The Ghost of Us || SKZ

32

Minho and Changbin grunted loudly as they both shouldered the door for the third time

"See?" Changbin said, rubbing his arm. "I'm telling you, it won't open!"

Minho frowned. "You said you already tried a crowbar, right?"

Changbin nodded. "We tried picking the lock too. And the skeleton key won't work."

Without a word, Minho walked back down the hall and out to the back yard. He picked up a huge stone, hauling it to the door.

"Move aside." Minho said, and Changbin stepped behind him.

In one quick motion, Minho brought the heavy stone down on the doorknob, and a loud creaking sound followed it.

"Oh shit..." Changbin said, inspecting the door. The knob was bent. "Do that again and I think it'll give."

Minho brought the stone down again and the doorknob clanked to the floor, rolling down the hall from the force of the hit.

The two men pushed the door open, stumbling inside. Their eyes widened and they looked at each other.

"What the fuck is this...?"

The room was small, basically a closet. There was a tiny bed in the corner, barely big enough for a dog. There was no window, and the floor was a cold, rough stone. A small desk was in another corner, papers and charcoal littering the top of it.

The walls were completely covered with drawings of people, at least two dozen of them. They looked to be from various time periods based on the clothing and hairstyles, going back decades. There were men and women, children and the elderly. At the bottom of each was a note:

'A potential'

"What does that mean?" Changbin said, pointing to the note at the bottom of a picture of a frail looking woman, a sad expression on her young face.

"I think it's potential hosts...I wonder why they didn't work out. But who are these people?"

The two men circled the small space, looking at each picture to see if they recognized them. Suddenly Changbin stopped.

"Here! Minho, this is our old roommate, from before you all moved in!"

Minho frowned. "What happened to him?"

"Nothing, I don't think. He was going through some shit and moved out. That was that."

"Sounds like she was maybe going to try to take him over." Minho said bluntly, then continued looking.

He stopped when he got to a portrait of Hyunjin, looking beautiful but emotionless. "Well, here's our boy."

Changbin pulled the page off the wall, turning it over and then back again. "How does this help us?"

"I don't think it does." Minho sighed. "But it does make me feel sorry for her, at least a little bit."

"Didn't she say her body was in here awhile back? Or at least something she wants is in here?" Changbin asked, gazing around the room. "You look around the bed and check the walls, I'll dig through the desk."

Minho nodded and went to the corner, lifting the small mattress and shaking it out, feeling along the seams for secret pockets. He then went to work on the walls, lifting up portraits and pressing stone bricks.

About to give up, Minho pushed one last brick and something clicked. "Holy shit..."

A part of the floor opened up, the stone sliding with a horrible scraping noise, dust tossed into the air. Minho coughed, waving the particles aside before poking his head down the person-sized hole in the floor. There was a small ladder leading down to a room shrouded in blackness.