I didn't dare breathe.
The scuffing of plastic sandals stopped right beside my bed.
I lay perfectly still, my eyes squeezed shut. My whole body had gone rigid.
The sharp, fishy stink of sewage flooded my nose. Mixed in with it was the musty smell of muddy earth after rain.
Then that voice spoke.
Very close.
Right beside my ear.
“Go to sleep…”
I clenched my teeth to keep from sobbing.
“Next time… you and I can trade sandals, okay…?”
I didn't dare open my eyes.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
The sandals kept scuffing around the room.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
Each circle brought them closer.
Finally, they stopped right in front of the door.
Click.
The door slowly opened.
The scuffing faded into the distance.
Scuff…
Scuff…
Until it disappeared completely.
I bolted upright.
My hands were shaking so badly it took several tries to flip the switch.
The light came on.
The room was empty.
My three roommates were still fast asleep.
There was no one there.
But when I looked down…
I froze.
A trail of wet footprints had appeared on the floor.
Small, pale footprints.
They led from…
the space beneath my bed…
all the way to the door.
I looked up at the bed.
There was something on my pillow.
A blue raincoat.
Neatly folded.
But it was still completely soaked.
Drip.
A drop of water fell onto the pillow.
Drip.
Then another.
I screamed, grabbed the raincoat, and hurled it hard onto the floor.
It slammed into the wall.
But instead of falling…
the raincoat clung to the wall for several seconds.
Then it slowly slid down.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Exactly like…
someone wearing it was leaning against the wall and sitting down.
I backed into the corner of the bed.
I didn't dare look anymore.
The next morning, I skipped class.
I went to find Mrs. Lan.
She was sitting by the gate, painstakingly picking up each withered yellow tea leaf.
The moment she saw me, she sighed.
She didn't ask what had happened.
She only said:
“She came for the raincoat, didn't she?”
I stood there, stunned.
“How did you know?”
Mrs. Lan stopped moving.
Only after a long while did she answer:
“That girl.”
“Vy.”
“She rented that room two years ago.”
I swallowed.
“How did she… die?”
Mrs. Lan looked toward Tea Hill.
The sky was gloomy that day.
Dark clouds hung low over the hilltops.
“It rained so hard.”
“She came home late from her part-time job. The road was slippery, and she lost her footing and fell into the lake.”
She paused.
“People searched all night.”
“They didn't recover the blue raincoat, snagged on a tree branch, until morning.”
I asked softly:
“What about her?”
Mrs. Lan shook her head.
“They never found her.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“Then… what about the sandals?”
Mrs. Lan looked down at my feet.
“She bought those sandals at the market.”
“They only cost fifteen thousand dong.”
“But she treasured them. She wore them everywhere.”
My voice trembled.
“What does she want from me now?”
Mrs. Lan was silent for a long time.
Then she looked straight into my eyes.
“She’s cold.”
I didn't understand.
“She’s wet,” she continued.
“And she wants…”
“Someone to take her place.”
I turned and ran.
I ran all the way back to my room.
Locked the door.
Locked it again.
But the moment I turned around…
the blue raincoat was lying neatly on the chair.
I stood there, frozen.
I was certain…
I had thrown it away.
11 p.m.
The rain began to fall.
At first, only a few scattered drops pattered against the corrugated metal roof.
Then it grew louder and louder.
Rattle… rattle… rattle…
Wind howled through the cracks around the window.
I curled up under the blanket, trying not to look toward the window.
Knock… knock… knock…
I jumped.
Someone was knocking on the window.
Three knocks.
Evenly spaced.
Knock… knock… knock…
I slowly turned my head.
The white curtain billowed wildly in the wind.
Outside…
on the second-floor corrugated metal roof…
someone was standing.
A blue raincoat.
Long hair spilled down, completely covering the face.
Water streamed from its entire body.
It stood motionless in the rain.
In its hand…
were my red sandals.
It raised the sandals.
Waved them back and forth.
Then a soft, giggling laugh rang out.
“Come down here…”
“I’ll take you to buy new sandals…”
I backed away.
One step.
Two steps.
My heel struck something.
The blue raincoat.
Before I could look down, it sprang up on its own.
And wrapped itself around me.
I screamed.
The raincoat was ice-cold.
Soaked through.
Heavy, as if someone were hugging me tightly from behind.
I tried to tear it off.
I couldn't.
It was stuck fast to my skin.
