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The noise from the minivan’s door closing echoed around the open space, soon getting lost in the faint crickets and other nature sounds that surrounded the group. They stared at the construction in front of them, more than half of its stones still resisting time, sharing space with vegetation that grew around it, touching the walls and the old tower.
“I think I want to go back” Wooyoung broke the silence, making half of the group giggle.
“Are you already scared?” Yunho teased, placing an arm around the younger’s shoulder. “I’ll protect you”.
“I’m sure you will” Wooyoung rolled his eyes, smacking Yunho’s hand off him.
Yunho squeezed Wooyoung’s cheeks before he went to the minivan trunk, where their equipment was. Mingi helped distribute the cameras and flashlights as he had everything set up the night before, separating everything as he knew what each one preferred to use on their explorations.
“Do you think we will find someone inside like the last time we explored?” Seonghwa asked while he adjusted his backpack.
“I don’t think so” Hongjoong stared at the building for a second. “It’s a shelter, but it’s far from everything else”.
“If there’s someone, maybe they use it only to sleep” Jongho agreed. “It doesn’t look practical, but you never know”.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to stay at one of the houses in the village, then?” Yeosang added. “It would also give them utensils”.
“You have a point”.
“It is weird, though” Hongjoong exclaimed. He rested against the minivan, arms crossed while he stared at the old building. “Wooyoung, what do you dislike about the place?”
“… Everything?” Wooyoung flashed an apologetic smile, hearing Yeosang and San giggle behind him. He looked at the construction again, thoughtfully observing what was in his sight. “I don’t know, but something feels… off”.
As if the place wanted to agree with it, a branch from one of the trees fell, echoing before the rustling leaves took over as the wind carried the sound. Wooyoung held Yeosang’s arm, swearing at the trees of the woods while Seonghwa laughed behind him.
“I think we should consider it a sign” San said.
“The trees are old like the place. That’s all” Jongho rolled his eyes.
“I think you have a point, but Wooyoung is right too” Hongjoong said. “Something here feels off”.
“So… are we going back?” Wooyoung seemed hopeful.
“We are already here” Yunho pointed. “We can quickly look inside and then go if that’s what you want, it will be better for our schedule”.
“I don’t think we should go back” Hongjoong sighed. “I say we take extra care”.
“Some people never watched horror movies to see this is exactly how things start” Wooyoung exclaimed, slowly walking towards the trunk to grab his camera.
“You don’t watch horror movies, Woo” Yunho laughed, the sound louder when the other pouted.
“Speaking about being old, shouldn’t it be less green since it’s said this place had a fire?” Mingi asked. He sighed when he saw his friends’ confused faces. “When we searched about the place we saw that this village had a fire fifty years ago. People got scared and decided to move out. Everything around this building where the fire started seems too vivid for something that burned”.
Everything was, in fact, too green around the place. Some parts were brown here and there, but the twining plants that hugged the build were green as if it was new. Maybe that was because it was almost summer, and the plants usually were green in summer.
“Maybe the soil isn’t damaged?” Yeosang asked.
“I think things just grew back in” San said. “Usually, it is possible that trees grow in burnt areas. So, considering how long the fire happened, the plants could go back”.
“Could be” Mingi shrugged. He finished separating their equipment, double checking if everyone had flashlights, batteries, and Go-Pros to reserve. The bet was that they would be over with it in two hours, but you can never trust an electronic, as Yeosang once said.
Seonghwa held the camera while Hongjoong did their intro. He waited until everyone said hello, their vlog style messy as always. Once the group introduced themselves, Hongjoong asked Seonghwa to film the place. The old building and the woods near made a beautiful landscape, and Seonghwa also showed their car stopped between grass and the dirt road, Yunho and Mingi posing in front of it for a moment.
“We are on our bi-monthly urban exploration” Hongjoong said once the camera was in his hands. “And today is… a church? Our search said it was a church before being abandoned. They even have a tower” he pointed to the construction “The history of the place also says a fire happened here, but we will see what it looks like from inside”.
“Is it urban exploration when we are not in an urban setting?” Yeosang was genuinely confused for a moment, making San and Jongho chuckle.
