Reborn as a Prophet in a Horror Movie

#060Reader Mode

#060

As Seojun’s eye fell on the falling white corn, he couldn’t tell if the liquid that soaked it was blood or the melted, liquefied remains of rotten flesh. One thing, however, was certain: the Laurens were no longer among the living. A lump rose in his throat, and he swallowed hard, the sound too loud in the creepy silence.

Seojun slowly lifted his gaze, shoulders tensing with each passing second. A shaky breath escaped his lips when he noticed the couple had stopped dancing, their hollow eyes fixed on him. He wished they’d show even a hint of curiosity, anything but the way they stared at him now, like he was a bug under a microscope.

Their faces were blank, emotionless masks – no life in their eyes, noses, or mouths. They looked more like puppets controlled by invisible strings than flesh and blood people. It was as if some unseen child was making these lifeless dolls dance, mocking the very idea of being alive. The whole scene felt like a bizarre, twisted play.

The sting of biting his cheek jolted Seojun back to the present. There was no time for leisurely contemplation here, no room to unravel the mysteries of the monsters before him. He knew he should be brave like Christina, but his life had always been about running away from or avoiding trouble. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to get out of there, to escape this unnerving situation. But a small part of his mind wanted to stay, desperate to understand what was going on. Seojun knew he had to act fast, to break free from the suffocating grip of the moment and find a way out of this living nightmare.

His worn sneakers shifted slightly, and in that instant, the couple’s lips, frozen like plaster, opened in unison.

“Trying to run away?”

“Running away?”

“That’s impossible.”

“That’s impossible.”

“The murderous scarecrow will kill you.”

“The murderous scarecrow is going to kill you.”

Their voices knit into an eerie harmony as the Laurens separated from their embrace, a torrent of corn spilling from the torn open stomachs between their chests and navels. Seojun’s gaze darted between the disturbing pile at Bailey’s feet and his murky eyes, but he knew lingering would be a fatal mistake.

Without hesitation, he spun on his heel and ran, leaving behind any thought of direction. Lungs burning, thighs screaming with exertion as he sprinted with every ounce of desperate energy. The stalks seemed to conspire against his escape, weeds snaring his ankles and razor-edged leaves whipping viciously at his face and arms.

Sweat poured down Seojun’s flushed face and neck, but he couldn’t stop, couldn’t slow down. Mocking laughter echoed from behind him. “Wait, don’t run… Let’s die together…” The taunting curse wormed into his ears, and he gritted his teeth against a scream, his forehead veins bulging.

“Leave me alone, you f*cking psychos!”

Rather than spit, pure venom flew from his throat. What grudge did the couple have against him to haunt him like a water ghost?! He was so frustrated that he felt like crying.

But even this outburst was a foolish choice. He should have focused every ounce of stamina on fleeing rather than wasting breath on swearing. Too late, he sensed the icy touch of a hand near his back, the stalks whispering that death was near.

“Ahhh!”

Bailey’s grasping hands narrowly missed the hem of Seojun’s shirt as the couple closed the gap with unnatural swiftness. Only steps separated him from the Laurens. Seojun bit his lip, his cheek stiffening with tension.

“This way!”

A cry pierced through the chaos of the pursuit, and Seojun felt a small hand grip his own with surprising strength. His instincts bucked against the sudden contact, but the mysterious guide yanked him off-balance, forcing him to stumble forward in a new direction.

As Seojun’s wild gaze focused, he took in the details of his unexpected savior. The figure stood no taller than his waist, a pint-sized hero wearing a straw hat.

A kid?

Stunned and out of options, Seojun let the tiny hand lead the way. The child’s steps were short but surefooted, navigating through the maze-like paths of the cornfield without hesitation. Seojun couldn’t help but wonder if the kid knew where they were going, but as they pressed on, the angry voices of the Lauren couple gradually faded into the distance.

They finally stopped in a cramped clearing, hidden deep within the cornfield. The stalks towered over them, forming a dense, natural barrier that offered a glimmer of hope for evading the Laurens’ sight. Seojun was about to let out a sigh of relief, but quickly caught himself and forced it back down.

As the child released his hand, Seojun watched in silence as they flexed and straightened their tiny fingers. The child’s gaze was locked on his latex gloves, as if they were the most fascinating thing they’d ever encountered. When Seojun didn’t take them off, the child huffed out a small, exasperated sigh and puffed out their small chest in a display of maturity that didn’t quite suit their age.

“It’s safe. For now.”

“…Thanks,” Seojun managed to say between short, ragged breaths. He had pushed himself to his limits, but he wasn’t so self-centered that he couldn’t express gratitude to a child who had gone out of their way to help him. After all, he’d been working on becoming a better person for the past three months. Mustering what little energy he had left, Seojun forced a smile, hoping it would put the child at ease.

