The Girl In Room 407

The first thing Lin Yue noticed about Susu Villa was the silence. It wasn't the peaceful kind of silence she had imagined when her mother told her they were moving. It was too complete. Too deliberate. As their car rolled slowly through the narrow entrance of the neighbourhood, Lin Yue lowered the window and looked outside. The afternoon sky was pale grey, the kind of grey that made everything beneath it look slightly older than it really was. Rows of tall residential buildings stood on either side of the road. Their windows reflected the weak afternoon light, but almost none of the curtains were open. There were trees lining the sidewalks ,a small playground stood near the centre of the compound ,a convenience store occupied the corner of one of the buildings .Everything looked normal. Yet Lin Yue couldn't shake the feeling that she had entered a place where she wasn't supposed to be. She rested her forehead against the cool glass. "So this is it?" Her mother, sitting in the passenger seat, looked toward her. "Yes." Lin Yue stared at the buildings again. "This is where we're starting over?" Her mother hesitated. "Hopefully. "That single word made Lin Yue look at her. Her mother, Lin Mei, was usually careful with her words. But lately, she had become even quieter. Since her father's death, almost everything had changed. The house they had lived in for years had become unbearable. Every room contained something that reminded Lin Yue of him. His shoes beside the entrance, his old coat hanging behind the bedroom door, the chipped mug he always used in the mornings. Even the sound of the television from the living room seemed to belong to him. After his funeral, Lin Yue had expected grief to eventually become smaller .It didn't .It simply became quieter And then, one morning, her mother announced that they were moving. No long discussion .No asking whether Lin Yue wanted to go .Just a decision. "We need a fresh start," Lin Mei had said .Lin Yue hadn't argued. She understood what her mother meant .Their old home was full of memories .Susu Villa was supposed to have none. At least, that was the idea. The car stopped in front of Building C. Lin Yue opened the door and stepped out. The first thing she noticed was how cold the air felt. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself. It wasn't actually cold. Not enough to explain the sudden chill that travelled across her skin. "Lin Yue ."Her mother called from behind her. "Help me with the boxes." Lin Yue turned. "Coming." For the next twenty minutes, they carried their belongings into the building. The apartment was on the fourth floor. Lin Yue noticed the number immediately.4. She almost smiled. "Of course." Her mother looked at her. "What?" "Nothing." The elevator doors closed. As they began moving upward, Lin Yue looked at herself in the mirrored wall. Seventeen years old .Final year of high school .Graduation was only a few months away .She should have been thinking about university applications, examinations and what she wanted to do with the rest of her life .Instead, she was standing in an unfamiliar elevator with half of her belongings packed into cardboard boxes. The elevator stopped. Ding. Fourth floor . The doors opened. Lin Yue stepped into the corridor. It was long and unusually clean. There were four apartments on the floor. She looked at the doors. Then she looked farther down. The corridor continued. Lin Yue frowned. She could have sworn she had seen another door at the end when they came to inspect the apartment. But now there was nothing. Just a blank section of wall. "Mom?" Her mother didn't answer. Lin Yue turned. Her mother was staring down the corridor. Not at the apartment. At the empty wall. For a moment, something passed across her mother's face. Fear. Then it disappeared. "What?" Lin Yue asked. Lin Mei quickly looked away. "Nothing." Lin Yue watched her. "Are you sure?" "Yes." Her mother took the keys from her bag. "Come on. "Their apartment was 406.Lin Yue looked at the number as her mother unlocked the door. The apartment next to it was 405.And beyond that...Nothing. She couldn't explain why that bothered her. Perhaps she was simply tired.Perhaps moving had made her imagination too active. She stepped inside. The apartment smelled of fresh paint. The furniture was sparse, but the rooms were bright. Their boxes had already been delivered earlier that morning. Lin Yue walked into what would become her bedroom. A large window overlooked the courtyard.From there, she could see the playground ,a woman pushing a child on a swing, two elderly men sitting on a bench ,a young man walking his dog. For the