A-Piao’s Experience Talk / Super Scary! The Collective Ghost Encounter in the Girls’ Cabin at a High School

By / Mika

In my first year of high school, back then another classmate of mine, A-Ru, and I were considered quite talented at school, so that summer the whole school was selecting two students to attend an art workshop. We were chosen to go out and see the world (for free—three days and two nights!). The event was being held at ******* and two students from each vocational high school across the province were sent.

I still remember on the check-in day, the four of us—A-Ru, me, and two students from another school (let’s just call them A-Zhen and A-Hua)—were carrying our luggage looking for where we’d be staying.As we walked... A-Ru and I heard a series of fierce barks from dogs... as if they were warning us not to go any further, but A-Zhen and A-Hua insisted they hadn’t heard anything at all.A-Ru and I, scared that there might actually be some big aggressive dogs that could bite us, deliberately walked slowly because the sounds were so loud and real—and for some reason, only we seemed to hear them.

After searching through cabin after cabin, we finally found the place we’d be staying. Just as we were about to open the door, we heard voices coming from inside. Instinctively, we thought maybe someone hadn’t checked out yet, so we didn’t dare go in. We decided to leave our luggage outside and head to the group gathering. Just then, a staff member passed by and stopped us, asking, “Why aren’t you going in?” We explained that we thought someone was still inside and felt awkward about entering before they’d checked out. But she said, “The room has been cleaned up ages ago. There’s no one in there!” So we turned back, opened the door, and went in. It was a three-bedroom, two-living-room wooden cabin—pretty nice, actually. And indeed, there was no one inside. I thought to myself, “Maybe I misheard?” (But later on, the more I thought about it, the weirder it got... could all four of us have misheard???)

But there was no time to dwell on it—we dropped off our luggage and rushed to the group gathering. Then we had a whole series of activities until evening, including a dance party for everyone to have fun (oh, right—I forgot to mention, that A-Ru girl was supposedly even more prone to seeing those things than I was).

During the party, A-Ru suddenly told me to look behind me. When I did, I was shocked to see a row of people dressed in all white standing against the wall. They weren’t dancing or talking—they were just pressed against the wall... But because the lights were flickering, I couldn’t really make out their faces. After seeing that, I was practically scared to death.Then A-Ru and I decided to go outside for some fresh air...

Later that night, while we were out wandering, A-Ru was on the phone when I looked around and suddenly saw five or six people dressed in white walking in a neat line not far away. But since it was dark, I couldn’t really see their faces clearly. Just for fun, I shouted, “Hey!! Where are you guys going!!” Damn—it was like no one heard me!!! At the same time, A-Ru gave me a dirty look and yelled, “Are you sure those are people? Don’t shout randomly. Those aren’t people!!”

I obediently shut my mouth. That night, after returning to the room, our other roommates who had gone out finally came back, and we prepared to take showers. Because I was scared, I went to shower in my roommate’s room. Even though they said there was no hot water, I said, “I don’t care. As long as you guys don’t run off, wait for me outside. I’ll take a cold shower if I have to.” Strangely enough, as soon as I started showering, hot water came out. I even pointed out the steam to them to prove it. They didn’t believe me and waited until after I finished to try—but no matter what, there was no hot water.

The next day, the teacher divided us into groups and told us we had to hand in a report early the next morning. That night, nine students in our group had to pull an all-nighter because our room was bigger, so everyone gathered in our wooden cabin. We worked until around 5 a.m., and A-Ru couldn’t take it anymore and fell asleep early.I held on until after 6 a.m., thinking I’d take a short nap, and lay down next to A-Ru. But the moment I closed my eyes, I heard the sound of a young woman—sounding around 20 years old (I guessed her age by her voice)—crying pitifully from the bathroom: “Woo~~ woo~~”

Oh my god!! So scary!! My legs went weak, and I dashed out to the living room without even putting on my slippers. Luckily, a few others were still working on their reports. When they asked why I ran out, I said fearfully, “I heard crying. It’s coming from the bathroom in my room.” The classmates didn’t believe me. They said, “How could that be? If it was that loud, we’d all hear it.” But I really, truly heard it.

Then I just couldn’t take it anymore. I said, “I don’t care. I’m not staying here. I want to check out and go home today. I’d rather pack my stuff and wander outside.” Seeing how freaked out I was, they started feeling uneasy too, and everyone began packing up to get away from that cabin. Just then, A-Ru walked out calmly... She said, “Don’t overreact. She’s been crying on and off. Just ignore her.” Whoa, the moment she said that, everyone got even more scared and almost bolted.

That day, we went home sleep-deprived and terrified to calm our nerves.


▲Photo of the cabin, unrelated to this story.

Postscript:

Later, when summer vacation ended and we returned to school, A-Ru and I talked about that day. I asked her, “Hey, I didn’t wake you up, how did you know to get up? Haha, I was thinking of ditching you and sneaking off.” She said confusedly, “Wasn’t it you who woke me up?” I replied, “I didn’t even have time to put on my slippers, how would I have woken you?” (When disaster strikes, I flee on my own.) A-Ru said, “It was clearly you who shook me awake and asked if I heard it. I answered that I did and told you not to mind her, then you walked out. Thinking I was already awake, I just followed you to the living room.” I said, “Oh my god, A-Ru, that ghost girl looked just like me?” A-Ru said, “I only saw her from the back—she looked like you, sounded like you... So it wasn’t you....”