Halls of Splintered Souls (Wandering Souls #1)

Chapter Twenty

The sky was darker without the moonlight. I argued that maybe I couldn't see well enough to identify the body. It didn't make sense that Baekhyun's body was the one laid on that table. He died years ago. His body should have been decomposed by now. Seeing it perfectly intact, like he was still alive days before, was unnerving.

"How..." I tried to form a question, but I couldn't form the words.

Professor Cain walked around the table, taking the ornate box. Baekhyun still hasn't acknowledged me. Didn't he say he wanted to answer my questions? This wasn't answering anything. This was adding more questions to the puzzle.

"With how much anticipation Baekhyun felt awaiting your arrival to Arce Umbra, I thought you'd be a lot smarter," Suzie giggled.

Baekhyun finally looked away from his body as Professor Cain approached me and handing over the box. She had the same expression on her face as she usually does, betraying no emotion or information. To think that all this time Ayn was always near her... how did Ayn not notice anything amiss with this woman?

I took the box from Professor Cain, staring at it with confusion. "What's in here?"

"Why don't you open it and find out?" She gestured for me to open the box.

I glanced at Baekhyun to find him looking at me expectantly. He still hasn't said a word. I was getting nervous, unsure of my judgment of him. I had always thought that he was a lost soul, but what if that wasn't what he was? What if he was not the victim at all? Kenji did say he was responsible for his death.

Was he the one who told me that he'd be seeing me and Ayn soon?

I looked back down to the box. I came this far. Opening a box was the least risky thing I've done tonight. Might as well just go all the way.

Slowly, I opened the lid of the box. I thought that when I opened it, there would be some kind of light that would spill out or something similar.

What I wasn't expecting was to find a human heart inside.

"This is exciting," Suzie piped.

I looked back and forth between Professor Cain and Baekhyun, waiting for an explanation. When none came, I asked, "This is... is this Baekhyun's heart?"

Unexpectedly, Baekhyun nodded then answered. "It's mine."

"Why are you showing it to me? How does this answer my questions about everything?"

"Patience is virtue, Miss Aya," Professor Cain told me in the same way she taught in class. "I would rather we wait for your sister and my grandnephew first."

My heart beat faster when I heard it. Why would Ayn and Adrien come here? They didn't know I was out here at all. They couldn't have.

"Oh! You wouldn't want to miss what's going to happen next!" Suzie nodded enthusiastically.

Her manic behavior was no longer something that creeped me out. I realized a few moments ago that something must have messed with her mind. She didn't seem to be entirely sane. Who did it to her?

"It's nearly midnight, we'd have to start without them," Baekhyun interjected.

What would happen at midnight?

Before I could voice my question, Professor Cain grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at her. "Well then, shall we start?"

Professor Cain dragged me roughly to the table. She procured a blade, the same one from my dream, then forced my palm open. Realizing what she was going to do, I tried to pull my hand away, but she held me in place.