Chapter 5: Blood, Thunder, and Judgment

The male corpse was actually Travis! I could confirm the ghost before me was Tyler, and the unscarred corpse was indeed Travis. Then who was the living Tyler at the Grants’ now? The realization settled over me like a shroud. The man I’d loved, the man I’d trusted, was gone—replaced by someone else. My knees went weak.

“I thought he was just impersonating the dead for greed, but he deliberately used his living soul to take over the body, then performed ghost-binding and luck-borrowing spells. Your deaths were all part of his plan.” The old man’s face darkened as he spoke. His words were heavy, each one a nail in the coffin of my hope.

“Sir, we still don’t understand.”

Tyler and I were both confused. We clung to each other, desperate for answers.

“He and Tyler swapped bodies; the soul in Tyler’s body is Travis!”

Seeing the old man’s anger, the medium explained, “The bracelet is a soul-binding charm. The soul trapped inside can’t leave unless summoned.” Travis used this to swap bodies with Tyler. I stared at the bracelet, realizing it was the key to everything. The final piece of the puzzle. My hands shook.

“After swapping, the soul is unstable, so he used your keepsakes and blood to deepen the bond, making Tyler’s soul scatter in ten days, so the body would be his forever.”

I remembered the evil ritual by the river—so that’s the truth behind wanting to be with me forever, but dying in ten days. The memory of the sand swirling, the cords tightening, made sense now. It was all part of Travis’s twisted plan. My stomach twisted.

“He tricked his parents into nourishing the soul with their blood, so even if the spell is broken, unfilial to parents, heaven will destroy his soul. Leaving no way out—too vicious.” The old man didn’t hide his disgust. His words echoed, bouncing off the gravestones. I felt sick, dizzy with rage.

“My death was enough for his goal. Why kill Mariah and have a ghost wedding?”

“Nine spikes and a ghost wedding would muddle her mind, making her willingly nourish the body with spiritual energy, to borrow her luck.”

Indeed, when I first woke up, my mind was unclear and my memory fuzzy. If I hadn’t seen the photo and remembered my death, I’d still think he was just giving me the cold shoulder. Who knew Travis could be so selfish and vicious, setting up everything so early. I shivered, thinking how close I’d come to losing myself forever.

But when did he swap bodies with Tyler? Before Tyler fell into the river, everything was normal; after returning, Tyler’s personality changed, even killing me—so it must have been Travis then. So the swap happened in the water, but how?

I saw with my own eyes that Travis tried to save Tyler but drowned from exhaustion. After coming ashore, Tyler kept diving back in to search for Travis. My heart broke for him.

“Ty, do you remember falling into the water?”

“I remember my brother trying to bring me ashore, but he ran out of strength and dragged me down. When I woke up, you were lying in the coffin, brutally murdered.”

“Travis deliberately dragged Tyler underwater, then used the soul-binding charm to pull out his soul, putting his own soul into the body, then surfaced,” the old man explained calmly.

So that’s how it was—it was a long time before Tyler returned to shore, and he said Travis was missing. I was relieved Tyler was safe, but worried for Travis. Seeing Tyler repeatedly diving to search, I didn’t notice anything wrong, just called out with him on the shore, but Travis never appeared. I felt a pang of guilt.

“How did my brother learn these things?” Tyler asked after a pause. I wondered, too. I’d never seen the Grant family practice occult arts before.

“When you came for the engagement, I lost a book—it must have been him who took it,” the medium said, pulling the spikes from my body. After the spikes were removed, my soul felt free and my mind clear. I gasped, feeling whole for the first time in days.

The pain faded, replaced by a lightness I hadn’t felt in ages. I looked down at my hands—solid, real. Tears pricked my eyes.

“All right, girl, your problem is solved. You can go to the next life. Tyler’s life isn’t over, but his unfilial crime isn’t resolved. I have to take him to the other side for judgment.” The old man waved at me. His gesture was gentle, almost fatherly. I hesitated, looking at Tyler. I couldn’t leave. Not yet.

Is it over just like that? No, Tyler isn’t safe yet, and I haven’t seen Travis’s end—I can’t accept it! I clenched my fists, determination burning in my chest. I wouldn’t leave—not yet.

“You guessed right! I just came to see why this ceremony is taking so long. Good thing you didn’t let my bride go.”

Travis stepped from the shadows, grinning wickedly. He cut his palm, chanting and forming seals quickly. My wrist burned, the red cord connecting us again. Travis pulled hard, dragging me to his side. His eyes were wild, his smile twisted. I tried to fight, but the cord held fast.

