Inside Park Manor • SKZ horror au

Chapter 23

Chan stared at the paper in disbelief. It was nothing but all types of wrong. Why was an arm and a leg needed for a serum? Also, the third floor from what he heard, was a guaranteed death sentence if you entered. Even though every part of him felt like the girl was trying to kill him, he had no other choice but to do what she asked.

    He made his way up the stairs, heading to the others hiding spot. He needed to know their current condition and keep them up to date before he left to the third floor, and quite possibly his death. But he survived Father so it was possible he could survive whatever was up there, too.

    Grandma was sitting in a chair at the entrance to the hall where the others were hiding. She stared blankly out a rain-streaked window, watching as the storm outside whipped around branches like they were puppets on strings. Chan gently tapped her shoulder but gained no response.

    Giving up, he continued down the hall. It made the most sense that Grandma was ignoring him because the boy had told her that he had killed a member of her family. However, if that were the case, why wasn't she trying to kill him for revenge?

    The trees outside cast eerily, moving shadows on the wall that only disappeared briefly when lightning flashed outside. Despite the disarray of the manor, it must have had very thick walls. He couldn't hear a thing.

    Chan reached the door to their hiding spot, the shadows of tree branches waving in warning as he opened it. Grandma's lamp lay on the floor, casting more light for his footing which he greatly appreciated. However, he couldn't help but wonder if Grandma had put it there herself, or if someone had knocked it over.

    The hall down to their room seemed to have increased in length due to his anticipation of something bad. The seemingly endless walk finally came to an end. Despite how scared he was, he didn't hesitate to open the door and face whatever was waiting for him.

    Chan barely had anytime to react before three partially turned creatures pounced on him, hands turned into sharp claws that were prepared to kill. Just like Minho had been, they all appeared human. The only difference was their completely black eyes and transformed hands.

    "How could you betray us?!" Felix cried, genuine hurt in his voice. They had fallen for the boy's lies.

    "I didn't betray any of you! I would never-" Was all Chan could get out of his mouth before Felix's claw slit his throat, blood pouring down his front.

    He could have defended himself if he wanted to, but he chose against it. They now all had what they needed to escape, and he was sure the girl would fill them in, too. If killing him would set them free, so be it.

    Excruciating pain tore through his body as six claws tore at his body simultaneously. As much as he wanted to scream until his throat went raw, he couldn't. All he could manage was coughing up concerning amounts of blood.

    "Stop it!" Jeongin's voice cried, sounding miles away. "He would never betray us! What kind of person do you think he is? Snap out of it!"

    Minho grabbed Jeongin by the front of his shirt and sent him flying across the room, where he hit the wall with a sickening crash as a vase fell on him from the shelf above.

    "The boy's lying to you! Why don't you believe me?" Jeongin yelled weakly, before going quiet.

    Slowly, one by one, the others began to come to their senses, their hands returning to their human shae and eyes turning back to brown. Simultaneously, horrified looks crossed their faces when they saw what they had done.

    Chan held up a bloodied finger, wishing his throat would heal faster so he could put them at ease and fill them in. He didn't want to hear any apologies. He knew they couldn't help it. Thankfully, they let him lay where he was. He didn't think he could bear the pain of them moving him. Plus, he didn't want to accidentally see his injuries if he didn't have to.

    If he hadn't been infected with the virus, he would have been long dead, no doubt about it. Now that he thought about it, dying had to be more of a blessing than a curse. Dying could put someone out of their misery instead of forcing them to endure more pain than they could bear.

    He was snapped out of his morbid thoughts by the sound of Jeongin crying next to him. Multiple long, deep scratches were healing on his arms. Putting two and two together, it must have been the way he could keep himself from allowing the boy into his mind.

    Feeling around on his blood-coated neck, Chan assumed that he had healed enough for him to talk. He started off with forgiving them before segwaying into what the girl had told him before handing them the now blood-stained crest and recipe.

    "Are you sure she can be trusted?" Hyunjin asked, glancing at the bizarre ingredients written on the paper.

    "No, but we have no choice but to," Chan said, wiping away fresh blood from his lips. "I would have gone, but...these are gonna take some time that we don't have to heal. I'm sorry, but would anyone else be willing to go?"

    "I will."