Chapter 12 - Boogie Boogie Boogie (4)

“Aaaaaaah...!”

Yohan’s closed eyes snapped open at the faint but unmistakable scream reaching him through the soundproof walls.

SPLASH

I quickly got out of the bathtub, hastily dried myself off, and dressed before leaving the room with the grimoire in hand.

‘Did something happen?’

As I looked around the hallway, trying to locate the source of the sound, I saw Ellie heading that way too. She must have heard the scream.

“Yohan! Did you hear that scream?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I think it came from the kitchen.”

Ellie and I went to the kitchen, and I froze for a moment at the sight before me.

“...!”

The refrigerator stood open, its contents exposed. The pastor and the shaman were shouting and waving a cross and bells, neither daring to approach it.

“I-in the name of our Father in heaven—! Begone!”

“You wicked spirit! You don’t belong here!”

JINGLE! JINGLE! JINGLE!

Smith was slumped on the floor, and the new housekeeper’s face had gone deathly pale.

And there, visible and perceptible only to me, was Grizzly, huddled in a corner and watching me warily.

“Whiiine...”

An open refrigerator, terrified people, Grizzly.

I had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

I covered my eyes and forehead with a hand and rubbed them.

‘Grizzlyyyyyyy!’

“...”

No. Forget it.

Through the gaps between his fingers, Yohan’s eyes grew calm.

It had already happened. I was the one who’d sent Grizzly scouting, and this was a haunted mansion to begin with.

I surveyed the kitchen, which had descended into chaos as everyone panicked.

Whether this was an evil spirit’s doing or an Invisible Vampire running amok didn’t matter to them.

... That’s right. This was all the evil spirit’s doing.

Smith’s legs giving out!

The pastor and the shaman flailing their cross and bells around until their arms ached!

Me not having a mom or dad!

I see. So that was it.

My eyes narrowed.

It had all been the work of the wicked spirit lurking in this house. Yep, that’s what it was.

That bastard of a spirit... Luring innocent Grizzly with a giant refrigerator to cause this mess.

I wouldn’t let it get away with this!

Obviously, I wasn’t seriously trying to sell anyone that bullshit. It was just easier to chalk it up to the evil spirit.

I’d give Grizzly a proper scolding later, in private.

“Whew...”

I sighed quietly and moved to get the situation under control.

“Ellie, please take care of Mr. Smith and... what was her name... the housekeeper.”

“Oh! Yes, of course.”

Leaving the two of them to Ellie, I stepped forward and slammed the refrigerator door shut.

BANG!

The loud noise brought a moment of silence. Even the frantically jingling bells stopped briefly.

Everyone’s eyes turned to me.

“Everyone, please calm down. This is a wicked spirit’s trick.”

I seized the opportunity to speak in a calm voice.

“Evil spirits worm their way in when people’s resolve weakens.”

To get things under control, I trotted out some things I’d heard here and there.

“They create frightening situations and put us under psychological pressure, making us doubt and fight one another. We mustn’t walk into the trap the spirit has laid for us.”

Seeing Yohan trying to take charge, Pastor Go Juwon felt as though his place had been stolen. To cover up his earlier disgraceful display, he deliberately raised his voice.

“Who the hell are you to run your mouth like you know everything? Huh—did you go to seminary?”

I let out a small breath and rolled my eyes halfway around.

Typical self-proclaimed educated person. Can’t stand getting advice from someone they think is beneath them.

Still, this was better than being too panicked to think... Was... it? I didn’t think so.

Anyway.

It wasn’t as though we had strong bonds or trust between us to begin with. I hadn’t expected a few words from me to snap everyone out of it.

That was why I deliberately said something ridiculous.

“If you really must know who I am, I specialize in eliminating the uncanny.”

With all eyes on me, I deflated the atmosphere of paralyzing fear.

“I’m a Ghostbuster.”

DUN-DUN!

I told them with a straight face. What the hell was I doing...?

“Ha!”