“Mariah, you can’t go. I still need you to help me rise to the top.”

“Mariah!” Tyler reached out but grabbed nothing, staring at Travis. “Brother, do you know what you’re doing?” Tyler’s voice was desperate, pleading. I reached for him, but the cord yanked me back.

“Of course. My wish is about to come true!”

Lightning flashed; Travis’s face was twisted, looking more like a ghost than us. Thunder rumbled, the sky splitting open. Travis’s features blurred, shifting into something monstrous. My breath caught.

“Grant family’s eldest, don’t make another mistake!” the medium warned loudly. Her voice cut through the chaos, sharp as a whip.

“Mrs. Black, I should thank you. Without your book, I couldn’t have swapped bodies and changed my fate. I’ll study hard in the future.” He sneered, voice dripping with sarcasm. My stomach turned.

“Fool! Forcibly changing fate brings punishment!”

Travis didn’t care, only pride and madness in his eyes. He laughed, the sound echoing through the graveyard. The air grew colder. My skin prickled.

“Brother, you pushed me into the water, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Ever since I found the book on soul-swapping, I was planning.” His confession was cold, matter-of-fact. The truth stung.

“Why? We’re brothers!”

“Exactly because we’re brothers.”

Travis took a deep breath, glaring at Tyler, eyes burning with jealousy:

“Why did you get to go to college and leave the village? Why did you get a good job? Why did you get a comfortable life? We’re the same—I got an acceptance letter, too! I can do your job just as well; no one noticed I swapped bodies. Mariah didn’t even realize it wasn’t you—she still called for Ty. Even Mom and Dad don’t know the one who died was their favorite son. See? I can do it! I made it!”

He killed Ty out of jealousy. The words hung in the air, heavy as stone. I felt sick, the betrayal deeper than I’d imagined.

“You’re crazy. If you wanted these things, I could’ve given them to you. Why kill Mariah?” Tyler’s eyes were red, fists clenched. His voice shook, pain and anger mingling. I wanted to hold him.

“Her birth date matches ours. If I borrow her luck, I’ll rise high. If I’m going to leave, I want the best path!”

Travis looked down at the red cord, then at me. That look—it was then that he saw the future he stole through the memorial. Tyler punched, but his fist passed through Travis’s head. The futility of it all made me want to scream. We were powerless, trapped by his greed.

“I want to kill you!” His voice was hoarse, like gravel scraping skin. I had no grudge with him, and Tyler was his own blood. How could he do this? I lunged, wanting to tear him apart, but only fell through his body. The frustration was maddening. I screamed, the sound swallowed by the night.

“Girl, humans and ghosts are different—calm down!” The medium formed a seal, chanting a soul-cleansing spell. Her words wrapped around me, soothing, but my anger burned hot.

“Are we just supposed to die unjustly? He can use evil arts to kill and bind souls, and we just watch the enemy go free, unable to get revenge or justice?” I roared in anger. The wind howled, thunder rumbled. My voice echoed through the trees, shaking the branches. The storm inside me matched the one overhead.

“Girl, calm down. There are laws in heaven and earth.” The old man sent out another white light, calming my anger a bit. The light was warm, like sunlight after a storm. I let it in, just enough to think. I caught my breath.

“Right, humans and ghosts are different. What can you do to me? You can only let me control you!”

Travis laughed wildly, yanking the red cord to drag me to him, his crazed look the same as that night. His grip tightened, pulling me closer. I fought, but the cord held fast.

“Ignorant child, forcibly taking a body, you’re only a wisp of soul—not even human!”

The old man formed a seal, and a firebolt from the sky burned the red cord to ash. I ran back to Tyler. The cord snapped, the pain fading instantly. I stumbled into Tyler’s arms, relief flooding me.

“None of you can stop me!” Travis’s face twisted as he stabbed his chest, blood pouring out. He raised his bloody hands to grab me. His eyes were wild, foam at the corners of his mouth. The blood dripped, pooling at his feet. Tyler blocked me, and Travis grabbed him. Travis grinned:

“Good, Ty, help your brother again!”

As soon as he finished, Tyler screamed and turned to black mist, which Travis inhaled. A fierce wind blew, Travis floated, surrounded by blood mist, his eyes black, face unrecognizable. The sight was monstrous, inhuman. I screamed, reaching for Tyler, but he was gone.