“Everyone’s death is related to him?” Gao Ming remembered the manor owner’s stories. “What has he done to you?”
“First, he hid inside this doll, this doll my Mom made me.” The girl looked pained, “I discovered him when Brother was unconscious. He acted so fun and pitiful, like a kind lost soul. I befriended him. When I slept at night, I placed him beside my pillow. I sang to him and played with him. However, I didn’t think he’d be so inhumane!” The girl couldn’t cry anymore. Her face cracked to reveal traces of blood. “When I was asleep, he took over my body to wander around the house at night to do some scary things. When it was almost dawn, he’d return to my room and pretend like nothing happened.
“Strange things kept happening around the manor at night. The meat went missing, the pet goldfish was killed, the chimney in the kitchen became stuck, and the fireplace in the guestroom would go out.
“He was careful when he took over my body, but he was still exposed one week later.
“There were not that many guests around the winter. That day, we happened to have a group of hikers as guests. One of them had to use the kitchen to boil some water at night. He saw me exit the basement with a knife.
“His scream woke me up. I didn’t know why I had left my bed and standing in the kitchen with a knife. The other guests and my family rushed into the kitchen. They looked at me like I was a stranger. I could never forget the looks on their faces.” The girl’s voice was heartbreaking. “After my family apologised to the guests, they locked me up. They didn’t blame me. If anything, they scolded Brother.
“From that day onwards, Brother always looked at me with guilt. Mom and Dad became hollow and malnourished. They often came to chat with me and ask me the same questions again and again. At first, I didn’t get it. Then, I understood they wanted to confirm if I were still the same person.
“As time passed, my period of sentience became shorter and shorter. I knew it was the thing inside the doll. I interrogated him, but he stopped talking to me. I was scared. I knew that evil thing must be planning something.
“I shared everything with my family. The thing inside the doll disappeared because Mom and Dad found the solution among the things left behind by Grandfather. That thing could only control my body after I was asleep. They planned to seal him back into the doll.
“My limbs were tied to the bed. I struggled and screamed. However, my family thought I was acting. The ritual continued. I saw the silhouette of a door on the wall. The strange patterns seemed to crawl onto my body. As my family fed their blood to the door, strange voices came from the red door. Dad threw live sacrifice into the door. My consciousness was drawn away from my body into the door.
“It didn’t matter how hard I screamed. I could only see myself being sent into the doll. The crying doll looked at my body, but my real face was smiling. The thing behind the door was waiting for that day. Everything he did was to swap bodies with me, from the initial contact to the purposeful exposure. The weaknesses he exhibited were just a show.
“He was already there when I ate the sleeping pills. He hid a small needle underneath my tongue. It was to wake me up when the ritual began.
“When I was locked up, my parents came to talk to me. They didn’t realise that sometimes I was asleep, and they were talking to him. He purposely copied how I cried and screamed to desensitise my parents. That way, he would be able to make sure my parents would push through when it came to the real ritual.”
The blood mixed with the snow. It was cold and eye-catching. The snow under the girl was dyed red.
“After the ritual ended, the monster took over my body. My body, which was inside the doll, was shredded by Dad and hidden in the pine forest. The mountain was there to suppress my soul.
“That was just the beginning. The monster who replaced me would come to the mountains occasionally to find me and tell me about things that had happened to my family. He’d threaten me to cooperate with him, or he’d kill everyone.
“Of course, I didn’t agree. I already knew by then that no matter which choice I made, the monster would kill all of my family.
“Soon, Mom went insane and was locked up on the fourth floor. The group of hikers got into an accident.
“Dad refused to give up. The man who was so gentle swore to fight those things to the bitter end. He sealed up the fourth floor and used everything Grandfather left behind to destroy that door.
“Only Brother remained at the manor. My poor Brother took on all the guilt. He lived in blame and shame. His mind started to fracture. He started to hate ‘doors’ and ‘windows’. The sound of chopping came every day from the manor. The doors were chopped down, and the windows were destroyed. I was worried about him, but I was trapped in the pine forest.”
The girl’s story was completely different from the one Gao Ming was told. However, her description and the manor owner’s description of the Brother was similar.
“I’ve encountered these scapegoat-type ghosts in my nightmares before. Most of them… live in the shadows. Is the world behind the door the shadows?” Gao Ming shook his head and focused on the girl. “Where did your Brother go in the end? Was he captured by the snowman?”
“I didn’t see my Brother leave the manor. He should still be in there!” The girl said confidently.
“Other than four rooms, we’ve checked the entire place. Your brother should be hidden in one of the rooms.” Gao Ming had more confidence in the plan that night. He looked at the girl. “One last question. Can you enter the manor with me?”