Chapter 1
Chapter 1
"Laya... Laya!..."
Someone was prodding her repeatedly as Laya’s clear, blue eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Wake up already, damn it. We’re late."
Her eyes were fully open now. Those clear blue eyes were staring into Olivia’s dark, shadowy ones. Laya noticed how dark the circles under the girl's eyes had become. Clearly, she hadn’t slept again.
"What are you staring at? Get up. Hurry and get ready, Laya. Class starts in fifteen minutes," she said in her usual weary voice.
"What?! Fifteen minutes? Oh my god, why didn’t you come sooner?"
"I woke up late too. I’m not your alarm clock, princess."
Laya scrambled out of bed. She tried to dress and fix her face in a frantic rush. This was probably the hundredth time this had happened. Since Laya’s parents were separated and her mother worked as a night receptionist at a hotel, there was no one home to wake her up when she overslept. That job always fell to Olivia, her childhood friend who was two years her senior. Actually, it wasn't just that job. Despite the fun they had together, Olivia had supported her in every aspect of her life so far. She had helped with her lessons, protected her from bullies, and provided emotional strength during her parents' divorce. To lift Laya’s spirits even a little, she would take her out often, sometimes even staying awake with her all night.
This was why Olivia was so precious to Laya. Though they shared no blood relation, she had felt like both an older sister and a best friend for years.
Olivia gripped Laya’s wrist to keep her from falling behind as they sprinted toward the bus stop, seconds away from missing it. Although they managed to make it to school just in time, they ended up late anyway when Laya insisted she had to stop by the restroom.
Laya was breathless by the time she finally reached her desk and sat down.
"Good morning, Laya. Come on, take a breath. You’re panting," said Gabrielle, the only friend in class she got along with, and also her seatmate.
"Good morning," Laya said quietly as she sat.
The lesson was the same as always. Boring. As if there had ever been a time in history when lessons weren't boring...
When the final bell finally rang, Gabrielle turned to Laya and whispered.
"What are you doing now? Please, let’s not go home right away. Can we wander around a bit?"
Laya gave a quiet sigh.
"No chance."
"Why?"
"Because I have to visit my damn grandmother. My mom does it every Monday. She’s busy this time and told me to go after school."
Gabrielle pouted, her lips trembling slightly. But then, an idea struck her, and her eyes brightened again.
"Don't go alone then! Let’s go together! What do you say? We can hang out after we leave."
Laya looked away.
"Well..."
"What? Is there a problem, Laya?"
"No, no problem. But I wasn't going alone anyway. I asked Olivia to come with me, and she agreed. I can’t tell her I’m going with you instead now; it would be rude."
"Olivia?... Oh, that girl in the upper grades? Fine, no problem. Let’s all go together. Maybe your grandmother will be happy. Plus, you can introduce me to Olivia. You two are so close but I don’t know her at all, it’s not fair."
Laya weighed the idea in her mind. Introducing Olivia and Gabrielle, huh?
"Not a chance in hell."
"Nice to meet you, Olivia. I’ve heard your name from Laya all the time. I’m Gabrielle."
Gabrielle’s heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. For the first time, she was seeing Olivia Aldridge—a girl two grades above them whom she had watched from a distance in the hallways since she started high school—up close.
Olivia looked at Laya blankly.
"Your classmate?"
"Um, yeah. She really insisted on meeting you and coming to my grandmother’s house with us..."
"Hey! I didn't insist," Gabrielle said, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Laya invited me."
"Whatever," Olivia said in her cold voice. "We’re here."
They knocked. It felt to all of them as if the door took a little longer than necessary to open.
"Is she not home?"
Just as Gabrielle spoke, the door opened. The woman standing before them was very old, barely able to stay on her feet. It was clear they had waited so long because it took her a long time to walk to the door.
"Welcome, Laya, my child."
"Grandmother, it’s good to see you. These are Olivia and Gabrielle. You know Olivia, though."
The woman looked at the two of them silently. While Olivia remained cold and stoic, Gabrielle was almost shivering from the woman's presence.
When the woman suddenly grinned, Gabrielle jumped slightly.
"Welcome, children."
"Thank you."
"Th-th-thank you..."
As they stepped inside, they noticed how dark and stuffy the house was. The smell of dampness, old books, and a strange incense was palpable.
Laya laughed as she looked at Gabrielle, who was scanning the surroundings with a grimace.
"I told you not to come, didn't I?"
"If I ever come back here, shoot me..." Gabrielle whispered, her eyes wide as she looked around.