first time since arriving, the neighbourhood looked ordinary. Maybe she had been overthinking everything. She opened the window. A faint breeze entered. Then she noticed something. The elderly men on the bench had stopped talking. Both were looking up at the building. At her window. Lin Yue frowned. One of them immediately looked away. The other remained staring. Then he said something to his companion.They both stood. And walked away. Lin Yue slowly closed the window. "Strange. "She didn't know why. But that was the first time she felt it. The uncomfortable sensation of being watched. *** By evening, most of their belongings had been unpacked. Lin Yue sat on the floor beside her bed, surrounded by books. Her textbooks were stacked neatly against the wall. Her school uniform hung inside the wardrobe. Her graduation timetable was pinned above her desk. She stared at it. Graduation Examination 94 Days Remaining. Ninety-four days. That wasn't long. Soon, she would leave high school behind. University. A new city. Perhaps ,a new life. She had spent the past several weeks telling herself that the move didn't matter because she wouldn't be staying here forever. Just a few months. Then she would leave. Her phone vibrated .A message from her best friend appeared. Lisa : You arrived? Lin Yue smiled slightly. Lin Yue: Yeah. A reply came immediately. Lisa : How's the new place? Lin Yue looked around her room. She thought about the silent corridor. The elderly men. Her mother's strange expression. The missing door. She typed: Lin Yue: Quiet. Three dots appeared. Lisa : Quiet good or quiet creepy? Lin Yue almost laughed. Lin Yue: I haven't decided yet. Lisa : If you see a ghost, call me first. Lin Yue rolled her eyes. Lin Yue: You're useless. She put the phone down. Then she heard her mother call from the kitchen. "Lina?" "Coming." Lin Yue walked out. Her mother was standing beside the kitchen counter, staring at something through the window. "Mom?" Lin Mei turned quickly. "Yes?" "What were you looking at?" "Nothing "Again. That word. Nothing. Lin Yue leaned against the counter. "You've said 'nothing' a lot today." Her mother's expression tightened. "I'm tired." Lin Yue studied her. "Is there something wrong with this place?" Her mother looked at her. For several seconds, neither of them spoke. Then Lin Mei smiled. It was a weak smile. "No. Of course not. Lin Yue didn't believe her. But she didn't push .Not yet. *** That night, Lin Yue couldn't sleep. The apartment was quiet, too quiet. She lay beneath the blanket staring at the ceiling. The unfamiliar room felt strange around her. Every sound seemed louder than it should. The refrigerator humming, pipes shifting inside the walls ,a distant elevator ,footsteps somewhere above them. Lin Yue turned toward the window. The courtyard was dark. Only a few lamps remained on. She checked the time, 2:13 a.m ,She sighed and closed her eyes. Then she heard something. Footsteps. Slow. From the corridor outside. Lin Yue opened her eyes. The footsteps stopped. She waited. Nothing. She sat up. Perhaps someone had simply returned home late.She lay down again. A few seconds passed. Then she heard a sound from outside her bedroom. A faint metallic noise. Like someone touching a door handle.Lin Yue froze. Her bedroom door was open. She stared at the darkness beyond it. Nothing moved. She reached for her phone. The screen illuminated her face.2:16 a.m. She waited. Then ,Footsteps. This time, they were moving away. Lin Yue slowly got out of bed. She walked toward the door. Her heart was beating faster than it should. She stepped into the hallway. The apartment was empty. Her mother was asleep. Lin Yue looked toward the front door. Locked. She walked closer. She checked it. Still locked. She exhaled. "Okay. "She was imagining things. She turned around. And stopped. For just a second, she thought she saw a shadow at the far end of the corridor outside the apartment. But when she blinked, it was gone. Lin Yue stood there for several seconds. Then she returned to her room. She didn't see the small camera mounted above the entrance of the building across the courtyard. She didn't see the faint red light blinking inside it.And she certainly didn't see the figure standing behind a curtain on the fourth floor of the opposite building. Watching her window. The figure remained there long after Lin Yue had gone back to sleep. And on the other side of Susu Villa, in a room that had supposedly been empty for five years, someone quietly turned on a light. 3:17 a.m. The light stayed on for exactly seven seconds. Then disappeared. No one in the building noticed. Except the person who had been waiting.