heeownsmee

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 41 – The Road Back

“Some truths don’t stay buried. Especially when they were never meant to die.”

The morning sun never arrived.

Gray clouds loomed low in the sky, pressing down like the weight of everything they’d seen, and everything they still didn’t understand. Jay’s living room was quiet, filled only by the soft ticking of the clock and the occasional creak of wood from upstairs.

Lisa hadn’t woken.

Hanni, though conscious, was pale and speechless, sitting curled in the corner of the bed as if still not entirely present.

Everyone else had gathered downstairs, their expressions worn and uncertain. The silence wasn’t from exhaustion. It was from fear.

“So” Jake broke it at last, pacing slowly near the window “what the hell do we do now?”

Heeseung let out a tired breath. “We don’t even know where to start. We have no clue where the orphanage owner even is. We don’t even know his name. How are we supposed to find him?"

“That’s the point” Jungwon said, rubbing at his forehead. “We’re blind. We have almost no information.”

“Time’s running out” Sunghoon muttered. “We can’t just sit here and wait for something to happen. Lisa’s condition is getting worse.”

Madame Thorne, standing near the fireplace, spoke. “You’re right. Time isn’t on our side.”

She glanced toward the group, then walked over slowly, clasping her hands. “There’s only one place left that might have the answers you need. Where it all began.”

"The orphanage"

Jake’s brows furrowed. “The orphanage?”

“It’s dangerous” Madame thorne admitted. “But it’s the only thread we have. That place holds everything. Answers, names, Clues to the cult. If there’s anything left that can help us find him, it’ll be there...somewhere in that building, or beneath it, I believe there are traces left behind.

Sunoo blinked. “Wait- going back there? After everything that happened?”

“The fire must have destroyed most of it” Heeseung said, shaking his head. “What could even be left?”

“We never know, there might still be some clues.” Madame Thorne replied quietly.

Everyone turned to Aldric, waiting for a decision.

He gave a slow nod. “Then that’s where you must go.”

“You’re not coming?” Jake asked, confused.

Aldric shook his head. “ I have to stay here with Lisa and Hanni. They need protection, more than ever. If the spirit senses what you’re doing, she may lash out. I need to be here to contain her. And to protect them.”

Jake frowned. “But we’ll also need you.”

“You’ll need strength” Aldric said firmly. “You’ll need courage. And you’ll need someone who understands spirits.” He turned to Madame Thorne. “She’ll go with you. She can shield you from the spirits.”

Thorne nodded solemnly.

Sana wrapped her arms around herself. “But I don't understand...The woman, she’s already dead. How does she still have so much power?”

“Because the cult is still alive” Aldric replied. “as long as the cult exists, even in fragments, the spirit can still mark people. She draws her strength from them. From the rituals they continue in secret. From the blood they’ve spilled. She can still mark someone even after death, because her cause wasn’t destroyed. She still has roots in this world.”

“And...if we get rid of the cult…” Jay trailed off.

“She’ll become what she was always meant to be” Madame Thorne finished, “just a spirit. A powerless one, lingering but unable to harm or posses.”

"It's not so simple to break that cult. You will go back...but not all" Aldric said firmly. "Only those who are mentally and physically prepared should take this risk. The orphanage is far more dangerous now than it was before. The spirit knows you now. The land remembers you. The deeper you go, the more it will fight back.”

“But Lisa’s my best friend. I must go and fight for her...” Annie said in a whisper almost to herself.

“And that’s why you should stay” Aldric said gently. “She’ll need you here, when this is over. If anything happens to you in there, she’ll wake up alone.”

Annie’s eyes brimmed with tears but she nodded, voice small. “Okay…”

“I’m not staying” Jay said quickly.

“Me too” Heeseung said. “We have to do this.”

“Yeah” Jake added.

“I’m not letting you guys go alone” Sunghoon said.

“I want to go” Ni-ki said, stepping forward.

“You sure?” Sunghoon asked.

“Yeah” Ni-ki nodded. “I know I’m younger but I’m not weak. We need all the help we can get.”

The most important you all need to keep in your mind is that, he’s not just a man. He’s the cult’s gatekeeper. He controls what’s left of it. If you don’t end him, the cult survives. And if the cult survives… Lisa dies.” Father Aldric said.

The words hit like thunder.

“I’m not gonna let her die” Jay said quietly.

“We’re not letting any of them die” Heeseung added. “Lisa. Hanni. Or each other.”

Madame Thorne stood. “Then prepare yourselves. We leave in an hour.”

One Hour Later

The group stood at the edge of the driveway, bags packed. The van rumbled quietly behind them.

Hanni had cried silently when Heeseung knelt beside her to say goodbye. “Come back” she whispered. “Please. I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t be” he promised. “Just hold on a little longer.”

Sana hugged Jake tightly. “Please Don’t let anything happen to you.”

“I won’t” he whispered into her hair. “I’ll come back.”

Jay lingered last, his gaze locked on Lisa’s unconscious face.

“I’ll bring you back” he murmured. “No matter what’s out there.”

Father Aldric approached Jay with a small leather pouch. “Inside, there are three vials. Holy water. And a pendant soaked in protective blessing. It may not save you—but it will buy you time.”

Jay nodded and tucked it into his coat. “Thank you.”

Jay stepped back, took one last look at the house, then turned to the others.

“Let’s go.”

And just like that, they left. To the place where every walls, every corners and every doors had secrets.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 40- What remains in the Ashes

The door creaked open.

All eyes turned as Father Aldric and Madame Thorne stepped out, the flickering candlelight from within now extinguished, leaving only the heavy weight of what had just transpired.

The others surged forward from where they’d been waiting. Heeseung’s eyes were wild with desperation.

“Is she okay? Hanni—what happened?”

“She’s unconscious” Aldric said, his voice rough. “But she’s fine now.”

Heeseung nearly collapsed with relief, his breath hitching as he slumped against the wall. He pushed past the others to kneel beside her.

Jay set Lisa down gently nearby, his gaze sharp and silent, protective.

The rest of the group crowded close, but none spoke—not yet. There was something in Aldric’s eyes, something hollowed by truth.

“Who was she?” Jake asked, almost a whisper.

Aldric nodded slowly. “Someone who gave us the truth. More than any of us were ready to hear.”

The room seemed to contract around his words.

Madame Thorne stepped forward. “The spirit… she was the daughter of a man who funded the orphanage. She used to visit often. Thought she was helping the children by being there—bringing sweets, playing games.”

“She didn’t know what was really happening?” Sunghoon asked.

“No” Thorne said softly. “Not until it was too late.”

“She saw something,” Aldric continued grimly. “Something she wasn’t supposed to. The orphanage’s owner… he was torturing children, performing rituals. She caught him in the act and threatened to expose him. So he killed her.”

The group fell silent.

“He covered it up by setting the fire,” Thorne whispered. “But she didn’t disappear. Her spirit stayed behind.”

Hanni stirred slightly, but Heeseung gently cradled her head. She didn’t wake up.

“She possessed Hanni because they look alike” Thorne added. “She saw herself in her. A second chance. A borrowed voice.”

“And Lisa?” Sunghoon finally asked. “Why was she affected too?”

Thorne’s jaw tensed. “Because Lisa is marked.”

Everyone’s head snapped toward her.

“By the woman who helped him” Aldric added, his voice low and bitter. “The orphanage owner had a partner. A woman who returned after the fire began. Not to save anyone, but to recover stolen money. She died in the flames. And now… her spirit is trying to return.”

“What?” Jay breathed, his grip tightening on Lisa.

“She’s not just trying to possess her. She’s trying to take her life. She wants to use her body.” Thorne said quickly.

A wave of dread swept through the hallway.

“She’s growing stronger” Aldric warned. “And if we wait too long… Lisa might be gone forever.”

Sana covered her mouth, eyes wide. “What do we do? How do we stop her?”

“Now, we not only have to save Lisa” Aldric said “but Hanni as well. Because if we don’t do what we’ve promised… she’ll come back again and take her revenge.”

“The girl’s spirit told us that the man who ran the orphanage is still alive” he continued grimly. “And he’s not alone.”

“The Eye Below” Thorne said darkly. “The cult still exists. Somewhere Hidden."

Aldric looked each of them in the eye. “She said we have to go and find him. We must go there and burn him in that place like he did with her and the children. And scatter his ashes where they died...The orphanage.”

“Only then” Thorne added “can they finally rest.”

The group stood in silence—a heavy stillness, dense with rage, and fear, and purpose.

Lisa stirred slightly in Jay’s arms, murmuring something unintelligible before falling quiet again.

Aldric’s eyes turned toward the dark hallway behind him.

“We’ve seen only the beginning” he said.

“The true evil… is still waiting.”

And somewhere, buried beneath ashes and it was waking.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 39 – The One They Left Behind

Darkness swallowed the room.

No one moved. No one breathed.

Only the sound of Lisa’s ragged, shallow breathing remained — a fragile thread tethering them to reality.

“Hanni…” Heeseung’s voice cracked, barely audible.

She didn’t respond.

Instead, the silence stretched, coiled tight like a wire about to snap. Then, her head tilted slowly, not like a person turning to listen, but like something testing the limits of a human body.

A low, unnatural sound escaped her throat. Not quite a growl. Not quite a laugh.

Aldric stepped forward, unflinching. “Everyone else. out. Now!”

“But- ” Jay started, but Aldric’s glare snapped his mouth shut.

“I said OUT!" You all cannot stay here..it's not safe! Whatever is in her… it’s been hiding too well for too long.”

But Heeseung didn’t move. “I- I'm not leaving her.”

“That thing is not her” Aldric snapped. “And if you stay, it’ll use your love against you.”

Hanni’s lips twisted at that. Her head jerked violently to the left, then back again with a sickening crack. Her pupils rolled back before snapping forward once more.

And then she smiled.

Not with warmth, but with cruel recognition.

“You never noticed” she whispered. But it was two voices that spoke. “I was always with you.”

A chill surged through Heeseung’s veins.

Father Aldric stepped between them, raising the crucifix in one hand, the book in the other.

“I bind thee—” he began, but the thing inside Hanni shrieked.

Not from pain.

From rage.

The windows trembled in their panes. Somewhere downstairs, a picture fell from the wall with a crash.

She lunged.

Aldric threw out his hand, and the holy water burst from the flask in a shimmering arc. Where it struck her skin, it hissed, smoke curling upward.

Hanni collapsed backward into the wall, chest heaving, eyes wide with fury — but she didn’t scream again. She watched.

Waited.

“I said out!” Aldric barked again, sweat already forming on his brow.

Jake, Ni-ki, and the others backed away, Jay carried Lisa with him but Heeseung lingered at the door. But finally relented, dragging his gaze from Hanni’s trembling form. His footsteps echoed like thunder as he exited the room.

The door slammed behind Heeseung, the echo sharp and final.

Only Father Aldric and Madame Thorne remained. Outside, muffled voices rose in panic, but Aldric didn’t move. His eyes were locked on Hanni’s body curled like a shadow against the far wall.

Or what was inside her.

The thing’s breathing was shallow, uneven. Then it shifted — not like a person adjusting their position, but like something realigning broken limbs inside borrowed skin.

Aldric raised the crucifix again, voice firm.

“In the name of the Holy Father, I command you to speak your name.”

A low, guttural hiss answered him.

“You have no power here” the voice said, thick and distorted — layered like it echoed from within a well. “She let me in. I belong here now.”

Madame Thorne’s hand brushed her satchel, gripping a talisman. “You’re angry. I can feel it. But you’re also afraid.”

The spirit laughed. A cruel sound — brittle and wild.

“I am what had been left behind. I am every scream that went unheard.”

Aldric stepped closer. “You’ve hidden too long. That ends tonight.”

The spirit’s eyes snapped to his, and suddenly the air dropped ten degrees. Frost bloomed on the corners of the window glass.

“Try, then” it spat.

The crucifix glowed faintly in Aldric’s hand as he began again.

“I bind thee, spirit, by the light of—”

Hanni’s body convulsed violently, limbs thrashing. She slammed against the wall with bone-jarring force. Her scream was inhuman — not pain, but defiance.

“I won’t go back!” she howled. “Not while he still breathes!”

