Kyungsoo was investigating the murder of a girl in front of a frightening house, the neighbors called it the barrel, where there lived a lonely mysterious man named Jongin; the house master, everyone wondered what was Jongin’s reason to live in a terrifying, lonely house..

Oneshot.

Words: 7,000

“Drama/ horror/ thriller.”

"Save me..."

A note; this is my first time writing a thriller story, it's a very short one, so please forgive me if it was boring or anything else ❤️ Hopefully, you will enjoy it.. 

                                  ..The Barrel..

Detective Do Kyungsoo woke up early, he changed his clothes, wore his silver watch, put his brown leather shoes on, and took his paper cup of coffee to his car. He drove his black car towards the tall building, he climbed the stairs, got into the elevator, holding his cup of coffee, then he arrived to their department; where many men and women bowed to him. He entered his office, and opened the blinds. “Detective.” A woman came in after she had knocked the Glass-door.

“Yes!”

“We have a new case.” She gave him a file.

He nodded, and put it on his desk, he sat on his chair, and opened the file. He stared at the photos of a dead girl, wearing a blue shirt, her hair was black, her eyes were wide open as if she saw a ghost. He read the report, and then left his office to meet the other employees. He put the file down a glass table, and crossed his arms. “Did you see the report?”

“Yes.” Said some of the men.

“She wasn’t killed, it was a heart attack.” Said one of the men.

“But they found a trace of rope around her neck?” Said Kyungsoo, “someone choked her.”

“The CCTV camera of the nearby house showed that—“

“Show it to me.” Kyungsoo pressed his hips towards the table.

They played the video, the girl was walking on the street casually. She passed a brown house, she stood there for a few minutes as if she saw or heard something, she stepped towards the house, headed to the window, slowly, she peeked through the window, then she ran away, she suddenly stopped, and fell on the street before the house, struggling, as if there was someone trying to choke her, but there was nobody around!! Her hands were on her neck, she kicked the air with her feet, then she stopped moving. The video had ended. 

“That’s strange.” Said one of the men.

Kyungsoo asked. “So! Is there any extra information?”

“Yes,” a woman looked at the people around her, “it’s about the house.”

“What is it?” Kyungsoo asked her.

She hesitated before saying. “It’s cursed.”

Kyungsoo smiled, and shook his head. “Any other useful information?”

“I’m serious.” Said the woman.

Kyungsoo stared at her. “Speak.”

“The neighbors call the house, “the Barrel.” They believe it’s haunted, ghosts live there, it’s not the first case, an old man died a year ago before the house as well.”

Kyungsoo looked at his assistant; Sehun; who said. “So! We are dealing with ghosts now?” He smiled at the woman.

“There is a man living there.” Said one of the men.

“Yes, we investigated him.” Said another one.

“So! He isn’t a ghost?” Said Kyungsoo.

“No! The house is half burned, you will see it! No one can live in a scary house like that! The man who lives there is mysterious.”

Another man added. “And handsome.”

“Is he?” Kyungsoo smirked.

The woman blushed. “It’s what I’ve heard.” She shrugged.

“Well, I’ll go there with Sehun, if there isn’t something suspicious, then we will close the case.” He left to his office, Sehun followed him. “Ghosts will haunt us, let’s be careful.” 

Kyungsoo smiled. “Yeah, we can arrest them too.”

“Great!” Sehun chuckled.

“So! How is your boyfriend?”

“Suho?”

“Yes, you haven’t broken up yet, right?”

“We had a fight, but we are fine now.” Sehun smiled.

“Great, say hello to him.”

“I’ll do.”

Kyungsoo drank his coffee, then he glanced at the window. “It’s going to rain.”

“Should we go today?” Sehun asked.

“Yes, I want to finish this case, the forensic department gave it to us after seeing the video.” Kyungsoo sat on his chair.

“They just want to be sure about it.”

“They said it’s a heart attack.” Said Kyungsoo.

Sehun shrugged. “They were worried about the rope trace on the victim’s neck.”

“Perhaps it happened before the accident.” Kyungsoo sighed.

“Let’s take our umbrellas and leave, hopefully it won’t rain.” Sehun suggested.

“Let’s go.” Kyungsoo put down his coffee cup, and followed his assistant.

______________

It rained the moment they left the investigation department. They rushed to the car, and rode towards that mysterious house. “The Barrel.” Kyungsoo took his umbrella and left the car with Sehun. They stared at the house, it was a wooden, half burned house. The right side of the house was totally black. The windows were dusty and the grasses around the house yard was all yellow and spiky. They both had a chill running down their spine. None of them admitted that. Kyungsoo’s fingers tightened around his umbrella handle. He looked at Sehun; who nodded. Kyungsoo knocked on the door. They waited, no one answered. Kyungsoo knocked again. The door had been opened, they couldn’t see the man’s face, he peeked behind the door. “What?” He said.

