The Witches (Book #1)

ℑ 𝔖𝔞𝔴 ℌ𝔦𝔰 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥

"You didn't let anyone die. It was an accident. You heard Ban. There's no way you could've knocked that shelf over."

"I don't mean like that. I can't explain it. You wouldn't believe me if I did." I remove Sehun's hand from my arm, trying to escape his questioning eyes.

"Just because I don't believe in visions doesn't mean I don't believe you. I'd be freaked out, too, if I saw someone get crushed in front of me." Sehun follows me to the door.

The sun is almost down when I step outside. The word "crushed" grates on my nerves. Cha Seonhan and Kai were crushed. Who's next? "Tell your mom I say thanks."

Sehun still follows me. "Can I help?"

I want help. But if he's uncomfortable with the idea of a vision, there is no way I could tell him the other stuff. There's a piece of me that hoped he's believe me.

"Why don't you come back in and lie down and we can talk about all this when you're fully rested."

"No," I snap. "I don't need to be patronized. People are dying."

He looks hurt. "That's so not fair, Suzy."

"Nothing's fair right now. Everything's a mess."

I walk to my house and close the door behind me. "Joohyuk!" I yell.

"Sooji," he says in a worried tone of voice in the foyer. I must look as frazzled as I feel.

"How's my dad?

"Well."

I nod. "Did you see what happened? To Kai, I mean?"

"No, I was doing research. I heard some of the aftermath while you were resting."

I pace in the foyer. "Kai  is the guy I saw in my vision. And when he got crushed in front of me today, I had another vision, or whatever. Am I going crazy?"

"You had a vision without performing a ritual?"

"Yeah, well . . ." I remember my dream. "I dozed off in homeroom and dreamed of a guy giving a sermon about witchcraft. He made some analogy, saying how people assumed there are no witches because they've never seen one. And would you think there are no robbers just because nothing was ever stolen from you? Or something—"

Joohyuk cuts me off. "Where is your copy of Bae Changbin's Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions?"

"Here." I reach into my shoulder bag. "What is it?"

Joohyuk skims through the pages and points to a paragraph. I read the words and a chill runs through me. "These are the exact words from my dream. But I didn't read this far. I never saw this paragraph." It was a young Changbin in my dream. I just didn't recognize him. "That means it wasn't exactly a dream, was it?"

"I would guess not. Tell me what happened."

"We were in a church, sort of a plain room with wooden pews. I was scared and walking backward. A rope touched my shoulder. I looked up and saw a noose hanging above my head. Then I woke up." Knowing that it wasn't some fantasy my brain invented makes retelling it awful.

"And how did that relate to Kai's death?"

"Kai grabbed me and I fell into the ropes behind the stage." Joohyuk's face hardens. It's obvious he didn't know that part. "My vision went black and I couldn't see anything but the rope I grabbed on to. Then I saw a noose over my head, like I did in my dream, only now there was a girl hanging from it. I don't know who, because her hair was in her face."

"We need to find out." Joohyuk's tone confirms my fear.

"If we can prevent it, maybe that's a step in the direction of breaking the curse."

Joohyuk nods.

"Is Changbin trying to warn me or scare me?" The thought of sleeping is now perfectly horrifying. "If only I could talk to him like I do with you, without it being so awful."

"I am confident his spirit is not here the way mine is. There is no scenario where my face would blend with someone's the way his did with yours. He is part of you or bound to you "

I want to puke. "So what? Try to sleep and hope he . . . Shit, I have to call him, don't I?" It's not a question. How have I come to a point in my life where I see things that aren't there while I'm awake and I see things that might be there while I'm asleep?

"I do not believe the Lineages will assist you this time. The town is in an uproar over Kai's death. There have been too many fatal accidents since you've arrived, and the townspeople are searching for an explanation. The word 'murder' is being used liberally, and the Lineages' families are suspicious of you. They are not letting their children out of sight."

The truth of that sinks in. I wouldn't let my kids out of my sight, either. I show up in a prominent and unexplainable way in relation to the rash and Kai's death and, now that I think about it, to the nooses in the coffee shop, too. "Okay, I guess I gave to try without them. Do you think I can do it somewhere rather than those woods?"

Joohyuk's thoughtful. "Is it fair to say that every time he appeared, you were afraid?"

I don't like where this is going. "Yeah."

"You were also in the woods where the witches were hanged, a place that related to him personally," Joohyuk continues.

"So I have to go someplace scary that relates to him personally?"

"Sometimes extreme circumstances or emotions can break the barrier between the living and the dead." I immediately think of Sehun's story about his mother talking to his dead father.

This makes sense. The majority of the time I've been in Manyeo, I was under duress of some kind. "His brother Haneul has a gravestone in Old Burying Point." The moment the words leave my mouth I regret them.

"Interesting. Haneul was his younger brother. And you know how important prestige was to Changbin. Haneul bested Changbin in learning and attended overseas for university at a younger age. I would venture a guess that Changbin had mixed emotions about that. The year after he died, Changbin wrote Memorial Providences.

"So, what, am I supposed to antagonize him to make him show up?" I like the idea less and less.

"It worked with me when you read Bona's letters."

"Great. I'm going to get a flashlight." No way I'm making that mistake again.