Sixth story

Characters: Yongguk (only)

Genre: Horror

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Set one step into the deep and dark chamber, its air filled with moist and reeks of iron and fresh blood.

Yongguk paid a short visit to his best friend who had an accident last Monday evening. A guy on his bike crashed into him and sent his friend flying across the street. He ended up with a bruised arm and other small scratches, his whole body was covered with it. Small cuts or not, he did lose a lot of blood. He didn’t look all too good, as in exhausted and hollow. When Yongguk looks in his eyes it is as if the lights were on but nobody was at home. An empty shell. He was still under a spell after the impacted. It did concern Yongguk, but little did he know what to do for his friend.

Two days passed by before his friend could attend work in the video game shop. He took things slowly like a baby’s first steps. The same day at evening, Yongguk came and picked up the weary and haunted Tae to have a drink. Since Tea is on medication, alcoholic drinks are forbidden and he would only drink water or juice. A tall waiter, dark hair and dark eyes slowly approached them. ‘What can I get you, gentlemen’s?’ he said with a melody toned voice. As if he was singing.

            ‘We’ll start with a glass of orange juice and a strong cup coffee, sugar only.’ Yongguk gently smiled at the happy waiter, who was typing down the orders into the tablet with a yellow cover.

            ‘One orange juice and one double shot coffee, sugar only.’ He repeated and left after shaking his head up and down.

Yongguk broke the silence once the orders arrived and the waiter said to enjoy their drinks. He’d like to know more about these incidents that keep happening since it was the second time in two weeks and Mondays only. ‘I did some searching on the internet and stumbled upon a site that had the same symptoms described as you have right now. Like getting tired day after day, and bad things happening only on Mondays.

            ‘So, this sounds like a curse to me.’

            ‘The web says that it’s a curse and when I read further, it says that people made it up to scare others. You scared?’

            ‘Not really no.’

The conversation made them feel gloomy and talking further didn’t solve anything. They needed to know if the ones who had to go through the same problem knew something of interest, but Yongguk questioned that if they did that they are not alive anymore.

The next morning Yongguk got up as usual to do his exercise, and that for an hour long. The first thirty minutes outside jogging and the second half stretching and kickboxing. After soaking in sweat, the best way is to stay for a long time under the shower. Exiting the warm and steamy bathroom made Yongguk feel like running back inside and closed the door, stay there. With the bathrobe still covering his body he rested behind his computer, he fired up the old machine waiting for the blue screen to log in. He couldn’t find anything linked to the made-up curse, not even blogs or forums. There was this one small article about an old abandoned house that mentioned the curse and it was not too far from the big city. Maybe he could visit the place tomorrow, with Tae and find something useful. He sends a message to Tae and got up to put on clothes before leaving for work.

Yongguk works for a big company, who produces and transports food all over the world. He is one of the department managers and deals with productions regarding European countries. He takes care of transporting the goods. He doesn’t like nor dislike his job, but it is a hefty job that requires lots of energy dealing with people overseas. Most of the customers give him compliments on how heavy and tempting his voice is. And joking saying that that’s why he got the job and must be ugly as a nightmare, not until they see his profile picture.

Yongguk loosens his tie and brings his hands to his face, rubbing it to stay awake only for a couple minutes before he can leave work and step into the weekend. He got a message from Tae letting him know he is down in the car waiting for Yongguk. He is going to stay for the night. Ten minutes passed away and Yongguk shuffled to the car, he is exhausted because of dispensing the piled up paperwork on his desk.

Tae and Yongguk made a quick plan for the weekend before hitting the road getting out of the big city. Both laid down and closed their eyes, one from his heavy work and the other for losing bits by bits of his soul to darkness.

The sun warmed Yongguk’s body as it shines over his legs and torso. He rolled over and picked up his phone. It is seven in the morning and Yongguk got up for his daily routine and went into the kitchen to prepare food for on the way. Thirty minutes later the sun pinpoints Tae and heats up his body. Tae smiled and felt alive again after so long.