A picture on the wall exploded into shards. The lights flickered rapidly, the room pulsing with energy like a heartbeat.

He opened the old book in his hand and read aloud, the words ancient and jagged. The spirit shrieked again, and this time, her body began to tremble — not in rage, but something deeper.

Fear.

“No!” she cried, voice cracking. “Don’t make me see it again! Don’t make me—”

The candle flames burned high and blue.

Hanni’s body collapsed, limp but breathing. Her lips moved, barely audible now.

“I didn’t want to… I just… I wanted to help them…”

Madame Thorne knelt beside her, her voice gentler now. “Help who?”

A long pause.

Then — a whisper.

“I used to visit the orphanage...My father gave funds to them. I thought it made things better.”

Aldric and Thorne exchanged a glance. The tone was different now. Younger.

“I loved going there. The children… they waited for me. We played in the gardens. They laughed when I brought them sweets. I was their friend.”

Her voice faltered.

“Until one day I saw a bruise in her wrist. I asked her where it came from. She didn't answer. I asked her again. But then she cried.”

Hanni’s eyes filled with tears

“She said they were hurting them. The owner, That bastard...he hurt them. Said it was punishment. Said it was God’s will.”

She swallowed hard.

“I got angry and ran through the halls to find him. I didn’t know where he was. But then… I heard the scream.”

Her fingers curled against the wooden floor.

“I opened the door and I saw him. The boy tied down. The symbols on the floor. Blood. So much blood.”

Aldric’s knuckles went white around the crucifix.

“I screamed. He looked at me like a trapped animal. I told him I’d tell my father everything. That he’d burn for what he did.”

Hanni’s voice broke. Tears welled in her eyes, but they weren’t hers.

“I thought he’d beg. But he didn’t. He just picked up the knife.”

She looked up.

“And I never got to scream again.”

A silence fell like ash.

Madame Thorne’s eyes glistened.

“He...killed you?”

The candlelight dimmed.

“He panicked and Ordered them to burn it all. Said it would erase the evidence. But it didn’t erase me."

"He let the fire cover his tracks. But I remember his eyes.”

The lights flickered, casting the room into brief, flickering shadow.

“I will drag him out. Piece by piece. And when he begs… I’ll show him what it’s like to be helpless.”

A faint knock echoed from beneath the floorboards.

Aldric took a shaky breath. “But, why did you choose Hanni?”

The spirit looked at him, a flicker of cruel purpose returning to her face.

“Because she looks like me. And I remembered what I lost when I saw her face.”

“And Lisa?” Aldric pressed.

Something in the air shifted.

The spirit’s smile faded into something darker — colder.

“She’s marked...by the woman” it whispered.

Aldric tensed. “who?”

The room seemed to dim further, the shadows crawling across the walls like silent fingers.

“She’s marked by the woman who was burned in the orphanage” the spirit said. “His partner. The one who helped him.”

Madame Thorne’s breath caught.

“She wasn’t supposed to be there” the spirit continued, voice slow and trembling with memory. “But greed pulled her back. After the fire was set, after he ordered everything destroyed...she came back. Not to save anyone. Not for guilt. But to get the money he stole from my father.”

A flicker of heat sparked in the air — not warmth, but bitter rage.

“She thought she had time. Thought the fire would wait. But the house…was already burning.”

The voice dropped, barely audible now.

“She died screaming.”

Thorne leaned forward.

“I tried to protect her” the spirit admitted, and for a moment the voice sounded young again almost like the girl she once was. “I tried to stop the woman’s mark. But she was too strong.”

Aldric’s heart sank.

“She didn’t mark Lisa for another sacrifice. She’s beyond rituals now.”

“Then what?” Aldric demanded. “What does she want?”

The spirit’s eyes glinted.

“She wants to use her” the spirit spat. “She wants to take her soul and wear her skin. Walk again. Speak again. Finish what they started.”

Thorne’s fingers gripped her talisman tighter.

“She’s already working on it” the spirit whispered. “She’s inside. Not fully. But Lisa’s slipping. You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

The room fell into an eerie silence, the kind that lives in graveyards and memories.

“She’s getting stronger” the spirit warned. “And if you wait too long… Lisa won’t be there to save.”

Aldric raised the crucifix again, voice stronger this time. “Before we save her, you need to get out for her body.”

But the spirit—still clinging to Hanni let out a soft, bitter laugh.

“You can save her” she whispered. “But I’m not going to leave this body.”

Aldric���s hand froze.

The spirit’s eyes glowed faintly in the flickering candlelight. “I will kill that bastard with my own hands.”

Her voice shook, not with fear but with fury buried beneath centuries of silence.

“He’s still out there. Hiding somewhere. Living his life while the ones he destroyed rot in ash and shadow.”

She leaned forward, something feral twisting in her expression.

“I won’t go” she hissed. “Not until I find him. Not until I feel his blood on my hands.”

Aldric didn’t lower the crucifix.

His arm trembled, but not from fear. From the unbearable weight of choice.

“Revenge won’t give you peace,” he said quietly. “You think it will, but it won’t. I’ve seen what becomes of spirits that cling to hatred. You’ll forget why you began. You’ll become the very thing you despise.”

The spirit inside Hanni smiled, slow and venomous. “Peace is for the living.”

Thorne moved beside him. “Then what happens to Hanni?” she asked carefully. “You claim to hate the ones who hurt the innocent. But if you stay in her, you’re no different.”

That smile faltered. Just slightly.

“You said you wanted to help the children” Thorne continued. “That you loved them. So why risk becoming another monster who steals life?”

The spirit’s eyes flicked to Hanni’s hands—small, trembling, human. Not hers.

A long silence.

Then, slowly, a tear slipped down Hanni’s cheek. It didn’t belong to her.

“I just… I didn’t want to be forgotten” she whispered. “They forgot all of us. Every name. Every face. They buried our truth with the fire.”

“You’re not forgotten. We know now. And we’ll bring the truth to light. But not like this.” Father Aldric said, his voice steady.

The candlelight fluttered as the spirit looked away, like a child turning from the scolding of a parent.

“Justice” she whispered. “Is it still justice… if I can’t be the one to deliver it?”

Madame Thorne’s voice softened. “Sometimes, letting go is the bravest thing you can do.”

The spirit trembled inside Hanni’s frame, her fingers curling as if gripping invisible chains. Her lips parted as if to argue — to scream, to stay.

But he’s not alone anymore. Others followed him. Others like him. The ones who called themselves The Eye Below.”

Aldric’s hands tightened into fists.

The cult was still alive. Still feeding on silence and fear.

“You must go there” the spirit said, eyes gleaming. “You must burn it down. And when you do, scatter his ashes where the children died. Only then will we rest.”

Aldric gave a heavy nod, but his voice turned firm again. “And Hanni? You need to leave her. She deserves her life.”

The spirit blinked slowly.

“don’t let him die easy.” she whispered

Aldric’s eyes darkened, but he nodded once. “He’ll answer for what he did.”

The lights flared once more.

And Hanni screamed — loud and piercing, the final cry of something ancient, furious, and afraid.

The candles flared one last time — a blue flame licking high toward the ceiling before dying all at once.

A gust of cold wind swept through the room.

And Hanni collapsed.

Thorne rushed to her. “It’s really over… at least for her.” she murmured.

Aldric’s eyes flicked toward the shadows near the wall. The cold still lingered. Faint, but present.

They both turned to the door, beyond which the others waited, unaware of the storm just barely held at bay.

Aldric looked down at Hanni, unconscious in Madame Thorne's arms, and then to the extinguished candles that now lay in wisps of smoke.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 38 – Someone's Possesed

The ride home was silent.

Even the wind outside had quieted, as if the world itself was bracing for what came next. The fog had begun to clear, but inside the car, the weight of what Father Aldric had said in the chapel pressed on every breath, every heartbeat.

Jay sat stiffly in the passenger seat, fists clenched in his lap. He hadn’t spoken since they left the chapel.

Heeseung looked back at him, his voice barely above a whisper. “We’re going to save her.”

He didn’t answer. He couldn’t. The only image in his mind was Lisa — cold, still, draped in blankets, a mark carved into her skin like a scar from something older than time.

When they reached the house, the sky was beginning to darken again, clouds bruising the horizon. The engine cut off, but no one moved for a moment.

“Let’s go” Father Aldric said, stepping out. “We don't have much time.”

Inside, the house was quiet. Too quiet.

Jay rushed up the stairs first.

She was exactly where they’d left her — lying in the bed, still unconscious, her face pale as paper. Ni-ki and Annie sat nearby, wide-eyed and alert. Nancy and Sunghoon stood in the corner, their expressions grim.

“She didn’t move the whole time” Nancy said softly. “Not once.”

Father Aldric stepped into the room. His presence was like a stone thrown into still water — everything shifted.

“Her body is cold” he murmured placing a hand gently on her forehead. “And the air around her is… wrong.”

Jay finally spoke. “Is it...too late?”

Father Aldric looked at him. “Not yet. But there’s no time to waste. If what you told me is true — the mark, the cult, the possession — we need to perform the first phase of the rite now. Tonight.”

Panic bloomed behind Jay’s ribs. “Now?”

The old man nodded. “This will not be the full exorcism. Not yet. This is to gauge how deep the entity runs, how far it’s taken hold of her soul. If we wait, it might root itself so far in that no ritual will reach her.”

The group stood frozen, the fear almost tangible.

“We’re not ready” Jake said, his voice trembling slightly.

“No one ever is” Aldric replied. “But this girl doesn’t have the luxury of time. If you care for her, you’ll stand with me now. Or you’ll lose her.”

Jay moved to Lisa’s side, brushing a strand of hair from her face. Her skin was like glass.

Father Aldric opened the small leather bag he carried. Inside were worn tools: a silver crucifix dulled with age, a flask of holy water, a white candle marked with unfamiliar runes, and a battered book bound in black.

Jay looked down at Lisa again. “I’m scared” he whispered.

“I know” Aldric said softly. “But she’s still here. I can feel it. Barely… but enough.”

The candle was lit. The book opened.

And outside, thunder rumbled.

The air turned heavy.

The exorcism was about to begin.

Across the room, Hanni tugged lightly at Heeseung’s sleeve. Her voice was barely audible, trembling with uncertainty.

“I’m… I’m not feeling too well” she whispered in his ear. “I guess I’ll go and rest for a while.”

Heeseung turned to her slowly, eyes wide in disbelief. “What?”

Her gaze dropped to the floor, and she shifted her weight, arms wrapped around herself. “Just for a bit. I—I just… I don’t feel good.”

Heeseung stared at her, stunned. Out of all moments… now? Lisa was lying barely alive in that bed, trapped in a battle they couldn’t even see, and Hanni, the girl who couldn’t sit through a horror movie without hiding behind a pillow wanted to be alone in her room?

“Hanni…” His voice lowered. “How can you say that right now?”

Her expression faltered, guilt flickering in her eyes, but she didn’t answer.

He glanced toward Lisa, her chest barely rising and falling under the weight of the ritual’s tension, then back at Hanni. “Lisa’s suffering so much right now. She’s fighting between life and death. We have to be here for her.”

Hanni opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Heeseung shook his head, gentler now. “Father said it’s not gonna take long. This isn’t even the full thing… He’s just checking how strong the spirit has gotten.”

She blinked, visibly shaken.

“Lisa needs us” he said firmly.

Hanni looked toward the bed, toward Jay kneeling by Lisa’s side, and toward the trembling candle flame that flickered as Aldric continued to chant in that strange, guttural Latin.

The room felt colder.

The flame flickered wildly the moment the first Latin syllables left Father Aldric’s lips.

Not from wind—there was none. The window was shut, the curtains drawn. But the candle danced like it knew what was coming.

Jay sat by Lisa’s side, clutching her hand. Her fingers were cold, unmoving. He squeezed tighter anyway, hoping—praying—she could feel him.

Aldric’s voice filled the room, low and rhythmic. The words seemed to hum against the walls, vibrating through the wooden floorboards. With each line, the room grew colder.

Ni-ki took a step back, instinctively pulling Annie behind him.

Jake, Sadie, and Elena stood near the doorway, silent, watching, not daring to interrupt.

