The Haunted Cinema

Suddenly awakening, Allen found himself startled by the realization that he had slept for so long.

His immediate instinct was to look toward the driver's seat.

Had the driver… passed away?

In the dark, his eyes shifted to the side, and he noticed, to his surprise, that Cathy had also woken up. Apart from her, the others seemed to be in a deep slumber. As for Dan, the male lead in the front, he was tossing and turning in his seat, clearly trapped in a nightmare, just as the script had foretold.

Allen lowered his head slightly, cautiously peering toward the driver's seat. But there was nothing but darkness, obscuring his view entirely.

Had the driver died? Or had he somehow survived?

Cathy's gaze flickered in his direction, their eyes briefly meeting. Without words, they both understood each other's thoughts. In this situation, all they could do was observe.

The driver's seat was eerily silent. The clock on his phone read 11:59.

Could it be? Had the driver already perished? With such a small time difference, it was likely that midnight had already passed.

Allen held his breath, waiting for each passing second. He didn't dare move a muscle.

Then, a thought struck him. The driver wasn't an idiot. If he knew he was about to die, of course he would have used his 'redemption ticket' to escape. Why would he remain here?

Suddenly, in the darkness, a figure began to rise from the driver's seat. It appeared to be the driver. Allen's breath caught, knowing that in the next moment, he might face the real thing—not some actor from a horror film, but the true, terrifying specter of death.

His lips trembled, sweat dripping from his body, his armpits cold with dread.

The figure stood slowly, walking toward him. Then, a brief flicker of light—a spark from a lighter—illuminated the figure's face. It was indeed the driver. The brief flash of light disappeared just as quickly.

After a long pause, the driver returned to the driver's seat.

Allen's heartbeat accelerated, more than it ever had in his life. He had never felt such fear. At that moment, his eyes flicked to Cathy, who was now pointing shakily toward a spot ahead of them. Her hand trembled with terror.

Allen's heart skipped a beat. He realized that Cathy was not only pointing but her entire body was shaking with fear. However, when he looked in the direction she indicated, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Then it struck him—Cathy must have seen something that only she could perceive. Perhaps, as a seasoned actress, she had developed the so-called "yin-yang eyes"—the ability to see spirits.

Allen's legs began to tremble. For someone who had grown up in a strictly materialistic world, suddenly finding himself in a horror movie world, face to face with real ghosts, staying calm without fainting was a sign of remarkable composure. And that was despite being well-prepared, with so many others around him.

He now realized that the driver had not fled because he was prepared. Surely, he must have some powerful artifact to ward off spirits.

Then, a heavy thud echoed in the darkness—the sound of the driver's body hitting the floor, followed by violent struggles. Meanwhile, Dan, seated in front, was also writhing in his seat, likely caught in the pivotal moment of his nightmare, which, upon waking, would match the terrifying scenes in the script.

Allen instinctively held his head in his hands, wishing that time would pass more quickly. He hoped the driver's ghostly deterrent would end the struggle, so that once everything was over, he could rush out and seize the artifact. If the driver died, it would be all the easier for him to take it.

His thoughts became increasingly chaotic. It was understandable, really. Anyone in such a situation would have their composure tested.

Suddenly, the sounds of struggle ceased, followed by a blood-curdling scream—the unmistakable cry of Dan, having just awoken from his nightmare.

The car lights flickered on. The scream roused the passengers, including Clark and Dustin.

"What's happening…?"

"Who's screaming…?"

As the lights illuminated, Dan immediately looked toward the driver's seat. The driver lay there, blood-soaked, his hand still on the switch that had turned on the lights.

Many of the passengers let out screams in unison as they witnessed the scene. It was a reflection of the script's first act coming to an end.

At that moment, a rush of information flooded into Allen's mind, as though the second act's script had been directly implanted into his consciousness. The details were crystal clear, so vivid that he could retrieve every single one without missing a beat.

The new script's contents were… astonishing.

Allen's face turned pale as he processed the information.

In the second act, two members of the main cast would perish. The first to die was Dustin. The second was Dean!

It was him!

Allen's heart nearly shattered. He realized that he himself would be among the victims of the second act.

Meanwhile, Dustin had angrily slammed his fist against the car window, blood spilling from the impact.

Dan was already at the front, examining the body. Clark, realizing that he was exempt from death in the second act, breathed a sigh of relief and clapped Allen on the shoulder, speaking his lines with a sympathetic look.

"What happened? The driver's dead?"

His eyes were filled with palpable pity.

The tour guide, along with the male and female leads, gathered around the driver's body, speaking of calling the police, though their phones had no signal.

"No one come near the scene!" Dan shouted. "This is a murder!"

As always, the lead character took center stage, with everyone else orbiting around him. Dan continued, "Everyone stay back! A murder's occurred. We need to investigate… Did anyone see what happened?"

Allen quickly complied with the script, adopting the role of someone hesitant to speak.

Dan immediately noticed his strange behavior and pressed, "Dean, do you know anything?"

At that moment, Allen realized something unsettling. In the first act's script, there was no mention of Dean witnessing the driver's death and the apparition of the ghostly figure when the driver lit his cigarette. Such an important detail should never have been omitted. Moreover, he had been wide awake yet had pretended to sleep. Perhaps his change in behavior had altered the script's trajectory for the second act?

With a quick realization, he spoke his lines, "No… nothing. It's just… I couldn't bear to see the driver die so horribly…"

Dan eyed him with suspicion, confusion creeping into his expression. It was exactly what the script demanded—the male lead had witnessed the driver's death in a dream, and now that it had become reality, he was understandably baffled. The words of the old beggar echoed in his mind, adding an eerie layer of dread.

The female tour guide, now visibly terrified, played her part flawlessly, nearly crying, "What… What do we do now? I've been leading tour groups for so many years, and I've never encountered anything like this..."

Carlin, after inspecting the body briefly, remarked, "It seems there are no external injuries. The blood seems to have flowed from his seven orifices. Poisoning, perhaps? There's no sign of a struggle."

In the bus, there were few young women; most were middle-aged or elderly. As a result, the screams at the sight of the body didn't last long. Allen, in particular, noticed that Zhang Dekun and Jiang Yi had yet to return. Liu An, with his baseball cap, was fixated on the driver's corpse.

"Isn't there a witness?" Dan asked again. "Did everyone sleep through this?"

Of course, there were witnesses. More than one. But since the script didn't allow them to speak, Allen had no intention of breaking character.

Now, with the lights bright and the passengers gathered in one place, the fear in his heart was somewhat alleviated.

He stared at the driver's body, wondering if the driver had truly possessed the means to ward off ghosts. If not, what had given him the courage to remain in the bus? Or perhaps the ghost-slaying artifact had been ineffective, leading to the driver's death? Regardless, if such an artifact existed, Allen was determined to get his hands on it!

Because…

According to the script, Allen had barely half an hour left to live!