Chapter 5

“Luhan”

After two cups of Kris’s steaming tea, I warm up enough to make my way upstairs. I promptly change into my comfy University of South Carolina sweatshirt and pull my hair into a high ponytail. Then I curl up next to the fire since I can’t concentrate on my homework just yet. I decided to text Sooyoung.

It’s cool if you want to come this weekend, but something just happened that might make you change your mind.

It’s less than ten seconds before Sooyoung texts me back.

What???

In as few words as possible, I text Sooyoung about my ordeal in the freezer.

Are you freaking kidding me? She writes back. Are you ok?

I text her back, Yeah, I’m fine.  Just freaked out. Then I tell her my ghost theory.

That’s what I guess it is, she texts back. Well, I’m still coming this weekend. Keep me posted. And just in case keep a weapon on you at all times.

I want to laugh. Like what? I don’t have any weapons!

A few minutes later she texts back. I’ve Google it. If you’re dealing with evil spirits, you need something made of iron. Like a fire poker. That old mansions has tons of them. Salt works, too. get both and keep them with you. 

Ok.I'll go look for something. I text back. 

Good. Now be safe.

I already feel better. Just being able to share the creepy happening with another person who doesn’t think I’m going crazy. I even manage to do a little homework before I hear Taeyeon calling me down for supper.

I stay in my sweatshirt, daring Rachel to challenge me. I head downstairs, and as I make my way towards the dining room, I stop in front of the gigantic fireplace in the great hall. Glancing over at the hearth, I notice a stand. Just like Sooyoung says, it contains an iron poker, broom and pan. I grab the poker, weight it. Not too heavy, but it is long. Glancing around to make sure no one is watching, I take a couple of practice swings. 

It’ll do. I race quickly back up to my room, set it down by the bed, and run downstairs, certainly Rachel will scold me for showing late for dinner.

But luckily she’s not there. Taeyeon says she was feeling poorly so she will be taking her supper in her room. Phew. she tells me about her and Dad’s drive to the mansion they were interested in and Dad asks more questions about school. I feel a little guilty not telling them about the freezer incident, but I know dad and mom would think I was going crazy. Especially if I told them I suspected a cruel ghost was to blame.

When supper is over, I go back upstairs. My poker is still beside my bed, and I feel safer with it there. I get my flute and despite the cold, crack open the window, nestle into the plush cushion on the seat, and play. 

I continue the haunting melody, I started my first day here. I throw myself into the music, and I’m able to forget, even for just a moment, that a spirit of some sort is trying to scare me out of the mansion. Being here, in this strange new place, has awakened an inspiration of me that is stronger than ever before. I compose and play until my fingers are stiff and my eyes become too heavy to hold open.

I fall asleep there by the window, my head resting against the wall, and my flute in my lap.

All at once, I startle awake. At heartbreaking melody played by a violin - reaches my ears. It’s very distant, almost a whisper, and I my head to determine where it might be coming from. Someone’s stereo? A TV? I have to remind myself that I’m the only person staying on the third floor.

The digital clock on my bedside on my bedside table read two A.M. the faint sound of the violin continues, and without much thought at all, I grab my poker and leave the room in search of it. I creep down to the first floor. Once I entered the great hall, I stop and listen. It’s dark, and cold. Perhaps one of the staff left music on the kitchen?

But as soon as I enter the kitchen the music stops.

I stand for several minutes frustrated, looking around. One light burns at the double stove. I trail my hand along the long butcher-block counter in the center of the room. I think about waking Kris but I decided to leave him alone. I’ve given him enough of a scare today.

I blow on a long wisp of pink hair that has eluded my ponytail. If I’m here, I might as well have a snack. I set my poker on the counter, and open the fridge. I grab the milk. I smile, knowing Rachel would croak if she saw me. I unscrew the lid, lift it to my mouth, and take several long swallows.

All at once, the hairs rise on the back of my neck and my skin tingles. I turn completely around.

My breath catches in my throat, which sends me into a coughing fit. I almost drop the whole container. I can do nothing but helplessly stare.

It – he – can’t be real.

The boy that I saw standing in the kitchen earlier is here. Before me. He looks to be about twenty or twenty-one, with rich, light brown hair. He wears a white shirt with billowy long sleeves and dark-color pants, laced in the front and tucked into knee-high worn leather boots. He seems a bit smoky and wavy – almost see-through but not quiet.

He is just as attractive as before . . . but he must be who’s been talking to me. And who shoved me into the freezer.

He’s the ghost.

