House of the Nefarious

Chapter 16

I let out a sigh making my way to my next class. I hadn't slept well after seeing whatever that was at the fair. It was even worse than when I saw my Dad in the maze of mirrors.

Every time I closed my eyes I'd see it dancing at the back of my vision. Taunting me for a reason I was unaware of.

I took my seat next to Yerim prying my sleepy eyes open. It would probably look pretty bad if I fell asleep in a room full of demons.

"Hey Seoyeon, are you alright?" Yerim asked, gently nudging me.

"I'm fine," I said, shooting her a half-hearted smile.

"Are you sure?" She said, eyes narrowing at the sight of the dark rings around my eyes.

"Well," I started, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell her she might even know how to help. "When I was at the fair on the weekend, there was this presence there and it was really heavy. It kind of resembled a man but I'm not too sure," I let out a sigh. "And I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."

She propped her head up with her hand a couple stray strands of blond hair falling to frame her hazel eyes. "That's a tough one there's a lot of evil spirits down here but I haven't ever heard of one not being detected by others around."

I fiddled with the necklace around my neck, did it maybe have something to do with the stamps? Or was it a completely different problem.

I groaned, banging my head against the table. Maybe I was just delusional.

"Hey it's alright," she reassured, patting me on the back.

"I have an idea on what we can do."

 I raised my head slightly to look at her. "You do?"

She nodded. "I had to do a paper in one of my other classes on dealing with deviant demons. If we set a trap with the right stuff we should be able to summon it and at the least find out what it is."

"Really?" I exclaimed, excited by the thought of finally getting a good night's sleep. "You'd help me with that?"

She let out a soft laugh. "Of course, we're friends and I wouldn't be living up to the virtue of kindness if I didn't."

"Thank you Yerim, I replied. "So what do we do?"

"All we need to do is go to the spot where you saw it, use some special chalk to draw a summoning circle, sprinkle some devil fruit seeds down and then put whatever it was after in the center. In this case that seems to be you."

"Okay shall we meet up tonight then?" I suggested.

She shot me a thumbs up and nervous anticipation filled me.

School had ended and it was just about time to meet Yerim at the fairgrounds.

I was currently rifling through the pantry in search of some devil fruit seeds for the summoning,

"What are you looking for?" A sweet voice asked beside me. I jumped back in surprise, letting out a sigh when I realized it was just Jimin.

What's with people sneaking up on me?

"Do you know if there's any devil fruit seeds in here?"

"Well," he said, aiming for a hug which I narrowly avoided. "There should be some up in the cupboard."

I gulped watching his muscle flex as he reached for the seeds.

Bad Seoyeon.

"Here you go."

He plopped a small bag of black ovals into my hand.

"Thanks Jimin," I replied, tucking them into my bag.

"No problem cutie, but may I ask why you were looking for summoning seeds? They are edible, but the only one who can stomach them is Namjoon," he explained dryly.

Yerim forgot to mention that part. I thought it was just ghost food.

"Umm for educational purposes?"

He echoed my response before letting out a chuckle. "Do tell me if anything interesting happens. And next time you don't have to just look at my muscles you can touch them to," he said with a wink.

I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment and I was too distracted to see his hug coming.

"And stop avoiding my hugs," he huffed, resting his head on top of mine.

"Oh look is that a mutant rat I see?" I stuttered out. I took his momentary confusion to duck under his arms and dash towards the door.

I could hear his pleasant laugh as the door slammed shut behind me.

I patted my cheeks willing the red hue to fade. Damn Jimin and his muscles.

"Oh your here, I just finished setting everything up," Yerim said, gesturing to the white pentagram drawn onto the dirt.

The whole thing was rather eerie actually. An abandoned fairground in the middle of the night, summoning a creepy ass demon. In well... Hell.

"So just step into the circle with the seeds and let's see what happens," she explained.

I hesitantly stepped into the circle, bracing myself to be mauled by a demon. Yerim's aura was gold for confusion so I could tell even she didn't know what was going to happen.

But nothing did happen.

"Umm maybe I messed up?" she said, fumbling through her research paper.

"It's okay Yerim, we gave it a shot," I reassured, making a move to exit the circle.

It was a bit disappointing but I knew I'd find out what it was eventually.

I froze just as I was about to step across the white line. I felt it the same crushing presence that had left my mind reeling.

Yerim's mouth was agape as she stared at something behind me. "It actually worked," she muttered.

I cautiously turned around, feeling myself becoming unnerved at the sight of the same hoodie and jogging pants I had seen that day.

I couldn't see his face and he stood unmoving on the other end of the circle.

"Who are you?" I asked, surprised that my voice didn't waver.

I held my breath as he peeled his hood back to reveal familiar white hair.

It was the same man who had taunted and thrown me off the pier into Hell.

"You've become a bit more interesting," he mused, glancing down at the stamps on my arm.

"What do you want?" I spat, trying not to remember how it felt to be dragged to my near death.

He let out a dramatic sigh. "None of this was really my choice, but my master wanted me to inform you that something big is going to happen soon. Unity was it?"

His eyes lit up, lips breaking out into a gleeful grin. "Master can be so cryptic sometimes. Don't disappoint me the next time we meet."

A sudden fog rolled in and I struggled to make out the man in front of me. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

He merely smiled in response, before completely disappearing into the fog. I knew he was really gone when my sight became clear again and his blackened aura had all but vanished.

I turned to Yerim who looked beyond shook and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't too.

My creepy demon turned out to be the same one who got me into this whole mess. He also had a master?

I groaned, this was too much for my brain to process.

Yerim finally spoke, eyes still wide. "That was no ordinary malevolent presence."

"Definitely not."