Chapter 87 - Remnants Of Life
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....
"Old man, this place is weird," Minyoon muttered.
"Shh!" Junho hushed him. They arrived at an old building which was situated downtown in a desolated street. It was a small apothecary shop which was closed but above it was a studio apartment where the owner lived.
Upon entering the apartment, they were greeted by a strong stench of rotten herbs and withered flowers. There were a few animals like rats and birds caged up on one side. On the other side were a series of tables which had different chemicals made from organic herbs. Some of the pots and beakers were bubbling with hot liquid and a few of the containers held colorful liquids in them. Minyoon was about to pick one to examine it but Junho slapped his palm.
"Don't touch it!" he hissed. "You might end up getting possessed!"
"Eh?" Minyoon was confused but did not dare to touch anything. There were also shelves with books on the occult which looked really old and were probably used many times over the years. Minyoon also noticed that there were different holy symbols hung on the walls which he recognized as charms to ward off spirits.
"Where's your guy?" Minyoon asked his grandfather.
Before Junho could reply, they heard the shuffling of feet. Someone was coming.
The door of one of the rooms slowly slid open and an old man in his late seventies came out of it. He had long white hair and wore decorative beads on his neck. The man was draped in orange clothes and looked like some kind of monk. He was slightly bent maybe due to a bad back and his face was quite wrinkled. But his bright blue eyes were alert and lively as if monitoring his surroundings.
"Hwang Junho," the man said in a croaked voice. "We meet again."
"Minyoon, this is Yoon Bomi," Junho stated. "A famous demonologist and shaman. I've met him several times over the past. He's skilled in exorcism and well versed in the topic of spirits and demons."
"H-Hi!" Minyoon stammered.
Bomi was studying Minyoon. "Isn't he the idol?" he wheezed. "My grandson is a fan!"
"We'll get you an autograph later!" Junho snapped. "We're here for your help."
"Ah yes!" Bomi recalled. "The poltergeist. I do sense a mark on you."
"Mark?" Minyoon frowned.
"It's a sort of claim," Junho explained. "If a spirit is after someone, then their spirit energy leaves a mark on their intended victims. Since Rachel is after your life, her spirit energy sort of lingers around you."
"How long is this mark gonna stay?" Minyoon asked, feeling aghast. "
"Until the poltergeist exists," Bomi replied.
"But is there any way to get rid of a poltergeist?" Minyoon demanded. "Do some voodoo on it! Exorcise it!"
"You can't exorcise a poltergeist easily," Junho sighed. "The last time we encountered a poltergeist, we couldn't do anything to get rid of it. The only reason the thing was gone was due to the fact that its murderer died."
"No."
Bothe Junho and Minyoon turned to look at Bomi who was thinking hard.
"The poltergeist didn't leave because the murderer was gone," Bomi stated. "There's something else. Tell me about that poltergeist you encountered many years ago."
"Well, there was a doctor who killed off many orphan children to illegally sell their organs," Junho recalled. "The spirits of those kids kinda mashed together and became a poltergeist. They had a lot of hatred and rage in them because they died a cruel death. So when they got the chance, they dragged the doctor to the very boiler where their bodies were burnt. They set him on fire and in the process, the whole hospital also burnt down."
"That's exactly why that earlier poltergeist left," Bomi said.
"It left coz the hospital was burnt down?" Minyoon asked.
"No!" Bomi snapped. "It died because when the hospital burnt down the remnants of their living selves also died. A piece of skin, important memorabilia. Anything which they might have owned or were attached to was also destroyed."
"Maybe it was the boiler," Junho pointed out. "They were burnt in it after all. Even dragged their murderer into it."
"It was," Bomi agreed. "And this poltergeist...the girl who just died. She's latched on to the people whom she hated or had a problem with during her lifetime. Your grandson is one of them. Until you find that thing which ties her to this world, it'll be impossible to get rid of her."
"How do we know which object ties her to this world?" Minyoon questioned him. "I mean, she has so many things! We can't just burn her stuff without a good reason!"
"He's right," Junho nodded. "It's nearly impossible to tell which object is tying her to this world."
Bomi was in deep thought.
"There's no other way then," he nodded. "We'll have to talk to her directly."
"Do you mean…" Junho began. He looked really worried about something which was alarming Minyoon.
"What? What is it?" Minyoon asked.
"We'll have to do a seance," Junho sighed. "And summon her to us."
…..
Soobin stirred on the bed. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw a blurry silhouette of a child. Blinking several times, her vision began to clear and Miyoo's sad face flashed in front of her.
It took her a while to remember what happened and Soobin sat up in a rush only to feel dizzy. She fell back against the pillow, her head hurting like crazy. Touching her head, she realized that it was heavily bandaged.
"Don't sit up!"
A familiar voice spoke up. She looked around to find Yoonmin sitting on her other side.
"Is Miyoo okay?" she mumbled.
"Of course not!" he groaned. "The kid wouldn't stop crying coz she thought you died!"
"Binbin…" Miyoo mumbled in a sad tone, poking Soobin's cheek as if to make sure she was still alive.
"Miyoo…" Soobin was also crying now. She was glad that Miyoo was alright. "Were you really worried for me? I'm fine!"
Yoonmin rolled his eyes as both girls began to cry hard. "Stop crying!" he exclaimed. "Both of you are fine! The stone didn't hit you but only grazed you a little. In fact, the doctor said that you can go home tonight if you want."
Both of them instantly stopped crying.
"Oh," Soobin said. But she was still teary eyed. Slowly, she sat up.
"What happened?" Yoonmin asked. "How did the glass break?"
"Well, I was about to open the window," Soobin narrated. She quickly told him what happened and how a stone just randomly broke the window.
"But we were so high up!" Soobin frowned. "And there weren't any other houses nearby. I don't know how the stone reached so high…"
Yoonmin glanced at Miyoo who was listening to Soobin.
"Binbin," she said. "Burn. Bald."
"Huh?" Soobin was confused but Yoonmin understood.
"Must have been some hater of Minyoon," he lied. "They've attacked us before. I'll tell the guards to increase the security."
But it was obvious to him that the poltergeist was probably targeting Minyoon and Soobin happened to be an unfortunate casualty.
"I'll tell my sister about this," he went on. "I'll call your parents and inform them-"
"Mom and dad are out of town," Soobin shrugged. "They're on some business trip. It's just me there."
"Any guardian?" Yoonmin frowned. Why is this girl living alone? He wondered.
Soobin shook her head, making him sigh. "I'll tell sis to handle your forms then," he said, taking out his phone. "Don't you dare move from here!"
She scowled at him but then mumbled something. Yoonmin frowned at her, not being able to hear what she said.
"What did you say?" he demanded. Soobin mumbled again, looking down but it was still unclear. Her face was completely red and she could not look him in the eye out of embarrassment. Miyoo seemed to have heard it.
"Thank you," Miyoo interpreted. "And sorry."
Soobin was now even redder, still not looking at him. After their last encounter, she felt guilty for bursting out at him like that. Yet, he saved her.
"It's the least I can do for my most profitable customer," Yoonmin claimed, averting his eyes. Soobin gritted her teeth and threw a pillow at him which he dodged with ease.
"Hey!" he protested but Soobin lay back on the bed, refusing to face him. She mumbled something else. Miyoo nodded and turned to her brother who was completely clueless about what happened.
"Yoonie idiot!" Miyoo stated.