Alaric Thomas actually managed to find traces of the mysterious manor online.
It wasn’t called the Ghost Manor at all, but Bly Manor, a luxurious old estate located somewhere in the English countryside.
What made it even stranger was that the estate apparently hired outsiders to work there, including tutors and caretakers, with someone specifically responsible for handling applicants.
That only created another question.
If Bly Manor was supposed to be in England, why had Alaric seen something resembling it beside a highway in Florida?
The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.
Alaric remembered the exact warning given by the Ghost Card.
It hadn’t detected a specific ghost or named individual but had instead identified traces of the Ghost Manor itself.
That suggested the manor might qualify as some kind of supernatural entity or containment target rather than simply being a haunted building.
The idea reminded him somewhat of Silent Hill, where an entire location could become something far more dangerous than an ordinary town.
Alaric had no intention of investigating further for now because the manor hadn’t actively targeted him.
His only reason for searching was to make sure he hadn’t unknowingly triggered some supernatural rule that might cause the place to follow him.
Against something on that level, he currently had almost no ability to fight back.
…
The next day, Alaric returned to Round Clam College in Florida.
He had taken quite a few days off recently, but money and his family’s influence made the administration surprisingly understanding.
The dean and several instructors had approved his absences without creating problems, and his grades remained excellent enough that nobody had much reason to complain.
As far as the school was concerned, Alaric Thomas was still an outstanding student.
When he entered the classroom, he casually greeted several classmates.
Everyone responded more enthusiastically than usual because the semester break was about to begin, leaving them with several months of freedom ahead.
Most of the room was already discussing vacation plans, road trips, parties, and places they wanted to visit.
Alaric went to his usual seat near the back.
Jack, the student sitting to his left, immediately leaned over and invited him to join another trip.
After what had happened in West Virginia, Alaric was already suspicious of any vacation suggested by people in this world.
“Where are you guys planning to go?” Alaric asked.
Jack smiled.
“Crystal Lake.
People say the place has a creepy history, so we thought it might be fun.” Alaric stared at him silently for several seconds.
Absolutely not.
Camp Crystal Lake was tied to Jason Voorhees and one of the most infamous killing grounds in American horror.
Other people might hear stories about disappearances and think they added excitement to the trip, but Alaric knew exactly what kind of monster could be waiting around that lake.
Jason had survived things that should have killed any ordinary human many times over.
These people wanted excitement badly enough to vacation there voluntarily.
Alaric suddenly understood why horror movies always had enough victims.
Before Jack could continue trying to convince him, the class ended.
The black-haired woman sitting directly in front of Alaric turned around in her seat and rested one arm over the chair with an easy smile.
“Alaric, I heard your father left you that old castle-style estate here in Florida.
Think I could convince you to let me visit sometime?” Her name was Jennifer Check.
There wasn’t really an American equivalent to the Chinese idea of a universally recognized “school beauty,” but Jennifer came close.
She was the captain of the college cheer squad and easily one of the most talked-about women on campus.
More than half the guys Alaric knew had either asked her out or seriously considered doing it.
Alaric was one of the few who had never chased her.
That wasn’t because Jennifer wasn’t attractive.
In his previous life, Alaric had seen Jennifer’s Body, and if women from American horror movies were ranked purely by appearance, Jennifer would easily belong near the top.
Unfortunately, he also knew exactly what could eventually happen to her.
Jennifer Check would be sacrificed during an occult ritual and become possessed by a demonic entity, turning into a flesh-eating predator that fed on men.
Because the Ghost Card wasn’t reacting to her now, Alaric could at least confirm that the possession had not happened yet.
When the event would actually occur in this mixed horror universe was impossible to predict.
For that reason, he had kept some distance from her.
Temporarily.
After all, part of him was still curious about whether the demon that eventually possessed Jennifer could become a Containment Target.
“Jennifer, I’ll probably be traveling during the break,” Alaric replied.
“I don’t know how much time I’ll spend at the estate.” Jennifer tilted her head.
“What’s so great about traveling?
You just came back from one trip, and from what I heard, that didn’t exactly go well.” She smiled again before adding, “Your place sounds more interesting anyway.” The hint in her tone was obvious.
Whether she genuinely meant it was another matter.
Jennifer had a reputation for knowing exactly how attractive she was and enjoying the attention that came with it.
Despite what many guys around campus imagined, however, she was actually quite selective about who received anything more than flirting.
Most of her admirers never got anywhere.
Before Alaric could answer, another voice interrupted them.
“Hey, Alaric.” Sam, another student in the class, stepped closer with an annoyed glance toward Jennifer.
“Some instructors and a few people from the outdoor club are planning a caving trip over break.
You interested in coming?” Alaric’s attention immediately shifted.
“Where?” After asking a few questions about the location and the kind of cave they planned to explore, Alaric felt an uncomfortable sense of familiarity.
The details sounded disturbingly similar to The Descent, where a group of women became trapped deep inside an uncharted Appalachian cave system filled with pale humanoid predators.
