Reborn as a Prophet in a Horror Movie

#173Reader Mode

#173

Nobody said anything at first. They just looked at each other, trying to figure out what they were seeing. The stains were scattered across the floor—not everywhere, but definitely enough to notice. They looked pretty fresh, still that dark red color that made everyone think the same thing, even if nobody wanted to say it out loud.

“W-what the hell is this?” McCullan’s voice was shaky. “Seriously, what is this?”

You could see him swallow hard, his Adam’s apple moving up and down. He kept looking around at everyone, clearly freaked out, and that just made everyone else more nervous too. His fear rippled through the group like a current.

“McCullan, just… take a breath, okay?”

Brown was already crouching next to one of the stains, holding his phone flashlight close to get a better look. He leaned in and sniffed, then made a face.

“I mean, I can’t really tell just from the smell,” he said, straightening up a bit. “Could be blood, could be something else…”

Seojun tried to smell it too, but honestly, the whole place reeked of old building—that mix of dust and mildew that gets in your nose and stays there. Whatever had been spilled on the floor, there was no way to tell what it was just by the smell. Not with everything else going on in that air.

“What if something actually happened to them?” Dennis asked, moving closer to Luciel and lowering his voice. “Like, what if Kira or Mina got hurt? Or Yon? Maybe they’re not just fucking around with us.”

Not that whispering really mattered. The place was so quiet you could hear everything anyway. Seojun was thinking the same thing. If someone was hurt, that would explain why they weren’t answering their phones. Everyone seemed to realize this at the same time, and you could see it on their faces.

“Brown, shouldn’t we go check on them first?”

Seojun was mostly worried about Kira since she had the teddy bear with her. If something happened to her down there… Brown looked over at Dennis and Luciel, then nodded.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s all go together. McCullan, you coming?”

Everyone knew McCullan was jumpy as hell, but he obviously wanted to prove he wasn’t scared. He stomped his foot hard on the floor, and the sound bounced around the stairwell. Brown just shook his head at him.

“Just be careful going down, alright? Stay near the wall and don’t grab those railings. They look terrible.”

Nobody argued with that. Brown went first, his footsteps loud on the stairs. Everyone else followed behind him, keeping one hand on the wall as they went down. Nobody was talking anymore. They were all just focused on not falling through the shoddy stairs.

They had to be careful though. Even with flashlights, these stairs were sketchy as hell. Montgomery Hospital had been sitting empty for what, thirty years? No repairs, no nothing. Every time Seojun put his foot down, he kept thinking the step might just collapse.

Like walking into the mouth of something waiting in the dark, he thought, then immediately rolled his eyes at himself. What a cliché expression

He almost laughed at how over-the-top his own thoughts were getting. But while he was busy making fun of himself, everyone else just kept going down the stairs without saying anything. No jokes, no talking—just everyone watching where they stepped, trying not to fall through the rotting wood.

It hit Seojun that he didn’t even know what Kira looked like. Or Mina either, actually. He couldn’t picture their faces at all. But the others—Luciel, Brown, McCullan, Dennis—they all knew them. This was probably way different for them.

Though honestly, Dennis probably wouldn’t give a damn if anyone got hurt, as long as Luciel was okay.

Seojun looked at Dennis again, then dropped it. Finally, his feet hit solid ground. They’d made it to the basement, and it was quiet as hell down here too.

First thing they saw was another elevator. Dead, just like the one upstairs. Hard to miss since it was right in front of them. Past that, around the corner, there was a hallway that was actually pretty empty—way different from all the crap piled up on the first floor. Just some boxes stacked up at the far end.

Is that where we came in? Above us somewhere?

Seojun tried to figure out where they were in relation to the main entrance, but going down one floor had totally thrown him off. He sucked at directions anyway. Hell, he’d literally had to steal Bobby’s map back at that campground just to find his way around.

