Reborn as a Prophet in a Horror Movie

#153Reader Mode

#153

Kira headed down the stairs first, leaving Johan smiling quietly to himself. She paused, fingers hovering over the railing. It looked grimy enough to leave black smudges on her palms, so she opted for the wall instead, placing one hand carefully against it as she cautiously stepped down. Johan followed. He knew exactly which step he’d almost fallen through before and hopped right over the spot, pretty nimble for a guy his size.

“Tsk.”

He heard the faint click of her tongue. Glancing back quickly to check if he’d covered the damaged spot well enough, Johan looked down at the top of her head, which seemed a little pale. They were close to the mansion’s entrance now. Once they opened that front door, their little spooky tour would be over.

As Kira reached the bottom step, she took in the first floor, her brow furrowing just a bit. Was she regretting it was ending? From what she’d said, after going upstairs and grabbing the teddy bear, she’d basically spent the rest of the time trapped in that fifth room. Compared to Johan, who’d roamed around checking out every corner with Madison, Kira had barely seen anything at all.

Earlier, she’d acted like she’d had enough of the haunted house, but maybe, deep down, she wanted to explore more. And since Johan was still trying to make a good impression, he was totally prepared to play tour guide for as long as she liked. But Kira just gazed silently at the wall. Well, not the wall itself, to be precise, but a large portrait hanging there. It was the same painting Johan had caught a glimpse of when he’d first stepped into the mansion.

“Kira, what’s wrong?”

“That painting… was it always like that?” Kira mumbled, narrowing her eyes. Johan looked over at the portrait too. It showed a lady, all dolled up in an elegant gown, kind of glancing sideways like she was deliberately trying not to meet their eyes.

“Hmm…”

Now, Johan was pretty sure that when he first walked into this haunted house, the woman in the painting had been staring straight ahead. So directly, in fact, it felt like their eyes had actually met for a split second. He sounded a bit hesitant.

“Yeah, it kinda looks like her eyes have moved… but it’s probably just us, right? You know, that sort of thing happens all the time in stories. In creepy places like this, people get spooked easily and start seeing things that aren’t there.”

“Really? ‘Cause when I first came in here, I’m pretty sure that woman had her eyes closed.”

“……”

Kira pulled her phone from her hoodie pocket, held it up high, and snapped a photo. The flash blinked brightly a few times, but the woman in the painting didn’t flinch, still looking away. Only after the shutter had clicked more than ten times did Kira finally stop to check the pictures. Apparently, she wasn’t thrilled with the results, letting out a worried, annoyed groan.

“This isn’t good enough. Hey, give me a hand here.”

And just like that, Kira hopped up to sit on Johan’s shoulders. Since she wasn’t exactly short herself, it didn’t take much for her to be face-to-face with the painting. A mischievous little smile played on her lips as she pulled a pocket knife from her hoodie. The edge looked like it had been sharpened to a seriously dangerous point. Soon, the soft sound of her humming mixed with the crisp rip of fabric.

As Johan kept a good grip on Kira’s legs so she wouldn’t wobble, it suddenly clicked why she’d kept her hand in her pocket when they first bumped into each other. Turns out, Madison wasn’t the only one packing a knife in this haunted house.

“All done.”

Kira gave Johan’s chest a light tap with her foot, signaling she was finished. After hopping neatly off his shoulders, she looked down at the face she’d sliced from the canvas and grinned, clearly pretty pleased with herself.

“This should be proof enough that I was here. I mean, taking the whole frame would be better, but it’s way too big for my bike. Oh, hey, did you drive? Got a big trunk?”

“Kira, honestly, I was kinda hoping to hitch a ride with you. My car’s toast and it got scrapped recently. Getting here today was pure luck. Anyway, is it really okay to just cut stuff up like that?”

Johan glanced at the now faceless portrait, a flicker of pity in his eyes. Even though he asked cautiously, you could tell he wasn’t actually bothered.

“Who cares? It’s an abandoned house anyway,” she said shamelessly.

