Call of Abyss

Chapter 18

Pastor Lee Yesung returned home, completely drenched from the rain.

Clutching the book to his chest, his eyes had a trance-like look as he walked straight into his study and did not come out.

After that, strange events began occurring at the church and the Education Center.

People around the church suddenly collapsed, bleeding from their noses, and an assistant pastor, while leading a service, suddenly screamed and ran out of the chapel as if he had seen something.

Not only that, but crows flying in the sky crashed into the church and Education Center walls and died, and in the middle of the night, an eerie laughter of an unknown woman echoed around the church and the Education Center.

Terrified church members began leaving one by one, and eventually, Gangneung Cheonghae Church was forced to close its doors.

"Seoyeon! Seoyeon!"

Hearing Jo Heeyoung's urgent call, Seoyeon ran toward her room.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Seojin... Our Seojin is here."

Jo Heeyoung, lying on the bed, pointed toward the window with her finger.

When Seoyeon looked toward the window, there was nothing there.

No, in the first place, there couldn't be anything there.

That was because Pastor Lee Yesung and Jo Heeyoung's bedroom was on the second floor of the Education Center.

"Mom, Seojin is gone now. Please, stop this."

"What are you talking about! Seojin is standing right there! How can you say he's not there!"

Startled by Jo Heeyoung's sudden, sharp outburst, Seoyeon stepped back in shock.

"Mom...."

"Look carefully! Seojin is standing right there!"

Reluctantly, Seoyeon approached the window again under Jo Heeyoung's persistent urging and looked outside.

However, there was still nothing outside—only the dark night street and the leaves scattering to the ground in the strong wind.

Seoyeon let out a small sigh and turned around.

"Mom.... There's really nothing...."

At that moment, Seoyeon let out a scream and collapsed onto the floor.

Seojin, with a pale face, was standing right next to Jo Heeyoung.

"Seojin...."

Seoyeon softly called out Seojin's name.

Then, Seojin let out a bizarre sound that did not resemble a human voice and crawled toward Seoyeon.

"Don't come closer!"

Seoyeon screamed and bolted out of the room.

Seojin chased after the fleeing Seoyeon at an incredible speed.

Even though he was crawling on the floor, he moved alarmingly fast.

Jo Heeyoung's eerie laughter echoed throughout the entire Education Center.

Seoyeon rushed into her own room, quickly locked the door, and grabbed her phone to call Deacon Son.

"Deacon Son! It's me, Seoyeon.

Something strange is happening at home.

Seojin is wandering around, Mom seems to have lost her mind, and Dad is nowhere to be seen....

I'm really scared.

Please come to the Education Center quickly."

Just then, there was a knock on Seoyeon's door.

Overcome with fear, Seoyeon burst into tears.

The knocking grew louder and louder with each passing moment.

"Deacon Son! Please hurry! Hurry!"

When she heard Deacon Son respond over the phone that he was on his way, Seoyeon finally felt a little relieved.

At that moment, the knocking suddenly stopped, and a strange sound came from her phone.

"Noona, open the door."

Hearing Seojin's voice coming from the phone, Seoyeon shrieked and threw it away.

She climbed onto her bed, pulled the blanket over her head, and trembled violently.

Until Deacon Son arrived at the Education Center, she had no intention of opening the door.

As soon as Seoyeon's call was abruptly cut off, Deacon Son immediately called Detective Nam.

He had been in frequent contact with Detective Nam ever since the incident involving Seojin.

Upon receiving Deacon Son's call about strange occurrences at the Education Center where Pastor Lee Yesung's family lived, Detective Nam immediately drove to pick him up.

"Pastor Lee Yesung's family is currently in a psychologically unstable state, so they may be seeing things, but since Seoyeon is frightened, we should go check on her."

Detective Nam reassured Deacon Son, who was visibly anxious, and let him into his car before driving toward Gangneung Cheonghae Church.

The road was shrouded in pitch darkness, and thick fog obscured the view.

The only sources of light were the occasional streetlights and the car's headlights illuminating Detective Nam's path.

"There's a woman standing over there."

Deacon Son pointed to the side of the road with his finger.

Detective Nam glanced sideways in the direction Deacon Son was pointing.

A woman dressed in black with long hair hanging down stood by the side of the road.

For a moment, Detective Nam felt a chilling sensation, but he forced himself to ignore it and continued driving.

A short while later, when he checked the side mirror again, the woman had vanished without a trace.

"How has Pastor Lee Yesung been doing lately?"

To shift the topic, Detective Nam deliberately brought up Pastor Lee Yesung.

"I'm worried. He hasn't been coming out of his study at all lately.

I don't even know if he's been eating properly.

If Pastor Lee Yesung regains his strength, the church's situation might improve as well."

Deacon Son sighed and spoke to Detective Nam.

"Since we're visiting the church today, I'll also check on the pastor.

Seoyeon is still young, and Jo Heeyoung must be struggling too, so the pastor needs to pull himself together....

What the—? Deacon Son! Look behind you!"

Detective Nam suddenly shouted and slammed on the brakes.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Deacon Son turned his head to look at the back seat.

There was nothing in the back seat.

"Detective Nam, what's wrong all of a sudden?"

"A woman was hanging onto the trunk of the car."

"What? What are you talking about...."

Without answering Deacon Son, Detective Nam quickly got out of the car and checked the back.

Unlike what he had seen in the rearview mirror just moments ago, there was nothing behind the car.

Deacon Son also got out of the car and began inspecting the trunk area.

"There's nothing here. Detective, why are you scaring me like this?"

"Something feels off. We need to get to the church quickly."

Detective Nam got back into the car with Deacon Son and hurriedly started driving again.