I can’t speak – my mouth won’t even move – so I do nothing more than gape. Fright grips my throat, forces adrenaline to thump through me. I glance over at my iron poker. I need to get it. I shouldn’t have let it out of my grasp.

“That thing will not hurt me, foolish girl,” he laughs wickedly. “I warned you before to leave,” he adds, his brows furrowed. “You and your dad are not welcome here” 

He suddenly moves closing the gap between us. “You must leave, before one or both of you get hurt!” His intense gaze meets my frighten one, and for a moment, he simply searches my face. I can’t speak, and it takes every effort on my part to continue breathing. Then he brings his mouth close to my ear. Close, but not touching.

“Leave this mansion while you still can,” he warns. “It is not safe here. Especially for you”

A shiver runs through my body.

“Oppa?” I heard a little girl’s voice say. I turn towards the voice and saw a little girl about the age of eight; she had long light-brown hair, and was wearing an old fashioned white dress with white flats.

“Mina, I told you to stay in your room,” the boy said looking at the little girl. The little girl just turned to look at me.

“Who is she?” she asks not taking her eyes off me. The boy just looks at me and draws back. He walks toward the little girl, grabbing her hand and simply vanishes. Straight into thin air. Gone.

I stand perfectly still for a long time before I pull in a large breath. Finally, my voice returns.

“Hello?” I whisper. I step forward and wave my hand through the space the boy just stood in. There’s not one scrap of evidence that proves what just happened really truly had happened. No sound, no violin, no voice, no boy or girl.

I hastily put the milk back in the fridge, grab my poker, and run back upstairs. I hurl myself into my room, throw the latch, and bolt the lock. I run to the window seat spot, tuck the poker behind me and pull my knees up. Leaning my head against the stone, I wrap my arms around myself and stare out into the night.

It’s clear that I need to alter my thinking. Ghosts do exist. And they aren’t weightless apparitions that drift around looking like white sheets with little holes cut out for eyes. They aren’t orb of light that may not be a dust ball when captured on a digital camera. They’re as they been in life, only their bodies aren’t solid anymore. At least, I think.

I want – no, I need – to figure out who this ghost is, and why he’s haunting me. Maybe someone at the Mansion knows something about him – his name, or who he is. Who the little girl is as well, well were.

But I'm determined to figure out why he wants me gone.

I spend the remained of the night curled up on the window seat, and even manage to get a little sleep before morning. The moment my eyes open, my thoughts are on the ghost boy and girl I saw in the kitchen.

I know what I need to do. I hurry through a shower and throw on my uniform. I’m not the last bit hungry for breakfast, but I know if I skip it, Dad will chide me about the “most important meal of the day”. So I hasten to the dining room and eat a bowl of oatmeal – thin oatmeal that really is tasty after I dumped a load of sugar and cream into it.

“Why the rush today, Tiffany?” Dad asks me. I glance across the table. Rachel is watching me with her icy eyes again, I’m pretty sure I see them shift a little in size. So freaky.

I quickly return my attention to Dad. “There’s just something I need to do before you drive me to school,” I answered. “Can you please wait for me outside the mansion, I’ll be there in about 15 minutes?” Before he or Rachel can protest, I slide out of my chair and scamper into the kitchen.

I can’t believe I was here last night, face-to-face with the handsome ghost who spoke to me. Thankfully, there is no sign of him this morning, and Kris is there, examining the shelves and making inventory notes.

I lean against the counter. “I have a question, Kris.” 

He looks at me, waiting. “Do you know of any ghosts at this mansion?”

One corner of his mouth lifts and he answers after a minute. “I do say, Miss Tiffany, I was wondering when you’d be inquiring about such. Especially since you nearly caught him yesterday after what happened with the freezer” He shakes his head. “Still haven’t deciphered that one yet”

My heart stops. “So you know about him!” I exclaim. “What don't you deciphered about the freezer? He’s the one who pushed me in, right?”

“No,” Kris says with confidence. “He’s the one who found me and hurry me to help you”

This shocks me. I don’t know if I believe that.

“You should find Kim Kai – the gardener – and speak to him,” Kris adds. “He’ll be in the hedge maze, I reckon. He knows the boy better than I do” He leans closer. “I daresay if the boy has shown himself to you, it’s an interest spark in him” 

“A terrible interest,” I answer. “He’s been trying to scare me away from the mansion. And do you know of the ghost of a little girl?”

He studies me. “All at the same time; and yes, the little girl is his sister” 

I thank Kris, then head outside, tossing on my coat and hat. I’m on a mission. I find Kai in the back, t the ancient hedge maze. Or rather, I hear him, the blades of the shears zinging together as the clip. I’m hopeful that he’ll give me some real information.