Weren’t hospitals supposed to have those “You Are Here” maps on the walls? They hadn’t seen any when they were looking around upstairs.

Seojun started mentally breaking down the basement layout, trying to make sense of it. Basically three parts: where they were now (two rooms and the stairs), the hallway in the middle, and then the big room at the far end with all the doors—emergency exit, main entrance, back door, plus that dead elevator.

The boxes were piled near the emergency exit. Seojun shined his phone on them—not really big enough to hide behind, just random junk taking up space. He didn’t bother checking the exit door. If the one upstairs was locked, this one probably was too.

“So where do we start?”

McCullan’s voice broke through the quiet. He wasn’t really asking anyone in particular, just hoping somebody would take charge. He kept looking between the three rooms, clearly nervous about picking one.

It was kind of a dumb question, but Seojun couldn’t really blame him. They’d all come down here and then just stood around, talking about everything except what they actually needed to do… checking the rooms.

But Luciel didn’t waste any time. She just pointed at the obvious choice.

“We start with that one, obviously. You should get your eyes checked, McCullan.”

The closest room. The door was already open a crack, maybe six inches. And there were more of those dark red marks leading right under it. Someone swallowed audibly. Might’ve been McCullan.

Seojun really hoped that if it was blood, it wasn’t Kira’s.

“Luci, wait.”

Brown grabbed Luciel’s wrist before she could walk over. She tried to pull away, but he kept his grip. McCullan stayed where he was, not moving any closer. Dennis was messing with his polaroid camera, weirdly excited about the whole thing.

Brown freezing up like that caught Seojun off guard. They’d come all this way to find their friends, and now he wouldn’t move? You could see he was worried about them—Kira, Mina, Yon, whoever—but his feet were planted.

Then Seojun got it. It was obvious, actually. After what went down at the Happy Pig factory, of course they were scared. These guys hadn’t been through half the crap he had. Seojun chewed his lip and stepped forward himself.

“S-Seojun.”

Someone said his name quietly behind him. He didn’t answer, just put a finger to his lips and held up his hand. Everyone knew what that meant. They all shut up.

Seojun moved toward the door crack, trying not to make noise. But nothing ever works out like you want it to.

There was definitely someone in there. But something was off about the shadow. Really off.

His whole body tensed up. A chill shot through him.

Seojun kicked the door open hard without hesitation. The sound made McCullan jump. Brown grabbed Luciel and pulled her against him, Dennis crowding in on her other side. The door banged against the wall, and everyone’s flashlights lit up the room at once.

Someone was hanging from the ceiling fixture. The body swayed back and forth from when he’d kicked the door. Long black hair covered the face. They were wearing one of those blue nurse outfits.

McCullan lost it first. He grabbed his head with both hands, eyes huge.

“Oh god, oh god…”

He couldn’t even get the words out properly. Just weird noises and fast breathing. “Mina,” he kept saying over and over. “Mina, Mina.”

Brown had his arms around Luciel in the doorway, covering her eyes with one hand. He looked like he was about to puke.

But Dennis… that guy actually looked excited as he pulled out his camera. His hands were shaking and sweaty as he tried to work the buttons. Seojun had already figured Dennis was fucked up, but seeing him trying to take pictures of someone hanging from a light bulb? Who does that?

Wait. A light bulb?

Seojun looked up again. Then he actually started to smile a little.

“Seojun?”

Brown sounded worried, but Seojun ignored him. He walked right into the room and grabbed the hanging figure’s ankle. Everyone behind him gasped, but when his fingers went right through the ankle like it was stuffed with cotton, the gasps turned into confused “what the hell” mutters.

It was a dummy. Life-sized, stuffed with something light.

Seojun grabbed its legs and turned it around. The face was completely blank with no features at all. Just fabric stretched over a head shape. There was a name tag sticking out of the nurse uniform pocket.

Mina.

Seojun laughed a little. “Your friend has quite the sense of humor.”