Ghostly Shadows in the Dormitory: The Haunting of Room 403

The dormitory was an old, dilapidated building, perched at the edge of a vast campus. It was the kind of place that whispered secrets of its own, stories that had long been forgotten by time. Among the students, it was said that room 403 was cursed. The air was thick with a sense of foreboding, and those who dared to venture inside never returned with the same stories.

It was during the dead of night, when the campus was shrouded in silence, that the whispers of room 403 grew louder. A new batch of students arrived, unaware of the dormitory's grim reputation. Among them was Liu Yifei, a determined and curious girl with a knack for the supernatural. She had heard tales of the haunted dormitory and was intrigued to explore its eerie corners.

The dormitory had been recently renovated, but it was clear that the renovations had only masked the true horror that lay within. The walls were peeling, and the floorboards creaked ominously with every step. The room, number 403, was at the end of the hallway, the last place any student would choose to live.

Yifei's roommates were two of her close friends, Wang Meili and Zhang Hong. The three of them were excited to start their college life together, but as the night wore on, their excitement turned to dread. Unexplained cold drafts swept through the room, and they felt a presence watching them. Meili, a bit of a jinx, whispered, "It's room 403, isn't it? We're going to be haunted, just like the stories say."

Hong, always the pragmatic one, tried to reassure them, "Come on, let's not be superstitious. It's just an old building. Maybe the renovations didn't fix everything."

Yifei, however, wasn't so sure. She had seen strange shadows dancing in the corners of the room and felt a strange, overwhelming sense of dread. "Let's do a little investigation. I'll look into the legend of room 403. Maybe it'll give us some answers."

The legend of room 403 was a twisted tale of a former student who had committed suicide after being bullied. The story went that he had returned to seek revenge on his tormentors. The dormitory's residents claimed that he haunted the room, appearing in the form of a ghostly figure at night.

Yifei spent hours researching the dormitory's history, poring over old yearbooks and interviews with former residents. She discovered that the legend had a basis in truth. The boy had indeed committed suicide, and the dormitory's reputation had grown from there. It was said that he had chosen room 403 because it was the same room where he had stayed during his final days.

The next night, the three friends decided to confront their fear and investigate room 403 together. They found themselves standing before the creaky door, their hearts pounding with anticipation and fear. Yifei took a deep breath and pushed it open. The room was dimly lit by the flickering glow of a flickering light bulb.

As they stepped inside, the air grew colder, and a strange silence enveloped them. They had expected to see the ghost, but nothing happened. Yifei noticed a strange drawing on the wall, a portrait of a young man with a desperate expression. She couldn't shake the feeling that the drawing was watching them.

Meili shivered, "This place is giving me the creeps. Do you think it's just a coincidence that the portrait looks exactly like the boy in the legend?"

Hong nodded, "Maybe it's just an old painting. Let's get out of here."

But as they moved to leave, they heard a faint whisper. It was a name, a name that resonated with each of them. Yifei, Meili, and Zhang Hong. The whisper grew louder, and the drawing on the wall seemed to pulse with energy. Suddenly, the portrait began to move, its frame shaking as if it were being pulled by an unseen force.

The three friends were frozen in terror. The whisper became a voice, and it spoke directly to them, "I know you. You were there. You were there when I died."

Yifei, Meili, and Hong turned to face the portrait, their eyes wide with shock. They had been there during the renovation, and they had seen the workers move the painting without understanding its significance. It was then that they realized they were the ones responsible for bringing the curse into the room.

The room 403's ghostly presence seemed to be released, and it surged towards them. The friends had no time to escape. They were trapped in a room that had been waiting for them, a room that was now determined to exact its revenge.

In the climax of terror, the portrait's frame shattered, and the ghostly figure of the boy emerged. He was young, with the face of a student who had died far too young. He reached out to them, his fingers passing through their bodies, leaving them untouched but shaken to the core.

In that moment, the friends understood the gravity of their actions. They had unwittingly unleashed a spirit that had been waiting for them. The boy's whisper was a final farewell, a warning of what could happen to others if they failed to honor his memory.

Yifei, Meili, and Hong vowed to tell the story, to ensure that no one else would suffer the same fate. They returned to room 403 one last time, to apologize to the boy's spirit and to leave a token of respect. As they left the room, they felt a sense of release, knowing that they had faced the darkness that had been haunting the dormitory.

From that day on, the legend of room 403 was different. It was no longer a story of fear and terror, but one of caution and respect. The dormitory's reputation had been altered, and the boy's spirit had found peace, knowing that his story had been heard.

The three friends graduated, and the dormitory remained a part of their lives. They often spoke of the experience, sharing the lessons they had learned about the consequences of their actions. The legend of room 403 was no longer a cautionary tale, but a reminder of the power of understanding and respect.

And so, the dormitory stood, a testament to the past, a reminder that sometimes, the most haunted places are not the ones that are abandoned, but those that hold secrets waiting to be uncovered.