Chapter 16: The Mediator

It has been 2 days since I entered this body and it feels like a lifetime already. In these 48 hours, I was lucky to get at least 6 hours of sleep. Thinking about the crossroads, I felt the excitement bubble inside me. I picked up the diary I was carrying everywhere and took out the family picture from it. The family picture was old and I couldn't use this picture of hers for the crossroads. I searched the diary a little more but there was no picture of hers. I was so excited at the thought of returning to my own body that I forgot that the picture in the diary was not the latest one. That is when I realised that maybe Chan would have a picture of Kim Song. I ran out of the room and down the stairs. I didn't remember the route exactly but I went with my gut feelings. Every other room seemed the same and this place had about hundreds of rooms on just one floor. I wondered why there were so many rooms here? "What are you doing?", a voice startled me. I turned around to see an old man watching me curiously. He seemed stoic and stubborn and his resemblance to Chan made me realise at once that he was Chan's grandfather. "The souls are not allowed to wander on this side during this time. Don't you know!", his voice boomed. The what? I looked at him confused and scared. "I am sorry, but I was looking for Chan.", I said bowing and ignoring the statement he made earlier. "Why are you looking for my grandson?", he asked taking a step closer to me. I moved back a little scared now, no I was damn scared. This old guy gave the ghostbusters vibe. "I am his boss.", I answered looking down. "Wait! You are Kim Song?", he asked. I nodded and he calmed down a bit. "So, you are the girl who has stirred up chaos in hell and heaven.", he said curiously looking at me. "Sorry sir, I didn't get what you are saying.", I said now making eye contact with him. This old guy sure knew a lot of secrets of the supernatural world. "You are Stacey, the form snatcher as some call you. Others call you the soul in distress.", he said and turned around. He motioned for me to follow. I took careful steps and followed him. "A form snatcher? A soul in distress? None of this sounds good.", I said. He nodded. "Some pity you and some hate you.", he said with a straight face. "Who are you? And who pities me and hates me?", I was confused. "This is not a normal mansion. This place is home to hundreds of souls left unattended. The rooms are theirs' and the lobbies are theirs's too but only at night. I am the caretaker. The medium of communication between the human world and the supernatural world. People call me the mediator. Your arrival from the future has stirred up a lot of chaos.", he answered. He stopped abruptly and I realised we were in the living room again. He opened a cabinet and took out some magazines. "Here, these have Kim Song's pictures.", he said. "How did you know I was looking for them?", I stuttered. "Emily told me everything.", he said. "Emily? The girl with no eyes?", I asked. "Damn Kim! I would have preferred the girl who helped me or the girl who is my only friend here.", a high-pitched voice interrupted us. I looked back to find my only ghost friend standing there. She came and stood by my side taking the magazines from my hand. "This is sir Bong Suk Ki, our caretaker. He will help you. He helped us all.", she said pointing at the old man who was now sitting on a sofa smoking a cigar. He was too well dressed for roaming around in his house. He wore a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt paired with black jeans. I told you he gave ghost buster's vibes. His wrinkled face was the only feature indicating his age. "Sir will you help me?", I asked not sure of Emily's words. He looked at me for a few seconds and nodded. "I will help Stacey but not Kim Song.", he said. Those words were the best words someone had said to me so far.