My high school was in Yantai, a small place that might look quite distant on the map, but in reality, it was just a short bike ride away, not more than fifteen minutes. I transferred to this school later because my family used to live in another place.
After arriving, I, like most high school students, made friends with a group of people who shared similar interests. We played soccer together, had meals, and celebrated birthdays at each other's homes, or we went out to eat and drink.
One day, it was probably a holiday, we were celebrating a friend's birthday at his house, and his mother was not around, or at least I hadn't seen her. They were relatively well-off, with entertainment equipment like a stereo and karaoke, which was considered quite modern at the time. We shared cake, took lots of photos, sang songs, and the atmosphere was quite lively.
Suddenly, the host stood up and said someone was knocking at the door, with a very serious expression. However, none of us believed him. Even though it was a bit chaotic at the time, if the doorbell rang in his house, there was no way we could miss it. We teased him, but he insisted on checking the door.
He returned quickly, but the expression on his face was something I'll never forget as long as I live. I had heard about people turning pale from fear, but I had never seen it before. That time, there was an unmistakable pallor on his face, and he didn't dare to look at anyone. His gaze wasn't avoiding us as much as it was avoiding some supernatural force in the air. When we asked him what happened, he didn't say anything, just shook his head and said it was nothing.
After that day, our enthusiasm waned due to his despondency.
On the way home, someone walked with me, and she told me a story related to him.
"His mother had health problems, but since the family was well-off, she didn't work. One day, while he was at school, he suddenly felt uneasy and wanted to check on his mother. So, he decided to go home during the break."
"Yantai is quite small, and he could easily make it back before the next class started. In fact, he had a short conversation with his mother at home, and he was back on time. However, when he was going down the stairs, he encountered two people, a man and a woman. They asked him if he knew someone named XXX. That was his mother's name, and he said she was at home. They said they were her colleagues, here to pick her up. They told him they lived in the same building, apartment 202, and pointed to the direction."
"In those days, everyone knew that 202 was not just any ordinary number. In places like Beijing, it was widely understood to be a euphemism for a mortuary. Nevertheless, he didn't pay it any attention."
"When he went back home around noon, his father was there, but his mother wasn't. She had already passed away due to her heart condition."
"The place where the body was stored was in the same direction as where the two people had pointed."
"When I heard this, I couldn't help but feel a chill. Coincidentally, my mind connected the story with what had happened when someone knocked on the door earlier."
"When I got home, I couldn't wait to call him, and I only breathed a sigh of relief when I heard his voice."
"The next day he didn't come to school. He was on the way, and a car almost ran him over. If it weren't for the quick reaction of the teacher, his neck would have been broken."
"Afterward, he realized he was wearing the exact pair of shoes that he had seen in the dream."
"When he got home, he shared the entire story with his mother. She was terrified. Eventually, she decided to burn those troublesome shoes and get him a new pair. After that, we never heard anything about him. His father went south for business, and one by one, his family members disappeared from my life."