Then Lisa’s body twitched.

Jay jolted.

Her hand flexed once in his grip. Not fully—just the barest hint of movement, but enough to send ice crawling down his spine.

“Father—”

“I know” Aldric said, not looking away from the book.

He flipped the page. The runes inked in its margins glowed faintly in the candlelight. As he continued the chant, Lisa’s eyelids fluttered once.

Then again.

A breath—ragged, wet—escaped her lips.

Lisa’s eyelids fluttered once more. Then again.

Jay held her hand tighter, heart hammering. “Lisa?”

She didn’t respond, but something beneath her skin twitched, a ripple that seemed too fluid, too unnatural.

Father Aldric’s voice deepened as he turned the page, chanting faster now. The flame from the white candle surged upward, casting tall, jagged shadows across the walls.

In the corner, Hanni shifted.

Not just a small adjustment or a nervous shuffle—something about the way she moved was… off. Her shoulders jerked slightly, her head cocking at a strange angle, then snapping back as if she was trying to steady herself. Like a puppet momentarily pulled by the wrong string.

Heeseung glanced at her from the side. “Hanni? Are you okay” he whispered.

She blinked fast and gave a quick, jerky nod. “I’m… fine.”

He frowned. Her voice sounded different.

Still, he didn’t say anything more. He thought she was just scared...maybe overwhelmed by the chanting, the cold, the gravity of what was happening to Lisa. He reached out and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Aldric continued reading from the black-bound book, his voice gaining momentum. The Latin now echoed unnaturally, layered like two voices speaking at once.

A sudden, sharp noise pierced the thick tension —

Ding-dong.

The doorbell.

Loud. Clear. Out of place.

Everyone froze.

The chant continued — Father Aldric didn’t flinch, didn’t even pause, his voice unwavering, echoing with authority and something ancient.

The others looked at one another in confusion, dread curling in their guts.

“Who the hell would come here at this hour?” Ni-ki whispered, eyes wide.

“I’ll check” Annie said quietly, slipping out of Ni-ki’s protective grasp. Her steps were light but fast as she descended the stairs, her heart pounding like a war drum in her chest.

The rest remained fixed in place. The candle flame sputtered again, flaring tall and blue.

Lisa shifted once more. Her lips parted, but no words came. Only a soft hiss, like steam escaping a pipe.

Annie reached the door, hesitant, her hand hovering over the knob. Slowly, she turned it.

Standing there was Madame Thorne.

Not cloaked in mystery like before, not composed or cryptic — she looked afraid.

Her wide eyes locked with Annie’s.

“Is Father Aldric here?” she asked, voice breathless.

Annie blinked. “He’s… upstairs.”

Madame Thorne didn’t wait. She stepped past Annie and bolted up the stairs, her long coat trailing behind her like a shadow. Her heels thudded against the steps with urgency that made the air feel heavier.

Back in the room, Jay didn’t even look up. He couldn’t tear his gaze from Lisa’s trembling hand.

Father Aldric’s chant swelled, the language dark and heavy on the tongue, the kind of words meant to stay buried in old books.

Madame Thorne burst into the room, breathless.

“Father Aldric!”

He stopped chanting, his eyes flickered toward her, briefly acknowledging her presence.

She stepped closer. “I found something. About the cult. About The Eye Below.”

That made everyone freeze again.

Even Jay looked up now.

“What?” Jake asked sharply.

Madame Thorne’s chest rose and fell as she caught her breath. Her eyes swept across the faces in the room, finally landing on Lisa.

And then she dropped the words like a stone into still water.

“The people who are marked…cannot be possessed.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

“What?” Heeseung said.

The mark is a claim” she said, voice growing louder, more frantic. “A binding. Once the ritual begins, the body is sealed. Not possessed. The soul is replaced. If Lisa was marked, if the mark is real…” she trailed off, gaze flicking to her pale, unconscious face. “Then she shouldn’t be showing signs of possession.

The room seemed to constrict around them.

Father Aldric looked at Madame Thorne sharply. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I found the original sigil in a forgotten ledger written by one of their defectors.

Jay looked down at Lisa again, his heart thundering. “But she is possessed. We saw the signs— And everything that's been happening in the house. With her.”

Heeseung blinked. “If she's not possesed then...what does that mean?”

“It means… whoever is possessed in this house…” Aldric turned, his eyes sweeping slowly across the room.

“…it isn’t her.”

A beat of silence passed.

The air in the room turned leaden.

No one moved. No one breathed.

All eyes turned to Lisa. Still, trembling, pale. The flickering candle beside her cast an eerie blue light across her face, making her look even more ghostly.

But Father Aldric was no longer looking at her.

His gaze was already shifting—slowly, deliberately—across the room.

Ni-ki instinctively stepped closer to Annie, his hand hovering near hers.

Jake took a half-step in front of Sadie and Elena.

Just then, Father Aldric’s eyes landed on Hanni.

She was standing beside Heeseung, her hand twitching ever so slightly but unnaturally. Her expression wasn’t one of fear or confusion anymore. It was… distant. Like she was watching something none of them could see.

“You” Aldric said, his voice firm but not aggressive. “Come forward.”

She didn’t move.

Everyone looked at her, brows furrowed, confused by her sudden stillness.

“Step forward.” Aldric repeated, louder now.

She blinked, her lips parting slightly, but no words came out. Her shoulders were trembling, her body rigid, like she was fighting something internally.

“No” she whispered at last. “No, I… I don’t want to.”

Jay turned toward her, still clutching Lisa’s hand.

Heeseung looked between Hanni and Aldric, then leaned in gently. “It’s okay” he said softly. “You don’t have to be scared. Just do what he says, alright?”

But Hanni shook her head — quick, frantic. “No, I… I don’t want to go near him.”

Her voice was high-pitched now, wrong. Not in tone, but the words came out stiff, robotic, like they didn’t belong to her.

Heeseung’s heart sank.

“Hanni?” he said, reaching for her arm.

She flinched violently, pulling away as if burned.

The twitch in her hand hadn’t stopped. Her fingers were curling inward, spasming in strange rhythms, as if her body was being tugged in directions it didn’t understand.

Hanni backed away until her back hit the wall. Her breathing was fast now, shallow. Sweat clung to her forehead despite the freezing cold air.

Heeseung stepped toward her. “Hanni, look at me.”

Her eyes darted up to his. For a moment, just a split second.

Her pupils dilated.

And the cold in the room thickened like mist.

“No” she said again, lower now, the voice no longer hers. “I won’t go to him.”

Everyone froze.

That voice didn’t belong to Hanni.

Father Aldric’s expression darkened. “It’s her.”

Heeseung backed up half a step, his hand falling away from her. “No. No, she—she’s not…”

But even as he said it, he saw it.

The way her lips curled ever so slightly. The twitch in her neck. The stillness in her gaze — like a predator waiting to strike.

And for the first time since the ritual began, the candle on the room blew out.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 37 – The Price of Return

A stillness settled over the chapel, thick and suffocating.

Jay’s heart thudded against his ribs. That’s why they chose her.

Lisa’s entire life, her past, the missing pieces she never spoke about suddenly felt like jagged shards rearranging into something monstrous.

Father Aldric’s voice cut through the silence.

Father Aldric’s voice cut through the silence.

“They’ve marked her. Not just as a vessel but as a tether.”

He turned the book around and placed it gently on the altar, letting the image of the symbol face the group. His fingers traced the ink as though it still burned.

“They didn’t finish the ritual, but they did enough. Enough to open her. Enough to invite something in.”

Jay’s throat tightened. “Then how do we get it out?”

A heavy pause.

“You can't” Aldric said quietly. “Not without consequence.”

Jake stood slowly. “You said you’d help—”

“I said I’d listen” Aldric interrupted, not unkindly. His eyes, pale and tired, locked with Jake’s. “And I am. But understand this: exorcism is not like what you’ve seen in films or heard about in ghost stories. What’s inside her… isn’t just a spirit. It’s something ancient. Feral. It doesn’t bargain. It devours.”

Sadie’s voice was barely a whisper. “Then what do we do?”

Aldric walked to a cabinet near the back of the church. He unlocked it with a rusted iron key, the door creaking open to reveal shelves of old tools. Crosses, flasks, sealed jars filled with herbs and bone fragments, and one small wooden box wrapped in red cloth.

He brought it to the altar and unwrapped it slowly.

Inside was a dagger. Old, iron-forged. Its blade curved, engraved with runes that shimmered faintly even in the dim light.

“This belonged to the last person who tried to free a marked soul from The Eye Below” he said. “She succeeded. But not without sacrifice.”

Jay stared at the blade. “What kind of sacrifice?”

Aldric looked him in the eye. “Blood. Pain. Sometimes… memory.”

Jungwon’s brow furrowed. “Memory?”

“Entities like the one inside Lisa… they feed on identity. On who we are. The more you love her, the more danger you’re in. If it senses your connection, it will weaponize it. Use your memories of her to protect itself. Twist them. Bury them.”

Jay’s hands were trembling. “You’re saying I might forget her?”

“I’m saying you might lose everything that ties you to her. And she may lose you, too.”

No one spoke for a long moment.

Outside, the wind picked up. A dull creaking groaned from the rafters.

Jay reached out, touching the hilt of the dagger. It was cold — too cold.

“If there’s even a chance” he said softly. “I’ll pay whatever it costs.”

Aldric nodded slowly, as if he had expected that answer. “Then we begin tonight.”

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 36- Ashes of Faith

The silence after Father Aldric’s words lingered, as if even the air was holding its breath.

He walked slowly down the steps from the altar, robes rustling faintly against the stone floor. “Sit” he said, motioning toward the worn pews.

"start from the beginning"

Jay sat at the front, eyes still red. Jake beside him, tense and quiet. Sadie and Elena settled in across the aisle, flanked by Heeseung and Jungwon. The cold clung to their skin, but none of them moved.

Jay cleared his throat. His voice was hoarse. “We didn’t go looking for any of this. We were just trying to get somewhere...driving through the countryside when things got turned around. We just made a wrong turn and then…”

“We ran out of gas” Heeseung finished, rubbing his hands together for warmth. “Middle of nowhere. No signal. No lights anywhere. Just one building nearby.”

Jake nodded. “It looked abandoned, but it was the only thing in sight. We didn’t want to go in but we had no choice.”

Father Aldric didn’t interrupt. His expression darkened, but he remained quiet.

“At first, it was just weird” Sadie continued. “Dust, broken furniture. But the longer we were inside… things started to happen. Doors closed on their own. Shadows moved. We saw children. We heard whispering. We barely made it out alive"

“And Lisa…” Jay’s voice cracked. “Lisa started acting strange after that night. She started acting strange. She said she saw children and something followed her out.”

They all went silent for a moment, the memory pressing down like the air before a storm.

Jay reached into his coat and pulled out a folded photo, worn at the edges. He handed it to Father Aldric — an image of Lisa’s wrist, the mark clear: a circle with jagged teeth and a vertical eye slit at its center.

Father Aldric stared at it.

“This cult you stumbled on…” he began, his voice low, “was not just another fringe group. The Eye Below is ancient. They used fear and pain to open gateways. They believed that by hollowing out the human soul, something stronger could enter and replace it.”

He turned and walked to the altar, unlocking a heavy, dust-covered cabinet. From inside, he pulled out a thick, leather-bound book. The pages were yellowed, the edges cracked. He opened it carefully and flipped through until he found the page he wanted.

The same symbol from the Photo stared back at them—drawn in crude, dark ink. Beneath it were hand-written notes in Latin, and a sketch of a child surrounded by robed figures.

“They used to perform rituals on orphans” Father Aldric said. “Children no one would miss. The more broken the soul, the easier it was to carve it open.”

Jay stiffened. “Lisa’s adopted.”

Everyone looked up.

“She was found when she was three” he continued.

Father Aldric’s eyes narrowed. “That's why they chose her.”

A cold ripple passed through the church.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 35 – Into the Fen

The morning arrived gray and cold.

Mist clung to the windows like breath on glass, blurring the outside world into a soft, shapeless dream. It was the kind of morning that made everything feel distant, like time itself had slowed to a crawl.