Impressed in spite of himself, Johan blurted out, “Wow, Kira, you’ve got zero morals, huh?”

“Oh really? So, I guess you won’t mind if I don’t give you a ride later, seeing as I’m so ‘morally bankrupt’?”

“What I meant was, you’ve got the perfect personality to crush it in today’s world,” Johan quickly backpedaled.

Kira snorted, then folded the portrait face into a crumpled ball and stuffed it in her pocket. Looking totally satisfied, without a hint of regret, she headed cheerfully for the front door.

Johan fiddled with the teddy bear he’d been guarding so carefully, excitement swelling in his chest at the thought of finally meeting up with Seojun. His eyes practically sparkled with anticipation. Tailing Kira, who was just about to yank the door open, he asked eagerly, his face a little flushed, “So, uh, where exactly are we meeting?”

Just then, sunlight snuck through the crack in the doorway, drawing a long, bright line right across Johan. It was surprisingly warm and beautiful, that natural light cutting through the gloomy, barely-lit house. Kira, hand on the doorknob, had this subtle, mischievous little smile playing on her lips.

“Like I said, we’re an occult website group. So, naturally, our meeting spots tend to have similar vibes.”

Her red tongue flicked out, just brushing the piercing on her lip.

“Saint Montgomery Hospital.”

Then she swung the door wide open, and bright sunlight flooded the place.

***

The door didn’t so much open as explode inwards, and in swept a young woman who couldn’t have been much older than twenty. Her lacy skirt billowed dramatically around her as she planted herself right in the middle of the room and announced in a voice that boomed through the small space:

“Fear not, foolish mortal! Your cries for salvation have brought this magnificent being to your rescue. Now that I have arrived, there’s no need to worry!”

Seojun just stared, mouth hanging open. He was already running on empty, barely holding himself up against the wall when the last bit of strength left him. He started sliding down toward the floor in what had to be the least dignified way possible.

Through a tired eye, he took in the young woman’s appearance. She was decked out in full Gothic Lolita fashion—head to toe in pitch black. Her puffy skirt stopped just above her knees and was practically drowning in lace. Velvet ribbons criss-crossed her waist and upper body, cinching everything in, while shiny silk bows decorated her shoulders, chest, and waist like fancy black teardrops. To complete the look, inverted crosses stood out boldly against both her skirt and top.

And that was just the beginning of her over-the-top look. Her legs were covered in black stockings with tiny embroidered bats flitting between roses, disappearing into super-shiny patent leather shoes. Her hair was jet-black and pulled into impossibly tight pigtails sticking out from under a bonnet that was absolutely drowning in delicate lace. Ruffles exploded from her sleeves and skirt hem, so every time she moved, it turned into an even bigger visual spectacle.

When Seojun finally managed to focus on her face, it was just as striking as the rest of her. Underneath all that heavy makeup were small, neat features, but whoever did her eyeshadow had gone way overboard, stretching her eyes into these unnaturally wide pools. Her lips were painted an almost-black purple, like she’d eaten something dark and messy days ago and never bothered to wipe her mouth. The whole effect was… intense. Too much to process, really. She gave off this unspoken pressure that totally intimidated him, and all Seojun could mumble was:

“Who… who exactly are you…?”

His simple question seemed to throw the Gothic Lolita off balance. She actually hesitated, taking a small, awkward step backward. Her heavily shadowed eyes narrowed as she sized up the human puddle that was Seojun, before turning to loudly dig through a backpack shaped—rather creepily—like an upside-down coffin.

With a triumphant little “aha!” she pulled out an eyepatch – black, naturally, with tiny feathery wings stuck on it. She slapped it over one eye, tossed those ridiculously curled pigtails with a flick of her wrist, and tilted her chin up in what was supposed to be supreme confidence but came off as trying way too hard.

Then, cranking her voice back up to full dramatic volume, she announced: “I am Luciel, a Seraph of Great Power possessing Six Wings! In my previous life, I was a fallen angel, and because of those past abilities, I’ve been blessed in this life with prophetic powers and tasked with rescuing those who have spiritual sight.”

