Chapter 2

The winter break flew by, and before anyone knew it, it was time for college to start again.

The campus, which had been quiet all winter, was now buzzing with life once more.

Students pulled their suitcases behind them, gathered in little groups, swapping stories from their break, their faces glowing with excitement at reuniting with friends.

When Robin returned to the dorm, her three roommates had already arrived. Only Kelsey was missing.

Faye Woods immediately approached, full of curiosity.

She asked, "Robin, I heard you and Kelsey went to the City Museum on the fourth day after Christmas to see the millennium-old female corpse. Was it scary?"

Another roommate chimed in. "It's all over the internet. People say the corpse is creepy, and you can't take photos because they say there's a bad vibe. Is that true?"

Robin's face turned pale as she remembered what happened at the museum, the creepy smile on the corpse's lips. She still felt a chill deep inside.

She nodded, speaking softly. "Yeah, it's true. No photos allowed in the exhibit. The guide said the corpse died full of hatred, so we shouldn't mess with her."

Then, the dorm door swung open.

Kelsey walked in, dragging her suitcase, her face practically glowing with excitement and a hint of smugness.

She shouted as soon as she entered, grabbing everyone's attention, "What are you all talking about? Is it about the photo I took of that ancient corpse?"

Kelsey set down her suitcase, flashed a triumphant grin, pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and held it up for everyone. "Not only did I snap a pic, I even edited it. Take a look!"

She boldly showed off the creepy photo with the swapped face to her roommates.

The photo showed Kelsey's face photoshopped onto the millennium-old corpse's body, lying in the coffin. The whole thing was so creepy and sinister that it made everyone's skin crawl.

The roommates recoiled, their faces twisted in shock and horror.

"Kelsey, you actually took a photo? And you put your face on it? That's seriously freaky!"

Faye's face went pale, and she couldn't bring herself to look again. "Wasn't it forbidden to take pictures in the exhibit? Aren't you afraid you'll get cursed or something?"

Kelsey let out a dismissive laugh, looking totally unimpressed.

"Come on, it's superstition. Yesterday, I posted that photo on my socials. Guess what happened next?"

She paused deliberately, basking in everyone's curious looks, then tilted her chin, looking super smug.

She said, "It blew up overnight. I had hundreds of thousands of likes and tens of thousands of new followers.

"The comment section is on fire. Everyone's saying I'm brave, and the photo is wild. I'm basically a campus celebrity now!"

As she spoke, she refreshed her feed. Her follower count was still skyrocketing, and the comments and messages were coming in so fast that she couldn't even keep up.

Kelsey said, "See that? That's what real clout looks like. I used to rack my brain posting videos and photos, but my followers barely budged. Now, one photo and I'm blowing up!"

Kelsey got more and more excited, her eyes gleaming with greed. "Once I drop a few more videos about this, my followers will skyrocket.

"Then I can start landing ads and actually make some real money!"

Kelsey was so wrapped up in her viral fame that she didn't even notice Robin's face had turned white as a sheet.

Robin stood off to the side, staring at that disturbing face-swap pic on Kelsey's phone, watching her friend's smug grin.

The fear and unease inside her felt like they might swallow her whole.

That creepy smile on the corpse at the museum haunted Robin's thoughts, refusing to let go.

Robi's grandma's warnings and the guide's caution kept ringing in her ears like some kind of spell.

She rushed over to Kelsey, her voice trembling with desperation, practically begging.

"Kelsey, please, delete the photo. Delete every single one, and take down all your posts. I'm telling you this is asking for trouble.

"That corpse is overflowing with hatred. By swapping your face with hers, you're basically inviting her spirit to take your place!"

Robin couldn't stand the thought of her best friend falling into a nightmare she'd never wake up from.

But Kelsey was so swept up in her newfound fame that she figured Robin was jealous and couldn't stand seeing her get all the attention.

She thought Robin was trying to throw shade.

The smile disappeared from her face in a flash, replaced by a cold, annoyed expression, even a hint of hostility.

"Robin, that's enough!" Kelsey snapped.

Kelsey locked her phone, stepped back, and gave Robin a frosty glare, her tone sharp and cutting.

She said, "I know you've always had it easy, never had to stress about money, and everything falls into your lap.

"Of course, you don't care about followers or going viral. But I'm not you. My family's broke. I've got nothing.

"I only have my face and this one shot to make something of myself.

"Your grandma's been feeding you all that old superstition since you were little, so you're always so timid and scared.

"I don't blame you, but don't try to mess up my plans. This photo is my secret to blowing up online and my chance to flip my whole life around. No way am I deleting it!"

Her words cut into Robin like an icy knife, leaving her heart aching.

Robin stared at Kelsey. She knew Kelsey so well, yet she suddenly felt like a stranger. Pain and worry twisted inside her.

She understood that Kelsey came from a modest background, always felt insecure, and longed to be noticed, to excel, and to change her fate through her own efforts.

But this wasn't the way. She shouldn't be breaking taboos and gambling with her own life for a shot at fame!

"I'm not jealous. I'm worried about you!" Robin said.

Robin's eyes brimmed with tears, her voice trembling. "It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. Your safety is all that matters. Please, I'm begging you. Listen to me this one time, okay?"

