Chapter Two: The Changing Photograph

Three human faces bulged inward through the door. Shen Yan bit his tongue and remained silent. Li Wu seized his camera and dragged him toward the room’s only window. “We’re six floors up!” “Not anymore.” She pulled aside the curtain. Instead of an alley, a narrow street lay outside, lit by blue-white lanterns. Black roofs stretched into the distance. Transparent skyscrapers from the real world hung above them like reflections drowned in deep water. They crossed the sill. When Shen Yan looked back, the darkroom was already receding behind mist. The masked figures broke through the door and reached into the narrowing window. Li Wu threw a handful of paper names. They became black birds and attacked the grasping hands.