For a duration that felt like an eternity, the conversation in the room was quite strange. Laya’s grandmother wouldn't speak more than a few words, wouldn't answer their questions, and sometimes stared at a specific spot for minutes.
Her wrinkled fingers occasionally drifted to a silver key on the end of a string around her neck, clutching it tightly as if it were something incredibly precious. Her face was restless. Her small black eyes seemed to follow an invisible object in the void.
When the grandmother got up to go to the bathroom, they finally took a breath of relief.
"Please, let’s just go," Gabrielle said.
"Why are you so scared? My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's years ago. It’s normal for her to act strange."
"Strange? This isn't just acting strange! She scares me. I think we should leave." She turned to Olivia. "Don’t you think so, Olivia?" she asked in a sweet voice.
"Hey, don't try to be right by asking Olivia. I’m the one who's right!..."
When they both turned to Olivia at the same time, Olivia’s eyes automatically met Laya’s.
"Who’s right?" Gabrielle asked, a bit annoyed that Olivia had looked at Laya first and not her.
Silence fell. They both waited for Olivia’s answer.
"Laya is right," the cold voice said. "She’s her grandmother, so it’s her call. If she says we stay, we stay a bit longer."
While Laya smirked, Gabrielle muttered, "Damn it. Fine."
She looked at them both with a hurt expression and stood up.
"I’m going to get some water then. My throat is parched from the tension in here."
"Kitchen is at the end of the hall on the right," Laya said.
"What?! You don't expect me to go by myself, do you?"
"Do we need to send a bodyguard with you just to drink water? Just go." Laya said.
Gabrielle was trying to convince herself to say what she was about to say. She was looking at the floor, appearing embarrassed.
"Um... O-Olivia..." she managed to say, blushing even more because she stammered.
"Hmm?"
"Can you come with me? I'm scared."
Olivia didn't answer for a few seconds. After glancing at Laya and seeing no reaction from her, she spoke.
"Fine, okay. I’ll come."
After Gabrielle drank her fill, they left the kitchen. She was stealing glances at Olivia in the hallway. She was beautiful... more than beautiful... Gabrielle had never been so drawn to someone’s aura before.
"Hey, listen..."
"Huh?" Olivia snapped out of her thoughts at Gabrielle’s voice. She heard her, but her mind was still on Laya, who remained in the living room.
"Are you busy tomorrow? I was thinking... maybe... after school—"
Her words were cut short by a red light emanating from the stairs at the end of the hallway.
"OH MY GOD!"
There was something else beneath those stairs, something lurking amidst the flares of deep red light that surged like a blazing flame.
When Laya heard Gabrielle’s scream and ran out of the room, her face turned white with shock.
"W-What is that?" she said, rushing forward toward the stairs.
"Laya, don’t go! It could be dangerous!"
Laya didn't listen to Olivia. She moved quickly toward the stairs.
"Could it be... the thing my mother always talked about? I never believed it was real."
Olivia left Gabrielle there and ran after Laya toward the stairs.
Seeing first Laya and then Olivia disappear down into the basement, Gabrielle slowly walked toward the stairs as well.
"G-girls... D-don't go..."
When they descended to the lower floor, they saw something they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
The basement was covered in blood and it was burning. The flames glowed a deep red, engulfing the entire space. But the reason the girls were terrified wasn't the blood or the fire.
In the middle of the vast basement stood a chest. And upon that chest stood a silhouette... It looked human, but it wasn't.
"W-what..."
"Oh my god..."
"Who... who is that?"
Suddenly, they heard a footstep right behind them. They jumped and looked back to see who the newcomer to the basement was.
Laya’s grandmother. But this time, her face didn't hold that vacant, distracted expression; it was something far more horrifying. Her features were contorted. There was terror in the woman's eyes, reflecting the crimson flames. Pure terror...
The figure on the chest leapt down with a thud. It extended its arm. The girls scrambled aside, screaming. They backed up until they hit the wall. Olivia pulled the other two behind her.
The entity clenched its raised palm. The grandmother let out an ear-piercing, animalistic shriek and collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony. It was as if the entity was strangling her without touching her.
"GRANDMOTHER!!!"
Laya tried to run to her grandmother, but Olivia held her tight, trying to shield her eyes.
The grandmother’s final breath was a scream. A deafening, thick, long, agonizing scream.
She was dead.
Laya, Olivia, and Gabrielle... they didn't even realize what they had just stumbled into.
End of Chapter 1