"I won't listen to you!" Kelsey turned her head away, her voice hard. "You can't stand seeing me do well. Save it."

After that, she completely ignored Robin, focusing on her own stuff.

Every few minutes, she'd whip out her phone, watching her follower count shoot up, a satisfied smirk on her face as she kept replying to comments and messages.

Robin stood off to the side, completely at a loss, drowning in despair.

She knew that at this point, nothing she said would get through to Kelsey.

All she could do was hold onto one last bit of hope, praying deep down that all those warnings were nonsense and nothing bad would happen.

But Robin had no idea that the hatred had already begun to seep in, quietly taking hold the moment that photo was posted online.

Robin couldn't let it slide. She quietly grabbed her phone, opened up Kelsey's socials, and found that viral face-swap pic.

The comment section was full of people being curious, hyping her up, and egging her on. But as Robin scrolled, one comment suddenly jumped out at her, making her skin crawl.

It was from an account that had no profile picture. The name was a string of gibberish. The words were icy, each one stabbing right into her heart.

It read: [Snapping a photo of the corpse is breaking a taboo. Swapping faces is inviting doom.

[The corpse's spirit will use your friend's face as a vessel. If you don't delete the photo, your friend's face will gradually become like the corpse's.]

That single comment froze Robin's blood in her veins.

She snapped her head up, staring at Kelsey, her voice trembling. "Kelsey, check the comments.

"Someone's warning you that if you don't delete the photo, your face will slowly become like the corpse's!"

Kelsey snatched up her phone, glanced at the comment, and her face twisted with mockery and disdain.

With a flick of her finger, she deleted the comment and blocked the mysterious account, scoffing.

"A bunch of wannabe mystics trying to scare me for clout. Do they really think I'd believe any of that?"

She tossed her phone aside, looking totally unfazed.

To her, it was all some internet prank, attention-seeking nonsense, not credible at all.

Robin saw how Kelsey brushed it all off, and the last bit of hope inside her completely died.

She realized there was nothing left she could do. She was powerless and forced to watch as disaster started closing in.

Just as Robin feared, creepy stuff started happening a few days later.

The first thing that changed was Kelsey's weight.

Within a week of school starting, Kelsey was dropping weight so fast.

She used to be perfectly average, not skinny, not chubby, with a round, lively face full of energy.

But in seven days, she dropped twenty pounds.

Twenty pounds was insane for a girl her age.

Her cheeks hollowed out fast, her once round chin became sharp and angular, and her arms and legs got so skinny they looked like sticks.

Her clothes hung off her, loose and empty, as if she was nothing but skin and bones, like all her flesh had been drained away, leaving only a skeleton behind.

Her skin was sallow and gray, like she hadn't eaten in ages.

Her eye sockets were deeply sunken, the dark circles under her eyes were almost frightening, and her gaze was cloudy and lifeless.

She looked completely exhausted, like a candle flickering in the wind, like she might fade away any second.

Her roommates were seriously spooked by how much she'd changed. They kept urging her to get checked out at the hospital.

Kelsey knew something was wrong. She was constantly exhausted, barely had the energy to get out of bed, and nothing seemed appetizing anymore.

But she kept telling herself it had nothing to do with that photo. She figured it was from staying up late grinding for followers, overworking herself.

But that was the beginning.

Then, her skin started changing in a way that was honestly scary as hell.

Her once smooth, bouncy skin, so full of youth, began drying out, getting rough and wrinkled, like dried tree bark, losing all its moisture and glow.

Her skin felt ice-cold. It was so stiff that it didn't even budge when she pressed down on it.

But the creepiest part was that her nails slowly turned a deep, eerie blue-black, creeping from her fingertips down to the base.

It was like they'd been soaked in corpse energy or frozen solid. It was downright chilling.

At night, even stranger things started happening to Kelsey.

She'd sleep with her eyes open.

No matter how tired she was, and no matter how deep her sleep, her eyes never closed, vacant, staring up at the ceiling.

Her chest didn't move at all. From a distance, she didn't look like she was sleeping. She looked like a corpse lying on the bed.

Whenever her roommates woke up in the middle of the night and saw her lying there with her eyes open, they were so freaked out they didn't even dare make a sound.

They'd lie awake, too scared to sleep for the rest of the night.

But when Kelsey woke up the next morning, she was totally unaware of how she looked while sleeping.

She felt like she'd slept really deeply, but when she woke up, her whole body ached, and she was completely exhausted. It was like every bit of energy had been drained from her overnight.

Kelsey kept telling herself it had nothing to do with that photo.

Meanwhile, over at the City Museum, something freaky was happening to that ancient corpse. It was almost the exact opposite of what was going on with Kelsey.

Staff started to notice that the once shriveled, dried-up corpse was actually getting plumper, almost looking alive, day by day.

The skin that used to stick to the bones was getting plumper, not so tight and hollow anymore.

The dull, grayish skin was slowly turning smooth and bright.

Even those gaunt, lifeless features were getting clearer and softer with each passing day.

Her face was starting to look uncannily like someone.

She started to look like Kelsey.

