The Shore

6. The Locket

Seonghwa didn't go to the lighthouse.

Once he had awoken on the same spot of black sand as all the other days before, he regained his bearings quickly. It took him a while to connect the dots of the message in his pocket with the scratches on his arms, but once the picture came together for him once more, he understood perfectly well. The few steps up to the lighthouse were lined with orange candles that reached the spot where he sat. Familiar and warm, they beckoned him closer. As much as the place centred right near him, all welcoming, Seonghwa knew that whoever he would find inside didn't bring salvation but many more troubles.

Thus, Seonghwa got to his feet and went the other way.

The rain came down on him mercilessly today and made his hair stick to his scalp. He needed a place where he would be protected from the wet blotches and could read the message in peace. He remembered it was important, and that it had warned him of somebody. The same somebody that waited for him in the lighthouse to let the trap snap shut as soon as Seonghwa entered. If he read that letter, he would avoid becoming a fly in the mouth of a carnivorous plant.

With the oceans raging angrily at his side and numbing him to any other noise, Seonghwa walked along the black sand. He didn't know if it was his awareness that eased the forgetful curse of his mind, or if it was the power of the spell weakening. Either way, he could recall dark memories and dominant fear in his recent past. He would avoid those things. And knowing that the lighthouse connected him to them, his safest bet was to dodge the tower.

As Seonghwa wandered away from the candles and the welcoming door that stood wide open for him to enter, he didn't look back. He believed to feel a sharp gaze following his form until he disappeared behind the cliffs. Yet, he didn't mind the watchful observer.

His heart raced at the prospect of breaking from his restraints. Just as much as he felt as if doing something forbidden, the taste of freedom on his tongue brought him along. Much rather than focusing on the mundane trouble of him being alone on this island, he thought about the lingering feelings of growing dread that poisoned his mind.

As he walked along the shore, he found a message in a bottle. The rain blurred his sight enough that he nearly didn't spot it in the heady light, but he took it with him, anyway. The bottle became a makeshift anchor for him to hug. The glass beneath his fingers felt real and reminded him of who he was, and that he needed to stay alert. It became his weapon and his shield.

After a while of walking, Seonghwa spotted a small pan on the cliff. It was just enough space to fit him, and the rocks grew a bit overhead to create a protective cover from the wind and the rain. Seonghwa huddled inside with a bit of squeezing required. The stone surrounded him coldly, but in exchange against the ferocious storm, they made for an excellent camp. First, he yanked open the bottle to see what he had found. The short passage was written in shaggy scrawls as if the author had trembled massively as they scribbled down the words. After some seconds of concentration and figuring out the letters, Seonghwa pieced them together.

It's happening! Every man for himself! They all started losing their minds like what happened to Yeosang! He ate his own fingers and cut his eyelids. He was screaming something about being ready to receive the gift of the god. I've lost track of time. I don't know what the date is anymore, nor the hour. The sun isn't moving! Why is the sun not moving?
If you're reading this, then I hope you end up here, too!

An icy shudder crawled down Seonghwa's spine. The letter was written with such spite and crazed madness that Seonghwa believed to hear the paper cackling menacingly after having drunken up the insanity of its author.

More than uncomfortable, Seonghwa pushed the letter back inside the bottle and set it on the sand in front of him. He didn't want to hear about missing fingers and eyelids. The gruesome image made him question his own sanity. As fragile as it was out here, he shouldn't challenge it.