Scars of the Dead (2)
Scars of the Dead (2)
"Yeah!" Jina exclaimed. "Isn't it Casper?"
The ghost simply nodded and flashed a thumbs up. It was nighttime and the counselors were leading the children towards the campfire which was set up for them deep into the woods. All the children were lined up in a serial with the counselors overseeing them. Jina deliberately stayed at the back of the line in order to show off the place to Casper and Yumi.
Snow covered the entire forest while the trees were dry and devoid of leaves. The branches loomed above their heads as they entered deeper, the darkness increasing with every step. Jina pulled up her jacket as the cold wind gushed by. The ghosts behind her left no footprints behind. They were awed by the forest's mystic nature. A sense of calmness lay around them as if the forest his many secrets.
Twigs crunched under their feet as they kept on walking ahead. There were no wild animals that time which only increased the isolation and mystique of the woods. A few insects cried in the background but those were faint. Somewhere in afar, a wolf's howl startled Yumi. She yelped and her head hung from her neck.
"W-what was that?" she squeaked.
"That's probably Juno," Jina replied. "He's the wolf like spirit which runs around the forest at night."
"Eh?"
Yumi glanced at the other children who had not heard the howl. They remained oblivious, chattering away as they walked.
"A-a wolf's spirit?" she echoed.
"Probably," Jina said. "He's quite unpredictable. One minute he's sweet and playful but in another minute he'll become angry and start attacking people. He doesn't attack me coz he doesn't attack little children. Plus, I feed him chicken wings so he likes me."
"What sort of army is this girl building?" Yumi asked in dismay. "I'm more scared of her than I am of the other ghosts!"
Casper too gave Jina a reproachful look.
"Gather around here kids!" Namjoo yelled from ahead. They had finally reached the camping spot. A large bonfire was already lit there and the children began to put down their bags and tents on the ground.
"We'll be setting up our tents here tonight," Namjoo stated. "And we'll be completing our next activity too! It's late at night but that doesn't mean we won't be having fun!"
The children shouted in joy. They loved the late night activities which usually included story telling sessions and treasure hunts. The camp's route was planned carefully so that children would not get hurt or lost in the process. There were markers on the trail so that the children could learn to find their way back to the camp and also gain some real life surviving skills in the process.
"The task today is simple," Namjoo went on. "All of you will be divided into pairs. Each pair will be taking a different route into the woods. The routes have direction marks up till route 10. All you have to do is, collect as many winter berries as you could from route 1 to 10 within ten minutes. Remember, you must not go beyond route 10. The pair which will collect the most number of berries will win the annual Winter Trophy! Understood?"
"Yes!" the children shouted.
"Should they really be sending children alone like this?" Yumi frowned.
"Relax," Jian assured her. "I've been winning this competition for the past two years. I've got this!"
A glass jar was being passed around for the children to pick up a random number from. Each number were written in pairs and the kids with the matching numbers were paired up. Jina took out one number.
"Seven," she read. She looked around. Seojun seemed to have found her partner. Hyomin did not come because she was too scared of the dark and always stayed behind.
"Seven…" she muttered.
"Looks like it's us."
The familiar yet annoyingly cold tone made her spin around. To her shock, it was Siwan.
"You?" she sneered. "I don't wanna be your partner!"
"Nor do I but we don't have a choice," he said, raising his eyebrow. "Everyone else already have their partners."
Jina looked around and sure enough, everyone had paired up. Yumi and Casper were glaring at the puny brat who was giving Jina deathly stares.
"Isn't it the same brat who was messing with you in the morning?" Yumi asked. "Lemme punch him!"
Jina shot her a 'don't-you-dare-do-it' look. Turning to Siwan, she said out loud, "Fine. Just don't get in my way."
Siwan did not reply simply turned away to head for the route they were assigned to. There were five routes and each pair was assigned to one route. Jina and Siwan took their positions. She glanced at Seojun who nodded at her.
"One…" Namjoo counted. "Two…three…go!"
The children set off on their trails. Jina did not waste a second and began to collect the berries off the bushes with Yumi and Casper guiding her while Siwan dallied behind. He was pretending to pick up the berries and looked behind at Jina who was preoccupied with the task. Slowly heading towards the signage, he looked around. The direction arrow was pointing left. Making sure that no one was looking, he pointed the arrow right.
