As An Antique Shop Owner, It's Only Reasonable That I Know A Bit Of Magic - Chapter 98

During the tarot reading for Grant, Haley lost her usual composure.

When he claimed not to know his zodiac sign, she unhesitatingly identified him as a Leo.

She spoke carefully, interpreting the cards she had drawn.

“Generous, loyal, a natural leader…”

Right then, Grant once again challenged Haley’s reading, which annoyed her.

“Leos can also be willful and arrogant, always thinking they’re right. The Tower, corresponding to Mars, can represent ruin and destruction.”

“It’s in your seventh house, which governs relationships. So, instead of listening and understanding, you’re adding fuel to the fire.”

Hearing this, a flicker of displeasure crossed Grant’s face, and he turned his head away.

“How am I not understanding?”

“I’m interpreting your horoscope, not talking about us.”

“It sounds exactly like you’re talking about us.”

“I’m not…”

“Maybe you should look at your own horoscope reading.”

As he said this, Grant stood up, visibly angry.

And just then, Haley saw the thirteenth card in the center.

“Wait! The Devil represents your dark side. You’re embarking on a dark path. Soon you must face your demons and make a sacrifice, or risk losing someone important…”

Grant didn’t put any stock in Haley’s interpretation.

He took it merely as a veiled reference to their relationship and turned to leave the living room.

Lucas immediately stood up and followed him, and the previously lively atmosphere instantly turned cold and quiet.

After Grant left, Haley began shuffling the cards again.

Now, she was going to read her own fortune.

And the result this time was similarly ominous.

She drew the Death card.

Love would be her cause of death.

It seemed to symbolize her love that had ended without resolution.

After a night of partying, everyone was tired and found their preferred rooms to rest.

Meanwhile, in the living room, the box containing the tarot cards emitted a crimson glow, pulsing bright and dark… as if breathing…

Early the next morning.

“See, I told you that so-called shop owner was just full of hot air,” Lucas said from the back seat of the car, looking smug.

“Last night, we all had our fortunes read, and nothing happened.”

“Okay, okay, whatever you say…”

Elise held her forehead, clearly having no interest in Lucas’s self-congratulatory speech.

“Unless you have a cure for my headache, stop talking. I’m irritable right now.”

“That’s your own low alcohol tolerance, Elise. Can’t blame others. Look, Haley and the others are fine.”

The others, apart from the two of them, were busy packing up and driving back to school.

While stopping for gas, Lucas suddenly excitedly slapped the car window, showing off his good luck to everyone.

It turned out he’d bought a scratch-off ticket out of boredom and hit the jackpot—winning seven hundred dollars!
A lucky find on the road seemed to add to the fun of the trip.

But it seemed everyone had forgotten the reading Haley gave Lucas last night.

——————

By the time they returned to their student dorms, it was already evening.

In Elise’s dorm, all the other students had gone to a fraternity event, leaving her alone.

She was looking forward to the peace and quiet, enjoying the spacious environment alone, taking a hot bath, and having a long phone call with her best friend, Paige.

But when she came out, she suddenly found the attic ladder had been lowered somehow.

“Alright, maybe our dorm needs some lessons in common courtesy,” Elise sighed helplessly.

“Hello? Anyone there?”

She tentatively called up into the attic, but there was no response.

The dark, gaping hole of the attic opening made Elise uneasy.

In the empty dorm, only her own voice echoed back…

She suddenly felt a cold draft, her hairs standing on end, so she immediately pushed the ladder back up, closed the attic hatch, and hurried back to her room.

But not long after, a heavy thud sounded against her closed dorm room door!
Thump!
Then, the sound of footsteps.

It was as if someone had shoved the door heavily and then quickly run away.

Elise got up and opened the door, but found no one there.

Puzzled, she looked down the hallway and saw that the ladder she had pushed up had somehow been lowered again…

A dark shadow floated behind her…

Elise turned on the light and turned around, sensing something, but found no one behind her.

She looked towards the attic and tentatively called her roommates’ names.

“Natalie? Claire?”

Her calls were met with no response. In the silent hallway, a faint snickering sound suddenly emerged.

Such a subtle sound was particularly noticeable at this moment.

At that moment, Elise felt relieved.

It seemed her two roommates were just playing a prank.

