haunted // nct.dream [1]

{13}

      I slowly covered my mouth. "There's a bunch of cracks all over the wall it came from," I put in, my words coming out softly.

      Mi-Cha's eyes widened and she stepped back.

      "What's wrong?" Jaemin asked her.

      "Remember when I had that moment where I heard things you guys couldn't?"

      We nodded.

      Mi-Cha swallowed hard. "There was some vision in my head as I closed my eyes. It's still burnt into my mind."

      "What? Tell us," Hana demanded.

      "It was an older scene, like 1960, or something, but in this house. A girl, who was beaten and abused here. I remember her mom being a terrible person to her." Mi-Cha wrapped her arms around herself. "The girl was so tortured. She ended up drowning herself in a bathtub. The mom seemed worried, but not for the death of her daughter. It was like she didn't want anyone to know that she died. The mom tore away the wall of her daughter's bedroom, shoving the body inside."

      "Yikes," Hana breathed.

      "The mom quickly remade the wall, doing a bad job. After that, she moved away, but not before setting the house on fire." Mi-Cha ran her hand through her hair. "The fire was quickly put out, thanks to a family across the street, who called the fire department. The walls and everything were repaired, but no one bothered looking inside the cracked wall. They just repainted and tried to cover them. The vengeful spirit must want those cracks to stay there as a reminder."

      I shivered as goosebumps crawled all over my skin. There's a dead person in the walls of this house.

      "That makes it seem logical that the ghost made that noise," Mark put in. "I watched this thing a while ago and the best way to destroy a ghost is to burn the body. I guess the fire didn't go long enough to take care of the girl."

      "Mark," I began, crossing my arms, "what kind of things do you watch?"

      All I got was a shrug.

      "Can we burn the body?" Chenle asked, sounding slightly excited.

      We looked at the purple haired boy, only a little concern rising in us.

      "Let's do it!" Jueun's voice rang from the other end of the hall.

      Behind us, Jueun's group was arriving from the stairs.

      "Yeah, let's burn that spirit for good," Johnny added, clutching onto his upper arm.

      "How do you suppose we get the body?" I asked them. "Tear a giant hole in the wall? Do you know how much money that'll cost to repair? And how would I explain that to my dad?"

      "Woman," Johnny started, "would you rather have a giant hole in the wall, or an angry spirit, full of the need to kill, roaming this house?"

      I bit the inside of my cheek, not answering.

      "Exactly."

      "How are we going to even burn the body if we can't get out?" Renjun asked, making us all think.

      "We can't leave without Jisung," Hana told us. I nodded in agreement.

      "By the way," Johnny spoke up. "Jeno, do you happedn to have any other clothing items in your bag? I kind of need something that I can tie around my arm."

      "What did you do?" I asked.

      Johnny peeled his hand away to reveal three, deep slashes. His sweatshirt was sticking to them from the oozing blood starting to dry around the edges. I cringed at the sight.

      "It wasn't him," Jueun told us. She took the shirt Jeno offered to tie around Johnny's arm. She pulled the shirt tight around, making Johnny wince. "It was the girl who died. It had to have been."

      "So, she's threatening us now?" Chenle asked, sounding full of worry. "If she did that to Johnny, I can't even imagine what she's done to Jisung!" Chenle's hands rested on top of his as an attempted to try and open his lungs for more air.

      "Don't say things like that," Renjun demanded. "We'll find him, and Jisung will be fine."

      Not saying it didn't make it any less true. If the ghost would last out at Johnny, then if she had someone alone, hidden, then it would be so easy for the spirit to cause all the harm she could. Hot tears pricked at the back of my eyes, soon cascading down my face. I turned away from the group and bit my lip.

      "Hey, um," Haechan started, scooting closer to my direction. I glanced at him, then turned even farther from Haechan, crossing my arms.

      Haechan awkwardly pat my shoulder, then let it rest there. "Just think positively?" He waited for me to say something, but I kept my mouth closed. If I opened it, I would risk a scream jumping out of my throat.

      Haechan sighed, dropping his arm. "I don't know... I don't really know how to help, um..."

      My fingers traced under my chin, along my neck, before I turned around and draped my arms around his neck, leaning into his shoulder. Haechan stiffened under my loose hug.

      I could hear Jaemin's whisper as he told Haechan, "you're supposed to hug back."

     That's when Haechan let his arms circle around me. I tried to straighten my uneven breaths, inhaling the sandalwood-like cologne still present in the jacket Haechan was wearing.

      "Mi-Cha?" Johnny began, his voice on edge. "Are you okay?"

      I peeked above Haechan's shoulder to get a look at Mi-Cha. Dark red seeped out of her nose. She reached up her hand just under and touched it, which left a smear that soon covered as more blood flowed out. Her hands trembled at the sight.