The riverside of Xizhi was desolate in the dead of night. Despite being close to the city, the river completely isolated it from human activity and noise. Among the old factories and abandoned buildings, not even a dog could be seen.
So, when Charles heard hurried footsteps and a woman's call, he was very surprised. Charles had long heard ghost stories about the Xizhi Industrial Area, whether it was the dead band playing music at midnight or the female ghost asking for directions under the streetlights. That day, due to a mechanical failure, he had to work overtime for the first time until so late. Dragging his tired body out of the factory, he suddenly heard a woman's voice coming from a nearby alley. He swallowed nervously, hesitating whether to go and check it out.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, Charles decided to muster up the courage to walk towards the alley. He thought, if it was a ghost, he would run away quickly, but if someone was really in trouble, he couldn't just stand by. As he nervously turned into the alley, he saw a woman in white clothes with disheveled long hair lying on the ground, looking like Sadako crawling out of a well.
"Ah!" Charles covered his mouth to stifle a scream, trembling all over.
"Help…" The woman slowly raised her head. Under the streetlight, her face was pale, her cheeks gaunt, and blood was at the corner of her mouth. She reached out her hand. "Help me…"
"Oh my God…" Charles nervously muttered a prayer, his legs weak and unsure whether to move forward or backward. "Are you human or a ghost?"
"Hurry… I can't hold on… ugh…" She seemed to be trying to stand up but couldn't support her weak body. "Cough, cough!" She coughed up blood, then covered her mouth with a pained expression as if she was about to vomit.
Charles was trembling with fear. Although he felt the woman didn't look like a ghost, he didn't dare to approach her rashly. He took out his phone. "Hold on, I'll call an ambulance for you."
Before Charles could dial, he heard more footsteps approaching.
"Over here!"
"Are you sure?"
It was the voices of two men. Charles was initially relieved to have others around and wanted to ask for help, but the woman turned back nervously, showing a look of terror.
"Look, there's blood here. She ran this way."
"Hurry!"
"Don't worry, she won't last long."
"That's the problem. If she's out here like this…" The voices of the two men grew closer.
"Are they chasing you?" Charles asked the woman.
"Ugh…" The woman didn't answer, as if her mouth was full of something, and the next second, a black and red fleshy object suddenly emerged from her mouth!
"Ah." Charles was stunned, not knowing what was happening. He only saw the woman collapse forward, motionless, while the object from her mouth kept growing longer…
"Ah." Charles was dumbfounded. "Could she be… dead?"
"Over here!" The men's voices were at the other end of the alley, their footsteps quickly approaching.
Charles, unsure of the situation, decided to hide behind a trash bin to observe.
"Found her!"
"She ran all the way here, impressive!" The two men in black stopped beside the woman. Strangely, both were wearing gas masks, obscuring their faces.
"Is she dead?"
"She should have been dead long ago. It's a miracle she lasted this long." One of the men squatted down and turned the woman over. A black, rod-like object, about ten centimeters long, extended from her mouth. The tip of the black object was gradually swelling…
"Has it 'sprouted'?" One of the asked men said nervously.
"Why are you worried with a mask on? Just drag her back quickly." The other man replied.
Charles looked down and dialed 911. As he waited for the call to connect, he looked up again, seeing the two men lifting the woman together. He noticed black thread-like things crawling on her skin, and her body was stiff as if frozen, with her outstretched hand not drooping due to gravity. Even more bizarre was the increasingly swollen black object from her mouth, which was morphing into a grotesque, shriveled little head!
"Ah!" Charles couldn't help but exclaim.
As the call connected, Charles saw one of the gas-masked men hearing the sound and walking over.
"911? This is Xizhi Second Street… Ah, help!"
"Hello? Sir? Sir… are you still there?" The voice from the phone on the ground received no response.