The phone on the table suddenly vibrated.
A text message.
From an unnamed number.
“That raincoat looks good on you.”
A second message appeared immediately.
“Put it on.”
Then a third.
“You and I are going for a walk.”
Before I could react…
Click!
The window flew open.
Cold wind slapped me in the face.
The scuffing of plastic sandals sounded from outside on the roof.
Scuff…
Scuff…
It was coming toward me.
I backed away.
Scuff…
Closer.
Scuff…
Then it stopped right beside the window.
A deathly pale hand slowly reached inside.
Water dripped steadily from its fingertips.
It seized my hand.
Freezing cold.
“So cold…”
Vy whispered.
“Hold my hand and warm it up.”
I screamed.
I bit down hard on my own hand.
I thought I was dreaming.
But this time…
my teeth sank into something else.
Soft.
Cold.
And pungent with a fishy stink.
I opened my eyes.
I was sitting on the floor with my knees drawn up.
The raincoat was still draped over me.
But my hand…
was holding a hand.
A deathly pale hand.
With unnaturally long fingers.
Its fingernails were pitch-black.
It lay motionless beside me.
I screamed and flung it away.
The hand fell to the floor.
But it didn't stay still.
Its fingers curled inward.
Then it began to crawl.
Little by little.
Toward the door.
My phone vibrated again.
“You dropped my hand.”
Another message appeared.
“Pick it up for me.”
I bolted out of the room.
Ran down the stairs.
I ran so fast I nearly fell several times.
Mrs. Lan was still sitting downstairs.
But this time…
her clothes were soaked through.
Water dripped from her hair onto the floor.
I panicked.
“You knew about this, didn't you?”
Mrs. Lan didn't answer.
I grabbed her hand.
“How do I make it stop?!”
She looked at me.
The sorrow in her eyes was terrifying.
“You can't escape, sweetheart.”
“It’s chosen you.”
“Then what do I do?!”
Mrs. Lan fell silent.
At last, she pulled a small knife from her pocket.
And pressed it into my hand.
“Stab the raincoat.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She died because of this raincoat.”
2:55 a.m.
I stood in the middle of the room.
The blue raincoat was still draped over me.
Outside the window, Vy stood on the corrugated metal roof.
She was no longer holding the sandals.
Both arms hung limp at her sides.
Her head was bowed.
Then she slowly raised it.
Even though I couldn't see her face…
I still knew she was looking at me.
I tightened my grip on the knife.
Both hands were trembling violently.
“Vy…”
I forced the words out.
“I’m giving your raincoat back, ma'am.”
I closed my eyes.
And stabbed down hard.
Thunk!
The knife pierced the fabric.
Immediately…
a shrill, piercing screech rang out.
It sounded nothing like a person.
And nothing like an animal.
It was like dozens of people screaming beneath the water at the same time.
The wind stopped.
The rain stopped.
The room fell completely silent.
The raincoat on my body began to swell.
Then…
Riiip!
It tore open from the collar down to the stomach.
A stream of thick black water gushed out.
Water spread across the floor around my feet.
Then, from inside the raincoat…
a bundle of long hair slid down.
Black hair.
Soaked through.
It wrapped tightly around my ankle.
I screamed and yanked my leg free.
But just a few seconds later…
everything vanished.
The raincoat lay motionless on the floor.
There wasn't a sound.
I stood there, gasping for breath.
I thought…
it was over.
I had really escaped.
Exactly 3 a.m.
Scuff…
The sound of sandals came from outside in the yard.
I went rigid.
Scuff…
It came down the hallway.
Scuff…
And stopped outside my room.
I didn't dare breathe.
Click.
The door slowly opened.
There was no one there.
Only the red sandals.
They moved on their own.
Little by little.
Scuff…
Scuff…
Then stopped right beneath the foot of the bed.
Placed neatly side by side.
As if waiting for their owner to slip them on.
I backed away.
A voice rang out.
Not from the door.
Not from the window.
But from…
beneath the bed.
“Thank you…”
I looked down.
A pair of white eyes slowly appeared in the darkness.
“For washing my raincoat…”
I couldn't move.
The voice gave a soft laugh.
“But my feet are still cold.”
A deathly pale hand slowly reached out.
It rested on the red sandals.
“You wear my sandals…”
“So I…”
“…won’t be cold anymore.”
I looked down at my feet.
Both my feet…
were slowly being dragged toward the space beneath the bed…