The curse of the temple with an urn

Kyren widened his eyes while Nora frowned intensely as the monstrosity revealed itself under the moonlight. Both of them did not move, laying still while holding their breaths since that freakish shadow did not seem to head directly towards their direction.

The pair lowered themselves as much as possible and waited for the heavy footsteps to pass by. It was not until a few minutes later that the two dared to open their mouths.

"Was that the thing you summoned?" Nora wasl in a daze as if she was still dreaming, but the giant with tentacles was still there, a fair distance away no matter how hard she pinched herself.

Kyren was not in a better state, shaking his head, "No, I hope not."

"Should we call the cops?" She asked but doubted whether the police could do anything to that creature.

Kyren took a while to think, then said, "Let's just get out of here first."

The girl nodded, and the two of them silently made their way towards the bush where the bicycle was hidden.

On their way home, no one spoke a word. Kyren dropped off Nora at her house before heading to an internet cafe. It was well past five in the morning, so he gave up on catching some sleep. Since his home did not have any electronic devices connected to the Internet, the internet cafe was the only place to do some online research.

Contrary to his expectation, there was not any reported crime in the area of the abandoned temple, nor were any corpses discovered nearby.

"So the monster does not use the site as a corpse dumpster, or at least it is not exposed yet. But then why did it bring the corpse there?" He thought to himself. As the first hypothesis went to a stump, he tried to find another angle to look at.

Kyren then searched for information about the temple. After an hour, a clue was found on a local forum. Apparently, in the local public library, there was a book that compiled information about religious constructions across the city, including the surrounding remote regions. Unfortunately, Kyren could not find a copy on the internet, which meant he could only wait until later today and make a trip to the library.

The boy went to school early and managed to sleep for fifteen minutes before the first bell rang. During recess, he went to find Nora in her classroom but was told that she took a day off. It was likely that she was still soundly asleep at home at the moment.

After school, before going to the part-time job, Kyren dropped by the library and borrowed the book. The part-time job was five hours per shift, which was at a restaurant where the boy worked as a waiter. Near midnight, the sky was as black as ink, Kyren was finally home, exhausted as always. Even so, he forced himself to skim through the book.

It was not stated how the temple was built, as the structure was first discovered when the city was expanding a few decades ago. The author could not find any official document about the place, but still put together the stories they heard from the locals in a nearby village at that time. There used to be a pagoda not far from the temple, and the monks living there usually took turns to take care of the temple from dust to dawn. For unknown reasons, one day, the monks all left the pagoda, which was later demolished for an unfinished construction project, and the temple was therefore neglected. Since then, the locals said to often see monstrous silhouettes wandering near the temple and heard unexplainable wailing from inside. The village also experienced a series of missing cases after people tried to look after the temple in the monks' stead. The village's population, as a result, plummeted at an alarming rate until everyone decided to move into the city, far away from the cursed land.

By the time Kyren finished the portion of the book about the temple, his drowsiness had already been washed away.

"Everyone who visits the temple will disappear…"

He could not shake off the dreadful thought. The image of the tall naked man-like creature at the grassfield came to his mind. On the corpse that hung lifelessly on one of the tentacles, the boy thought he saw his own face.

Kyren covered his head with the blanket, trying to shake the haunting scene from his mind. The icy air of an early winter night slithered up his spine like a cold breath. Kyren trembled, thinking that the night seemed to be darker than usual. The lonely silence amplified the noises that he never paid attention to.

Blocking his ears was of no use. The steady sounds of droplets became unsettling as it resembled more and more like footsteps. The rustling of the trees made him wonder if it was the wind or something else was hiding on top of the branches. Amongst the noises in the dead of night, perhaps there were devilish whispers that he failed to discern.

Having no desire to stand up and turn off the light, the boy decided to sleep with the light on. He turned to find a comfortable position. Despite being tired after a long day, Kyren found it hard to go to sleep. Thinking of doing some work to tire his body out, he opened his eyes, about to get out of bed.

At that moment, his eyes met with an eyeball from outside the door, looking through the small gap. Kyren stared in disbelief before fear and horror gripped his heart. A loud noise exploded as the thing outside suddenly banged heavily on the doors. A clinking sound rang when one of the screws on the hinge came undone almost immediately.