“You’re adorable” San poked Yeosang’s cheeks.
His question about the urban exploration denomination had no answer, so Yeosang was still a little confused when Yunho pulled him by the hand, guiding him towards the building.
Big double doors made of carved wood greeted them, both open and hanging in their places by an invisible force. Inside, they first saw a confessionary in the left corner, while a table with random objects was on the right side. Exactly five pews were by the center of the place, with two turned vertically instead of horizontal. The most confusing part, however, was at the front. There was no altar or something designed to be one, only two tall bookshelf-like structures on both sides that carried what could be hundreds of candles. Behind the structures were two wall-sized windows and one round window at the center. Lastly, there was a broken chandelier on the floor, its size big enough for one of them to stand on it, resting against the wall and near a door.
“What is this smell?” Hongjoong asked.
It was sweet and subtle, something that could easily belong to a flower, but only half of them could smell it.
“Scented candles?” Seonghwa pondered.
“The candles are out”
They tried to remember if they saw flowers outside, but the conversation soon got lost while they looked around the place.
“I think they used it for something else before it was abandoned” San said. He moved his camera to show the pews and then moved up. The right part of the ceiling was practically all gone, so he could see the dark clouds in the sky before he filmed the red velvet curtains on the floor. “Or maybe it was used later by someone else. There are a lot of things missing and things that don’t fit”.
“Well, isn’t that lovely?” Wooyoung ironically said. He was looking at the table near the entrance, which centerpiece was a yellowed skull adorned with a silver crown. The piece seemed to be handmade, craved on some material they weren’t sure if it was stone, metal, or something else. There were blue-ish crystal dots over it as well, decorating the middle of the small flowers and crosses carved in there.
“I mean, it is pretty” Yeosang said. “Creepy, but pretty”.
“He has a point” Jongho agreed, moving his camera towards Wooyoung, who was still staring at the skull with a disgusted face.
“These windows remind me of Resident Evil, to be honest” Seonghwa said. He was looking at the circular window, the stained glass with a few pieces gone, but the central shape of a flower remained just like the red and white colors.
“It’s because of the colors?” Mingi asked, seeing Seonghwa agree before he looked at the stained glass. The two wall-sized windows remained almost intact, the gothic style of its shape sharing the white and red colors. “Indeed”.
Hongjoong felt the sweet smell again, but San caught his attention, confusion all over his face.
“Did you call me?”
“No”.
“I thought I heard something” San sighed. He didn’t stay much on the topic as his attention went to the closed door near the chandelier. Considering where the door was, it probably led to the tower they saw when they arrived. He tried to open it, but the door and its rusty handle barely moved.
San tried to push the door, and the wood cracked a little under his hand, but it didn’t move. Hongjoong held the boy’s camera while Mingi came to help, the duo using their bodies to open the door. Unsuccessful, thought.
“It’s stuck”.
“Let it be then” Hongjoong said.
“I think we can break it, though” Mingi pointed out.
“Let’s not break anything, please” Seonghwa exasperated, making the duo laugh.
“It seemed bigger from the outside” Jongho commented, using his feet to push one of the velvet curtains. “It’s quite preserved considering half of the ceiling is gone”.
“Maybe it’s more recent” Yunho said. “Some stones are darker than others; it can be from their exposure time”.
While Jongho and Yunho talked about the missing ceiling, Yeosang wandered around the chandelier. The ceiling above him had rapture marks and few open spaces, so Yeosang decided that was why the chandelier fell, even because the object was larger than it should be. It wasn’t, however, what caught his attention because something was cold against his arm.
He turned around in a hurry, his hand hitting the chandelier with a loud noise. But besides the pain from the hit, there was nothing touching him.
“Are you ok?” Wooyoung was the first to reach out to him, examining his hand.
“Yeah, I’m fine” Yeosang held Wooyoung’s fingers for a second. “I felt something on my hand”.
“Are you sure?”
“Yup”.
“Should we wrap up?” Seonghwa sighed. “There’s nothing much here, not even side rooms. Not counting the tower, we already saw everything”.
“Maybe we can search for another location during dinner and do a double episode?” Jongho suggested.
