Glass Ball

The Glass Ball is a scary story for kids about four girls who receive a strange gift in the mail. It is based on a Chinese ghost story called The Strange Glass Ball of Unknown Origin.

The four girls who shared room 414 were sitting on the floor, chatting and laughing, when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

They heard the voice of the Dormitory Administrator say, “Room 414! I have a parcel for you!”

None of them were expecting a package in the mail, so they all wondered who it was from. Shen Xin got up and opened the door. She took the package from the hands of the administrator, then shut the door and went looking for a pair of scissors to open it. She tore off the wrapping paper and opened the package.

When they saw what was inside, the girls were shocked. It was a glass ball that was crystal clear and seemed to be filled with some sort of liquid.

“Who could have sent this?” Zhou Xiao asked.

“Look at the name on the packaging,” said Yu Fei as she picked up the brown paper wrapper and looked at the label.

Su Yun looked over her shoulder and exclaimed, “Anonymous! That’s who!”

“Maybe it’s from a boy who has a crush on one of us and he was too embarrassed to write his name on it,” said Zhou Xiao.

Suddenly, the dorm went dark.

“Lights out,” Shen Xin said, placing the glass ball on the table.

The girls quickly washed and climbed to bed. Su Yun finished brushing her teeth and before lying down, she took another look at the shining glass ball on a table. In the darkness, it seemed to glow with a strange light shining from within.

Su Yun was tired and as soon as she lay down and closed her eyes, she fell asleep. Before long, she was awoken by a loud noise. She rolled out of bed and walked to the door. Then, she saw a familiar figure emerge from the darkness.

“Shen Xin? Is that you?” she whispered.

As the shadowy figure came towards her, she realized that it was indeed Shen Xin, but something was not right. In her hands, she seemed to be holding something.

Su Yun felt a chill run down her spine. She wanted to run away, but she couldn’t move. Shen Xin was staring at her coldly, as if she didn’t even know her. Even more frightening was that, in her hands, she was holding a knife. The sharp cold blade glinted in the moonlight.

“Shen, what are you…” Suyun didn’t even have time to finish her sentance because suddenly, she saw Shen Xin raise the dagger above her head.

“Ah!” Su Yun shrieked. Her first reaction was to run, but after a few steps, she bumped into someone else. It was Zhou Xiao, but there was something wrong. Her hands were stained with blood and she was holding a severed arm and chewing on it.

Su Yun gasped in horror, and stumbled backwards. Her hands and legs were trembling.

Shen Xin and Zhou Xiao have become ghosts, she thought, and now they’re going to kill me too!

In a panic, Su Yun pushed Zhou Xiao and ran past her, to the stairs. As she ran down the stairs, she bumped into someone else. It was Yu Fei! For a moment, she was relieved, but then she took a closer look. Yu Fei didn’t have any feet! Her eyes were staring straight ahead and her lips were moving. She kept repeating, over and over, “… glass balls… glass balls… glass balls…”

Suyun pushed past her and tumbled down the stairs. The three ghosts were close at her heels. She had only one thought in her head. She had to escape from them.

When she reached the first floor, Su Yun crashed through the double doors and raced down the hallway. She kept trying the doors, but found all of them locked. Eventually, she found a janitor’s closet that was open. She ducked inside and slammed the door behind her. Then, she piled up some old chairs against the door, barricading herself inside. Then, she breathed a sigh of relief.

All of a sudden, Su Yun heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. Clomp, Clomp, Clomp, Clomp, Clomp. She trembled with every step.

Just then, she heard a tapping sound behind her. She twirled around and her eyes grew wide with fright as she saw a deformed face pressed up against the window. It was the face of Yu Fei! Her face was scrunched up against the glass and she was slapping her hand against the rain-soaked window. Her mouth was still moving and she seemed to be saying something Su Yun couldn’t make out.

Su Yun was almost crying now. She was in a pit of despair. Why are they chasing me? she thought. What is happening? This is all too terrible!

Suyun screamed and lifting up a chair, she smashed the window. The glass shattered and Yu Fei’s deformed face disappeared back into the rain.

Su Yun collapsed to the floor, shaking and trembling. What could have made the three lovely girls turn into such terrible ghosts? She thought about the glass ball. Where had it come from? Could it be responsible for all of this madness?

Perhaps if she was able to break that glass ball, all of this would end. Su Yun’s mind was filled with questions, but for now, this was the only answer.

When Su Yun woke up, it was morning. The wind was blowing through the broken window and she was shivering with the cold.

She listened at the door, but she couldn’t hear anything. She pulled away the chairs, opened the door and cautiously peeked out. The hallway was empty. Everything was silent. Shen, Xiao and Yufei were nowhere in sight.

Su Yun took a deep breath and made her way down the corridor to the stairs. She slowly walked up the steps and came to the door of her room.

When she peeked inside, what she saw made her immediately tense up. Zhou Xiao was crouching in the corner, her eyes still dull and her hands still covered in blood. She was still chewing on a severed arm.

When she looked up, Zhou Xiao stopped chewing and slowly got to her feet. She threw her head back, let out a strange laugh and said, “Su Yun…”

“Don’t come near me!” Su Yun shouted.

Zhou Xiao was gliding slowly across the room, closing in.

“What do you want from me?” Su Yun cried, panic and fear making her burst into tears.

“Your life… Your death…” Zhou Xiao laughed, advancing step by step.

“Why?” asked Su Yun.

“We’re like sisters, aren’t we?” said Zhou Xiao. “All four of us should be together. Now that three of us have become ghosts, don’t you want to join us?”

“No!” Su Yun shouted, violently shaking her head.

“We are all under the influence of the glass ball… It has turned us all into ghosts… Everyone in the university… You’re the only one still alive… You’re the odd one out… We want you to stay with us… We want you to join us…”

Su Yun rushed across the room and grabbed the glass ball. As she felt it in her hand, she looked at it, still exuding a strange shimmer.

Just destroy it, she thought. Then everything will be over!

Su Yun held the glass ball above her head and with all her strength, she dashed it against the ground. The glass ball smashed into a million tiny pieces and a pool of glowing liquid spread across the floor.

It’s over, she thought. It’s all over. We’re safe now.

Su Yun leaned against the wall and let out a long sigh of relief.

However, the next second, she stared in horror, because she saw the pool of liquid from the glass ball growing larger and larger. It spread out across the floor, blocking her escape. All of a sudden, the liquid formed into a bloody hand that stretched out to her.

The next day, the police came to the university and found it inexplicably empty. Every single student and teacher had disappeared. All that remained was one badly decomposed body. It was found in Room 414. The dead body was later identified as a teenage girl named Su Yun.