself.
"Exactly. There are no ghosts in this world—haunted houses are all about people scaring people."
Monk checked his own bald head in the mirror, imagining how he’d look in the flashlight beam once the lights were off.
"We’re training to face real criminals. The tricks here are child’s play. As long as you’re having fun, Senior, that’s what matters."

Duke slapped the dust from his face in front of the mirror, venting his annoyance at the haunted house.
Tian Yuan, though still uneasy, went along with the group’s enthusiasm.
He eagerly volunteered, "No problem, I’ll get the lights. Everyone, get your flashlights ready."
In the surveillance room, Shang Yi watched the group’s antics on the prison restroom monitors and couldn’t help but admire the Police Academy students’ steely nerves.
When Tian Yuan flicked the bathroom lights off, the restroom was swallowed by darkness, instantly pierced by the beams of six phone flashlights.
They shone their lights upward from below, illuminating their faces and peering into the mirror.
"At first glance, it’s a little creepy, but that’s all—just us scaring ourselves," Yuan Rushuang said, watching her ghoulish reflection with open disdain.
"Yeah, it’s nothing. I’ll use this trick to scare my cousin—maybe make her cry, haha," Monk said, waving his flashlight between his face and his bald head, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Curly, Butterfly, and Tian Yuan all tried out their own ghostly faces in the mirror, sometimes looking at others, sometimes at themselves.
With so many people and the opportunity to compare, even the most terrifying effect lost its edge.
Only Duke stared silently at his own ghost face, saying nothing.
Seeing nothing unusual, Yuan Rushuang strode to the wall and snapped the lights back on.
"That’s enough. Let’s go find the prison regulations and see if we can collect them all. This haunted house isn’t much."
They followed Yuan Rushuang out of the restroom and headed briskly toward the cells.
No one noticed that one of them was missing.
Though they chatted easily, once outside the restroom, each felt a subtle unease deep inside, though none could say exactly what was wrong.