With that thought, Elise smiled and tiptoed over to the base of the attic ladder.

Just then, a noise came from the attic.

This further convinced Elise it was someone’s silly joke.

She stepped, one step, then another…

Climbing the ladder, towards the dark abyss…

Elise stood on the ladder, her upper body leaning into the attic.
There was no sign of her roommates; she couldn’t see anything.

Her small flashlight became the only source of light.

The beam illuminated only clutter, with no trace of recent human activity.

Yet, in the darkness, a pair of blackened feet walked past behind Elise’s head…

Elise whirled around but saw nothing.

Below the ladder, the hallway light seemed to malfunction suddenly, flickering until it died completely.

“Who’s there! Who’s down there!”

She finally sensed something was wrong, her voice now laced with fear.

But still, no one answered, only the persistent snickering…

Suddenly, an intense light shone from above.

She looked up. The scene in the attic had transformed.

All the clutter was gone, replaced by rows upon rows of burning candles!
The candles surrounded Elise, who was standing on the ladder leaning into the attic, and the space was filled with hanging inverted crosses!

Elise stared in horror at the scene before her, suddenly noticing a card had appeared in front of her.

Trembling, she picked it up and saw it was the High Priestess card she had drawn the previous night.

Suddenly, from behind the card, a terrifying woman with rotting features and eyes blindfolded with white cloth scurried rapidly towards her, letting out a roar!
Black blood stained the horrifying woman’s teeth black, dripping onto the floorboards!

The gruesome sight caused Elise to lose her balance and fall heavily to the ground!
Her phone also slid out onto the floor not far away.

“Beep beep… beep beep…”

The phone screen lit up. The caller ID showed Paige.

The light in the darkness gave Elise, in excruciating pain, a sudden hope for survival.

Gritting through the pain of what felt like broken bones, she dragged herself forward. But just as she was about to touch the phone, an unseen force dragged her back under the ladder!
Sharp claws from above grabbed the ladder, lifted it high, and brought it down hard, crushing Elise’s back!

The extreme pain left her unable to even scream, her face pale, breathing as if trying to force air from crushed lungs…

But the torment was far from over.

The wooden ladder became the murder weapon, crashing down again and again… until the young woman’s back was a pulp, and she breathed no more.

Blood spattered across the phone screen. Paige was still calling, a call that would never be answered…

Soon, Elise’s body was discovered.

Calls were made to the police, notifications sent to the family…

It wasn’t until Haley and the others were called in by the police for questioning that they learned Elise had met her end on the very night they parted ways…

“None of you have solid alibis, and you were all in contact with the deceased…”

The officer flipping through the files glanced up periodically at the young people before him.

“I hope you can answer my questions honestly to avoid trouble for yourselves.”

“You suspect we killed Elise?! That’s absurd!” Grant immediately understood the implication.

“We have no motive…”

“A clear motive isn’t always necessary. Crimes of passion happen all the time…”

The officer was cut off as a man in a trench coat pushed the door open.

“Detective…”

Seeing him, the officer immediately stood straight and saluted.

“Just checking on the progress of the case. Mind if I have a word?”

“Of course not!”

The detective turned to face the three young men and three young women gathered before him.

The expressions on their faces reminded him of something that happened a few months ago.

[Just like the look on Jamie’s face back then.]
He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

“I’ll skip the pleasantries. Your statements check out, and no evidence of your presence was found at the scene.”

“But I need you to tell me everything you did before the incident, exactly as it happened. It will help the investigation.”

“Everything? Including using the bathroom and sleeping?” the chubby Paxton asked somewhat dimly.

“That won’t be necessary. I mean, anything unusual…”

“Unusual things…”

For a moment, no one had any ideas. They’d just had a party, got drunk, and besides that, hadn’t done anything…

However, Haley suddenly remembered something and looked up at the detective.

“We… found a special deck of tarot cards and did a reading. I don’t know… if that counts…”

“Special… How was it special?” The detective latched onto the clue.

But Lucas and Madeline on the side grew anxious.

“Haley?!”

“How can you take that seriously?”

“You can’t possibly believe what that fraudulent antique shop owner said, can you?”

“Wait… You said, antique shop owner?!”

The previously calm detective suddenly stepped forward, leaning his hands on the table, closing in on Lucas!

“Which antique shop owner!”