✔ 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐗

Chapter 7

Together, the two - this time armed with their cell phones as flashlights - returned to the library. Apparently, the wall shelf in question, which the teenagers had brought down, had been a secret door. Thia had had no idea that there could be such a thing in this mansion. As a child, she often dreamed of secret passages and magical closets that led her to another world. However, the fact that something like that actually existed was a bit too scary for her now at the age of 18.

A wave of trepidation gripped the two of them as they stepped through the opening of the secret door. A minimal breeze blew toward them, making them both nervous.

Carefully, she descended the stairs behind Kai and wrinkled her nose. Each step caused a dull echo in the gloomy surroundings. The walls were covered in cobwebs and the smell of old dust and damp earth hung in the air.

"It smells like wild animals live here," she grumbled over the pongy, harsh odor.

The two teenagers hardly dared to breathe as they descended deeper and deeper into the eerie web of corridors and rooms. Their footsteps became quieter, as if the place was swallowing the sounds. And there was a feeling that they couldn't be heard screaming for help. The beams from the cell phone flashlights cast terrifying shadows on the walls, and the silence was so oppressive that they felt further removed from the world above with each step. "It smells like a basement of corpses," Kai remarked, though that sentence was meant to sound like a joke. But instead, a cold shiver ran down their spines.

Thia would have liked to disagree, but unfortunately Kai was quite right and she caught up to her neighbor to hold onto the hem of his leather jacket.

"Do you think there are really bodies here?" she whispered softly as her fingers pressed into the leather.

There was a slight crunch and Kai returned her anxious look. "I was just kidding," he admitted, flickering his flashlight over a few corners. "A bad one, I know."

Finally, they reached a room just about the size of the mansion's bathroom. Countless photos hung on the walls, shimmering in the dim glow of the smartphones. Unease spread between Thia and Kai as they got closer to the photos and a cold shiver ran down their spines. Most of the pictures showed the back or back of the head of a woman who had been secretly photographed jogging, in a bar, or talking to other people.

"Oh my God!", Thia breathlessly exclaimed, forgetting all caution when she recognized the woman in the photos. Without paying further attention to her surroundings, she rushed towards the photos and tore one of them off the wall. "That's my mother!" the girl pressed out, pressing the back of the hand with which she was also still holding the smartphone with the bright light against her lips so that she could illuminate the photo. "Why is this here!!!"

Kai, who was immediately at her side, frowned. As he looked closer at the picture, only one thought came to mind, "Your mother was stalked. Here you see her at the diner in town. On that one over there, she's talking on the phone next to the Han River." Demonstratively, he shone the light on the picture and swallowed hard. "Isn't your mother considered missing?"