Lisa still hadn’t woken.

Jay hasn’t slept. He sat beside Lisa the entire night, her pale face barely shifting, her breaths coming soft and uneven. Each inhale felt like a thread pulling thinner, tighter. He watched her chest rise and fall with a silent desperation, afraid that if he blinked, he might miss her last breath.

Downstairs, the group moved slowly, deliberately, like people walking through the memory of a nightmare they hadn’t woken from.

Heeseung was the first to break the silence. “We should eat something before we go.”

No one answered, but a few stood up, moving on instinct more than desire. In the kitchen, the kettle hissed softly.

Annie sat at the far end of the table, a mug between her hands. She wasn’t drinking. She just held it for warmth.

“We don’t even know what this guy is going to say” Sunoo muttered as he pulled on his jacket. “What if he can’t help?

“We'll find out once we get there” Jungwon replied, adjusting the straps of his backpack.

Jay finally emerged from the room. His face was drawn, but determined. “She’s stable for now. I wrapped her in every blanket I could find. She’s not cold anymore.”

“Are you sure about this?” Jake asked him. “You don’t have to go. You’ve already—”

“I have to” Jay cut in. “If this Father Aldric is the only one who can help her, then I need to look him in the eye and beg if I have to. I’ll crawl to the moors if that’s what it takes.”

There was no argument after that.

By the time they stepped outside, the fog had thickened, curling around their feet like smoke. The car waited in the driveway, doors shut like a coffin. For a second, no one moved.

Elena looked at the trees lining the path beyond the house. Their branches were bare, but something about them still felt…

“Let’s just get there” she muttered.

They piled into the car slowly. The tires crunched over wet gravel as they pulled away from the house.

Annie, Nancy, Ni-ki and Sunghoon stayed back with Lisa.

She lay upstairs, unmoving, Sadie’s scarf wrapped around her hand, as if the scent of her friends might tether her to this world a little longer.

“She’ll be okay” Sadie said quietly, more to herself than anyone else. “We’re coming back with help.”

The road out of town was long and winding. As the sun tried and failed to break through the clouds, the forest grew denser, swallowing the light in patches. The map they’d marked showed Black Fen as a small, isolated place too far from comfort, too close to something ancient and forgotten.

The drive stretched on, endless and quiet, the kind of quiet that made you aware of your own breathing. The fog thickened the farther they went, swallowing the road behind them like a secret. Trees loomed on either side of the narrow road—tall, thin, their branches tangled like broken fingers reaching for something just out of sight.

No one spoke for a long while.

Jay stared out the window, the glass cool against his temple. Every bump in the road made him flinch, as if Lisa were still in his arms and not miles behind, lying still in that dark bedroom. The guilt gnawed at him silently. He should’ve stayed. He should’ve protected her better.

Heeseung drove with both hands tight on the wheel. The GPS had stopped working ten minutes ago, but the paper map Madame Thorne had marked guided them now—a red X drawn near a cluster of gray hills and dark wetlands.

Black Fen.

The car finally rolled into a village that looked like it had been forgotten by time. Old stone cottages leaned into the mist, roofs sagging, windows blank. A single lantern flickered on a crooked post. Mud covered most of the road. There was no sign of life.

“This is it?” Elena whispered.

“This is it” Heeseung said, pulling the car to a stop just outside a crooked iron gate.

He stepped out first, checking the slip of paper Madame Thorne had handed him before they left. He looked up at the small, withered house before them—wooden, narrow, with moss crawling up the sides like veins.

“This is the address” he said, voice low. “It’s Father Aldric’s house.”

They approached slowly, crunching over gravel and wet leaves.

The front door was closed. The windows were dark.

Jake knocked once, twice. “Hello?” he called. “Is anyone there?”

Silence.

Heeseung knocked again, harder this time.

Still, silence.

They stood uncertainly for a moment, the cold clinging tighter with every passing second, when footsteps approached from behind.

An old man, wrapped in a thick coat and scarf, trudged along the muddy road with a wooden bucket in his hand. He paused when he saw them, squinting.

“Are you looking for the man who lives there?”

He looked at the group with a mix of curiosity and caution.

“Yes” Heeseung replied. “We’re looking for him.”

The person nodded slowly. “You won’t find him here. He’s always in the church at this hour. Just across the way, behind the stone wall.”

They turned, and through the drifting mist, the sharp silhouette of a chapel slowly came into view. It was small, old, its steeple leaning slightly to one side. The bell tower above it stood crooked against the pale sky.

“Thank you” Heeseung said, and they began to move.

The churchyard was silent. Black ivy crawled up the sides of the chapel, and moss covered the worn steps. When they pushed the door open, it creaked loudly, the sound echoing in the cold space.

Inside, the church was dimly lit by rows of tall, dripping candles. Wooden pews lined the narrow aisle, warped with time. At the front, a man stood alone near the altar, his back to them, head slightly bowed. He looked like a statue carved from shadow.

Jay stepped forward.

“Father Aldric?” his voice broke the silence like glass.

The man turned.

He was older than they expected. His hair was silver and long, tied loosely at the nape. Deep lines cut across his face, his eyes pale and tired—but sharp. Like someone who had seen too much and survived all of it.

“I’m not a priest anymore” he said. His voice was low but firm. “I can’t help you.”

Jay stepped closer, desperation tightening every muscle in his body.

“Please Sir” he said. “I know who you are. Madame Thorne sent us here. She said only you can help with this.”

Father Aldric shook his head, already turning back toward the altar. “That woman should know better. I don’t do this anymore. That part of my life is buried.”

Jay didn’t move.

“I have a girlfriend” he said, his voice starting to crack. “Her name is Lisa. She’s...dying. The girl I love—she’s been possessed by something we don’t understand. If you turn us away, she won’t survive. Something's inside her and it’s slowly killing her. Every day I sit beside her and I feel her slipping away. It’s like something is pulling her out of this world and I can’t stop it.”

The Father stood frozen.

Jay took another step. His voice trembling. “She’s…my everything. And I know I don’t deserve your help, I know you don’t owe us anything. But if there’s even a chance—just one—that you can save her…then I’ll beg.”

His voice dropped to a whisper. “Please, sir. You’re our only hope. I can’t watch her die like this.”

A silence fell over the chapel.

The wind howled against the stained glass.

Then, slowly, Father Aldric turned to face him again. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes had changed. A flicker of something passed through them—memory, pain, recognition.

“Tell me from the beginning.” he said at last.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 34 – What Waits in the Dark

The storm outside had passed, but its echo still lived inside the house.

No one spoke for a long time.

Jay sat on the edge of the bed, Lisa’s limp body resting against his chest. Her breathing was shallow, her skin cold. He brushed her hair back from her face, trying to find her beneath the bruises and cuts. But it was like looking at someone through thick, cracked glass.

The others waited quietly around the room, the floorboards creaking faintly beneath their shifting weight.

“I don’t think I can do this again” Jay whispered finally. His voice was low, hoarse.

“Watching her like this. Hearing her voice...sound like that. It didn’t even sound human.”

Heeseung crouched beside him. “You don’t have to go through it alone.”

Jay looked up at him, eyes rimmed red. “But I am alone. She’s slipping away and I can’t stop it. I couldn’t even protect her.”

Madame Thorne stood by the window, her expression unreadable as she watched the wind stir the trees outside.

“The thing inside her” she said softly, “it’s stronger than I expected. I slowed it down. But I didn’t stop it.”

“So what do we do?” Nancy asked. “We go back to the orphanage and what—face it again?”

Jake shook his head. “Going back like this is suicide. We don’t even know what we’re fighting.”

“We do know” Madame Thorne murmured. “It’s not just a spirit. It’s Something born by fear. The Eye Below believed in making vessels—people marked by suffering. Lisa was chosen.”

Jay flinched at the word chosen.

“She didn’t choose any of this” he said. “She was just a girl. She didn’t deserve-”

“None of you do” Thorne interrupted gently. “But something wants her. And it won’t stop.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

“We can’t just go back there.” Heeseung said.

"We barely made it out alive the first time.”

Annie sat quietly her hand's still trembling.

“I’d rather face that orphanage” she whispered “than watch her like this.”

But even as she spoke, her heart quailed at the thought of the basement, the cages, the ritual chamber.

“But if we don’t go back” Jungwon said quietly “how do we stop it?”

“We need to be prepared before going back” Heeseung replied.

"Ma'am, Do you...know anyone who help us?" He said looking at Madame Thorne.

Madame Thorne didn’t answer immediately.

She turned from the window, the dying light casting a golden edge across her face. Her expression was thoughtful but beneath it, wary.

“There’s one” she said at last. “Not someone I contact lightly. But if anyone can perform a true exorcism, it’s him.”

Jake stepped closer. “Who?”

“Father Aldric” she replied. “He lives in the northern moors, near a place the locals call Black Fen. He was once part of the Church, but… they cast him out after a ritual went wrong. Because of too much power and belief.”

Sunoo frowned. “And we trust this guy?”

Madame Thorne’s gaze didn’t waver. “I trust that he’s not a fraud. And I trust that if there is still a soul inside your friend, he will know how to pull it free.”

Jay looked down at Lisa again, his thumb brushing over the veins in her wrist. Her skin looked translucent, as if something was already draining the color from her. He hated how light she felt in his arms.

His breath trembled as he held Lisa just a little closer, as if keeping her against him might stop whatever was trying to take her away.

“I’ll go” he said at last, voice low but steady. “Tell me where he is. I’ll find him.”

“You won’t find him alone” Heeseung said. “We’ll go together.”

“We all will” Elena added, her voice soft but resolute. “This isn’t just about Lisa anymore.”

Madame Thorne’s eyes flicked over the group—so young, so scared, but burning with a stubborn, reckless kind of hope.

“If you really intend to go” she said slowly, “you’ll need to leave by morning. The road to Black Fen isn’t a kind one. And it gets worse the longer you wait.”

A faint silence settled in the room again. It wasn’t peace. It was the pause before a storm.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 33 – A Veil Between

Jungwon stood by the window, eyes flicking to the staircase where Lisa lay upstairs. Sunoo sat cross-legged on the couch with a blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders, thumbing the edge of his sleeve. Sadie and Elena sat together at the kitchen counter, whispering in low voices while water boiled untouched in the kettle behind them.

No one said it out loud, but they were all thinking the same thing.

What if she wakes up… and it’s not her anymore?

“She hasn’t moved in hours” Sadie said quietly, checking her phone again.

Jungwon didn’t answer. His eyes remained locked on the staircase.

Meanwhile, miles away, the others pulled into the gravel path that led to the cottage of Madame Thorne.

the door opened before they even knocked.

A woman in her late thirties, not the frail crone they had expected from the stories. Her posture was rigid, her eyes dark and intelligent, with a glint of something old behind them — not age, but knowledge.

“Come inside.” she said simply.

They followed her in, and as soon as they crossed the threshold, the air seemed to bend. Inside, candles were lit and incense burning in slow curls above a brass — but the temperature dropped. It felt like the cottage existed in a space just slightly off from the real world.

Once seated, they began to tell her everything.

The orphanage. The fire. The cult. The darkness. The basement. Lisa being dragged. The silence that followed. Her mark. Her change. Her nightmares. Her disappearance into the storm.

Madame Thorne listened without interrupting, her hands folded in her lap. When they showed her the photo of the symbol on Lisa’s wrist, her face finally changed — her mouth tightening, her brow furrowing.

“I know this mark” she said after a long silence. “It belongs to a ritual fragment — something from a splinter cult known as The Eye Below. They believed that beneath death, there was a second world — and only those marked by fear could pass between.”

Jake leaned forward, his voice sharp. “she's not possessed...right?”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Not in the traditional sense. But she’s not alone in her body anymore.”

Sana’s breath hitched. “So there’s something… inside her?”

“Something's clinging to her. Feeding and Waiting.”

Ni-ki’s hands curled into fists in his lap.

“She was left alone in the basement” Madame Thorne continued. “something walked through when she was there. It’s not just haunting her. It wants her.”

Annie’s voice trembled. “Can you help her?”

“I can try” she said. “But I need to see her myself. I need to feel what’s around her- what’s inside her.”