            ‘Get up, zombie. We should be departing and get it over and done with before it does you.’ Yongguk bobbed his eyebrows and threw the blanket over Tae’s head. Tae made drowning gestures.

After packing in and loading it in the car, they finally drove off. Yongguk is the one driving the car, he had to stop every twenty minutes and the moment he stops the car, Tae would rush to the toilet. This happens when he is nervous. The last ten minutes’ road, they pulled over and got out the car. The weather is so warm and nice, the soft wind palpating their face. ‘I feel like hopping on the wind and just disappear, leave everything behind me.’ Tae smiled and dropped on the ground laid in the long grass, facing up the clear sky.

Yongguk did they same and like that, they spend half an hour talking about their childhood and the stupid things they did together.

Throwing the neighbor’s cat in the pool, saw one of the legs of a furniture. And their biggest project was to draw on everything, on the façade, the pets, the faces and clothes of the neighbors living a couple blocks away. If you ask how it was possible, they put locally bought drugstore pills to make people drowsy, crushed them and processed it in food and drinks. They slept almost at the same time and didn’t wake up from scribbling on their faces. The whole neighbor came together next day. It took them a week to figure and conclude out who it was. By then it was already too late because they had moved out that same week. Both their fathers worked for the same company and got transferred somewhere else.

The ten minutes driving brought them to an old wrecked wooden house next to a big shallow lake. ‘The view looks like a horror movies scene. It has this unsafe and eerie aura.’ Yongguk drove closer and eventually let the engine die. He took out his phone and searched for the right image that looks precisely as the same as the panoramic view through the car.

            ‘So, what do we have in plan. Grab the guns and storm in through the front door like a madman and shoot the hell out by calling names?’ Tae looked at Yongguk. ‘You don’t plan to sleep in there tonight, do you?’

            ‘I don’t know, we can go to the local village and ask around. If they know something.’

            ‘How long is it driving from here.’

            ‘It’s just there over the hills.’ Yongguk point to the right where it goes up where the road disappears. ‘Let’s go down town first, since we found this place.’

Once in the village, they noticed that it’s abandon for the most part. Most of the houses were damaged and almost one with the ground. They saw old couples walk and kids play with dirt with broken toys. Yongguk stopped next to an old man sitting and enjoying a glass of beer, looking at the roof fence in front him counting the bugs. Both got out the car and walked over to the old man who was fully concentrated on the bugs.

            ‘Good evening, sir. We came from the city. We’d like to ask you a few questions regarding the house over the hills.’

The old man finally looked at them and sat straight up on his seat and put his glass on the ancient old table next to him. ‘That’s not a daily question to ask.’ The old man observed Tae and closed his eyes. Slowly he got to his feet and pulled a long card out his pocket and handed them over to Yongguk.

            ‘Ya won’t find anything in here, boys. Seems like the kid behind you is pierced by an arrow. Take this and if you walk further you’ll see a train platform. Step in it and you’ll get your answer. Can leave your car here. I’ll watch it, that’s my job. Hehe.’

            ‘Sounds like a joke to me. What is this, are we filming a horror movie in no-man’s-land? First, it’s an old wracked abandon house we were hunting for and now you tell us to hop on a train going god knows where. Listen, just tell us what you know.’

Tae took a step forward and took the tickets. ‘So this will take us to an answer. Do you believe it yourself? Tae dropped the tickets and looked irritated at Yongguk. ‘Let’s go, just listening to him is madness. Heck if I die. I lived my life to the fullest and have nothing to regret. Aren’t we all going to die some day.’

            ‘You don’t but I do, giving up on you now will make me regret.

Yongguk bends down and picks up the train-tickets. Tae turns around and walks to the car, not wanting to hear anything additional. Yongguk waved at the old man before heading in the direction that was stated. Followed by the grumpy Tae that would kick every stone lying in his way at the back of Yongguk’s shoe or soleus.

