Seeing Darius, Li Tao realized that even Black people could have dark circles under their eyes. The Darius who was a bright, cheerful young man just yesterday now looked as though he had aged ten years overnight.
His eyes were weary, with pronounced dark circles, and his steps were heavy, as if his entire body was weighed down. The vibrant smile that once defined him had vanished, replaced by a deep sense of exhaustion. The drastic change left Li Tao shocked, as if Darius's youthful energy had been drained away in just one night, making Li Tao worry about what he might have gone through.
"What happened to you?" Li Tao asked.
Darius's voice was faint and weak, "I woke up and found you all gone. I heard noises from you guys and came down. Man, maybe you're right—there really might be something wrong with this house."
Luna placed the last carton of milk in the fridge. "What happened to you last night? Did you find something?"
"Yes, I'm afraid you won't believe me, but it's strange. Last night I was showering and realized it was past midnight. You know, my bathroom is outside my bedroom." Darius looked dazed. "Then, I heard this weird sound, like knocking…"
Li Tao's heart sank when he heard this; it seemed Darius had heard the same sound as he did.
"And then," Darius continued, "I felt like someone was watching me. That feeling was terrifying, to be honest. It's like you know you're the only one in the room, but you feel like there's another person, maybe even more… I don't know if you get what I mean." Darius leaned on a chair and slowly sat at the dining table.
"I understand. That sensation is known in psychology as 'the feeling of being watched' or 'persecutory delusion.' It's usually caused by anxiety, stress, paranoia, extreme fatigue, or heightened self-awareness." Luna explained while pouring Darius a glass of juice. "Don't take it personally; I took psychology as an elective. Have some, you probably haven't eaten all day. How about we have hotpot tonight? My treat. We just bought some groceries, though it's not much—mostly meant to go with instant noodles."
"Thanks," Darius took a sip of the juice. "You're right; I studied a bit of psychology in college too, but I think it's more likely I'm just stressed, not hallucinating."
"And then?" Li Tao gestured for Luna to sit down and rest while he started preparing dinner ingredients from the fridge.
"Then," Darius's voice began to tremble, "I wanted to finish showering quickly and get back. Just when I was getting dressed, I suddenly felt someone grab my ankle—really hard. I fell and blacked out… and while I was unconscious, I had a nightmare."
**"A Nightmare? What Kind of Nightmare?"** Luna got up to prepare dinner for Kiki. Since earlier, Kiki had been sticking close to Luna, nudging her hand repeatedly, and Luna thought Kiki might be hungry.
Darius didn't bother to sit up as Luna and Li Tao moved around. He kept his elbows on the table, head in his hands, rubbing his curly hair over and over. "Then I dreamed about the driver from the news Danny showed us last night—Jack, wasn't it?"
Li Tao paused, his hand stopping in the middle of reaching for ingredients. Jack? He glanced at Darius, suddenly realizing there was more than just exhaustion on his face; there was a deep, unspeakable fear.
Darius took a deep breath, as if trying to expel the darkness within him. "In the dream, I found myself in a fog, everything was wet, and there was a pungent smell in the air. I stood up and realized I was on the path in front of our house, and there seemed to be a car ahead. Instinctively, I ran to it, and somehow, I found myself in the back seat. There was someone in the driver's seat…"
Darius's voice was hoarse and low, his hands trembling as if he were reliving an indescribable pain. "I saw him—Jack. He saw me too. I asked him why he was there, and when he looked at me, he was terrified. His face was tense with fear, his eyes wide open, pupils so small they were almost invisible, his sclera showing an unnatural pallor…"
Luna's hand stopped as she was serving Kiki's food. She turned around, her face pale. "You mean, you dreamed of the fog and Jack?"
Darius nodded and let out a bitter smile. "Yeah. I saw how scared he was and was about to say something when I heard that same knocking sound from earlier. It felt like my soul was being ripped out… Just as I thought I was about to die, I heard Kiki's barking, and I swear, I saw Kiki… Then I woke up. When I woke up, my ankle was twisted. Danny texted me, and I barely made it back to my room. I texted Luna to ask if Kiki had been out… And although it felt like only a minute passed in the dream, when I woke up, nearly two hours had gone by."
