Becoming A God In Another World With My Crush
Chapter 38: Horror Movie 101: do not split up

Chapter 38: Horror Movie 101: do not split up

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Xander unsheathed his Aurex blade as he scanned the surrounding again, the silver metal reflecting Alyhana’s floating light as he did so.

He stepped forward with purpose, eyes sweeping the hall like he’d fought ghost-infested mansions for a living even when the closest he had been to fighting an actual ghost was watching those ghost extermination videos on YouTube at three am.

"There has to be another exit," he said. "And we’re sticking together, and no splitting up. I mean it."

To which both Iris and Alyhana nodded simultaneously in response. "Yes, of course."

They moved deeper into the building, passing through wide archways and dust-coated corridors that once screamed wealthy family. Each room they entered looked elegant yet rotting and empty.

Iris trailed slightly behind, clutching her cloak tighter with every creaking floorboard and she kept glancing back toward the hallway they’d come from.

"Ugh," she muttered. "Ghosts...why did it have to be ghosts?"

Xander turned around with a chuckle, "You scared?"

Iris scoffed, "Only a little." She responded, but Xander found it hard to be convinced when she was literally shaking in fear and not the cold.

"Well don’t be scared," Xander continued with a small yet teasing smile as he raised his sword, "I’ll protect you both."

"Yeah right," she muttered as she rolled her eyes, "Aren’t you scared of ghosts yourself?"

Xander shrugged, he wasn’t sure why...but being trapped in a haunted house didn’t scare him as much as the Hydra, or Shedracks scared him. Maybe he was finally getting used to the insanity of his world, it maybe Maia’s death desensitized him.

Who knows?

They entered what looked like an old drawing room which was obviously once lavish, now completely swallowed by dust.

Iris stepped carefully around an overturned stool and spotted something leaning against the far wall. A faded portrait. The frame was cracked, the canvas warped, but the image was still visible enough to make her pause.

It was of a woman sitting in a velvet chair, dressed in a rich crimson gown that spilled onto the floor like wine. Her hair was styled in elegant brown curls, her hands folded gracefully in her lap. The face, however, had blurred over time—partly obscured by mold, partly by something Iris couldn’t name.

She crouched beside it, fingers hovering just above the cracked wood.

"She was beautiful," Iris whispered. "I wonder what happened here, exactly."

Xander glanced back at the portrait but didn’t say anything, Alyhana knelt silently beside Iris, eyes scanning the canvas. Her expression shifted.

"I wouldn’t touch it," Alyhana replied, standing slowly. "We shouldn’t anger the spirit any further by touching their possessions."

Iris backed away from the portrait with a frown immediately. "Okay," she murmured. "Note to self, don’t touch a ghosts belongings...cool."

Xander turned toward the next hallway, blade still in hand. "Let’s find that damn exit before the ghosts decides to officially introduce itself."

And with that, they moved on and they stepped into the dining room slowly.

The walls were once a deep burgundy, now faded into a rusted red, with long curtains drooping beside tall windows sealed shut.

The table stretched across the center of the room, it was oakwood and the plates were still laid out with fancy silver cutlery.

Roasted meats and steamed vegetables. Bowls of dry soup crusted to ceramic. It was like a dinner interrupted halfway through—no one cleared the table. No one came back.

Iris stopped just inside the threshold, eyes wide.

"This looks like a royal banquet. Why is everything still here?"

Xander crouched low, his Aurex blade angled downward as he examined the space between the table legs. There, soaked into the floorboards, were dark stains trailing toward the door.

Old blood.

He narrowed his eyes. "Iris, you wondered what happened here, right?"

Xander stood up and gripped his sword even tighter as Iris took a shaky step back in fear when Xander pointed to the floor.

"Well, there’s your answer."

Alyhana turned toward the far end of the room, eyes narrowing as she tilted her head slightly. Then she gasped all of a sudden. "D–did you two hear that?"

Iris froze. "Hear what?"

Alyhana took a step back, her soft voice quieter now. " I heard something."

Xander stood upright again, gaze darkening. "What did you hear?"

"I heard her voice call my name," Alyhana said, staring past the table. "Mistress Maia."

Iris backed up further, her hand over her mouth. "Don’t say that. P–please don’t say that, shit!"

Alyhana fingers trembled slightly, the orb of light above her flickering unnaturally now like it had begun reacting to her fear

Alyhana turned slowly toward the wall, eyes wide, voice barely holding its calm. "Maia. She called my name."

Iris stared at her, blinking once like she hadn’t heard right. "Maia? Maia, Maia?"

Alyhana nodded, her face pale.

Xander released a tired sigh, ’No fucking way, we’ve got to get the hell out of here.’

"But Maia’s dead," Xander said, too fast. "We saw—"

"I know," Alyhana whispered. "I know she’s dead, but I heard her, Xander. Her voice was calling me."

Xander stepped toward her quickly. "Alyhana—no. Listen. Ignore the voice, okay? It’s just the ghost playing tricks on you, don’t listen to it."

"But it was her," Alyhana insisted, her voice cracking just a little. "I know it was, maybe she’s here too!"

"Xander’s right," Iris slowly backed away from the wall, holding her hands in front of her chest as if blocking out the very memory. "Alyhana, you said it yourself, Maia wouldn’t want to stay behind as a ghost in this world...why would she be here?"

Xander placed a firm hand on Alyhana’s shoulder, his grip gentle but grounding. "You have to ignore it. That’s not Maia. It’s this ghost, twisting things."

Alyhana glanced up at him slowly when he placed a hand on her shoulder with tears welling up in her eyes.

’Fucking ghost.’ Xander thought, how could it use Maia against a girl who was still grieving her?

He nodded once. "Stay focused. We’ll find a way out."

She held his gaze for a few seconds too long then shed nodded shakily and the orb steadied slightly.

They turned from the dining room and moved deeper into the manor, their footsteps echoing against old wood.

They stepped into the kitchen, boots brushing across old stone tiles layered with dust and debris. The ceiling was high, beams thick with cobwebs and decay. Iron pots hung from rusted hooks, the firepit cold and crusted with ashes long forgotten.

Then they saw it.

An exit. Tucked in the far corner was a heavy wooden door with a tarnished handle and metal hinges darkened by time.

Xander exhaled. "Finally."

Iris rushed toward it with him, her steps quick and uneven. "Oh! Thank God."

Xander grabbed the handle and pulled. It groaned, but didn’t move.

"Ugh, come on," Iris muttered, pushing beside him. "I bet this thing isn’t even locked!"

Alyhana lingered behind, her light hovering near the cabinets as she scanned the room slowly, lips slightly parted. Her eyes weren’t on the exit, they were on the shadows.

"Alyhana..."

She stiffened and turned around slowly, suddenly distant. Her expression changed, eyes glassy as though someone had tapped into a memory too deep to surface gently.

"Alyhana..." the voice called again even softer and she followed the voice, Xander and Iris didn’t even notice her leave.

Xander grunted, still shoving against the door. "Fuck!"