Cutting through the thick fog, Detective Nam's car sped down the road and soon arrived at Gangneung Cheonghae Church.

Whether it was because of the late hour or the dense fog, Gangneung Cheonghae Church exuded an eerie atmosphere.

"Seoyeon isn't answering her phone."

Holding his phone to his ear, Deacon Son spoke to Detective Nam.

"Then let's check on her first."

"Yes, Detective. This way."

Deacon Son quickly led Detective Nam toward the Education Center next to the church.

As they ran, an inexplicable sense of unease gripped Deacon Son's chest.

And when they finally arrived at Seoyeon's room on the second floor of the Education Center, Deacon Son realized the source of his unease.

Seoyeon's room was empty, shrouded in darkness.

"This is bad. Seoyeon isn't answering her phone, and we have no idea where she is."

"Deacon Son, where is Jo Heeyoung?"

"She should be in the couple's bedroom, just over there."

Deacon Son pointed to the room at the end of the second-floor hallway, and Detective Nam quickly ran toward it.

Without even knocking, he immediately threw the door open.

"Deacon Son!"

At Detective Nam's urgent call, Deacon Son hastened his steps toward the couple's bedroom.

Moments later, as Deacon Son stepped into the couple's bedroom, he couldn't help but let out a horrified scream.

To his shock, Jo Heeyoung was lying dead on the bed, having slit her own wrist with a large kitchen knife.

"Judging by the state of the body, Jo Heeyoung has been dead for several days.

We need to find Seoyeon as soon as possible.

Something terrible is happening in this house."

"Yes, Detective. I will call the Pastor and search for Seoyeon together.

Detective, please call the police."

Detective Nam nodded at Deacon Son and pulled out his phone as he stepped outside the Education Center.

Deacon Son ran toward the pastoral office and study on the first floor of the Education Center and banged on the door.

"Pastor! Pastor! This is serious! Come out now!

Jo Heeyoung is dead, and Seoyeon is missing!"

Deacon Son desperately called out for Pastor Lee Yesung, repeatedly knocking on the study door and jiggling the doorknob.

However, there was no response from inside, and the door remained firmly shut.

At that moment, Seoyeon's scream echoed from the direction of the Church.

Abandoning his attempt to reach Pastor Lee Yesung, Deacon Son sprinted down the Education Center hallway toward Seoyeon.

"What is that?"

As he reached the front entrance of the Education Center, Deacon Son saw something bizarre hanging from the ceiling.

Widening his eyes to get a better look, he was shocked to see that it was Jo Heeyoung, dressed in black clothing.

Jo Heeyoung stared at Deacon Son with eyes that were now completely white, and as their gazes met, she began to emit a chilling laugh.

"Jo Heeyoung...."

An overwhelming fear seeped into Deacon Son's very bones, freezing him in place.

With a loud thud, Jo Heeyoung dropped from the ceiling to the floor and lunged at Deacon Son.

Her long hair whipped through the air as she charged forward, clutching a large kitchen knife, her appearance so horrifying that Deacon Son felt his sanity slipping away.

"Jo Heeyoung! Please, spare me!"

Deacon Son screamed as Jo Heeyoung rushed toward him.

But despite his desperate plea, Jo Heeyoung showed no hesitation, her white eyes gleaming as she swung the large kitchen knife at him.

Deacon Son let out a cry of pain as he collapsed to the floor.

Blood gushed from his abdomen, sending waves of searing pain through his body.

Jo Heeyoung let out another eerie laugh as she began crawling around Deacon Son, who lay sprawled on the ground.

As his consciousness faded, Deacon Son desperately wished that this was all just a nightmare.

Meanwhile, Detective Nam stood outside the Education Center, repeatedly dialing the police station on his phone.

But at some point, his phone had stopped working—no calls were going through, and there was no dial tone.

Just then, Seoyeon's scream echoed in Detective Nam's ears.

Realizing that the scream was coming from the Church, Detective Nam immediately sprinted toward it.

"Seoyeon!"

Detective Nam shouted as he spotted Seoyeon collapsed beneath the Church's cross and ran toward her.

Around Seoyeon, strange symbols and patterns drawn in blood covered the floor, and the corpses of animals resembling goats and rabbits were scattered throughout.

Holding his left arm over his nose to block the stench, Detective Nam checked Seoyeon's breathing and pulse with his right index finger.

Thankfully, Seoyeon was still alive.

"Seoyeon! Seoyeon!"

Detective Nam shook Seoyeon's body repeatedly, trying to wake her up.

At that moment, someone approached from behind and placed a hand on Detective Nam's head. A searing pain, as if his skull were burning, made him scream.

Despite the pain, his body remained completely still, as though bound by an unseen force.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."

Hearing a cold, heavy male voice, Detective Nam lifted his head and turned to look at the man standing behind him.

There stood Pastor Lee Yesung, his beard unkempt, holding a strange book in one hand.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."

As Pastor Lee Yesung continued chanting, Detective Nam felt his consciousness being pulled away.

His head burned, and his blood boiled within his veins.

If this unknown ritual were completed, he knew he would no longer be himself.

Using the last of his strength, Detective Nam reached out and grasped Seoyeon's hand.

I'm sorry I couldn't save you.

A single tear rolled down Detective Nam's cheek.

For the first time in his life, Detective Nam shed a tear out of compassion for another.

At that moment, he saw a pale-faced woman and a young boy standing beside the Church's cross.

The woman and the boy looked at Detective Nam with sorrowful eyes.

They must be the lost souls of Jo Heeyoung and Seojin.

Detective Nam thought to himself as he wept.

And with that final sight, Detective Nam lost consciousness completely and collapsed to the floor.