Chapter 5
1418words
I scanned our hotel room, the air still carrying faint traces of his tobacco and woody cologne.
The once-comforting scent now sent chills down my spine.
I forced myself to calm down and think about his habits.
Daniel had mild germophobia and always kept things meticulously organized, but the more important something was, the more he liked to hide it in plain sight.
My gaze fell on the bedside table where a hotel Bible lay.
A wild hunch struck me. I rushed over and grabbed the heavy book, my fingers trembling as I opened it.
In the center of the hollowed-out pages lay the antique pocket watch, dark red patterns on its face resembling sleeping vipers.
I snatched up the watch, its cold metal sending shivers down my spine.
Not daring to stay a moment longer, I clutched it tightly and fled barefoot from the room.
The street outside was terrifyingly silent. In the Elmore night, not even a dog barked—only dim streetlights cast ghostly shadows through the thin fog.
Not a soul in sight. Only the antique shop at the corner, which I had visited with Daniel, still showed a faint light inside.
Calix's Antiques. I clutched the watch tightly and hurried along the edge of the street, my footsteps on the cobblestones amplified in the dead silence, each step pounding like my racing heart.
Just as I passed the shop, the wooden door that should have been locked creaked open without warning.
A man in a deep gray vintage three-piece suit stood in the doorway, his silhouette elongated by the light behind him. It was Calix, the shop owner, his hair meticulously combed, with an inscrutable gaze behind gold-rimmed glasses.
He blocked my path, his voice unnervingly steady. "Young lady, where are you going with that watch?"
My heart stopped, blood freezing in my veins. How did he know about the watch? I instinctively hid it behind my back, eyeing him warily as I tried to edge past.
He stood like a wall, immovable, his brows furrowed. "You can't leave. It's very late—you shouldn't be wandering about."
I ignored him, turning quickly to walk away in the opposite direction, nearly breaking into a run.
I needed to get as far away as possible. The streetlights ahead connected into a blurry band of light through the fog. I ran desperately forward, wind whistling past my ears, but strangely, even after running for what seemed like forever, I didn't feel tired at all.
Something was wrong. I stopped abruptly, looking up in horror.
Before me, once again, stood the antique shop with its dim light.
Calix still stood at the entrance. He slowly shook his head. "You can't escape."
A bone-chilling coldness rose from the soles of my feet, spreading through my entire body.
I felt trapped in an invisible cage.
"What have you done to me?" My voice was hoarse with fear.
This was a trap. Daniel, Calix… they were in this together! In desperation, I pulled out the watch, held it high above the stone pavement, and shouted hysterically: "Let me go! Or I'll smash it! We'll all go down together!"
Calix's pupils contracted sharply, his expression suddenly animated with panic.
"That watch cannot be destroyed!" As he said this, he shouted frantically toward the hotel: "Daniel! Come quickly!"
Ding!
Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. A message from Kieran.
"I'm at the street corner. Are you out yet?" A ray of hope pierced through my despair.
I turned to run toward the street corner. "Who are you contacting?" Calix's face contorted as he lunged at me, trying to grab my phone.
I screamed and dodged away as another terrifyingly familiar voice called from behind, like a death knell.
"Emily, come back!"
It was Daniel, charging from the direction of the hotel, his eyes bloodshot and wild.
I couldn't think about anything else—I just sprinted with all my might toward the street corner Kieran had mentioned.
Sure enough, a car was parked there—a completely black sedan that resembled a massive coffin in the darkness.
On its side, a line of small white Gothic text nearly stopped my heart.
"Elmore Funeral Home."
Was this… a hearse?
The window slowly lowered, and a man leaned out. His face looked strangely trustworthy under the pale car lights.
"I'm Kieran," he said, looking at me. "Are you Emily?"
I practically dove into the black sedan. Kieran floored the gas pedal, and the car shot forward like an arrow, leaving Daniel and Calix's angry roars far behind.
The car was deathly silent except for my heavy, rapid breathing.
"They won't catch up to us." Kieran's voice resonated in the cramped space, maintaining that strangely reassuring steadiness.
I curled up in the passenger seat, watching the streetscape rapidly recede through the window. The antique shop, the hotel—all were swallowed by darkness like a fading nightmare.
"What just happened? Why couldn't I escape?" I hugged myself, my voice still trembling.
"Time loop," Kieran said, staring straight ahead. "Calix used the watch to create a small-scale time trap, keeping you stuck at the entrance of his shop. No matter how far you ran, you'd always end up back where you started."
My heart clenched. A time loop… no wonder I never felt tired, no wonder the road seemed endless.
"That watch… what exactly is it?"
"A cursed medium." Kieran finally looked at me, his expression grave. "Daniel wants to exchange your life for his own. This is the life-exchange curse."
Each word felt like an ice pick stabbing into my brain. Using my life to save his own…
The car finally stopped before a solitary building at the edge of town. On the tall iron gate, the words "Elmore Funeral Home" gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
Kieran led me inside, where the air reeked of disinfectant and something indescribable like decaying flowers. He took me directly to the basement.
"Only by using a corpse can we break this life-exchange curse," he explained, opening a heavy metal door.
Creeeeak—
As the door swung open, bone-chilling cold rushed out, instantly raising goosebumps across my skin.
It was the morgue freezer.
Rows of stainless steel freezers were neatly arranged like giant metal drawers containing cold bodies awaiting cremation. The air was terrifyingly quiet except for the low hum of the refrigeration units.
Kieran walked to one of the rows and expertly pulled open a drawer.
Inside lay the body of a young man with a pale bluish face and purple lips.
I don't know why, but the moment I saw his face, an overwhelming, visceral disgust rose from the depths of my being, nearly making me vomit.
Kieran, not noticing my reaction, took the watch from my trembling hand and gently placed it on the corpse's chest.
A bizarre scene unfolded.
The dried bloodstain in the center of the watch face began to writhe as if alive, expanding outward from a small dot like a blooming blood-red rose.
"It's beginning," Kieran whispered.
Almost immediately, I felt an enormous pulling sensation from the watch. My body temperature drained rapidly. I weakened visibly, my limbs turning cold and numb as my vision darkened.
As the ritual progressed, my discomfort peaked—as if an invisible hand crushed my internal organs. I couldn't remain standing. My body went limp, and I collapsed against a nearby freezer.
Pure survival instinct made me desperately grab the handle of a drawer.
Clang!
Unable to steady myself, I inadvertently pulled the drawer halfway open with my remaining strength.
My breathing nearly stopped as I felt myself falling into an icy abyss.
It was a familiar face—Lena!
Her corpse lay there, but… her head was covered with hideous, terrifying wounds, her skull partially caved in, as if repeatedly struck with a blunt object.
Didn't she commit suicide? Daniel said she slit her wrists! What were these wounds?
Chaotic thoughts and images exploded in my mind, making my head throb unbearably.
BANG!
The freezer door slammed open violently.
Daniel and Calix burst in, their expressions changing drastically when they saw the scene before them.
"You shameless monster! Rot in hell!" Calix roared like a beast, his eyes bloodshot as he charged at Kieran. The two immediately began wrestling violently.
In the chaos, the watch slipped from the corpse's chest and fell to the ground with a sharp clack.
The ritual was interrupted.
The deadly pulling sensation vanished instantly. Fresh air rushed into my lungs, causing me to cough violently.
"Emily!"