“Mr. Kim Jongin?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Yes.” Said the man.

“I’m detective Do Kyungsoo,” he showed Jongin his badge, “we are here to ask you—“ Kyungsoo saw another eye peeking from the door, it was right above Jongin, but it suddenly disappeared! Kyungsoo asked, “do you live alone here?”

“Yes.” Said Jongin, behind the door.

“We came here to ask you a few questions.” Said Kyungsoo.

“I’ve already talked with the police.”

“We aren’t policemen.” Sehun declared.

The rain was heavy, thousands drops hit their umbrellas. 

“Can we get in?” Kyungsoo asked.

“No.” Jongin refused.

Kyungsoo glanced at Sehun, he cleared his throat. “So! Are you the owner of the house?”

“Yes.” Jongin answered.

“Did you see the girl when—“

“No.”

“Did you hear—“

“No.” He didn’t even let Kyungsoo complete his sentence!

“Okay.” Sehun smirked.

“Now, leave.” He was about to close the door, but Kyungsoo asked. 

“Do you know her?”

“No!! She died out of my property, I have nothing to do with her!” And he closed the door.

Sehun heard something, he looked at the window, there was a shadow there, and it moved away when Sehun saw it. “Did you see that?”

“What?”

“Ah, there was someone standing by the window! He said he lived alone here!”

Kyungsoo shrugged. “Perhaps he has a visitor.”

“He is scary.” Sehun looked around the house. 

“Come on, let’s go.” Kyungsoo left to his car.

Sehun closed the door of the car. “He is suspicious! Do you think he has something to do with her death?”

“He wasn’t around, so I guess he is innocent.”

“But, why does he live in such a house? Why can’t he repair it?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Kyungsoo started the car. He stared at it in the rear mirror, then he left the gloomy area.

______________

Kyungsoo sat behind his desk, he replayed the CCTV camera video, he watched it again, that when he noticed someone standing by the window, looking at the girl, it wasn’t clear, but there was something there for sure, he closed his laptop, and put his fingers on his lips, thinking. He opened his laptop again, and searched for the “Barrel house.” He wrote the street number, and waited for the results. He found many pictures and essays about it. He read one of them. 

“2003, a fire had burned a house, it was an electrical problem, the parents and their son survived, but their younger son died there, they found his body under a bed, they firemen couldn’t reach the room due to the flames and smokes. The boy’s funeral was terrible, it was in a stormy weather, the family left the house after that, couldn’t cope with their loss, they traveled to Busan; where the parents died in another fire accident in 2014. Only their son Kim Jongin survived the fire.”

Kyungsoo swallowed. “He survived again!” He read another essay, and another one, the one who wrote the essay believed that the younger son’s spirit was haunting the house! And that spirit or ghost caused the second fire! Kyungsoo saw a picture of the family before the first fire, apparently, Kim Jongin was around 10 or 11 years old, meanwhile, his other brother looked like a 5 or 6 years old. Kyungsoo’s heart throbbed. They were all smiling in the picture, he fixed his eyes on the two brothers for a while, then he left his desk and stood by the window, thinking thoroughly. That night, Kyungsoo had a nightmare about the Barrel house. He woke up scared as he saw a spirit of the a little boy roaming around the house, and it screamed at him when he stepped closer. It felt so real, that his ear hurt him when he woke up! Kyungsoo didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits. But he had another nightmare about that house again the other night. However, he wanted to be sure that there was no such a scary story about the house; thus, he went shamefully to see a shaman. The house was small, the room was red, full of candles and yellow cards with strange words on it. There was a woman sitting on the floor, she was praying in front of a big painting of a scary man. She looked at him over her shoulder. “Hello, customer.” She turned around, and tapped on the floor next to her. Kyungsoo gulped, he sat next to her, and shoved his hand in his pocket, he took a picture of the house, and another picture of the family and placed them before the woman. He pointed at the house photo. “Do you know this house?”

She nodded. “Yes,” then she looked at him, “why?

“Is it really haunted by a—“

“A little boy’s spirit.” She said.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened. “Yes!”

She sighed, and moved closer to him. “You were there.”

“Yes.”

“You see nightmares.” She whispered.

Kyungsoo swallowed. “Yes.”

“The spirit doesn’t like you, that’s why it’s visiting you while you are asleep.” She announced. She asked. “Did you look right in his eyes?”

“Yes, I— I saw a red eye there.” Kyungsoo cleared his throat. “So! I’m haunted now?”

She shrugged. “I see him behind you, so my answer is yes.”

Kyungsoo looked behind him, he blinked. “You see what?”

“A burned boy, half of his face is black, his eyes are red, his clothes are ripped apart.”

“Stop,” Kyungsoo swallowed, “I don’t believe this bull.”

“Then, why are you here?” She smiled.