I enter the head-high dark green maze, the frosty wind biting my cheeks and nose. It feels like a different world here, surrounded by tall bushes. The sky above is dramatic in a way that I’m realizing is uniquely Korean; gray and white, with a streak of clear blue and another of bold pink.

I follow the sound of the shears until I see Kai’s head above the next hedge over, and I clear my throat and call out. The last thing I want to do is startle a gardener with a pair of sharp hedge shears.

“Mr. Kim?” I say, trying not to let my anxiety show. “Mr. Kim – it’s Tiffany” 

Suddenly, the shears stop, and for a few seconds, there’s silence. “Take the next left, girl,” he says. I do as he says, and find myself next to him. “What do you need?”

I shift my weight, draw a deep breath, and try to look sane. “This is going to sound crazy,” I begin, giving a nervous laugh. “Kris told me to talk to you about the – the ghosts here at the Mansion?” I eye him. “The boy and little girl?”

Kai stared at me for a long time. His expression is unreadable as he pulls long on his cigarette. Finally I can take no more. I have to get to school.

“Never mind,” I say, and start to walk away. I take about five steps.

“They showed themselves to you, then?”

I stop and turn, seeing a hint of amusement in his gaze. That’s when I decided I like Kai. I sight a quiet breath of relief. “Yes. They have”

“That didn’t take long,” he mutters, chuckling. “He must like you”

“Well, he’s got a funny way of showing it,” I respond, my heart racing. “He keeps trying to scare me away and he’s doing a good job of it. Do you know their names?” I ask.

Kai grins, then hooks the shears by the handles over one forearm. “The boy is Xi Luhan and the girl is his sister, Xi Mina”

“Luhan and Mina,” I mutter. I can hardly belief I’m saying the names of the ghosts, who I’ve actually met in person. Sort of, anyway.

I look at Kai. “So they . . . are real?”

Kai nods. “Been here at the mansion for as long as I can recall” He his head and scratches beneath the brim of his cap. “One can often hear him play his violin. He was a musician in life, I believe,” Kai pauses. “So he spoke to you? Tried to scare you off?”

Luhan’s angry, beautiful face comes to mind, and I nod. “Yes, he was super mad”

“Did Mina also talk to you? She is a really shy girl,” Kai says.

“Well sort of,” I respond.

Kai thinks a moment. “Do you wish to speak to them again?”

I don’t hesitate. “Yes,” I say quietly. “I do”

“Right. Then all you have to do is called their names. If they want to visit you, they’ll appear. If they don’t then, well,” he gives a half-cocked grin. “He simply won’t. Luhan well he is stubborn and Mina well she has no other choice but to follow her brother’s rulers”

I search Kai’s face. “Am I insane?”

Kai barks out a laugh. “No, young miss. It is natural to think you are seeing things. But those kids can only show themselves to those who actually belief in spirits. This mystical place is filled with enchantments”

I peek down at the space between my feet, a little embarrassed. “Do . . . you know anything more about them? Like why he might want me gone?” I glance up, chewing on my lip and waiting for an answer.

Kai lets out a long sight. “Well that I don’t know. Luhan is a somewhat mysterious guy. In the other hand Mina is really friendly and kind, just that she follows her brothers orders. Luhan is the only relative she has so she depends on him, but you and her can be really good friends. I’d guess they lived here for about two hundred years ago, but they don’t remember why or when they came to the mansion. I myself suspect they may have been murdered, those poor souls. That’s why their spirit cannot rest, why they roams the mansion’s grounds. Legend has it that if a ghost’s murder is solved, they can finally rest in peace,” Kai looks sad and thoughtful. “Maybe that boy can tell you more about himself and Mina. That is, if he likes you”

The talk about murder has me trembling a little. This mansion has so many secrets. I glance over my shoulders, knowing Dad must be waiting for me.

“Does Rachel or Taeyeon know about them?” I ask.

Kai slowly shakes his head. “No. Miss Taeyeon knew of them, she use to spend hours playing with Mina, but at some point,” Kai shrugs again, “she grew up and stopped believing” 

I think that is pretty sad. “What about Park Rachel?”  I whisper.

A stony face crosses Kai’s face. “I’m not sure, but I suspect that even if she believed, young master Luhan would never show himself to her. And for Mina well she is terrified by her”

I nod my head in understanding. I probably wouldn’t show myself to her either, if I could help it. “Okay. Thanks, Mr. Kim”

“Kai,” he says with a kind smile.