Heeseung stood. “Then come with us."

The woman nodded, already reaching for her dark coat.

They drove through the winding road in silence, the sky beginning to darken again, clouds curling like smoke above the bare trees. Every mile felt heavier, more uncertain but now there was direction. There was hope.

At the house, Jungwon looked up as headlights swept across the front lawn.

“They’re back” he called out.

The front door opened with a creak. The scent of incense drifted in with them, earthy and sharp. Madame Thorne stepped into the house with slow, deliberate movements, her eyes scanning everything — not with fear, but with focus. As though the very walls whispered to her.

Jay met them at the bottom of the stairs.

He looked exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression guarded. "Who is this?”

Madame Thorne stepped forward, calm and unshaken. “Someone who sees things others can’t.”

Jay’s jaw twitched. “You think I’m going to let a stranger near her while she’s like this?”

“Jay” Heeseung said gently, stepping beside him. “Please. You’ve seen what’s been happening. You’ve felt it. You can’t keep pretending this is just exhaustion or trauma.”

Jay’s shoulders stiffened. “You think I’m not terrified?” His voice cracked, raw with emotion. “You think I don’t feel like I’m losing her already? But I can’t- I won’t believe she’s-” He stopped himself, swallowing hard.

Madame Thorne stepped closer, her voice low but firm. “She’s not gone. But she’s not alone. And every moment you wait, whatever’s inside her grows stronger.”

Jay looked past her toward the stairway.

“I can help her” she continued. “But I need to be with her. I need to feel the veil she’s caught beneath.”

Jake rested a hand on Jay’s shoulder. “Just let her try.”

The silence stretched.

Then, finally, Jay stepped aside.

They climbed the stairs slowly, each footstep echoing in the quiet. At the top, the hallway felt colder. The air was thinner somehow. Jay led her to Lisa’s door and opened it.

Lisa lay still on the bed, the blankets barely disturbed. Her skin was pale, her lips slightly parted. Her eyes fluttered beneath closed lids as if in a dream she couldn’t escape.

She paused at the door, turning back to them with a final warning.“Whatever’s inside her… it won’t like me. Be prepared”

Madame Thorne entered the room alone and shut the door behind her.

The others waited outside, barely daring to breathe.

Inside, Madame Thorne stood at the foot of the bed. She did not speak. Instead, she reached into her coat and withdrew a silver pendant shaped like a circle with a line through the center — a protection charm.

She held it over Lisa’s body.

The candlelight dimmed. The air grew colder.

Lisa’s body twitched.

Madame Thorne closed her eyes and whispered something low and ancient. A wordless prayer. Her hand hovered over Lisa’s chest… and stopped.

There it was — a presence. Not just energy, not just fear but a watcher. Something that lingered like breath on glass. Something that recognized it was being seen.

Lisa’s eyes snapped open.

But they weren’t Lisa’s eyes.

They were too dark.

Down the hall, the group flinched as a sound rang out — a sharp, rattling gasp.

Jay rushed forward, but Jake stopped him. “Let her finish” he whispered.

Inside, Madame Thorne stood her ground. “I see you” she said quietly.

Lisa’s body shivered violently.

Another scream tore through the house — sharp, guttural, and utterly inhuman.

It didn’t come from Madame Thorne.

It came from Lisa.

Jay didn’t wait.

He tore down the hallway, ignoring the others’ shouts behind him. His heart thundered against his ribs like a warning drum, his mind screaming please, no, please not her—

He threw open the door.

And froze.

Lisa was in the air.

Her body hovered nearly three feet above the bed, hair suspended like it moved underwater, limbs taut and twisted as if held by invisible threads. Her head snapped back, mouth stretched wide in an unearthly scream that rattled the walls. Her eyes were black. Not just dark, not just shadowed. Completely black, like twin voids pulling the light from the room.

Her face was no longer hers.

It was bloated, pale, her lips cracked and gray. Scratches marred her cheeks and neck, and her mouth… it stretched too wide. Unnatural. Smiling.

Jay stumbled backward, his voice catching in his throat.

The others poured into the room behind him.

And then the world stood still.

Nobody moved. No one spoke.

They couldn’t.

Lisa twisted in midair, her body arching painfully as though something was trying to crawl out from inside her.

Then her eyes locked on Jay.

“You shouldn’t have brought her here” Lisa said or rather, the thing inside her did. The voice was layered with hers, and something else. Deeper. Older. Cold.

Madame Thorne stood steady beneath the floating body, her arms raised now, the silver pendant glowing faintly in the candlelight. “Reveal yourself,” she commanded, her voice calm but forceful. “You cannot hide behind her anymore.”

Lisa screamed again louder this time, a sound that shook the glass in the windows.

The pendant flared.

A shadow burst from Lisa’s body.

It didn’t have a form — not fully. It stretched across the room like a spasm of ink in water, writhing, snarling, whispering in tongues none of them could understand. For a brief, blinding second, the room pulsed with darkness, the lights snuffing out in an instant.

Jay lunged toward her, but the shadow surged back — into her.

Lisa dropped like a puppet whose strings had been cut, landing hard on the mattress.

Everything went still again.

Only the sound of their collective breathing filled the air.

Jay didn’t hesitate.

He rushed forward and caught her before her body could fully settle, wrapping her in his arms like she might vanish if he loosened his grip. His knees hit the floor beside the bed with a dull thud. He pulled her close, her head resting against his shoulder, her body far too light, far too cold.

His hands trembled as he smoothed her hair back from her damp forehead. Her skin was paper pale, lips tinged blue, as if she’d been underwater for too long.

Then the dam inside him cracked.

Tears spilled down his cheeks like raindrops slipping from a storm that had been building for days. It was silent at first, then wracked by quiet sobs that grew louder. He clutched her tighter, burying his face in the crook of her neck as though the world was trying to rip her from his arms again.

“Why…” his voice cracked. “Why did it have to be her?”

The others stood frozen in the doorway. Annie was already crying. Sadie covered her mouth with her hands, tears slipping past her fingers. Jungwon lowered his head, jaw clenched tight, trying not to cry.

“Take me” Jay whispered, over and over again. “Take me instead of her… please—please just take me…”

Heeseung turned away, jaw clenched, fists balled so tight his knuckles had gone white. Hanni reached for his hand, holding it silently.

Jay had been strong for so long. But now, in this quiet room, that mask shattered completely. His grief wasn’t just sorrow, it was agony. All the strength he had mustered these past few days, the control, the hope… it all unraveled. His cries weren’t loud. But they cut deeper than any scream.

Madame Thorne stepped beside him glancing at the girl now laying unconcious in Jay's arms.

“She’s unconscious” she said, almost like a promise. “The spirit has receded for now. But it’s still tied to her. We have to act fast”

Jay looked up, tears still streaking his cheeks. “Then tell me what to do” he pleaded. “Tell me how to stop it.”

His voice broke again. “Please help us.”

Madame Thorne met his eyes. “If you want to save her… you have to go to where it began.”

The others froze.

“What do you mean?” Jungwon asked carefully.

“The orphanage” Elena whispered.

Madame Thorne nodded. “The answers are buried in its bones. The fire ended nothing. It only woke something up.”

A heavy silence fell over them all.

“I’ll guide you through” she said. “But this isn’t something I can cleanse on my own. You’re all connected to it now. You stepped through the veil the night you entered that place. And now it won’t let you go until it’s finished.”

Jay nodded slowly, cradling Lisa against his chest again. “She’ll...be okay?”

Madame Thorne looked down at Lisa one more time.

“She’s stronger than you know” she said. “But she’s trapped somewhere between. If you don’t break the bond soon…She won't come back."

A weighted silence hung in the room.

But beneath the fear, beneath the echoes of screams and shadows and pain—there was something else now.

A sliver of resolve.

A thread of hope.

They had seen the veil.

And now… they knew how to tear it open

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 32 – Finding a Medium

The morning was unnaturally quiet.

Lisa remained asleep upstairs, her breathing shallow and uneven. Jay hadn’t moved from her side, his hand gently holding hers, as if letting go might pull her deeper into whatever darkness had dragged her out into the storm the night before.

Downstairs, The group was scattered, devices in hand, diving deep into forums, old listings, anything they could find that didn’t scream scam or fraud.

“Most of these sites are fake” Sunoo muttered, scrolling through garish web pages filled with blinking stars and glowing crystal balls. “I don’t trust any of them.”

Nancy leaned forward. “What about this one?” She turned her screen to show them an outdated website. No fancy graphics, just a plain black background and a name: Madame Thorne – Medium. Clairvoyant. Speaker to the Unrested. Below it, a quote: “The dead whisper through more than dreams.”

Jake leaned in. “That name sounds familiar.”

“She was part of the Black Hollow case” Nancy explained. “One of the few people who actually helped solve it. I read about it last year.”

Sana tilted her head. “Where is she based?”

“Outside the city. Small place near the edge of the woods. No business hours. No online booking.” she looked up. “You show up. Or you don’t.”

“Do we just drive out there?” Sunoo asked.

“We have to” Elena said. “If there’s even a chance she can help Lisa… we don’t have time to wait.”

Jake’s eyes flicked upstairs. “What about Jay?”

“He won’t come” Heeseung said quietly. “He’ll follow us once he sees she needs more than just sleep”

“He can’t come” Jungwon added, voice low. “If something happens while we’re gone…”

Sadie stood and stepped closer to the group. “I’ll stay” she said. “Just in case. Lisa shouldn’t be left alone. And Jay’s not in the right headspace.”

“I’ll stay too” Elena said, arms crossed. “If something happens to her again, Jay won't be able to handle it alone.”

Sunoo nodded, chewing his lip. “Me too. I don’t think I’d be able to sit in the car for too long anyway.”

Sadie glanced up the stairs. “She hasn’t moved since morning”

Jay hadn’t either. He sat by the bed, watching Lisa like he was afraid she’d vanish if he blinked. She’d stopped crying hours ago, but her sleep was fitful — face twitching with dreams she couldn’t wake from.

“Alright, we four of us will stay here” Jungwon said. “The rest of you… go find the woman.”

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 31 – Beneath Her Skin

The room was quiet now.

Lisa lay tucked into bed once more, her breathing finally even, her tears dried against the side of her face. Jay sat beside her, gently brushing a strand of hair from her cheek, his fingers trembling.

She had cried for hours.

Her voice had cracked over and over as she clung to him, whispering about shadows, about voices calling her name in the dark. About hands pulling her down into the cold earth.

And he had just held her, helpless.

Now, as her body finally stilled in sleep, he felt his own exhaustion pulling at him but he couldn’t leave her side. Not again.

Downstairs, the others had gathered in the living room once more. No one spoke for a long time.

Until Heeseung broke the silence. “We can’t keep going like this.”

Everyone turned to him.

“She was found unconscious in the mud, covered in scratches. She talks like she’s being hunted by someone."

“She said it never left her” Jake murmured. “That… thing.”

“We’ve been trying to protect her” Elena said quietly. “But maybe we’ve waited too long.”

“We need to tell Jay,” Heeseung said. “Everything we found out. About the orphanage. The fire. The..Cult. All of it.”

Sunghoon hesitated. “He’s already hanging by a thread.”

“Then we should not let him fall” Sadie replied firmly. “We need to tell him the truth. Because he deserves to know this more than us”

Annie glanced up the stairs. “And we’ll need him. If we’re going to stop this.”

Jake nodded slowly. "Let's wait until Lisa’s asleep and he’s calm enough to listen.”

They all nodded.

Everyone knew this had gone too far.

Lisa wasn’t just haunted.

She was being possesed.

And if they didn’t act soon… they might lose her forever.

Jay came downstairs a few hours later.

His face was pale, dark circles shadowing his eyes, but his posture was composed — too composed, like he was holding everything inside. The moment he entered the room, all eyes turned to him.

“She’s sleeping,” he said, voice low. “Finally.”

Heeseung nodded, then stood. “Jay, we need to talk.”

Jay looked around, noticing how everyone had gone quiet. Phones and laptops were open on the table, tabs full of old reports, cult symbols, maps of the orphanage.

He frowned. “What’s all this?”