So there Seojun was, sprawled on the floor surrounded by broken glass, staring up at a girl wrapped in a tornado of black lace who called herself Luciel: Seraph, former fallen angel, current psychic, and apparently his designated savior… whatever that meant. He swallowed hard, his throat suddenly bone-dry.

This girl’s backstory wasn’t just extra. It was a five-act opera of pure, undiluted drama queen.

Even while Luciel was making her grand speech, Seojun noticed a tiny twitch at the bridge of her nose and a slight crinkling around the eye not hidden by that winged patch. Maybe those little feathers were tickling her. After silently fighting this minor itch battle, she looked around the room, the lace on her bonnet shaking a bit, before her still-too-loud voice cut through the air again.

“Speak. Was it you who called out to me for help?”

Seojun, still basically a human puddle, hesitated. “Well…” he started, his voice barely above a whisper, “I mean, I do beg pretty much anyone these days. Heavenly gods, earth spirits, local deities, foreign ones, basically whoever might be listening, but I can’t say I specifically had you on my contact list…”

His words faded as a new sound interrupted: heavy, rhythmic panting from the hallway, mixed with loud, deliberate thuds that kept getting closer. The floorboards creaked in protest. Then, whatever was making all that noise stumbled into view.

“Lu-Luciel! I told you not to run off on your own… huff, huff…!”

He was a guy whose entire body seemed made up of soft curves– from his round, flushed cheeks and double chin to his sloping shoulders and his seriously impressive belly. He definitely wasn’t built for running, gasping for air with a face that had turned an alarming shade of red. His thick, dark hair was slick and shiny against skin so pale and smooth it looked like a freshly peeled egg, making it impossible to guess his age. He could’ve been either an unlucky teenager with a slow metabolism or a guy in his mid-twenties. He dug a handkerchief out of his pocket and frantically wiped at his neck.

Meanwhile, Luciel had clasped her hands imperiously behind her back. She flicked her wrist dismissively toward the newcomer. “Hmph. My loyal attendant. Your feet are slow, heavy, and clumsy. But never mind that. Look over here.”

“Over where? What is— Uh, waaah!”

The chubby guy’s small eyes, already wide from all that running, nearly popped out of his head when he looked where Luciel was pointing. He let out this strangled, high-pitched yelp. His jaw dropped. In front of him was total chaos: glittering pieces of a shattered mirror, the gleam of a discarded knife, and right in the middle of it all, Seojun, bloody and slumped against the wall like he was melting into it. The guy, completely freaked out, stumbled between Luciel and Seojun, the old wooden floor groaning loudly under his weight.

“W-what happened here? Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance? The police? What do you need?” he stammered, words falling all over each other in his panic.

The guy’s questions – so wonderfully normal, so thoughtful – made something dangerously close to tears sting Seojun’s eye. Normal human concern. When was the last time he’d experienced that? But telling them the truth? The truth was a messy tangle of unbelievable stuff that no sane person would buy. He swallowed back the bitter, salty taste rising in his throat.

“No, it’s… nothing,” he managed, his voice scratchy. “I’m fine, really. The mirror was just me being clumsy.” A deliberate act of self-preservation, maybe, but since nobody saw it happen, he’d stick with the accident story. He reached out with a shaky right hand, and the guy took it with a surprisingly strong grip. With a grunt, Seojun was pulled to his feet. His skinny body, feeling as fragile as a dead twig, wobbled for a second before he found something close to balance.

He had barely gotten upright, swaying like a reed in the wind, when Luciel swept forward again, pushing past her helper. “Brown, move aside. Now that I can see him clearly, I recognize that eye from my dreams. Foolish mortal, I have seen you in my visions!”

“What?”

Seojun blinked. For a crazy split second, she sounded so convinced that he wondered if maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t completely off her rocker.