Whether this was exactly that event or merely another similar incident remained uncertain.
Either way, Sam’s vacation plan sounded dangerous.
Alaric looked around the classroom and suddenly realized something disturbing.
Jack wanted to visit Crystal Lake.
Sam wanted to crawl into an unexplored cave.
Jennifer was eventually destined to become demon-possessed.
Several other classmates had mentioned vacation destinations Alaric didn’t recognize, but considering the pattern he was seeing, he wasn’t confident those places were safe either.
At this rate, he was genuinely starting to wonder how many people would still be sitting in this classroom when the next semester began.
Jennifer and Sam were both waiting for his answer.
Jennifer looked completely confident.
From her perspective, there shouldn’t even be a competition.
Sam was attractive enough but fairly ordinary compared with Jennifer, who was used to drawing attention everywhere she went.
She clearly expected Alaric to choose spending time with her rather than crawling through mud inside some cave.
Alaric saw the decision differently.
On one side was a future demon possession.
On the other were physical cave-dwelling monsters.
There wasn’t much to think about.
The Crawlers from The Descent might be horrifying in an underground environment, but they had physical bodies and could be killed.
Jennifer’s demonic possession, meanwhile, could happen without warning, and Alaric still had very limited experience dealing with supernatural entities.
From the perspective of collecting useful monsters, the cave was clearly the better choice.
“Sam, that actually sounds interesting,” Alaric said.
“I can also provide some proper climbing and safety equipment if your group needs it.” Sam immediately smiled.
“I’m sure the instructors won’t complain about that.” After answering, she deliberately gave Jennifer a satisfied look.
Jennifer’s smile disappeared.
Her competitive streak had clearly been triggered, and she seemed unwilling to accept losing Alaric’s attention to someone she considered no real competition.
By the time classes finished for the day, Jennifer had apparently already decided she was going to correct the situation.
She intercepted Alaric along his usual route home.
Her purpose was simple.
She wanted him to cancel the caving trip with Sam.
In exchange, Jennifer was willing to make it clear that Alaric had a genuine chance with her.
She already considered him good-looking, wealthy, and far more interesting than most of the guys constantly trying to impress her.
In her mind, offering him that opening should have been more than enough.
Alaric looked at her strangely.
“Jennifer, are you serious?
Do you actually think I’m desperate for a date?” Jennifer glanced down at herself before looking back at him with genuine confusion.
She had always been extremely confident in her appearance and saw very little reason why a man would voluntarily pick a cave trip over spending time with her.
“Am I really less attractive to you than Sam?” Alaric had to admit that purely in terms of appearance, there wasn’t much competition.
Jennifer was tall, striking, and carried herself with the kind of effortless confidence that made people notice whenever she entered a room.
Calling her one of the most beautiful women Alaric had ever seen would not have been an exaggeration.
But beauty wasn’t the problem.
“I really am interested in exploring the cave,” Alaric said.
Jennifer narrowed her eyes slightly.
“So you’re choosing the trip, not Sam?” Alaric stared at her.
“When did I ever say I was interested in Sam?” Jennifer’s expression changed almost instantly.
A smile returned to her face, and she even gave him a small apologetic shrug for misunderstanding.
“So you think I’m more attractive than she is?” “Yes.” Alaric saw no reason to lie about something that obvious.
If the comparison was based purely on appearance and charm, Jennifer would win without much effort.
Hearing the answer immediately restored her confidence.
“Then if you really want to explore some cave, why don’t I come with you?” “No.” Jennifer blinked.
“That fast?” “The cave could actually be dangerous,” Alaric replied.
“I’m not bringing someone along just because she looks good.” Jennifer’s lips curled upward.
“Can I take that to mean you’re worried about me?” “You’re unbelievably narcissistic.” “You’re the one who just admitted I’m beautiful,” Jennifer replied smoothly.
“You don’t mind if I tell Sam that, do you?” Alaric gave her a flat look.
“I don’t care.” Jennifer laughed.
“Okay, Alaric.
I believe you really are interested in the cave now, so I’ll take back what I said earlier.” She stepped away before adding, “Maybe instead of waiting for you to chase me, I’ll try chasing you.
Call me when you get back.” They already had each other’s numbers as classmates, so Jennifer didn’t need to wait for an answer.
Before Alaric could refuse, she turned and walked away with obvious satisfaction.
In her mind, she had at least confirmed that Sam hadn’t beaten her in the area she cared about most.
Whether Alaric actually wanted to be pursued seemed like a secondary issue.
Jennifer’s reasons for taking an interest in Alaric were straightforward.
He was handsome, wealthy, independent, and clearly had a future, which made him much more appealing than the endless admirers who followed her around campus.
She was realistic enough to recognize those advantages immediately.
At first, she had assumed Alaric would behave like every other guy once she gave him a little encouragement.
When she realized he wasn’t controlled by his attraction to her, Jennifer immediately changed her approach.
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