On the second bash, the door gave way and fell down. Kyren froze, stunned by the abrupt chaos. The thing took a step forward and was illuminated by the weak yellow light. The nightmarish creature was exactly as he remembered, if not more horrifying now that Kyren had a chance to observe it up close. Its skin was blue like that of a drowned corpse. The belly looked as if it could bust at any moment. The tentacles growing from its navel wriggled in craze. The faces were always fighting with each other, but for a brief moment, they stopped and looked at Kyren at the same time.

The boy was trapped in fear. His mind was screaming and scratching at every nerve but the body could not move. With each of the monster's steps, the rotten odor became stronger, paralyzing his thoughts. He could only stare in despair and deep terror as the monster extended its tentacles and wrapped them around his body. His skin felt slimy. It was hard to breathe as the force constricting around his chest became stronger and stronger. One by one, he saw moments of his life flashing before his eyesight was blocked and everything turned black.

...

Death could come at the most unexpected moment. Kyren thought about his regret, ambition and unfulfilled plans. Instead of awaited serenity, the boy only felt fear, anger and desperation. It was only a few moments later that he realized he could feel his breaths again. The pair of grey eyes shot open. Kyren sat up, the air in his lungs was never so precious before.

However, the joy was short-lived when he could not recognize the room he was in. It was an overstatement to call it a room, as it resembled a cell in prison, with four blank walls, no window, and a metal door to prevent the person inside from escaping. The only source of light was a candle in the corner, which perhaps would not hold on for more than an hour.

Inspecting his own body, Kyren was surprised to discover no injuries, not even a scratch.

His memory surged back to the content of the book and the sight of the monster that barged into his house uninvited. At that moment, a familiar voice called out within the room, "Rise and shine, Aurora."

He turned back to find a girl in a tracksuit sitting on the ground, leaning her back against the wall.

"Nora? Why are you here?" Kyren could not hide his surprise.

Nora shrugged, "Probably for the same reason as you. I was sleeping and when I woke up, I was already here."

Compared to his traumatizing kidnapping, hers was much more peaceful. Kyren signed in self-pity, "You lucked out."

Nora looked at him in confusion, "What is wrong with you?"

Since Nora was also taken, it had partly confirmed the statement of the villagers that everyone who visited the temple would disappear.

"But who is the culprit? And for what reason?" Thinking that there was no use mulling over questions without necessary information, he turned to find a way to get out. However, there was nothing of use inside the room. Everything on him was stripped apart from clothes. Perhaps it was the same for Nora. He turned to inspect the metal door. The keyhole was so rusty that even the key would not be able to open it. Knocking down the door with sheer force was out of the question.

"Do you have any ideas, Kyre?" Seeing the boy probing every nook and cranny of the room, Nora asked.

Kyren started to brief the content of the book and added his own opinion, "It's just a thought of mine, but maybe we are somewhere near the temple. It was the monster we saw yesterday that kidnapped us. I think there's someone, or something, making them kidnap people who visit the temple."

Nora nodded in acknowledgement, but still had one question, "Them? There's more than one? And why do you think there's someone controlling the monsters?"

If there was anything that Kyren was proud of, it would be his observation skill. The monster he saw at the temple was marked "12", but the one who kidnapped him had the number "10" burned into its chest. At the very least, there were two of them. It also meant that there was someone marking the creatures with numbers, similar to how companies would mark employees for convenient management.

"One of them knocked down the door of my house in a densely populated area. Those things act like meatheads. If what I read was correct, we are not the first victims and these creatures have been doing this for a while now. They are not crafty enough to avoid being caught until now," Kyren voiced his deduction.

Just then, both of them heard footsteps so heavy it vibrated the walls, accompanied by the sound of a weight being dragged on the floor. After sharing a look, they each occupied a corner on either side of the metal door, crouching.

There was a rusty sound of the metal door being opened, but it came from the cell next door instead of theirs. Kyren and Nora heard an object being thrown on the ground with a thud, then the door was shut, and the footsteps walked further and further away.