"I'm going up ahead!" he exclaimed at her. "Come to route 2 when you're done!"
Jina heard him but did not bother to reply. Smirking in satisfaction, he went ahead, leaving her apparently alone.
"Let's move on," Yumi suggested once Jina was done collecting a handful of berries in her basket.
"Yeah," Jina agreed and the trio set off towards route 2. They turned right and ventured off in search of more berries.
….
Minho, Gayoon and Mina were following the mysterious men who Mina had managed to recruit to find Shinho's body. Haejong was up ahead, leading his men towards the place Mina had mentioned to him. The little boy's ghost did not remember where he was buried but he had informed them that it was not far from Minho's winter lodge since it was the first house the boy had seen once he became a ghost. They had requested the ghost to stay back in their mansion at the city because it might be too much for the child to see his own dead body in front of him.
"He said that he entered from the backdoor," Gayoon whispered. "It faces the north. Maybe his body is buried somewhere there?"
"Probably," Minho sighed.
"But who are these men?" Gayoon asked nervously.
His question was directed at Mina who winced a little. The men who were helping them did not seem like the type who would readily volunteer for a noble deed. They looked like they would be doing the opposite . The men were dressed in heavy black jackets and had a mean look on their faces which creeped out Gayoon. They were holding the leashes of vicious hounds which were sniffing the grounds. The hounds looked well trained in finding things but there was a bloodlust in them which Gayoon could only associate with police hounds. She glanced at Mina who looked a little nervous and conflicted with her decision to involve Haejong.
She did not tell them that the men who were helping them were from the mafia. Gayoon would not approve since they were criminals and Minho would also object taking help from them.
"They…they are one of my patient's men," she replied, choosing her words carefully. "He's a VIP and knows this area. He can help."
Before Minho and Gayoon could question her more, she quickly darted towards Haejong who was holding a torch in his hands.
"I can't believe a day had arrives when I'm digging out bodies instead of burying them," he muttered.
"And I can't believe I'm taking help from a person who is possibly responsible for half the deaths in my hospital," Mina retorted. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."
"Why are you so interested in finding this dead body?" Haejong asked. Mina had not told him whose body she was looking for any why but was simply ordering him around.
"It's…I suspect it's a patient of mine who was being abused," she lied. "He didn't turn up for his appointments and when I called his home, his father was behaving strangely. The father had been abusing the child for years. I happened to know that the father has a secret property here and I wanted to check out if my suspicions are correct."
She did not look at him while saying all that but Haejong did not question her any further. The hounds were sniffing the ground, their senses alert. Suddenly, they began to growl and bark.
"Boss, they've sensed something!" one of the men spoke up.
"Follow them!" Haejong ordered. Gayoon and Minho ran after the group which was being led by the dogs which sped up towards the woods. Finally, the dogs stopped at a spot and barked loudly.
"That spot…" Minho frowned upon seeing it. "The ground is a little higher and looks freshly dug."
"My men will dig it," Haejong told him. Gayoon caught up and also frowned at the spot. Haejong's men began to dig the ground while Gayoon, Minho and Mina watched on, dreading the worst.
After a while, one of the diggers yelled, "I found something!"
They scrambled to unearth it. Instantly, a pungent smell hit their noses but none of them flinched. Minho stepped forward as the men brought out a large sack. One of them opened it to reveal the cold, pale body of a little boy. The body was still preserved since it was winter and not much time had passed since his death.
There was frozen blood on his head along with a large wound. Everyone stared at the body with mixed feelings. Minho clenched his fists while Gayoon held on to his arm, saddened by the sight. Mina gazed at the innocent boy's face, trying to fight off tears. Haejong noticed her struggle not to cry and he subconsciously reached out his hand to console her but she turned away, not being able to see the sight any longer. Seeing the dead bodies of children was something she was still not used to and after hearing how Shinho was abused, she could not help but cry.
They were silent for a while before Haejong spoke up.
"Since we dug this body up without a warrant, my men will go and anonymously leave him in front of the nearest police station," he stated. "Let them handle it from then on."
"No," Gayoon said. "Leave him in front of the capital's police station. At city A's precinct."
"Why?" Haejong frowned.
"Because, I'm a detective of that station and I can take up this case if it's filed there," she revealed.