“I— I just want to be sure that—“

“Now you are sure.” She grinned in a scary way. She opened her hand, he gave her money, and left her house as fast as he could.

______________

Kyungsoo was in his office when his boss came in. He went to the meeting room, and stood there, crossing his arms, leaning towards the wall. “We will close the case.” Said the boss. “The neighbors wanted that rotten house down, many buyers wanted it, but the owner refused to sell it.”

“That’s strange.” Said Sehun, he looked at Kyungsoo, who didn’t object, though he didn’t believe it was a merely heart attack. He looked down while the boss was talking, he saw a black shadow on the floor, it wasn’t his! He looked around, then he swallowed when none of the people around him noticed it. Kyungsoo went to his house, he changed his clothes, and lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Once he closed his eyes, he saw another nightmare. He was standing before the closed door, and it opened for him, as if it was an invitation for him to come in. There was a strange sound coming from the house, like if there was someone hitting something against the wall, over and over again. Kyungsoo woke up, scared, he was breathing heavily, he went to the kitchen and poured some water for him. He stared at the wall o’clock. It was 11 pm. He couldn’t breathe, he was sweating. He swallowed hard, and took off his pajamas, he wore his casual clothes, and left his apartment, he went to that house, terrified, he didn’t know why he felt like he needed to go there. The door was closed, thus, he opened one of the windows and jumped in. He turned his phone flash on, and walked slowly into the house. The walls and the floor of the sitting room were black, there were no furniture there. The kitchen looked like no one had touched it for years! There was a spider web on the sink. Kyungsoo swallowed, he slowly climbed the stairs, it made a squeaking sound, he walked slowly as he reached the second floor. His heart throbbed when he heard whispers. There was a light leaking under the door of one of the rooms, Kyungsoo could hear someone was talking there. He stepped closer, and stood before the door. It was half closed. He could see Jongin sitting on the edge of the bed talking to someone, but there was no one around but him!! Suddenly, the door had been opened, Jongin was still sitting there. Kyungsoo’s eyes widened just like Jongin’s. “What are you doing here?” He stood up immediately, and grabbed Kyungsoo’s arm. “Leave.”

Kyungsoo stuttered. “Who were you talking to?”

“I SAID LEAVE!!” Jongin pushed Kyungsoo towards the stairs, Kyungsoo fell on his knees, he felt someone’s breathing behind him, it smelled horrible, he didn’t look back, he ran towards the door, but the door had been closed, he tried to open it, but there was no use, he looked around, and rushed to the window, he jumped off it, and it fell closed immediately.

Kyungsoo rushed to his car, barely able to breathe, his hands were shivering as he tried to put the key in, he started the car and left as fast as possible from that bleak area.

______________

The following morning, Kyungsoo went to work, he looked for the woman; who spoke previously about the house, he found her drinking coffee alone behind her desk. “Ah, can we talk?”

She stood up. “Yes, sir!”

“Sit down.” He sighed.

She sat down slowly, and looked at him; confused.

“Tell me about that house.”

“Which house?”

“The Barrel.”

“Oh, okay!”

“Why they call it the Barrel?”

“Because its color looks like an old whiskey Barrel.” She shrugged.

“Is it true that the neighbors wanted the house down?”

“Yes, they hate walking in front of it, some said they saw shadows and heard crying sound at night!”

“Continue.” Kyungsoo gulped.

“Some of them wanted to buy the house just to tear it down, and build a new house there, but the owner refused, he doesn’t even think of repairing the house!!! Perhaps he doesn’t have enough money! But how could he live in such a scary place?” She wondered, “people hate him for that.”

“Hate who?”

“The handsome owner.” She blushed.

Kyungsoo put his fingers on his chin, thinking. “Do you think— perhaps that he has been forced to stay there?”

“Oh!” She said, “I have never thought about this!”

“Do you think it’s possible?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Yes!” She nodded.

Kyungsoo swallowed and left to his office, they received another case, he couldn’t focus on anything but Jongin and that ugly house. That afternoon, he went to the house again, he knocked. Jongin’s eyes widened when he saw Kyungsoo. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you here again?” He looked over his shoulder, then he ordered Kyungsoo, “leave.”

“I just came to give you my number.” He gave Jongin his card.

“I don’t need it.”

“I think you do.” Kyungsoo swallowed.

Jongin snatched it. “Now, leave.”

“Let’s talk.” Kyungsoo glanced behind Jongin, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

“I don’t want to talk.” 

“Why don’t you sell the house?”

“It’s none of your business.” Jongin closed the door.

Kyungsoo opened it and walked behind him. “Wait! Listen.”

“LEAVE!”

“I just—-“ Kyungsoo froze when he saw red eyes in the far, dark kitchen, he wanted to run, but his feet didn’t move, he felt a hit on his head, and he fell unconsci