Ghost Chasers

16

San

After we had collected ourselves again, we continued walking.

Taehyung had demonstratively taken my hand and Taemin had snorted in amusement.

"You don't have to protect him from me." the ghost informed him.

"I'm not so sure about that." my ex-boyfriend claimed stubbornly.

Hongjoong and Hobi kept shaking their heads in bewilderment, as if they couldn't believe how Taehyung could keep arguing with a ghost. The two of them were visibly uncomfortable, flinching whenever they heard Taemin's voice.

"Do you need any more material? I can find out for you where there are other harmless ghosts." he offered, and while Hongjoong and Hobi looked up in horror, I nodded. Taehyung sighed in annoyance, he wanted to get rid of Taemin sooner rather than later.

Hongjoong started filming again while I ran after Taemin and the others, who still couldn't see him, just followed me.

"There's no one up here anymore. But I can hear them whispering from further down," he said quietly and when we arrived at another stairwell, we ran back down the steps hidden in the dark.

The sparse light from the camera and the flashlight only just helped us to avoid tripping over each other's feet.

After two flights of stairs, I heard quiet giggling and felt small hands on my back. Someone was trying to push me down.

But before I could fall, Taehyung grabbed hold of me and you could hear an indignant child scream in protest.

"You little snot, keep your sticky little ghost hands off my sweetie. Otherwise I'll lock you in the cellar with the bad man!" I heard Taemin scold and turned to him.

He was holding up the ghost of a little boy by the collar, his legs dangling in the air as he tried to free himself.

"No! Please don't, I just want to play... the red-haired one tumbled down so nicely... but then they ran away and didn't want to play anymore." he said tearfully.

"Mingi..." whispered Hobi, startled.

"If he can still run, it's all good." Taehyung said dryly, while Hongjoong filmed the scene with wide eyes.

"Why did they run away?" I asked in alarm.

"They woke up the people in the basement... and the creepy man with the bare butt was pawing at one of them the whole time. But it wasn't just due who ran... the others ran too, they made the bad man angry," the little boy told me frankly. Somehow I felt sorry for him.

"Why are you still here? Can't you go into the light?" I asked sympathetically.

"I'm waiting for my dad. We had that car accident and he died then, I only died here... But my mom survived. I'm not going anywhere without my dad..." he said defiantly.

"Where was the accident? Maybe your dad is still there," I wanted to know.

"At the crossroads, next to the forest, when you drive from the school towards the airport. There's still a church there," he explained. I immediately realized it would be tricky, but I would try to find it.

"I'll look for it and send it to you. What's your name?"

"My name is Kisung." he smiled slightly, but then his expression changed to shocked.

"You have to go too... the bad man, he's coming here. He doesn't want you here."

With these words, he disappeared, vanishing into thin air before our eyes. Taemin looked visibly tense.

"Let's hurry up and get out of here. The evil and angry vibrations are getting closer and closer..." Taemin urged us to move on.

The further down we got, the louder it became. It seemed as if all the doors on the second floor were slamming open and shut at the same time, but to get to the first floor we had to go past them. The door to the stairwell also flew open and rattled against the concrete wall before slamming shut again with a loud bang.

By now we were running and had to stop ourselves from tripping again and again, it was a miracle that no one had fallen yet. Full of panic, we passed the door, which had developed a wild life of its own, and were relieved to have reached the first floor.

With our hearts beating wildly, we were relieved to arrive at the window through which we had entered. Hongjoong and Hobi got out first, then Taehyung, who held out his hand from the outside to help me out. Just as I was about to reach for it, there was a loud noise, a cupboard next to me fell over and paper was thrown up. I heard a horrible growl as I was grabbed by the feet, hit the floor lengthwise and dragged back inside the hospital...