Jake stood next, his expression serious. “We found something. About the orphanage. And Lisa- ”

Jay stiffened. “I don’t want to hear it if it’s just another theory.”

“It’s not” Elena said gently. “We have records. Police reports. Property deeds. Journal clippings that were wiped from archives. It’s real, Jay.”

Hanni pushed her laptop toward him, displaying the scanned image of the strange sigil, jagged lines slicing through a circular eye.

“That’s the symbol” she said. “The one on Lisa’s wrist. The same one tied to a cult called The Eye Below — a group that believed in using fear and pain to cross into the spirit realm.”

Jay didn’t move.

He didn’t blink.

“She was alone in that basement” Sunoo added. “Where they found cages. Ritual markings. There were no survivors in the fire, but it wasn’t just a fire — it was a cover-up.”

Jay stared at the screen, jaw tight.

“She’s different, Jay” Jake said softly. “She’s scared all the time. She doesn’t sleep. I've watched the videos of the orphanage. She hums the songs those children used to sing. And now this…”

“Stop.”

The word came out sharp.

Everyone froze.

“Jay—” Sana began, but he cut her off.

“She’s traumatized, not possessed. Not cursed. You didn’t see her crying in my arms. Begging me to stay with her.” His voice broke. “She’s just....scared. Not haunted.”

“She nearly died, Jay” Hanni said. “You saw her this morning. That wasn’t sleepwalking. That was something else.”

No one spoke for a moment.

Then Heeseung stepped forward.

“I know you want to believe that” he said gently. “But deep down, you do know something’s wrong. This isn’t just trauma. This is something else.”

Jay’s eyes glistened, but he didn’t look away.

Heeseung held his gaze. “Let us prove it. We’ll find someone. A medium. Someone who can tell us what’s happening and if there’s something inside her… or not.”

“If there’s nothing, we’ll drop it” Jake added. “But if there is… then you’ll see it too.”

Jay looked down.

He didn’t speak.

Didn’t move.

But everyone could see the way his hands shook.

Finally, he whispered, “Then find someone.”

And he walked out of the room, back up the stairs, to where Lisa still lay sleeping.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 30 - It's still here

Jay carefully lifted Lisa from the muddy ground. he cradled her close, holding her like she was glass. Like even breathing too hard might shatter her completely.

“She’s so cold…” he whispered, brushing matted hair from her face. “God, what happened to you…”

They brought her inside and laid her gently on the living room couch. Annie returned with a thick blanket while Elena fetched a bowl of warm water and a towel. Nancy knelt beside Lisa, carefully wiping the dirt from her cheeks. The scratches on her face were shallow but angry-looking, and a dark bruise bloomed beneath one eye.

“She looks like she’s been through hell” Ni-ki murmured.

Jay sat beside her, his hands never leaving hers. “She wouldn’t have gone out there alone. She’s been too scared to even leave her room- ”

“Unless someone took her” Jungwon said quietly.

Silence fell.

Lisa stirred.

It was faint. Just the smallest twitch of her fingers.

Then her lips parted and a hoarse, broken sound escaped her throat. A rasping whisper no one could understand.

“Lisa?” Jay leaned closer, gripping her hand tighter. “It’s me. You’re safe now.”

Her eyelids fluttered.

And then her eyes opened.

But they weren’t quite right.

Not at first.

It was like she was looking through him past the walls, past the house, like she saw something none of them could.

Jay’s heart dropped. “Lisa…?”

Finally, her gaze focused on him. Recognition. A flicker of it.

She blinked slowly, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes.

“…Jay” she rasped. “It’s still here…”

“What is?”

Her voice cracked as she whispered:

“it never left...”

Everyone went still.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 29 – The Silence That Follows

The morning light was dull, barely pressing through the thin curtains as soft rain tapped against the windows once again. A sleepy hush hung over the house. The kind of stillness that felt too heavy for comfort.

Jay blinked awake slowly, the quiet nudging him from a restless sleep. He stretched, instinctively reaching toward the other side of the bed.

It was empty.

His hand brushed over cold sheets.

He sat up.

“Lisa?” he called softly, voice rasped from sleep.

No answer.

The room was quiet, undisturbed. Her pillow was untouched, her blanket still the way he’d tucked her in last night.

Jay rubbed at his face, confusion knitting into his expression. He slipped out of bed, grabbed the hoodie from the chair, and stepped out into the hallway.

“Lisa?” he called again, louder this time.

No response.

He moved down the hall, checking the guest bathroom. Empty. The kitchen, which was empty. Living room? Quiet, no sign of her.

His heart started beating faster.

She wouldn’t go out. Not after everything. Not alone.

He turned toward the staircase and called out again, louder now. “Lisa?”

Still nothing.

That’s when footsteps sounded behind him, soft ones and he turned sharply to see Elena stepping into the hallway, still in pajamas, brows furrowed.

“You okay?” she asked.

Jay’s voice came out more tense than he meant it to. “Lisa..She’s not in bed. She’s not anywhere.”

Elena blinked, alert now. “What? Did she say anything last night?”

“No. She barely spoke. I put her to sleep and… I thought she was still scared. But now she’s just...gone.”

A door creaked open upstairs. Jake leaned over the railing. “What’s going on?”

“Lisa’s gone” Jay said quickly.

Jake’s face changed instantly, going pale. “What do you mean gone?”

“She was sleeping next to me...but when I woke up she was not there."

Jake moved fast, jogging down the steps. Sana was right behind him.

“She wouldn’t just leave,” Sana said. “Especially not after yesterday. You said she was scared.”

“I know!” Jay snapped, then pulled in a breath. “Sorry. I just— I don’t understand...”

Annie and Ni-ki came into view next, still half-asleep. Ni-ki’s arm instinctively wrapped around Annie’s shoulder as they heard the rising panic.

“What happened?” Annie asked.

Jay looked around the group. “Has anyone seen Lisa this morning?”

Everyone shook their heads.

The group spread out through the house, tension rising with every passing minute. Doors slammed open, closets checked, under beds, behind curtains — nothing. No sign of Lisa. Not a trace.

Jay’s voice was hoarse from calling her name. His hands trembled as he tore through every hallway, every room. “Lisa! Lisa, where are you?!”

Elena checked the attic.

Sunghoon ran out toward the garage.

Nancy and Hanni doubled back through the kitchen, the laundry room.

Still nothing.

“She’s not here” Sunoo said, breath shallow. “She’s not in the house.”

“Then where did she go?!”

Jake, meanwhile, was at the back of the house, standing just inside the glass door that led to the overgrown garden. The early morning mist clung to the grass like a veil. His eyes scanned the foggy yard, half-expecting nothing.

But then—

He froze.

His breath hitched.

There was something lying in the grass, near the edge of the thicket — unmoving. He stepped closer and got a full view.

There she was lying in the ground.

Jake flung the door open and sprinted across the wet lawn.

“Lisa!” he shouted, already dropping to his knees.

She was lying unconsious. Her clothes were soaked, caked in mud. Her face…scratched, bruised. Hair matted to her forehead. Cuts ran down her arms. Her lips pale.

She looked nothing like she had the night before. She looked like a complete different person.

“Lisa! Hey—Lisa, can you hear me?” he shouted, shaking her gently.

She didn’t stir.

His voice cracked. “SOMEONE GET OUT HERE!”

Inside the house, Jay heard the scream.

He ran like something had gripped his heart in iron claws.

By the time the others got outside, Jake was cradling her upper body, hands shaking, rain mixing with the blood on her forehead.

“Oh my God,” Hanni breathed, stumbling back a step.

Jay arrived next, his breath caught

And for a second, he didn’t move.

Just stared.

His brain refused to believe what his eyes saw.

Then he dropped to the ground beside her, hands trembling as he touched her shoulder. “Lisa—” Jay's eyes wide with horror.

“Is she breathing?” Sana asked, voice shaking.

“Yeah...” Jake said, barely holding it together. “But she’s ice-cold. She looks like...she was dragged through somewhere.”

Annie pressed her hands over her mouth, tears rising. Ni-ki backed up a step, looking away.

Jay held Lisa’s face gently in his hands. “Baby” he whispered, voice breaking. "Can..Can you hear me? Please- Please open your eyes...please"

But Lisa didn’t move.

Didn’t open her eyes.

Didn’t even flinch.

Just lay there, drenched and broken in the morning light like something that had crawled out of the earth itself.

And no one could explain how she got there.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 28 – Nightmare

Night settled over the house in thick, muffled silence, interrupted only by the occasional creak of old wood adjusting in the cool air. The faint hum of the refrigerator downstairs. A drip in one of the sinks. Nothing unusual… and yet, none of them could fully relax.

Upstairs, the pairs had retreated to their rooms after the tense research session. No one said it out loud, but the weight of what they discovered still pressed against their chests, heavier in the quiet.

In one room, Jake sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees as Sana quietly brushed her hair in the corner. Her movements were slow, thoughtful.

“Do you think we’re in over our heads?” she asked softly.

Jake didn’t answer right away. “We might be” he admitted. “But we’re already in it. We can’t ignore it now.”

Sana nodded, her eyes meeting his in the mirror. “I’m scared for Lisa.”

“I am too” he said. “But I’m more scared for what we don’t know yet.”

In the next room over, Jay sat beside Lisa, still awake.

She had finally fallen asleep, her breathing light and even, one hand curled near her face. The red mark on her wrist peeked out from the sleeve of her shirt. It looked almost faded now. Almost like a bruise.

Jay watched her for a long time.

She looked peaceful in sleep. Almost too peaceful. As if whatever had shaken her earlier was gone now or simply waiting.

He leaned over, brushed her hair from her forehead, and kissed it gently.

“I’m here” he whispered. “No matter what.”

Then he slid down beside her, listening to the silence that filled the house again.

But somewhere, buried in the walls or deep beneath the floor, something else was listening too.

And it was not asleep.

Nancy & Sunghoon – Downstairs Room

“I keep hearing footsteps” Nancy said as she curled into the blanket.

“It’s probably just Jay or Lisa” Sunghoon replied, but his voice wasn’t steady.

They both listened.

Soft creaks. A shuffle. Then silence.

“You think she’s okay?” Nancy whispered.

“I don’t know.” Sunghoon sighed. “Jay would tell us if something got worse… right?”

Neither of them moved for a while. Then Nancy turned her back to the door and whispered, “Can we leave the lights on?”

Sunghoon nodded, reaching over to flick the lamp brighter.

In the room next door, Sadie curled under the blankets while Sunoo sat upright against the headboard, flipping through his notebook, eyes scanning pages of symbols and scribbled notes.

“You should sleep” Sadie mumbled sleepily.

“I'll sleep in a bit” he murmured. “I just… can’t stop thinking about that mark.”

She reached out blindly and grabbed his arm, tugging him gently. “Think tomorrow. Rest now.”

He sighed and finally slid down under the covers beside her.

But not all was peaceful.

Down the hall, Ni-ki tossed under the covers, his breathing shallow. Beside him, Annie was sound asleep, one hand loosely curled near his. But his mind wasn’t resting.

In his dream

The house was dark.

It looked normal at first. Familiar wooden halls, soft lamps glowing like usual but something was off. The lights flickered unnaturally, pulsing like a heartbeat. The shadows were darker than they should’ve been, stretching long across the floor like they were alive.

He was standing alone at the foot of the stairs.

A cold wind blew down from the upper level, even though no windows were open. Whispers echoed faintly, curling through the air like smoke, too soft to understand but laced with urgency. Panic.

Then he saw Annie

She stood at the end of the hallway, her back to him, bathed in a strange pale light. She was frozen, like she couldn’t move, her figure flickering at the edges like an old TV signal cutting in and out.

“Annie?” Ni-ki called out. His voice sounded wrong and muffled, like it came from underwater.

She didn’t turn.

He started walking toward her. “Annie, it’s me- hey, what are you doing?”

Then Suddenly he heard a noise.

A deep, low growl — not quite animal, not quite human. It rumbled through the floorboards beneath his feet. The lights overhead snapped out, plunging everything into shadow except the place where Annie stood.

And then something stepped out behind her.

It was tall. Too tall.