“Yes!” Luciel announced, waving one hand at his face. “That eye… it’s definitely the eye carrying the Star of Utmost Darkness!”

And just like that, that tiny spark of belief flickered out. Star of Utmost Darkness? Yeah, right. This girl wasn’t psychic; she was just a youth with an overactive imagination who loved being dramatic. Seojun turned his attention back to the attendant – Brown, apparently – who at least seemed to live in the same reality as everyone else.

“Um, look,” Seojun started, trying to sound reasonable. “I really have no clue what’s suddenly happening here, but I just came looking for something I lost. Are you two here for some kind of haunted house tour or something?”

Brown nodded quickly, his jowls jiggling with the movement. From behind Brown’s substantial body, Seojun risked another peek at Luciel.

Could this Luciel person be the woman in black that Camry mentioned? Guess it wasn’t complete nonsense after all. Still, I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before…

The name caught in his mind like a splinter, giving him an odd sense of déjà vu. He dug through his memories, but couldn’t pin anything down. Maybe it’s just the ‘-el’ ending, he thought, like Michael or Gabriel… He was too exhausted to worry about it. More than anything, he felt bone-tired; all he wanted was somewhere flat to collapse and sleep.

But if Luciel and Brown had been exploring this haunted house, there was one thing he desperately needed to know. Seojun cleared his throat, the sound awkward in the sudden quiet.

“Did either of you happen to see a teddy bear? Maybe in the hallway? Or anywhere, really. It’s not very big, has pretty even fur… though,” he added, a fresh wave of tiredness washing over him, “it’s probably pretty dirty by now.” He tried to give them a clear picture, knowing his lost bear wouldn’t exactly be in mint condition after being in this place.

To his surprise, Luciel, who had been lost in her own dramatic performance, suddenly went still. She leaned casually against Brown’s wide shoulder, her painted lips pursed in thought. “Brown,” she said, her voice losing some of its boom, “could it be with those… ah, creatures… we saw downstairs? In that big room on the first floor?”

“You mean the stuffed animals under the covers on the bed?” Brown asked, forehead wrinkling. “But those only had their bodies left… Oh wait!”

His round chin bobbed as it clicked for him, and he snapped his fingers with surprising quickness. He dug around in his pocket, pulled out a phone, and showed it toward Seojun. The screen lit up showing what looked like a webpage. Looking closer, Seojun realized it wasn’t live; the page had been saved offline.

Seojun leaned in, his attention immediately caught by the glowing screen. His eye went wide. There, standing out against a background of dirty, peeling wallpaper and all the random junk scattered across the haunted house floor, was his teddy bear.

“Is this maybe the bear you’re looking for?”

“Yes, that’s it. That’s definitely the one.”

His voice came out weirdly strained, his throat tightening as he couldn’t quite swallow properly. He rubbed his neck, his one good eye, red and sore, glued to the tiny image. There was no doubt about it. That was his bear.

“When did you lose it?”

“Yesterday. It must’ve been yesterday.”

Seojun clenched his teeth in frustration, realizing he’d wasted an entire day. Looked like he had come to this haunted house the day after Leimia and Camry died. Totally wiped out from dealing with that whole perfect lover powder mess, he’d only meant to take a quick nap, but ended up sleeping through a whole day instead. Of course, Seojun felt ripped off. Who would’ve thought those two girls would just up and kill each other right after leaving the restaurant?

Brown sighed. “Then that must be it. This post was uploaded yesterday too. It’s on a site where Luciel and I hang out a lot, and it looks like the girl who posted this visited the haunted house yesterday. She probably picked up your teddy bear then.”

“Is there anything else mentioned?”

Seojun couldn’t hide how worried he was as he desperately looked Brown in the eyes. Brown’s eyebrows lowered sympathetically.

“Apart from bragging that it’s some rare doll, not really…”

“Kira? Was it Kira who made the post?”

Once again, Luciel leaned in, trying to peek around to look at Brown’s phone. Brown sighed and put a gentle hand on Luciel’s shoulder.

