Urban folktales

This is a story adapted from real events. For the convenience of later narration, the place names and personal names are all fictional. Let's use the fictional Green Town as the location. This is the case that happened at No. 37, Ross' House in Green Town. Every time I think about it, I can't help but shudder.

I remember that No. 37, Ross' House was in a corner of Green Town. One day, our police station suddenly received a call from a man who wanted to turn himself in. The man's voice on the phone was so low and spooky. He said, "I'm Jack Ross. I killed someone at Ross' House." My colleagues and I didn't dare to delay and immediately rushed there.

When we arrived at No. 37, Ross' House, my partner Tom broke down the door and entered. The sight inside scared us to death. There was blood all over the floor. According to Charlie, the forensic doctor, there was at least as much blood as ten people's. We searched every corner of the two - story house but couldn't find the murderer, nor could we find the victim. Even Jack Ross, who had called to turn himself in, had disappeared without a trace, as if he had never been there.

Tom frowned and said, "What on earth is going on? Can a person just disappear out of thin air?" I shrugged helplessly and said, "I don't know either, but we have to keep looking for clues." So we had to seal off No. 37, Ross' House and start looking for clues to investigate. The owner of this house was Jack Ross, and there was a photo of his family of four on the wall. When I saw the photo, I thought to myself that this family was probably in great danger. But where were the bodies? The case was at a dead end, and we had no clue at all.

A few days later, things took a turn. Someone called to say that the sealed Ross' House seemed to have been opened and there was light inside. We thought that the murderer might have come back, so we carefully entered the house with guns in our hands. As soon as we entered, strange things began to happen. A children's stroller suddenly rolled down from upstairs to my feet. I was startled and shouted, "Tom, this is so weird!" Tom said nervously, "Be careful. Let's go upstairs and have a look." But when we just got to the second floor, the stroller reappeared on the second floor and slowly rolled towards us. I got goosebumps all over my body, and Tom's eyes widened as he said, "This is definitely not normal!"

When we walked to the second floor, I saw a person sitting on a chair without making any sound. But in the blink of an eye, the person disappeared like smoke. I asked Tom in panic, "Did you see that? Am I seeing things?" Tom nodded with a pale face and said, "I saw it. How is this possible?" Just as we were in a daze, a burst of laughter came from downstairs. The laughter was terrifying to hear. I looked downstairs and saw a woman with two children suddenly appear. When they turned their heads, their faces were extremely terrifying. I was so frightened that I quickly found a place to hide, and Tom followed suit. I said tremblingly, "Tom, what kind of place is this?" Tom whispered, "I don't know either, but we have to be careful." But in an instant, they disappeared again.

Tom and I were about to go downstairs to see clearly when suddenly my colleague Ben beside me was pushed. It was the disappeared Jack Ross who pushed him. Ben rolled down the stairs, and my colleague David's forehead was broken and he was knocked unconscious on the spot. Fortunately, Tom and I sent him to the hospital, and he was not seriously injured.

There were no clues in this case, and it became an unsolvable mystery again. Later, when Ross' House was about to be renovated, the construction team dug out a large vat under the main room. There were three corpses soaked in it, which were Jack Ross' wife and two children. After examining them, Charlie, the forensic doctor, said, "They have been dead for a long time. Strangely, the corpses were not rotten. Their faces were still red, and their expressions were like they were sleeping. Moreover, there was only rainwater in the vat, not any embalming fluid. Also, Jack Ross' wife had a broken leg before, but no old injury was found under the X - ray." I frowned and said, "This case is getting more and more bizarre." Tom also looked confused and said, "Yes, it completely defies common sense."

Jack Ross was wanted, but we couldn't find him no matter how hard we tried. After a while, we caught a member of a cult organization named Sam. Sam said, "Jack Ross was the great protector of our cult. He practiced some kind of immortality technique and then betrayed the organization and was hunted down. When Jack Ross' wife and children were killed at home, he came back and saw it. Then he defeated those killers and drained their blood. I was on the lookout outside at that time, so I narrowly escaped." When Sam talked about Jack Ross, his face was full of horror. He said, "I have known Jack Ross for a long time, but he hasn't aged at all. Instead, he looks younger and younger."

Our special case group checked Jack Ross' files and found an even stranger thing. Jack Ross' father was also named Jack, and his grandfather was also named Jack Ross. I said to Tom in surprise, "What secrets does this family have?" Tom shook his head and said, "I have never seen such a situation before."

Later, according to the place Sam mentioned, we caught Jack Ross near a dilapidated church in the Rocky Mountains and escorted him back to Green Town. But on the night when we caught Jack Ross, Sam died mysteriously in prison. He scratched his throat with his fingernails and bled to death, kneeling on his legs as if confessing his guilt. This made the case even more mysterious.

I followed my colleagues to escort Jack Ross to Ross' House to identify the scene. When he saw the opened vat, his face was full of regret, and he murmured, "My wife, she didn't come back to life as I planned." Then he gently shook his hands, and the handcuffs and ankle cuffs fell off. My colleagues and I realized that something was wrong and wanted to point our guns at him, but we couldn't move our bodies. I shouted, "Jack Ross, what have you done?" But he ignored me. Then, the demolished Ross' House was restored. Jack Ross slowly walked up the stairs. We managed to break free and chased after him. When we reached the second floor, an invisible force blocked our way. We could only watch Jack Ross drill into the wall like a shadow. Tom angrily fired his gun, but it was too late. All that was left were bullet holes all over the wall.

Before we could recover, Ross' House began to shake. Then we found that we were back in the ruins of Ross' House, and Jack Ross was gone.

A few days later, we found Jack Ross' body in the ruins of Ross' House. Finally, the case was closed as Jack Ross committed suicide out of guilt. But when Charlie, the forensic doctor, examined the body, he found an even more terrifying thing. The body had no brain and internal organs. I said in disbelief, "This case is full of mysteries. No one can explain it clearly even now." Tom also sighed and said, "Maybe it will never be solved."

Since then, No. 37, Ross' House has been like a cursed place. Every time I pass by there, even in broad daylight, I feel gloomy. Many of us who participated in the case have encountered strange things. Sometimes at night, I can hear crying coming from the direction of Ross' House. Once, I saw Jack Ross' terrifying smile in my dream and woke up immediately, covered in cold sweat.

The story of No. 37, Ross' House has spread wider and wider in Green Town and has become more and more mysterious. Old people often tell this story at night to scare children, and the children are too frightened to go to sleep after hearing it. This story is like something rooted in everyone's heart and has become a part of the mysterious legends of our town.