Its limbs moved with an unnatural elegance, like they were disjointed. It didn’t walk — it glided, like fog through the dark. Where its face should’ve been, there was only blackness. A void. But its attention was all-consuming, heavy as a chain wrapping around Ni-ki’s chest.

“No…” he breathed. “No, no, no.”

The thing reached toward Annie.

“RUN!” Ni-ki screamed, trying to rush forward — but his legs wouldn’t move. He was stuck, paralyzed. As if his legs were glued to the floor.

Annie slowly turned her head to look at him, eyes wide and terrified, lips moving calling his name but he couldn’t hear her. Not over the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears.

The creature’s hand — long, thin, clawed gripped Annie’s shoulder.

“STOP!” Ni-ki cried, trying to break free. “DON’T TOUCH HER!”

Her body began to blur, to dissolve into the shadows.

“No—NO! ANNIE!”

He screamed, fighting the dream with every ounce of his will, but the hallway stretched longer and longer, and Annie was slipping away-

Then everything shattered.

The sound of splintering glass. A rush of air like being pulled underwater.

Ni-ki jolted upright in bed with a gasp.

The room was dark and real again, but the panic still gripped him like a vice. Sweat poured down his face. His chest heaved. His hands shook violently as they clutched the blanket.

“Ni-ki?” Annie called softly, her voice tender and worried.

He turned, still wide-eyed, and saw her leaning over him, her expression panicked.

“what happened? Are you okay?” she asked, gently cupping his damp face in her hands.

His bottom lip trembled.

“I...I thought- I lost you” he choked out, and without another word, he broke, collapsing in her arms, hugging her tightly as though she might disappear if he let go. He pulled her close, burying his face in her shoulder as sobs burst from his chest.

“Ni-ki…” Annie whispered, shocked at the tears soaking her shirt. Her heart breaking at the panic in his voice. “It’s okay. I’m right here. I’m okay—look at me.”

“I tried to reach you” he cried, voice cracked and raw. “It was taking you and I—I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t move—”

Ni-ki held her tighter.

“Shh, shh” she soothed, her hand stroking his hair. “It was just a nightmare. You’re safe now. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

He clung to her like a lifeline, still trembling.

“But what if it wasn’t just a dream?” he whispered. “What if they try to take you away from me?”

"They won't" Annie said holding him close.

Her arms wrapped around him gently, protectively, like she was shielding him from something the world couldn’t see. His face was buried in her shoulder, his chest still trembling with the aftershock of the nightmare.

“It felt so real” he whispered again, his voice cracking. “You were screaming my name and I—I couldn’t reach you. No matter how fast I ran, it was like I was moving through water. You just… disappeared.”

Annie stroked the back of his head slowly, feeling the dampness of his hair from the cold sweat. She didn’t rush him. She just held him tighter.

“I’m here” she said softly, her breath warm against his ear. “I’m right here, Ni-ki. You didn’t lose me.”

“But I felt it” he said, pulling back just enough to look at her face. His eyes were glassy, rimmed red, vulnerable in a way Annie had never seen before. “There was this… thing. I couldn’t see its face, but it had you. And I—I couldn’t stop it. I just kept screaming.”

Annie cupped his face in her hands, brushing her thumbs under his eyes gently. “It wasn’t real. It was just a dream, Ni-ki. I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

He looked at her like he wanted to believe it. Like he needed to.

Annie kissed his forehead, slow and tender. “I promise. You don’t have to protect me from everything. We’ll get through this together.”

He closed his eyes at her words, another tear slipping down his cheek.

“I hate that I’m so scared,” he whispered.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Annie said. “Everyone is. But you don’t have to carry it all alone. We’re in this together. All of us.”

Ni-ki shifted, curling into her warmth as if she was the only safe place left in the world. Annie lay down with him, one arm tucked under his head, the other wrapped around his waist.

“You won’t disappear?” he asked quietly, voice barely above a breath.

“Never” she whispered.

He nodded against her chest, still tense, still shaken but slowly, his breathing began to steady. Annie traced slow circles on his back, humming softly. It was something her mother used to do when she was little, when nightmares had felt this real.

Minutes passed. Maybe hours. The house was silent, and the shadows stretched long across the floor.

And eventually, Ni-ki’s eyes fluttered closed, the storm inside him softening just enough to let sleep pull him under. Annie stayed awake for a while longer, holding him like an anchor.

Watching over him in the dark.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 27- The Cult

While Lisa had gone upstairs and Jay had followed to tuck her in, the rest of them gathered in the living room. Laptops open, phones plugged in, notebooks filling up fast.

“I’ve found something” Elena said finally, squinting at her screen.

“The place we found It was called The fairfield home for lost children. Shut down officially in 1960. Fire in 1957. No survivors.”

“We knew that already” Sunghoon murmured, arms crossed.

“Yeah, but listen to this- ” She turned her laptop so the others could see.

“There were two fire reports filed. One from local police. And another… from something called the Sable Order.”

“What the hell is that?” Hanni asked.

Jake leaned closer. “Wait… I’ve seen that name. Someone mentioned it in a comment thread about haunted places in England. I thought it was a joke.”

“It’s not” Elena said, clicking deeper. “They’re a real organization. Or were. Like a private sect. Some kind of religious cult tied to ‘purification rituals’ and ‘spiritual sacrifice.’”

Ni-ki whistled under his breath. “Creepy.”

Annie pointed to the screen. “It says they bought the orphanage in 1940. They owned the land and funded ‘alternative treatment’ for the kids.”

Hanni’s hands stilled on the phone. “So like… they were experimenting on the children?”

Jake’s jaw clenched. “It explains what Lisa said. About the quiet. About someone not liking it when things go still.”

Annie clicked through old property records.

“This place wasn’t just an orphanage. It used to be a private home owned by a man named Lionel Hartgrave. He donated it to a ‘children’s charity’ in 1951… but I can’t find anything about that organization. No official registry. Nothing.”

Heeseung sat back, rubbing his jaw. “A front, maybe? To cover something up?”

Sana glanced up from her phone. “Listen to this” she said, reading aloud. “One local paper from 1955 mentions ‘strange practices’ and ‘unorthodox treatments’ used on the orphans, but then the article was pulled, and the journalist’s name was erased from the publication’s archive.”

“Maybe they buried it” Jungwon said, voice tight. “Someone made sure no one found out what was really happening in that place.”

Jake’s fingers drummed on the table. “If it wasn’t just abuse… if it was something more...like a cult, what were they doing to the kids?”

Sunoo, who had been silent until now, turned his laptop toward the group. “I don’t know exactly, but I found a scan of an old police report that never made public. It talks about a ‘ritual chamber’ found in the basement. Strange markings on the walls. And this several child-sized cages.”

Everyone went still.

Heeseung’s throat worked in a swallow. “Jesus…”

“They were experimenting” Annie whispered. “Or sacrificing.”

Ni-ki leaned forward, eyes dark. “That mark on Lisa’s wrist. Could it be connected?”

Sadie walked in from the hallway just then, face pale. “Guys. I checked again. That mark on her wrist… I think I’ve seen it before.”

She held up her phone, displaying a blurred, scanned page from an old book. A strange sigil — circular, with jagged lines piercing through a single eye.

“It’s from a cult called The Eye Below. An old splinter group from decades ago. They believed pain and fear could ‘open the mind’ to the spirit realm.”

Everyone went quiet.

Jake swallowed hard. “They used the children?”

“They believed kids were more ‘pure' Sadie said. “Easier to reach across the veil.”

“So… what if the fire wasn’t an accident? What if the kids tried to escape, and someone burned it down to cover everything up?” Heeseung said.

Then Elena whispered, “And now Lisa has that mark. Like... is she’s now a part of it? ”

“She was alone in the basement. That's where it all started.” Sana added quietly.

Nancy looked up, her expression tight. “Do we tell Jay?”

Jake glanced toward the stairs. A faint sound of footsteps echoed above them

“I don't think we should tell him yet” he said. “He might not believe us. We need to find solid proofs the Jay can't brush off."

But deep down, he already feared it might be too late.

“She doesn’t know what’s happening to her” Sana whispered.

“She’s scared… and so are we.”

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 26 – Whispers Beneath the Floor

The rain had stopped.

But the silence it left behind was worse.

Jay helped Lisa upstairs after she finally stopped crying. She didn’t say much just clung to his hand like a child, eyes flicking nervously toward corners of the hallway where there was nothing but shadows.

He eased her into bed, tucking the blanket gently around her.

“I’ll be right outside the door" he whispered.

Lisa nodded, but her eyes stayed wide, staring past him. Watching something he couldn’t see.

Jay hesitated. Then reached out, brushing her hair from her face.

“You’re safe now” he said again.

She didn’t respond.

Downstairs, the others had gone quiet.

The living room, once warm with chatter and music, now sat still. The fire had long gone out. Only the occasional creak of the old house filled the air.

Jake sat on the sofa with Sana beside him, rubbing the back of his neck. “She okay?”

Jay didn’t answer right away. He looked down at his hands, still faintly shaking.

“I don’t know” he admitted finally. “She’s quiet and scared. She cried a lot. Said she couldn’t remember things.”

“She’s never been like this” Hanni murmured “Lisa’s the strongest out of all of us.”

“She said she was dreaming, but… I don’t think it was just that” Jay added. “She looked at me like she didn’t even recognize me at one point.”

Ni-ki leaned against the armrest, arms crossed. “You think she’s sick? Like mentally? Maybe she had a breakdown.”

“That would actually make sense” Sunghoon said, frowning. “The stress, the fear… all of it. I mean...what happened in that orphanage wasn’t normal. And we left her alone today.”

Nancy looked up sharply. “It’s not anyone’s fault. We all thought she needed rest.”

“I still think we need to keep an eye on her” Elena said gently. “She needs support right now, not space.”

Jay nodded slowly.

They all agreed quietly, but something unspoken lingered in the air — the same tension that had followed them since they stepped foot in that cursed orphanage. It curled around their ankles like smoke, invisible but suffocating.

That night, the house slept restlessly.

Rain had stopped, but a damp chill clung to the air. The wind had calmed, but the trees still groaned against the silence outside, their branches scratching faintly against the windows like long, bony fingers.

Around 2:43 a.m. Sana stirred.

Her throat was dry, lips sticking together uncomfortably. She blinked at the ceiling for a moment, unsure what woke her at first. Everything was too quiet.

Jake’s arm was draped across her waist, heavy and warm. Carefully, she slipped out from under it, grabbing her phone to check the time. The screen glared back at her 2:43.

The hallway outside was darker than usual. The soft glow from the hallway bulb, the one they always left on was out. Probably flickered dead earlier. Or maybe someone turned it off. Still, Sana didn’t think much of it.

She padded barefoot down the stairs, arms wrapped tightly around herself.

The kitchen was silent, empty, the clock above the stove ticking faintly.

She grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filled it at the tap, and took a long drink. Cool water soothed her dry throat, but her unease only deepened. There was a weird smell in the air. Something faint. Metallic. Damp.

She wrinkled her nose.

Then paused.

Something shifted behind her.

She turned her head slowly, just enough to glance toward the hallway that led back to the living room.

Nothing there.

Still, she froze for a moment longer.

Listening.

Just as she stepped away from the sink, a floorboard creaked. Not from her. From the hallway.

Sana’s breath caught in her chest.

She peered out slowly, heart beginning to thump harder in her ears.

And there just at the edge of the hallway stood Lisa.

Sana’s breath hitched.

Lisa stood perfectly still. No expression. Her hair was loose and hanging over one shoulder, her nightshirt faintly wrinkled. Her eyes were wide and blank, glassy, staring straight at Sana.

“Lisa?” Sana whispered. “You scared the hell out of me…”

No answer.

Lisa didn’t blink.

“Hey” Sana said more carefully now, stepping forward a bit. “Are you okay?”

Lisa’s head tilted slightly to the left.

Just a small movement.

But… it was wrong. It moved slow at first, then jerked the last inch like her neck had caught and snapped loose. Too sharp. Too quick.

Sana stopped walking.

“Lisa…?”

And then Lisa smiled.

That same faint, empty smile from earlier

“I'm not thirsty” she whispered.

Sana’s spine stiffened. “What?”

Lisa didn’t repeat herself.

