The Other Shore 1. Nightmare is Easy to Watch

  At night, I was half asleep and half awake, with the sound of footsteps echoing. As someone who usually sleeps lightly, I felt like something was pressing down on me, unable to move my limbs or open my eyes. The darkness was profound, my head was dizzy, and it seemed that all my senses except for my ears had lost their sensitivity. The footsteps were getting closer and closer, but I couldn't see what was making them, and my heart became anxious and fearful.

  Suddenly all the sounds stopped abruptly, and the heavy eyelids could finally be opened. I found myself covered in cold sweat, and my heart was pounding violently.

  My mouth is parched and my tongue feels dry, I get up to pour myself a cup of tea. In a daze, I wonder if what just happened was...what people commonly call "nightmare"? I don't quite believe in these supernatural things, but the inexplicable terror has left me feeling startled even as I hold this hot cup of tea, and it's giving me a headache.

  There is a glimmer of light outside the window, shining on the curtains that are pulled together, flashing on and off. It wasn't until I took a closer look that I realized it might be the police car lights at the bottom of the building that were shining. I walked to the window and lifted up some of the curtains to take a look down, and indeed it was.

  Suddenly, his line of sight was drawn to a dark place and he narrowed his eyes.

  As I stood downstairs wrapped in my coat, a gust of cold wind blew towards me, making me shrink. I was still wondering which nerve had gone wrong with me, running outside to catch the cold at midnight instead of sleeping upstairs. After looking around, it was pitch black, and the treetops were silhouetted against the sky. Just as I was thinking of retreating back inside, a sudden movement caught my eye - a dark shape flashed by, and I froze my gaze.

  In the blink of an eye, he flashed into a certain floor, identified it, gritted his teeth and ran over.

  I tiptoed into the corridor, the elevator was going up, holding my breath to look at the continuously flipping orange-red numbers, all the way to "11", expecting it to continue flipping, but clearly knowing that this building only had 11 floors.

  It's indeed on that floor!

  Took a few deep breaths, reached out to press the elevator button, thought of something and immediately withdrew it. There is only one elevator on this floor, and pressing it would be equivalent to notifying the other party that someone is following. After a moment's thought, I walked towards the safety passage, pushed open the door and saw that there were dim yellow motion-sensing lamps inside, secretly letting out a breath of relief. Fortunately, I didn't have to grope my way up the stairs in the dark, otherwise I really wouldn't have had the guts to climb these 11 floors.

  But unexpectedly, the lights only went up to the fifth floor. The floors above might have been so deserted that no one bothered to report the broken lights to the property management. Suddenly plunged into darkness, I felt an eerie silence all around me, except for my own breathing and footsteps.

  I climbed up another three floors, and I started to regret it. My breathing became heavy, and my legs were numb with fatigue. This was a severe test of both my physical strength and courage. In fact, the higher I climbed, the more fearful I became. I gritted my teeth and continued on, my heart pounding in my chest. Whether due to psychological factors or not, the space seemed to grow darker as I ascended, until finally, I counted down the remaining floors.

  Eyes wide open, staring at the thick blackness like ink, vaguely discerning the safety passage door in front.

  Rather than saying I regret, it's better to say that I'm in a state of anxiety. That ordinary door, which was originally unremarkable, seemed like the mouth of a ferocious beast in the darkness, and could open at any moment; it was as if mocking me, this meddling lone traveler who had rushed over without even bringing any defensive tools.

  Tell yourself it's just a glance and then leave, trying hard to calm down your breathing, but can't control the rapid heartbeat.

  As I lifted my leg again, the muscles were slightly stiff, counting the steps one by one to the last step. When I reached the door, I found that the two-leafed door was not closed tightly, and there was a faint light coming in, my heart moved slightly, and I slowly approached the door gap to look inside.

  There was a half-opened door, and the light was shining from inside the house. No one was in sight, had they gone in or already left?

  The elevator was on the same side as the safety passage door, out of my line of sight. I pressed my hand against the door panel and slowly applied force, trying not to make any noise when the door opened. When there was enough space for me to squeeze in, I stepped inside with one foot, poking half my body out, quickly scanning the elevator's floor display with my eyes, where the orange-red "11" was clearly visible.

  Not yet down! Dark surprise on my mind, I immediately thought of shrinking my body, but suddenly a blackness appeared in front of me, the hand that was holding onto the door frame was caught, with a loud crash, I was pulled out of the safety passage, and the next second, I heavily crashed into the wall.

  Not even having time to reflect on the pain, a strong gust of wind hit my face. I don't know if it was an instinct born out of urgency, but as the other person tried to grab my hand, I somehow managed to break free and quickly lifted my foot to kick their leg. The dark figure retreated a step back, and I took advantage of the opportunity to try and run away. But after only two steps, I relived the same fate once again - I was pulled back and pressed against the wall with great force, both hands firmly grasped by a large palm on my head, and my body pinned down tightly by the other person's entire weight.

  A great disparity in strength, like seeing one's shadow on a pole.

  His body was restrained, and his mouth was idle. As soon as he had an idea, the sound had already come out, but only half a tone came out before being covered by a large palm.

  In darkness, gaze into the dim pupils with trepidation.

  He is the murderer!

  This thought flashed into his mind in a straight line, if it wasn't the murderer, why did he come to the scene of the crime in the middle of the night? Was he trying to destroy evidence? But... wouldn't it be too late? It's already been almost a day and a night since the incident, shouldn't the police have collected all the evidence at the scene by now?

  And without considering these, the low and solemn voice had already asked: "What are you doing here?" I twisted my face, unable to shake off the shackles of his palm, but at least reminded him that this way I couldn't speak.

  A faint, cool smile escaped his lips, making my heart skip a beat. "You're really bold, aren't you afraid I'm the murderer? You should know that once the truth is exposed, the best way to deal with it is..." He paused, his lips brushing against my ear, enunciating each word: "Kill and silence."

  As if summoned from hell, he couldn't control his body as it trembled slightly with the gradual fall of his voice.

  He noticed, loosening the palm covering my mouth to pinch my chin, his tone sarcastic: "Scared? Don't you think it's a bit late for that?" I gritted my teeth and growled in frustration: "Gao Cheng! Stop intimidating me, you're not even the real killer!"

  The space fell silent for a second, and the black shadow asked: "Oh? How did you know?"

  "What's with all the nonsense from the killer?" Why didn't you discover me and take action immediately?

  He seemed to have a lot of interest in playing with his tongue, and in the shadows, his voice was soft: "If I only gave you the right to speak as judgment, then you're wrong." As soon as he finished speaking, the hand that had been pinching my chin suddenly clamped onto my throat and tightened instantly. I immediately felt difficulty breathing, and it didn't stop there - his hand continued to constrict, causing the remaining air in my chest cavity to disappear.

  Suffocation!

  Mouth agape, like a dying fish, yearning for air, but there's nothing except pain.

  Eyes began to lose strength, slowly closing...