They had the same eyes, the same brows, and the same shape. Every detail was a perfect match for Kelsey, except for the dead, empty look.

The museum staff were totally baffled, scratching their heads and trying to come up with any explanation they could.

They chalked it up to environmental changes and figured that was why the ancient corpse was starting to look so different. Nobody wanted to consider anything creepy or supernatural.

But Robin saw through it all.

She understood the horrifying truth.

The corpse was swapping skins.

Every word her grandma had said was coming true.

That ancient corpse was using the face-swap photo as a conduit, slowly draining Kelsey's appearance, vitality, and life and taking over her flesh.

Kelsey was slowly becoming that cold, mummified corpse.

Robin watched in horror as Kelsey got creepier by the day.

Kelsey's face was turning waxy yellow, her skin was shriveling up like old parchment, her nails were going deep blue-black, and her eyes were looking so empty.

Robin's heart felt like it was being ripped apart, and the fear inside her was overwhelming.

Robin grabbed Kelsey's hand, her face streaked with tears, pleading with her like her life depended on it.

She said, "Kelsey, snap out of it. Look at yourself. You're literally turning into that corpse from the museum.

"This isn't being tired. It's a curse. The hatred is sticking to you. Delete the photo. It's not too late. We can still fix this!"

Robin even dragged Kelsey to the hospital, forcing her to get a full check-up.

But all the test results came back perfectly normal. She had no disease and no abnormalities.

The doctor glanced at the test results, shrugged, and said it was too much stress and overwork.

He scribbled out a prescription for some tonics, told them to go home and get some rest, and that was it.

With the clean bill of health in hand, Kelsey felt even more invincible, and her hatred against Robin got even worse.

She was sure Robin was trying to curse her, couldn't stand seeing her go viral, and couldn't stand seeing her succeed.

She jerked her hand away from Robin, her face icy cold, her words sharp as knives, every line cutting deep.

She said, "Robin, that's enough. I'm totally fine. You're jealous I'm going viral, jealous I'm turning into an influencer, and jealous I'm finally better than you.

"You keep saying I'm cursed and haunted by hatred. What are you even trying to do to me?

"I'm telling you. I'm never deleting that photo. This is all I have. It's my only hope. Save your superstitions for someone else. I'm not falling for it!"

She shook off Robin's hand and stormed off without even looking back, leaving Robin standing there, tears streaming down her face, completely crushed and hopeless.

Robin knew, deep down, that nothing she said would ever change Kelsey's mind now.

If things kept going like this, it wouldn't be long before Kelsey was completely taken over by the corpse, locked in as its stand-in in that coffin for eternity.

Robin couldn't stand by and watch her friend march toward her own demise.

Even if nobody else believed her, even if Kelsey resented her for it, Robin was determined to save her.

That night, Robin didn't sleep a wink.

Her grandma always said, "Where there's dark stuff out there, there are people who know how to take it down.

"If you ever ran into some curse or disaster you couldn't handle, you had to turn to an expert in the supernatural for help."

As soon as dawn broke, Robin jumped out of bed and hit the streets, asking around everywhere she went.

She scoured every corner of the city, questioning anyone who might have a clue, until she finally tracked down a reclusive expert in the rundown part of the city.

It was someone versed in the way of spirits and rumored to be able to dispel even the most dangerous resentful spirits.

The expert was Ray Austin, a man well into his seventies, with white hair and beard, sharp, clear eyes, and an air of quiet authority. It was obvious that he was special.

The moment Robin saw Ray, she broke down. Tears streaming down her face as she spilled everything.

She mentioned the photo at the City Museum, the face swap, Kelsey's terrifying transformation, and even the corpse's bizarre changes.

Finally, she held out her phone and showed Ray that chilling face-swap photo of Kelsey.

Ray took the phone, and as soon as he saw the photo, his calm face twisted in shock.

His eyes narrowed, his brows furrowed hard, his fingers started to tremble, and the whole room suddenly felt heavy, like the air itself was pressing down on everyone.

After a long, tense silence, Ray finally spoke, his voice deep and serious, every word heavy with dread.

"This is really messed up.

"This isn't some regular haunting. This is a corpse stealing someone's skin.

"That millennium-old corpse has been sealed in that coffin for centuries, her hatred suppressed, never allowed to break free.

"Your friend secretly took a photo. That alone is a serious taboo, binding the life force of the living to the hatred of the dead.

"But the worst mistake was swapping faces. By doing that, she willingly offered up her own skin and soul to the corpse, practically inviting it to take her over.

"The corpse is using that photo as a conduit. It's already started the skin-stealing process, slowly draining away her life force, her looks, her energy, and taking over her body.

"Once this process starts, there's no turning back!"

He looked up, his eyes serious as he fixed them on Robin. Every word landed like a blow to her heart.

He said, "I'm telling you, today, you have to delete every single photo, destroy all the negatives, and cut off all traces. You can't leave one photo behind.

"If you can't get it done by the end of today..."

He paused, his voice so heavy it felt like the air itself was suffocating.

"Tomorrow, your friend will become that ancient female corpse, trapped in the museum's coffin forever, taking her place, and doomed for eternity."