Issue #1-Chapter 2

When exploring the place, my body shivers more in fear as I hate traveling alone at nighttime, especially under the New Moon due to no moonlight visible. I try to figure out where to get out of this place as it's too eerie, silent and quiet for me to stay, yet I fail to find my escape route.

After a while, thinking that I'm lost, I shout with my hands surrounding my mouth, moving my head sideways, "Hello? Is anybody there?!" 

I hear no response. None. 

So I say the same thing two more times and still…no one responds. Nada, zip.

Then I take a look inside each building, hoping to find an exit in there too. I still see no one inside there either as the buildings are just as in ruins as they are on the outside-even more rotten on the inside under the deep shadows lurking in every corner. 

'This place gives me the creeps.'

I only feel comfortable looking inside each building as I'm too afraid to go inside. Each building feels too spooky to me, to say the least.

I couldn't believe what I just witnessed. I wonder what happened here, what was it like before it became a ghost town as it is today.

Either way, I continue to find a way out of this creepy place. Once I make it to the end of the street, I look both ways on a street, then turn around to gaze at the area behind me. 

'Okay, if I can't find a way out of here on both sides of the street, I'll come back here and search for the way out in that area.'

I turn left and search for an exit there. I haven't experienced any trouble as of yet, nor do I want to in my lifetime.

I look everywhere in the area and yet I still fail to find it. But once I reach the dead end, I gasp and cover my mouth to investigate what's in front of me, something that shocks me for a moment there.

'What the-?!'

There I spot a giant puppet of the red dragon with yellow outlines lying there on the ground. The wooden poles are attached to it, and fresh blood is spattered on the sticks and the outlines. The knife is stuck on the dragon's head with fresh blood on it.

'Someone must've stabbed the dragon on the head…how…creepy; there's blood on it too, which means someone is murdered here. I wonder who did this.'

I hear an eerie woman's voice echoing around me. With my heart beating hard from fear, I pant with my mouth open, frown and quickly take a look around, searching for the possible murderer. So far I have failed to find her; it appears no one shows up.

'Okay, I haven't encountered the possible murderer yet. I better hurry up and get out of here, before she finds and kills me. Hurry!'

I turn around and quickly walk forward, continuing my search for the exit. I search for the possible murder in sight, but still fail to find her. 

Reaching another side of the street, I keep walking faster despite pain now dominating my feet. I try my best to fight through it, no matter how difficult it is, and search for my ticket out of here.

The environment here feels the same as the area behind me. I search most places here and I still fail to find my way out of this area.

'C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! There has to be a way out of here somewhere! I'm going to be killed out here any minute now, and I have to find the exit before it's too late!'

Then another eerie man's laughter echoed around me. 'Huh?! A second one?! Are there like two murderers here or something?!'

Walking a bit faster than before, my eyes then search for another possible murderer back and forth, still with no result of anyone showing up. My heart beats faster like I'm playing a drum and sweat begins to pour down on me like I'm stuck in the rain, panting more and more out of desperation. 

At the end of the street I encounter a park-a big public park with lots of umbrellas lying there on the circular path and a small hill in the middle of it, surrounded by trees. Yet no one's around as usual. There are papers, with some blood stains on it, taped onto every umbrella. 

'Huh?! Is that a bride market?! What's it doing here?!'

I head my way towards there and take a look around. I see a lot of pictures of men and women from these papers.

Then I widen my eyes and gasp, covering my mouth with my hand as soon as I spot my picture with a handprint of fresh blood, and a red bride dress with some Phoenix designs on them. Shivering a bit, I pant, swallow my spit and take a couple steps back.

'No way! Did I appear out of nowhere just to become the next victim of murder?!'

"Have you got a boyfriend yet, Meiyun?" A familiar woman's voice echoes around me, which causes me to turn around to investigate.

"Mother?!" I curiously ask. "Are you here?" So far I hear no response from her.

"You better hurry up and get a boyfriend. You lost your friends because of this, and you're not getting any younger, you know!" Another familiar woman's voice also echoes around me as I search for my family members, only to be disappointed not to find any of them in sight.

"Aunt Qongyun?!" I also question. 

"Stop being so picky and go get a boyfriend already! You're going to regret it!" The third familiar voice revibrates.

"Dad?! Where are you guys?!" I soon realize that these voices are just there to torture me, to torture my mind. I cover my ears and kneel down on the ground, while my family's voices keep bullying me. 

The more these voices hounded me, the more insane I become. I try to block out these voices, yet my ears still manage to hear them through and through.

"Stop it!" I loudly plead. "Please, stop it!!!"

They keep hammering in for a few more moments until those same pair of eerie laughter revibrates around me. This time the white dust swirls around and shadows of people are cast in between me.

"Welcome home, Meiyun!" announce those eerie voices. "We missed you so much!"

I quickly look up and gasp out of shock, widening my eyes, covering my mouth. I see an old man and woman wearing white traditional Chinese clothes, except their sleeves are long and the bloody blades stick out from them. The clocks were hanging all over their bodies, yet rust and blood stains were all over them. 

They smile at me big with their ugly, crooked teeth on display. The white dust swirls around them and the man's white beard stares down at me. These people are indeed the murderers of the area, excited to kill me.