“Luciel, what about your own phone?”

“Hoo…” She straightened up, looking completely offended. “Foolish, ignorant, and utterly unenlightened. Electronic devices erode my powers of prophecy. Inevitably, there comes a time when I must distance myself from such… mundane influences and refine my spiritual energy. That time has merely arrived again.”

“You seemed perfectly fine using my phone though…”

Brown gave a bitter smile at Luciel’s ridiculous explanation. But Seojun didn’t have the patience for Luciel’s nonsense right now. He took another step toward Brown, speaking earnestly.

“This teddy bear really looks like the one I’m looking for. Is there any way I could get it back? It means a lot to me.”

“Hmm. We’re not really close with the person who posted this…”

A thick arm gently nudged Luciel back, trying to reclaim some space in the conversation. But Luciel wasn’t about to be sidelined that easily. She took one step back only to bounce forward two, effectively pushing Brown aside. She planted herself squarely in front of Seojun, hands on her hips, a general leading her troops.

“Ignoring one who seeks aid is anathema to a wielder of great power! You simply need to meet them directly to reclaim your teddy bear companion. You, with the eye carrying the Star of Utmost Darkness, are you prepared to follow me, even into Hell itself? Tomorrow, we shall depart for a place most horrific and dreadful!”

“What she actually means,” Brown cut in, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, “is that we have a group meetup tomorrow. ‘Hell’ is just Luciel being dramatic. Anyway, Kira promised she’d show up this time, so your best bet is probably to come with us and get it yourself. Kira’s not unreasonable. If you explain what happened, I’m sure it’ll work out.” He sounded like a worn-out but experienced translator of Luciel-language.

For Seojun, this option was definitely better than trying to track down some random person online and asking them to mail back a teddy bear. Plus, there was no guarantee the person who found it would even return it properly, and if anything went wrong with shipping, that would be the end of it.

He suddenly realized his back was soaked with sweat. Had he really been that stressed out? A weird twitch pulled at the corners of his mouth, making an expression that wasn’t quite a smile but wasn’t exactly a grimace either. He swallowed, still feeling that heat stuck in his throat, and looked from Luciel’s intense gaze to Brown’s more comforting one.

“By the way, where exactly is this meetup happening?”

Luciel’s dark eyes, surrounded by all that dark makeup, curved into happy little crescents. When she answered, her voice was surprisingly different. Not the forced, booming announcements from before, but something lighter, almost cheerful, like this was her real voice all along.

“The Happy Pig Factory and Saint Montgomery Hospital!”

T/N: Thanks Eth for pointing out “Ragey’s” name. I totally forgot to drop a note on that. So embarrassing, haha.

Anyway! Yes, Johan was referring to Lacey in the previous chapter. The Hangul used is 레이지, which could be pronounced as “Rei-ji” or “Lei-ji”. But when you try to find the matching English spelling for that, it ends up sounding like “Ragey,” “Lazy,” “Razee,” or even “Reggie.” Ya’ll can see how confusing this can get Lol.

I went with Lacey as the translation, but apparently the author was going for a pun. Something closer to “Ragey” or “Lazy” as a joke. And hey, in my defense, I’ve never come across someone in rural America with a name like that! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻

At this point, changing her name would just add to the confusion, so Lacey it stays. If the pun comes up again, we’ll just treat “Ragey” as her nickname. It kinda works, honestly. She was pretty ragey after dealing with Johan, after all!

As for the timeline, hopefully this chapter helped clear things up! I know it might’ve come across as confusing, but honestly, that’s because the characters themselves were confused lol.

Johan assumed Seojun would show up later, while Kira thought Luciel had already been to the haunted house just because Johan mentioned Seojun. But nope! Seojun totally overslept and arrived after Johan had already left with Kira. That’s why he ends up tripping over the rug that’s hiding the hole in the stairs.

I might go back and make that a little clearer in earlier chapters when I get the chance to do some edits.

Anyway, hope that helps. Now onto the next arc! (/≧▽≦)/