Chapter 2

“Ahhh!”

Crash!
As he screamed, the windows on the wall shattered one after another.

Boom!
Suddenly, the clear sky turned dark, and lightning struck.

“You’re saying it can control the weather?”

I had never seen an evil spirit this strong before.

‘We need to get out. If we don’t, we might all die.’

Just as I turned to try and convince them again, strong rain came through the broken windows.

Whoosh, whoosh!
The wind was so strong I couldn’t even open my eyes properly. Then suddenly, everything lit up.

I looked around and saw that a lightbulb in the corner of the once-dark room had turned on.

And behind that light, in a small storage room…

“Ahhh!”

Fran, who was no longer moving, was staring at us with his eyes wide open.

At the creepy sight, Cream screamed and stepped back in fear.

But the strange things didn’t stop there. We were very unlucky.

“I will destroy all salvation.”

Words written in blood appeared on the wall. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

Salvation. That was also another word used for exorcists in this country.

As soon as the sentence finished, we heard laughter again. And then—

“Kh, kh. Kek. Kek. Kkaduk.”

Under the flickering light, I saw something I never should’ve seen.

A woman with her arms and legs on the floor, bending her body in a disturbing way.

‘This can’t be real.’

Only a few exorcists in the world can actually see evil spirits with their eyes.

And even those people only see blurry shapes—not clearly.

There was one exception. A person said to have the eyes to truly see evil spirits:

Lucian von Alexander—a genius who got a perfect score on the first exorcist exam five years ago.

Because of his red eyes, people whispered that he was cursed.

Maybe it was the rumors, but he disappeared about a year ago.

‘No… That’s not important right now.’

The situation in front of me was already too much to handle.

I rubbed my eyes over and over, not believing what I saw. But the woman only became clearer.

This didn’t make any sense. Even Alex, who was considered skilled, could only faintly sense spirits.

The reason support-type exorcists even exist is because they can’t see souls at all.

They use tools to hear footsteps better or sharpen senses to detect spirits faster.

‘But I didn’t use any tools… so why can I see and hear her so clearly?’

Maybe it was just an illusion from fear.

I told myself that, but my heart kept pounding harder.

And when my eyes met the woman’s under the flickering light, it got worse.

“Kkaduk.”

The woman made a strange sound and twisted her body as if to show she was really there.

Her shape kept changing in the darkness of the storage room.

First she was crawling, then she was sitting, and now she stood up.

This was dangerous. The clearer she became, the more anxious I felt.

“Alex, can’t you see where she is?”

“There was something in the storage room before, like a ghost, but now I don’t know where it went!”

Alex raised his voice, clearly shaken.

I could tell how nervous he was just from the way he kept looking around for the spirit.

We couldn’t fight in this situation. We had to get out and regroup.

“Alex, it’s too dangerous here. Let’s leave the mansion first, and then—”

“We know that already! Stop talking and move out of the way!”

Cream suddenly appeared from behind and pushed me aside, yelling.

He was clearly shaken too—his voice was trembling.

I thought I needed to stay calm, especially at times like this.

Then—

Crash!

A sharp noise rang out as the lightbulb in the storage room shattered.

The light was gone. Now the whole room, including the storage area, was in total darkness.

I quickly looked to where the woman had been.

But she was gone.

‘Did I imagine her after all?’

As I panted in fear, I suddenly felt a chill run down the back of my neck.

Right as I started to turn around, I felt cold breath on my ear.

“You… can see me?”

I was so scared I couldn’t even scream.

This wasn’t human. Realizing that made my whole body break into goosebumps.

‘Then what I saw before… wasn’t an illusion?’

I knew it sounded impossible.

But even if my mind doubted it, my body was shaking hard—anyone could see it.

Still, I had to confirm it.

Slowly, I turned my head to look behind me.

The woman had her lips curled into a grin up to her ears.

She bent her neck at an angle no human could, and stared right at me.

“Ugh!”

Everyone turned to look at me, and someone suddenly pushed me.

When I looked up from the floor, I saw Cream with a pale face.

“Alex, we have to run! Now!”

He didn’t care that I had fallen. He just opened the door with Alex and ran into the hallway.

‘I have to hurry and escape too!’

Just as I ran toward the open door, it suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang.

Then, somehow, the woman was standing in front of the door. She kept twisting her head in strange ways and said,

“Make me have fun. Okay?”

She laughed loudly, and her eyes no longer had any white.
They were completely black.

The woman with the black eyes slowly walked toward me.

“Gasp…”

This must be what people mean when they say, “I can’t move my feet.”
I was so scared that my hands were shaking.

‘I don’t want to die.’

Please, someone help me.
I kept shouting that in my heart, but no miracle happened.

I thought everything was over. I closed my eyes tightly.

Then—

“This way!”

Bang!
I heard a sound and the door flew open.

Standing on the other side was a small girl.

“Come out quickly! Hurry!”

The woman turned around and looked at the door when she heard the girl’s voice.

I wondered why a child would be in a place like this—but right now, running was more important.

I rushed to the door. I didn’t want to miss this one and only chance.

Just barely dodging the woman’s attack, I finally made it into the hallway.

“I should’ve found you earlier and killed you.”

The woman said something terrifying before the door shut in front of her.

Then, the little girl grabbed my hand and ran down the hallway.

“We have to get out of here right now. Run as fast as you can!”

There was no time to ask questions. And anyway, she was right—we had to get out.

I grabbed the girl’s hand tightly, not even knowing her name, and ran down the stairs.

Far ahead, I saw the entrance we had used to come in with the others.

‘We’re almost there.’

Tears came to my eyes as I felt relief.

Boom!

But that feeling didn’t last long.

Right after a huge explosion, some unknown force slammed me into the wall.

Because I let go of her hand, the girl and I ended up far apart.

‘I can’t give up after coming this far.’

I barely lifted my head and looked ahead—and saw the woman standing in front of the second-floor terrace.

If this continued, she’d catch us. I knew she would never let us go easily.

‘I have to get out without running into her, no matter what.’

I forced myself up and ran toward the girl who had fallen in the corner.

“Wake up!”

She didn’t move. It looked like she had fainted from the shock.

There was no other way—I had to carry her out. I quickly picked her up on my back.

Right then, I felt that same cold energy near my ear again…

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The woman shoved me against the wall with great force.

The girl I was carrying fell to the floor, and my head hit the wall hard.

“Ugh.”

Something warm was in my eyes. When I wiped it away, it was red blood.

I stood in front of the girl, trying to block the woman’s view of her.

I knew I could only buy a little time, but I had to try.

‘If only I had a little more strength.’

If I were strong like Alex… maybe things would’ve turned out differently.

But it was too late to regret now.

Thinking that, I closed my eyes tightly.

“Ahhh!”

Just then, instead of pain, I heard a scream. I opened my eyes and saw blue flames surrounding the woman.

That happened when evil spirits were defeated.

‘What just happened?’

I was confused, but also relieved—and my mind started to go blank.

“Hey, are you okay?”

A man entered through the open door and spoke to me.

Moonlight shone on his black hair and red eyes.

I was sure I had never seen him before, but somehow, his face felt familiar.

I wondered why… but I had something more important to do first.

I had to check on the girl who had collapsed behind me.

“First, the girl—”

“The girl? What are you talking about? This place is…”

The man said something, but I didn’t hear the rest.

In the end, I fainted right there.