The station looked sinister and hoary, but that won’t stop Yongguk. Just like that old man said, they took their first step on the platform and waited for something to come at them.

Yongguk was standing with his back to the upcoming train so Tae pointed it out. He turned and saw a train at the distance. It slowly moved and eventually halted in front for them. The train made booming sounds and screeching noises. The outlook is so unclean and overwhelmed with an unnatural aura that made Tae inhale all the dust and the damp floating around the train. The impatient Yongguk stepped it the train.

            “Welcome on board. Enjoy the ride.”

Yongguk was taken aback because he knew that he definitely heard something daunting.

            ‘Why’d you stop, come on. You were so hyped-up to get on. You chickening out now?’

Tae teased Yongguk and pocked his and shoved him in the train forcefully.

            ‘I heard something.’

            ‘What?’

            ‘Something with a welcome and enjoy the ride. As if it was anticipating us to come.’

            ‘Maybe the old dude did it. He is the only one that knows we are here. Like mind-ing us. Maybe he is monitoring us all the way from his house, waiting for us to in our pants so he can have a good hilarity. Don’t make me talk any longer, I’m dog-tired already for hiking this far-off.’

Once they entered the train it closed his doors and began to move rapidly.

They slowly tiptoed and passed every wagon all the way to the front. They found nothing of interest or anything suspicious. The front cabin was locked and Yongguk, no matter what, wanted to see the inside.

‘We need to break in. We might find something related to this confusion. Or nothing.’

He turned around to find something to unlock the door, but at the same time, the big and daunting door opened of his own. This swallow and aching thing pulled them inside the cabin. Nothing that can help them, not a clue could they find. The big machine drove all the way to a lake. Slowly it entered a tunnel with no ending in sight. The train eventually stopped with a horrifying noise. Both looked at each other back and forth before they stepped down the step off. Behind them, the doors closed and the train proceeded, drove off. ‘Where the duck is that piece of metal going off leaving us here in the freaking dark.’ Tae grabbed his phone and so did Yongguk. Not that it helped lighten up the tunnel. Everything was so deep and dark, this feeling as if they are standing in nothingness, like a purgatory. Youngguk took a sharp intake of breath before letting it out. The sore smell made his eyes glassy. ‘It’s so damp in here. What’s this sore smell anyway?’

They walked a few minutes what felt like hours to them. This massive wall broke the way. Tae shined the light coming from his phone to both directions. ‘Let’s take a couple steps and see if we can find an exit.’ Tae makes a sore face at Yongguk’s suggestion. ‘You crazy. You, me, we stay together dude. I am not leaving your .’

Yongguk pushed Tae and made him go the other way. ‘You know; we will be stuck here if we don’t do anything. Man up for two seconds. That’s all I’m asking from you.’ Tae let out a groan and turned around. Yongguk did the same, he tried to touch the solid wall to get a feeling. The only thing he felt was a slippery substance. He immediately removed his hand and wiped it on his jeans. And at the same time……

‘Welcome gentleman. Please, this way.’

Tae and Yongguk turned around with the blink of an eye. There, was his long guy standing between them. The light illuminated his chilling silhouette. Tae fell over, tripping over his shoe. ‘You’re the guy from the restaurant. He looks like the guy from the restaurant we ate not long ago. Yongguk, uhhuhhgg.’ Tae felt like he was choking on his own spit. His heart throbbing in his throat. An unbearable pain torturing him. The man faces Yongguk. He had a lustful expression hanging on his lips. The more he crooked his lips the more disturbing it got. His eyes grew bigger in pleasure. Yongguk took a step back to put this distance between them. Not that it helped but it gave a secure feeling as if it would disappear any moment when enough distance is put away from that grotesque thing. Without moving its body, it turned and was now looking down on Tae who was basically frozen on spot. ‘Don’t worry about your car, I’ll use it with care.'

TO BE CONTINUED!!