The chilling words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. Li Tao frowned, feeling as though the nightmare had seeped into every corner of their reality, leaving no room to escape.
Darius's nightmare, Jack's disappearance, and the scene Li Tao witnessed last night made him more certain that the world of fog truly existed, but it was in a different dimension with a different flow of time than their own.
The eerie feeling seemed to spill from the dream into reality, enveloping everyone in the house.
Li Tao was about to tell Darius and Luna about the phone call he had received from Jack in the fog when Luna placed Kiki's bowl on the floor, turned to Darius, and spoke in a slow, heavy voice: "Darius, I don't think it was just a nightmare. Maybe what you felt wasn't just psychological, because I've experienced the same thing… in the world of the fog."
Her words struck Darius and Li Tao like a thunderbolt.
"What did you just say?!" Darius slammed the table in shock but then remembered his ankle. He abruptly stopped himself from standing and sat back down.
Li Tao was equally stunned, rendered speechless. He had always thought Luna was a timid girl, yet she had been through so much without saying a word until now.
Luna leaned weakly against the edge of the kitchen counter. "I was afraid you wouldn't believe me, so I kept it to myself."
"The night you arrived," Luna looked at Li Tao, "I went through something similar."
"Remember when I told you about seeing rotting food in the fridge that smelled awful?" Luna continued.
"I remember… wait," Li Tao suddenly realized, "you went to the kitchen after 1 a.m.? Not only that, but you also went out after midnight?"
"Yeah." Luna smiled wryly. "I hadn't seen the rules back then. I was hungry and wanted to grab something to eat, maybe cook some instant noodles. Kiki kept barking when I was about to leave. I thought she was just uncomfortable being in a new place with me. I didn't want to disturb you, so I locked Kiki in the bathroom… Looking back, Kiki probably knew something. She was trying to stop me, but I didn't realize it. I even scolded her, telling her to be quiet and not to disturb your rest. Now, I just feel so foolish and sorry for Kiki."
"It's not your fault," Li Tao quickly reassured her. "You didn't know about the rules then, and you were just trying not to disturb me. I was probably too tired that night to hear anything."
Luna rubbed her face and continued, "So I went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and saw that the food I'd placed there had suddenly rotted and smelled terrible. I was so scared that I slammed the fridge door and ran back upstairs."
"On my way up, I felt something grab my arm," Luna said, looking at Darius. "Unlike you, I didn't fall, but when I closed my eyes and opened them again, I felt that something was off. The stairs seemed older, though it was hard to see clearly since I didn't turn on the light. The air was damp and smelled foul."
"I was terrified. I heard faint knocking sounds like you did, and I ran upstairs, but it felt like the staircase had no end…"
"No end?" Darius exclaimed.
Luna nodded, her face pale as a sheet. "Yeah, I kept running, even though our stairs are just a few steps. No matter how far I ran, I couldn't reach the end. It felt like I was trapped in an endless loop, unable to escape. With every step, the wood creaked beneath my feet, and the darkness around me seemed to swallow me whole. My fear grew with each step, my heart pounding as if it would burst from my throat. I could barely breathe, feeling like I was suffocating."
She paused, seemingly struggling to recall the overwhelming sense of despair. Her voice trembled slightly. "Then, I heard Kiki barking behind me. It was the most familiar sound, but it seemed distant, yet so close. I stopped, turned around, but there was nothing—only thick fog and endless darkness."
Darius and Li Tao held their breath, eyes fixed on Luna, afraid to miss a single word.
**"Just When I Thought I Couldn't Escape…"**
Luna's voice trembled slightly. "Just when I thought I couldn't escape, I suddenly saw a faint light at the top of the stairs. I ran desperately towards the light. The moment I burst out, I found myself standing at the bedroom door. The door was open, and Kiki was standing there, barking at me as if urging me to go inside."