“Seems good for me” Wooyoung smiled, moving faster than any of them towards the door.
Yeosang, however, was about to end his friend’s short happiness. While he shook his hand to dismiss the pain from the hit, his eyes found a weird shape on the floor under the chandelier.
“Yunho, can you help me move this?” Yeosang pointed to the chandelier, waiting until Yunho was in front of him.
Jongho joined them, trying to make Yeosang not force his injured hand. The trio didn't move the chandelier far from its original position, but that was enough to reveal something new.
A trapdoor was now under their view, and Yunho wasted no time and opened it, dust floating around when the wood hit the ground. The light from the missing ceiling wasn't enough as the twilight arrived, some flashlights finally being used to see a few stone steps, darkness engulfing the rest of the stairs.
“Hello?” Yunho called. Besides his voice echoing, there was no response.
“I know what you are thinking, and the answer is no” Hongjoong rushed to say.
It created chaos, followed by a discussion with everyone trying to talk louder than the other. So, after that and a very serious game of rock, paper, and scissors to decide their fate, Yunho led the group down the stairs, all flashlights turned on so they could see where they stepped. In the meantime, no one saw the tower’s door opening by itself.
By the end of the stairs, there was a tunnel, tall and large enough so Yunho and Mingi could walk without problems, and three of them could walk side by side. San looked behind him when he thought he heard something, but there were only the stairs and the faint light from above. Jongho was the first to step into the new room at the end of the tunnel, his flashlight pointing to something covered with a red fabric.
“What is this place?” Wooyoung whispered.
From what they could see, it was similar to the space above them. The size seemed the same, but there were no pews nor confessionary. Instead, there was a large center table resembling an altar, the red fabric they first spotted covering its surface. The candles were on multiple candlesticks, and some were scattered around the floor.
“The skull has a sister” Yeosang aimed his flashlight at the object. A skull rested above the altar with the same handcrafted crown they saw before. It shared space on the altar with a balance and a glass sphere that seemed like a crystal ball.
San was about to comment something when a sudden noise stopped him. It sounded like a small rock fell from somewhere and hit another stone. He looked behind him again, the light from upstairs not visible from where he was
“This place is so weird”.
“And creepy” Wooyoung whispered.
Hongjoong felt the sweet scent stronger than it was upstairs. Near him, Seonghwa was staring at his camera because he could swear he saw two light spots at the corner. It made no sense as their flashlights did not make the format he saw, and nothing there reflected in that format as well. There was no way something reflected in there as the flashlights didn’t reach that point, and all natural light was far from there.
“That’s not the creepiest thing here” Mingi said.
Seonghwa needed to look up to see what he was talking about. Mingi’s flashlight pointed to something green in the middle of the red. A vine grew around the altar, going up to the altar surface, touching one of the decorated skulls.
The worse part probably was that Hongjoong finally got a glimpse of the entire setting, his stomach sinking when he realized it was ritualistic.
“Do you think it is artificial?” San asked, his voice lower than it usually was.
Yunho looked closer, leaning in enough to touch the plant, and for the first time that day, he shared the feeling of the others about that place.
“It’s real”.
“It doesn’t make sense” Jongho said. “There is no sunlight here. How could it be alive?”
Comments were stopped once again by another noise. All their flashlights illuminated the tunnel behind them as the weird sounds kept echoing until they faded. Wooyoung could barely breathe when he registered that what they heard were footsteps.
“Hello?” Seonghwa asked.
“Stop saying hello someone will say it back!” Wooyoung couldn’t help his voice raising a few octaves.
There was no answer, but footsteps echoed again on the tunnel, coming towards them, with no one in sight. Yeosang felt his ear tingle, a faint voice whispering to him.
“Maybe it’s the wind?” he asked. He bet it wasn’t, but he decided to ignore the cold chill that ran down his spine.
“I hope so” Seonghwa said.
“I’m not feeling good about this” San sighed.
“Do you think someone brought the plant down here?” Jongho asked. He was paying attention to what the others were doing, but he was so confused with the vine he focused on it.
