The Man in the Raincoat

The next day, I looked into the mirror.

My face was pale.

No blood.

I looked haggard, as if I had aged several years.

I almost went mad.

There had to be a truth.

I did not believe in ghosts.

If not ghosts, someone was pretending.

After breakfast, I went into town to buy supplies.

But that feeling of being watched returned.

I kept turning around.

Everything behind me looked normal.

I told myself to calm down.

I needed stimulants to stay awake, and something for self-defense.

To reach the clinic, I had to pass through a small alley.

The alley was quiet.

Few people came here.

The temperature inside was several degrees lower than outside.

The deeper I walked, the more wrong it felt.

Goosebumps rose all over me.

I looked back.

No ghosts.

But three young men with dyed hair followed.

Probably in their early twenties.

Ugly faces.

The leader was slightly fat, yellow-haired, with a cigarette between his fingers.

All three looked at me with lecherous eyes.

My instincts screamed.

I quickened my pace.

Two seconds later, the yellow-haired man blocked me.

“Pretty girl, where are you going? Know the way? Want brother to take you?”

“No need. I know the way.”

He threw his cigarette down and exhaled smoke at me.

“Let’s be direct. I like you. Add my contact. I want to date you.”

I stepped back.

“Sorry. I don’t want to date anyone.”

“So you refuse the toast and choose punishment.”

His hand reached for me.

“What are you doing?”

Wang Bin’s voice rang out.

I turned and saw the dark-skinned boy with melancholy eyes.

The three thugs’ expressions changed instantly, as if they had seen plague.

“You… you’re with him?”

“Crazy. Don’t want to live?”

They fled.

Crisis resolved.

I did not think much of their words.

I smiled at Wang Bin.

“Thank you. Good thing you appeared in time.”

“No… no need.”

He became shy again.

“They’re just local punks. They do petty theft, nothing truly evil.”

“You know them well.”

Then I noticed bruises on his face.

“What happened to your face? Did you fight?”

He lowered his head.

“No. I bumped into something.”

“So careless. Come on, go to the clinic with me. I need to buy things anyway. I’ll get you medicine.”

At the pharmacy, I treated his bruises first.

Then bought stimulants and pepper spray.

To thank him, I invited him to a small restaurant.

But the owner looked at Wang Bin strangely.

He kept glancing at us and making phone calls.

When serving food, he gave me several looks like he wanted to say something.

I did not understand.

It reminded me of what the thug had said.

Was this melancholy boy hiding a secret?

On the way back, I looked into Wang Bin’s eyes.

“You always appear very timely.”

“Are you secretly watching me?”

His gaze dodged immediately.

“No. I…”

He stumbled over words, then ran away.

Talking to him felt like threatening his life.

That night, I swallowed stimulants and pretended to sleep.

After a long time, footsteps appeared.

This time, I heard more clearly.

They came from far away.

Step by step.

Approaching my bed.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Each step struck my heart.

The room grew colder.

Like wearing summer clothes in snow.

“Being able to stay by your side is wonderful…”

The low, hoarse voice sounded again.

I felt I could open my eyes this time.

But I did not dare.

Then the ice-cold hand touched my face again.

I trembled.

After what felt like forever, the footsteps moved away.

Thunder rolled outside.

Summer rain began suddenly.

Ten minutes later, I finally gathered courage and opened my eyes.

Everything looked normal.

I searched the house and still found no trace.

Just when I thought I would go mad, I noticed the cellar door had been opened.

The black box.

Something was wrong with the black box.

Father’s words returned:

Keep it with you.

Never open it.

Then your life will be safe.

Otherwise, even your next life will not be peaceful.

With trembling hands, I took a flashlight and went into the cellar.

It was midsummer, but entering the cellar felt like stepping into winter.

When I saw the black box, my mind went blank.

The box Father had begged me never to open—

had been opened.

Then footsteps sounded in the living room.

I crept upstairs, terrified of what I might see.

The room was empty.

But the front door had traces of being opened.

There were muddy footprints by the entrance.

Not ghosts?

Was someone watching me?

I grabbed my phone to call the police.

Bang.

The door flew open.

Cold wind poured in with white mist.

I screamed.

A man in a black raincoat walked inside.

I shone the flashlight at his face.

At first, I saw only darkness.

Then he came closer.

Wang Bin.

“Wang Bin… what do you want?”

The melancholy in his eyes was gone.

A strange smile curved his mouth.

He walked toward me.

“Useless. Useless.”

“Be good. Let me do it once.”

“Only once, and I won’t cut off your head.”

My blood froze.

I finally understood.

Why he always appeared when I needed help.

Because he had always been following me.

I gripped the pepper spray.

“Wang Bin, calm down. We can talk.”

He did not stop.

My back hit the wall.

No retreat.

The curtains in the living room suddenly moved.

“Do not go near her.”

A low, hoarse voice sounded.

A black shadow stepped out from behind the curtains.

It had human hands, feet, and features.

But every inch of it was black.

Eyes.

Nose.

Mouth.

All black.

It moved without footsteps.

In its hand was a stick.

A ghost.

There really was a ghost.

Wang Bin froze too.

“Leave,” the black figure ordered.

Wang Bin looked at him.

Then at me.

At last, unwillingly, he left.

But now the black figure was walking toward me.

“Don’t come closer!”

Tears poured down my face.

“I have no grudge with you. Why are you harming me?”

“Child,” the black figure said in an old voice, stopping, “don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”

“Then what are you?”

“Why have you been terrifying me again and again?”

“I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

His voice grew anxious.

“I only wanted to protect you.”

“Why protect me? Are you human or ghost?”

“Child, I am not a ghost.”

He paused.

“But I am not exactly human either.”

“What does that mean?”

“I am a deformed man. People called me the Shadow Puppet Man.”

“I was your father’s friend.”

“That is why I protect you.”

I thought of the black box.

Was he the thing inside?

My worldview cracked apart.

A person inside a box the size of an urn?

Alive without eating or drinking for years?

Impossible.

Yet after everything I had seen, impossible had become a weak word.