The rain kept falling. It was midnight, but I couldn't sleep. The dim yellow light in the room cast distorted shadows on the ceiling. I lay in bed, eyes wide open, listening to every sound around me.
John wasn't in the room.
I didn't know where he had gone, but a part of me felt relieved that I didn't have to face him right now. The diary I had found in the desk drawer was still there. I picked it up, hesitated for a moment, then flipped to the next pages.
Messy handwriting appeared before my eyes:
**I don't know how long I've been here.**
**I don't remember why I'm here.**
**I don't even know who I am anymore.**
My hands trembled slightly. I quickly flipped to another page. Something was wrong.
**People tell me I don't exist.**
**But I know I'm here.**
**I just need someone to remember me… someone to see me… and I'll be free.**
My throat went dry. These words… didn't they sound exactly like John?
I immediately shut the diary, my breath quickening. A thought flashed through my mind: If John was the one who wrote these words, then… what did that mean?
Did he not exist?
I suddenly sat up in bed. The room was dark, with only the flickering desk lamp providing light. I looked at John's bed. Empty.
I had to get out of here.
---
I pulled the door open and ran down the hallway. Outside the dormitory, the rain had eased, but the air was still damp and cold. I rushed down the stairs, nearly reaching the exit when—
*"Where are you going?"*
I froze.
John was standing right in front of the doorway.
He was still wearing that black hoodie, still staring at me with those hollow eyes. But this time, there was something in his gaze that made me feel… truly afraid.
*"You read it, didn't you?"* John's voice was light, like a breeze brushing against my ear.
I swallowed hard and took a step back. *"John… who exactly are you?"*
John didn't answer right away. He just looked at me for a long moment, then let out a small laugh.
*"I'd like to know that too."*
A chill ran down my spine. I took another step back, but in an instant—
John was right behind me.
So fast that I couldn't react.
A cold hand rested on my shoulder.
*"Did you know?"* John whispered. *"I've been trapped here for a long time."*
I gasped, trying to pull his hand away, but his grip tightened.
*"Do you know why no one dares to stay in room 306?"*
I shook my head, fear rising inside me.
John smiled.
His grip on my shoulder tightened. The cold seeped into my skin, as if he wasn't human at all, but something entirely different. Panic surged through me. I tried to pull away from his touch, but my feet felt as if they were nailed to the floor.
*"Anyone who stays in this room… can never leave."*
John's words echoed in my mind.
Never leave? What the hell was he talking about?
I gritted my teeth and struggled, but at that moment, the world around me tilted.
Darkness swallowed everything.
---
I opened my eyes.
I was no longer in the dormitory hallway.
I was standing in a strange room.
This room had no windows. The four walls were bare, painted in a dull gray, and the ceiling was uncomfortably low. In the corner, there was only an old bed, with a single pillow and a crumpled blanket.
On the wall, there was a scrawled red message:
**"Remember me."**
I held my breath and stepped back.
What the hell was happening?
I turned around sharply, but then I realized—
This room had no door.
I was trapped.
---
I checked my phone.
No signal.
No Wi-Fi.
No way to call anyone.
I gripped my phone tightly, trying to stay calm. No way… This was just an illusion, right? I was just dreaming.
But when I looked up again, John was standing right in front of me.
*"Don't you understand yet?"* He spoke in a toneless voice.
I backed away, my back pressing against the wall. *"John… what are you doing?"*
John tilted his head, staring at me as if I were prey about to be devoured.
*"I told you."* He smiled. *"You can't leave."*
Then, the lights went out.
A cold wind swept through, and I felt it—
Something was moving in the darkness.
Someone was there.
Not John.
---
I heard whispers.
Voices of many people… or something not human.
The sounds were distant yet echoed in my head. I covered my ears, but it did nothing.
Suddenly, a hand tightened around my neck from behind.
I jolted, spinning around—
No one was there.
But the invisible hand was still gripping me, pulling me into the darkness.
I struggled, trying to scream, but I couldn't.
Then, I heard John's voice.
*"Are you scared?"*
The words were whispered right next to my ear, so cold that my skin crawled.
I tried to breathe, to stay calm.
*"John… what do you want?"* I managed to ask through ragged breaths.
Silence.
Then, a slow reply:
*"I want you to remember me."*
---
And then, I understood.
The words in the diary.
*"I just need someone to remember me… someone to see me… and I'll be free."*
John couldn't leave this place.
But if someone took his place…
A terrible fear consumed me. I shook my head, stepping back against the wall, but John kept advancing.
*"I've waited for so long."*
His eyes darkened, like an endless abyss.
*"Now it's your turn."*
---
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I jolted and turned towards the sound.
A door had appeared on the once-blank wall.
John frowned.
I didn't hesitate. I lunged forward, grabbed the doorknob, and yanked it open—
Blinding light flooded my vision.
I collapsed to the floor.
And when I opened my eyes… I was back in my dorm room.
---
I gasped for breath.
I was alive.
The room was the same. The lights were on. I turned my head—
No John.
No one in the opposite bed.
Only a diary, neatly placed on the desk.
I looked down at my hands.
Covered in blood.
END OF CHAPTER 4