Instead, she turned and walked slowly back down the hallway towards the stairs, towards the bedrooms.

Not another word.

No sound but her soft steps on the wooden floor.

Sana stood frozen in the kitchen, goosebumps rising across her arms.

She didn’t know what she had just seen.

Or who she had just seen.

But deep in her gut, something screamed:

That wasn’t Lisa.

She stayed frozen in the kitchen for a long time, glass still in her hand, water warming between her fingers.

Upstairs, she heard Lisa’s door creak shut.

But it wasn’t the sound that made her blood run cold, it was how silent it was afterward. Not even the sound of footsteps moving away. Just the soft click of the door.

Nothing else.

Sana stood there, her breath shallow, heartbeat uneven.

She should wake someone. Jake. Jay. Anyone.

But her body wouldn’t move. Not yet.

Because something in Lisa’s eyes. No, something behind her eyes had whispered to her in a way that no voice could. It had watched her, like she was prey. Like Lisa had known exactly what she was doing, standing there in the dark.

And that smile… it wasn’t human.

Morning came dull and grey, filtering through the heavy curtains in streaks of pale light.

Sana hadn’t told anyone anything yet.

She’d crept back upstairs and slid into bed beside Jake, curling tight beneath the blanket and pretending she could forget what she saw.

But now, sitting at the breakfast table, she couldn’t look at Lisa.

Because Lisa was there.

In the exact same seat from yesterday. Arms folded in her lap. Hair brushed. Clean clothes. Eyes vacant.

“Hanni, can you pass the butter?” Lisa said softly, without looking up.

The voice was normal. The same voice she always had.

But it didn’t feel right.

Sana stared.

Jake noticed. “You okay?” he asked her, nudging her lightly.

Sana forced a nod. “Yeah. Just… didn’t sleep well.”

Lisa’s eyes lifted.

They met Sana’s for the briefest second.

And then — she smiled.

Slow. Polite. Empty.

Sana dropped her gaze immediately, heart hammering.

Sunghoon poured coffee. “She seems better today” he muttered to Heeseung.

“Maybe” Heeseung said. “Or maybe she’s just hiding it better.”

Sana waited until they were alone.

The others had gone out for groceries, except for Lisa who was back in her room and Jay, who hadn’t spoken much all morning.

Sunlight spilled through the windows, but it did nothing to ease the knot twisting in her stomach.

Jake sat on the edge of the bed, scrolling through his phone absently.

Sana closed the door gently behind her.

“Jake” she said quietly.

He looked up immediately. “Yeah?”

She crossed the room, sat beside him, and clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “I need to tell you something… something really weird happened...last night.”

Jake set his phone aside. “what?”

Sana took a breath. “So last night I woke up around 2:30 and I was feeling thirsty so I went to the kitchen to drink some water… and when I was coming back…” Her voice dipped lower. “I saw Lisa. Standing in the hallway.”

Jake tilted his head. “Okay…”

“She was just standing there. Completely still. In the dark. Staring at me.” She swallowed hard. “I called her name. But she didn’t answer. And then she… just smiled. It wasn’t right, Jake. I swear to god, it didn’t feel like her.”

Jake’s brows pulled together, concern flickering across his features. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I didn’t want to panic anyone. I thought maybe I imagined it, but…” She looked up at him, eyes wide. “Jake, there was something wrong in her face. It felt like she wasn’t even looking at me. Like she was looking through me.”

"I haven’t told anyone else,” Sana said. “I didn’t know how...”

Jake leaned forward slightly. “Maybe we should. Tell the others. Even I feel like Something’s wrong with her.”

Sana nodded slowly.

That afternoon, Jake and Sana found a moment to talk to everyone alone while Jay and Lisa were upstairs in their room.

“She was just standing there?” Sunghoon asked, frowning. “No reaction at all?”

“She was just standing in the hallway. Not moving. Not talking. I said her name twice, and she didn’t answer. And then… she smiled. Not like her usual smile. It felt… off.”

Hanni put down her mug. “What do you mean off?”

Sana bit her lip. “It didn’t look like her. I know that sounds crazy. But it was like someone else was wearing her face.”

The group exchanged glances, unease settling over the table like fog.

“She’s been acting strange since the orphanage,” Elena said softly. “She doesn’t remember things, and she stares at walls for minutes like she’s listening to something.”

“She told Jay she had a nightmare” Heeseung added.

“But the way she looked at him that night… I don’t think it was just a dream.”

Jake leaned forward. “I’ve been thinking about that too. We’ve been so focused on calming her down, we never really stopped to ask why she’s like this.”

Sunghoon frowned. “We know she was alone in that house longer than anyone else. She was taken to the basement, right?”

Sana nodded.

“Then maybe… maybe something happened down there” Annie murmured.

There was a beat of silence.

Then Jake said, quietly, “Maybe we should look into it."

"The orphanage, I mean...Just in case. There’s too much we don’t know. That house wasn’t just old and abandoned. It felt wrong.”

“I agree” Elena said. “I'll check the local archives and old newspaper sites for more informations”

“I’ll dig around on Reddit and forums” Ni-ki said, grabbing his phone. “That's the Place people post weird stories.”

Jay shouldn’t know until we’re sure of something. He’s already stressed out.” Hanni said

Everyone agreed.

"We'll not let Jay know about this" Jake repeated. “And definitely not Lisa.”

The others nodded.

But none of them noticed that Lisa was standing at the end of the upstairs hall.

Still. Quiet. Watching them.

[heeownsmee]

Chapter 25 – Something in the Silence

The front door creaked open, and the soft shuffle of footsteps echoed through the quiet house.

Jay stepped in first, holding a small paper bag of pastries. “Lisa?” he called gently. “We brought food.”

No answer.

He paused, eyebrows pulling together. “Lisa?”

Elena came in behind him, brushing rain from her jacket. “She probably fell asleep.”

The living room was dim, curtains drawn halfway. Rain tapped faintly at the windows again, like a broken rhythm no one could follow.

Jay set the bag down and moved toward the stairs.

He found her in their room.

Lisa sat on the edge of the bed, back straight, hands folded neatly in her lap. Her hair was slightly damp, like she’d stepped outside. Her eyes were wide — too wide — staring at the floor.

She didn’t flinch when he entered.

“Hey” Jay said softly. “You okay?”

She looked up at him slowly. A beat too slow.

Then she smiled.

It was small, calm, almost blank. “Yeah” she whispered. “I’m fine.”

Jay stepped closer, eyes flicking to the faint red line on her wrist. It looked deeper now. Almost etched.

He crouched in front of her. “You look pale.”

“I just had a bad dream.”

Her voice was quieter than usual. Hollow. Jay reached out, brushing a thumb across her cheek.

“You’re freezing” he murmured. “You didn’t leave the window open, did you?”

Lisa blinked. “No. I… I don’t think so.”

He kissed her forehead, trying to ignore the way her skin felt strangely cool. “Come downstairs. Eat something.”

She nodded, too quickly. “Okay.”

Jay held Lisa’s hand as they walked down the stairs, her fingers loose in his. She didn’t speak. Just followed.

The others were already scattered in the living room. Jake was on the floor with Sana, passing around paper cups of hot coffee. Ni-ki and Annie sat huddled on the couch, whispering about something that made Annie’s face twist with worry.

Hanni spotted them first. “Hey, you’re up.” Her voice was soft. “Feeling any better?”

Lisa nodded as she eased into the armchair. Her posture was too straight. Like she wasn’t resting — just sitting.

Heeseung tossed Jay a bottle of water. “She doing okay now?”

Jay hesitated. “Yeah..I guess”

Lisa stared at the fireplace, unblinking.

Across from her, Elena frowned slightly. “Lisa? You okay?”

Lisa looked up, smiling again. That same too-smooth, too-quiet smile. “I’m good” she whispered.

But something in her tone made Sunoo glance over.

Lisa didn’t touch her coffee. Her fingers stayed curled together tightly in her lap.

Jay sat beside her, fidgeting.

“Did anything happen while we were out?” Sunghoon asked, half-joking, trying to lighten the mood.

Lisa tilted her head. “No. Nothing happened.”

There was a pause.

Then Lisa whispered, “But they don’t like it when it’s quiet.”

Everyone went still.

Jay turned sharply. “What?”

Lisa blinked, like she hadn’t realized she said it. “What?”

“You said… they don’t like it when it’s quiet.”

She looked confused for a moment. “I didn’t say anything.”

Sana shifted uncomfortably.

Annie glanced at Ni-ki. He nodded subtly.

Sunoo’s voice was careful. “Who doesn’t like it, Lisa?”

Lisa blinked "What?"

"I didn't say anything"

Sunoo’s breath caught in his throat. “You did. Just now.”

Lisa shook her head slowly, but her eyes didn’t match the motion. They were distant-searching the space beyond him, as if listening to something no one else could hear.

“I must still be dreaming,” she murmured.

A chill crept down Jay’s spine.

Ni-ki sat up straighter. “Okay, seriously. That’s not funny.”

Lisa turned to him, her smile still faint, still wrong. “I’m not trying to be funny.”

Outside, the wind picked up, brushing the windows with long, dragging sounds. Rain pressed harder against the glass, rattling faintly.

Jay didn’t say anything for a moment. He just sat there, staring at her.

Lisa’s eyes had drifted back to the fireplace — though there was no fire in it, just ashes, cold and untouched.

She tilted her head slightly, as if she heard something again. But the room was silent.

Too silent.

“Lisa,” Elena said gently, leaning forward. “You’re safe now, okay? You’re not dreaming. We’re here.”

Lisa’s smile faded. “That’s what they said, too.”

A ripple moved through the room. No one spoke.

Jay reached out slowly, fingers brushing against hers. Her hand was still cold. Not cool like someone who’d just woken up but cold, like she’d been outside too long.

His throat felt dry. “Who said that?”

Lisa blinked once. Then again. Her mouth opened slightly, like she was about to speak—

Bang.

They all jumped.

A door slammed shut somewhere upstairs.

Hard.

Sana clutched Jake’s arm, startled. “What was that?”

“Wind” Heeseung muttered, but his voice was tense. “Just wind.”

But Lisa flinched. Not at the sound — but before it. As if she’d known it was coming.

“No” she whispered. “They don’t like it when I talk about them.”

Jay turned fully to her now, his chest tight. “Lisa, listen to me. What happened while we were gone?”

“I don’t remember,” she said. Her voice was high, almost childlike.

Ni-ki stood, his face pale. “I think I forgot my jacket on the van..I'm gonna get it"

“No” Lisa said quickly. Her head jerked toward him. “Don’t go outside now.”

“Why not?” Annie asked softly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Lisa’s eyes met hers. “They’re watching the door.”

The calmness in her voice sent a chill through them.

Jay rubbed his temples. “Lisa..You’re scaring everyone.”

Lisa turned to him slowly. “I didn’t mean to.”

And for a moment — just a second — her voice cracked. A flicker of the real Lisa bled through.

“I’m scared too.”

Everyone went still again.

Hanni crossed the room slowly, kneeling next to the sofa.

She took Lisa’s cold hand gently. “You’re safe here. Whatever happened… it’s over now.”

Tears rolled down Lisa’s cheek. Silent, slow. Like she didn’t even realize she was crying. Her face stayed blank at first then it twisted. Her chest hitched once. Then again. And suddenly, like something inside her snapped loose, the tears poured faster.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me” she choked out. Her voice broke completely now, raw and high and panicked. “I keep saying things..I keep hearing things and I don’t remember them. I don’t mean to. It’s like my head’s not mine.”

She clutched at her temples, trembling. “I’m so scared, Jay. I don’t know if I’m going crazy or if something is really...really wrong with me- ”

“Hey- hey, no. Look at me” Jay said quickly, crouching in front of her, his hands gently framing her face. His own eyes were glassy now, wide with fear. Not of her, but for her.

“You’re not crazy, okay? You’re not. You’re just… overwhelmed. I’ve got you. We’ve all got you.”

Lisa sobbed into his shoulder, shaking as her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He held her like she might shatter, his own jaw clenched as he fought back his panic for her sake.

Behind them, the room was silent again. Not with peace — but with something sharp. Waiting.

Watching.