Luna pressed her hand against her chest, trying to calm the lingering fear from that night. "I almost broke down at that moment. When I ran into the room, I nearly fell, and Kiki rushed over to lick my face as if trying to comfort me. Then I quickly locked the door and went back to my room, too afraid to come out again. And most importantly, just like Darius said, it felt like only a minute had passed, but when I looked at the clock, nearly three hours had gone by."
"And look." Luna slowly removed her jacket, revealing a faint black handprint on her arm. "I only discovered this the next day. That night when I got back, I tried to push the bed, which was originally in the middle, against the wall because I was cleaning and prefer to sleep against the wall. During the process, I found the rule paper. Darius, check your ankle to see if it's like mine."
Darius's face darkened instantly. He looked at Li Tao. "Can you check it for me, bro? My ankle hurts so much, I can't bend it."
Li Tao crouched down and awkwardly examined Darius's ankle. "Well, bro, Luna's handprint is black, but yours… it's hard to tell…"
Darius realized the awkwardness of the situation and felt embarrassed. "Sorry, I forgot that I'm Black, but I'm sure it's something similar to what Luna has."
In the tense atmosphere, Li Tao was silent for a moment before speaking. "So, it's not just you, Darius, and me, but also Jack, who have encountered the fog."
Darius and Luna's eyes widened in unison as they stared at Li Tao. Darius asked, "Bro, are you sure? You just said you encountered it too? And Jack?"
Luna waved her hand at Li Tao. "Hold on a minute, this is too much information. Let me process it."
Li Tao quickly clarified, "Actually, it wasn't me directly. To put it simply… after I went back to my room yesterday, I received a voice call from Jason. He said he had just left our house ten minutes ago, but everything around him was foggy and told me to pass the phone to Alex. I told him Alex had been missing for a day, and then he said he saw our house, but the signal cut off. The last thing he seemed to say was 'No, door,' and then it was completely cut off… Later, I heard Darius showering… After receiving his reassuring message, I had trouble sleeping. When I took a shower, I noticed thick fog outside, which disappeared as soon as I blinked. I thought it might be an illusion, but it felt so real, so I wanted to wait until today to ask Darius before telling you."
The room fell silent for a moment. Luna finally spoke up, "But that's not right. Darius and I only entered the fog world by breaking the rules. What about you?"
Li Tao pondered, his thoughts a jumble as he tried to piece together overlooked clues. He whispered, "I don't know… I didn't break any rules yesterday. It might be because Jack's call dragged me into it, or maybe it's an issue with the house itself."
Darius looked up at Li Tao, his eyes filled with complex emotions. "If even following the rules doesn't prevent us from entering the fog world, doesn't that mean we're constantly in danger?"
Luna frowned, her expression serious. "If entering the fog world was only about breaking the rules, it would be manageable. But it seems more complicated. Darius's dream, Jack's disappearance, and the call you received… It seems these things are not just about rule-breaking."
"Perhaps we really need to reexamine this rule paper," Li Tao said calmly. "Maybe these rules are just a surface-level phenomenon, and there's a deeper reason behind them. Moreover, the rules don't explain the knocking sounds, strange sensations, or the different flow of time. It's as if something was deliberately left out."
Darius nodded. "I also think this house is full of mysteries. At first, I thought it was just haunted or a psychological issue, but now it seems this house might be some kind of portal connecting the fog world and reality."
"And," Luna added softly, "if Jack has also been drawn into the fog, then each of us could potentially be involved, regardless of whether we live here."
"Maybe Danny broke the rule about 'not inviting anyone else into the house' but didn't break it completely," a sudden voice interrupted.
The three of them jumped, turning to see Marc leaning casually against the basement door. His tone was indifferent. "One of the rules is that no one other than tenants can be invited into the house. Although your driver didn't come in, he did enter the path, which likely falls within the house's sphere of influence."
"When were you here? We didn't even notice you," Darius asked.
Marc shrugged. "I've been here since you started talking about having hotpot. You were so absorbed in your conversation that you didn't notice me. By the way, can I also have some hotpot? I've never tried Chinese hotpot."