“What the...”

Pastor Go Juwon and Kim Suhyeon scoffed at Yohan in disbelief, giving him contemptuous looks.

Smith and the housekeeper also emerged from their shock, looking dazed, and got to their feet with Ellie’s support.

But there was one person for whom it was already too late.

JINGLE

A bell rang.

JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE

Park Minhee, the shaman who had wandered the mansion alone, was trembling, her teeth chattering.

She fell short of being genuine, but her instincts were too good for her to be a fraud.

Unfortunately, that made her excellent prey.

Fear piled upon fear. The curse placed on her the moment she entered the mansion overflowed and spread.

Amid the jingling bells, the terrified shaman’s voice rang out.

“Ah... Aaaah! Eyes! Eyes! Eyes everywhere! Long arms! Bony arms!”

She let out incomprehensible shrieks as she lost her reason.

“Boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie!”

JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE

The shaman’s body shook and creaked violently before she bolted out of the kitchen.

The others, who had frozen at this unexpected turn, chased after Park Minhee.

“Hey! Ms. Park Minhee!”

They reached the mansion’s central lobby, with its ornate chandelier and staircase leading to the second floor.

JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE

Then the chandelier swayed in time with the shaking bells.

THUD—CRUNCH!

It fell onto Park Minhee’s head.

Shards of broken glass and red blood soaking the floor.

At 7:30 p.m., the shaman Park Minhee died.

“...”

The shocking sight had left everyone speechless. I was speechless too.

I brought a hand to my mouth and considered it.

‘Surely this whole fucking mess didn’t happen because Grizzly made her lose her shit... right?’

No. The actual cause of death was the falling chandelier.

However I looked at it, even if we had to assign blame, Grizzly’s refrigerator antics accounted for one part, and the evil spirit for nine.

Clearly, you should never put a chandelier in a mansion.

Anyway, someone had died in a disturbing accident, so Smith called the police. But they couldn’t come.

WHOOOOSH!

A look out the mansion windows revealed heavy snowfall.

While everyone in the mansion had been too preoccupied with the haunting to pay attention to the outside, the snow had piled up, making it difficult for cars to get up the mountain.

I furrowed my brow.

“... Snow?”

I watched the blizzard pouring down in the darkness, as if cutting the mansion off from the world.

It was winter, so of course it could snow...

But the timing was too good. Or should I say too bad?

It was like a stage someone had set.

Just then, the grimoire I was holding in one hand gave a faint shudder, sending out a vibration.

‘This thing has a vibrate function!’

I discreetly shielded it with my body and checked it.

FLUTTER

The grimoire opened on its own, revealing a page.

[Black Magic for Isolating a Specific Area or Village]

Sorcery that borrows a demon’s power to isolate a village by causing a typhoon or heavy snowfall.

A witch possessed by a demon digs a hole on a hill overlooking the house or village to be isolated, buries a jar containing a mixture of animal and human blood, and performs a ritual.

‘... Black magic, huh.’

There weren’t any incantations or anything written there, but the page contained information about black magic and ways to counter it.

At the stairs in the central lobby, the chandelier still pinned the mangled corpse beneath it.

STEP. STEP.

“Boogie~ Boogie~ Papa~ Boogie boogie~ Bam bam~ Here comes the boogeyman.”

At the song, sung in a pretty voice with a vaguely mocking edge, I closed the grimoire and looked up the stairs.

Everyone else’s gaze turned there too.

Emily, the blonde girl, descended the stairs from the second floor in thin, pure-white silk pajamas.

She came down one step at a time on her small bare feet. Still pale, but smiling brightly as though in a wonderful mood, she looked at the corpse beneath the chandelier and spoke.

“Haha~ It looks like a burst raspberry pie.”

I slowly narrowed my eyes and sighed.

‘... Perfect.’

Someone killed by a falling chandelier.

A mansion isolated by heavy snow.

A possessed blonde girl.

This was the beginning of a classic B-movie horror flick.