“It’s too much work” Yunho shared his puzzlement. “You would need at least two people to move that chandelier. Besides, the entrance was hidden under the chandelier. You would need to know what you are searching for”.
“I mean, it would not be the first time someone uses an abandoned place for random things”.
“In this case, shouldn’t we leave before someone actually shows up?” Mingi asked.
For the third time, the following comment was interrupted by a sound. But this one wasn’t unknown because they already knew San, and they already knew his screams. Jumps with the sudden yell weren’t stopped, though, and they rushed the questions about the boy’s motive as he hugged Yunho’s arm
“I thought I saw a pair of eyes” he said, moving his flashlight to a corner behind the altar.
When they moved their flashlights to where San pointed, they saw a small candlestick in the wall. Jongho tried to move the light to reflect on the candlestick, but the piece had rust enough to cover its surface and not reflect the light.
“Ok, I’m leaving. I will wait for y’all in the car. I don’t care” Wooyoung pushed San by the hand, rushing for the tunnel to reach the stairs.
“Let’s wrap it up and pick another location at dinner” Hongjoong said, bringing their first plan back.
Yunho felt something cold around his neck as he looked at the place for one last time. He caressed his skin, unsure if his mind was starting to be alarmed or if something external created the sensation. Wooyoung was on the stairs, Seonghwa asking him to wait as they would follow him outside.
“Guys” San called. The upper half of his body was past the trapdoor, the cold wind of the church surrounding him as his flashlight was still on since the night was upon them. “The tower’s door is open”.
“What?”
Half of them asked in unison as they were closer to hearing the words. Seonghwa distracted himself with his usual member counting. He always made sure that everyone was together before they left a place, even when they clearly were, no matter the size of where they were. He counted three with himself, Wooyoung, and San. His flashlight highlighted each member as the numbers went up. Four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine.
Alright, everyone was– Wait.
Seonghwa counted again, his heartbeats echoing in his ears. Eight. They were eight people.
He heard Yunho asking San about the door, and he heard Hongjoong complain about a strong smell that wasn’t sweet like before. But Seonghwa also heard something else, a faint whisper that soon turned into something falling, like one of the candlesticks they saw in the room at the end of the tunnel.
San, Wooyoung, and Mingi slowly climbed the stairs, trying to avoid any sound as their flashlights joined the others to light up the end of the tunnel. All they could see was the red fabric on the altar.
The tower’s door above them closed by itself, strong enough to echo in the space and to make them jump with the sudden noise. The worst part came when the group looked back at the tunnel, noticing a weird shadow on the wall. It was long and thin, almost reaching the stairs. The part closer to them divided itself into five equally slim shadows. The shape reminded them of something, Hongjoong being the first to remember what, his voice weak when he spoke.
“A hand?”
As if it was to agree with him, the shadow moved. The dark hand touched Yeosang’s leg, sending the entire group into chaos as they rushed upstairs and tried to free Yeosang from the shadow’s touch. He could see three pairs of shining eyes before he was finally out of the underground stairs, one pair closer than it should be.
Yunho was the last in line, turning in time to see a head made of nothing more than pure darkness reaching the staircase. He closed the trapdoor hard as he could, but it wasn’t enough to stop whatever was behind it, the dark long finger-like shadow passing by the wood door’s cracks.
“Yunho let’s go!” Jongho pulled him by the arm.
The shadows chased them until everyone was outside the church, the dark shape stopping as if it couldn’t cross the limit of the place. The group was already inside the car, yelling to Yunho to drive so they could leave. The sounds were louder when Mingi pointed to the building they had just left, a pair of eyes and a dark humanoid body climbing up the ceiling.
“What the fuck is that?!”
No one answered because none of them knew.
Yunho drove fast as he could on the dirt road, the haunted ruins luckily behind them. San still looked at the road to be sure nothing was following them as Seonghwa asked if someone was hurt. Some curses floated around as the reality of what happened started to sink in, followed by confusion and fear.
Their cameras were still on, and it would be like that until someone cared enough for it or the batteries ran out, whatever happened first. They could re-watch the footage to try to understand what was after them, but right now, all that mattered was that they were out of there.
They were going home, far away from there and safe from moving shadows and decorated skulls.