“Kid, get away.” I sternly commanded Daesung who won the gold medal for the slowest reaction of the year. He was probably exhausted after I tortured him all day long, from getting stuff out of boxes, to moving furniture around and drinking that awful lemonade made purely of freshly squeeze lemons.

That reminds me of the time I snuck in an old house and found a child ghost munching on old cookies. They were moldy and smelled horrible. The ghost couldn’t literally pick the cookies, just the sensation they gave away as baked goods, sweet to the taste and crunchy in the mouth. It warmth my heart so much that I ran to the nearest store and bought a box filled with chocolate chip cookies, burnt it in a fire near the abandoned house and watched as the child devoured those cookies in their spirit form. If only Daesung was as easy to please, yet I shouldn’t compare the living, that has and wastes everything, to the death, that has and wastes nothing.

Coming back to the headless man, I figured he had been there all the time as he couldn’t have passed the barrier I placed around every possible entrance while Daesung was busy cleaning the floor spotless. That must mean something kept it in place, right behind that couch.

“No way grandma, I’m super good here!” Daesung gave me a sheepish smile before he rubbed his mouth over my pillows.

'No way?' Know what? I’ll let the kid be possessed by that ghost or something and see him throw himself out the window in a failed attempt to move the new carcass around. But that would be against the creed I had secretly signed in my head once I accepted to train my newly discovered gift. Or curse, I don’t know what it is.

Probably curse.

Yes, it’s a curse.

I grabbed Daesung’s legs and pulled him off the couch. He gave a couple of sounds that were in no way part of human language while desperately clutching to the couch. His body hit the floor soon after. My foot rested over the sofa for a second, enough to fix my target. I kicked hard the couch. It flew past half of the room until it hit the wall. The ghost’s head stood under its feet, staring at me with a sadness one could describe as tragic.

“Grandma! What was that for?” I’m sure the kid regretted meeting me. His furious look meant he didn't see my little show-off and I hoped he wouldn't too soon. I'd be judged for making him move that couch for over an hour when I could simply do that myself with the force hidden in my trained muscles.

“Go get me some stuff, can you?” I sweetly suggested while helping him up. I’ve confirmed as well that he cannot see the one behind him, nor is it affected by it. The cold chill struck my skin in rhythmic waves, something too close to the sensation of dying to be bearable. I had to get rid of that pour soul as fast as possible, but before that, I needed to hear its story.

“Fine, grandma.” He hadn’t given up? Good! I rapidly piled a list of necessary ingredients, while keeping a watchful eye on the slowly fading spirit. He’d disappear, most likely, that’s why I had to create a safe haven for the spirit to talk to him. “Errr, grandma... you sure about this?” I nodded and let not a single crest in my face signal something different. I was serious as Hell.

Well, I don’t know how serious Hell is. Moving on.

“Go to the store on the left and then go right. Follow the yellow bricks until they turn red and then enter the first shop in front of you.”

“You kiddin` grandma? I'm not Dorothy!”

“I don't care, go!” I handed him some money and pointed towards the exit. I was foolish again when I trusted Daesung won't flee with the money in his pockets.

---

The smell of cinnamon abruptly woke me up. My mistress’s back faced me as she tended to the fire. It was dark and cold. Extremely cold. The red colors cascading her body were mesmerizing. “You failed,” so was the tone of her voice, dark and dangerous. She turned around, her raven hair shining like opal jewels under the fire’s blaze.

“I’m s---” she placed her long finger over my lips.

“Sooyoung, listen. Listen to them. Make them a safe place to stay in and to talk. I’ll teach you how,” she removed the finger and cupped my chin “I’ll teach you how to create a mandala and enter the spirit world.”

I had no idea what she was talking about. The glint in her eyes made me fear. Was there more to her unusual mannerism?

“Mistress Yuri... what is a mandala?”