The Midnight Piano Sound

On the first day I moved into this old house, I noticed the piano in the corner of the living room.

It stood there quietly, exuding the dull luster of an old item. The black paint was full of patches, and the keys were yellowish, as if wrapped layer by layer in the dust of time. The landlord casually mentioned that it had been left behind by the previous tenant and told me to deal with it as I pleased. I lifted the lid of the piano and gently ran my fingertips over the keys. In an instant, fine dust "rustled" up and scattered wantonly in the ray of sunlight coming through the window. Somehow, the moment my fingers touched the keys, a chill shot straight to my heart from my fingertips. I couldn't help but shiver, as if something icy cold was quietly creeping up my fingertips.

The house was dilapidated, but the rent was incredibly low. The French windows in the living room faced the backyard, where the weeds were overgrown. A withered locust tree stood there menacingly, stretching out its branches. Every time I looked at it, I felt that it was like a huge hand, reaching out as if trying to grasp something, giving off an indescribable sense of eeriness.

Late at night, I was abruptly awakened by the sound of the piano.

At first, I thought I was dreaming, but the melody became clearer and clearer. It was clearly Chopin's "Nocturne". I groggily looked at my phone; it was 3:15 in the morning. The sound of the piano drifted up from downstairs, on and off, as if someone was practicing over and over again, pausing for a while and then repeating.

I held my breath and tiptoed downstairs. The moonlight streamed in through the French windows, casting a silvery sheen on the floor. There was no one in front of the piano, but the keys were slowly sinking, as if there were a pair of invisible hands playing intently. My heart was pounding wildly, and my palms were covered in cold sweat. Yet, my feet seemed to move on their own, as if bewitched, towards the piano.

Just as I was about to approach the piano, the sound of the piano stopped abruptly.

Then, I felt a chill on the back of my neck, as if someone was blowing on it. I spun around sharply, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse in the mirror above the piano of a girl in a white dress standing quietly behind me. Her face was as pale as paper, where her eyes should have been were two dark holes, and there was a strangely eerie smile on her lips, making one's hair stand on end just looking at her.

I let out a terrified scream and stumbled backwards, crashing into the piano in a panic. The keys let out a harsh, ear-piercing sound. When I looked at the mirror again, there was nothing there.

The next day, I found a yellowed music score under the piano bench. On the title page, it said "Lin Xiaoxia, 2005". This name felt strangely familiar, as if it had left a deep mark somewhere in the depths of my memory. I turned on my computer and searched, and a piece of news from fifteen years ago instantly jumped into view:

"Talented young pianist Lin Xiaoxia disappeared mysteriously from her home. The police searched thoroughly but found nothing..."

My hands began to tremble uncontrollably. In the photo accompanying the news, the girl was wearing a white dress and standing beside the piano with a bright smile on her face. It was exactly the face I had seen in the mirror last night!

I continued reading and learned that this house had actually been Lin Xiaoxia's home. Fifteen years ago, at the age of sixteen, she had been carefully preparing for an international piano competition here. Who would have thought that just a week before the competition, she had disappeared mysteriously. The police had investigated tirelessly for three whole months but hadn't found a single clue.

My eyes were drawn to another related piece of news: "Major clue in Lin Xiaoxia's disappearance case: A large amount of blood found in the basement". The report said that the police had found a large area of dried blood in the basement, and after DNA comparison, it was confirmed to be Lin Xiaoxia's. Strangely, though, there were no signs of a struggle at the scene, and Lin Xiaoxia's body was nowhere to be found, as if she had vanished into thin air.

At this point, I suddenly remembered that there was indeed a basement in this house, just behind the kitchen. The landlord had specifically told me not to go down there, saying that it was in a bad state of disrepair and extremely dangerous.

Night fell again, and I sat in front of the piano, slowly opening that music score. The first page was "Moonlight Sonata", but the score was covered with dark brown stains, which looked very much like dried blood. I tried to play, and the sound of the piano echoed in the empty room, carrying an indescribable sense of loneliness.

Suddenly, my fingers started moving faster and faster uncontrollably, and the sound of the piano became more and more urgent and frenzied, as if trying to break through the stillness of the night. I desperately tried to stop, but my fingers seemed to be firmly controlled by some mysterious force and simply wouldn't obey. In a trance, in the reflection in the mirror, I saw Lin Xiaoxia standing quietly behind me. Her hand gently rested on mine, guiding me to play.