“What are you doing out here, kid?”

The child scuffed their worn-out shoes against the cornstalks, grumbling under their breath. “Isn’t it obvious? Use your eyes.”

Seojun wasn’t one to feel sorry for anyone besides himself and Bobby, but something about this little one’s defiant attitude unexpected chord within him. Beneath the layers of grime and tattered hand-me-downs, the child’s guarded demeanor told a story of countless hardships endured.

“So you’re lost too, huh?” Seojun sighed, shamelessly lecturing on warnings he’d disregarded himself. “Should’ve paid attention to those warning signs out front, kid. Rules are there to be followed.”

The child bristled at his paternal tone, face scrunching into an indignant pout. “I’m not lost! I lost my parents. Very different things, understand? It’s not the same.”

This kid is using such big words for their age…

Seojun blinked, taken aback by the calm assertiveness. But the child’s words had triggered a sickening realization, one that sent his blood pounding in his skull. The kid’s situation, the Laurens’ bizarre condition… it couldn’t be a coincidence. Even with his meager medical knowledge, Seojun knew something was seriously wrong here.

Seojun struggled to keep his composure as he pressed for more information, but his darting eyes and shaky voice gave away his unease.

“I know this might sound weird, but were your parents… Was your mom thin with an arrowhead-like nose and light grey eyes? And did your dad have a strong jaw, sharp eyes, and wear sandals?”

Seojun scraped his brain, trying to recall the Lauren couple’s appearance while pushing away the gruesome images of their torn-open stomachs and blood-stained mouths. Despite the memory of their most striking features being overshadowed by the sight of their exposed guts, he managed to remember a few key details to tell the child.

Seojun’s heart pounded as he studied the kid’s tight-lipped expression, silently hoping they weren’t related to the Lauren couple. If they were, he’d have to break the soul-crushing news that their parents had turned into mindless, flesh-craving zombies. The mere thought of dropping such a devastating bombshell made his already weak shoulders feel like they were being crushed under an immense weight.

With a trembling hand, he absently rubbed his bony shoulder, waiting for the child’s response. After what felt like an eternity, the kid finally turned to face him, their voice burning with defiance.

“No? You see, my mom gives the best hugs. She’s warm and soft. But with my dad, you’d only feel bones. And he always wears shoes polished to a shine. My dad in sandals? That wouldn’t happen even if I died and came back to life.”

“Oh yeah?” Seojun muttered under his breath.

Sandals, of all things! The kid’s words echoed in his mind as relief washed over him, leaving his muscles loose and wobbly. He felt like a melted popsicle, ready to puddle on the ground. The midday sun’s relentless heat prickled the back of his neck, and he risked a quick glance upward, squinting against the glare before ducking his head—no sense in ruining his one good eye.

Oddly enough, since losing an eye, Seojun’s vision had actually sharpened. Despite the old saying about eyesight getting worse, he showed no signs of that happening. Glasses and contact lenses? Ancient history. The world around him was crystal clear as he took slow, steady breaths. He couldn’t help but wonder if this enhanced eyesight was a side effect of his psychometry, but it wasn’t like he could bring that up at his next eye doctor appointment.

The kid clicked their tongue, watching Seojun calm down like a lost puppy. Even after such a short time, it was clear the child carried themselves with a surprising level of maturity.

“Oh, you thought those people chasing you might be my parents? You’ve made a huge mistake.”

“That so? Well, that’s a relief, but…”

Seojun’s mind raced with possibilities. In this huge cornfield, could there really be a zombie couple searching for their lost child, a little mummy, and another lost kid? With so much land, it seemed like anything was possible—even beings with the strangest backstories lurking in the shadows.

As these thoughts swirled in Seojun’s head, the child shook their head and snorted. The brim of their straw hat cast a shadow over their eyes, but their expressive mouth was impossible to miss.

“Those were just minions of the murderous scarecrow. How could they be my parents?”

“Murderous scarecrow?” Seojun repeated, not even trying to hide his disbelief at the bizarre and chilling phrase that rang out once more. Ever since he’d been reincarnated in this unfamiliar world, the vast land of America had grown stranger by the day. First aliens, then serial killers, and now…murderous scarecrows? Were even inanimate objects joining the ranks of monsters now?

“Hey kid…” Seojun began, a sense of dread creeping into his voice. “Just what exactly is this murderous scarecrow? Those weird…zombie-things mentioned it too.”

“They ain’t zombies. They’re just mindless minions of the murderous scarecrow. And I’m not a kid. Name’s April.”

April, a boy dressed in a faded long-sleeve shirt and dirty overalls, flashed a bright, toothy grin. One of his molars was conspicuously missing, leaving an endearing gap amidst his otherwise sunny smile.