When the last note faded away, I was soaked in cold sweat as if I had just been fished out of water. In the mirror, she slowly leaned close to my ear and whispered softly, "Thank you for helping me complete my final performance. Now, it's your turn..."

As soon as the words were spoken, I felt a sudden dizzy spell, and my consciousness gradually faded. The last image I saw was my own body collapsing softly to the ground, while Lin Xiaoxia stood beside the piano with a look of utmost satisfaction on her face.

When I regained consciousness again, I found myself in the basement. It was cold and damp here, and the air was filled with a thick musty smell, mixed with an indescribable stench that made one want to vomit. The moonlight filtered in through a small window high up, and the faint light illuminated the terrifying marks on the wall - they were blood handprints, winding up from the ground all the way to the ceiling, making one's heart skip a beat just looking at them.

My body moved towards the corner uncontrollably, where several old and tattered suitcases were piled up. For some reason, memories suddenly came flooding back like a tide - on that rainy night fifteen years ago, how I had lured Lin Xiaoxia here, how I had tightly strangled her neck with a piano wire, watched her struggling desperately until she lost her breath, and finally dismembered her and packed her into the suitcases...

No, how could these be my memories! I wanted to scream, but my throat seemed to be blocked, and I couldn't make a sound. Lin Xiaoxia's resentment had completely taken over my body, and she wanted me to experience every bit of the pain she had endured.

I felt a cold touch around my neck, and an invisible piano wire was slowly tightening. I struggled desperately, but my body refused to move. In the mirror, I saw Lin Xiaoxia standing behind me. Her face was distorted with hatred, and her hands were tightly gripping the piano wire, her eyes full of venom.

"You finally remember," she whispered in my ear, her voice ice-cold, "For the past fifteen years, I've been waiting for a suitable 'vessel'. Now, it's your turn to bear eternal suffering..."

The feeling of suffocation grew stronger and stronger, and my vision gradually blurred. In my last moments of consciousness, I heard the sound of the door opening upstairs. A newly moved-in tenant was inspecting the house. The landlord's voice faintly reached my ears: "This is the piano left behind by the previous tenant. You can deal with it as you like..."

I knew that this terrifying cycle would never end. As long as someone touched that piano, Lin Xiaoxia's resentment would find a new host. And I would be forever trapped in this body, feeling the pain she had endured over and over again, eagerly waiting for the next scapegoat.

In the basement, the moonlight was still as pale as frost. The blood handprints on the wall seemed to have increased by a few more, stretching all the way to the ceiling, as if wordlessly telling the terrifying stories that had taken place here. And in a dark corner, several old and tattered suitcases lay quietly, waiting for the next curious visitor...

Suddenly, I heard the sound of footsteps on the basement stairs. It was the newly moved-in tenant; he must have heard the sound of the piano too. I could feel Lin Xiaoxia's resentment starting to stir restlessly. She was trembling with excitement inside me, like a wild beast about to pounce on its prey.

"Here comes another one," she whispered in my ear, her voice full of barely suppressed excitement, "Let's give him a good welcome..."

My body moved towards the stairs uncontrollably, and a twisted smile involuntarily appeared on my face. In the moonlight, I saw that my shadow had become two - one was mine, and the other was that of the girl in the white dress, Lin Xiaoxia. Our shadows overlapped, like a pair of eerie twins.

The footsteps on the stairs were getting closer and closer, and I could even hear the poor man's rapid breathing, full of fear. He must have seen the blood handprints on the wall and smelled the rotting smell in the air. But it was all too late. Just like me back then, he had already become Lin Xiaoxia's target.

When his figure appeared at the top of the stairs, I felt Lin Xiaoxia's resentment explode completely. My body rushed towards him at an incredible speed, and my fingers tightly clutched his neck. I could truly feel his fear, just as Lin Xiaoxia had felt it back then.

"Welcome to the eternal hell," I heard myself say, but it was Lin Xiaoxia's voice that came out, "Now, let's start the performance..."

Shrill screams echoed in the basement, but they were soon drowned out by the frantic sound of the piano. Upstairs, the ancient piano started playing automatically again, and the keys were stained with fresh blood. The moonlight shone in through the French windows, reflecting the scene in the mirror above the piano - there stood a girl in a white dress with a satisfied smile on her face. Behind her, countless distorted faces loomed in the darkness, quietly waiting for the next victim...